"Look, the arena might be shut down, but we're still a team. The new Team Avatar!" |
— Bolin to Korra.[1] |
Team Avatar is the name used by Avatar Korra, Mako, Bolin, and Asami to refer to themselves after the battle in Hiroshi Sato's secret workshop. The name of the group was devised by Bolin directly before an anti-Equalist patrol of Republic City and it was enthusiastically accepted by the other members.[1] While Korra was recovering from her injuries after being poisoned with mercury by the Red Lotus, the group separated for three years.[2] In 174 AG, the group reassembled once more to defeat Kuvira and stop her goals.
After Avatar Korra arrived in Republic City and joined the Fire Ferrets,[3] she became good friends with Mako and Bolin.[4] Following Bolin's kidnapping by the Equalists, Korra and Mako infiltrated Amon's revelation rally and rescued him before Amon had the chance to remove his earthbending. Mako became romantically involved with Asami after she accidentally hit him with her moped.[5]
When Amon attacked and significantly damaged the Pro-bending Arena,[6] Mako and Bolin moved to Asami's mansion to live with her and her father.[7] During a visit to the Sato estate, Korra overheard Hiroshi talking on the phone in a suspicious manner, making her very concerned. After warning Chief Beifong and Tenzin, the three of them, along with the Metalbending Police Force, successfully located a secret Equalist factory beneath the Sato mansion. After being ambushed by Hiroshi and the other Equalists in the factory, a brief battle ensued. Following the investigating team's defeat by Hiroshi's mecha tanks, Mako and Bolin took it upon themselves to rescue Korra, Tenzin, and Lin. With Asami's help, the group was able to escape Hiroshi's forces and flee from the estate on a police airship. Korra told Mako that he, Bolin, and Asami were welcome to live on Air Temple Island with her.[7] Respective to their opposition to the Equalists, a major reason behind their formation was to revolt against Tarrlok's methods of law enforcement, which was perceived as counterproductive and oppressive.
Team Avatar immediately took their newfound responsibility of protecting Republic City very seriously, and their first action was to patrol the city's streets. After Naga's refusal to carry all four members, Asami suggested that they use her Satomobile as a means of transportation. During their patrol, they heard about convicted Equalists breaking out of police headquarters, and rushed to capture them. After their motorcycles and the truck were stopped and the chi-blockers were captured, Tarrlok arrived on the scene, furious that Korra was there and had done the job of his task force, giving a final warning to her not to get in his way.
The next day, the team headed to the Dragon Flats borough after hearing about an Equalist rally in the area. However, upon their arrival they realized that the rally was simply a protest conducted by a large group of nonbending citizens, resulting from Tarrlok's decision to sever their electrical power. Korra attempted to get Tarrlok and the metalbending officers to stand down, but the waterbender ignored her and called for the arrest of the entire crowd. Korra quickly stopped the metalbenders as they began to comply and in response, Tarrlok arrested Asami, Mako, and Bolin, separating Team Avatar.[1]
The two brothers and Asami, who were freed by Lin Beifong, eventually learned of the traitorous councilman's agenda and decided that their only hope of finding Korra was to track down and neutralize Tarrlok. They later reunited with Korra in the aftermath of her escape from Tarrlok's imprisonment.[8]
During the battle for Republic City, Team Avatar took it upon themselves to assist in the fight against the Equalists. The group headed toward the police headquarters just as Tenzin, Saikhan, and some metalbending officers were being abducted by Equalists in mecha tanks. Once the group arrived, they launched their empty Satomobile at one of the tanks, successfully destroying them both. The group freed Tenzin, and together they continued fighting, eventually being able to destroy all of the mecha tanks. Immediately after, however, the group realized that a number of Equalist airships were heading toward Air Temple Island, and so they quickly got on Oogi and flew back to Tenzin's home.
