Picking up six months after the events of Book One, The Legend of Korra's Book Two premiere -- which was given a surprise debut at San Diego Comic-Con before its September airing -- begins with a quick recap of what Team Avatar's been up to since the defeat of Amon. Bolin, as we quickly learn, has put together a new team of Fire Ferrets, which aren't quite the all-star team they used to be. Mako is working as a cop, and hoping to make detective soon. Asami is now in charge of her father's Future Industries and is lined up to meet a potential business partner at the South Pole.

Meanwhile, Tenzin has a vacation planned to visit all the world's air temples as a way of continuing Korra's airbending training -- though Korra doesn't seem very thrilled to be going. Until that time, the Korra Krew reunites once again to visit Korra's home town at the Southern Water Tribe, where a dangerous new threat looms in the shadows.

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Chapter One also sees the introduction of several new characters this season, including Tenzin's siblings Kya (voiced by Lisa Edelstein) and Bumi (Richard Riehl), who have a funny rapport with the grumpy Tenzin. We also meet some of Korra's family, who will no doubt play important roles throughout Book Two: Unaloq (Adrian LaTourelle), Korra's uncle and Chief of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes; Eska (Aubrey Plaza) and Dezna (Aaron Himelstein), Korra's cousins; and Varrick (John Michael Higgins), an eccentric capitalist met by Asami and -- who'da thunk it? -- Bolin.In terms of meeting expectations, it was a relief to see that The Legend of Korra hadn't lost a step in its year-long hiatus. As promised, the beginning of Book Two sets Korra on a new and exciting path, while also introducing a few intriguing subplots for the rest of the group. Given the events that transpired in Chapter One, it seems like there will be a fair amount of traveling outside of Republic City, which is great. The episode also features a few surprises in terms of the overarching conflict and how Korra might rise to those challenges. (It is interesting to note that, just in the first episode, we've already ticked off most of the items in our Book Two wish list from last year.)As for the controversial Mako/Korra romance, it's still a bit awkward, but the creators have clearly taken steps to make it less stagnant by pitting Mako against the emotional hurdles of dating the Avatar, while also infusing some humor into the couple's relationship. Speaking of which, Chapter One also came with some good laughs, as evidenced by the fans' audible reaction at Comic-Con. Higgins' Varrick in particular had me chuckling more than once.

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If that wasn't enough, the animation in Book Two has taken yet another step up in quality, with noticeable advances in the action sequences and color treatment. If you were wondering what's been taking so long to get new episodes on the air, it probably had something to do with that. But having now seen the finished product, it was definitely worth the wait.Without overselling Book Two as a whole -- this was, after all, just a 22-minute taste of what's to come -- Chapter One delivered a solid return for Korra and Team Avatar, with lots to look forward to as we approach the Nickelodeon premiere in September.With "Rebel Spirit" making its official debut on Nickelodeon this week, I wanted to touch on a fewthings that I couldn't talk about before.First and foremost: DAT SPIRIT FIGHT. This sequence was far and away the highlight of the episode and included some of the most technically impressive staging we've seen on the show thus far. This scene was also when I was completely won over by James Remar's Tonraq, as he called out "Korra!" and surfed in with that roundabout icebending maneuver. However, it was Unalaq's display of spirit taming that really caught my attention. The exact "how" and "why" of it remains to be seen, but it certainly explains why Korra decided to join her uncle over Tenzin (although that was a heartbreaking moment).Also enjoyable was the budding romance between Bolin and Eska (played to perfection by Aubrey Plaza). While the twins haven't had that much to do yet, their polarizing dynamic with Bolin was definitely a standout here, and it should be interesting to see how that arc develops.Really, the only thing I'm hesitant about is the relationship between Tonraq and Unalaq -- not necessarily because of who they are as characters, but rather, I'm slightly weary about another storyline featuring two waterbending brothers that have a falling out. (Tarrlok and Noatak, anyone?) While Avatar/Korra usually excels at sibling stories, I'm a bit skeptical here, especially with the creators setting up Unalaq as a shady authority figure, which would be pretty Amon/Tarrlok-esque. I'm all for human antagonism, but I'm hoping the Spirit World remains the bigger source of conflict in Book Two. That said, I am intrigued by the Tonraq/Unalaq storyline -- but more on that in the next review...

Looking for our review of the second part of The Legend of Korra's one-hour premiere, "The Southern Lights"? Click here Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.