Unalaq asks Korra to come with him to the South Pole, which is the spiritual center of the southern water tribe, and she readily agrees. Meanwhile, Tenzin's family arrives at the Southern Air Temple, which is now filled with air acolytes, and they are very happy to have the next generation of air benders in their presence. Korra, Mako, Unalaq and his children, Bolin, and Tonraq set out for the south pole, and Unalaq reveals that there is a portal there connecting the human and the spirit worlds, which only Korra can open on the winter solstice.
Later that night, around a campfire, Tonraq reveals that he was banished from the Northern Water Tribe
, for almost causing it to be destroyed. While pursuing fire bending raiders, he came across an ancient forest, which was the home of the spirits. In the process of fighting them, the forest was destroyed and flooded, and soon many angry spirits attacked the northern tribe capital. Unalaq used his power to calm them down, but Tonraq was banished by his father, and he started a new life in the South. Korra is shocked that her father never revealed this to her. The next day, the group is attacked by more spirits, and Korra tells Tonraq to go home, since he doesn't think that opening the portal and connecting the two worlds is a good idea.
Korra manages to open the spirit portal while under attack by many snake-like spirits, and the southern lights return; they are the spirits dancing in the sky. Returning home, the group finds many Northern water tribe ships coming in to dock, and Korra asks Unalaq why so many of his troops are coming in. He reveals that opening the portal was only the first phase in renewing the spirituality of the southern tribe, and more work must be done.
Tropes:
- Broken Pedestal: Korra hasn't had a good opinion of her father since she learned he was one of the collaborators behind the compound along with his exile from his previous home, the Northern Water Tribe, and the fact he is treating her like a child.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Korra basically tells Tonraq to leave the group when it becomes apparent his presence is doing more harm than good.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: When she sees her boyfriend hug Korra, Eska pulls Bolin aside and demands to know why he was hugging another woman.
- Comically Missing the Point: Bolin seems to miss the point when Tonraq told them that story.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Dark spirits are stated by Unalaq to not be inherently malevolent, instead merely reacting to nature's destruction. This, combined with their supposedly intricate relationship with light spirits, reflects traditional Asian ideas of yin and yang, that neither darkness nor light have moral attributes, and that evil comes from imbalance.
- Death Glare: Kya shoots the Air Acolyte one when the woman mistakes her and Bumi for airbenders.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Bolin notices that Unalaq has good reasons for being threatened by his brother other than the latter being a heathen. Unalaq is not the eldest son and shouldn't be the ruler of the Northern Water Tribe. Of course, everyone else ignores him.
- Eldritch Abomination: How the spirits behave in this episode.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Naga continues to show this talent.
- Forgot About His Powers: The only explanation for why Bolin is threatened by a runaway snowmobile.
- Fusion Dance: During a fight with a group of spirits, three small ones fuse together to form a larger one. Later on, in the frozen spirit forest, the spirit snakes merge into one giant snake to stop Korra from reaching the portal.
- Gilligan Cut: When Eska asks if the sidecar of Bolin's snowmobile has room for two, he asks who will drive. Cut to Desna and Eska in the sidecar while an annoyed Bolin is the driver.
- History Repeats: Tonraq was banished from his home as a result of trying to protect his people, allowing his younger sibling to take the throne — much as that of a certain Fire Kingdom Prince was 73 years ago.
- Hourglass Plot: "Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked" in The Last Airbender. Seems like the Northern Water Tribe might do the same thing here, given the ending of this episode.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Oddly reversed from usual as Korra is often in the wrong about where her emotions take her. Here, learning her father was banished from the Northern Water Tribe for offending spirits and not telling her about it given the nature of their mission plus him treating her like a child when she's an adult who's fought in a war are ridiculous.
- MacGuffin Location: The South Pole.
- Mischief-Making Monkey: The spirits that rob the group move like monkeys.
- No-Sell: The ice covering the portal resists all of Korra's attempts to force it open. It is only awakened when Korra touches the ice while in the Avatar state.
- Shirtless Scene: In a flashback, Tonraq ends up fighting angry spirits while shirtless because they attacked in the middle of the night.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: In a flashback, Tonraq and his soldiers use a giant wave to force out a group of invaders hiding in a sacred forest, leaving the whole thing underwater and completely ruined. The resulting attack by angry spirits led to his exile.
- The Unfavorite: Both Bumi and Kya get treated like they've suffered a terrible loss when they reveal they're Aang's children but not airbenders. Not that Tenzin seems to enjoy his treatment much better.
- Wham Episode:
- Tonraq didn't leave the North willingly.
- Northern Tribe ships show up near the end of the episode, showing Unalaq isn't going to convert them to spirituality quietly.
