The fourth episode of Book Two of The Legend of Korra.
Unalaq ignores Korra's pleas to free her parents, believing them to be complicit in the assassination attempt on his life. He does promise that their trial will be fair, as it will be presided over by his old friend Judge Hotah.
Mako, Bolin, and Asami are waiting to meet with Varrick over the Future Industries deal, only to find that he is a fugitive when Eska and Desna search the room for him. Once they're gone, Varrick reveals himself to be hiding inside a stuffed platypus-bear with Zhu Li. Varrick tosses Bolin some money and instructs him to use it to bribe Judge Hotah, as he suspects the trial for the rebels has been rigged by Unalaq.
Tenzin finds Ikki eating breakfast with a few baby sky bison in a cave. Ikki declares that the sky bison are her new siblings, having grown tired of her siblings' teasing. Tenzin is allowed to join the proceedings. The baby bison eventually depart to be with their parents, and Ikki reflects that true siblings will never leave you. Inspired by his daughter's wisdom, Tenzin makes amends with Kya and Bumi back at the temple, and Kya unveils a family photograph taken when they were small children.
Bolin fails to bribe Judge Hotah, having given Varrick's money to some random people attending the trial. Unalaq testifies regarding the attempt on his life, and Korra honestly answers that the rebel meeting was hosted by Varrick and Tonraq at the latter's dwelling. Judge Hotah retires to come up with a verdict, and later delivers it - Senna is found innocent and released from custody. However, Tonraq and the other rebels are to be executed for treason. An enraged Korra outright threatens Hotah's life, and Unalaq is able to quickly convince Hotah to reduce the verdict to a life sentence for the rebels.
Bolin attempst to break up with Eska, citing a loss of passion in their relationship. Eska agrees… and brings out a morbid betrothal necklace, declaring they will be wed at sundown, to Bolin's terror.
Senna and Korra visit Tonraq in prison, and Korra promises to free her father from jail. Tonraq refuses, saying it would spark a civil war that would deal the south a crushing defeat. Korra chases down Judge Hotah, and threatens to feed him to Naga should he not free her father. Hotah relents and reveals that he was following Unalaq's orders, who had asked him to free Senna to keep Korra on his side. The real stinger comes when Hotah reveals that Unalaq was the one who engineered Tonraq's banishment.
Bumi speaks to a statue of Aang, and apologizes for not being an Airbender, but that he joined the United Forces to live up to Aang's legacy of helping people. Kya enters and gives Bumi a hug.
Korra reveals to her friends Unalaq's scheme that got Tonraq banished and made Unalaq chief of the Water Tribes. Asami, Bolin, Mako, Pabu, Naga, Varrick, and Zhu Li agree to help free Tonraq and the rebels from prison. Korra, Asami and Mako infiltrate the prison, only to find Tonraq and the rebels missing. Unalaq appears and informs Korra that she will never see her father again, who's being shipped to the north to serve his sentence. Korra orders Unalaq to remove his army from the south, but Unalaq refuses, and Korra accuses him of never having wanted unity for the tribes, only control. Korra also pegs Unalaq as having been jealous that his brother sired the Avatar, but Unalaq promises that he only wants to help her fulfill her destiny. Korra refuses, and despite Unalaq's claims that a civil war will allow the Dark Spirits to destroy the south, Korra states that he needs her to open the northern portal. Unalaq disagrees, claiming that he doesn't need her to open the portal.
Unalaq and Korra clash, and Korra fends off her uncle long enough for the group to escape on Varrick's yacht, and they pick up Bolin, Varrick, Zhu Li, and the pets. The group is able to push past Unalaq's blockade and free Tonraq, who is informed of the truth about his brother. Tonraq resolves to lead the south in the imminent civil war against his brother, but asks Korra to seek the aid of the United Republic. The group departs, bemused that they've started a war...and then an enraged, insane Eska begins chasing them, livid at having been left at the altar by Bolin.
Tropes:
- And Now You Must Marry Me: Thinking that it will repair their relationship, Eska proposes that she and Bolin be married at sunset. She seemingly is happy with it while Bolin is terrified.
- Broken Pedestal:
- Korra swears off any loyalty or admiration of Unalaq once it's revealed he not only fixed her father's trial to send Tonraq to prison and also to appear "merciful" to gain Korra's trust, but also caused the events that got Tonraq banished in the first place so that he could become chief of the Northern water tribe.
- It's downplayed, but Tenzin admits to his siblings that he had up until now been ignoring Aang's flaws, indicating he will no longer see his father like he did before. Though that doesn't mean he or his siblings care for Aang's memory any less.
- Cain and Abel: Especially now that we know what Unalaq did.
- Conspicuously Light Patch: You can tell early on where Varrick is hiding by noticing the "stuffed platypus-bear" is ostensibly not part of the background.
- Cool Boat: Varrick bought the first battleship ever built, named it for his assistant, and filled it with all sorts of weird stuff (a room full of funhouse mirrors gets mentioned). The weird stripey paintjob is based on real-world dazzle camouflage
. - Crazy-Prepared: Varrick has a plane in his boat in case it sinks; subverted when he failed to account for the fact that planes need a runway to take off. Before that, he knew that his attack on Unalaq would possibly fail, so that's why he arranged bribes to help his men get out scot free, and a platypus bear costume to hide in. Unfortunately, that didn't work out, so he had to bust his men out the old-fashioned way.
