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justanotherthrowaway1950 · 4 months

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Why I Dislike Amon and Kuvira

Note: While I don’t think The Legend of Korra (TLOK) is as good as Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA), I still think it is a pretty good show, and that 99.9% of its problems can be traced to Nick not giving Bryke a full four seasons with a proper budget from the outset. However, I don’t think any piece of fiction is perfect, hence why I criticize TLOK like I do ATLA.

Amon and Kuvira are two characters who are important to TLOK’s narrative not only on an individual, character level, but also because they represent previously unaddressed social issues in ATLA’s world as well.

This is because in Amon’s case, the Equalist movement he heads deals with an important issue that the original ATLA glosses over at best: the issue of benders being innately superior to non-benders.

Or more specifically, the fact that, unless you are a highly trained and/or highly gifted non-bender like Piandao, Mai, Ty Lee, Suki, or Sokka, your bog standard bender who has the slightest amount of training has a nigh-insurmountable power advantage, and thus has every incentive to lord their unearned power over non-benders.

Meanwhile, Kuvira deals with an issue that up until her becoming the main villain of Season 4 was barely addressed in TLOK’s intro and glossed over in the ATLA comics: how would Earth Kingdomers feel about the United Republic being formed from the Fire Nation’s oldest Earth Kingdom colonies.

Or more specifically, how, after getting pressured by Fire National colonialists and those close to them, King Kuei and Avatar Aang worked with Fire Lord Zuko to give the oldest colonists the option of self-determination, which they exercised to form the United Republic.

This, even though the oldest colonies were dominated politically and economically by the Fire Nationalist colonists and their close allies, with the marginalized Earth Kingdomer masses having little to no say in regards to the above mentioned process.

(If you disagree with my characterization of how Earth Kingdomers would view the resolution of the Yu Dao crisis, please check out The Problem with Yu Dao and A Potential Solution where I go into much more detail about this topic.)

However, it is precisely because Amon and Kuvira represent previously unaddressed social issues in ATLA’s world that I dislike them.

For in Amon’s case, before his identity was revealed, I was interested to see how the Krew would defeat him, let alone defeat the Equalist Movement since it wasn’t a problem that could be punched.

However, after his identity was revealed, I quickly soured on his character since, with him being a psychic, 24/7 bloodbender, it became apparent that the only way to beat him would be having an Avatar State Korra fight him or through a deus ex machina, with the latter being the way how he was defeated.

And I started disliking him once it became clear that the Equalist movement died off just because he was exposed as a fraud and Republic City’s all-bender council got replaced by a democratically elected unitary executive, one who so far has been non-benders due to non-benders numerical dominance.

This is because the underlying issue of benders having an innate advantage over non-benders never really got resolved, and so I hate how Amon’s character was used to avoid a real discussion or give any real solutions to said problem.

Especially since in real life, even if a movement’s leader is exposed as a fraud, the movement, or at least some variation of it, will continue to persist since movements, or more specifically, underlying issues in society, create leaders, not the other way around.

Meanwhile, I dislike Kuvira because, despite growing up in a world where the horrors of the Hundred Year War and the failures of the Hundred Year War era Fire Nation were surely taught to children like her, she decided to repeat them with her concentration camps and illegal and immoral war of conquest.

(Yes, I know canonically Kuvira did not know about the concentration camps, but even if that is the case, I still hold her responsible for them.)

(This is because commanders/generals in the real world are responsible for the actions of their subordinates when it comes to war crimes, and more generally, leaders are generally responsible for the actions of their subordinates when their subordinates are acting within the scope of their relationship. Thus, I hold her to that standard, even if the war crimes tribunal of the United Republic doesn’t.)

(Also, her attempt to retake the United Republic was an illegal and immoral war of conquest since the United Republic had been a sovereign state for over 70 years, with its sovereignty recognized by all the other nations in the world, including the Earth Empire’s predecessor, the Earth Kingdom. Moreover, even if it hasn’t been said explicitly yet in canon material, I am pretty sure in the 70-odd years between the end of ATLA and the start of TLOK the five nations signed treaties making wars of conquest illegal.)

This, even though her adopted grandma fought in the War and was friends with Fire Nationals who grew up in the Hundred Year War era Fire Nation, and more likely than not told her about her and her Fire National friends experiences.

And why does she do all that? Not because she actually believes that the way the United Republic was formed was immoral and an act of injustice against the Earth Kingdom, but because of unresolved abandonment issues.

And when she “redeems” herself, she does the bare minimum before finally admitting her fault and getting house arrest in Zafou, the closest thing to paradise on Earth.

