A New Spiritual Age

"spirit"

- In the Spirit World, your emotions become your reality.

"A New Spiritual Age" is the tenth episode of Book Two: Spirits of The Legend of Korra and the 22nd episode of the overall series. It aired on Nickelodeon on November 8, 2013.

Overview
After successfully arriving in the Spirit World with Jinora, Korra's journey takes a perilous turn after Unalaq's intervention.

Synopsis
Tenzin is worried about Jinora guiding Korra into the Spirit World. He said if anything happened to her, he won't forgive himself. But Kya and Bumi calmed Tenzin down and reassure him that they are there to help if anything should happen.

Korra and Jinora manage to reach the Spirit World. Korra touches a flower that transforms into a spirit butterfly. Jinora is obsessed with it and decided to chase after it. Korra warns Jinora to stay close by but accidentally steps on a spirit animal. Korra apologizes and when asked who she, is reveals that she's the Avatar. Another animal spirit pops up, saying he's not impressed, followed by another and another. Korra explains her presence here and asks to know where the southern portal's located. One of the spirits claims that it was Unalaq who opened the portal, not her. Frustrated, Korra attempts to bend the spirits away, but she can't because she is spiritually in the Spirit World. Angered, the spirits react by opening a hole that swallows both Korra and Jinora, which lands them in a river. They are soon swallowed by a monster spirit in the river, and somehow end up back in the Spirit World. However, during this, Jinora and Korra are separated from each other.



Korra lands in a dark forest; consumed by fear and self-doubt, she turns into a small child. Out of fear, Korra accidentally hits a infant dragon-bird spirit on it's way to it's nest at the top of a distant mountain. She then apologizes to the harmless spirit and comforts it. She makes her way out of the forest and meets Iroh, who warmly greets her. She is happily shocked and is amazed that he is here in the Spirit World; Iroh explains that when he passed away, he left his mortal body and traveled to the Spirit World where he decided to stay. He invites her to join him and several other spirits for tea to celebrate the marriage between two conjoined frog-like spirits.

Meanwhile, Jinora ends up outside the forest and meets one of her dragonfly-bunny spirit friends. She asks it to help her find the portal and is then taken to Wan Shi Tong's Library. Marveling about all the knowledge stored here, she claims she could spend the rest of her life there. Wan Shi Tong appears, remarking on the last person who said that and orders her to leave. Jinora offers to give some wisdom in exchange to letting her browse the library; the spirit refuses, saying that was the old way. Jinora is able to convince him to give her a chance and informs Wan Shi Tong the true concept of how radios work; flustered that he was given misinformation by one of his Knowledge Seekers, Wan Shi Tong begrudgingly allows her to explore but warns her that he'll be watching her. Requesting a knowledge seeker to fetch her a map to the spirit portals, Jinora receives a book, revealing that if both portals are open when Harmonic Convergence occurs, Vaatu will be freed from the Tree of Time. Realizing she has to warn Korra, Jinora gets up to leave, only to encounter Wan Shi Tong as well as Unalaq. Unalaq finds it amusing how Tenzin sent his own child into the spirit world instead of himself. Jinora asks Wan Shi Tong how he could side with Unalaq; the spirit reveals that he still carries a grudge against the last Avatar and that Unalaq has done much more to help the spirit world, viewing him as an ally. As Unalaq approaches Jinora, the dragon-fly bunny morphs into a dark form of itself and captures her.

Back at the field, Korra becomes upset and demands to leave. This causes the sky to darken and the nearby spirits to begin morphing; Iroh tells her that her emotions can drastically alter the spirits, especially since she is the Avatar who is the bridge between spirits and humans. Korra realizes this and calms herself, bringing the spirits back to normal. Iroh tells her that sometimes by helping others, she can help herself and tasks her to take the dragon-bird spirit back to its nest in the mountain. Korra wonders if he'll come with her, but Iroh says this is something she must do by herself. Close to the summit, Korra encounters several dark spirits but is able to stay calm and positive; the spirits are cleansed and help her the rest of the way. After reuniting the baby spirit back to its nest, Korra is restored to her old self and the dragon-bird merges with its siblings and becomes an adult. It lets Korra climb aboard and it flies her to the spirit portals.



After landing, Korra approaches the Southern portal to close it. Vaatu senses her and tells her that when Harmonic Convergence occurs he will finally be free. Korra ignores him and continues towards the portal. Vaatu says that if she closes it, her friend will be in danger. Turning, Korra sees that Unalaq has Jinora held captive in a waterbending cage. He threatens to corrupt Jinora's soul unless she opens the northern portal. It's not until Unalaq nearly corrupts Jinora when Korra finally agrees. After opening the northern portal, Korra gets attacked by her uncle who taunts her by saying she should have entered through the southern portal in order to keep her bending abilities. Powerless to defend herself, Korra is unable to do anything as Jinora is carried away. She is only saved when the dragon-bird spirit returns and knocks Unalaq aside, carrying her to safety. Vaatu gloats about the revenge that he will inflict upon Korra and Raava when he is set free.

Returning to her body, Korra is drained by the encounter and is horrified about what has occurred. Tenzin rushes over and asks if they succeeded in closing the southern portal. They notice that Jinora hasn't woken up and is still inside the Spirit World. Korra is unable to say anything as Tenzin tearfully turns to her and repeatedly asks what happened to Jinora.

Character revelations

 * The original Iroh appears in the Spirit World, and reveals that he decided to leave his body at the time of his death in order to live among the spirits. He owns a tea shop similar to the Jasmine Dragon, where he spends time with numerous spirits.
 * Unalaq uses a spiritual variation of waterbending to convert light energy into dark energy, turning spirits dark in the process.

Series continuity

 * The whale spirit seen flying when Korra and Jinora enter in the Spirit World was among the spirits fleeing from Raava and Vaatu's fight in "Beginnings, Part 1", and was later among the spirits led by the aye-aye spirit against Jaya and other humans in "Beginnings, Part 2".
 * Iroh uses a teapot that once belonged to Avatar Wan, which the latter used to carry Raava's weakened form prior to the second Harmonic Convergence in "Beginnings, Part 2".
 * Professor Zei's skeletal remains are seen in Wan Shi Tong's Library, where he decided to stay despite the structure's submergence in "The Library".
 * Wan Shi Tong declares that the Avatar is not a friend to the spirits, due to Aang's betrayal of his trust during their previous encounter.

Trivia
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 * Iroh's advice to Korra about finding the light within herself parallels a similar piece of advice he gave Aang in "The Crossroads of Destiny", about finding the light at the end of a dark tunnel.