This is the book I never read...

daughterofthestars:

Wow so it’s great that like, a day ago I read this wonderful article on dissecting the “shadow” of your main hero and giving the features that they fear the most in themselves to your villains. Because Episode 8 of Korra is taking the attention away from Amon (who, while extreme, is a more sympathetic character) and placing the main baddy role squarely in Tarrlok’s hands. The guy that we first thought of as power-hungry but managable is now one of the scariest characters in the show. Look at it this way: Amon just wants to take your bending away - he hasn’t killed anyone. Tarrlok on the other hand would definitely not think twice about killing if it would be beneficial to him.

The writing and characters on this show are being handled fairly masterfully. Forget the shipping, forget the love triangle, that’s just for fun and fluff. The villian/hero dynamics here are what we should really be looking at.

Korra has many many attributes. I’m terrible at listing attributes but we’ll focus on what’s been pointed out. Specifically what she and Tarrlok discussed: using bending to intimidate people and get what you want.

On her first day in Republic City she had no idea she was wrong for doing this. Now she’s recognized that it’s the reason for the Equalists doing what they do, and she fights to not be the person she was accused of being in those first few episodes. She fights to make sure other people don’t do this to the nonbenders. She’s out to prove the equalists wrong but she still struggles to do the right thing. So when Tarrlok throws her accusation back in her face, it really absolutely stings. It doesn’t make him seem less evil, but it does make her seem less good.

“In any story, the mark of a good villain is his ability to force your hero into the proverbial spotlight, where he will find ways to magnify and criticize the things your hero would most like to hide.”

It annoys her when he points out how alike they are, and that he likes that about her. Because in her mind now he is the bad guy, the manifestation of all she is trying so hard not to be. And yet they did share a lot of the same qualities. Three episodes ago they were fighting side by side. And when she retaliated by saying Tarrlok resembled Amon more than he resembled herself, he got just as angry. Since in his mind, Amon is the villian and the threat to Tarrlok’s power.

“A good villain is always the dark side of your hero; the greatest danger your hero faces should be that under the right pressures and given the right circumstances, your hero could embrace the very qualities that make the villain a villain.”

The only thing that makes Tarrlok someone who is NOT an evil mastermind at the moment is that he has no personal grudge against Korra. His main goal is not to see her fall and become evil, although he does want her on his side. When she refuses and it looks hopeless to change her mind, he moves to take her out. He takes no pleasure in her embracing her shadow and trying so hard to detail/maim/kill him. At that point she is just a threat, an obstacle, and an annoyance. He pushed a couple of her buttons but she rebelled and pushed a couple back, and once they both snap and are angry enough, their fight is a very serious one, not just a battle for power.

“The trick to moving your hero from the side of good into the gray area between good and evil is to have your villain push your hero’s proverbial buttons.”

By the end of the episode, the only reason Korra is still the hero is because she is fighting for a right and just cause, for the freedom and justice of all the people rather than just the benders. Unlike Aang, who was very much a pacifist all of his life, Korra was ready and willing to take someone out if it might help bring peace to the world. Just as Tarrlock is ready and willing to take someone out to further his own goals - which are unknown other than his quest for power/control.

tl;dr: The reason this last episode and just both series in general were so great is because Mike and Bryan do a really excellent job at considering their heroes’ shadows and giving those traits to the bad guys so that the conflict is very real and engaging, going beyond suits of white armor and black armor so you can tell which guy to root for.

All of the characters in Avatar and LOK are human beings with individual sets of beliefs and morals. The characters are constantly fighting to be the good guys in their own story and that makes them believable and easy to relate with.