I thought Kuvira could have been used to tell a story about the evils of revanchism, and how an inability to let go of past territorial injustices and focus on the present leads people to becoming the very monsters they claim to be fighting against.

That and what steps an authoritarian conqueror would have to take to credibly redeem themselves not only in the world’s eyes, but also in the eyes of their people, who they betrayed and misled with their lies about peace and prosperity through violence and subjugation.

Instead, we instead essentially get a sane, adult Azula who doesn’t have the excuse of indoctrination and got a really undeserved and unearned redemption that fanfics often give to a heavily woobified Azula.

This, all while never directly addressing the Earth Kingdom’s lingering resentment towards the United Republic, nor ever giving a concrete resolution to said resentment.

So to conclude, I dislike Amon and Kuvira’s characters because the resolution of their arcs were not only unsatisfying on a personal level, but also ruined the potential to meaningfully address key issues present in TLOK’s world, thus weakening TLOK as a whole.

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justanotherthrowaway1950 · 5 months

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The Problem with Yu Dao and A Potential Solution

On the surface, the resolution of the Yu Dao crisis was nothing but a success, both in the short and long-term. For allowing Yu Dao and the oldest Fire Nation colonies self-determination not only prevented ethnic cleansing and the Hundred Year from restarting, but also led to the creation of the United Republic as well.

A place that not only serves as the dominant economic and cultural hub in the world, but also eventually became a laboratory of democracy as well, being the first place in ATLA’s modern history to elect its leader by way of popular vote.

However, on closer inspection, the resolution of the Yu Dao crisis was not the complete success that the ATLA franchise frames it as, but in fact one of its biggest mistakes due to three, discrete, but interrelated, reasons.

First, the fact that the people pushing for self-determination in Yu Dao were more likely than not representative of the greater population, and that push for self-determination in-universe is seeped in racist, pro-colonist rhetoric.

Second, the fact that the Yu Dao crisis was solved by “self-determination” sent several wrong messages that also led to severe consequences during Korra’s era.

Third, the fact that there is no way that the Fire Nation could have paid the Earth Kingdom anywhere near the true value of the oldest colonies, thus retarding the Earth Kingdom’s ability to rebuild after the war, and is partially why the Earth Kingdom is in such a sorry state during Korra’s era.

In regards to the first point, Kori and her family and close friends are not representative of the entire Yu Dao population, being instead a minority of the population in which their proximity to political and/or economic power shielded them from the burnt of the Fire Nation’s tyranny.

And while they have a good point about how the Harmony Restoration Movement would lead to ethnic cleansing by forcing mixing families to choose between leaving their long-time homes and having their families broken apart, they are not the only people whose opinions matter when it comes to the oldest colonies.

This is because, even if The Search and related material gloss over it, Yu Dao, like the rest of the oldest colonies, have a massive Earth Kingdomer population, one that more or less serves an underclass exploited by Fire Nationals.

Yet, despite having ample chances to do so, none of the Gaang or Kori and her allies ever ask such people for what should be done in regards to Yu Dao’s future.

This, even though they would likely have different opinions than Zuko, Kori, and like minded people about how Yu Dao’s future should go after learning about the problems with the Harmony Restoration Movement in its current form.

Likewise, while there are non-Yu Dao Earth Kingdomers who do get to express their opinion on what should happen with the oldest colonies, they never get a chance to express what should happen after being presented with the reality that the Harmony Restoration Movement in its current form would result in ethnic cleansing, not even Kuei, at least not before Aang all but forces Kuei to accept Yu Dao has the “right” to self-determination.

(No, not every group that claims to be a distinct “nation” has a right to self-determination. For if that was the case, groups like white nationalists or Christian nationalists in the United States would have the right to self-determination, and I don’t think anyone but a fringe minority believes that to be true.)

But the fact that self-determination in Yu Dao was mostly decided by a small, unrepresentative portion of the population is made worse by the fact that it is steeped in racist, pro-colonialism rhetoric.

This is because Zuko, after Katara pointed out that there is massive socioeconomic inequality between the Fire Nationals and Earth Kingdomers, argues in part to keep the oldest colonies since they were better off before the Fire Nation colonized them, which is appalling for in- and out-of-universe reasons.

For in-universe, why would the (supposedly) former imperialist who got un-indoctrinated by spending months as a refugee witnessing first hand the Fire Nation’s “greatness,” and got painfully rejected by an Earth Kingdom village he saved because he was part of the family responsible for their suffering, express such sentiments?

Like what happened to the pensive, self-reflective person, one who is aware of his place in history and is hell bent on undoing all the suffering he and his people have wrought upon the world, that Zuko became post-Day of Black Sun?

