Book Three: ''Change'' is the third season of the animated television series '' The Legend of Korra'', created by

Michael Dante DiMartino Michael Dante DiMartino (born July 18, 1974) is an American animator, producer, writer, and director. He is best known, together with Bryan Konietzko, as the co-creator of the animated TV series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of ...

and Bryan Konietzko, and consists of thirteen episodes ("chapters"), all animated by Studio Mir. The season began airing on Nickelodeon in the U.S. on June 27, 2014. After leaked episodes and following declining ratings, the series stopped airing on Nickelodeon after episode 8 on July 25, 2014. Episodes 9 to 13 of ''Book Three'' were subsequently made available on the Internet weekly through Nickelodeon's website and on digital download platforms. The season takes place largely in the Earth Kingdom, one of the four major nations in the setting of the series, while depicting the re-emergence of airbending among people of other nations. The season's antagonists are the "Red Lotus", a group of dangerous

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

s led by the new airbender

Zaheer Zaheer is a character in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'' (a sequel to ''Avatar: The Last Airbender''). He serves as the main antagonist of '' Book Three: Change'', and his actions have lingering effects on Ava ...

who wants to overthrow the world's governments and the Avatar. Among the season's supporting characters are the now elderly Zuko (a character from the original series) and the family of Lin Beifong's sister Suyin. __TOC__

Episodes

Cast

Main

* Janet Varney as

Avatar Korra Avatar Korra is the Title character, title lead character in Nickelodeon's List of animated television series, animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'' (a sequel to ''Avatar: The Last Airbender''), in which she is depicted as the curre ...

David Faustino David Anthony Faustino (; born March 3, 1974) is an American actor and radio personality primarily known for his role as Bud Bundy on the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children''. He has also voiced animated characters for Nickelodeon, including ...

as Mako *

P.J. Byrne Paul Jeffrey Byrne (born December 15, 1974) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff in the Martin Scorsese film '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013) and Bolin on Nickelodeon's animated s ...

Bolin Bolin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bert Bolin (1925–2007), Swedish meteorologist * Bob Bolin (born 1939), American Major League Baseball pitcher * Charles E. Bolin (1843–1924), American politician * Jane Bolin (1908� ...

* Mindy Sterling as

Lin Beifong is a major character, voiced by Mindy Sterling, in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'', which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', were created by Micha ...

J.K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He i ...

as Tenzin *

Seychelle Gabriel Seychelle Suzanne Gabriel is an American actress. On television, she portrayed List of Falling Skies characters#Main characters, Lourdes Delgado in ''Falling Skies'' (2011–2014) and voiced Asami Sato in ''The Legend of Korra'' (2012–2014). Sh ...

Asami Sato is a major character in the Nickelodeon List of animated television series, animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'', which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', were create ...

* Kiernan Shipka as Jinora * Skyler Brigmann as Kai *

Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles in a variety of genres in film, television, and theater, receiving numerous accolades, including a National Board of Review Award and multiple Emmy ...

as Suyin Beifong * Henry Rollins as

Recurring

* Bruce Davison as Fire Lord Zuko * Logan Wells as Meelo *

Darcy Rose Byrnes Darcy Rose Byrnes (born November 4, 1998) is an American and Irish actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Abby Newman on ''The Young and the Restless'' and ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', Penny Scavo on ''Desperate ...

as Ikki * Richard Riehle as Bumi * Lisa Edelstein as Kya * John Michael Higgins as Varrick * Stephanie Sheh as Zhu Li * Grey DeLisle as Ming'hua * Peter Giles as Ghazan *

Kristy Wu Kristy Wu (born October 11, 1982) is a retired American actress, best known for her recurring role as Chao-Ahn in the TV series, ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and co-starring as Melissa Wu in ''Flight 29 Down''. Other television credits include g ...

as P'Li * Alyson Stoner as Opal Beifong

Production

Design

''Book Three'' was the first season of ''The Legend of Korra'' to be created with a full in-house design and revision team, an expansion from the 25 to 30 people who worked for the series at Nickelodeon for seasons 1 and 2.Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Joaquim Dos Santos: ''The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change'', audio commentary to the Blu-ray version of season 3, episode 1 The design for the armless waterbender Ming-Hua was based on Bryan Konietzko's friend Michi,Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Joaquim Dos Santos: ''The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change'', audio commentary to the Blu-ray version of season 3, episode 2 and Opal's hairstyle was based on that of

Dolly Haas Dolly may refer to: Tools *Dolly (tool), a portable anvil * A posser, also known as a dolly, used for laundering * A variety of wheeled tools, including: **Dolly (trailer), for towing behind a vehicle **Boat dolly or launching dolly, a device fo ...

.Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Jeremy Zuckerman: ''The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change'', audio commentary to the Blu-ray version of season 3, episode 5 The location of Zaofu, Suyin Beifong's metal-domed city, was inspired by Lake Louise in Canada's

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...

