*U.I.C.S. stands for: Unnecessarily Intensive Character Study*
(This is, easily, the absolute longest article I have ever, and probably will ever, write. I hope you enjoy, because this took an absurd amount of work.)
My past two articles about Korra have made it explicitly clear how much I love Kuvira. Well, following in the grand tradition of (at this point in time) exclusively female antagonists who I adore as characters, I figured now was as good a time as any to jump headfirst into a U.I.C.S. analysis about her.
There’s a lot to unpack here, spread across three distinct eras of Kuvira’s life, and containing content from Seasons Three and Four, and Ruins of the Empire. Let’s jump into it!
An Unwanted Child
Kuvira’s story begins, as most do when you look deep enough, in childhood. In Kuvira’s case, though, her story beginning since she was a kid is a bit more literal.
From the minute she could walk and talk, Kuvira’s parents considered her to be a difficult and often uncontrollable child. Though birthed to two (presumably) nonbending parents, Kuvira possessed immense earthbending talent even from a young age. This talent alienated her not only from her parents, but also from other relations her own age. No one seemed to have any idea what to do with her, and this neglect and unstated dislike thrown Kuvira’s way had a profoundly negative impact on her.
Kuvira, like all children truly are , was not as oblivious as her parents would like to believe, and she knew that they didn’t love her or want her the way she desired. This lack of care and want only heightened Kuvira’s preexisting disposition towards aggression and conflict. It isn’t hard to sympathize with her frustrations towards the world around her, nor is it hard to see why it became a self-fulfilling prophecy as Kuvira’s parents’ neglect of her only made her more ‘difficult‘ to raise, thus prompting more acting-out. It’s a sad cycle.
It’s at least worth pointing out that Kuvira, though a victim of her parents’ neglect and society itself letting her down, was not wholly blameless in life. From a young age she had a tendency to stretch the truth or otherwise outright lie if she believed such an action would grant her an advantage in any given scenario. She also had a troubling tendency to take responsibility for her own actions…which will have profound ramifications later on in her life.
With neither side of the struggle willing to bend, things could only continue until a certain point, wherein a dramatic breakage would become unavoidable. And though Kuvira’s initial moments of acting out were contained to such behavior as earthbending her wall apart to escape being grounded, everything eventually escalated to a dramatic point. In a fit of rage, Kuvira nearly killed her own mother in an earthbending outburst.
It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Kuvira’s parents wanted nothing more at that point than to drop their daughter out of their life for good.
Whether financially wealthy or politically connected, her parents made the necessary arrangements for Kuvira to be adopted by Suyin Beifong, the much-beloved leader of the city-state of Zaofu. Without any pomp or circumstance, Kuvira’s parents simply dropped her on the doorstep of Zaofu, told her that it was ‘for her own good‘, and then washed their hands clean of her for life, never once reconnecting with her.
You refuse to listen! You have no discipline! And no remorse for what you did! There’s a master metalbender here who agreed to take you off our hands. Hopefully, she can knock some sense into you.
Kuvira’s Father, Ruins of the Empire
The intuition of a child is not to be overlooked, though, and Kuvira did not have any trouble realizing the implications of what her parents had just done to her. The knowledge of being abandoned in such a way would remain deeply rooted in her psyche for years and years to come.
Of course, Kuvira was showered with love and affection by Suyin. This did little to ease the sense of loneliness and frustration within her heart, though, and she remained largely unmoved by the affection shown to her by her pseudo-adoptive mother.
If you don’t learn to control your violent impulses, you’re going to hurt someone in this family, the way you hurt your mother. Do you understand?
Suyin, Ruins of the Empire
Kuvira got on even less well with Suyin’s biological children, particularly her only daughter, Opal. Kuvira would often butt heads with Opal, unable to keep her aggression in check heading into her tween years. Without a firm grasp on her violent impulses, Kuvira often caused havoc in Suyin’s house, up to and including Opal’s toys when she refused to give Kuvira a turn with them. Her bending, which was only getting stronger with time, was often employed in these outbursts.
Suyin’s repeated attempts to make it clear to Kuvira that her actions had consequences and could result in people getting hurt were shot down time and time again. Kuvira stubbornly and repeatedly refused to take accountability for her temper tantrums, and soon only Suyin retained any semblance of patience towards the girl. In fact, Opal was frequently annoyed that her mother refused to punish Kuvira more severely, unable to give the other girl the benefit of the doubt…or even acknowledge her as a sister at all.
She’s not my sister! She’s a stray dog nobody ever wanted. Not even her real parents.
Opal, Ruins of the Empire
There is one area in which Suyin did leave an impression on Kuvira, however, and that is with regard to Suyin’s firmly-held progressive political beliefs.
Suyin had, in fact, created the city-state of Zaofu specially to break away from the rigid traditions and monarchy of the rest of the Earth Kingdom. Her city-state championed the ideals of freedom, self-fulfillment, and adaptation. In the decades since it’s creation, it easily became the pinnacle of modern technology and ideology in the Earth Kingdom, and that sense of self-actualization resonated with Kuvira, who had long since grown to believe in the power of standing on one’s own two feet.
Over time, Kuvira grew older, and shed more and more of her adolescent aggression and rash behavior (though those traits still existed underneath the surface). She practiced her earthbending skills religiously, and grew closer and closer to Suyin as she matured. Under Suyin’s guidance, Kuvira’s skills with metalbending became second-to-none, and she soon achieved the rank of Captain of the Guard of Zaofu. She even joined Suyin’s personal dance troupe, which performed feats of acrobatics for the Zaofu citizens.
It genuinely cannot be stated enough that, despite their rocky beginning, Suyin and Kuvira developed an intensely strong bond. Kuvira may have distanced herself from the rest of Suyin’s children, and even from her initial status as a pseudo-adopted daughter, but it is undoubtable that the two became extremely close and trusted confidants. Suyin taught Kuvira everything she knew about metalbending and politics, and Kuvira repaid her by protecting the city as the head guard, and by upholding the morals and ideals of Zaofu.
(In fact, Korra viewers are first treated to Kuvira by seeing a newspaper article praising her accomplishments and her dedication. It’s quite an introduction for a character who would take such a drastic turn towards antagonism only a season later.)
Kuvira’s loyalty is demonstrated multiple times throughout Season Three of Korra, as Kuvira proves herself an indispensable ally over and over.
Kuvira and her guard team help fight off anarchist Zaheer, the architect of the Red Lotus movement seeking to assassinate the Avatar and all figures of authority. Kuvira personally lands several powerful blows on Zaheer, and fights him to a draw before he manages to escape. Later, when Suyin’s chief advisor Aiwei betrayed her for the Red Lotus, Kuvira led the search for his whereabouts, eventually discovering the secret tunnel he used to escape the city.
Later, Kuvira and the rest of the metalbending guards in Suyin’s command head with Korra to the Northern Air Temple to rescue the trapped Air Nomads from the Red Lotus. Kuvira participates in the battle, narrowly avoiding death with her masterful command over her metal cables. More notably, she saves the life of Korra’s own father, Tonraq, when he was shoved off a cliff to his presumed death by Zaheer. This act endeared Tonraq to Kuvira, who he thanked profusely for saving his life.
Kuvira’s only moment of disappointment came when Suyin ordered her to stay behind with the wounded when they went to track down the Red Lotus’ base. Her apprehension at being left out of the fight clearly shows her desire to see missions through to the end, and her unwavering pursuit of doling justice out upon those who commit wrongs. That unyielding spirit is one of Kuvira’s most prominent traits, yet still she acquiesces to Suyin’s order and stays behind.
Suyin and the others are successful in tracking down the Red Lotus remnants, and Korra defeats Zaheer at the cost of her own intense physical and emotional strain. Though the crisis has been averted, the toll enacted upon Korra is too great to ignore, and she returns to her home in the Southern Water Tribe to recover from the battle. This, by proxy, leaves a war-torn world without its Avatar until she recovers.
See, Zaheer’s goal of killing all government leaders and authority figures to ‘give freedom to the people‘ was not wholly a failed endeavor. He did manage to end the life of the Earth Queen, effectively cutting the head off of a nation built upon its monarchy for the past millennia. And with no one else to easily slide into the throne (her only decent, a man named Wu, too young to claim the throne just yet), the entire Earth Nation descended into chaos…more or less like Zaheer wanted.
The power vacuum was unsustainable, however, and it led to the rise of bandits and thieves who threatened to tear the already-injured Earth Nation apart. A solution needed to be put in place, and many key authority figures of the world (Tenzin, leader of the Air Nation, and President Raiko, head of the world’s largest independent nation, Republic City) turned to one individual in particular: Suyin Beifong.
Their reasoning was solid. Suyin was a much-respected authority figure in her own right, having created and presided over Zaofu for decades and beloved by all its citizens. The Beifong name even carried with it a credible claim to the throne of the Earth Nation, should any citizen protest her being placed into power. In Tenzin and Raiko’s eyes, there was no better candidate to help reunite and repair the Earth Nation than Suyin.
And Kuvira believed in this idea too…quite fiercely.
The trouble is, Suyin didn’t.
Suyin refused the offer, not wanting to claim any sort of throne or authority higher than her pre-existing station in Zaofu. While her reasoning for doing so (fear of causing further fighting and revolt by being seen as conquerors) had some merit, it was not difficult for those in the meeting (chiefly Kuvira) to see the inherent hypocrisy in Suyin’s words. Despite professing to dislike the monarchy, and building Zaofu as a bastion of progress and modernization, Suyin refuses to act when the chance presents itself.
And so Kuvira, still a loyal captain of the guard, pleads with Suyin to reconsider. She argues how Suyin has served as an example that all the Earth Nation could follow for years, and to pass up the opportunity to guide the struggling nation now is paramount to letting it rot. She points out how the modernization of Zaofu can be shared with all the nation, just like Suyin always preached of doing were she given the chance. Kuvira is firm that this is the right course of action.
But Suyin’s resolve is even firmer, and she refuses. Tenzin and Raiko turn to searching for other solutions, and Kuvira is left to stew in her shifting feelings towards the woman who took her in, a new feeling emerging within herself: resentment.
