However, I was still waiting for it to air in the UK by the time the series was over in the US, so eventually I decided to go to the same source that allowed me to watch the remainder of Legend of Aang as quickly as I did, and began watching them. 
And does the series live up to it's predecessor's level of brilliance?
Does it delve into darker, more mature themes than Aang did?
Is there a character that stands up against the brilliance that is Uncle Iroh? Well, that's more or less what I want to know anyway, so let's dive in.
Warning: From this point on there will be spoilers for both this series and The Legend of Aang. Ye be warned.
The show starts with a monologue by a man who reveals himself to be the son of Aang, the last series' protagonist and Avatar, explaining (very briefly) how his father and his father's friends saved the world, and that they built a United Republic of Nations out of the Fire Nation colonies where people could live together in peace. They built a city at the heart of this nation of peace and justice, but since they couldn't get the copyrights to Camelot, they had to name it Republic City. We then learn that Aang has passed away (tissues, please), and that there will be a new Avatar now. We then cut to a group called the Order of the White Lotus, who arrive at a house in the South Pole looking for the new Avatar. For those of you who can remember, the Order of the White Lotus was the group of badass old people who retook the Earth Kingdom Capital Ba Sing Se, which was crawling with Fire Nation soldiers, in less than a day. We are introduced to a little tomboy bending three of the four elements - water, earth and fire. Seeing as this book is called 'Air', it makes sense that she's going to be learning to airbend in this volume. Sure enough, we fast-forward some ten years or so, and find Korra's mastered three of the four elements, but hasn't even started on the fourth and doesn't seem to grasp the spiritual aspects of being the Avatar. Her teachers - one of them being Katarra, our leading lady from The Legend of Aang - decide she is ready to learn these things and so send for Tenzin, Aang and Katarra's son.
Wait, what?
That's right, Aang and Katarra married between the two series and had three kids, although we only meet the youngest, Tenzin, in this series.
Tenzin brings with him his three children - yes, the teenage girl and twelve year old boy of the last series have grandchildren now - and we come to the most infuriating aspect of this episode. One of the children politely asks Katarra about the cliff-hanger at the end of the last series, regarding Zuko's mother, which I myself have been dying to know the ending to, only to be interrupted by THE MOST OBNOXIOUS LITTLE RAT THAT CALLS ITSELF A CHILD DENYING ME THE ANSWER TO LIFE'S GREATEST - I mean, I was a little cheesed off. Moving on.
Tenzin tells Korra he has to stay at Republic City because things there are - well, bad. Korra suggests she go with him, which makes sense since she needs to learn to airbend and it's sort of her job to keep the peace, so going to Republic City to help out around there would be the smart thing to do. The Order of the White Lotus and Tenzin deny this and tell her to stay put. Needless to say, she doesn't, sneaking out that night after Tenzin leaves and saying farewell to Katarra and her parents - which I may have been moved by if they had more than two lines each in this whole episode. Ten quid says we never see them again, except maybe in a couple of flashbacks. Korra makes her way to Republic City, and before long she finds herself fighting criminals, and then being arrested for causing damage to the street she was fighting on.
After seeing a statue of an old friend outside the police station, we are introduced to Lin Bei fong, Toph's daughter, and head of the Republic City police, or whatever they're called. She wants to lock Korra up for the damage, but is stopped by Tenzin, who is able to convince her to let him take her home. On their way, Korra tells Tenzin that she needs to be in Republic City and needs to learn airbending, and he relents, allowing her to stay with him and his family while he teaches her airbending. She is seen telling the people of the city that she is the new Avatar, and we then cut to a scene of a man in a mask saying that Korra's arrival means they need to move their plans forward. Ominous. I think he may be the series' villain.
So what do I think of it? Well, as an opening episode, I enjoyed it well enough. It doesn't have the same grand scope as the opening of The Legend of Aang, but I don't think it meant to. I get the feeling this series is going to be a bit more concentrated, probably in Republic City instead of the entire globe, and I'm Ok with that. We've seen the Avatar world before, but this city is a new aspect, with cars and radio; it's a lot more modern than the last series, and I'm curious how new technologies will fit into a world where people can control the elements - will it augment their powers in some way, or will it be used to bring the non-benders up to a similar level of power to benders, like the equalists (who make a brief appearance in this episode) seem to want?
The animation is gorgeous, I have to say, with Republic City looking huge but very detailed, a truly fantastic piece of work, and the sequences involving the bending looking even more fluid than they did in the previous series meaning that while we didn't get action sequences as spectacular as Aang vs. Ozai, I am very much looking forward to seeing the showdowns towards the end of the series which will hopefully be much bigger in scale.
As for the characters... well, that's a tough one. Now I think Korra, so far, is great - the complete opposite of Aang as an Avatar. Aang struggled with both Earthbending and Firebending, the more physical aspects of being the Avatar, but Waterbending, Airbending and the spiritual stuff he nailed without much difficulty. Korra, on the other hand, says that she struggles with the spiritual stuff, and I'm assuming she won't have the easiest time learning to Airbend. It's also great to note that Aang, while goofy and immature at the start of the season, could still be very respectful and contemplative when he needed to. Korra seems to be struggling with this - however, she has no problem leaping into action when the situation demands it (and, on occasion, when it doesn't) which is something Aang found to be his stumbling block on a number of occasions, and was the reason he struggled with Firebending and Earthbending.
The other characters are less interesting. Katarra has basically become her grandmother - no, seriously, compare the way they look and speak, it's almost scary. Tenzin just seems to be a grumpy old man who spends a lot of time wagging his finger at Korra, and while I hope the ending of this episode means there will be less of that, I highly doubt it. His kids are infuriating, clearly there for comic relief or cute factor without bringing much of either to the table. Tenzin's wife, whose name I can't remember, was very forgettable so I can't say much about her. The Order of the White Lotus members are a real step down from the badasses we had at the end of the last series, serving as little more than nameless versions of Tenzin assigned to protect her. Lin Bei Fong seems to be the only other decent character beside Korra; the way she pointed out that being the Avatar didn't get you out of trouble was fantastic, saying it had 'diddly squat' to do with her breaking the law. Plus she's Toph's daughter, and that automatically gets her a few points.
Still, it's only one episode in, and I probably haven't seen a lot of the characters yet. For now, it was a very different opening to The Legend of Aang, but I really enjoyed and am looking forward to going over the next one.
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