Our favorite “Anonymous Asami Admirer” philosophy graduate is back, and with another amazingly insightful analysis! This time it’s all about Kuvira, the character. 100% worth the read. It’s eloquent, entertaining, and definitely sheds insight on our Book 4 antagonist. Enjoy!

Su and Kuvira don’t have many scenes together, so it’s hard to understand their relationship. There will be a lot of speculation with only tidbits of evidence. Su is right to characterize Kuvira as “complicated” because she is. Kuvira’s motivations are many. Since Su is more of a mentor to Kuvira than a mother, the best way to get into their relationship is to compare and contrast the two, bringing to light the differences that could have seeded their major conflict.





Su and Kuvira are both attracted to underdogs. They both show a willingness to serve, especially those who seem disadvantaged in some way, maybe because they both have troubled childhoods. Su has collected her family of misfits and outsiders. Kuvira undoubtedly admired Su’s ability to “save” people including her. It’s telling that Kuvira sees the fractured Earth Kingdom as being like herself as an orphan - an underdog in desperate need of help and support. She genuinely wanted to see the Earth nation reach its full potential, the way she did under Su’s tutelage. The idea of reaching one’s full potential is often emphasized by Su.



Su and Kuvira are both egotistical. Su is proud of her legacy and she should be. She was a rebellious ne’er-do-well who turned her life around and produced one of the best cities in the world with some pretty revolutionary ideas. However, I do feel like she enjoyed humblebragging. The “family of outsiders” is mostly portrayed as being there to work for her and, as far as I can recall, she shows no familial affection towards them, including Kuvira. She almost takes too much pride in their redemption, to the point where it seems like a weird ego-boosting thing for her, portraying herself as the savior of lost souls. Kuvira’s huge ego is very apparent. Her superior metal bending skills, the ease with which she succeeded at her goals, and even defeating the Avatar in battle gradually turned her into a raging megalomaniac.

Su and Kuvira are both stubborn. Stubbornness is a defining Beifong family trait. Every major Beifong character is a moral absolutist - they each possess their own strict moral code, which they adhere to unwaveringly. They also tend to judge people very harshly for compromising moral convictions. This means that neither Su nor Kuvira deal well with dissent (see: Su’s reactions to Aiwei ‘s betrayal and Kuvira’s apology). To them, dissent means having your core values tested and challenged.

Su and Kuvira are both controlling. How one deals with dissent is very revealing. The fact that Su uses Aiwei to ensure that there are no lies in Zaofu is actually quite Big Brother-y and it’s a huge clue to us that she is controlling. Bataar Sr appears to be her silent workhorse and her children are mostly quite meek. The kids are free to pursue their interests, but only to the extent that those interests are in line with her wishes (otherwise Opal wouldn’t automatically assume Su would be upset about her leaving).

Su puts on the face of liberalism, openness and tolerance in terms of how she characterizes Zaofu culture, but the way she handles dissent clearly shows the limits of her beliefs. I don’t mean to paint Su in a negative light because I really love her character. I’m simply trying to bring out the negative side of her personality as a way to highlight Kuvira’s foibles. In Su’s defense, she is big enough to admit that she gave Opal too little freedom as a reaction to Toph’s laissez-faire parenting style. I do believe she is conflicted enough when she has to restrict people, because she does genuinely believe in freedom. Kuvira, however, has no compunction about putting down dissent and does it ruthlessly. This is where we begin to see the major difference between mentor and protégé.



Su holds individual freedom as a core moral value but, as a long time leader, she does understand the negative side to freedom and she tries her best to navigate the delicate balance. Kuvira does not hold freedom in such high regard and we can only speculate about why that is…



Su took great pride in seeing Kuvira advance as a metal bender and then quickly rise through the ranks of the security forces. Kuvira, being an orphan with abandonment issues, probably overcompensated and worked extra hard in everything as a way to make herself feel worthy of Su’s investment. (Huge egos are often just compensating for low self-esteem.) However, Kuvira was probably raised by Su to be a free thinker. Kuvira is bright, talented, and forward-thinking. She is shown being very proactive in her leadership style. She probably had a lot of great ideas and I can easily see Su shooting them down as being too radical or unnecessary. Su is of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset. She likes to let things evolve naturally, only acting when problems reach a critical point, whereas Kuvira is a “nip it in the bud” type of problem solver. I imagine these opposing leadership styles could produce a lot of friction and resentment over the years, especially as Kuvira became increasingly headstrong and confident in her abilities. This growing resentment can easily erode a once affectionate relationship, which Su seems to believe existed between them at some point.