Upon their arrival, Tenzin discovered that Lin Beifong, along with Tenzin's children, had successfully defeated the invaders. Meanwhile, Pema was giving birth to her second son, Rohan. Team Avatar filtered into one of the temple's rooms to see the baby, but was interrupted by the realization that more airships were heading toward the island. Tenzin and his family escaped on Oogi, while Team Avatar used Naga to swim underwater back toward the city to hide among Republic City's hobo population until the United Forces arrived.[9] Realizing that the city had fallen, Korra and her team moved to the city's underground network of tunnels, where Gommu was staying along with the bender and nonbender citizens. They decided that Korra and Mako go undercover as Equalists to gather new information. They were both present during Hiroshi Sato's speech near the City Hall, and subsequently informed Bolin and Asami about it. When the United Forces came, the team watched from the secret tunnel near the sea. However, the Equalists attacked the fleet with a biplane raid; Korra saved General Iroh from the sinking fleet. The team decided to split up: Mako and Korra planned to ambush Amon at Air Temple Island while Asami, Bolin, and General Iroh put Hiroshi Sato's secret airbase out of commission.[10]
On Air Temple Island, Korra and Mako found Tarrlok in a makeshift jail cell up in the attic, where he informed them about Amon's true identity: Noatak, his older brother. Tarrlok told them about his childhood with Noatak, Yakone, and bloodbending training. They decided to go to the Pro-bending Arena to expose Amon as a bender during his victory rally. After failing to convince the crowd, Mako and Korra discovered that Tenzin and his family had been captured by Amon. Korra and Mako managed to free them and prevent Amon from taking away their airbending abilities. Meanwhile, Bolin and Asami began destroying the Equalists' airfield, defeating Hiroshi in the process, while Iroh took care of the biplanes that managed to take off. Amon found Korra and Mako, and removed Korra's bending. However, the Lieutenant had witnessed him bloodbending the Avatar. He attacked his former leader, but was easily incapacitated. Mako managed to strike Amon, but was later taken out as well. He almost lost his bending, but was saved by the timely awakening of Korra's airbending. Korra launched Amon out the window into Yue Bay, where he waterbent to save himself from drowning, inadvertently exposing himself as a bender and a fraud in front of all of his supporters, thus ending the revolution.[11]
Within six months of Amon's defeat, the gang went their separate ways. Korra embarked on a quest to master the spiritual aspects of being the Avatar while simultaneously refining her airbending. Asami assumed leadership of Future Industries, which was struggling to regain the public's trust due to its involvement in the revolution. Mako left the Fire Ferrets and became a policeman, his role as captain being taken by Bolin, who was joined by two new teammates after the reinstatement of pro-bending as a sport.[12]
Following the revelation of Unalaq's designs on the Southern Water Tribe and his role in Tonraq's banishment, the team worked together once again to oppose Korra's uncle and free Tonraq and the other rebels. After forming a plan with Varrick, who was being hunted by Unalaq's forces, the team split up, with Korra, Mako, and Asami tasked with infiltrating the prison while Bolin and Varrick were to secure the latter's yacht. Despite being discovered by Unalaq and subsequently learning that the rebels were being transferred to the Northern Water Tribe, the gang was successful in escaping the South's harbor and freeing the prisoners. Afterward, the team agreed to return to Republic City and attempt to gain the support of the United Forces, while Tonraq and the other rebels would oppose Unalaq for as long as they could. After parting with the rebels and discovering an enraged Eska chasing after Bolin for breaking up with her, Varrick and Team Avatar sped away toward Republic City.
After arriving at their destination, the group learned that news of the brewing civil war had already spread throughout the city. Korra led a peace march through the city, during which the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center was bombed. The next day, as Mako began investigating the bombing, Korra and Varrick met with President Raiko, who refused to send the United Forces to help the South, preferring a diplomatic solution. Per Varrick's suggestion, the Avatar went to see General Iroh directly to win support for the South, but was prevented from doing so by Raiko, who had been informed by a reluctant Mako about Korra's plan. Ultimately, the group split up, each attempting to support the South in their own way. Mako continued his investigation, believing that the Agni Kai Triad was responsible, but decided to break up with Korra upon being confronted for informing the President about her plan. Asami and Varrick planned to ship mecha tanks to the South in order to aid the rebels and prevent Future Industries from going into bankruptcy. The businessman concurrently worked with Bolin to create a propaganda mover that would shift public opinion toward support for the South. Korra, using a speedboat supplied by Varrick, traveled to the Fire Nation to seek the Fire Lord's support, but was attacked by Desna and Eska. Following a brief battle, Korra was consumed by a massive dark spirit.[13]
As time went by, each team member was occupied in one way or another, saddening Bolin, who missed how they used to be. However, after he thwarted Varrick's ploy to kidnap President Raiko, the team got together again in a last attempt to stop Unalaq before Harmonic Convergence came around. Aided by Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin, the team set out to the South Pole region on a battleship they acquired from Varrick in order to breach the Northern defenses and enter the Spirit World through the Southern spirit portal.[14] Severely outnumbered, Asami came up with a tactical plan in which she, Mako, and Bolin would use a biplane to create a diversion to allow Korra, Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin to break through and enter the Spirit World. Although the plan worked for a while, the unaccounted for intervention of several dark spirits and Desna and Eska caused the plan to ultimately fail and everyone, save Bumi, was arrested and imprisoned by the Northern soldiers.
A few hours before the start of Harmonic Convergence, they were rescued by Bumi, who had singlehandedly taken out the entire Northern encampment, enabling them to reach the spirit portal. There, Korra asked Asami to take care of a heavily wounded Tonraq, and the Sato heiress subsequently returned to the Southern Water Tribe compound. While Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin searched the Spirit World for Jinora's spirit, Mako and Bolin battled Unalaq in an attempt to give Korra the time to close the spirit portals before the start of Harmonic Convergence. Although the plan seemed to work, the arrival of Harmonic Convergence and the subsequent amplification of spiritual energy proved to be too much for Korra to overpower, and her attempt to close the Southern portal was negated, enabling Vaatu to break free from the Tree of Time.[15]
In an attempt to prevent Unalaq from merging with Vaatu, Korra expelled her uncle from the Spirit World by tossing him through the Southern portal and tasked Mako and Bolin to keep him from entering again. While Korra battled Vaatu, the bending brothers held their own against the Chief of the Water Tribes, though when Desna and Eska came to their father's aid, the two brothers were overpowered. Their defeat enabled Unalaq to reenter the Spirit World, where he prevented Korra from imprisoning Vaatu again in the Tree of Time and subsequently merged with the Dark Spirit, becoming the Dark Avatar.[16]
After the Dark Avatar managed to extract Raava from Korra's body and destroy the Light Spirit, Mako and Bolin guarded the Tree of Time together with Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin, as well as with Desna and Eska against hordes of dark spirits who were after Korra. Meanwhile, Korra used the tree's connection to the cosmic energy to bend her own energy rather than the elements and battled the Dark Avatar, who was laying waste to Republic City. After she found and extracted Raava's residual light inside the Dark Avatar, she used Unalaq's own pacification technique to dissipate the Dark Avatar. Korra returned to the Spirit World, where she used the last energy of the Harmonic Convergence to merge again with Raava, recreating the Avatar Spirit.[17]
With the spirit portals left open, spirit vines started to overtake Republic City. After Mako and Bolin's apartment was destroyed by the vegetation, the brothers were invited to stay at Air Temple Island. Mako, feeling awkward around Korra, his ex-girlfriend, declined the offer, opting to reside at the police station instead. Two weeks after Harmonic Convergence, airbenders started to emerge in the city and the rest of the world. In an attempt to provide guidance, Tenzin and Korra set out to travel the Earth Kingdom in the direction of Ba Sing Se to gather the new airbenders and revive the Air Nation.[18] Asami provided them with a fully equipped Future Industries airship and, on Korra's request, Mako had contacted various locations in the Earth Kingdom and indicated the places where airbenders had been spotted on a map. Feeling too uncomfortable around his two ex-girlfriends, he initially declined Korra's offer to come along. However, after Bolin talked about the possibility of meeting their family from their father's side in Ba Sing Se, Mako caved and tagged along.