That single meeting dramatically alters the relationship between Kuvira and Suyin, and they grow more and more distant. At the same time, Kuvira begins reflecting upon the accomplishments and praise she’s received in the years since becoming the captain of Zaofu’s guard. She begins to realize that, if Suyin won’t step up and help carry the Earth Nation into the future, then maybe the responsibility lies with her. After all, refusing to act at all is, in Kuvira’s mind, an example of gross neglect and rejection of duty, no different from her own parents who dumped her at Suyin’s feet all those years ago.
So, Kuvira begins looking for supporters, and like-minded individuals who feel it is Zaofu’s sworn duty to take charge of a hurting Earth Nation, shepherding it back into a united front. She amasses a sizable following, no doubt because of her sterling reputation and commendable feats of power and bravery. Kuvira is charismatic, too, able to be the figurehead of a slowly-growing movement intending to unite the Earth Nation and save it from both itself, and any outsiders that may try to tear it back down.
One such like-minded fellow Kuvira recruits is Suyin’s oldest son, Baatar. Baatar has long harbored feelings of resentment towards his parents, having been named after his father and (in his mind) kept in the shadow of his parents since he was born. A scientific-minded person, Baatar quickly agrees with Kuvira’s assessment of the situation, placing his trust in her ideal of forging a path towards modernization and united technology for the Earth Nation. He becomes Kuvira’s right-hand man and trusted confidant.
Eventually, Kuvira amasses a large enough following (a significant chunk of Zaofu citizens, and most of Suyin’s personal guard), and she and her group leave Zaofu in an airship to fly to the still-ruined and war-torn Earth Nation capital of Ba Sing Se. Suyin tries to stop Kuvira before she leaves, threatening to banish her from every returning to Zaofu, but Kuvira stoically ignores the threat, claiming that, when she returns, it’ll be under her own terms.
Despite the odds stacked against, Kuvira and her team’s mission to liberate Ba Sing Se is a success. She and her team beat back the bandits, arrest the criminals laying siege to city, and liberate the terrified populace. Overnight, word of Kuvira’s incredible efforts spreads across the world, and she is championed as a hero by all who sing her praises. Thousands upon thousands of eager volunteers join her quest to unite the fractured Earth Nation.
Kuvira even ends up officially endorsed by Tenzin, Raiko, and all the other world leaders, legally appointed as General of the effort to reclaim the Earth Nation from anarchy. Kuvira accepts her appointment with grace, and begins putting the large streams of funding to use constructing a massive cross-continental train system, and outfitting her soldiers with top-shelf equipment and mecha-suits.
And so, three years pass.
All Hail The Great Uniter
Kuvira accomplishes a lot during the three year gap between Seasons Three and Four. She’s certainly upheld her dedication and devotion to her cause, and hasn’t lost a shred of her stubborn resolve.
She and her rapidly growing army have steadily united the fractured city-states of the Earth Nation, piece by piece. Each city-state has been brought under the supervision and protection of her and her army, and her reputation as an unstoppable and charismatic force for justice has only multiplied exponentially. She’s chased out the bandits, routed the criminals, and reestablished order no matter the cost.
This somewhat brutal efficiency is demonstrated most effectively in the first episode of Season Four, wherein Kuvira’s train (the spearhead of her army) is halted at a valley pass by bandits. Single-handedly, Kuvira defeats the entire bandit brigade, utilizing a technique of metalbending she herself invented (detachable metal armor plates that can be bent to serve as blunt weapons, blindfolds, or even handcuffs). Without so much as suffering a scratch, Kuvira humiliates the bandits and claims victory.
Immediately after, she shows her cunning and pragmatic side, the part of her philosophy that has seen so many city-states acquiesce to her army’s protection. She not-so-subtly threatens the life of each of the bandits, but also offers an olive branch of peace in the form of joining her army and dedicating themselves to her service and goals. Not surprisingly, the entire bandit brigade relents and joins her army, bolstering her forces.
Following that, Kuvira’s vanguard reaches the city-state of Yi, which has yet to be liberated from criminals and anarchy. When Kuvira broaches the offer of coming into her army’s jurisdiction, however, the governor of Yi refuses.
He claims to see right through Kuvira’s pretty words and empty promises, stating that she’s no different than the criminals already running roughshod over the city-state’s territory. He argues that she’s only going to pretend to make things better, and that in reality the citizens will only be trading one master for another. They won’t even know what’s happening to them is a bad thing until it’s too late.
Kuvira doesn’t take his rant well at first, pushing harder into her arguments that what she is doing is what’s best for the Earth Nation. When the governor continues to refuse to bend to her will, she switches tactics, displaying yet another core facet of her personality: her utter commitment to her goals, even if the ends have to justify the means.
Yi is, and has been, struggling with resources to feed and support its population, as their shipments are continuously raided by thugs and ruffians who roam the countryside. Without an army of their own, the citizens of Yi are helpless. Kuvira, of course, the commander of her own substantial army, is in the perfect position to drive those bandits off and rescue the citizens of Yi from their plight of lawlessness and starvation.
But she doesn’t. Not until the governor of Yi finally bends his knee and swears his city-state’s fealty to her. Only then does Kuvira flex her considerable military muscle and re-establish order to the trouble city-state. The citizens shout and sing her praises as she leads her troops in with weapons and crates of food and supplies. They, along with the rest of the world, shout the title of her new moniker that has been bestowed upon her by her most stalwart supporters:
“All Hail the Great Uniter!”
Only the governor of Yi recognizes the folly of Kuvira’s promises, and the true freedoms his people have just surrendered to a growing militarized nation.
Members of Kuvira’s entourage celebrate their liberation of Yi and the nearly-fully united Earth Nation. These members include Varrick (a manic genius inventor), Zhu Li (Varrick’s more-than-friends assistant), Bolin (a dear friend of Avatar Korra), and Baatar (Suyin’s son, who by now has begun a romantic relationship with Kuvira). Kuvira herself chooses not to celebrate until the job is done, her commitment to the cause unwavering until all of the Earth Nation has been brought under her banner.
And the only city-state remaining is Zaofu.
To make matters worse from Kuvira’s perspective is that upcoming coronation of Prince Wu, the only remaining descendant of the former Earth Queen who was assassinated by Zaheer. Wu has been raised these past few years to take over as the new monarch of the Earth Kingdom, the world leaders intending to maintain the status quo that has represented the Earth Nation for centuries.
To Kuvira, the idea of continuing the monarchy is disgusting.
The monarchy represents everything wrong with the Earth Nation, in her mind. It represents a nation ruled by a single unchecked individual with absolute power, regardless of whether they are suited for the throne or not. It represents strictly adhering to tradition, and not embracing change and modernity for the good of the people. It represents being stuck in the past and refusing to grow, even if citizens have to suffer for it.
These views towards the monarchy and royal status are the same ideas that Suyin once held. They’re the ideas Suyin taught to Kuvira as she shaped her young ward into the spitting image of herself. And it’s these ideas that Suyin failed to uphold by refusing to accept Tenzin and Raiko’s offer of leading the Earth Nation into a new era, and now because of that failure, history is doomed to repeat itself, insomuch as Kuvira sees it.
Kuvira makes her sentiments clear quite bluntly, in turn to Prince Wu, Suyin, and then the world at large.
First is Wu, who Kuvira runs into while visiting Republic City in preparation for the young prince’s coronation. Kuvira plainly detests the prince’s immaturity and lack of decorum. The teenaged heir is pampered, spoiled, entitled, and the perfectly-miserable encapsulation of everything wrong with the former Earth Queen and the monarchy at large. She rebuffs his off-color comments, and largely ignores him…which one might think shouldn’t be how a general acts around the man soon to be her superior…
Next, Kuvira cements her statements to the world stage.
Interrupting Prince Wu’s coronation (right as she’s given a ceremonial medal celebrating her achievements in uniting the fractured Earth Nation), Kuvira launches into her own speech. In no uncertain terms, Kuvira blames Wu and his lineage for the decay of the Earth Kingdom, decries the stagnant traditions of the nation, and champions the value of technology and modernity. She proudly declares her and her army’s efforts in establishing order across the nation in only three years, and her steadfast refusal to ever let chaos overtake her homeland again.
With a loud voice and conviction in her heart, Kuvira denounces Wu and the monarchy, and declares herself the leader of the newly christened ‘Earth Empire‘. Warning the other world leaders to not get in her way of making the Earth Empire the strongest and most united nation in the world, she crushes the ceremonial medal she was just given and ends her speech.
And the crowd erupts into cheers.
Growing up in Zaofu, with Suyin Beifong, I learned that the idea of a royal family passing a title from one generation to the next was archaic, and that technology and innovation should be what drives a nation forward. It was the pathetic rule of kings and queens that caused the Earth Kingdom to descend into such incredible disarray. It’s taken me three years to get it back on track, and there is no way I will allow it to slip back into the dark ages. I’d like to make an announcement to the world: the Earth Kingdom is no more.
Kuvira, Season 4 Episode 3
It cannot be overstated just how incredibly popular Kuvira is. There’s a reason her passionate supporters dubbed her ‘The Great Uniter‘. She’s done the impossible in driving crime and chaos out of the Earth Nation in only three years. She’s a passionate and charismatic speaker who appeals to the common man. She’s a strong and unflappable soldier, leading her army into battle and frequently getting her own hands dirty in combat. She’s a brilliant tactician, directing her army and planning strategies to take down injustice and liberate city-states.
The world at large loves Kuvira…perhaps a bit too much. By hyper-focusing on her as a person, they lose sight of what is left in the wake of the Earth Empire’s push across the nation.
Kuvira is far from a perfect person. And, just like she was as a child and as a petulent teen, she still continues to avoid responsibility, lies for her own advantage, and only looks forward.
Kuvira and the Earth Empire’s ability to re-take city-states has certainly been impressive, but at the end of the day, they are still a forward-moving military force that sprints from one battle to the next. Many of the city-states liberated by her forces are left just as destitute after the army moves on, leaving their citizens to wonder exactly what they gained save from a brief reprieve from bandit attacks.
