Episode Thirteen, “Darkness Falls”

Vaatu is free. Harmonic Convergence is upon us. Unalaq is still being an ass and making no sense. It’s like those winter mornings when you don’t want to get out of bed. So, who do you call? The Fire Ferrets. Mako, Bolin, and Korra take on Vaatu and Unalaq in a Wrestlemania meets Celebrity Death Match quarrel. We’ve been waiting for this, when Korra goes Hulk smash… and slams Vaatulaq!

So let’s go!

Korra knows that if Vaatu and Unalaq fuse, it’s over. So she turns into avatar mode and airbends Unalaq through the spirit portal and instructs Bolin and Mako to keep Unalaq out.

We then cut to Aang’s children searching for Jinora’s spirit as Bumi calls out “Jinora’s spirit do you hear me, its your uncle Bumi!” (Ohh Bumi!!)

Auntie Kya believes that meditating will help find Jinora. Tenzin is all frustrated and decides that the best way to find his daughter is to ask for help from a spirit. They walk to a cave and in a polite tone (just like his dad), Tenzin asks the spirit for assistance. The spirit is angry for being disturbed and because they are humans, so it chases them. Tenzin and crew run for their lives and fall off a cliff into another part of the spirit forest. Tenzin is not familiar with the surroundings, in other words, they are lost (uh oh!)

At that time Vaatu and Korra are engaged in an intense fight! Korra bends the elements at will, trying to inflict damage on Vaatu and vice versa. Vaatu, at one point, shoots a power beam a la Tony Stark and catches Korra off guard. Vaatu takes advantage and pins her to a rock by using some sort of vines.

Meanwhile, Tenzin and crew are walking around in circles in the spirit forest. How do we know, you ask? Simple, the spirit mushroom told us.

And who comes to save the day?

Iroh tells Tenzin and company that they should leave the forest since Vaatu has escaped. Tenzin explains that they cannot leave until they find Jinora. Iroh gives them a clue to where Jinora might be when he says that if they stay too long they might go where the lost souls go. As Iroh disappears, Tenzin has figured out where Jinora is.

Back to the action, as Korra is still trapped by those vines, it seems that she might not be able to escape, so she does what any avatar would do. Goes into beast mode (aka avatar state) and fights back.

And just like that, the tables are turned, and we have a deja vu moment. Because we have seen this part before, with avatar Wan.

As Bolin and Mako guard the entrance they realize they are not alone. Besides just Unalaq, the twin Desna and Eska are assisting their father and the commencement of biggest element tower defense game begins.

When the fight gets more and more intense, and Bolin states he believes they cannot hold for much longer, a most dreaded face pops in.

I don’t know about you all, but this love story between Eska and Bolin has been the most awkward, yet the most real out of the teen dramas on the show. Well as expected Bolin Mako are overcomed by the Eska and Desna and Unalaq.

Tenzin then seeks out the spider spirit and lets himself and the others get captured so they can be dumped at the Fog of Lost Souls.

Unalaq enters the spirit world and just as Korra is about to put Vaatu away for another 10,000 years he attacks and this becomes a 2-on-1 battle. After giving Korra a beating, what everyone was fearing happens. Vaatu and Unalaq merge together.

We then turn to Tenzin and crew as they try to make way in the Fog of Lost Souls. Tenzin explains that the fog is actually a spirit that drives you mad and as they keep walking an old familiar face appears: Admirall Zhao!

Well now we know what happened to this punk.

We are taken to the battle between Unalaq and Korra. After some extreme bending, Korra finds herself in a tight situation and as it feels like all hope is lost, Avatar state kicks in.

Back in the Fog of Lost Souls, Tenzin tries to keep his siblings together, but the madness of the fog is too much for Bumi and Kya and they break away from him.

Now Bolin and Mako are frozen in ice and as they try to explain the Eska and Desna what is going on, Bolin makes a confession of his true love to Eska, or does he?

After being released, two-thirds of the fire ferrets burst through the spirit portal to find Korra in deep battle with Vaatulaq and they witness the most horrifying thing. The removal of Raava from Korra.

Back in the Fog of Lost Souls, Tenzin is becoming weak and just as he is about to be overtaken by the fog spirit, Aang appears before him.

Aang drops some major father-son knowledge and Tenzin realizes that he does not need to be his father, that he needs to be himself. As soon as he realizes this. The fog is lifted. Tenzin finds Jinora, Bumi, and Kya and they escape the Fog of Lost Souls.

Vaatulaq is about to do away with Korra and Raava, so Mako and Bolin do their best to stop him but fail. Then, we witness something we didnt know was possible. The destruction of Raava.

Every time Vaatulaq strikes Raava, a connection to a previous avatar is lost. It is an excruciating process to view, as every connection is destroyed, even Wan.

With Raava gone, Vaatulaq turns into a dark spirit so big it resembles something out of Ultraman.

But Jinora senses trouble as her father is carrying her to safety and tells him that she needs to go help Korra and disappears.

I gotta save the world dad!

And then Vaatulaq announce the beginning of the reign of darkness and we are left with this haunting image.

This has been the most intense episode yet. So much action, so much drama, so much despair and hope. We cannot ask for anything better. Wait, yes we can. It’s called the grand finale. Enter “The Light in the Dark.”

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