After several unsuccessful attempts of Tenzin to convince the new airbenders to leave their lives behind to become a nomad at the air temples, Korra, accompanied by Mako and Bolin, tried a more aggressive approach. However, when she was about to forcefully drag a new airbender along, the two brothers intervened and led her away. Bolin suggested they did an airbending street performance to get people excited about airbending. After Kai, a young thief who recently became an airbender, joined their group, the team continued their journey toward Ba Sing Se.[19]
In the city, Kai left ran away to resume his thieving ways, prompting Mako and Bolin to search for him throughout the city. When they found him, the brothers pursued him all the way to the monorail, where Kai managed to exit the car just before departure, leaving the brothers stranded on the express train to the Lower Ring. Having had their money and passports stolen by Kai, Mako and Bolin were unable to return to the Upper Ring. After spending the nights on a dumpster site in the street, the now hungry brothers started walking. Passing a fruit stand, Bolin suggested stealing some fruit with their old "fruit stand scam". Mako, deeming the fruit to be inedible, refused, which offended the vendor. When the young man assaulted the brothers, having deemed them fruit thieves, his father returned, who recognized Mako and Bolin to be his nephews, the children of his brother San. The two brothers were invited to have a meal with their family, meeting their grandmother, Yin, for the first time in their lives.
Meanwhile, Korra and Asami left Ba Sing Se to a town south of the capital to retrieve Queen Hou-Ting's tax money. Although they were ambushed by a local gang, the two women managed to hold their own and fend off their assailants, successfully protecting the tax money.[20]
The following day, using passports provided by Tu, the brothers managed to return to the Upper Ring and reunited with Korra and Asami, where they relayed the message that the Earth Queen was capturing airbenders to conscript into her army. Lake Laogai was, due to its historical use, the first place they investigated, though Jinora, using her spiritual projection technique, found it completely flooded and abandoned. However, by focusing on Kai, she was able to locate the prison underneath the Earth Queen's temple. Although Korra was informed by Lin Beifong, who surprised them all with her appearance, that her life was in danger due to the escape of Zaheer and the Red Lotus, the Avatar refused to return to Republic City as she was adamant on finding and freeing the airbenders.
Using Jinora and a distraction, the team easily overpowered the patrolling royal guards and infiltrated the prison where they split up: Korra, Tenzin, and Bumi would free the airbenders, while Jinora, Mako, and Bolin would search for Kai. Upon finding the airbenders, Bumi relayed the message to Lin, informing her and Asami to come get them with their airships. Although they were halted by the Dai Li and Hou-Ting, who warned Korra that taking the airbenders would constitute as an act of war, they all managed to keep the earthbenders back while retreating safely onto the airships.
Meanwhile, Mako, Bolin, and Jinora also successfully completed their mission. After fighting off three Dai Li agents, they resurfaced, only to come under fire from more Dai Li agents. Tenzin and Korra, flying on Oogi, fell back, allowing Bolin to use his earthbending to catapult the four of them onto the flying bison and safely escape as well.
In safety, Tenzin sympathized with the airbenders for the fate befallen upon them, giving them the choice of being relocated to safety or heading to the Northern Air Temple to train as Air Nomads. When all of them agreed to Tenzin's proposition, the team split; Tenzin, Jinora, and the airbenders would journey to the temple while Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, and Lin would continue to track down new airbenders and convince them to join Tenzin.[21]
While relaxing in the mountainside, Team Avatar received a call that there was a new airbender in Zaofu, the home of the Metal Clan. Despite Lin's protests, they flew there and explored the city without Lin, who stayed inside the airship and instructed the team not to reveal her presence. They were greeted by Aiwei, who escorted the group to the home of Suyin Beifong, the matriarch of Zaofu and the mother of the new airbender. However, Korra was forced to disclose that Lin was also in the city and after Suyin revealed herself to be Lin's half sister, they all returned to the airship to escort the police chief back to the estate as well. Despite the initial plan to pick up Opal, the new airbender, and leave the city, Suyin convinced them to stay and train Opal there, much against Lin's wishes.