And those are the ones that get off easy.
For as much as the citizens love Kuvira, many still refused to acknowledge her authority, bandits and innocent civilians alike. For these people, Kuvira’s army set up re-education camps centered around forcing these dissenters to work. Anyone who tried to stand in her way was sent to these camps and forced to use their bending to mine and mold metal for the machines of war Kuvira’s army thrives upon. Quite a few of these camps exist, and Kuvira often elects to let the captains, sergeants, and commanders in charge of these bases govern them as they see fit, while she turns her attention figuratively and literally forward.
This then, technically allows her to claim ignorance when it later comes out about some of the crimes enacted at these camps.
(Also, as a side note, let me be clear on something that’s often misconstrued about this plot beat. Kuvira is running re-education camps, not concentration camps like those related to the World War 2. Kuvira is not mass-murdering dissenters by the thousands, or committing other such debauchery against humanity. Nothing is good about her camps, but there’s a stark difference between Kuvira being a problematic army general with an ends-justify-the-means philosophy, and a would-be world conquering dictator.)
Regardless, as I mentioned, the general populace doesn’t know about this side of the Earth Empire, and so Kuvira is nothing but an icon and a savior to them. Thus, despite publicly challenging the world leaders to fight her or get out of the way, no one makes an immediate move to stop her for fear of both invoking the ire of the public, and coming to blows with the improbably massive army they themselves funded for her.
Kuvira has, to the world leaders, become public enemy number one, yet not a single one of them is brave enough to stand up to her.
They certainly attempt to handle things through diplomacy, however.
The last person that Kuvira meets during her stay in Republic City is Suyin, who she hasn’t seen since that fateful day when she left Zaofu with her early supporters and Suyin’s son. Suyin, still trusted and respected by the world leaders (especially given her city-state being the only one not under Earth Empire control) is designated as their elected ambassador and instructed with reaching out to Kuvira and asking her to re-consider her desire to refuse to step down and let Wu take the throne.
The conversation, perhaps inevitably, does not go well.
Suyin immediately pleads with Kuvira to step down from her position and relinquish power, but Kuvira isn’t hearing it. Instead, Kuvira turns the argument back around, insisting that all of her actions have nothing to do with refusing to ‘step down‘, but are direct results of her being the only one willing to ‘step up‘. Kuvira harshly citizens Suyin for her passive attitude and her hypocrisy in not doing a thing for her nation when she had the chance.
Suyin tries to rebuff her by saying that, if she had taken charge, she’d have only ended up as a conqueror seizing power from the weak. Kuvira retorts that everything she’s done has helped to stabilize and rebuild the Earth Nation, not tear it down, and that her leadership is what is necessary to lead the Earth Empire into the future. She calls Wu a ‘hand-picked dictator‘, and when Suyin tries to label Kuvira the same, Kuvira merely replies that she will only seem to be that way to the people of Zaofu if they refuse to bow to her when she comes for them next.
I stepped up. I provide stability and equality. Tell your world leaders to stay out of Earth Empire business. We won’t accept their hand-picked dictator.
Kuvira, Season Four Episode Three
Unable to see eye-to-eye (and that’s putting it lightly), Kuvira gathers her troops and departs Republic City for Zaofu, the final city-state not yet under the control of the Earth Empire.
Though Suyin’s words do not shake Kuvira’s resolve, the truth of some of her comments still resonate. When Baatar recommends taking Zaofu in a show of force, Kuvira sharply reprimands him, intending to handle things with diplomacy and reasoning now that they are on the world stage so clearly. Of course, Kuvira still has two ace in the holes in her back pocket should the situation not progress in a manner of her liking.
On the one hand, she has the schematics to construct the largest mecha-suit the world has ever seen, and on the other hand, she and her team have been mining the Spirit Vines that crisscross the continent to drain them of their latent power and channel that into destructive weapons that would put all other military forces to shame.
In essence, she’s crafting nukes, but without the radioactive fallout.
Unfortunately, her chief scientist, Varrick, recognizes the horrific potential of the Spirit Vine weapons and refuses to continue developing them, growing a conscience for the first time in his life. Similarly, Bolin begins to recognize how far Kuvira has strayed from her initial noble goal when she threatens to crush Zaofu if it resists, and nearly throws him into one of the Earth Empire’s re-education camps when he suggests an alternative approach.
Suyin certainly doesn’t need convincing of how far Kuvira has fallen, though the army general’s threats do not sway her into giving up Zaofu’s autonomy. Suyin even mocks Kuvira’s attempt to explain that her gathered forces are merely meant to show the Zaofu citizens the might of the force waiting to take care of and protect them. She refuses to back down, as does Kuvira, and it is only the timely arrival of none other than Avatar Korra that diffuses the mounting tension.
Korra, who has spent the past three years on a slow and difficult journey of healing and self-discovery, has returned to a world far different from the state she left it in. As soon as she was able, she headed to Zaofu to stop Kuvira, but through words and not actions. Korra, the perennial hothead, has learned humility and compassion, and what she wants more than anything else is to settle the dispute peacefully.
Though Kuvira gave Suyin only twenty-four hours to respond before taking military action, Kuvira graciously extends the truce indefinitely when Korra arrives, at least until all parties have been mediated by the Avatar. Kuvira is, after all, a fan of the Avatar…or at least she was. Korra inspired her in the past, and Kuvira sees her present day actions as the continuation of the Avatar’s mission to bring balance to the world, without the archaic trappings of depending upon a single magically-powered savior.
Kuvira and Korra’s conversation is, shockingly, quite tame, even with regards to the charged sentiments on both sides. Kuvira argues that what she is planning to do to Zaofu is no different than how she liberated every other city-state, which was the official mandate she was ordered to follow by the world leaders three years ago. She points out how chaotic the world was when Korra took her break to recover, and that while hard decisions were certainly made, it was necessary and for the greater good.
Where others might have balked at the presumptuous or implied superiority in Kuvira’s statements, or perhaps pointed out the re-education camps or how close Kuvira herself is to becoming a dictator, Korra doesn’t do that. Instead, she compassionately listens, thinks over what Kuvira has said, and promises to spend time talking to Suyin too to help the crisis reach a suitable conclusion. This is a whole new Korra, and one Kuvira doesn’t quite know how to feel about.
The issue arises, unfortunately, when Suyin’s personal flaw (her hypocrisy) strikes again. Before Korra can make it back to her, she and her younger twin sons try to ambush Kuvira in the middle of the night to kidnap her and shift the tides of the negotiation in their favor. The truce ends up being for nothing because of their subterfuge, and it’s rendered even more useless when Kuvira sees through the attempt and captures them instead.
Considering the truce broken, Kuvira rallies her troops to march on Zaofu, forcing Korra into the one outcome she wanted to avoid. Landing upon the battlefield, Korra calls for another ceasefire, whereupon Kuvira lectures her about interfering in internal Earth Empire affairs, and thinking about the situation emotionally instead of rationally. Regardless, Kuvira offers to fight Korra one-on-one, proclaiming to ‘never ask my soldiers to do something I’m not willing to do myself‘. If Korra wins, Kuvira and her army will withdraw. If Kuvira wins, she’ll take Zaofu without resistance.
Fine. I want you all to know that I would never ask you to something I’m not willing to do myself. So, rather than risk your lives, I will fight the Avatar one-on-one. Korra, if you win, then you can do whatever you want with Zaofu. But after I beat you, I want you out of my business for good. I’m the one that brought peace to the Earth Empire, not you. You’re not relevant anymore.
Kuvira, Season Four Episode Six
It’s a bold offer, but it’s one that Kuvira is confident she can back up.
And she does.
It isn’t a particularly fair fight, given that Korra is still recovering from her ordeals in Season Three, and has yet to properly re-establish her connection with the supercharged Avatar State. Even still, I don’t want to belittle Kuvira’s own skills here. She’s the most talented metalbender since the woman who invented the technique, an exceptionally skilled hand-to-hand combatant, and a master earthbender on top of that. Korra’s about the only person in the world who could take Kuvira on in a one-on-one fight, and only when Korra’s at full strength, which she’s not here.
Suffice to say, but Korra suffers a pretty brutal beatdown, and she’s only spared by two members of the Air Nation (Jinora and Kuvira’s estranged pseudo-sister Opal). Kuvira’s troops then march on Zaofu, and conquer it without issue. With Korra defeated and Zaofu reclaimed by the Earth Empire, all of the scattered fragments of the Earth Nation have been reunited.
Or…almost all. Kuvira’s goal is not yet in sight.
See, roughly a century earlier, the Fire Nation was on a quest to conquer the world, and ended up claiming a piece of the western Earth Kingdom as Fire Nation territory. They owned this land for years, and by the time to war against the Fire Nation was over and peace returned to the land, the relations in that specific chunk of stolen land had become complicated, to say the least. Fire Nation expatriates and Earth Nation refugees had formed a bond, creating almost an entirely new identity separate from the other nations of the world.
And so, the world leaders decided unanimously to give that stretch of land autonomy, and it went on to become the foundation of Republic City.
But now Kuvira, in her unceasing drive to take back the Earth Nation into its most perfect and complete united form, wants the land that Republic City is on returned to its original owners. And she isn’t particularly picky about what state its in when she takes it back.
There’s a lot that could be said about Kuvira’s extreme stance towards Republic City, and I personally find it interesting how it connects back to her childhood of neglect and vulnerability. Kuvira feels (whether justified or not) that the Earth Nation is not complete without her and the Earth Empire to care for it and shepherd it, and thus Republic City’s treatment of their ‘gifted‘ land is akin to neglect and leaving her homeland vulnerable. It’s interesting to see the ways in which Kuvira truly and completely cannot comprehend her actions as anything but the right course of action.
She hits a minor snag when Varrick and Bolin escape her watch, blow up the train that spearheaded the Earth Empire’s march across the continent, and manage to regroup with the forces in Republic City. But, in the grand scheme of things, it hardly matters. Kuvira and Baatar are able to put the finishing touches on the Spirit Vine weapon, as well as melt down the metal of Zaofu to put to use towards the construction of their gargantuan mecha-suit, which is nearing completion.
