Season 3 of Legend of Korra is a clinic in episodic storytelling!
First, the art direction of Book 3 is perfect, thanks to the consistency of Studio Mir (they only did half of Book 2, with Studio Pierrot completing the other half). This visual excellence, combined with the voice over talent of the heroes and villains alike makes this the best season of Korra yet. In terms of story telling, this season also surpasses Book 3 of Aang, which was nearly perfect in its own right.
Thankfully, the more mature themes of Korra have persisted through the show, in contrast to the pre-teen ideals of the characters in Aang.
This season answered two (2) of my wishes: have non-benders suddenly endowed with airbending, and show an earthbender who can execute phase changes (lava). It was surprising to hear that Korra is the first metalbending avatar, because I assumed Aang learned the skill from his friend (and founder of metalbending), Toph Beifong.
With the new airbenders, I always imagined that the story would have to take this path. In this Avatar universe, everything is about balance, so it makes sense that said balance would be restored in this fashion. This plot device is so intriguing that I can forgive the deus-ex-machina of Zaheer gaining airbending to go along with his, long-held, airbending ideologies and knowledge of their martial art system.
Since Zaheer was able to escape his 13-year confinement, he went on to free three of his comrades, all benders. Together, the four make up the Red Lotus, an off-shoot of the White Lotus, who seek to bring TOTAL equality through the world by eliminating powerful leaders (monarchies, government). The members of the Red Lotus are all very layered and present dynamic character interactions despite their limited amounts of screen time.
There is earthbender, Ghazan, who can bend rather large amounts of earthen material, although he has not shown an ability to metalbend. Instead, Ghazan can phase-change the rocks he bends into lava (making him the only non-Avatar bender to do so). He has even turned patches of solid ground into lava pools or rivers for protection. When fighting another earthbender, he can turn their rocks into lava and bend them back to his opponent. He is a very straight forward man and does what his leader, Zaheer, asks of him.
P'Li is a firebender who has the same ability as Combustion Man from the Aang series, however, she can shoot her explosive beams around corners and change the direction of her blasts at will. She is very tall, standing at six feet, eight inches, and is in a romantic relationship with Zaheer.
The fourth member is Ming-Hua, an armless waterbender. Because she lacks arms, her waterbending form lacks the fluidity of most waterbenders. She is, instead, very rigid, yet powerful and highly skilled in combat. Ming-Hua can perform several advanced techniques simultaneously by bending the water to be her arms, or any melee weapon. She fights with more ferocity than any other character, which was evident in how she took out both Mako and Bolin by herself.
Book 3 took the time to develop Lin Beifong's character. It's revealed that she has a sister (who caused the scar on her face) and that both women have different fathers that neither one knows. This was, possibly, a sly attempt to describe Toph's rebellious nature as a young woman and her disregard for certain societal norms.
Team Avatar is looking to have an epic clash with the Red Lotus in the season finale. Hopefully, we won't be robbed of a great showdown like in Book 1 (with Amon), and it would be great to avoid a convoluted conclusion like in Book 2 (with Unalaq).
Thus far, this is looking like the single greatest season of the franchise!
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