Warning: Fullfrom the episode to follow.

Dragonfly bunnies, you say? Where?

Airbender: The Next Generation

After learning the immense history of Avatar Wan in "Beginnings: Parts 1 & 2," the focus shifted back to the task at hand, as Korra traveled to the Eastern Air Temple for guidance from Tenzin -- but not before thoroughly recapping... well, everything. ("I knew this would happen!") Unlike the previous two episodes, which were mostly centered on plot, "The Guide" was very much a character-driven story that took a step back to reflect on all that had happened so far, and set up the events to come.For Korra, this meant finally traveling to the Spirit World, where she hopes to close the Southern Portal from the inside. However, it's important to remember that in the past, benders who enter the Spirit World via meditation no longer possess their bending abilities in that plane of existence (as evidenced by Avatar: The Last Airbender ). So even if she is able to close the portal -- and I expect she can -- it stands to reason that she won't be bending again any time soon.Having said that, bending is apparently possible when entering the Spirit World physically, as we saw this week with Unalaq, Eska and Desna. Although Unalaq's plan to bend the portal open was (no pun intended) dead in the water, this was still a notable subplot, for a few reasons. Foremost, this episode pretty much finalized Unalaq's villainous position, particularly in his line to Eska after Desna was severely injured: "This," the portal, "is more important." With the siblings' devotion now wavered, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to team up with Bolin, Mako and Asami at some point (after Bolin gets his comeuppance from Eska, of course)."The Guide" was also a very strong episode for Tenzin, who hit a major milestone this week. Since Book Two began, we've learned a lot about what Tenzin's life was like growing up as Avatar Aang's son. But what's really compelling about this is Tenzin's warped perception of who he is and what Aang expected of him. His frustration with not having the same spiritual connection as his father was surprisingly insightful and added yet another dimension to his character that we hadn't seen before.This worked on two levels. First, this storyline was very much about Tenzin and Korra making amends and setting things right with one another, which culminated in Korra's successful execution of spirit taming, as she honed Unalaq's technique to subdue the dark spirit bats -- but as Korra explained to Tenzin after the fact, "Everything Unalaq taught me was to help himself. Everything you've done was meant to help me."Second, and perhaps more importantly, this storyline was about Tenzin accepting the fact that his legacy had limitations. Here, Jinora had to act as the Avatar's guide into the Spirit World, not him. What Tenzin failed to realize until later was that he needed to let go and allow his daughter to step in and fulfill his work. In the end, it was Tenzin's pride in Jinora that not only strengthened his role as a mentor, but as a father as well -- and perhaps that's something Aang never achieved for himself.Meanwhile, Mako, Asami and Bolin had their own troubles to deal with following Mako's revelation that Varrick was behind the bombings. These few scenes in Republic City were brief (and only somewhat interesting, comparably), but they did set up another obstacle for Mako, who was framed by Varrick and arrested for stealing Future Industries property. This is what makes me think that Asami and Bolin may need to recruit some outside help (Eska and Desna?) to get to the bottom of Varrick's scheme, especially since Lin seems to be convinced that Mako is guilty -- which feels a bit contrary to Lin's character, but... eh.I guess it's also worth noting that Mako and Asami are now dating... kinda? Or at least casually kissing. Anyway, that's happening -- not quite as organically as it did in "The Sting," but hey, I'm not complaining (yet).Finally, we also now know for sure that Unalaq is in cahoots with Vaatu, which explains his mysterious visits to the Southern Portal. What's more, both Unalaq and Vaatu know that Korra has entered the Spirit World. To me, this sequence seemed to hint at my crazy Dark Avatar theory from a couple weeks ago -- that is, Unalaq and Vaatu joining forces to stop Korra from closing the Southern Portal -- and if that's the case, we may be in for one epic showdown by season's end.