, and the exterior of Lake Laogai, the site of the Dai-Lin's headquarters, was modeled on

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

.Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Tim Hedrick, Josh Hamilton: ''The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change'', audio commentary to the Blu-ray version of season 3, episode 4 The sand shark from which Korra and Asami flee in episode 10 is based on the

sarcastic fringehead The sarcastic fringehead (''Neoclinus blanchardi'') is a small but very hardy saltwater fish that has a large mouth and aggressive territorial behavior, for which it has been given its common name. When two fringeheads have a territorial battle ...

, a small fish found in the Pacific.Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Lauren Montgomery: ''The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change'', audio commentary to the Blu-ray version of season 3, episode 10 For reasons of time, the designers re-used the design for Zuko and Iroh's apartment in Ba Sing Se from ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' for the apartment of Mako and Bolin's family in episode 11.Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Colin Heck: ''The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change'', audio commentary to the Blu-ray version of season 3, episode 11 Another concept taken from the previous series, although not depicted there, was the notion of "becoming wind" as a high-level airbending form, which was included in the

series bible A bible, also known as a show bible or pitch bible, is a reference document used by screenwriters for information on characters, settings, and other elements of a television or film project. Types Bibles are updated with information on the chara ...

of ''Avatar''.Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Joaquim Dos Santos: ''The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change'', audio commentary to the Blu-ray version of season 3, episode 12 The idea of restraining the Avatar in X-shaped chains, as seen in the season finale, was originally conceived for the scene of Aang being captured by the Fire Nation in the first season of ''Avatar'', but was then vetoed by the network. It was allowed this time, according to Konietzko, after he complained about seeing a shot of SpongeBob SquarePants, another Nickelodeon character, similarly restrained.

Animation

In creating the animation, Studio Mir was assisted by its subsidiary Studio Reve for some episodes.

Cast and characters

''Book Three'' introduced many new characters that would recur until the end of the series, including the extended Beifong family and Jinora's romantic interest, the orphaned thief Kai, named after writer Josh Hamilton's son.Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Tim Hedrick, Josh Hamilton: ''The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change'', audio commentary to the Blu-ray version of season 3, episode 3 Bryan Konietzko was worried about introducing him because of the growing roster of characters and his similarity to

Aang Avatar Aang ( zh, c=安昂, p=Ān Áng) is the title character and protagonist of Nickelodeon's animated television series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko), voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. Aang ...

. Also according to Konietzko, beginning with ''Book Three'', the series became a more visible property and was able to retain more well-known actors.

auditioned and was cast for Suyin Beifong, Lin's estranged sister, and Jon Heder auditioned for the minor role of the apathetic adolescent airbender Ryu. Henry Rollins expressed interest for auditioning for the role of the season's main antagonist Zaheer, calling Konietzko and DiMartino from a tour to pose questions about the character.Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Katie Mattila: ''The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change'', audio commentary to the Blu-ray version of season 3, episode 6

Writing

The season's title, ''Change'', was inspired by a Taoist motto, "the only constant is change", reflecting the changes in Korra's world as a result of her opening the spirit portals in season 2 and the reemergence of airbending, as well as the change of Korra as a person. The writers considered and rejected including a flashback to the Red Lotus's attempted kidnapping of Korra as a child, and also cut a scene of Asami and Lin sneaking into the airship in episode 4. The amount of exposition scenes in ''Book Three'' worried the writers because of the danger of boring audiences. According to Konietzko, most notes from Nickelodeon amounted to "more fighting, more action!". The writers intended to set aside the

love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with so ...

among the main characters for ''Book Three'' and focus on Korra and Asami becoming friends. In addition, they began to allude to the possibility of a mutual attraction between the two that would result in them becoming romantically linked in the final moments of the series.

Reception

''Book Three'' received critical acclaim, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes calculating a 100% approval rating for the season from 9 reviews and an average rating of 9.5/10. At ''Blu-ray.com'', Kenneth Brown described Book Three as "a spectacular season of thrills, laughs, heartache, sophisticated storytelling, masterful world-building ndharrowing battles", noting that with this season, the series was finally "standing shoulder to shoulder with '' Avatar: The Last Airbender''". Describing a "sense of deep, unwavering confidence driving the entire series", with story, animation, dialogue and music coming together to "stunning ends", he wrote that as the protagonists entered early adulthood, the series adapted to see them overcome challenges in a much more seasoned and complicated manner that was not to be expected from a Nickelodeon series. Max Nicholson for IGN described the third season as "easily the show's most consistent season to date, delivering complex themes, excellent storylines and unmatched production values." Writing for ''The Escapist'', Mike Hoffman noted how the series respected its younger viewers by explicitly showing, but also giving emotional weight to the death of major characters, including "one of the most brutal and sudden deaths in children's television" in the case of P'Li in season 3. By portraying Korra's opponents, including the Red Lotus, not as stereotypical villains but as human beings with understandable motivations corrupted by an excess of zeal, the series trusted in viewers to be able to "resolve the dissonance between understanding someone's view and disagreeing with their methods". And, Hoffman wrote, by showing Korra to suffer from "full-on depression" at the end of the third season, and devoting much of the fourth to her recovery, the series helped normalize mental health issues, a theme generally unaddressed in children's television, which made them less oppressive for the viewers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Korra (Book 3) 2014 American animated television seasons The Legend of Korra