Zhu Li, Varrick’s assistant and eventual love interest, still remains by Kuvira’s side (pretending to have forsaken Varrick and sworn fealty to Kuvira), and she interferes in the test-firing of the Spirit Cannon twice to stall the Earth Empire and their impending assault on Republic City. The second attempt pushes her luck, however, and Kuvira catches her in the act of sabotage and furiously orders her placed into the danger zone of the cannon’s blast as recompense for halting her vision of a united nation.
Thankfully for Zhu Li, she is spared by the timely arrival of a Beifong family rescue mission.
The assault is led by Opal, who has grown continuously more bitter towards her pseudo-adopted sister Kuvira. They never got along in the past, but now it would not be a stretch to say that Opal outright hates Kuvira for everything she’s done to tear their family apart and hurt the people she cares about, like her mother and Bolin (who she is dating). Together with Bolin, Lin (Suyin’s older sister), and Toph (Suyin and Lin’s mother), the four mount an attack on Zaofu to rescue Suyin and the rest of the Beifong’s imprisoned in the city.
The rescue part of the operation is a success, at least. Suyin, her husband, and the twin brothers are all successfully saved from their prison cells, and Zhu Li is spared from being annihilated by the Spirit Cannon. Suyin’s attempt to fight Kuvira, on the other hand, does not go quite as well. Suyin’s an expert martial artist and metalbender in her own right, but her headstrong protégé is just that much better, and Suyin ends up summarily defeated.
Still, it’s a resounding victory for our protagonists, and a stinging defeat for Kuvira, who now has to take even longer finishing the weapon and the mecha-suit, later dubbed the ‘Colossus‘.
To expedite the process (and knowing that Zhu Li would no doubt leak her plans of a two-week delayed attack on Republic City), Kuvira addresses her troops in an inspiring call-to-action, urging them to complete the Colossus and depart for Republic City in only a week’s time instead. She congratulates the Earth Empire soldiers for their unwavering dedication, thanking them earnestly for three years of hard work. She tells them that the end is in sight, and only Republic City stands in their way of a truly united Earth Nation.
After the speech, she meets privately with Baatar, personally thanking him for the support that he has shown her all these years. Kuvira takes the time to note that she would most likely have never seen her goals to fruition without him by her side, and the two lovers reaffirm their promise to stand together and see their vision of the future to completion. They also make a promise to officially marry after the conquest of Republic City has come to an end, and Kuvira looks forward to putting an end to the fighting at her long mission’s end.
When the Colossus is finished, it is truly a technological marvel to rival anything that the world has ever seen. Standing twenty-five stories tall, the massive mecha-suit wields the Spirit Cannon on its right arm, and covers massive distances in single strides. It is piloted from a control room comprised of metallic joint levers that Kuvira herself can manipulate with her metalbending prowess in order to lend the mechanical giant a shocking amount of flexibility and precision.
Marching on Republic City, Kuvira takes out a small military outpost to prevent word of the Colossus from reaching Republic City, and it’s only when she and her army are a few short hours away that they finally lose the element of surprise. Baatar captains an airship to direct the impending battle from above, while Kuvira and the Colossus stomp ever closer.
Having anticipated Kuvira’s attack (only being wrong with what date and time it would be), the citizens of Republic City and Korra have already taken steps to prepare. Not only have they gathered a sizable army to fight against the Earth Empire, but they’ve also evacuated nearly the entire population of Republic City outside the danger zone. The city streets stand deathly still, devoid of life save for Korra and her loyal team of defenders.
But none of them could’ve truly anticipated the sheer scale and destructive power of the Colossus, and Kuvira’s initial display of power shocks them. A beam from the Spirit Cannon instantly takes out the line of battleships defending the harbor, blowing them into pieces. Kuvira then, over the radio, demands President Raiko surrender the city to her, or else she will turn the weapon on the buildings, wreaking untold destruction.
Raiko surrenders…but it is a ploy.
In secret, Korra and the rest of her team infiltrate the airship that Baatar is on, kidnapping him and bringing him to the Future Industries stronghold, which is the tech-development company run by Asami (the compassionate and dedicated inventor/philanthropist, who is also Korra’s girlfriend, or rather, will be such shortly). In the stronghold, Baatar is beseeched by both his mother, Suyin, and others to stop fighting for the Earth Empire and stand against Kuvira. He refuses.
Korra opts for a different tactic, demonstrating yet again how much she’s learned in her personal journey that has allowed her to see so many angles on any given issue. Instead of appealing to logic or family, Korra instead claims that if Baatar does not stand down, she’ll run away and take him with her. She’ll ensure that he will never, ever be able to enjoy a life with Kuvira, the woman he loves.
And it is here that the cracks begin to show. Baatar, deep down, never truly believed in the cause of the Earth Empire. He never really agreed with everything that they’ve done to unite the city-states of the Earth Nation. What he believed in was Kuvira herself. The purpose and direction she gave to his until-then meandering life. How she coaxed him out from his father and mother’s shadows, how she helped him grow stronger, braver, and more determined. And, of course, the love that blossomed between the two of them.
When the chips are down, Baatar would choose Kuvira over the Earth Empire, and he says as such in an impassioned plea to his fiancée over the radio, begging her to stand down and just settle for all they’ve already accomplished together.
But to give up now would be to quit. To surrender the dream. To fail, right at the last hurdle. To quit would be to turn their proverbial backs to everything that they set out to do, to stumble when the end is in sight, to give up and leave the final piece of the puzzle to rot.
And that’s something that stubborn, resolute, conflicted, driven, and emotional Kuvira just cannot do.
With a final ‘I love you‘, Kuvira turns the Spirit Cannon on Future Industries, intending to wipe out all of her remaining enemies in one shot, at the cost of her fiancé and the chance of that happy life she briefly, blissfully believed she could find.
Thanks to the efforts of Bolin, however, the cannon blast did not claim any lives owed to his ability to use earthbending to suspend the falling roof debris until everyone could vacate the ruined facility. While Baatar was then taken into official custody, Korra and the others launched into the attack, executing a two-pronged maneuver that would be their only chance to bring the Colossus down. Kuvira, meanwhile, maneuvered into the city to crush her foes, and also take out Raiko and the heads of Republic City, terrified and in hiding.
While Korra and all of her friends began to attack the Colossus from the outside, two teams of two (Varrick and Zhu Li, and Asami and her father Sato) boarded the only remaining Future Industries hummingbird mecha-suits, flying vehicles that would allow them to get close to the Colossus and use plasma cutters to drill a hole inside. The massive machine’s only true weakness was from the inside, after all, as the outer shell was otherwise impenetrable.
A huge, catastrophic brawl erupted because of this plan, as Korra and the others fought valiantly to slow down the Colossus, hinder its capabilities, and distract Kuvira from the two hummingbird’s going to work on its metal hull. Kuvira, for her part, proved her mastery of both metalbending and controlling the mechanical giant, fending off each new attack thrown her way while totaling city blocks and leveling skyscrapers.
Though Kuvira eventually downed the hummingbird flown by Varrick and Zhu Li, she was finally fully immobilized by a geyser of frozen water courtesy of Korra, when the fight strayed close to the river. Kuvira fought with everything she had to break off the ice, but Asami and her father had enough time to land on the thigh of the Colossus and start cutting an entry hole, much to Kuvira’s fury (and slight panic). In the entire past three years, this is the only moment her plans have ever started to tip closer to failing, and her mask of calm confidence begins to slip.
She frees herself from the ice, and moves to crush the hummingbird with her hand, which would kill both Asami and her father. Asami begs her father to detach and run, but knowing they won’t get another clear chance like this, her father presses a button to eject his daughter to safety, while he stays behind to finish the task. He is successful, as a sizable entry hole is cut into the Colossus…but Kuvira’s strike lands true, and the mecha is squashed.
Asami, floating away on a parachute, has to watch her father (who she has just reconnected with after past misgivings) die.
Capitalizing on the opening as soon as it presents itself, Korra and her small elite team (Bolin, his brother Mako, and Suyin and Lin) run up the Colossus’ leg while the other fighters stun it, and they manage to slip inside the vast, labyrinthine machine. Bolin and Mako are sent to destroy the energy reactor powering the entire thing, Suyin and Lin go to disable the Spirit Cannon so Kuvira can no longer fire it, and Korra vows to go straight to take Kuvira down herself.
They meet resistance along the way from Kuvira’s personal guard of exceptionally talented metalbenders, but our heroes make it through. While Bolin and Mako plot how to overload the energy core, Suyin and Lin dismantle the Spirit Cannon (not noticing a single final cartridge slot itself into the chamber). They also use their metalbending to muck up the interior of the entire right arm, rendering the whole thing dead weight.
Adapting on the fly, Kuvira uses the Colossus’ left arm to tear the entire right arm off and fling it aside. Suyin and Lin only barely survive by strapping themselves in for a bumpy landing. When the arm clips a skyscraper, the Spirit Cannon itself peels free and flies off into the massive stretch of Spirit Wilds (a spiritually connected forest) in the middle of Republic City.
Kuvira’s focus on taking off the machine’s arm costs her, however, as she is caught completely off guard by Korra’s bombastic entrance into the control room in the massive mecha-suit’s head. Korra quickly and efficiently incapacitates the technicians who were assisting Kuvira, and then the two thematically mirrored characters launch into a fight, no exchange of words needed. It’s both a rematch, and also their climactic finishing bout, the one that will determine the fate of Republic City and all who lie therein.
And yet, it’s shockingly small-scale and surprisingly intimate in terms of setting and emotional stakes.
Korra and Kuvira, in the cramped confines of the control room, unleash everything they’ve got upon one another. Korra puts all four elements to use in order to keep Kuvira on her toes, and Kuvira demonstrates her effortless metalbending prowess and skill at adapting to situations on the fly in order to keep out of Korra’s reach. Due to the small nature of the room, there’s no grand gestures or gigantic attacks. This is up-close-and-personal fighting between two women who, at one point or another, never would’ve even considered trading blows.