During dinner, Opal and Bolin engaged in conversation, with the two sharing mutual affection for each other, while Korra and Suyin discussed the search for airbenders and Hou-Ting's rule. Upon Varrick's arrival, the team was shocked, most notably Asami, who questioned Varrick about his presence in Zaofu. Suyin explained that Varrick was heading the new technology division before being interrupted by a frustrated Lin who stormed off.[22]
The next day, Korra began metalbending practice with Suyin, with Bolin joining in after encouragement from Opal. The training was interrupted, however, by an angry Lin, who had, with the help of an acupuncturist, confronted her past and intended to confront her present as well. The two half-sisters started to battle each other, though after Opal broke up the fight, Lin collapsed and slept for sixteen hours.[23]
During her stay at Zaofu, Korra quickly excelled in the art of metalbending, while Bolin continued to struggle. That evening, they all attended Opal's farewell dinner, as she was leaving for the Northern Air Temple, which saddened Bolin, who stated they had just gotten to know her. That night, the Red Lotus infiltrated the city and managed to sedate Korra and Naga using shirshu-spit darts, enabling Ghazan to take the Avatar with him. However, as they passed Bolin and Mako's quarters, Pabu alerted his master of the commotion outside, enabling the two brothers to bring attention to the Red Lotus and thwart their escape from the city. A stalemate occurred after Ghazan used his lavabending to form a burning moat between his friends and a paralyzed Korra, and Team Avatar and Zaofu's guards, during which both sides bombarded each other with bending attacks.
As numerous attempts to cross the moat prove unsuccessful, Suyin and Lin decided to drop in on cables from above to grab Korra and get out, while Bolin momentarily disabled P'Li's combustion abilities by hitting her on the forehead with a rock. The plan was a success and, after recognizing defeat, Zaheer conjured an air dome to provide cover to escape.
The next morning, Aiwei, capable of detecting lies, began interrogating all the guards to find out who let Zaheer and his comrades into the city. Under the supervising eyes of Team Avatar, Aiwei eventually pointed to Hong Li as the culprit, an accusation that was strengthened by overwhelming incriminating evidence found in the young man's quarters. Although Mako wanted to confront the guard with the evidence, Aiwei prevented him from doing so and Team Avatar resided to search the battlefield for more clues. As Mako continued to voice his doubts about Hong Li's guilt, Varrick appeared and suggested that the evidence might have been too overwhelming to be true, reminding Mako how easy it was to frame someone by claiming someone to be guilty and planting the evidence. As a result, the firebender deduced that Aiwei was the only one capable of doing that and the team set out to search his home, where they discover a secret basement hidden behind a bookcase. Before they were able to investigate further, the advisor returned home. Noticing small changes in his home, most notably the bookcase having been slid open, Aiwei realized he had been found out and metalbent a wall between him and the team to provide cover. Escaping through a pathway in the basement, he set off a time-bomb, which effectively kept Team Avatar from following him as well as destroyed all evidence that linked him to Zaheer.
When Team Avatar was notified by nightfall that Aiwei had escaped the city, Korra decided that she would hunt down the criminals, convinced that Naga could track them. However, she was immediately shot down by Lin, who deemed it far too dangerous. When Suyin backed her sister up, Korra relented. Back in their guest house, however, Team Avatar, sans Lin, was approached by Suyin, who provided the group with keys to a jeep parked outside of the city, as she wished Aiwei to be brought back to the city, disclosing that her earlier agreeing with Lin was merely a ploy to buy them some time. After thanking the Zaofu matriarch, Korra and the others left the city.[24]
While tracking Aiwei, they came through a desert town where they discovered that the Earth Queen had issued wanted posters for crimes against the kingdom. Leaving before a fight could break out, they continued on their journey, which led them toward the Misty Palms Oasis. Mako and Bolin donned disguises and searched the town, while Asami and Korra remained with Aiwei's jeep, searching it for clues. Asami discovered a note which spoke of a meeting at sundown at Xai Bau's Grove, a place which was not on the map.
Meanwhile, Mako and Bolin discovered that Aiwei was staying at the Misty Palms Inn. After they got the girls, the team tried to rent a room opposite Aiwei's, though the innkeeper refused due to previous bad experience with renting to youthful people. However, after Macao and Lily appeared asked Bolin for a Nuktuk autograph, the innkeeper readily agreed to any room they wanted. As they staked out Aiwei's room, Asami and Bolin occupied themselves by playing Pai Sho. At sundown, Korra lost her patience and decided that, since the seer did not seem to go anywhere, she would go to his room and confront him directly. As the team made their way over, they discovered that Aiwei was in deep meditation and Korra realized that he was meeting Zaheer in the Spirit World. She promptly went after him, while her friends guarded her body.
In the Spirit World, Korra had a conversation with Zaheer and learned about the Red Lotus. Unbeknownst to her, the airbender had warned his team about her whereabouts. While they continued talking, Ghazan and Ming-Hua traveled to the Misty Palms Oasis, though were quickly discovered by Mako, who sent Asami with Korra away, while he and Bolin would hold off the two Red Lotus members. Although Asami managed to escape the oasis, she and Korra were captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers, who intended to bring them back to Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile, the bending brothers were eventually overpowered and brought back to P'Li and Zaheer, though they were promptly loaded onto the truck of the Red Lotus members as they too headed out toward Ba Sing Se.[25]
Arriving in the Earth Kingdom capital, Mako and Bolin were presented to the Earth Queen, who subsequently imprisoned them in the palace dungeons. After Zaheer killed Hou-Ting, he released the brothers in order for them to relay a message to Korra.
