A:TLA Annotations

LOK continues to parallel Chinese history i.e. we have now reached the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.

In episode eight we see a curfew being put in place for non-benders, as well as any association with Equalists being made into a punishable offense. Further, normal citizens are being rounded up under the excuse of them being potential Equalists.

Tarrlok’s actions split the City Council (plus Avatar) into two groups, those pro and those against the strict handling of the Equalist situation.

As I have pointed out before: The Equalists parallel the Communists, while the Task Force parallels the Kuomintang. Click me!

Now this is what happened in real life (it parallels rather well):

The April 12 Incident of 1927 refers to the violent suppression of Chinese Communist Party organizations in Shanghai by the military forces of Chiang Kai-shek and conservative factions in the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party).

Following the incident, conservative KMT elements carried out a full-scale purge of Communists in all areas under their control, and even more violent suppressions occurred in cities such as Guangzhou and Changsha.

The purge led to an open split between KMT left and right wings, with Chiang Kai-shek establishing himself as the leader of the right wing at Nanjing in opposition to the original left-wing KMT government in Wuhan.

Will we get to see a full-scale civil war? Is the EK Russia in this scenario?

More:

The Taiping Rebellion - Religious elements in the Equalists

Be the leaf, Amon

Amon Poster - Real World References

The Meaning Behind Amon’s Name

Amon’s Mask - Analyzed through Beijing Opera Symbolism

Republic City, Yu Dao, Imperialism, the Boxer Rebellion and Hong Kong

What time period is ATLA set in

Implications of The Founding of Republic City i.e. The Promise Part One

Let’s play Rorschach

Who else noticed that the way the crowd was standing kinda looked deliberate?

1. Things I can see: A communist star :D

2. Vaguely Korean writing

Anyone out there reading this blog who can speak Korean? Does it say anything?

Apparently it is not. Sadness. I was hoping for a dorky/funny note from the animators XD

… guys, don’t take that personally, but you might want to hit the gym again …

Lao Gan Lan 老甘藍 aka ‘Venerable Broccoli/Brussels Sprouts’ (depending on the regional dialect). Gan Lan could also mean 橄榄 - ’Olive’, but since we are dealing with the cabbage merchant’s legacy, that is rather unlikely.

Since I’ve seen this mistranslated once too often:

Lao is NOT part of the name, it is an honorific. Toph’s father’s first name is not Lao. Neither is it this dude’s first name. (Or family name for that matter, if we do it the Chinese way)

Lao in this context means “Venerable; sir; master”

Lao is prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people); venerable (person).

Example of usage: Laozi 老子 aka  Lao Tse, Lao Tu, Lao-Tsu, Laotze, Laosi, Laocius, and other variations) was a philosopher of ancient China

What she said:

cadesama:

Let’s talk about Mako’s Equalist sympathies. Up to now, the Equalists have been portrayed as exclusively anti-bender — NOT as a class based movement, despite the otherwise obvious parallels to the Communist Party. They’re also been portrayed as terrorists. If you don’t completely hate benders, why would you join? That’s equally a question for non-benders off the street as it is for a bender like Mako.

The answer is likely in the recruitment. I think we are very soon going to see the hard sell from the Equalist recruiters. It’s not about lobotomizing benders, it’s about taking back a city that excludes you from the best job opportunities, makes you homeless, and disenfranchises your vote. These are all things that happened to Mako too. And it’s just about time for Mr Perfect over there to actually have a fall from grace.

• The non-romantic points of tension between Korra and Mako always related back to class and privilege. He has some resentment there.
• The job he takes at the power plant requires a high level of skill and control, yet it pays very little according to the game. The workers are being exploited.
• The game also pointedly mentions the loyalty between the brothers. And while that may just be de rigueur for a description of brothers, the storyline is already about divided loyalties. If Mako can be convinced that Bolin was taken by Amon by accident, they could easily come into conflict over the Equalists.
• Conservation of characters. Every character in a show like this needs to make a unique contribution to the plot. In ATLA, our scrappy band of heroes each had a skill, but more than that, they operated as an independent troop of fighters and were never folded into a larger army. In LoK, you don’t need this formulation. This isn’t a physical fight. It’s an ideological one. You don’t have unique roles for a firebender and an earthbender. You have the same role for the two boys who grew up as homeless orphans. So why have two benders around who suffered class based discrimination but aren’t bitter about it around? You only need one.
• And finally, we come to the romance arc. I firmly think that Asami is the leader of the chi-blockers, soon likely to be Amon’s second in command. It gives her something worthwhile to contribute to the plot – the “good guys” are the government, so they have no need for her money – and an in to sell the audience on why people join the Equalists. But beyond her access to Mako to convince him, I just don’t think it makes any sense to have a romantic arc where Mako dates Asami and breaks up with her and then falls in love with Korra. This is an action adventure show, not a teen drama. It makes more sense for him to feel conflicted, choose Asami, get in too deep with the Equalists, and earn Korra’s trust (possibly love) back after he screws up royally.