It’s likely Kuvira secretly wished to be a Beifong and her second-class status was probably an additional push to overcompensate for lingering feelings of abandonment and worthlessness. Kuvira had no reason to expect to be treated as a real daughter and Su did not treat the people she took in as real family. Su is much more willing to listen to reason with her family, whereas she does not tolerate dissent from anyone else, which means Kuvira probably did not feel free to object or talk back (even Opal didn’t feel that free). She probably bit her tongue a lot out of deference to Su’s kindness and maybe the lack of confrontation over the years is why Su was shocked at the betrayal.

I never bought Kuvira and Bataar Jr as a real couple. How did they even get together? How was Bataar so delusional about Kuvira’s feelings? Maybe Kuvira, consciously or not, felt like a second-class citizen and Bataar was her “in” with the Beifongs. There’s not much evidence for this but it seems plausible. Maybe where Su was resistant to Kuvira’s ideas, Bataar was much more receptive, so he became an important ally. Bataar was probably rather meek like the rest of Su’s kids, so it’s not surprising he’d be attracted to someone resembling his mother. It’s a bit gross but happens in real life all the time. Maybe years of commiserating together allowed Kuvira, intentionally or not, to awaken some deep-seated resentment in Bataar towards Su. Maybe he wanted Su to retire and thus supported Kuvira with his talents. With everything that his parents accomplished, it’s possible he felt that Kuvira could lift him out of their shadow once and for all. If Bataar is the eldest, I can empathize with him. From my own experience, eldest children have issues surrounding duty/loyalty/responsibility. They can be easily manipulated or guilted into doing things, in the same way Lin became police chief to please Toph.

Personal is Political

If Kuvira does not value freedom above all else like Su, then what does she value above all else? STABILITY. Having no parents is the most unstable a child can be. Assuming Su gave Kuvira the same freedom as her own children to pursue their interests, it’s noteworthy that Kuvira chose the military. Maybe she came of age in a military type setting where hierarchy and obedience are highly valued. It is a place where you can push yourself to extreme physical and mental limits. It is also a place of order, discipline, and routine, which could be very appealing to an insecure orphan type. People do often say that military training raises a person’s sense of self-respect and self-esteem and this would have been the perfect avenue for Kuvira to reach her full potential.



As a leader, Kuvira probably saw firsthand how too much freedom can quickly erode loyalty and cohesiveness, which leads to chaos. In the worst case, freedom leads to backstabbing and mutiny. As a military leader, you must put down dissent immediately - nip it in the bud!



As a follower, Kuvira watched Su walk the fine line between freedom and control, probably coming to the conclusion that freedom is important but not the MOST important thing. Placing restrictions on freedom is a slippery slope. As time went on, Kuvira likely rationalized to herself that it was necessary to restrict a little freedom here and a little there for the greater good… and before you know it… you’re a dictator!



Kuvira is Su with bigger balls/ovaries. Su seems to have a passing understanding of political philosophy, which she freely expounded to anyone who would listen. Take her haphazard political philosophy and pair it with hardcore ambition (or overcompensation) and you get Kuvira. Su, getting older, and wanting to protect her legacy, understandably stays out of the Earth Kingdom business.

In one scene Kuvira pointedly says, “You’ve always been a coward!” Where did that come from?! She’s not only referring to the Earth Kingdom mess. She watched Su boss people around, leading tiny Zaofu with her revolutionary ideals. If freedom is so awesome why be so controlling with Aiwei and his omnipresent Big Brother stare? If Zaofu is so great why not spread this culture far and wide and unite the Earth nation once and for all? Su’s tragic flaw is not that she’s a coward, it’s that she lacks political ambition. Similar to Kuvira, she wanted to create a stable home for herself, something Toph never provided. She was happy to be in her box, well respected by the people around her, and isolated from the world (see: protective dome designs). This is the flaw Kuvira exploited to build a name for herself and command loyalty from those around her. Having a Grand Vision is what would unite the idealistic citizens of Zaofu against a respected leader who’s past her prime.