Kuvira looked up to and respected the Avatar. She’s been instrinsically linked with Korra ever since saving Korra’s father from falling to his death during the fight with Zaheer. And yet when Korra failed to see her point of view on the Earth Empire, she turned away to keep her eyes on her dream, her pursuit of uniting the Earth Nation and its peoples no matter the sacrifice, all for the greater good.
Korra, meanwhile, never wanted to fight Kuvira at all, even when she heard all the crimes that Kuvira had committed. Korra, recovering from her hiatus, had only just learned to reconcile with recognizing parts of herself she doesn’t like in her foes, and she sees her stubbornness and resolve reflected in Kuvira. She’s only ever wanted to see Kuvira’s side of things and settle their conflict peacefully, but now she’s been forced against her wishes to fight her twice, all for the greater good.
Predictably, given the ways in which these women physically and mentally mirror one another, their fight persists as a draw, at least until Bolin and Mako take out the energy core. Destabilized, the Colossus begins to fall, and the control room Korra and Kuvira are fighting in crashes to the ground in an earthshattering collision. Both of them are tossed through the window, slamming down into the ground and seemingly bringing an end to their duel, especially as Korra is the one to stand up first.
Approaching Kuvira and telling her the fight is over and that it’s time to surrender, while peacefully extending her hand, Kuvira reveals she was merely gathering up her energy for one final gambit. The stubborn general slams Korra out of the way with her earthbending, and then takes off from the wreckage of the Colossus, intending to slip into the backstreets of Republic City and into hiding, where she can then regroup, escape, and live to continue her crusade another day.
Korra doggedly pursues, slowly gaining on the limping Kuvira, but Kuvira has the advantage of being driven forward by pure primal adrenaline and reckless abandon at this point. Eventually, Kuvira stumbles upon the massive overgrowth of the Spirit Wilds forest, and uses it as cover to slip inside the tangled mass of trees and vines. Korra implores Kuvira to stop and give up, but is met with Kuvira’s echoing cries of refusal, and her taunts that Korra will never be able to stop her ambitions.
And Kuvira aims to make good on that threat, as Korra turns a corner and finds herself at the end of the barrel of the Spirit Cannon, Kuvira having found exactly where it got launched into the Spirit Wilds, and is now suspended from vines. It’s primed and ready to fire, and Kuvira has her hand on the launcher.
Korra cries out, warning her not to fire in such an unstable, spiritually-charged environment. But Kuvira isn’t one to listen to others, especially when their commands directly contradict what her heart of stone feels is right.
So, she fires, and everything goes to hell.
The cannon blasts a beam towards Korra, who is able to dodge out of the way. However, the vines entangling the cannon soon begin to supply it power past the amount of the singular cartridge that had been inside. The same spiritual energy that filled the cartridge was mined from these vines, after all, and now it has created an infinitely self-sustaining and unfathomably destructive cannon capable of wiping Republic City and beyond from the map.
Kuvira instantly recognizes her mistake, but unlike other missteps of hers, this one is neither minor nor one she can easily take back/correct. Her efforts to stop the cannon do nothing, and its wild spiraling sends her flying from her perch and onto the ground. The cannon is a loose beast, blasting beams of energy all across the city and into the sky, raining down destruction upon the environment…and Kuvira soon finds herself in its sights, as it swings its unending beam back towards her.
Kuvira is faced with her impending death, and her expression says it all: fear, horror, and a flash of regret.
And yet, the moment before the beam evaporates her, Korra lands in front of it, triggers her Avatar State, and blocks the beam.
Korra has spent all season reconciling with the Avatar State, a powered-up form in which she was nearly killed last season, and has previously only used as an offense act of destruction. She’s struggled to re-attain that form, but in this split second, it clicks with her. The Avatar State does not only have to be used for the power to fight. It can also be used for the power to defend, and with Korra’s newfound understanding of compassion and empathy for her foes, that’s exactly what she does here.
Korra uses the Avatar State to save Kuvira’s life.
The Avatar State, itself a condensed form of spiritual energy, is more than a match for the Spirit Cannon’s errant beam. Taking all the energy into herself, Korra then blasts it backwards in a shockingly display of ingenuity and might. The beam hits the cannon, and the resulting explosion of energy is akin to that of a real life nuclear bomb, mushrooming into the sky and carving a crater in the city five street blocks wide. And yet, instead of fallout, there is instead the gentle rain of spiritual essence…
Also, a gigantic beam of yellow light erupting from the ground and into the clouds. That too.
Korra, in stopping the cannon and creating that massive explosion of spiritual energy, has created a brand new Spirit Portal right in the middle of the city, something no Avatar (or person, for that matter) has ever been able to do. Yet again, Korra is carving an unknown but brave path forward for Avatars, and for all humanity.
But, as Korra’s friends race to the sight of the explosion, they find no trace of either her or Kuvira. No matter how hard they search the wreckage of the Colossus and the crater around the new Spirit Portal, neither woman can be found. Korra’s closest friends begin to grow desperate, shouting out her name and hoping she can hear.
She can’t, but she is unharmed. Caught pointblank in the blast of spiritual energy, Korra ended up being dragged into the Spirit World during the creation of the new Spirit Portal. Kuvira was brought in alongside her, and both women find themselves in a field of flowers when they come to, resting inside the Spirit World right on the other side of the portal.
Korra awakens first, and checks Kuvira to make sure that she is alive and unharmed after she shielded her from the cannon blast. Kuvira is fine, so Korra takes her into her arms to hold her until she awakens. Of course, Kuvira is still in fight-or-flight mode, so upon awakening and finding herself held by Korra, she panics and shoves her away, then stumbles a few feet back before toppling over, exhausted.
Taking in the sight of the multi-colored field of flowers, Kuvira asks Korra in a trembling voice if they are dead. Her vocal inflection makes it abundantly clear how terrified she is of the prospect of being dead, and whether that’s from the revelation of not having completed her dream, or a more metaphysical fear of death and the darkness of the great beyond is unknown. Both could be true.
Korra assures her that they aren’t, and that they are merely in the Spirit World. After a moment to rest, they’ll go through the portal and end up back in Republic City, putting an end to everything.
(As a somewhat relevant side note, this happens to be my second-favorite scene in the entire show. Everything from the ethereal visuals, to the character animation, to the phenomenal voice work is just top-notch. And that’s not even to mention the amazing character work that’s about to unfold, which I will detail right now!)
Korra’s nonchalant and calm demeanor confuses and irritates Kuvira, but not enough to keep a hint of remorseful thankfulness from her voice when she demands to know why Korra risked her life to save her. After everything Kuvira did to put Korra and the people she cares about in danger, why would the Avatar still risk her own life to save her enemy?
Korra’s answer is simple, and its the one that the entire season has been building up to: It’s because Korra sees so much of herself in Kuvira.
(Note here that this isn’t a U.I.C.S. about Korra herself, so I really don’t have the time to dedicate the delving into how these two characters share so many similarities, and how Korra’s journey has progressed in such a manner that she’s able to make this mature realization. Even still, it speaks volumes to that aforementioned maturity that Korra is finally able to reconcile with the parts of her she sees in her enemies, and how no person is truly evil to their core without some facet of relatability, sympathy, or connection.)
Kuvira rather aggressively denounces the accusation that they are similar, but her stubbornness only further cements the claim. They are both stubborn, determined, and driven women who go to great lengths to protect what they care about, and they have a hard time seeing other’s points of view (or rather, Korra did until her recent character development). They’ve both made mistakes, and in Korra’s mind, they both have room to grow from them.
Kuvira still latches onto her bitterness in defeat, bemoaning the fact that the Earth Empire’s conquest of the Earth Nation and Republic City could’ve been so much less violent and costly had Korra and her allies simply surrendered when they had the chance. At this remark, Korra pushes a little deeper, switching from pure sympathy to something a little closer to tough love, as she tries to get Kuvira to see how she brought this upon herself through her own actions. She wants Kuvira to take responsibility for all that she’s done.
The embittered general isn’t immediately swayed, but for the first time since her appearance on-screen, her emotional barriers finally come down as her voice breaks, pleading with Korra.
I was trying to help my people. Su turned her back on the Earth Kingdom. You were gone. I had to do something.
Kuvira, Season 4 Episode 13
She cries out that everything she did was not just for the good of her people, but out of necessitating. With Suyin turning her back on the opportunity to change the world for the better, and Korra in seclusion during her recovery, Kuvira adamantly states that it was all up to her to step up and do something. Her home nation had spent centuries being hurt within and without (a true sentiment, given the constant assaults by the Fire Nation during the long war, and the internal struggles for power in the fractured governance system), and Kuvira was determined to do what she could to save her homeland and her people.
She argues that Korra couldn’t possibly understand what it is like to be neglected and abandoned (as the Avatar is often universally adored), and it’s in that single sentence that the many layers of her character peel back to her very core. From the very beginning, Kuvira has equated the broken and hurting Earth Nation with her own unaddressed trauma of being abandoned as a child, and in the way that Suyin was there to lift her back up, Kuvira desperately wanted to be the one to lift the Earth Nation back up through the use of the Earth Empire. To ensure it could never be vulnerable and forgotten again.
Don’t pretend you know what it felt like. The Avatar is adored by millions! I was cast aside by my own parents, like I meant nothing to them! How could I just stand by and watch the same thing happen to my nation when it needed someone to guide it?
Kuvira, Season 4 Episode 8
Kuvira is a raging storm of emotions after this reveal…but her demeanor softens upon hearing Korra’s response.
Korra can sympathize with Kuvira’s feelings of fear and vulnerability. She can empathize with the desire to do whatever it takes to protect those around her. And she certainly can relate to Kuvira’s belief that she needs to handle everything on her own. Korra’s been through everything Kuvira has, if not literally than certainly emotionally. She’s been where Kuvira is, and she’s healed and grown from it. Sometimes by her own hand, and often with the help of others, she’s grown.
And Korra knows Kuvira can grow too.
