The season antagonists in Korra were all pretty much right. Amon tried to empower an oppressed underclass, Unalaq was ostensibly fighting to end segregation (his ulterior motive ultimately undermines this), Zahir tried to disrupt a literal secret cabal of world controlling elites, and Kuvira tried to end hereditary monarchy and decolonize stolen land. The show briefly touches on this, though unfortunately it’s only S2 (the worst season) where Korra learns from her antagonist, rejects the status quo, and changes the world for the better at personal cost. The show missed an opportunity to build on that and have Korra deal with the fact that she was raised as a child soldier/WMD by the white lotus to secure the Fire Nation-led “united forces” control over colonized land.
By contrast, Ozai was basically a one dimensional obstacle to be overcome. With the lion-turtle ex machina, Aang didn’t even have to sacrifice anything to overcome that obstacle. I’m conceptually fine with Aang staying true to his principles and finding a non-lethal solution to Ozai on his own, but having it passively handed to him at the last minute by magic without him needing to change, learn, or grow was one of the show’s biggest missteps.
“You have to sacrifice your earthly attachments to master the Avatar state to defeat the firelord.”
“No.”
“Oh, ok then, nevermind. But really though, you have to sacrifice your principles and kill this guy in order to save the entire world.”
“Also no.”
“All right then, here’s some never before established magic to resolve this extremely specific problem. Also here’s the girl that rejected your advances as a reward. Enjoy getting everything you ever wanted!”
