Can't she just be an interesting character? Why does she have to be part of a larger plot? How is it a waste of airtime if she is an interesting character meant for people to relate to? She is my favorite character on the show and by far the most interesting to me.

I can't speak for Noble Bear, but I've never let that stop me before: I'm pretty sure what he's been saying is that she isn't an interesting character. She might have been, if it'd gone the way he was hoping, but in the end, he just found her bland and overall worthless to the plot, on top of being dragged in purely through random coincidences.

Personally, I split the difference ... I think she's a decent character. Just decent. Which makes her a perfect fit for Mako, who is also just decent, no more, no less.

Frankly, I'm hoping to see her go rogue in season 2. Not necessarily turn traitor, but strike out on her own. The way things were going the last few episodes, I can see her going dark, fast. If any main character were allowed to actually kill someone (I know, fat chance), she's the one I can see doing it now.

I agree that she is the most likely if any of them could to kill someone. I want to see her become closer friends with Kora and bitterly hate Mako. It would be interesting to see Korra put in a position where her best friend and her boyfriend hate each other. This then further leading to her going rogue and getting even darker would also make me happy.

I'd also like to come to the defense of Asami. She was the most interesting character as an individual. I enjoyed her attitude and her outlook and how she kept up in a world of benders without being a bender, then again Sokka was one of my consistently favorite characters also (as is Karrin Murphy from Dresden).

However I will agree that the story didn't feature her as much as it could have, While that doesn't mean she is useless, it meas she was underutilized. I don't think she HAD to be an evil mastermind but she should have been more active in a role and done something meaningful and important at the end and along the way.

In Season 2 I don't think I want her to go "rogue" but I think it would be interesting if she plays a bigger part. She is the defacto head of the Sato corperation, this MIGHT mean she will begin to see some of the reasons why her father disliked Benders as much as he did. It will also provide tension as she HAS to do things for the good of the company and not just being free and go willy-nilly with the Avatar and friends (I don't want to lose that but I think seeing her in a role where she has to balance that stuff could be interesting and might provide tension for the group)

Exactly. She's NOT interesting. I'd like if she were, certainly there was potential there; either as a villain or as someone who could have been struggling with the revelation of her father's bigotry and perhaps dropping a line that showed insight hinting at the real reason why mom isn't around anymore that dad is only blaming on firebenders. Nothing that could have been done with her was and instead all that is presented is a mess of contrivances and soap opera tropes.

She's interesting? why? Because of her character design? Her voice actor? Because she's not the sort of girl Hall & Oats would sing about? Having aesthetic appeal and not ascribing negative traits is fine but is insufficient to make a character interesting.

Oh, and it's worth pointing out that Sato, for his faults, WAS a good father. He was caring and supportive of Assami and toward her friends in spite of his well concealed hatred. In fact, while he could have raised her in a culture of hate, he didn't and took steps to shelter it from her. Furthermore, the fact that Assami herself is not an elitist, a brat, or an entitled bitch is further evidence that he did at least one thing correctly in his life. Fuck, HE'S far more interesting than she is.

She is not interesting to YOU. Whether she is interesting or not is a matter of opinion. She is in the series to appeal to people who do find her interesting. She has a great determined personality, her dialog is written well, she does have a good character design, and being a generally good person who keeps getting the short end of the stick without turning bad makes her relatable.

I know you feel strongly about your entertainment, but not liking something doesn't make it a waste of screen time or objectively bad. Liking something doesn't make it objectively good either of course.

I'm unclear what you're arguing here Wayne, but I'll try my best to address your concerns.


I haven't been arguing anything as objective, nor arguing with anyone's enjoyment of anything. Art isn't objective, if it were, only one of us could be correct in absolute terms, when such is clearly not the case.

The relative strength of any artform is based on adhering to (or cleverly subverting, given context) the principals of what makes any work in that medium compelling/effective. As such, I have not been arguing that Assami or the Season finale are somehow objectively bad or at anytime mean to imply that no one is allowed to think/feel differently, What I have been trying to argue is for a better plot, better structure; something that the writers on this show have shown themselves capable of. It has little to do with like/dislike of the characters themselves as how well they fit into the structure of the larger narrative. For instance, just because I like bears and am glad to see them as characters in a story, it doesn't mean that every time they are featured in a story, that the bear character or the larger story will be effective; in Brave, it was; in Golden Compass, it wasn't.

Bringing it back to Assami specifically, I'm ok with her being in the story, the problem I have is that she is sitting in a perfect storm of mechanics that make the story less effective, thus adding bloat. She can be there, but the plot needs to tell us why; if she develops or advances the story in a way that comes out of nowhere, rather than as a natural consequence of the plot, that's a contrivance and it makes the overall quality of the narrative weaker; if instead she develops or advances the story by taking actions that respond to the plot , then the overall quality is improved and the narrative becomes more compelling. It was my assertion that she has added bloat to the tone and structure of the narrative, and thus it would have been better to cut her out altogether, however, if the writers address the problems I have with the character moving forward, then I see no reason she couldn't be a welcome addition to Team Avatar.

I really enjoyed the show. I think it helped that I didn't put it under a microscope.

I found Asami to be interesting precisely because she didn't switch sides, even when she had every good reason to do so. It showed a strength of character that few of the others possessed. Heck, I think Mako acted like a total jerk, and had Korra been more mature and less self-obsessed she would have seen this and dumped him.
If he treats Asami like that, what's going to give her any consideration?

Note: these are not criticisms of the series, merely observations. I enjoyed Korra overall. The last episode could have been paced better and foreshadowing could have toned down the exposition, but overall I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to more.

A little Legend of Korra news. 52 episodes total.

http://www.capsulecomputers.com.au/2012 ... -con-2012/