Should you watch this, Wiki this, or wait for the recap? Watch this.
Kuvira arrives at Zaofu, the last city not in the Earth Empire, and confronts Suyin in her attempt to conquer it. Meanwhile, Varrick and Zhu Li discover the startling lethality of Spirit energy, and are forced by Kuvira to weaponise it. Korra returns with Meelo, Ikki, and Jinora to help defuse the situation, but finds that Suyin has already taken matters into her own hands…
“Enemy at the Gates” is the fifth Chapter (episode) of Book Four: Balance (Season Four) of The Legend of Korra. In typical Legend of Korra fashion, this is the episode where the plot suddenly picks up and the stakes become world-changing. We learn that Kuvira has actually conquered the entire Earth Kingdom, save for Zaofu (reputed to be the most defensible city in the world), and that she actually has an army of mecha as well!
Of course, with an increase in the threat level of the villain comes an increase in the superiority of the protagonists – which in this case is Korra. Suyin even asks her to go into the Avatar State and demolish Kuvira’s army, which Korra oddly refuses to. It remains to be seen how Korra will deal with this, but I hope we see a Korra-Kuvira battle soon.
Highlights
Kuvira’s ruthlessness
Previously, Kuvira had been portrayed as a well-meaning idealist who’s had to resort to harsh measures to defeat her foes. However, we’ve only seen her in fairly public situations. This episode shows what Kuvira is like, alone, when she is the highest authority in a group. And her sheer lack of compassion and single-minded focus on her goals is quite the revelation, and cements her status as the Big Bad of this season.
Bolin’s character development
Bolin finds himself in a conflict of ideals with yet another loved one – this time, Opal. Fortunately he gains enough common sense to realise what is happening, but the fact that it happens to poor, loveable Bolin of all people is what reinforces the fact that this season’s conflict is one of ideals, above all else.
Mecha battle
Kuvira has mecha! Conceptually, it’s a great idea and allows for so many interesting visuals. Of course, although the potential may be great, the actual execution is the issue in this episode…
Letdowns
Mecha battle
Because it just looks weird. Part of it has to do with the quality of the 3D animation, but another part has to do with the fact that this is the first time we’re seeing the mecha and the ground rules of how they function aren’t established. New powers and abilities come out of nowhere, they aren’t consistent, and the worst part is that you can’t tell friend from foe. That’s the clincher for the mecha battle.
3D animation is poor
The animation might be all right for slow-moving vehicles, but for a dynamic melee battle, it falls short. It just doesn’t look fluid enough, and somehow the mecha aren’t believable in the speed of their actions and their actual movements. 3D isn’t their forte, but then, “Legend of Korra” excels in its hand-drawn art more.
Baatar Jr continues to annoy
I don’t know why he’s around. It’s not like he’s a complex villain full of conflicting motivations. He’s just a spoilt brat, and that continues to be the case episode after episode. Hope he dies soon, maybe from a stray Metalbending move. Bonus points if Kuvira does the killing.
“Enemy at the Gates” is actually a pretty good episode to watch despite the many flaws, and marks the transition of the season into its exciting, high action section. When will Kuvira and Korra clash? In the next episode? And how will the inevitable Kuvira-Suyin showdown end?
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