Meanwhile, out-of-universe, if you were to switch out Zuko's words with some modern places, it would sound like something out of /pol.

For modern racists and/or imperialist apologists justify Western settler colonialism in part by saying that without their “intervention”, the places they colonized would have remained underdeveloped.

Like, is it that hard to see the parallel between your average /pol shitposter saying something like, “Before the West colonized them, the shitskins only had huts and sticks.” and Zuko saying, “Many of the Fire Nation families here immigrated over a hundred years ago, when Yu Dao was just a tiny village at the bottom of a valley.”?

In regards to the second point, the fact that the Yu Dao crisis was solved by “self-determination” sent several wrong messages, both in-universe and out of it, that also led to severe consequences during Korra’s era.

For by having self-determination in the oldest Fire Nation colonies be driven by Fire Nationals and those related to or allied with them without taking into consideration the vast Earth Kingdom underclass, as well the opinion of the rest of the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation suffered little to no consequences for starting the Hundred Year War, and in fact essentially won the War.

This is because the Fire Nation is modeled after Imperial Japan, and just like Imperial Japan had reasons for engaging in colonialism and/or imperialism beyond paternalistic notions of spreading their “greatness,” the Fire Nation likely had other, less “benevolent” reasons for waging the Hundred Year War as well.

For imagine you are a part of Fire Lord Sozin’s governing council in the lead up to the Hundred Year War and you are discussing the benefits of waging the Hundred Year War.

Would you tell him that the Fire Nation would be doing the world a great service by spreading its greatness?

Or would you tell him that the Fire Nation would be able to achieve several economic and military goals vital to the Fire Nation’s continued existence, at least in its current form?

Or more specifically, by engaging in settler colonialism and imperialism, Sozin would be able to: (1) keep the Fire Nation industrializing at a smooth pace by obtaining cheap and/or slave labor, cheap goods, free land, and easier access to fossil fuels; (2) quell growing class tensions that are endemic to industrial capitalism; (3) divert attention from growing calls from the growing middle class to democratize the Fire Nation, as well limit or eliminate the privileges of the nobility; (4) and make sure their economic and military rivals in the Earth Kingdom would never be able to pose a threat to the Fire Nation again.

Now, imagine you are an advisor as part of Fire Lord Izumi’s governing council and you are preparing a report detailing the Fire Nation’s economic and military power at the moment.

What would it say? That the Fire Nation is a defeated nation-state unable or unwilling to flex its muscles and forced by its leadership to continue paying reparations for the foreseeable future?

Or that the Fire Nation is in amazing shape because: (1) the dominant economic, military, and cultural power in the world is a client state of the Fire Nation; (2) thanks in large part to the ill-gotten gains it got from the Hundred Year War, the Fire Nation is now a, or close to becoming, an advanced industrial state; (3) the Earth Federation is highly unlikely to rival the Fire Nation’s economic or military power for the foreseeable future; (4) and as a result of all this, the Royal Family’s, and by proxy the nobility’s, hold on power is secure for the foreseeable future?

So can anyone with a straight face say that the Fire Nation did not win the Hundred Year War?

No, and that is bad because it sends the message that all nation-states have to do to redeem themselves for engaging in settler colonialism and genocide is pay reparations and punish just a handful of leaders, and all is forgiven.

Moreover, it is bad because it sends the message that if you want more land, labor, and resources, just send your citizens to the area you desire and have some of them reproduce with the local population before then demanding self-determination after sufficient time has passed.

Hence, why I think the resolution of the Yu Dao crisis is responsible for the rise of the Earth Empire.

This is because while Kuvira might have been motivated by parental abandonment issues, it doesn’t explain why Earth Empire’s rank and file support her, or why the Earth Empire and those who support its ideology remain an ongoing problem, even after Kurivira publicly repudiates her previous actions and ideology.

But growing up learning about how the United Republic was created does.

Or more specifically, learning how the Fire Nation managed to avoid any real consequences for waging the Hundred Year War while essentially managing to keep its colonies thanks your ruler, who was put back on the throne in part thanks to the infamous General Iroh, kowtowing to the supposedly now good Fire Lord Zuko and the Avatar, who is supposed to be a neutral arbiter, but seems be especially biased towards the Fire Nation.

Especially once you consider his steadyfast friendship with not only Fire Lord Zuko, but also General Iroh, (Fire) Lady Mai, and Lady Ty Lee as well.

(No, I don’t think the average Earth Kingdomer would care that Mai and Ty Lee were essentially forced to join Azula’s small, elite team.)

