Legend of Korra: Enemy at the Gates Review

Legend of Korra continues to progress the plot with "Enemy at the Gates."

*Spoilers Ahead*

With the Avatar back in action, the focus moves to Kuvira and her army moving on the city of Zaofu.

Much of the episode revolves around Bolin, and moving his character into place for the continuation of the plot. Bolin has always been dense, but for being three years older, he is still too gullible, even for him. How does Bolin not know at least some very basic information about what Kuvira is doing? He has been traveling with her for quite some time, yet he knows next to nothing? That is a bit farfetched, even for Bolin. Other than Bolin's comedy being hit and miss, the episode was mostly good. 

Kuvira declaring that Suyin hands over Zaofu or she will take it from her is a good way to setup the conflict for the next few episodes. What makes the conflict more interesting is that Kuvira is not entirely wrong. Like she said, she had to done some questionable things to bring peace, so from some a certain perspective, she is not all bad. But of course, that is what many militant dictators see themselves as at first. 

After several seasons of being pure comic relief, Varrick actually starts to show hints of character development. Of course, he still had his moments of humor, especially measuring weight in "Zhu Li's" and voltage in "Varrick's," but after the spirit vine exploded, Varrick actually reconsidered his alliance with Kuvira. Another great turn was Zhu Li's change of allegiance to Kuvira's side. If you remember the previous scene when Varrick saves Zhu Li, which makes her think for a second that Varrick actually cares about her. Of course, being the guy that Varrick is, he quickly tells her to get this mess cleaned up, which is probably the point where Zhu Li's respect of Varrick begins to wane, until she snaps later in the episode. Finally seeing Zhu Li and Varrick have some sort of conflict actually added some needed drama to the episode. 

Another plot intertwined in the episode is Asami's reunion with her father. After not seeing her last episode, this quick glimpse into her personal life is a bit familiar to other stories, but it is no less effective. 

Lavabending FTW!

Lastly in terms of plot, Korra finally makes her arrival in Zaofu. After a quick expository conversation with Suyin about Kuvira's past, which reveals that Suyin essentially raised Kuvira as her daughter and how Kuvira started her mission as the “Great Uniter." Suyin suggests that Korra use the Avatar State to destroy Kuvira's army, which is a surprising, albeit very reasonable, request consider Suyin's past. Instead, Korra states that the old Korra would likely attack, but she wants to negotiate.

In terms of production value, "Enemy at the Gates" is about typical by TLOK standards. However, the 3D rendered mecha suits are not really preferred, but not bad either. Personally, 3D animation should not mix with 2D, but with that being said, it blended a lot better than most. The action scene itself was fine. It was nothing special by Korra standards, but Bolin's Lava-bending looked fantastic visually. 

Overall: 8.0/10- Again, "Enemy at the Gates" is the type of episode that the pieces of the plot in motion, although, we are almost at the halfway point, so, hopefully, the next episode will begin to move the plot forward. 

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