Team Avatar's fallen apart.
At the Southern Water Tribe, the rebels are quickly crushed when Unalaq unleashes his children and Dark Spirits on them. Unalaq and Tonraq clash in a long-overdue battle, but Unalaq is able to overcome his older brother and capture him.
The final Nuktuk mover is to be screened at the Pro-bending arena by Varrick, with President Raiko and the majority of Republic City in attendance. During the proceeding, Varrick's goons attempt to kidnap Raiko, but Bolin is able to save the day Pro-bending style, and Varrick is arrested for his plot. Mako is freed from prison, having been vindicated, and Lu and Gang are fired.
Korra and Tenzin arrive, and Korra kisses Mako, unaware that they have broken up (thanks to not having fully recovered from her Dark Spirit-induced amnesia), and Mako reaffirms their relationship, to Asami's quiet, seething rage.
Korra and Tenzin reveal Unalaq's plot to conquer the world to Raiko, but the president still refuses to send aid to the south. Despite Tenzin pointing out the entire world and humanity is at stake, Raiko believes he should instead fortify the United Republic from the coming danger. Livid, Team Avatar resolves to confront Unalaq on their own. However, to make up for his treachery, the imprisoned Varrick lends the gang his battleship.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Accidentally-Correct Writing: In-Universe. The Nuktuk mover portrays Unalaq as a doomsday villain, and Bolin expresses a good deal of shock that he actually is trying to release something that would ravage the world.
- Big Damn Heroes: Bolin saves Raiko from a kidnapping attempt, in the process revealing Varrick's duplicity.
- Butt-Monkey: Subverted for Bolin, see Big Damn Heroes. His co-star even gives him a big kiss.
- Combat Commentator: Played for laughs, as Shiro suddenly starts narrating an actual fight as if it was a pro-bending match.
- Crazy-Prepared: When Varrick's company built the prison, he had a Luxury Prison Suite installed in case he ever wound up in prison himself. Which he does.
- A Day in the Limelight: Somewhat. Bolin gets to show his fighting skills and save the day without any help.
- Death Glare: Asami is not happy at Mako choosing to obfuscate his and Korra's breakup from Korra, since he and Asami had kinda begun to date again in the interim.
- The Ditherer:
- Mako is back to his old tricks, as he only takes a few seconds to decide to take advantage of Korra's amnesia to avoid talking at all about their argument and breakup. This earns him an understandable Death Glare from Asami. Of course, Mako himself didn't know what to make of it either.
- Meanwhile, Raiko refuses to get off his ass and help Korra against Unalaq, instead opting to lie down and wait for Vaatu to get out.
- Partly due to Rule of Funny, Asami decides to cheer Bolin in a real fight. Yes, he had it covered, but this is clearly a real fight instead of a pro-bending match, meaning she should be doing something more productive than just fangirl.
- Enemy Mine: Because the President is still of no help, Team Avatar has to seek help from Varrick, who, despite his treachery, is the only other person with the means to defeat Unalaq and Vaatu.
- Eye Beams: Pabu's character Juji rather inexplicably has these in the Nuktuk mover. Impressive effects for a primitive film.
- Graceful Loser: After being arrested, Varrick gives about as sincere an apology as you could expect from him, and does his best to help fix the mess he made.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Juji in the mover dies for some reason after using his Eye Beams. Apparently, he was to be revived when the polarity of the planet was shifted by the doomsday device.
- Hope Spot: The Southern fighters are tearing their way through the Northern troops... then the dark spirits show up.
- Large Ham: Shiro describes Bolin's fight with Varrick's goons exactly as he would a pro-bending match, despite how he's only talking to the guy next to him.
- Leave Him to Me!: Unalaq stops Desna and Eska from attacking Tonraq, declaring that this is his battle.
- Luxury Prison Suite: Varrick's cell is decked out with plush furniture (including wardrobes for his luxurious outfits) and fancy lighting. He had it built that way on purpose when his company was contracted to construct the prison, suspecting his activities might someday land him there.
- Mood Whiplash: Varrick's speech before the premiere starts with him hyping up the film with suitable bombast only to lower his head and shift to a softly spoken intent of purpose in using the mover to speak for the injustice in the South. Like the calm severity of an Indie movie director talking about the plight exposed in their film, and then back to the bombast.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By rescuing the president and exposing Varrick's schemes, Bolin ruins any chance of Republic City sending aid to the Southern Water Tribe, as it proves the Northern Water Tribe has not committed any acts of war against the Republic. Though he at least proves his brother's innocence.
- Not Quite Dead: Pabu as "Juji" "dies" in the Nuktuk film, but Bolin spoils that he comes back to life at the end. The effects are so bad, that Pabu's tail swishing is visible after his character's death.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: President Raiko, who doesn't seem to grasp that if Unalaq wins the world is doomed. To be fair, he has been shown no sort of proof of this beyond Korra telling him so, has just suffered an assassination/abduction attempt by anti-Unalaq militants, and at the same time learned that most of Unalaq's supposed terrorism in the Republic has really been a False Flag Operation by Varrick...
- Oh, Crap!:
- Varrick does a nonverbal version of this when one of his hired goons reveals that he was behind the plot.
- The Southern resistance when they find that the dark spirits are working for Unalaq.
- Mako has a silent one when he realizes Korra has amnesia and he reflexively/spinelessly lies about it with a look that basically says, "Oh I messed uuuup."
- Pema does a more heartbreaking one when she sees an unmoving Jinora. Complete with dropping some flowers.
- Police Are Useless: The police just wrap things up after Bolin has saved the day. Though at least Lu and Gang then get fired for being useless.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Tonraq tries, but Unalaq proves to be a much better combatant and wins their fight pretty easily.
- Relationship Reset Button: Inverted. Korra forgot that she and Mako had ended their relationship back in "Peacekeepers", as she's still recovering her memories from the incident that occurred immediately after, and ends up kissing him in front of their friends and colleagues. When she explains her memory loss and questions if he's hesitant about kissing her back because they had a bad fight she forgot about, he lies and assures her that nothing serious happened, to the judgmental stares of everyone around them.
- Reverse Polarity: In the Nuktuk film, Unalaq's doomsday weapon is a giant icicle which he plans to shoot into the Earth's core, thereby reversing the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field and freezing the Earth.
- Ship Sinking: When Korra appears not to remember their breakup, Mako takes the immediately easy way out and goes along with it, leaving Asami looking very upset. Even then, Korra and Mako were technically still broken up without Korra even remembering.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: Bolin loses his to Clothing Damage when the fight begins.
- Spanner in the Works: The plan to kidnap the president probably would have worked if Bolin hadn't left to get some air, leading to him uncovering the plot.
- Stealth Pun: Juji the Fire Ferret has heat vision.
- Symbolic Blood: The detectives Lu and Gang are ambushed while they are eating jelly-filled Varri-cakes, so they look like they're bleeding from the mouth.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Shiro Shinobi aside, a large number of the arena residents seem more focused on the film than the fight between Bolin and three waterbenders.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Right: Varrick attempts this when his plans are foiled, but Chief Beifong stops him.
- Villain Has a Point: When Team Avatar confronts Varrick about his crimes, he reminds them all the good things he's done for them (warning Korra about Unalaq, making Bolin a mover star, saving Asami's company).
