A view from a former non-shipper

Mako’s attention is elsewhere. So was mine a lot of the time.

Shipping and romance fall pretty far down the list of reasons why I watch any TV series. I certainly didn’t watch Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra for the shipping. That said, I am more than satisfied with how The Legend of Korra ended. I think that Korrasami is one of the most impressive depictions of a romance I have ever seen, despite the fact that I missed many of the signs during my first viewing of the series.

Given all the controversy and vitriol, I’ve been trying to view things from the other side. The only argument I can understand at all is “Why does Korra need to be in romance at the end?; why can’t she/we be contented with where she is and her accomplishments?” To a lesser degree, I can also make a little sense of out, “By going with this ending, Bryke are overshadowing everything that is good about the series.” Regarding all other arguments, the best conclusion that I can reach is that they’re rooted in a willful ignorance. Before I can address any of that, I feel that I need to outline how I experienced Korrasami for the first time.

Suffice it to say, when I first watched “The Legend of Korra”, I didn’t watch with any “shipping lenses” on. I was a casual viewer. I wasn’t part of the fandom. I am a Korrasami shipper now but this didn’t happen until a few hours after I watched the finale.

I missed a lot of the clues when I first watched the episodes. I wasn’t looking for them and some passed in the blink of an eye. However, in the back of my mind, I was somehow processing them. I know this because after I watched Korra and Asami disappear into the spirit portal, previous scenes I had found “curious” pushed themselves into the forefront of my mind.

Scenes like this didn’t register with me when I first watched, but blasted right into my thoughts after the finale.

Here’s my deal: I initially thought that Bryke were queerbaiting. I thought Korra and Asami were a Sherlock and Watson, House and Wilson sort of thing. For much of the run, I wasn’t thinking of Korra and Asami as a serious romantic pairing.

When something happens like this…

ASAMI: You want me to take you for a spin?

…or this…

…or this…

KORRA: “I’ve never had a girlfriend to hang out with and talk to before, except for Naga. This is nice.”

…and especially this…

“Queerbait-iest” image in the series if you’re going for classic knee-slapping queerbaiting.

…and this…

YIN: “What lovely young women. Mako, why aren’t you dating any nice girls like them?”

…I think, “queerbaiting.”

Then it shifted.

When we get to this…

ASAMI: I want you to know that I’m here for you. If you ever want to talk, or, anything.

I could still write this off as Bryke going for a very deep, loving, platonic friendship. And I did, even though I had an odd feeling that something may be going on because this was too serious. Unlike the previous scenes I’ve noted, there was nothing funny here. This is pretty emotional stuff.



And then…

KORRA (voiceover): Dear Asami, I’m sorry I haven’t written to you sooner, but every time I’ve tried, I never know what to say. The past two years have been the hardest of my life. Even though I can get around fine now, I still can’t go into the Avatar State. I keep having visions of Zaheer and what happened that day. Katara thinks a lot of this is in my head, so I’ve been meditating a lot, but sometimes I worry I’ll never fully recover. Please don’t tell Mako and Bolin I wrote to you and not them. I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but it’s easier to tell you about this stuff. I don’t think they’d understand.

Admitting personal bias here: I see letter writing as incredibly intimate. I find it more intimate than speaking to someone’s face. Why? Because it’s proof on paper. You could always deny the meaning of something you say by claiming it was said in haste or you were drunk. To put the effort into writing, and then go ahead and mail the letter, shows intent. Add to that that Korra is volunteering this information unsolicited and it’s about her concerns.

I’m still seeing this letter as deep friendship (and it certainly is – the deepest you can possibly get) but the context – the imagery while Korra is writing this letter is some of the most beautiful in the series.

Is this romantic now?

When did this start to push in a romantic direction for me? “Reunion” (4x07). “Reunion” changed everything.

If anyone bothers to really look, “Reunion” is loaded with hints. I missed a lot of them when I first watched the episode but I don’t know how the restaurant scenes can sail over anyone’s head:

None of this needs words. Screw line counts. All of this was incredibly, curiously queer to me.

If I was unsure about any of that, this line told me that I was seeing what I thought I was seeing:

MAKO: What’s going on with you two?

That line is when I began to take Korrasami seriously.

But you know what happened after that? “Remembrances” (4x08). We spent most of the episode on Mako telling his story. By this point, I am sure that Bryke are trying to make some sort of commentary on love and relationships. After all the Korrasami from the previous episode, to get all the Mako focus and perspective in this one, I am feeling mightily confused.

This threw me:

MAKO: I eventually helped Korra defeat Zaheer and save the airbenders. And we did it as friends. Korra showed me the importance of putting others before myself and whenever I think of her, she continues to inspire me.

