How Mako Talks About Korra vs. How Asami Talks About Korra

This is specifically about “Remembrances,” but if anyone has any other instances to add, feel free.

This is something that came to mind while I was working on another post analyzing the lack of development in the Korrasami relationship. I suddenly realized that during “Remembrances,” an episode dedicated to exploring the past seasons of the shows and seeing how far we’ve come, Mako and Asami talk very differently about Korra (and their relationships with her). Note that this was also an episode basically dedicated to exploring the interpersonal relationships between Mako, Korra, and Asami as well as Tenzin and Korra.

I’ll start with Asami. Throughout her entire speech, the focus is never on Korra as a person or what she means to Asami. She says things like “The world does need you. You’re the Avatar.” She then proceeds to remind Korra of the great things she has done as the Avatar. There is no mention of Korra and Asami’s budding friendship/relationship, and there is no mention of what Korra means to Asami. She never says anything like, “you’re amazing” or “We/I need you.” She says things like, “But remember that really awesome thing you did? That was pretty amazing.” Yes she reminds Korra of her self-worth, but it’s nothing that Tenzin hasn’t done before and didn’t do after he butted into the conversation. The same conversation could have been held with just Korra and Tenzin. Not to mention that this is a show that built Korra’s entire identity around the fact that she is the Avatar and that she has no sense of real self-identity and self-worth outside of her capacity to act as Avatar and then took Korra on a character-building journey to develop a sense of self-identity as Korra rather than as Avatar Korra. How then, is Asami reaffirming that she’s a great Avatar rather than a great person indicative of a future functioning romantic relationship?

Note that throughout all of this, there were no clips shown of Korra and Asami’s budding friendship. There was nothing about how they bonded over Mako, nothing about how they busted out of the airship together and helped rebuild it after it crash-landed. There was no mention of Asami supporting Korra after the traumatizing events of “Venom of the Red Lotus,” no mention of the letters (or of Korra’s single reply), the reunion…there was no mention of really anything that Korra and Asami have actually been through together (which isn’t much, but still).There was no note about how overcoming their previous antagonism towards each other because of their romantic feelings towards Mako was an “important thing” Korra did. Note that this is five episodes from the finale in which these two girls get together.

Contrast this with Mako’s portion of the episode, which takes up nearly 11 minutes out of the 23 minute episode (aka, nearly 50% of the episode is spent recaping relationship issues). He spends nearly all his time discussing things that happened between him and Korra. Korra as a person with feelings and thoughts of her own, not Korra as the Avatar. Recap clips are shown of the “As much as you infuriate me sometimes, I also think you’re pretty amazing” scene and the “I didn’t want to hurt you all over again” scene, along with several other scenes showcasing Mako and Korra’s rocky interpersonal relationship. He constantly brings up how much Korra has changed him, right from the start: “Bolin and I grew up dirt poor, so once I became a pro-bender, I wanted it all: Riches; fame; accolades. But all that changed when I met Korra.”

He reaffirms this notion multiple times and continually emphasizes how much Korra meant/means to him, rather than to the world. With lines like “Korra proved to be an amazing pro-bender and a loyal friend,” “But my feelings for Korra became clear when Tarrlok captured her. It felt like a piece of me was gone,” and “Korra showed me the importance of putting others before myself and whenever I think of her, she continues to inspire me,” Mako is constantly reaffirming how much Korra means to him and how much she has changed him. The world gets mentioned a couple times, and so do the villains, but repeatedly, we are reminded that this is about Mako and how he views Korra, not Avatar Korra: an amazing woman who has irrevocably changed how he views life and whose friendship and love he values incredibly. Again, note that this is five episodes before Korra and Asami get together.

Korra doesn’t get much word in edgewise either way, so we don’t know her feelings on the matter one way or another. But it’s very striking, isn’t it, the differences in how they talk about Korra and what she’s done? Mako talks about her as a person, whereas Asami, her future romantic interest, refers to her only as the Avatar and important to the world, making no mention of Korra’s personal attributes or her importance to the people that love and care for her (in particular Asami herself). Notably, Mako was the first person in the series to disregard her Avatar status (Episode 2: Leaf in the Wind) and judge her as Korra rather than as the Avatar, both as a bender and as a person.

…honestly, it’s things like this that make me seriously question what Bryke thought they were doing. Why place such a heavy emphasis on Mako? Why place such little emphasis on Korra and Asami? Why the continual lack of personal interaction between Korra and Asami, and why the striking difference in how they talk about Korra? If this was supposed to properly wrap-up the Makorra relationship for good, why place such a heavy emphasis on the idea that Mako has not dated anyone since he and Korra broke up and implicitly/explicitly (depending on how you view the narrative) state that he is still in love with her? And why are Korra’s feelings about this whole situation disregarded? The only moment she gets is another moment of doubt about her self-worth, which she’s been dealing with all season. While it served as an important segue to discuss the important things Korra has done as the Avatar, it serves little purpose otherwise. Why are her feelings about Mako and/or Asami not even discussed? Most importantly, why do an episode like this five episodes before the finale and then immediately focus the entirety of the next episode on the Beifongs, especially the way “Remembrances” played out? It makes very little sense, overall.