Politically, Su’s controlling behavior pushes people towards their true potential, creating a society of intelligent, tolerant and engaged citizens. Kuvira pushes people towards submission and service, in hopes of creating citizens who work together to better the nation, in the same way each soldier in an army contributes to building a cohesive unit.



The Earth Empire story mirrors the history of China from the late 19th century through WWII. What started as a populist movement for overthrowing the monarchy quickly devolved into civil war and was then hijacked and turned into a dictatorship by Chairman Mao during the communist revolution. (That’s an oversimplification but I’m impressed by the heavy subject matter.) The portrayal of Ba Sing Se is in line with the social conditions of China just before the fall of the monarchy. The Earth Queen has a real-life counterpart in the Chinese empress Cixi, one of the last royal rulers. The chaotic period Zaheer set in motion matches up to the civil war between the Nationalists and Communists. Zaofu is like Hong Kong, a small pocket of democracy and stability. Kuvira’s excuses for invading Zaofu and Republic City are similar to China’s rationale for expanding into places like Tibet after WWII, and even today they’re still doing it when trying to reclaim Taiwan and various waters/islands. If Kuvira stopped after Republic City she would be more like the unifier Mao than the imperialistic Hitler. Re-education or labor camps were the tool of choice for dealing with dissenters in China. It’s notable that Kuvira’s camps were labor and not concentration camps like the Nazis. She has no interest in political scapegoating or fascist ideology. She only wants people to submit to their responsibilities and do their part - a very Maoist/communist ideal. China today officially suppresses dissent in the name of national “harmony” and stability.



The heart of Kuvira’s political philosophy is: 1) Pragmatic: She is not strongly ideological like previous LOK villains. She’s not a kool-aid drinker. She has a simple goal and does what is necessary and logical to further it. If she knew of a better way/idea to reach that goal, she’d take it. 2) Machiavellian: Machiavelli’s political philosophy was a reaction to warring city-states. It is a philosophy borne from insecurity and being under threat, which matches up with the state of the Earth Kingdom and Kuvira’s childhood issues. He believed a nation requires a strong leader to make decisions for all and that it is necessary to make sacrifices to achieve one’s goals - the end justifies the means. Politics is necessarily bloody but the end goal is worth every sacrifice. Kuvira operates from this principle and actually shows us she’s not a true Beifong. She’s more than willing to make moral exceptions.

Beyond her political philosophy, is Kuvira a psychopath? This question has nagged me since the first watch. There’s a lot of unknowns. Is she filled with deep-seated rage and lashing out against her enemies? Did she have a really abusive or traumatic childhood? Was Su really an evil stepmom to Kuvira’s Cinderella? I don’t see much evidence for this. But Kuvira does seem naturally intelligent, cold and calculating, able to cynically manipulate, appearing to be lacking in emotion, and strangely able to dissociate herself from the suffering of others (her “oh well” expression after blasting Bataar Jr was priceless). This seems to be indicative of anti-social behavior. On the other hand, it is really easy for any person, especially one who feels second-class or has low self-esteem, to become intoxicated by power.



Is Kuvira genuinely remorseful? Debatable. I think she would admit to making strategic errors. She would also admit to getting a big head after beating Korra the first time. It’s notable that she’s conceited enough to compare herself to the Avatar but is humbled when Korra shows her true powers, so she’s not divorced from reality. Would she admit to being wrong in her quest to unify the Earth nation? I don’t think she’s changed her mind about that. Her apology to Su seemed a bit hollow and perfunctory. When confronted, she appears to understand only logically the harm she’s done, not emotionally. I feel like she surrendered not because she saw the light, but because she was defeated and, being a pragmatist, resigned herself to whatever consequences would come from her failure. She does differ markedly from Su’s kids in her utter ruthlessness, which kind of points to Kuvira having a well-formed personality before being adopted.



Kuvira’s arc could use more character background, and the three year time jump really impeded our ability to see any important transformations. It’s also not 100% clear whether she was behind all the bandit activity in the first place. If she really was, then she’s scarily machiavellian. She did get a lot of screen time in season 4 and her portrayal was consistent throughout, so it’s hard to say she TURNED into a tyrant. Maybe she was one all along but never had the chance to express it. I’m a big fan either way. She’s a kick-ass bender, smart, has a sexy killing voice and is easy on the eyes!