The Legend of Korra: Korra the Exemplar Avatar

[Sofia Martine]

Born in 153 AG to Tonraq and Senna in South Water Tribe, Korra at the age of just four proved herself as the successor Aang and the next Avatar by bending water, air, and earth in front of the Order of the White Lotus. The current incarnation of Avatar – Korra after mastering air, water and earth bending went to the Republic City to learn airbending from the son of Aang, Tenzin. She also learned the spiritual aspect of bending under him. After she was able to connect with her past lives, she learned the art of entering the Avatar state at will, while also mastering energy and with the help of Aang’s spirit. After a failed kidnapping attempt in 158 AG, Korra was put away from the public eye so that she can chase the bending arts without being bothered.

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The Legend of Korra has been able to push many traditional boundaries and was able to make a name for itself for being brave enough in doing so. From the reintroduction of airbenders to the protagonist being queer, the show successfully challenged the status quo. Therefore, it’s strange and counter-intuitive that Korra herself probably is the more traditional in training and pedagogy as compared to the likes of Aang or Kyoshi.

It is very interesting to compare Korra with the other two well-known Avatars of the past: Aang and Kyoshi. Even though Aang was given the name of the last Airbender, for the fans, he was the first Avatar they got to know. As the world was suffering because of the war waged by the Fire Nation, Aang was in a frozen state for 100 years. When he did wake up, he had hardly any time to acquire the ability to bend three elements in order to bring back world peace.

It is only in the Kyoshi novels can one learn about how the typical process of finding and tutoring Avatar usually happened. In the Rise of Kyoshi, a novel about the longest living Avatar, Kyoshi it is revealed that each nation has its own set of rules and regulations for finding Avatar born into their cycle. After Avatar is found a select group sage from all nations oversee the training and upbringing of Avatar. The training in the original series is only shown in “The Avatar and the Firelord”, but in The Legends of Korra, it is portrayed in much more detail.

At the beginning of The Legends of Korra, she is shown to complete her firebending training before she relocates to the Republic city to learn from Aang’s son and Airbender, Tenzin who has learned the secrets of airbending from his father. The interesting thing about Korra is that she has acquired the ability to bend three elements at a very early age which is very unusual and surprising but barring that her training is very much in accordance with the traditions as compared to Aang’s. Even her training was observed by the White Lotus just as the sages of the old times used to do.

But strangely Aang was not the only one missing out on the traditional process of Avatar training, in fact, Kyoshi too had a very odd story. By a strange turn of events, someone else was identified as the Avatar instead of him, but the truth soon came out that Kyoshi himself was the heir to the legacy. The mistake was only rectified after he was scouted out and forcefully trained to master the elements. In fact, because of the unforeseen circumstances, he didn’t even get the opportunity to get the sage advice which is crucial for the growth of the Avatar.

In the novel Shadow of Kyoshi, it is revealed that even Kuruk went through the usual traditional Avatar upbringing. Unlike Aang and Kyoshi, the traditional process of selection and training was applied on Korra, Kuruk, and Roku which is interesting but what is even more intriguing that even after all of them had their own separate paths, they were still prepared by the trials and tribulations that befell them to fulfill their duties as the Avatar.

So, in conclusion, even if the Avatar chose their own paths or were traditionally trained under the sages, they were able to find someone to look after them and guide them. They all went around the world, to different nations, and got to know the culture and traditions of all of them. At the end of the day, they all had the same destinies, and that was to fulfill their purpose as the Avatar, which all of them did successfully. But there is no doubt to the fact that Korra had the most traditional upbringing after being recognized as the successor to Aang. Her life so far can easily be the manual for future Avatar, as her upbringing was ideal from the standpoint of custom and heritage.

My name is Alessia Martine. I am a Technical expert; I have been making the people aware of the Tech Supports. My passion is about Cybersecurity, cryptography, malware, social engineering, tech support, internet, and new media. I write for McAfee activation products at mcafee.com/activate.

Source: https://mcafee9.uk.com/the-legend-of-korra-korra-the-exemplar-avatar/