The Earth Queen

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- You make me do your dirty work extorting your own citizens for your stupid palaces and topiaries and then you just want to send me away?! We're not going anywhere until we find some airbenders! We know there are some here!

"The Earth Queen" is the third episode of Book Three: Change of The Legend of Korra and the 29th of the overall series. It aired on Nickelodeon along with "A Breath of Fresh Air" and "Rebirth" on June 27, 2014.

Overview
''Team Avatar arrives in Ba Sing Se. While Korra has an audience with the Earth Queen, the others notice that Kai has gone missing, prompting Mako and Bolin to go look for him. They track him down, but he manages to shake them in the monorail, which takes the brothers to the Lower Ring, where they eventually run into their family from their father's side. Meanwhile, Korra and Asami set course for a small village to collect taxes as a favor to the Queen. After getting her money, the Queen brushes off Korra's request for help in tracking down the airbenders, leaving the Avatar to storm out of the palace. In the city, Kai found himself arrested by the Dai Li and subsequently conscripted in the Queen's first airbending regiment.''

Synopsis
While aboard the Future Industries airship, Jinora, Asami, and Naga watch a friendly airbending spar between Bumi and Kai, with the intention of teaching the two new airbenders the stances associated with the art form. Jinora reminds Bumi to remain quick and evasive, but he reassures the young airbender that his experience in fighting will guarantee an easy victory, even going so far as to minimize Kai as a threat by referring to him as a youngster. Before he could finish his statement, Kai knocks Bumi off balance by sending an air swipe in between his feet, prompting Jinora to remind Bumi to work on his stance and compliment Kai on his form. Shortly after, Bumi notices that Kai took his wallet and attempts to retrieve it to no avail, much to Jinora's amusement.

While watching the training from the balcony, Korra expresses her excitement over traveling to Ba Sing Se in search of airbenders and asks Tenzin what the Earth Queen is like. Tenzin reveals that he does not personally know the Earth Queen, but tells Korra that he has heard of her demanding disposition.

Upon approaching the walls of Ba Sing Se, Bolin runs to the balcony and calls Mako over to take a look at the view, excitedly declaring that it was where their dad had grown up. As the airship passes over the Lower Ring, Korra, Mako, and Bolin recoil in disgust, the young Avatar remarking how terrible it looked. Bolin excitedly greets the people of the Middle Ring once the airship passes through the second set of walls within the city and the airship promptly makes it way to the Upper Ring.

As the zeppelin docks at the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, Korra and her party are greeted by Grand Secretariat Gun, who is quick to instruct the members of Team Avatar how to conduct themselves around the Earth Queen. Kai notices a citizen of the Upper Ring laden with jewels and sneaks away from the rest of the group as they are led to their quarters.

Gun escorts Korra to the Earth Queen, Hou-Ting who is overseeing a garden expansion on the palace grounds from a balcony. Hou-Ting frigidly addresses Korra, whom she suspects of being in her palace for a favor. She blames Korra for her past life's decisions to annex Earth Kingdom territory to create the United Republic of Nations. The Earth Queen continues to list the problems that have manifested in her nation, telling Korra about roving bands of barbarians in the countryside and her subjects' refusal to pay taxes. Korra attempts to reason with the queen, but is unable to do so as Hou-Ting begins to yell at her servants.

Back at Team Avatar's quarters, Jinora notices Kai's absence, prompting Mako and Bolin to search for him under Tenzin's request. In the palace, Korra appeals to Hou-Ting for help in recruiting newly discovered airbenders in Ba Sing Se, but she refuses to even consider providing her assistance until the Avatar has completed a favor of her choosing. After Korra reluctantly agrees, Earth Queen Hou-Ting instructs her to retrieve a tax shipment from a vault located in a town just outside the city walls, two of which had already been stolen by barbarians.

Bolin and Mako search for Kai in the Upper Ring and find him scamming unsuspecting residents using his airbending. Having been discovered, Kai hurriedly flees the scene with the two brothers following close behind. The duo eventually encounters Kai in a monorail cart at which point Mako corners Kai and grabs him by the collar. Kai, however, easily escapes his grasp, sends the two brothers back with an air blast, and slips out of the cart just before the doors close, leaving them stranded in the cart on the way to the Lower Ring. Mako and Bolin attempt to catch a train back to the Upper Ring, but find themselves unable to do so after realizing that Kai had stolen their money. Without a means to purchase tickets, the brothers decide to sleep in the streets until they find a way back to the Upper Ring.

Back at the palace, Korra and Asami decide to take the airship and retrieve the tax shipment without Mako and Bolin. Asami expresses concern about the fact that they were unaccompanied, but Korra reassures her by stating that royal guards stationed at the vault would keep them protected.

In the Lower Ring, Bolin expresses concern about Kai's condition, unaware that he used the money he collected to rent a servant and a luxurious home in the Upper Ring. The two brothers walk by a fruit stand, and Bolin attempts to coerce the firebender to help him with the "fruit stand scam" they used to execute in the past. Mako refuses to take part and expresses his disgust at the state of the fruit on display, prompting a wary Tu to appear from behind the stand. He interrogates the brothers and attempts to intimidate them, eventually tackling the two to the ground after concluding that they were planning to steal fruit. Tu's father appears shortly after and recognizes Mako and Bolin as his brother's children, much to their surprise.

Zuko and Tonraq arrive at the Northern Water Tribe and visit Desna and Eska, who they ask to accompany them to a secret ice prison in the western tundras of the North Pole.

In the Lower Ring, Mako and Bolin meet their father's family, including their grandmother, Yin, who is particularly elated to meet her grandchildren. She promptly inquires about her son and daughter-in-law, but is disheartened to hear from Mako that the two were killed while he and Bolin were still young.

