Warning: this post contains spoilers for season 2 of Legend of Korra!

[Likely you’ve already watched it (and watched it again) but if not — proceed with caution.]

Book 2: Spirits (AKA season 2) of Legend of Korra only wrapped a little over three months ago but who isn’t already anticipating the next installment? “Spirits” wrapped at a point of such potential, it’s hard to believe we have to wait who knows how long for Book 3: Changes. In the season finale of Korra, “Light in the Dark,” viewers learned that Korra had mastered Bending, the portals between the Spiritual World and the Physical World are open and (least importantly) our heroine is now single. Where does this leave us for season 3? This writer can’t wait to see what creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino have in store.

1) Dragons.

A trailer for Book 3 aired in the Netherlands last month, and one gracious fan recorded it and shared it on youtube. While the quality is not great, the 14 second clip was enough to get fans hyped about one thing in particular: DRAGONS. How or why these majestic beasts will come into play remains a mystery but their inclusion was a brilliant move from the writers.



2) Will Asami and Mako Get (Back) Together?

Last season, we saw Mako and Korra make a heartfelt attempt at a healthy relationship. As we might have expected, the results were mildly disastrous: they basically broke up mid-season in a nasty fight and then, in a dramatic turn of events, Korra was confronted by a particularly aggressive Spirit which beat the hell out of Korra. Our heroine goes missing, washes up on mysterious shores with amnesia and must undergo a spiritual journey to rediscover her origins.







Meanwhile Mako, somehow, has no idea Korra has disappeared and rekindles a flirtation/quasi-relationship with Asami. Talk about a rebound, am I right? The kicker here is that when Korra returns to Team Avatar with no memory of the breakup, Mako elects not to enlighten her, pretending instead that things are fine. (Because yeah, that’s the mature way to handle things.) By the end of the season, Korra and Mako had chosen to end their romantic relationship but that leaves Mako’s relationship with Asami up in the air. Creators Dimartino an Konietzko have stated that they’re through with the romantic subplots, and perhaps that’s for the best. Next season would be far better if the writers spent some more time developing Mako’s character, and giving him an independent storyline.

3) Jinorah’s Mysterious Abilities.

At the end of Book 2, Jinorah was the keystone in Korra’s success against the Ultimate Evil Spirit/Unalaq. Viewers received little insight into why or how Jinorah was able to make such an impact. It’s clear that she’s very connected to the spiritual world in a way that few are, maybe she’ll play a role in the next series, helping people adjust to the host of spirits now inhabiting the physical world.

4) The New Prevalence of Spirits in the Physical World.



Between Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, we’ve had minimal interaction in the spirit world, (Origins Parts 1 and 2 as well as Aang’s journey with the Lion Turtle jump immediately to mind). Since Korra opened the portals in the last season, and opted to keep them open, there’s limitless potential for story development. Definitively, all we can say is: next season’s theme is an apt one. “Book 3: Change” promises to be an exciting one.

5)What Happened to Prince Zuko’s Mom?

Seriously. We’ve been waiting for this for years now. The writers even trolled us in the very first episode of Korra.

So far, only books 3 and 4 are confirmed for the series, after that DiMartino and Konietzo have talked about taking an extended break from the Avatar world. If they fail to finally unveil the fate of Zuko’s mom, Ursa, sometime in the next two books…things will not be pretty for them.

Bonus!

In Book 3, we’re finally going to see the Earth Kingdom. We’re pretty excited about that development too.

For more information about what to expect next season, check out this youtube video from Emergency Awesome — this guy really knows what he’s talking about.

*Update 3/11/14*

As for the fate of Prince Zuko’s mom, Ursa, Larkable was misinformed. It’s come to our attention, belatedly, that Dark Horse Comics published a three part story detailing Zuko, Azula and Team Avatar’s journey to find Ursa — Zuko’s mother. The Search is a continuation of The Promise, both set in the year following the conclusion of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Another trilogy of graphic novels, The Rift, are the most recent Avatar series. Part 1 was released just last week (3/5/14).

Here’s the part where I editorialize. A bit. The mystery surrounding Ursa during Avatar: The Last Airbender was a fairly big one. Obviously, it didn’t overshadow Aang’s battle with Ozai because that would be ridiculous. It’s clear the writer’s had an idea behind Ursa’s disappearance which was grandiose enough to merit a full series of graphic novels. It’s great that they wanted to give that story it’s own arc, however, supplemental content — like graphic novels– is called supplemental for a reason. For storytellers to use one type of media to attract a following, then switch to another device to tie up loose ends? That’s not entirely fair to the original audiences. Clearly, Konietzko and DiMartino weren’t going to give Ursa’s story a full episode in the Korra series — that was never an expectation. But the short story from Katara would have been nice. From that point on, viewers could be directed to The Search trilogy, if they were interested in the details.