(Especially since their “partnership” with Azula ended with Ba Sing Se failing, and especially since they eventually found the strength to stand up to her when their loved ones were in danger, suggesting that they could have stood up to Azula at any point, but didn’t because Earth Kingdomer lives weren’t important enough to them.)

Finally, in regards to the third point, if you look at the where the United Republic is located, combined with the fact that the oldest Fire Nation colonies were home to hundreds, if not millions, of people, the value of the oldest colonies probably would be worth hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars, in in real life money today.

Especially once one took into account all the untapped resources such as iron mines and the fact that the area served as the Earth Kingdom’s southeastern waterport.

And even though canon such as the TTRPG says that the Fire Nation paid the Earth Kingdom for the loss of the oldest colonies, unless the Fire Nation was impossibly wealthy, there was no way they could pay the equivalent of several hundred billion, if not trillions of dollars, to the Earth Kingdom.

At least not without inciting a massive rebellion considering how many people and groups tried killing Zuko in the early years after the war.

This, even though the Fire Nation essentially got unpunished for the War, save for having to pay reparations, having its colonists in the newer colonies move back to homeland, and having to give up direct political control of the oldest colonies.

Hence, why it is likely that regardless of whatever the Fire Nation paid the Earth Kingdom, it was nowhere near the true value of the oldest colonies, and why the Earth Kingdom is in terrible shape during Korra’s era, at least partially that is.

For imagine how much easier it would have been for the Earth Kingdom to rebuild and modernize if they didn’t lose billions, if not trillions of dollars, worth of land, resources, and taxpayers and failed to get fair market value back?

“Ok, you make some good points about the resolution of the Yu Dao Crisis wasn’t as cracked up as it seemed to be. But how could Aang, Zuko, and Kuei have come up with a different solution to the Yu Dao crisis, and more generally, the issue of the oldest colonies, without committing ethnic cleansing, or allowing the oldest colonies to remain a part of the Fire Nation?”

By giving Yu Dao back to the Earth Kingdom while at the same time granting the Fire Nationals local control.

Or in other words, in a system akin to China’s old tributary system in which the oldest colonies recognized Kuei as their ruler, paid taxes to Ba Sing Se, and provided troops for the Earth Kingdom Army in exchange for political autonomy.

That way you don't get the issues associated with forcing people to leave their homes, even if they are descendants of colonizers, and you don't have the Fire Nation essentially win the Hundred Year War by having the Fire National-dominated oldest colonies declare independence and become a client state of the Fire Nation.

Moreover, the above solution still results in what would have become the United Republic becoming an economic and cultural powerhouse.

For if the territory was back in Earth Kingdom hands, considering their inability to project real force outside of Ba Sing Se, Kuei and Hou Ting would not have cared that much what happened in the former oldest colonies. Thus, the locals in charge of the oldest colonies would have more or less the same autonomy that the United Republic has in canon.

And this, in combination with the fact that the oldest colonies would still be located in a highly desirable location with untapped resources and is a place where people from the Four Nations are able to work and live together in harmony, means that the oldest colonies would still become a hub of industry.

In addition, the fact that the Earth Kingdom would be able to get tax revenue from the equivalent of the United Republic, along with having a successful model of governance that isn’t a monarchy in its midst, might not only help the Earth Kingdom develop more than it did in canon, but also prevent the downfall of Hou Ting/rise of Kurvira as well.

Especially since there won't be decades worth of resentment towards the Avatar and/or the Fire Nation due to Kuei "agreeing" to grant Yu Dao and the other oldest colonies independence.

Furthermore, you avoid having Zuko forget about his experiences and spout racist and pro-imperialist sentiments akin to those said by in real life racists and imperialism apologists to justify letting Fire Nationals and their close friends and family determine the future of the oldest colonies while ignoring the plight of the Earth Kingdomer underclass.

“Ok, maybe what you said makes sense, but if the Earth Kingdom is as pissed about the Fire Nation’s colonialism as you make them out to be, why wouldn't they treat the former Fire National colonialists terribly, even if they are citizens of the Earth Kingdom in your scenario?”

“Like, what is keeping the Earth Kingdom from engaging in state sanctioned murder of the Fire Nation colonists and their families, or expropriating all of their property and wealth, even if they sign agreements promising not to do so?”

Good point, but thankfully, unlike the real world, there exists a figure with the power to ensure that the rights of new Earth Kingdom citizens are protected: the Avatar.

Moreover, beyond the fact that Aang can protect the new Earth Kingdom citizens by himself, Zuko can ensure that the former Fire Nationals are protected by taking measures such as conditioning reparations on making sure the rights of the former Fire Nationals aren’t trampled on.

