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frozenartscapes · 5 years

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Change My Mind? ...Not Really

Ok, so this is probably an unpopular opinion...

Comparing Steven Universe to something like Avatar: The Last Airbender after Change Your Mind and stating that SU comes even remotely close to A:tLA in terms of quality is waaaaaay overselling things. Spoilers below.

Change Your Mind was good. Even great, in some parts. That bit where Steven re-fuses with his gem was probably the best animation the show ever had. I enjoyed some of the characterizations. I enjoyed the new fusions, and Lapis and Peridot’s new forms. Also the CG’s new forms. And White Diamond was a very interesting villain.

But one episode does not make a show. And even something like Change Your Mind has its flaws. Numerous ones, in fact. That doesn’t make Steven Universe bad, per se, but going on to compare it to one of, if not the most, highly rated, well-loved, critically acclaimed animated shows of all time and saying they are even close to each other in quality is a bit much. Maybe calm down from the fan-hype high you have after watching the episode before making that claim.

Like, it was a good episode, but I was serious last night when I asked, “Now What?” The show has no conflict. No more unanswered questions. We went from barely getting any information or plot development to suddenly the whole main conflict is resolved in one episode. One. And even a bunch of minor conflicts and questions were thrown in there too. Will Peridot and Lapis reform with stars? Check. Will Blue and Yellow join Steven’s side? Check. Will White Diamond brainwash anyone? Check. What will the CGs reformations look like? Check. Do the Diamonds’ ships form a Voltron-esque giant robot? Check. What do the gem fusions of Steven + Pearl/Garnet look like? Check. Who is the temple fusion? Check. Does White Diamond turn good? Check. Corruption cured? Check. Sadie still in her band? Check. New version of the theme song? Check. Lars comes home? Check. Everything happened in this episode. And it made for one awesome episode, yeah, but it got to a point where it was just one thing after the next. It was like the Crewniverse watched all those rant videos about the show, picked up on the fact that every one of those videos mention how nothing happens in the show, and said, “Oh yeah? Hold my beer.”

But let’s talk Avatar for a second. Because I thought about this last night but at first thought it unfair to compare these two shows, but since seeing a post doing just that I’m gonna now. Imagine for a moment, after watching three seasons where there was a clear, defined villain and an evil force that must be stopped by a pacifistic lead, after witnessing all the oppression and suffering the Fire Nation and specifically the Fire Lord cast down upon the world, after learning how conflicted Aang was about killing him, they just...redeemed Ozai. Like, he and Aang talk it out in just the span of one episode and suddenly every evil and horrendous thing Ozai and Azula and every other terrible person from the Fire Nation has ever done is forgotten. It’s ok everyone! The Fire Nation are the good guys now! They’ve learned their lesson, and we can all just sing and laugh and be happy all the fucking time. Isn’t life great?

Yeah, I don’t think people would be happy about that. And the thing is: in Avatar, they had a better shot at doing that than Steven Universe, because Avatar actually took the time to delve into its villains’ backstories, and revealing that while they’re still morally in the wrong, it’s not just as simple as everything being black and white. There are complications. The reasons for the things they do change, depending on the character and that character’s relationship with others and own emotional growth and personality. They redeemed Zuko, but over the course of the entire length of the show, because going from an abusive family that rewarded morally wrong behaviour and punished anything else to helping the very people trying to stop that family isn’t as simple as talking only once. Other characters like Azula were even more complicated, as she was trapped even deeper in that negative lifestyle to the point where it permanently fucked up her mental state. And then there’s Ozai, who was the end all be all of morally terrible people. Someone who could not be redeemed. Someone who could only be defeated. The only way Aang was able to do so without killing him was by physically stipping away any power Ozai had.

So compare that to Steven Universe. You have a sympathetic character from the ruling, evil dynasty that seemed the most likely to eventually join Steven’s side in Blue Diamond. You have a ruthless, goal-driven character who does the wishes of her superior even if it’s wrong because the repercussions of not following orders create a deep, pathological fear in said character, in Yellow Diamond. And then you have the end all, completely uncaring leader of said evil dynasty that has conquered thousands of planets, killed billions, including millions of its own kind, enforced a strict and oppressive social structure that resulted in mass cullings of anyone who didn’t fit, created horrific experiments with the still-conscious shards of the physical beings of its subjects, and rained down a forced mental illness that permanently disfigured their subjects minds when said subjects disagreed with them: White Diamond. Zuko, Azula, and Ozai, respectively. In Avatar, it took Zuko all three seasons to complete his full redemption arc. In Steven Universe, Blue Diamond wasn’t even mentioned by name until The Answer, 74 episodes in. Azula and Ozai didn’t even get redemptions, although Azula was given a few sympathetic moments. Yellow had, what, maybe a facial expression here or there until finally doing a 180 personality shift in the latest episode?