Meanwhile, Asami and Korra were forced on an airship heading toward Ba Sing Se as well, though utilizing her engineering knowledge, Asami managed to free herself and Korra. In their attempt to take over the ship, they accidentally caused it to crash in the Si Wong Desert, after which they used the metal remnants of the ship to build a makeshift sand-sailer and escape toward the Misty Palms Oasis, where Lin, Zuko, and Tonraq were awaiting them. After hearing the announcement of the Queen's demise on the radio, Korra realized that it was only the beginning of the insurrection of the Red Lotus.[26]
Exiting the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, Mako and Bolin commandeered an airship and headed toward the Si Wong Desert. However, upon navigating over the Lower Ring and seeing all the destruction going on there, they decided to stop at their grandmother, Yin's, home and subsequently evacuated their entire family onto the airship. Following tracks that led them from the airship wreckage to the Misty Palms Oasis, Mako and Bolin entered with their family, where they were reunited with first Pabu and Naga followed by Asami and Korra, whom the brothers engulfed in a warm hug, relieved over their well-being. Upon hearing his grandmother confuse Asami for the Avatar, Mako introduced Yin to Korra, leading to an awkward situation when the elderly woman asked him why he did not date any nice girls like them. Changing the subject, Asami asked what had happened to the brothers after they had split up, which led Mako to relay Zaheer's message to Korra: her surrender for the safety of the Air Nation, as he was on his way toward the Northern Air Temple.
In an attempt to warn Tenzin, Team Avatar headed back toward Zaofu to use their stronger radio transmitter. While Suyin, Tonraq, and Lin were preparing an airship to take them toward the temple, Mako and Bolin tried to get through to the temple, while Asami guarded Korra's body as the Avatar crossed over to the Spirit World once more in hopes of finding Zaheer's soul at Xai Bau's Grove and trapping him there. Although she did not find Zaheer, she did encounter Iroh, who advised her to talk to Zuko, as he had been Aang's best friend and would be the next best person to talk to after Aang himself. Following Iroh's advice, Korra went to talk to Zuko and was told that even though Aang would have been beside himself with the revival of the Air Nation, he knew better than anyone that in times of tension, the world needed its Avatar. At that moment, the brothers were successful in contacting the Northern Air Temple, though their warning to evacuate the temple came too late as the Red Lotus had already arrived.[27]
En route to the temple, Team Avatar began discussing strategies with the Metal Clan on how to combat the Red Lotus. Ultimately, Korra deduced that none of their plans would work, as Zaheer would execute his captives the moment he suspected foul play, and thus believed the only workable option was for her to give herself up, stating saving her to be of secondary importance after saving the Air Nation. However, since the Red Lotus did not know how many of them there were, Suyin came up with a plan to use that to their advantage: while Mako, Bolin, and Asami took the airship to the Northern Air Temple to ensure the airbenders were there, Tonraq and the Metal Clan would scale Laghima's Peak and be ready to rush to Korra's aid as soon as the airbenders were brought to safety.
As Korra began to surrender herself, ending up shackled in platinum cuffs, the rest of Team Avatar arrived at the temple, only to find an injured Tenzin and Ming-Hua holding up airbender clothes with waterbending. Although Ghazan and Ming-Hua attacked them, Mako managed to radio a warning to Korra that they had been tricked, prompting her to fight against Zaheer, and to tell Lin and the Metal Clan to get Korra out of there. Although P'Li was killed in the fight, Zaheer managed to evade his opponents, unlocked the ability of flight, and made off with an unconscious Korra.
Back at the temple, Ghazan flooded the temple with lava, forcing Mako, Bolin, Asami, and Tenzin to retreat deeper into the building. When cornered, Bolin successfully lavabent, before Kai arrived on Lefty and rescued them from the collapsing temple. Regrouping with the Metal Clan, Kai led Team Avatar, Tenzin, Tonraq, Lin, and Suyin toward the Air Nomad caves where the airbenders were held.[28]
At the caves, Korra was restrained with platinum chains and administered a poison, which forced her into the Avatar State. When the Red Lotus tried to kill her, however, the Avatar State proved to be too powerful and she managed to break free and defend herself. Meanwhile, Team Avatar and the others arrive at the caves. After rescuing the airbenders and leaving them with Tenzin outside, Mako, Bolin, and Tonraq find Korra, who engaged with Zaheer in an aerial battle. As Tonraq left to help his daughter, Mako and Bolin engage Ming-Hua and Ghazan respectively. After Mako managed to kill Ming-Hua with lightning, he teamed up with Bolin against Ghazan, who collapsed part of the cave in an attempt to kill the brothers, though only ended up killing himself.
Meanwhile, Korra struggled to fight both Zaheer and the poison, which gave Zaheer the opportunity to began suffocating her. An intervention of the airbenders allowed Korra to break free and slam Zaheer against the rocks, enabling Lin and Suyin to trap the Red Lotus leader in an earth shell. Suyin subsequently extracted the metallic poison out of Korra, though the Avatar was deeply affected by the strain of the physical and mental fight.