Korra and Asami arrive to collect the tax shipment, but became immediately wary of their surroundings after noticing residents fleeing indoors. As the guards bring the shipment out to load in the airship, they are attacked by a group of barbarians on motorcycles. The leader instructs Korra and Asami to leave the shipment but the two refuse, causing a fight to erupt in which Korra and Asami quickly take the upper hand. The leader calls his men to retreat and tells Korra that she is fighting for the wrong side before fleeing the scene.

Back in the tundras of the Northern Water Tribe, Zuko tells Desna and Eska of how he built the secret ice prison along with Tonraq and Unalaq in order to contain P'Li, a firebender who can use combustion to create explosions with her mind. He recalls how he once hired Combustion Man, who was capable of the same technique, in a failed attempt to kill the previous Avatar, Aang. Eska comforts him and recalls the time she attempted to kill Korra for ruining her wedding with Bolin. They arrive at the cell, much to P'Li's amusement, who concludes that Zaheer must have escaped to prompt the arrival of visitors.

Mako inquires as to why his father left Ba Sing Se and discovers that his father aspired to achieve things greater than working the fruit stand. However, his goals of leaving conflicted with his father's wishes, resulting in tensions between the two which caused Mako and Bolin's father to sever all communication with his family, save for a single letter he sent during his birthday. Yin brings Mako and Bolin to a room and shows them the letter, which includes a photo of them as children along with their mother and father. Yin remarks that Mako has his mother's eyes, prompting Mako to give her his scarf, claiming that his parents would have wanted her to have it.

Gun escorts Korra to the palace and announces that Korra has returned with the tax shipment. Having fulfilled her part of the deal, Korra inquires one more about any airbenders in Ba Sing Se. The Earth Queen claims that the Dai Li have searched the city but were unable to find any airbenders, angering Korra and causing her to storm off.

Tu's father exclaims how proud his brother would have been with Mako and Bolin, considering how they were assisting the Avatar in her travels. Mako expresses their need to return to the Upper Ring to help Korra in her search of airbenders in Ba Sing Se. Upon mentioning them, the family members gasp, and reveal how Dai Li agents have apprehended airbenders in the city for the Earth Queen to supposedly use in experiments. Yin reprimands Tu for speaking negatively about the queen, before blowing a kiss to a portrait in her honor. Mako and Bolin decide to leave to return to the Upper Ring to inform Korra, with Bolin once again wondering about Kai.

Out in the streets of the Upper Ring, Kai scams another resident before taking off in an alley, where he is surprised to see several Dai Li agents. Before he can flee, Kai is apprehended by the agents using earthbending and he is taken to an underground cell along with other airbenders, where he is told by the Dai Li sergeant that he is part of the Earth Queen's army.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Tim Hedrick


 * Directed by:
 * Ian Graham


 * Starring:
 * Janet Varney - Korra
 * David Faustino - Mako
 * P.J. Byrne - Bolin
 * J.K. Simmons - Tenzin
 * Seychelle Gabriel - Asami
 * Jeff Bennett - Radio broadcaster
 * Dee Bradley Baker:
 * Naga
 * Pabu
 * Oogi
 * Aaron Himelstein - Desna
 * Aubrey Plaza - Eska
 * James Remar - Tonraq
 * Richard Riehle - Bumi
 * Kiernan Shipka - Jinora


 * Also starring:
 * Gary Cole:
 * Dai Li sergeant
 * Rich man
 * Bruce Davison - Lord Zuko
 * Greg Cipes:
 * Tu
 * Cousin
 * Carlos Alazraqui:
 * Chow
 * Train guard
 * Earth Kingdom guard
 * Uncle
 * Skyler Brigmann - Kai
 * Susan Silo - Yin
 * Kristy Wu - P'Li
 * Jayne Taini:
 * Queen Hou-Ting
 * Aunt
 * Pat Fraley - Gombo
 * Mitchell Whitfield:
 * Gun
 * Conductor
 * Waiter

Series continuity

 * The apartment building Mako and Bolin's paternal family lives is the same as the one Iroh and Zuko lived in when they resided in the Lower Ring.
 * Earth Queen Hou-Ting recalls Avatar Aang and Zuko's involvement in the annexation of Earth Kingdom land. The two worked with Earth King Kuei, Hou-Ting's father, during the Harmony Restoration Movement to deal with Fire Nation colonies following the end of the Hundred Year War. It was revealed in "Welcome to Republic City" that the colonies were eventually transformed into the United Republic of Nations.
 * Chow references Bolin's role in Varrick's movers, The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South. These movers were filmed to raise awareness about the Northern occupation of the Southern Water Tribe in "The Sting".
 * Bolin and Mako recall the time they spent as part of the Triple Threat Triad, which was explored in Republic City Hustle.
 * Zuko recounts the time when he hired Combustion Man to kill Avatar Aang in "The Headband". Combustion Man was previously referenced in "Out of the Past" by Sokka, during a flashback.
 * Eska recalls the time she and Desna pursued Korra on her way to the Fire Nation in "Peacekeepers".
 * Intense cold was previously used to detain firebenders in "The Boiling Rock, Part 1".

Character revelations

 * Hou-Ting is Kuei's daughter.
 * Desna and Eska are co-chiefs of the Northern Water Tribe.

Goofs

 * Periodically, Asami's eyes change from green to clear.

Trivia

 * This episode was first reported by IGN under an early name, "Meet the Family".
 * This episode was leaked on June 8, 2014, by Nick's Mexican site.
 * The hotel in which Kai stays looks similar to Team Avatar's home when they were in the capital.
 * This is the first time Tonraq has visited the Northern Water Tribe since his banishment.