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Book 4 of The Legend of Korra continues to impress with its second episode, “Korra Alone.” After missing the Avatar almost entirely last week, this episode catches us up on her goings-on since the showdown with the Red Lotus.

J and I begin our conversation talking about Avatar: The Last Airbender, and speculate whether Zuko is as much the protagonist of that series as Aang was. We then dive into Korra’s recovery with Katara, her visions of “Phantom Korra” and her journey into the swamp.

We also talk at length about the relationship between this episode and “Zuko Alone” from Book 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and examine the parallels between Aang, Zuko and Korra. Finally, we speculate on what we might see at Prince Wu’s coronation next week.

~ Søren

Note that this podcast contains spoilers up through “Korra Alone.” As always, you can subscribe to Ember Island Airwaves using iTunes. Alternatively, you can check out the episode online or download it here. Happy listening!

The fan art of Toph/Yoda mentioned in this podcast can be found here, and the Star Wars/Korra parallels have been outlined on this Tumblr account. And for those of you who didn’t find the final scene emotional or nostalgic enough as is, here’s an edited version.

Do you think there are more parallels between Korra and Zuko? Will their character arcs start to reflect one another as the series continues? And what do you think is going on with “Phantom Korra”? Is it a spirit? A manifestation of her past lives? Is it Raava? Or is Korra just seeing things?

Let us know your thoughts, and remember to check in next week as we talk about the upcoming episode, “The Coronation.”

This podcast uses clips from the songs Nanyang Journey and Erhu by Ivan Chew / CC BY 3.0.