Now before you get your pitchforks, hear me out: I’m making this comparison because it shows the difference between doing a villain redemption right, and doing it wrong. Avatar took a long time to develop its villains. It made sure to establish them as more than just The Bad Guys - they were also individual characters on various levels of the morality scale for various reasons. They did this by establishing them as regular characters, even if only by mention, from episode one. They had some episodes that barely focused on them, but then others devoted entirely to them. There were episodes that beautifully compared them to the heroes. There were episodes that humanized them. There were episodes that highlighted what life was like from their side of things. Steven Universe did none of that. The most development we got for the Diamonds was in the last few episodes, and it only happened after they learned who Steven really was. And even then, we never got a sense of the problems they themselves were struggling with until Change Your Mind. We never really saw Blue’s emotional issues with regards to how they treat each other, just her mourning Pink all the time. We never saw just how much pressure Yellow was put under by White Diamond, nor her frustration at how she works so hard but receives next to no praise. And we certainly never got the sense that the reason White was such a perfectionist was that she herself was terrified of being labelled “flawed”. All of these things only came up in Change Your Mind. And even if there might have been hints I’m sure people are going to reach for in other episodes, it still would only apply to the very few episodes in which the Diamonds had any focus.

The result of this is an extremely rushed and forced redemption arc. Hell, even Peridot had a more developed redemption than the Diamonds. And it didn’t have to be that way, either. This wasn’t the series finale. It was just the end of this season. If they really wanted to redeem all three dictators in one episode, why didn’t they just stop it there? And then have the return to Earth kick off the new season? Why not have another special event or episode that focuses on Steven showing the Diamonds Earth? Have them finally find beauty in organic life. Have them initially be confused about it. Have then stumbling a little bit but eventually learning just how wrong they were. Have them admit just how wrong they were. And then at the end of the special, we finally get to healing corruption. Something that has been the main conflict since day one. Something that was an incredibly complicated subject. Something that had a huge impact on all the current characters in the show. Something that really should have been done in its own episode where more time could have been given to it. I know they probably will once the show gets started again, but that initial event of healing the corrupted gems is done, the Diamonds have gone back home, and any chance for conflict to arise is over. Even Jasper no longer seems like she’s going to be a source of conflict.

So, no. Steven Universe is not as good as Avatar, and isn’t even in the same league. This one episode still doesn’t change how horrible the pacing is for the rest of them. It still doesn’t change that in 160 episodes, well over half, at least, contribute nothing to the plot. And while they might establish some character, it’s always from Steven’s perspective. There was never an episode in which Steven wasn’t there to witness it, meaning the entire show is viewed from his - considerably biased - point of view. We never got a chance to see characters like the Diamonds acting without Steven present. We never got any development without Steven being the driving force behind it. Had a show like Avatar had done that with Aang? We never would have had episodes like Tales of Ba Sing Se, or Zuko Alone, or Boiling Rock, or Ember Island. And we certainly wouldn’t have gotten moments like Zuko and Azula’s Agni Kai, or Sokka asking Suki to teach him how to fight, or basically every character interaction with Iroh. Steven Universe wanted so badly to focus on Steven, and only Steven, that it shot itself in the foot when it came to character development and plot execution. It didn’t seem to know what it wanted to be for most of its episodes. And Change Your Mind was such a cluster fuck of wrapping up loose threads that people are still confused as to whether or not this was the season, or series finale.

Avatar had a clear and concise beginning, middle, and end. It knew what it was, and where it was going. It knew how to do character development and plot execution properly. Each season finale finished up the main conflicts of that season, leaving the largest arcs for the series finale. And it doesn’t try to redeem its villains all in one fucking episode through the “Power of Love”. Don’t even try to say the two shows are on the same fucking level.

Oh, and the animation was fantastic all the way through A:tLA, getting better with each season, instead of one beautifully animated scene in one episode and everything else being a hodgepodge of off-model characters and constantly changing styles.