Recognition flashes in Kuvira’s eyes, and any remaining will to fight immediately leaves her body at Korra’s words. Korra has bested her, perhaps in more ways than Korra herself even realizes.
Kuvira tried to bring her nation into the modern era through military might and technological development, and while everything seemed fine from the front of her train, it was all built on the backs of suffering, loss, and conflict. Then, when faced with opposition, Kuvira turned straight to firepower and destruction (after a brief attempt at diplomacy). She did all of this believing her philosophy to be the only worthwhile one, and dismissing all others as outdate…including the Avatar. In essence, she believed herself to be an Avatar for a new age.
And yet, not only was she defeated by said Avatar, but she lost in a way so contrary to her own beliefs. While they did come to blows, Korra proved herself more than Kuvira’s equal in combat. Even more so, she demonstrated her unfathomable power in the Avatar State, and all in service of saving an emery’s life. Then, Korra showed Kuvira mercy, compassion, and sympathy, traits Kuvira had never considered could come from an enemy (and had certainly never shown towards on herself, evidenced by her treatment of her own fiancé).
Korra didn’t just prove herself to be the better competitor. She proved herself the better woman, and that, more than anything, resonates most deeply with Kuvira.
With no further protest, Kuvira surrnders herself to Korra, who leads her through the Spirit Portal and back into the real world.
Once there, they are immediately greeted by both Korra’s allies and also the remaining forces in Kuvira’s Earth Empire. The Earth Empire soldiers move to attack and rescue their leader, but Kuvira (in her last command as The Great Uniter) orders them all to stand down and surrender. She extends this command to all Earth Empire camps across the continent, urging them to stop fighting and relinquish themselves over to the world authorities.
The war has come to an end, and Republic City has emerged as the heavily-damaged victor.
Kuvira offers a sincere apology to her adoptive mother, Suyin, on the way to prison, apologizing for everything she did to hurt her and her family. Not in the mood to hear those words in the heat of the moment, Suyin largely ignores her, as Lin and the rest of the police force lead Kuvira way to jail.
The Earth Empire is no more…
Taking Responsibility
…or is it?
About three months pass, and then Kuvira is dragged out of her solitary confinement prison cell to her first court trial. She is facing the charges of everything she did as The Great Uniter of the Earth Empire, staring down a panel of five judges while a multitude of members of the public sit in the stands. Amongst those seated in the viewing gallery are Suyin and the rest of the Beifong family.
The tension in the room is extremely high.
And it only gets higher as the trial commences, and Kuvira is forced to stand in front of the room and address the crimes levied against her.
Kuvira begins her statement by sincerely apologizing for all the harm she brought upon both the Earth Nation and Republic City. She is legitimately remorseful for everyone who had to suffer because of her actions and those of the Earth Empire. This is, understandably, a solid start to her acceptance of the responsibility she held as The Great Uniter. The trouble comes in the second half of her speech.
Kuvira switches to berating the tribunal council for focusing exclusively on her crimes, and not on the ‘good‘ that her movement brought about. She extoles the virtues of what the Earth Empire stood for, and how everything she tried to accomplish and did accomplish was all for the good of the people. She even (admittedly correctly) points out that her actions united the fractured city-states, a success that the world leaders are now capitating on by putting Prince Wu back on the throne.
(As an aside here, after Kuvira’s defeat and the Earth Empire’s dissolution, Prince Wu recognized the failings of the monarchy that had ruled the Earth Nation for centuries. Though he is now the figurehead of the nation again, he has begun instituting a policy of turning the city-states into individual democracies overseen by the capital city of Ba Sing Se, but otherwise their own independent forces.)
After the fall of the Earth Queen, the kingdom fell into chaos. When no one was willing to step up, I brought order. I dragged an ancient culture out of the dark ages and modernized it. Everything I did, I did for the greater good of the Earth Kingdom and its citizens.
Kuvira, Ruins of the Empire
Kuvira’s remarks do not go over well, and the gathered crowd erupts into yelling and jeers as she declares herself ‘Not Guilty‘ of the full extent of the crimes she is on trial for.
Suyin, in particular, takes Kuvira’s obstinate refusal to take full accountability quite poorly. She directly confronts her adopted daughter in the hallway as Kuvira is led back to prison, chastising her for pleading innocence in the face of everything she’s done. Kuvira admits fault in the hurt she brought upon Suyin’s family, but urges Suyin to not take it so personally. To Kuvira (and the reader), it’s clear Suyin is particularly hurt by this betrayal from a woman she saw as her daughter. Kuvira, however, reveals that Suyin turned her back on her long ago, and she’s never felt like a member of her family.
Regardless, Kuvira reiterates her apology, and she truly does mean it. It’s interesting, this almost-contradictory state of mind that Kuvira finds herself in here. She’s sorry for hurting people, but she’s not sorry about the ends her Earth Empire achieved. And while there are theoretically aspects to praise about Kuvira’s campaign, that veers dangerously into ‘ends-justify-the-means‘ territory, which is never stable moral ground to be on. Kuvira is halfway there to recognizing this, but she hasn’t received that final push just yet.
Suyin tries, though, sharply mocking Kuvira for ‘feeling sorry‘, yet not doing a thing to try and take responsibility. She leaves without another word, and Kuvira is returned to her heavily-guarded solitary cell.
While this is going on, troubling news comes to light.
Roughly 99% of the Earth Empire’s forces adhered to their leader’s order to stand down and surrender…but one specific contingent did not. This camp of fiercely devoted soldiers, led by the ambitious and charismatic Commander Guan, refused to bow down to Republic City and the world leaders, and has been continuing to operate in the shadows in the months since the end of the war. Now, Guan has his sights set on winning the upcoming democratic election in the city-state of Gaoling, a platform with which he plans to re-start the Earth Empire.
In light of this, Kuvira finds herself facing down a surprise visitor at her secluded cell: Korra.
Korra, who still holds deep respect for the opponent she saw so much of herself reflected in, is visiting Kuvira because she wants advice on how to handle Guan. It’s a delicate situation, because while everyone can plainly see his intentions to reignite the Earth Empire as governor of a city-state, outright attacking him could only steel the resolve of his passionate defenders, and possibly re-trigger the war on all its own. He also has a legitimate claim at running for the election, given the inherent free nature of the new democracy systems in place.
Korra wants a second opinion from the woman most capable of giving one, so Kuvira does just that. She tells Korra that Guan hates the Avatar even more than Kuvira once had, and that the only person he’ll listen to is a fellow soldier whom he respects. She recommends herself, which Korra is strongly opposed to. Korra might have empathy and compassion for Kuvira, but she isn’t about to immediately let a known world-conquering criminal out of jail on a whim.
Think it over. I’ll be here when you need me. And you will.
Kuvira, Ruins of the Empire
But, after a meeting with her friends and allies, they realize that they don’t have many other options. Begrudgingly, Kuvira is temporarily released from jail to accompany Korra and her team, with some obvious stipulations. She will never be without supervision, she won’t be allowed to strike out on her own, and Korra promises that she won’t hesitate to strike her down should she try anything around her friends. Kuvira promises to behave as a partner, but Korra insists they are working together strictly through necessity, and not out of anything resembling ‘partners‘.
The reception to Kuvira joining the journey to Gaoling is even icier on board the Future Industries airship the gang takes to travel there. Mako, Bolin, and Wu have nothing but varying degrees of distaste and distrust towards the former Earth Empire general. Asami, in particular, seethes with enmity at having to work alongside her father’s killer, and vows to never take her eyes off Kuvira for the entire trip, threatening to lock her inside a body-encasing pod should she step out of line.
Upon reaching Gaoling, Korra and Wu go to meet with the current mayor of the city-state, in order to form a plan against Guan. Back in the airship, Kuvira, Asami, Bolin, and Mako remain, with Asami refusing to let anyone else but her guard their former foe.
Kuvira changes into a fresh attire courtesy of Asami’s wardrobe, wanting to look presentable for her meeting to convince Guan to stand down. Asami watches her like a hawk, and when Kuvira makes a comment wondering why Asami is standing guard here when she could be furthering the inventions of the world back at Future Industries, Asami’s barely-held-together facade snaps in anger.
She lashes out at Kuvira, stating that there is nowhere else in the world she’d rather be than protecting her girlfriend from Kuvira, and whatever scheme Asami is confident the cunning ex-general is planning. She warns Kuvira to stop trying to drive a wedge between her and Korra, though Kuvira insists that this wasn’t her intention. She is genuinely intrigued by the close-knit camaraderie that Korra and her friends share, as she realizes this is something she herself has never experienced.
Bolin steps up here, citing stories that Opal (his girlfriend) told him about Kuvira rebuffing their sisterhood when they were younger. Kuvira scoffs at this, telling him not to believe everything Opal said, and that they both had irreconcilable differences in their upbringings that resulted in them never getting along.
Don’t believe everything your girlfriend tells you. Opal and I may have lived under the same roof, but we had very different experiences being raised by Su.
Kuvira, Ruins of the Empire
Regardless, Kuvira stresses that the past three months have changed her, and that she isn’t the same Great Uniter she once was. Asami, a firm believer in people being able to change and redeem themselves, refuses to believe her in light of Kuvira’s continual refusal to take full accountability for her actions.
Korra calls at that moment, bringing the discussion to an end. Guan is ready to meet with them, so the five of them set out to the rendezvous point, which happens to be a very public meeting space. This is a tactical decision on Guan’s part, as everything he does is to endear himself to the citizens and secure their votes for the upcoming election, while making his competitors seem bad in comparision.
Kuvira’s begins her appeal for him to step down, hoping his loyalty still lies with her. She is shocked to find it does not, and that Guan is following his own ambitions to rebuild the Earth Empire stronger than ever before. She petitions him to reconsider all those who were hurt in the war, and the untold destruction, but Guan’s resolve is firm and unyielding…not unlike Kuvira herself had been when she was in his position staring down the entreaty from Korra.
