Episode 36 - A Breath of Fresh Air / Rebirth / The Earth Queen

Change is in the air as The Avatar Returns returns from our month-long walkabout with discussion of the first three chapters in The Legend of Korra Book Three. Gone are the days of meandering plot threads and questionable kaiju choices. We’re right back into genuine character building, socio-philosophical quandaries, and thrilling Studio Mir action sequences. In chapter 301, “A Breath of Fresh Air,” Korra and Team Avatar are still trying to pick up the pieces after the paradigm shift of Harmonic Convergence, but they’ve got more on their plates than just some pesky spirit vines as new airbenders begin popping up for the first time in nearly two centuries. And we get a new villain that is already a thousand times more interesting than Unalaq in just his first few minutes of screen time. Chapter 302, “Rebirth” sees our intrepid heroes set out on a journey to gather up new airbenders in an effort to rebuild the nearly extinct Air Nation, but all they end up with is an annoying kid. Oh, and Zuko’s back! And finally chapter 303 introduces us to “The Earth Queen,” the lovely, mild-mannered successor to old King What’s-his-name-with-the-bear. She hates animals and is building a secret airbender army for the Earth Kingdom, so you know…she’s lovely. Henry Rollins is perfectly voice-cast, but it may take some time for us to accept that. The Dai Li return, so Eric’s excited. And Arlo hates Napoleon Dynamite. Next: three more tales to thrill! Chapters 304-306, “In Harm’s Way,” “The Metal Clan,” and “Old Wounds.”   The Breakdown Intro / Banter (00:00 - 20:20) Main Topic (20:20 - 1:44:50) Outro / Next (1:44:50 - 1:47:28)