I am currently over halfway through writing the second volume of the Cases of Inspector Marshall series. And, I have decided to return to writing blog posts. Within the past few months, I have taken many considerations in crafting the follow-up to my own story, and have been developing my ideas on sequels too.
And with the recent additions of Avatar: The Last Airbender (herein, ATLA) and sequel series The Legend of Korra (herein TLOK) to Netflix, I saw fit to give my thoughts on these shows and how they apply to this discussion.
For background, I did not watch either show as a kid. I watched ATLA in May over the course of five days, and TLOK in August within three days. Prior to then, the only exposure to these series was the first few episodes of ATLA while in college, and various posts/videos on social media. My opinions are not rooted in childhood nostalgia, but my own impressions as an adult and author.
There will be a general non-spoiler review below, then a spoiler one further down.
ATLA has long been praised as one of the best family-friendly shows out there, and I certainly agree. The story, richness of the characters, animation, choreography of the fights, approaches to philosophy; it astounded me.
And, I can then imagine how the creators would have felt trying to create to make a follow-up to that with TLOK. They must have realized that they could never make something like that again, partially from the quality, but also by making a new story that didn’t ripoff the original source material.
So they did the best thing they could do, a stroke of creative genius.
They made something completely different.
And it worked.
I was amazed with TLOK. Not to say that it lacks flaws, but like with ATLA, I’m willing to accept some of its shortcomings because of how good everything else is. I daresay, it is one of the best possible sequels they could have made.
Which brings me to the first major point on sequel writing: there is a critical balance, one part honoring the traits that made the original good, and the other part creating a new story with its own identity.
I am by no means comparing my own work to these series; rather, this is a principle I caught on to that helps me with my second volume. Drift too far from the original, and you lose the ability to create smart parallels and legacies, and the result feels like it does not adequately expand the story. Yet if you get too caught up in the past, you only create a cheap copy of the original, and are not creating a new story at all.
And there’s already too much direct-to-video sequels, bad/unnecessary remakes, and contrived fanfiction out there. Don’t fall to their level.
Yet TLOK for the most part maintains this balance. No surprise; it’s the Avatar’s job. It’s not afraid to be different. It’s not afraid to create parallels with the original, while also showing some features in a new light (if not downright subverting them). And, it’s not afraid to expand on what ATLA started.
Which brings me to the second major principle of sequel writing: it demonstrates the reasonable consequences of what happened in the previous installment.
The steampunk/gaslamp setting is visually appealing, and it makes sense. If the world nations are at peace, of course technology is going to advance. Benders of different elements coming together, infrastructure from the Hundred Year War; an industrial society is the natural progression not just from the political situation, but also the gathering of ideas and resources.
Hence, the conflicts fit the scene. Different extreme ideologies clamor for power in times of great change, all working to determine the course of the future. And it is Avatar Korra’s job to ensure that all works for the better.
The structure across seasons works to its advantage. Rather than one major threat across the entirety of the show, and most of the major villains being related to each other, TLOK provides a variety of evils to face. It demonstrates the Avatar’s constant need to quell new threats as they emerge (as the Sith say, “Peace is a lie”), and prevents it from becoming stale.
And as in its predecessor, the series is able to create a kid-appropriate story, but does not insult the intelligence of its viewers, rather supplements it.
Before I move into spoiler territory, I will give my ratings for both shows:
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Plot: 4/4
Characters: 4/4
World-building: 4/4
Details: 4/4
Misc: 4/4
Total: 20/20
The Legend of Korra
Plot: 3/4
Characters: 4/4
World-building: 4/4
Details: 4/4
Misc: 4/4
Total: 19/20
And now: **********SPOILERS**********
(Ye’ve been warned.)
I like how Korra has a nigh opposite personality to Aang, and that their development is the same path from reverse angles. Aang, the wise soul who learned to be strong, despite not wanting to be Avatar; and Korra, the natural warrior who gained wisdom as she boldly charged into being Avatar. True balance, and a fantastic use of a sequel’s advantage of hindsight.