#i'm not as mad at the show as i once was #but change your mind isn't changing my mind #steven universe is an ok show #but no where near the calibre of A:tLA #this latest episode doesn't change that #if anything it only highlights why it's not #unpopular opinion #su shows the problems with modern redemption arcs #it's often times a lot more complicated than merely talking about your feelings #and that redemption doesn't just exist in a vacuum inhabited solely by the main characters #you need to address the conflicts that can arise from a villain redemption #hell even my little pony - the show KNOWN for redeeming its villains through the magic of fucking friendship #takes time to show that sometimes there are still negative reactions even after a redemption #the way steven universe ended things it really makes it look like they're not going to do that #su spoilers #steven universe #steven universe spoilers #spoilers #Avatar The Last Airbender #a:tla

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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The Legend of Korra: Why is Lightning Bending Common?

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The following contains spoilers for AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER and THE LEGEND OF KORRA.

Lightning bending is one of the strongest abilities in Avatar: The Last Airbender, with Azula’s lightning attack nearly killing Aang for good. It’s also one of the rarest techniques, with only Ozai, Iroh, and Azula able to generate lightning on their own. Even Aang, the avatar, and Zuko could only redirect lightning. It was incredibly powerful and only used for huge moments in the story.

This is why when The Legend of Korra first debuted (and as new fans have rediscovered it on Netflix) many fans were confused why lightning bending seemed so commonplace. In ATLA only a select few knew the technique, now new lead character Mako was working in a factory with many other lightning benders generating much of the power for the city.

So what happened in the span of time between Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra? Why wasn’t lightning bending special anymore? Why was it so common?

The answers to these questions involve digging beneath the surface of what’s seen in the TV series. On a casual observation, yes, lightning bending is more common. However, it’s not the only bending skill that became more widespread in the time jump between ATLA and Korra. The one that got the most exposure on screen was metal bending, a technique invented by Toph. She was the only metal bender in the world at the end of the series but by the time Korra rolled around we had metal bending police officers in Republic City.

This change was explained in the ATLA comics by Dark Horse, which continue the story of the series. In the early comics Toph starts her own metal bending school (which will feature in its own comic coming next year) which grew in size over time. Metal bending became much better known and practiced to the point the city of Zaofu was made entirely of metal and populated by many metal benders.

It’s reasonable to believe that something similar happened with lightning bending. While Ozai, Iroh, and Azula were the main practitioners of it in the original show that doesn’t mean they were the only ones. As revealed in ‘The Legend of Korra Book One: Air – The Art of the Animated Series’ co-creator Bryan Konietzko stated that bending lightning was “usually reserved for the inner circles of Fire National royalty and high-ranking military officers.” Okay, so we know there were more than three lightning benders and they probably taught it to others. But how did, Mako, a kid living on the street, learn to use it?

Again we have to bring in the ATLA comics. Throughout the run we saw the world slowly embracing an industrial revolution, with refineries being introduced in ‘The Rift.’ Over time this advancement in technology lead to the creation of power plants, ones that needed their power generated by lightning. These jobs were very risky and weren’t likely to be taken by the upper levels of Fire Nation society. This likely lead to blue-collar workers being taught lightning bending solely to work in these factories, which is where Mako was at the start of Korra.

Konietzko confirms that charging up the massive batteries in the city’s power plants was incredibly taxing on a person’s chi reserves. “That’s why the plant bosses tend to get desperate, strapping young men like Mako to sign up for the grueling task.”

Put simply, capitalism and its need to exploit the lower classes is why lightning bending became more common in The Legend of Korra. It’s not as common as bending earth, fire, or water but the rapidly evolving technology of that era in the ATLA world meant more lightning benders were needed.

This also opens up a lot of fascinating ideas for the ATLA universe. Where lightning bending was once seen as nearly exclusive to the royal class it could now be viewed as something to look down on, a technique for the lower class. Do the upper levels of Fire Nation society even practice lightning bending anymore? Are you seen as “lesser” for knowing how to do it? It still takes some skill, not every fire bender can do it, but perhaps some don’t want to for fear of being labeled as a lower class worker.

It’d be interesting to see any stories set far in the future after Korra as technology advances. Would even more lightning benders be needed? Would they find some other way to generate electricity? What happens to these lightning benders after years of work in these factories? Give us a sequel, Nickelodeon!

The post The Legend of Korra: Why is Lightning Bending Common? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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