“Ok, but what about the Fire Nationals pissed about losing absolutely everything they thought they had gained after a hundred years of war? The Fire Nation is not a defeated nation; it only lost due to a coup d’etat led by Zuko. So it seems like letting the Earth Kingdom absorb the oldest colonies, even if the rights of the former Fire Nationals are protected, might be enough to lead to an open rebellion, or at least more resistance to Zuko’s rule.”

The only reason why Zuko didn’t face an outright rebellion in canon, even after Azula escaped with her bending intact, was because everyone knows that the moment Zuko is in trouble, Aang and/or the White Lotus will bail him out.

(In my opinion, if destroying Zuko’s regime and slaughtering his Fire Nation allies and supporters wouldn’t result in Aang and/or the White Lotus hunting her down like a wild animal, Azula would have done so.)

(For if not, why would the TTRPG say that she is trying to unlock the power of dangerous spirits to support her goal of retaking the throne when she could have killed Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee, for example, several times over?)

So, even if they might complain about it, and more people might try assassinating him, it is not going to lead to any more resistance beyond more assassination attempts.

Especially since there is no other viable candidate for the throne that isn’t insane, de-bended and in jail, or doesn’t share Zuko’s views.

“Ok, but isn't your proposed tributary system just as radical, if not more than, as Aang, Zuko, and Kuei coming up with self-determination in order to resolve the Yu Dao crisis in canon? Like, why would Kuei, an absolute monarch, be ok with any of his subjects not being under his direct command?”

No, because the existence of Omashu, with Bumi being recognized as its king and having wide latitude in regards to governing the city, shows that not only is it viable for the Earth Kingdom to adopt an tributary system in regards to the oldest colonies, but also that it has already does so in practice as well.

Moreover, considering there hasn’t been any material released yet that states Kuei decided to exercise more control over Omashu and/or dethrone Bumi, Kuei would be more than fine with having his subjects having wide political and economic freedom so long as they ultimately pledge their loyalty to him.

“The Earth Kingdom adopting a tributary system in regards to the oldest colonies would make sense, if the Earth Kingdom was an actual functioning state. Because the early post-Hundred Year War Earth Kingdom wasn't close to a single cohesive state with a strong central authority, one that could consolidate the wealth present in the oldest colonies.”

“In fact, if the oldest colonies were returned to the Earth Kingdom, it is likely the quality of life present in those regions would have never reached the levels present in the United Republic considering how corrupt the Earth Kingdom was.”

“So, even if is a little fucked, it was ultimately for the better that the Earth Kingdom did not get the oldest colonies back.”

You do realize this is exactly the same logic that in real life racists and imperialism apologists use to justify western imperialism and settler colonialism?

Or the logic used by Western nation-states in the past to deny their colonies the right to control their own affairs within their own lands?

Moreover, one of the main points behind the tributary system is that the oldest colonies continue to have the political and economic freedom that led to the wealth present in the United Republic in Korra’s time without it potentially being jeopardized by the corrupt and bumbling Earth Kingdom state meddling in their affairs.

And besides, whose not to say that the oldest colonies staying with the Earth Kingdom, with its steady middle class, would not have led to Earth Kingdom becoming a single cohesive state with a strong central authority, one in which the problem of corruption was slowly but surely getting eliminated?

So to conclude, the resolution of the Yu Dao crisis did turn out well in the long run, but sent a bad message both in-universe and out of it.

For not only was Sozin proven right that forcibly spreading the Fire Nation’s “greatness” was a good thing, but the canon resolution of the Yu Dao crisis also essentially let the Fire Nation and those allied with them off the hook for waging a century-long war of conquest and genocide.

Moreover, the resolution of the Yu Dao crisis is not only likely one of the main factors behind the sorry state of the Earth Kingdom/Federation in Korra’ era, but also behind Kuivria’s rise as well.

However, the Harmony Restoration’s Movement’s solution to the problem of the oldest colonies is equally bad considering it would have led to ethnic cleansing at best, and the Hundred Year War restarting at worst.

Hence, why I think the Yu Dao crisis should have been resolved by having the Earth Kingdom adopt a tributary system of governance towards the oldest colonies.

A system that keeps the benefits gained from giving the oldest colonies self-determination in canon, avoids the problem of the Fire Nation essentially winning the Hundred Year War, avoids mass violence, and gives the Earth Kingdom a real chance at developing.

Or in other words, a fair and equitable solution that allows for true justice in light of the Fire Nation’s crimes.

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