- Dark Shepherd: Unalaq will bring unity whether his flock wants it or not. To this end, he set Tonraq up to destroy the spirit forest in the North so he would be banished and Unalaq would be first in line.
- Didn't Think This Through: Varrick's idea to put a plane on his boat in case it sinks seems like a good idea, until you realize there's no runway.
- Dirty Coward: Subverted. It looked like Varrick was hiding just to save his own hide while abandoning his men to Unalaq, but actually, he was hiding to do the opposite. He knew that if his men failed to kidnap Unalaq and got captured, he would be able to retrieve them later, so the only way was for him to keep a low profile.
- The Ditz: Varrick hands Bolin some bribe money to make sure everything goes their way at the trial. Bolin wastes the money immediately by handing it to two random guys and telling them to "take care of it" with a wink. Asami is dumbfounded and Face Palms when Bolin realizes a bit too late he should've given it to the judge.
- Enemy Mine: Varrick has his own, less-than noble reasons for rebelling against Unalaq, which was why Korra attempted to prevent the former from making things worse. However, when she discovers her Uncle's own treachery, Varrick is a lesser evil by comparison to what Unalaq did in the present, and in the past.
- Facepalm: Asami's reaction to Bolin's misplaced bribe.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Eska forcibly makes Bolin her fiancé and declares they will be married at sunset. Bolin runs. Very fast.
- Gondor Calls for Aid: Korra is sent to get reinforcements for the South from the President of Republic City.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Unalaq. He arranged for Tonraq to be banished so that he could be Chief, and then found out that his brother became the father of the Avatar.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Eska's idea of a betrothal necklace for Bolin looks rather gothic.
- I'll Kill You!: Korra rather bluntly threatens the judge as such when he sentences her parents. Unalaq convincing him to bump the sentence down to life imprisonment only results in a moderate delay before she tries again.
- Insult Backfire: Eska and Desna mock Mako's "deductive skills" when he reacts to finding out Korra's parents have been arrested. Bolin states that of course Mako can deduct things, as he's a cop.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Korra threatens the judge by placing his head in Naga's mouth and saying he better comply or face being devoured.
- Just Following Orders: What the judge said about Unalaq. If he were in a more rational state of mind, he wouldn't have blurted that out before Korra knew the trial was a sham.
- Kangaroo Court: The judge allows Unalaq to give his own side of events in full, in his own words. Then he questions Korra (who seems to be the only advocate for the defense), and asks her a series of leading, yes-or-no questions and shuts her down whenever she tries to elaborate. No jury or legal counsel are present. Varrick tries to turn it into a Kangaroo Court in his favor, but since the judge has apparently been Unalaq's go-to lackey for years, it's doubtful this would have worked even if Bolin had paid the right guy.
- Kick the Dog: Eska demands Bolin bow when she leaves the room, and he's scared enough of her to comply.
- Mood Whiplash: After a heartwarming reconciling between Ikki and Tenzin with their respective siblings and Korra's dramatic escape from the Northern Blockade as well as freeing their friends, the episode ends with the group making a break for it when Bolin sights Eska trailing them.
- Noodle Incident: Varrick apparently designed his boat to escape from his own Yandere waterbender ex.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Bolin's response when Eska suggests that they get married during his attempt to break up with her.
- The judge when he sees Korra and Naga trying to chase him down.
- Bolin when he spots Eska with a pissed off expression on her face heading straight towards them.
- "Psycho" Strings: Eska gets these as a theme while chasing down Bolin at the end of the episode.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Tonraq, who should be the actual Chieftain without Unalaq's manipulations, is the one keeping Korra from flipping out because doing so would trigger the war sooner. He only agreed with Korra when he finds out that his own brother betrayed him,
- Rebuilt Pedestal: As of this episode, Korra is once again (mostly) on good terms with her father. Partially due to learning of Unalaq's manipulation.
- Recoil Boost: Lacking a proper runway for Varrick's plane to achieve lift, Korra and Mako hang onto the wings and firebend in the opposite direction to get it up to speed.
- Saying Too Much: In his rush to appease Korra, the judge lets slip that he was following Unalaq's orders.
- Spit Take: Varrick does one when he realizes that his tea doesn't have any honey in it.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Bolin swears to Eska that he isn't hiding from her.
- Tempting Fate:
- Bolin is discussing one of the many upsides of Varrick's hang out is that Eska doesn't know of his location... right before she and several Northern troops barge in.
- Then it happens a second time when he thanks Korra for giving him a good opportunity to escape his ex, but finds her heading straight towards them.
- Toilet Humor: Varrick's platypus bear disguise poops money.
- Tranquil Fury: Surprisingly, Korra manages to not lose it entirely even after learning the truth about Unalaq.
- Two Men, One Dress: Varrick and Zhu Li hide in a taxidermied platypus bear this way.
- Unwitting Pawn: Korra's no longer this to Unalaq now that his treachery has been exposed, but she's eventually become one to Varrick, who has a shady plan of his own...
- Villains Never Lie: Korra takes all of the judge's revelations about Unalaq at face value. She did jam his head in her polar bear dog's mouth and threaten to have her bite.
- Woman Scorned: Eska does not take being ditched by Bolin very well, to say the least.
- Worth It: Bolin feels that starting a civil war between the two tribes was worth it considering it allowed him to escape his Yandere ex... until he sees that she's still chasing him.
- Your Makeup Is Running: Eska's makeup has run when she is water surfing after Bolin.