Two weeks after the incident, Team Avatar gathered on Air Temple Island to attend Jinora's anointment ceremony as an airbending master. Korra, confined to a wheelchair, was reminded by Asami that she needed to give herself the time to heal and that she would always be there for her.[29]
Following the ceremony, Team Avatar once again went their separate ways: Korra returned to the South Pole to recuperate, and although she had recovered physically two and a half years later, the psychological scars remained, leading her to travel the world for six months to find herself;[30] Mako was assigned as the bodyguard of Prince Wu, the designated successor to the Earth Kingdom throne; Asami made Future Industries prosper once again; and Bolin joined Kuvira and her army in her attempts to bring order to the war-torn Earth Kingdom.[2]
After Korra managed to purge herself of the residual traces of mercury poison and after the fall of Zaofu, she returned to Republic City, where she reunited with Mako and Asami. Although they were initially glad to see each other again, tensions soon arose when Mako learned that Korra had kept in touch with Asami though not with him and when Korra inadvertently made Asami feel like she was dictating what was best for the nonbender in regards to her father. When Prince Wu got kidnapped, the three worked together to save him, despite their constant bickering. After they successfully tracked the prince down and fought off his kidnappers, Asami noted that the mission reminded her of the old times, minus the "getting on each other's nerves part", though Mako good-heartedly stated that annoying and being annoyed by Korra was normal for him. When Korra apologized for the tensions, Asami waved it off under the cloak of needing an adjustment period and Mako expressed his pleasure over being reunited with her. Korra admitted that there was no place she would rather be than with them and the three friends warmly embraced each other.[31]
The team later reunited with Bolin as well, after he had defected from Kuvira's army. He apologized to Mako for betraying his trust by ignoring his advice and siding with Kuvira, though found himself easily forgiven by him and Korra, who were just glad that he had returned safely.[32]
After Zhu Li alerted President Raiko that Kuvira intended to attack Republic City two weeks after her announcement, Team Avatar decided to try and take out her spirit energy cannon by destroying the train tracks they believed the weapon was transported on. Although Tenzin was against them taking such a risk, Raiko saw it as their last chance to prevent an all out war and gave them his blessing. Steering a flying bison, Korra flew the team close to Kuvira's army under the cover of the night. At dawn, they were surprised to learn that the military of the Earth Empire had already crossed into United Republic territory, which was a week before they had been expecting them. Baffled at their swift progress and lack of train rails, Team Avatar was shocked to find the cannon being transported via the Colossus, an enormous mecha suit. After being spotted by a technician inside the giant machine, Kuvira took aim at them, prompting Bolin to urge Korra to steer them out of there. As they narrowly avoided being shot down twice, they headed back to Air Temple Island to warn everyone that Kuvira and her army were only hours away from reaching the city.
While Korra joined General Iroh at his front line, Asami, Mako, and Bolin went to the Future Industries factory where Varrick was supervising the manufacturing of the hummingbird mecha suits in an attempt to get at least a few of those suits airborne. They were later joined by the Avatar, who reported that Raiko had surrendered the city and the United Forces to Kuvira after she blew up several of the United Forces' battleships. With the help of an airbender stealth team, Korra managed to kidnap Baatar Jr. and interrogated him at the Future Industries factory. Although she managed to force him to contact Kuvira to talk her out of her conquest, Team Avatar and their allies had to run for their lives when Kuvira traced Baatar Jr.'s radio call toward the factory and blew it up with her spirit energy cannon.[33] The team managed to survive the explosion and emerged from the rubble with everyone else when Bolin lifted a large piece of concrete. Standing among the rubble, they split once more, while the benders attempted to stop Kuvira's advance, while Asami and Varrick would try to modify the prototypes of the hummingbird mecha suits in order to be able to offer air support. Though Korra and her allies tried to knock the Colossus off balance with their combined bending, the giant mecha suit was impervious to their efforts. A single blast from Kuvira's energy cannon wounded several Air Nomads, forcing the defenders to retreat back to Asami and Varrick's location at the former's office. Needing a new strategy to deal with the Colossus, Team Avatar received advice from a contrite Baatar Jr. and a freed Hiroshi Sato on how to defeat the mecha suit, namely by destroying the Colossus' spirit energy core from the inside. While Korra and her allies launched a diversionary assault on the Colossus from below, Asami, Hiroshi, Varrick, and Zhu Li piloted the retrofitted hummingbird mecha suits, using the newly added plasma saws to penetrate the Colossus' platinum exterior. Though Varrick, Zhu Li, and several other defenders were incapacitated, Korra used water from a nearby canal to freeze and immobilize the Colossus, giving Asami and Hiroshi's hummingbird mecha suit the chance to cut through the Colossus' plating. As the Colossus started to break free of the ice, Hiroshi ejected Asami from their hummingbird suit, using his last few seconds to finish creating an opening before Kuvira crushed him. Though Kuvira attempted to prevent their entry, Korra, Mako, Bolin, Su, and Lin successfully made it through the opening.[34]
Now within the Colossus itself, the remaining members of Team Avatar and their allies branched off to cripple the mecha suit. Korra headed to the cockpit to deal with Kuvira, Mako and Bolin worked together to power down the mecha suit's spirit vine core, while Lin and Su sabotaged the actual cannon. Using their metalbending to destroy the cannon's machinery, Lin and Su disabled Kuvira's control of the weapon. Having sensed the loss of connection, Kuvira manipulated the Colossus to tear off and throw away its immobile arm that the cannon was connected to, rendering the two Beifongs inside it unconscious after limb and weapon landed in the city. Simultaneously, Mako and Bolin engaged the soldiers inside the engine room, while Korra breached her way into the Colossus' cockpit, engaging Kuvira in one-on-one combat. Having defeated the soldiers, Mako and Bolin attempted to manually shut off the core's power, only to realize that Kuvira had overridden the controls. Ordering Bolin to evacuate, Mako generated a bolt of lightning into the spirit vine core, causing the power source to become unstable, creating explosions and conduits of spirit energy. Maintaining his bending even as he was flung against a wall and his arm severely burnt, Mako attempted to exit the room, only to be hit in the chest by an energy beam. Despite his brother's insistence that he leave, however, Bolin returned to the engine room in time to save Mako.
