Yes, the spirits and humans didn't get along, but pushing out the spirits and cutting off the physical world from its other half wasn't the correct choice of action. If anything if pushed humans further away from spirituality and led to the escalation of that time during Yangchen and Kuruk's eras.
It would be the like if instead of trying to hear out the nonbenders on the systemic issues they faced (which we don't see, but are told about through Raiko's inauguration) Korra decided to push out all the benders from RC and ban benders from entering.
It's also shown to be the correct choice through the narrative. People like Raiko who oppose the spirit reintegration and people like Kuvira or the CEO and the triad member from the Korra Comics who want to take advantage of the spirits are punished by the narrative; meanwhile the air nation returns, and spiritual characters are rewarded for it in the show like Ikki and Jinora. It's also explicitly approved by the wisest people in the show, like Tenzin, Jinora, and Zuko.
As for Korra's fights, she's almost never fighting on even footing with her opponents. The red lotus had hostages and she was poisoned against Kuvira and Zaheer. Unalaq had played mind games with her. Amon and Tarrloq are the only ones that won off of skill, and i'd argue Tarrloq only survived by surprise bloodbending her. I also think it's unfair to say it doesn't make sense for a 17-18yo girl to be manipulated by who she sees as the only adult who treats her like she knows anything when that's exactly how grooming happens IRL. We can't seperate Korra from the context she was a sheltered teenager.
Laying it out, it seems like Korra just changed a lot about how spirits work to fit their narrative. In ATLA I don't think we ever get a spirit that's strictly pro human which always seemed intentional. Spirits getting pissed off at humans for their selfishness while the humans are powerless when faced with the whims of spirits seemed like a dynamic that encouraged the separation of the 2 realms. The avatar being the only mediator for such conflicts seemed to dictate the separation too when there's only 1 person capable of handling such complex issues. Letting spirits roam around, especially when they can be many times stronger than your average bender (God forbid non bender) and the only mediator being the avatar just seems like a recipe for disaster. Especially when you consider some of the stronger and more openly hostile spirits like Koh.
That said, TLOK does push the idea that a lot of spirits like Koh or that panda spirit are oddities and that a majority of the spirits are chibi animals or anthro animals so by the shows standards it's probably fine. While you're right that the narrative does push the idea that a majority of the spirits are fine, I'd argue it actively ignores the narrative set up by ATLA to do so.
Korra loses not just in her major fights but constantly needs assistance in minor ones with grunts too. Sometimes it's easy to understand why, other times it gets a bit frustrating. It's not a hill I'm willing to die on because as you say, a lot of her major fights she's nerfed or fighting against the odds. The Unalaq situation irked me specifically because it was this 1 on 1 with a dude who for some reason is perfectly capable of using Vaatu despite recently getting it's power and somehow beating Korra despite having 1 element to his name. It should've absolutely been a wash for Korra but the plot said she had to lose.
I never said it didn't make sense for Korra to be manipulated or that it's even bad writing. But it does make losing the previous Avatars even more her fault.
I can definitely agree that the writing for the spirits changed a lot between ATLA and LoK, but working with the lore we have, I'd still lean towards Korra's choice being the correct one.
I really don't think the grunt fight thing is really an issue past season 1 with the Chi Blockers and Desna & Eska in season 2. She really only fights Dark Spirits and the Major villains otherwise unless i'm forgetting something.. And at least in the context of Season 1 she's never actually been in real combat, AND she has to try and mitigate collateral damage in the City. She pretty handily deals with the triad members by herself. Not to say it isn't still frustrating, but a Chi Blocker when you aren't expecting it seems to trip up just about anyone. Desna and Eska has no excuse though.
I'd still lean towards Korra's choice being the correct one.
I'd lean the other way since it's the OG series but at that point it's personal preference.
I remember Korra struggling against some earth benders in season 3 and needing Asami to save her which seemed comical since she had the avatar state at the time.
And at least in the context of Season 1 she's never actually been in real combat
I've never really liked this explanation when she's trained with the white lotus for years. Especially considering Aang was much younger and didn't train for nearly as long on just air bending as a pacifist while Korra got training on all of the elements. And I don't think she really cared about damage to the city lol.
I don't think it's fair to only use spirit world lore from OG Avatar (which was sparse anyway) to judge the outcome of a choice in the sequel.
And I think the difference in combat is more complex than you're making it out to be:
Aang wasn't a fighter, but he wasn't trying to fight, most of what he did in book 1 outside the avatar state was running away. If he did have to fight someone directly it was likely Zuko who wasn't all that skilled/confident in book 1 until he fought Zhao. Aang also had the benefit of using a style of bending nobody had seen in 100 years, and was used by pacifist monks, so there was never a need to be taught how to effectively fight an air bender.
Korra on the other hand was taught by the white lotus, yes, but she was taught old and outdated bending techniques while other benders had modern styles. She could spar with old masters, but she would struggle with pro-bending or a street fight. And she did care about destroying the city because Beifong had her detained for collateral damage after the Triad fight, and she knew she couldn't get out of it a second time.
Both characters had their struggles with fighting, and Korra was intentionally NERFed to pad out the the combat choreography just like Aang's pacifist fighting style was a self NERF. Both are good though.
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u/Stevie_draws Feb 22 '25
Yes, the spirits and humans didn't get along, but pushing out the spirits and cutting off the physical world from its other half wasn't the correct choice of action. If anything if pushed humans further away from spirituality and led to the escalation of that time during Yangchen and Kuruk's eras. It would be the like if instead of trying to hear out the nonbenders on the systemic issues they faced (which we don't see, but are told about through Raiko's inauguration) Korra decided to push out all the benders from RC and ban benders from entering. It's also shown to be the correct choice through the narrative. People like Raiko who oppose the spirit reintegration and people like Kuvira or the CEO and the triad member from the Korra Comics who want to take advantage of the spirits are punished by the narrative; meanwhile the air nation returns, and spiritual characters are rewarded for it in the show like Ikki and Jinora. It's also explicitly approved by the wisest people in the show, like Tenzin, Jinora, and Zuko.
As for Korra's fights, she's almost never fighting on even footing with her opponents. The red lotus had hostages and she was poisoned against Kuvira and Zaheer. Unalaq had played mind games with her. Amon and Tarrloq are the only ones that won off of skill, and i'd argue Tarrloq only survived by surprise bloodbending her. I also think it's unfair to say it doesn't make sense for a 17-18yo girl to be manipulated by who she sees as the only adult who treats her like she knows anything when that's exactly how grooming happens IRL. We can't seperate Korra from the context she was a sheltered teenager.