Kuvira turns to his troops, but they have all sworn their fealty to Guan and Guan only. Her second-to-last tactic is to propose a duel to settle their debate, much like she did back with Korra during the conquest of Zaofu. Guan wisely refuses, knowing that Kuvira would easily win in a straight-forward showdown. He also knows that he has everything to lose by agreeing to her terms, and (given his likelihood of winning the election) everything to gain by keeping quiet.
So Kuvira resorts to her final tactic: using her metalbending to squeeze the collar around his neck until he begins to suffocate, almost to death.
And yet, even approaching death, Guan refuses to relent, smugly choking out a declaration of victory. He knows that the remaining Earth Empire troops would see him as a martyr for their cause should Kuvira go through with killing him, and that their frenzy would whip up another war in his name. Some part of Kuvira surely recognizes this, and yet she persists in slowly choking him to death, furiously demanding he surrender before he dies.
It isn’t hard to see where her fury comes from. Guan is, in essence, the manifestation of everything that Kuvira is trying to ignore and run away. He is the responsibility and accountability that she refuses to reconcile with, and for every day that he continues trying to perpetuate the evils of the Earth Empire, Kuvira’s mental barriers are shaken. It becomes harder and harder to ignore what she’s done, and realize that the ‘benefits‘ of her reign aren’t anywhere near enough to justify the path she took to reach them.
Regardless, killing Guan is the opposite of what Team Avatar came here to do, so his life is spared when Kuvira electrocuted into unconsciousness by a shock-band slipped onto her wrist earlier by Asami. She is then dragged back onto the airship by the others, and locked inside of the restraining pod, only her head visible. Korra tells her it’s just until she calms down, but Asami clearly doesn’t mind leaving her in there forever.
In the meantime, a new plan is hatched. If the election must go through, then they’ll just run a candidate more popular than Guan to secure the governor position. Korra heads off to recruit said candidate (Toph Beifong, Suyin and Lin’s mother), leaving the others behind on the airship. Guan, though, reveals his true colors when he launches a surprise attack in Korra’s absence, sending his men to capture the others.
They are outnumbered, and at a severe disadvantage. Kuvira begs to be released from the pod to help them fight off Guan’s men, but Asami is unwilling to trust Kuvira enough to seek her aid. Because of her refusal, Asami, Bolin, and Mako are summarily defeated and captured, and Kuvira’s pod is taken too, their attackers dragging them back to one of the remaining hidden bases of the Earth Empire remnants.
At the base, Guan asks Kuvira in private if she will agree to serve the Earth Empire of her own volition once more. When she steadfastly refuses, stating that she is no one’s servant, and that her command of the Earth empire was meant to inspire through strength and leadership for a greater purpose, not a selfish ambition. Guan smugly reveals that he won’t be giving her a choice, showing that he and his team have developed a mind-controlling technique that can brainwash anyone to serve exclusively him…and he’s already got Asami, Bolin, and Mako hooked up to the machine!
Kuvira is disgusted by the machine, but Guan only mocks her outrage, reminding her that she never bothered to check up on her subordinates in the past, so her present distaste for the technique rings hollow. If she had bothered to look back at her own atrocities earlier, and not been so focused on locking her eyes ahead, she could’ve seen and stopped everything already. Kuvira tries to deny this, but it’s clear Guan’s words have gotten to her in a way that deeply unsettles her.
The brainwashing begins, and Kuvira can only cry out to Asami that she never meant for any of this to happen.
With Korra’s girlfriend and two other closest friends now mindless pawns in Guan’s schemes, that only leaves Kuvira to brainwahs. However, Guan’s decision to torment Kuvira by making her watch first ends up coming back to bite him, as her righteous indignation gives her the strength to fight back when they try to hook her up to the brainwashing machine. Overpowering everyone in the room, Kuvira bursts out of the facility, steals an Earth Empire uniform and equipment, and escapes into the night.
Once she’s retreated a safe distance, she uses her stolen radio to call the only person she can possibly think to rely on in her time of need: her adoptive mother, Suyin.
Suyin answers, and is immediately suspicious of Kuvira’s motivations. However, when Kuvira swallows her pride and admits to knowing that Suyin has every reason to hate her after all she’s done, Suyin begins to listen. Kuvira says that she had no idea who else to turn to for help, indirectly implying that she still cherishes the relationship with the closest woman to a mother she’s ever had, even if that relationship had almost frayed completely apart just months ago. Suyin agrees to meet her in an airship as soon as possible.
I’m out here all alone. I know you have every reason to hate me, but I didn’t know who else to turn to. Please, I need your help.
Kuvira, Ruins of the Empire
A few hours later, and Korra and Wu return from their mission to find Toph. Korra, not 100% past her hothead attitude from her early Avatar days (especially when she feels her friends are being threatened), jumps to the absolute worst conclusion when she finds Kuvira not in the company of Asami and the others and in an Earth Empire uniform. Though Kuvira quickly protests her innocence and tries to explain the situation, Korra isn’t hearing it, and jumps right on the attack.
(This is actually pretty shockingly similar to how Kuvira reacted just a bit earlier with Guan, where she let her temper get the better of her and jumped right to attacking him when she was provoked. It’s yet another illustration of just how much these two women mirror each other.)
Korra’s anger subsides when Toph’s earthbending skills show that Kuvira isn’t lying. Kuvira seizes that chance to explain about Guan’s brainwashing capabilities, and his plans to rig the election through mind-control technology. She asserts the possibility he may be planning to brainwash the entire world, and that that’s how he’ll reinstitute the Earth Empire and seize total control.
Shocked and angry at the capturing of her girlfriend, Korra is at a loss of what to do next, until Kuvira announces that she signaled Suyin to come help…and lo and behold, they arrive in their airship moments later. The ship is carrying Suyin, Opal, and her twin sons Wing and Wei.
However, Kuvira has barely a moment to thank her adoptive mother for coming, when suddenly Guan and his forces arrive too! Refusing to flee to Zaofu without rescuing her friends, Korra urges their group to stay and fight, and Kuvira relents to join Korra on the attack. Suyin joins them too, as does Opal.
They soon find themselves staring down the brainwashed Asami, Bolin, and Mako, and though Korra and Opal try to get through to their respective loved ones, Kuvira assures them its pointless (having witnessed the horrifying technique firsthand). Instead, Kuvira and Suyin join their skills together to hold the enemy forces at bay while Korra ‘rescues‘ the fiercely resisting Asami. In the struggle, our heroes lose Wu to Guan’s forces, but they are able to make a clean escape with Asami.
Returning to Zaofu, Korra pleaded with Kuvira to know if there was any way to reserve the mind-control, and Kuvira assured her that she would not rest until she found a solution. To that end, she intended to meet with her ex-fiancé, Baatar, and implore his assistance.
And so, Kuvira returned to the city of her childhood for the first time since her aggressive conquering of it four months prior.
Kuvira begins to fret over meeting with her former lover, having avoided any and all possible confrontation with him ever since she turned the Spirit Cannon on him. The ease with which she was willing to sacrifice the life of someone she cared so deeply about, all for the sake of her ‘cause‘, is something that’s been weighing heavily on her mind ever since that day. Suyin, sensing Kuvira’s anxiety, tells her that this impending meeting has to happen eventually.
And happen it does, almost immediately.
Baatar meets Kuvira shortly after she arrives in Zaofu, telling her that he never expected her to be brave enough to come home. When Kuvira tries to express relief at seeing his face again, Baatar snarkily implies that the only reason she’s able to do so is because Korra saved him from her. This stings, but it’s fairly justified given her actions, and Kuvira tries to apologize…
…only to immediately attempt to re-frame her actions as ones of stress and necessity. She renders her ‘apology’ wholly moot by attempting to say that Baatar would’ve done the same thing in her position. He doesn’t even let her finish that statement, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he would have never turned a weapon on her, the woman he loved. Derisively, he states that she clearly hasn’t changed at all, before walking away.
Left in shame, Kuvira is led to her chambers by armed guards.
When Mother told me you were coming, she mentioned that you were trying to change. I didn’t believe her. I had to see for myself…but you’re exactly the same.
Baatar, Ruins of the Empire
(If you’re curious, Baatar did in fact face repercussions for his actions as Kuvira’s second-in-command of the Earth Empire. After the knowledge he gave to bring Kuvira down during her attack, his punishment was reduced to permanent house-arrest in Zaofu. He’s been at Zaofu ever since, atoning for his actions during the war by trying to assist the citizens of Zaofu in rebuilding.)
It’s up to Korra to convince Baatar to cooperate on finding a way to reserve Guan’s mind-control technique, and he does so (more than willing to atone for his crimes). When Korra tells Kuvira this at the dinner table that night, Kuvira is enthusiastic and hopeful, but that hope doesn’t last long. Korra lets Kuvira know that Baatar never wants to see her again after this, and Kuvira solemnly and remorsefully agrees to respect his wishes.
While strategizing on how to possibly circumvent the brainwashing and stop Guan, Kuvira makes a comment about how clever Guan’s plan has been so far. This annoys Opal, who falls right into her old vitriolic rapport with her adopted sister. Opal snidely wonders aloud if Kuvira wishes she had been the one to think of brainwashing her opponents. Kuvira staunchly refutes the idea, and Suyin interjects before their argument can turn physical.
Later, Baatar has constructed his own version of a brainwashing device, with the idea being to un-brainwash Asami with Guan’s own technique. If Guan’s technique suppressed his victim’s minds, Baatar’s device aims to open their consciousnesses back up again. He was able to complete the device thanks to Kuvira’s near-photographic memory recalling details of the device she saw when it was in use, and Baatar compliments Kuvira’s intellect in aiding him.
Kuvira and Baatar then begin the process of attempting to un-brainwash Asami, with Baatar running electrical signals through the device, and Kuvira repeating statements intended to subliminally compel Asami to slip out of Guan’s control. It doesn’t work, no matter what they try. Kuvira keeps at it for hours, but no results are achieved. Asami still remains a mindless slave.
Kuvira then suggests trying the technique on someone who has not been brainwashed at all, wondering if the device can unearth long-repressed memories. Baatar muses that this could work, and while Korra volunteers herself, Baatar is hesitant to use her as a test subject when negative side effects like total memory loss could result.