Due to Mako's sacrificial efforts, the spirit vines within the Colossus exploded, breaking apart the mecha suit from within, in the process knocking Mako and Bolin unconscious, and sending the cockpit, with Korra and Kuvira inside, flying into the Republic City Spirit Wilds. Pursuing Kuvira through the city ruins, Korra was attacked by the metalbender in a last-ditch effort, firing the Colossus' cannon tied up in the air by spirit vines. As the weapon went out of control, powered by the spirit energy of the vines, Korra put herself in its line of fire to protect Kuvira, entering the Avatar State and shielding both herself and Kuvira from the blast with her bending. The resulting explosion of energy from the weapon created a spirit portal in the heart of Republic City. Approaching the site, Mako, Bolin, Asami, and the rest of Korra's friends searched through the crater around the portal for the Avatar, only for Korra to emerge out of the portal with Kuvira. With both women having been blown into the Spirit World by the explosion, Korra had ultimately convinced a defeated Kuvira to surrender herself and stand her army down. As Su and Lin took Kuvira into custody, Korra was embraced by her friends as they celebrated their triumph over the Earth Empire.[35]
Following the defeat of Kuvira and her army, Korra and Asami left for the Spirit World on a romantic retreat while Mako resumed and Bolin commenced his work as part of the Republic City Police as Mako's temporary partner. When the two women returned from their vacation, Team Avatar reunited on Air Temple Island. Albeit unaware of the newly-formed relationship between Korra and Asami, the brothers did pick up on the changed atmosphere between the two. Before the women could reveal their relationship, the reunion of the team was interrupted by the appearance of Jinora's spiritual projection, who informed them of an ongoing conflict between some airbenders and the Triple Threat Triad. The team hurried toward the Republic City spirit portal and immediately dove in. Mako and Bolin faced Tokuga, the Triple Threats' new leader, though failed to arrest him, while Korra and Asami focussed on taking down the gang members. When the dragon eel spirit and his band of spirits appeared to defend the portal from human interference, Korra's attention was drawn toward them. When reasoning with the spirits failed, she tried to stop the dragon eel spirit, who was consumed with vengeance, from launching at Tokuga. When she noticed Asami was in trouble, however, Korra immediately rushed to her girlfriend's side instead and inadvertently gave the dragon eel spirit the opportunity to pass through Tokuga, disfiguring him in the process. While that brought an end to the conflict, with both the Triple Threats and the spirits retreating to their respective homes, Team Avatar was left to prepare for the brewing turf war between those two parties. The battle also brought Korra and Asami's relationship to light, as the two were caught kissing each other, though their relationship was met with congratulations and support from their friends.[36]
In an attempt to take control of Republic City and to get his revenge on the Avatar for his afflicted appearance, Tokuga kidnapped Asami. After Korra enlisted Bolin and Mako's help in tracking Asami down, the three eventually determined that the Triple Threats were responsible for abducting their friend, as well as Wonyong Keum, a wealthy entrepreneur who had hired the syndicate to attack the airbenders at the spirit portal. Though Korra, Mako, and Bolin attempted to stop the Triple Threats as they commandeered Earth Empire armored vehicles, Tokuga forced them to stand down by threatening Asami's life.[37]
As Tokuga's forces claimed new turf in the city, Korra, Mako, and Bolin joined Lin and her officers as they cordoned off the area. Though Korra insisted on taking action against the Triple Threats, Lin refused after Tokuga promised to lay waste to the neighborhood if the police interfered with his affairs. Empathizing with Korra after seeing her visible frustration at not being able to go after Tokuga and Asami, Mako directed her to Jargala Omo, leader of the Creeping Crystal Triad and rival to the Triple Threats, for assistance. Using the network of tunnels underneath the city, Jargala accompanied Korra, Mako, and Bolin to the Triple Threats' new headquarters, and the group arrived just as Tokuga was about to launch his airship, outfitted with a gas weapon built by Asami and Wonyong. Team Avatar attempted to stop him once again, but Tokuga managed to escape on the airship with his hostages, fleeing toward the spirit portal with the intention of gassing the city's political leaders gathered around the portal from above. Unbeknownst to her captors, Asami had sabotaged the airship's dispersal system and, during a chance moment, flooded the interior of the airship with the gas, though Tokuga was unaffected by it due to his altered physiology. Before Tokuga could harm Asami, Korra, having infiltrated the airship by flying up to it on Oogi, held the gangster off, while Asami piloted the airship through the portal to prevent further spread of the gas. Together, the two managed to crash land the airship safely, though Tokuga evaded pursuit as he delved deeper into the Spirit World.[38]