I like how the Team Avatar has realistic implications of them being older. Whereas ATLA gave us a group of friends traveling the world together, the main characters in TLOK have a greater independence from the gang. They have jobs and responsibilities that prevent them from always being near each other, just like adult friendships, yet they retain their affection.
A common criticism of TLOK is the love triangle early on. I usually do not abide the trope myself, but I let it slide for this show because they did it right. It does not overbear the main story, and it demonstrates the emotional impact it has on the people involved. The look on Bolin’s face when he had the flowers? Mako’s own conflicting emotions, not wanting to hurt anybody’s feelings while ultimately losing them both? Asami not accepting being someone’s second choice? All understandable, and in summary a condemnation of love triangle behavior.
So, that particular criticism is unfair. Especially since ATLA had a worse-written love triangle with Sokka, Yue, and Hahn.
The villains in TLOK are well done. Each of them has a core concept they pursue, with understandable and even noble intentions. There’s nothing wrong with wanting non-benders to not be second-class citizens, seeking peace between humans and spirits, protecting against tyranny, or saving one’s country from mayhem.
Yet it is their methods, the means that contradict the very ends they desire, that makes them villainous. Being so consumed with ideology, that one loses sight of and betrays their original intent. Wanting equality, but dividing people through violence; supporting spirits, while forcing them to become dark; seeking freedom, but imprisoning an entire nation; battling for unity, through coercion and persecuting people by ethnicity. And the fact that they all show a darker version of something positive and heroic from ATLA creates another brilliant parallel that only a sequel can accomplish.
Another strange recurrence is that the third episode of each show was when I thought, “Oh yeah, this series is going to be amazing.” And I wasn’t wrong.
For TLOK, I am referencing Amon revealing his powers. Removing a person’s bending was how the first show ended the Hundred Year War, so seeing that weaponized against the heroes had me realize that the series was willing to honor something from the past while being different.
Me, I love when tropes are flipped on their heads; the light turned to dark, the heroic turned villainous, good falling to evil. I admire that so much, I made “corruption” an element in my book’s magic system. Which is why I love TLOK, for it is not afraid to show a realistically negative side of something in its predecessor.
The first time I heard of airbenders, my initial response was: “Why don’t they ever fight by taking the air from someone’s lungs?” I asked this to someone in college, who replied that the Air Nomads have a pacifist philosophy. I asked this again to someone at work last year, who said that, and added that TLOK has a villain who does just that.
An evil airbender? When the hero of the first series was an Air Nomad, who usually has peaceful ways? Demonstrating how Air Nomad philosophy can be used for evil ends? Zaheer using airbending to asphyxiate the Earth Queen and send the Earth Kingdom into anarchy? All great storytelling elements.
And the same applies to Unalaq becoming a dark Avatar, or Kuvira using Toph’s metalbending and Zuko’s legacy of a peaceful Fire Nation to advance herself. The writers were willing to go there, and that’s what makes the show legendary.
And, TLOK does the vice versa of what I mentioned above regarding trope subversion, things once seen as villainous being heroic (and so on). For instance, Mako being a heroic firebender (though his actions are not always good). Lightningbending used to fuel power plants, and war balloons from the Fire Nation assisting the protagonists.
And this adds into the third major point of sequel writing: it reinforces the messages and spirit of the original, while also expanding it and showing new challenges. The redemption of the Fire Nation is intact, and it has been reformed to a positive force in the world. And building off another takeaway, it shows the long-term effects of how much change can happen when people are willing to see other perspectives.
And the way this is challenged is also a darker version of it; each major villain has a secondary villain of opposing ideology, a hammer and anvil smacking together, with the innocent caught in between the clash. Many perspectives are seen, leading to conflict, while Korra and the others have to learn from their enemies to find the best path.
Some fans of either show try to make it a competition between the series, but I strive to discover the conversation between them. ATLA was a tough act to follow, and for them to create a sequel roughly equivalent to the predecessor’s quality is a feat of artistic skill.
What are your favorite parallels between these shows? What have they taught you on developing sequels?
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