It’s not beyond the realm of possibility to consider that maybe the message could have been that because Mako now sees himself as Korra’s friend, that they can start a mature loving relationship based on that because Mako has reached this point. I’m thinking that this is how a lot of MK stans see it. What that view ignores is how much has been built up between Korra and Asami. I wasn’t a shipper but I recognized enough of the buildup to feel absolutely confused about the point of Mako’s story in “Remembrances.” Were they using Korra and Asami’s buildup as a parallel for a Mako friendship-to-romance-buildup?



Then came “Beyond the Wilds” (4x09).

Mako is being a good friend. He’s not questioning Korra’s decisions. They’re not fighting. But this was confusing the heck out of me because in my mind I was thinking, “Are they going to try to put Mako and Korra back together because, despite all this, a relationship with Asami makes more sense.” I couldn’t quite put a finger on exactly why it made more sense, but it did. (In hindsight, it’s all the clues I ‘missed’, particularly all the non-verbal framing of the shots.)



The thought that I carried into the final two episodes was that Korra would end up alone. In fact, I told myself that I would prefer it that Korra would be alone. I didn’t think there was enough to make me believe that she could start again with Mako and because Asami was female, I didn’t want Bryke to go there because I didn’t believe that they were skilled enough to pull that off in a believable way. I thought that either it would be open so that people could easily headcanon what they wanted or they might “make things easier” and kill off one of Mako or Asami.

From the moment he was re-introduced in “Enemy at the Gates” (4x05), we knew that Hiroshi was going to die in some heroic way. When Varrick, Zhu Li, Asami and Hiroshi got into those flying mechasuits, I did consider the thought that maybe they will kill Asami too. You know why?

At this point, the only way a Makorra ending would make sense to me is if Asami were dead.

This is almost a classic queer romance where one of Korra or Asami just has to die. Korra is the protagonist so Asami would be the one to kick it.



When I saw that Hiroshi and Asami were together in the same mechasuit, I was slightly concerned that they may be killing her. It doesn’t help that we get the obligatory “I love you scene.”

The moment I knew Asami was going to live?



Zhu Li activates two switches to eject Varrick and herself to safety.

Because it’s established that there are two separate switches and we know that Hiroshi is going to die, I knew Asami would make it out alive.

So now Mako’s turn. His scene is epic!

Mako offers to sacrifice himself, but then Bolin saves him.

So now I’m thinking, “open ending.”

I was amused that Asami put herself between Mako and Korra.

By the time we reach Varrick and Zhu Li’s wedding, I’m already thinking that this is one of the best series finales I have ever seen.

Wu and Mako have their conversation that never hit me until after the ending . Korra joins them. Then Wu leaves Mako and Korra alone.

KORRA: The words “thank you” don’t feel big enough for what you did. But I honestly don’t know what else to say.

MAKO: You don’t need to say anything. I want you to know, I’ll follow you into battle, no matter how crazy things get. I’ve got your back … and I always will.

I’m still thinking it’s possible they’re being paired off here. Do I want them together? No, I don’t. I like to think that the endnote is a platonic love one. (And later it was confirmed to be just that.) But as the scene ends, I’m still wondering if Bryan and Mike are trying to be vague here.

Then the Tenzin scene happens. As Korra starts talking about the lesson she’s learned through her suffering, the somber end credits music starts and I’m thinking of how beautiful all of this is.

Then this hand goes on that shoulder and I’m thinking, “Why has nobody mentioned Hiroshi’s sacrifice? Does this mean…”

“Oh my God.”



“They’re alone!” And what’s that I hear? Strings? I’m hearing warm strings playing the melody of the end credits! This is romantic!



“This is the closest they’ll get to ‘I love you.’ This is definitely a Korrasami ending!”

“Well, isn’t this a lovely way to end it.”

*Jaw drops* “There’s more?!!!!!!”

*Stands up out of chair* “They’re going there! They’re going there!”

“They did it! They did it! Well done, Bryke!”



I sat there, processed it, thought back to all the buildup I had seen but hadn’t acknowledged as buildup. I realized why there was so much Wu time. I considered the Zhurrick parallel.

I decided that this is one of the most satisfying depictions of a romance I had ever seen in anything. It’s the ending I didn’t know that I wanted.

I had other more embarrassing thoughts too. I was concerned that, by going with this ending, it would jeopardize the chance of there being follow-up comics. I was concerned that the ending would overshadow other aspects of the show, particularly Korra’s recovery arc. I thought about what people would think of me if I recommended the show to them – would they think I was pushing some gay agenda on them. The fact that I could have these thoughts only highlighted how important this ending was.

After briefly sorting through my thoughts, I hopped onto LOK Tumblr fandom for the first time because I had to see others’ reactions. Seeing how much it meant to people and how others were trying to tear it down made me jump onto the Korrasami ship. I got its back, and I always will.

So that’s how I as a non-shipper experienced Korrasami the first time around.