Without hesitation, Kuvira steps forward and puts the helmet on herself. Suyin protests in a panic (this quick unconscious moment making it clear how much love she still holds towards her adopted daughter), but Kuvira insists that the Earth Empire and its remnants are her burden to bear and her mess to clean up, no matter the consequences. Baatar starts up the device.
The experiment is a success, Baatar’s device unearthing painful but critical memories from Kuvira’s past (a fair bit was detailed in the first chunk of this article). With proof the device works in this manner, and scans of Kuvira’s mind aiding in his research, Baatar is able to make the appropriate modifications and restart the trial on Asami. In short order, Asami is freed from Guan’s control, and back in her own mind (though with no memory of all that has occured since being brainwashed).
Before the group can celebrate, however, they receive horrible news.
Because Wu was kidnapped by Guan, he too was brainwashed into serving the corrupt commander. Wu was used as a puppet to flex his royal authority and move up the date of the election, and now Guan is officially the governor of Gaoling. The heroes have missed their window of opportunity.
The President of Republic City calls Zaofu shortly after, demanding that Kuvira (who she believes to have only been a hinderance) be returned to prison, and that the entire operation should be called off. Korra reluctantly agrees, informing Kuvira that they will bring her back to prison in the morning.
Before she heads to bed, she meets with Baatar one last time, telling him that he will be getting his wish to never see her again. With some hesitation, Baatar wishes Kuvira a safe journey, and she in turn tells him again that she is sorry, and that it broke her heart to turn the weapon on him. She says how much she truly loved him. He chews on this for a moment before remarking on how nice it was to work alongside her again. Then, he departs.
For all intents and purposes, it seems as if Kuvira’s attempts at redeeming herself and ending the Earth Empire for good have failed.
And yet, if there’s anything we know about Kuvira by this point, it’s that she never takes anything lying down, especially if it stands between her and her goal.
In the middle of the night, Kuvira (as gently as she is able to) knocks out the guards stationed outside her room, escapes from the house, steals a plane, and leaves Zaofu. Flying all the way to Gaoling, Kuvira heads into Guan’s new office, the former mayor having just finished being hauled away by the brainwashed citizens of the city-state.
Though he initially assumes her to be there to challenge him again, Kuvira proves Guan wrong by doing something he never would’ve expected: proposing to serve him instead. Sufficiently flummoxed, Guan demands to know the reason behind Kuvira’s sudden change of heart, and why The Great Uniter would surrender herself to him.
Kuvira’s answer is simple: she wants to be brainwashed and have all the painful memories of her past, her family, and her mistakes wiped away. She wants to run from her problems and be freed from the guilt and responsibility of it all, and she knows that servitude to Guan can give her both that, and the purpose of a higher calling.
Guan agrees to this, and Kuvira is dragged to his base and hooked up to the mind-control device…
…and that’s where she springs her trap.
Launching herself up from her seat, Kuvira uses her metalbending to slam the brainwashing helmets onto Guan and his assistant’s heads instead. They are caught completely by surprise, and are wholly at Kuvira’s mercy as she forces them against the wall and demands that they surrender immediately. Kuvira proudly states that she’s beaten Guan at his own game, and that the only course left is for him to admit the election was rigged.
See, Kuvira’s entire speech to Guan was a lie from the very beginning. In fact, she feels quite strongly about the exact opposite thing.
The memories unearthed by Baatar’s anti-brainwashing device were the final wake-up call that Kuvira needed to reconcile her inner turmoil. The memories, while painful, are a core part of who she is. Everything that she’s ever done is a core part of who she was, who she became, and who she is now. To deny any part of that, to run from it, to ignore it, to refuse to take responsibility, is to do a disservice to herself, to her family, and to everyone around her.
Kuvira doesn’t want to forget what she’s done. She wants to make sure she never forgets.
And she certainly wants to make sure no one else ever tries to do what she did, and that includes taking Guan down right here and now!
Unfortunately, the sudden arrival of the still-brainwashed Bolin and Mako enable Guan to escape, even as Kuvira shakes the mind-controlled brothers and frantically pursues. Thankfully, Korra, Suyin, Opal, and the others all arrive from Zaofu, having given chase after Kuvira as soon as they realized she was gone. With the tides shifting back towards our protagonists, Bolin and Mako are subdued, and Kuvira is free to chase down Guan.
He tries to escape in a Jeep, but some judicious use of metalbending tosses his vehicle aside, and him out from it. Ever the cowardly rat, Guan immediately transitions into a surprise attack, but Kuvira is able to defeat him in a battle even after sustaining a rough injury to her arm. After a short struggle, she has him pinned up against the wall, and he admits defeat and surrenders himself to her mercy.
Kuvira’s mercy, though, is in very short supply, and as she poises a sharpened metal spear to skewer Guan with, the terrified commander realizes she is about to kill him.
After so many months of struggling to recognize her own internal failings, Kuvira is finally ready to take accountability for everything she’s done. But because of that new sense of heightened awareness of her many crimes, Kuvira looks at Guan and sees only red. He is a reflection of her Great Uniter persona, the continuance of the suffering caused by the Earth Empire she founded, and in her desperation to atone, all Kuvira can think to do is kill him and end it all for good.
Suyin, at the very last second, emerges from where she’d been battling other Earth Empire grunts, and begs Kuvira not to kill Guan. Suyin stresses that ending his life won’t do anything to fix the situation, and it certainly won’t ease Kuvira’s heart or give her any peace. She urges her not to give in, and Kuvira relents, recognizing the truth in her adoptive mother’s words and swearing to instead ensure Guan spends his life rotting in prison.
But make no mistake, Commander Guan. You’re finished. And the Earth Empire is over. For good.
Kuvira, Ruins of the Empire
Guan, trembling, gives the order for the rest of his men to stand down. Finally, the Earth Empire is no more.
Afterwards, Kuvira joins Korra and the others in escorting the brainwashed citizens to the city hall, where machines have been set up to break Guan’s mental re-programming. As the citizens are saved, the mayor of Gaoling praises Korra for her actions. Korra humbly defeats the praise, mentioning that, if anyone, Kuvira deserves the thanks for her actions. If not for Kuvira, they never would have racked the brainwashing technique, nor caught Guan before he escaped.
Kuvira doesn’t exactly know what to do with the praise she is now receiving, but what she does know is that she has one final important thing to do before she could put her heart at rest, and finally set herself upon the true path to redemption: officially take responsibility for her crimes.
Escorted back to the courthouse in Republic City, Kuvira returns to her tribunal hearing and is given a second chance to make a statement.
In her statement, Kuvira assures the judges and the gathered crowd that no further testimony or evidence is required, because she is fully ready to confess to all of her crimes and accept whatever punishment is deemed necessary. She admits how wrong she was in beleiving that only her philosophy was worthy of ruling the Earth Nation, and she expresses remorse for all the lives ruined by her actions. She strongly regrets not knowing what was going on in the re-education camps like Guan’s, and acknowledges how she let her ambition of uniting the nation blind her to all the consequences and suffering.
She reiterates that while a part of her may selfishly wish to forget about all the harm she has done, she recognizes that there is no path to growth through ignoring one’s own shortcomings. Having embraced the guilt of her actions, and ready to take responsibility for the first time in her life, Kuvira earnestly wishes that she can begin a path of healing and atoning.
Without hesitation, she changes her plea from ‘Not Guilty‘ to ‘Guilty‘.
I just hope that by taking full responsibility for what I’ve done, I can begin to heal some of the pain I’ve caused. So, I am entering a new plea: Guilty.
Kuvira, Ruins of the Empire
While being led out of the courthouse, Kuvira is met by Korra and friends. Korra announces how impressed she is that Kuvira is finally taking accountability and the proper steps to atoning, and Mako and Bolin comment on how nice it is to have Kuvira on their side again (no doubt recalling all the good she did before adopting her Great Uniter persona).
Asami is a little more reserved, and admits as such by saying that it will take her a long time to ever forgive Kuvira for killing her father. She probably won’t ever forget it. But, being an advocate for the redemption of others, Asami is still touched by Kuvira finally accepting her failings, and promises to be open to viewing the former conqueror through a new light.
Suyin is next to make an appearance, alongside the rest of the Beifong family.
Suyin, while proud of her adopted daughter’s maturity, expresses remorse at the path their lives have taken. She issues Kuvira an apology, wondering how things might have turned out differently had she been a better mother and mentor to guide Kuvira on a brighter path.
Kuvira won’t hear it, turning Suyin’s apology around by claiming how she herself was the one who failed their relationship. Kuvira thanks Suyin for accepting her in the first place after her parents’ abandonment, and reassures Suyin how how touched she is that she never abandoned her in turn, even when Kuvira turned her back. Kuvira insists that she herself is the one who should be apologizing for failing to recognize how great of a mother Suyin was to her.
The two women emrbace, Kuvira tearfully remarking on how she wishes they could have more time together.
She is thusly startled once she’s informed that they will!
Due to Kuvira’s invaluable aid in taking down Guan and bringing an end to the Earth Empire, alongside her genuine remorse for her actions and her intent to atone, her lifetime sentence in jail has been reduced to an indefinite house arrest in Zaofu, under Suyin’s supervision and watchful eye.
Kuvira, though equal parts shocked and delighted, wonders what Baatar would think about having to see her again after his initial request. Suyin assures her that, with time, he (and presumably Opal too) will recognize the change in her, and come around. She states that, though Kuvira may have not been born to their household, she will always be a part of the Beifong family.
Alongside her cherished family, Kuvira is led off to Zaofu, with a future of working to make the world a better place ahead of her.
Even amongst a stacked cast of incredible antagonists in Korra, Kuvira still manages to stand tall. She’s everything you could possibly want in a villain, and thus she especially stands out given that she’s the final foe Korra faces in the show. And then she just gets even greater in the supplemental material!
A villain who undergoes a twisted version of the hero’s journey, becomes a dark foil, and then finds redemption isn’t a unique angle to take with a character…but Korra does it wonderfully through Kuvira.
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
(If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading! It really means a lot to me!)
The Contrarian Corner 