In the aftermath of Tokuga's attack, and Zhu Li's subsequent election as the president of the United Republic, Team Avatar lent their full support to President Moon, with Bolin shifting jobs to work as her personal assistant. As King Wu's upcoming democratic elections in the Earth Kingdom state of Gaoling drew closer, the king and President Moon requested Team Avatar's help in dealing with an Earth Empire remnant led by Commander Guan, who seemed poised to interfere with the political process. Needing more information on Guan, Korra interrogated an imprisoned Kuvira about her former subordinate, with Kuvira attempting to convince the Avatar to bring her along. Taking the idea to her fellow teammates, Korra initially encountered resistance, as Mako, Bolin, and Asami distrusted Kuvira for the respective threats, injuries, and personal losses they had suffered due to her actions. Nevertheless, all three were ultimately convinced by Korra's assurance that Kuvira would use her faculties to ensure Guan stood down. Though Team Avatar escorted Kuvira to Gaoling without incident, tensions between the two parties remained high, as despite Kuvira's attempts to socialize with her guards, Asami and Bolin rejected her justifications that she had changed as a person following her imprisonment. As the group became acquainted with Gaoling's political situation upon their arrival, they were quickly forced to confront Guan as he marched his army through the town. Taking the lead, Kuvira diplomatically engaged with Guan, who refused to let the aspirations of the Earth Empire falter due to Kuvira's surrender. Enraged by his obstinance, Kuvira then tried to force Guan to submit by threatening him with death, only to be incapacitated by a device Asami planted on her, and was taken back to the airship by Mako and Bolin.
After Guan announced his participation and candidacy for the election, and needing a way to beat him fairly in the race, the group determined they needed to set up a rival political candidate to appeal to Gaoling's voters, settling on Toph Beifong as the ideal figure.[39] Splitting up from the rest of her team, Korra took Wu on Naga to visit Toph in the Foggy Swamp while her teammates prepared to move a restrained Kuvira to Suyin's custody in Zaofu. Taking advantage of the Avatar's absence, Guan's forces ambushed the group's airship, capturing Mako, Bolin, Asami, and Kuvira in the process. With the same technology used to indoctrinate his army, Guan had his lead scientist, Dr. Sheng brainwash Korra's friends, turning them into his totally obedient soldiers. Freeing herself from her captors before she could be put through the same process, Kuvira escaped Guan's camp, and used a stolen radio to contact Suyin and inform her about the situation. Returning to Gaoling with Wu and Toph, Korra rendezvoused with Kuvira and Suyin's Metal Clan reinforcements, learning what happened in her absence. Refusing to abandon her friends, Korra decided to stay in Gaoling and meet Guan's impending attack head-on in order to capture Mako, Bolin, and Asami in hopes the Metal Clan could reverse their brainwashing. Mako, Bolin, and Asami lead the assault on Suyin's airship, with Korra, Kuvira, and the Beifongs meeting them in battle. In the process, Korra and Kuvira managed to capture Asami, but in turn, Bolin, Mako, and the rest of Guan's forces overwhelmed the rest of the Metal Clan, capturing Wu, and forcing the rest of the group to retreat on Suyin's airship.[40]
Arriving at Zaofu, Korra convinced Baatar Jr. to help reverse Asami's brainwashing. Initially, Korra offered to act as a test subject for Baatar Jr.'s experiments, but Baatar Jr. refused due to the effects the tests could have on the Avatar. With Kuvira volunteering herself instead, Baatar Jr. was able to develop a device to reverse Asami's brainwashing, freeing her from Guan's control. Their victory was short-lived, as word reached Zaofu that Guan had won the election in Gaoling, having used Toph's absence and a now brainwashed Wu to facilitate his victory. Needing reinforcements, Korra contacted Zhu Li for support in dealing with Guan, but the president instead ordered Korra to return Kuvira to Republic City due to the escalating political situation. Fleeing the city, Kuvira returned to Gaoling, ostensibly in order to join Guan, but in actuality, using her feigned allegiance to turn Guan's brainwashing technology against him. Kuvira's attempt to bring Guan to justice failed, however, after Mako and Bolin defended their commander, with Kuvira only being saved after Korra, Asami, and the Beifongs arrived to aid her. Working together, Korra incapacitated Mako and Bolin, Asami electrocuted Sheng, and Toph and Opal held off Guan's forces while Kuvira and Suyin took Guan into custody, forcing him to stand the rest of his troops down. Using Baatar Jr.'s method, Korra and Asami then freed Mako, Bolin, Wu, and the rest of Guan's brainwashed victims from his control, bringing the nascent crisis to an end.
Returning to Republic City, Team Avatar attended Kuvira's trial, with the now penitent metalbender pleading guilty to the crimes she committed. Impressed by her character, Team Avatar thanked Kuvira for standing alongside them, with Korra expressing that Kuvira had redeemed herself.[41]
"Temporary members" indicate a member means having been on the team for at least two consecutive episodes.
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