The Aftermath

"air"

- Hiroshi is not the man you think he is.

"The Aftermath" is the seventh episode of Book One: Air of The Legend of Korra and the seventh of the overall series. It debuted on May 19, 2012 on Nickelodeon.

Overview
''After the Pro-bending Arena closes following Amon's attack, Mako and Bolin are invited to stay in Asami's mansion. While spending time there, Korra begins to suspect that Hiroshi Sato is working for the Equalists. As the Metalbending Police Force investigates the claims, they discover stunning secrets.''

Synopsis
With the closure of the Pro-bending Arena, Korra excitedly tells Mako and Bolin that Tenzin has allowed them to stay on Air Temple Island. However, they inform her that Asami has already invited them to live at her father's mansion. When Asami shows up, she and Bolin, the latter pretending to speak as Pabu, convince Korra to visit them at the estate. Korra finally accepts the invitation and leaves the arena.

Meanwhile, Chief Lin Beifong and the Metalbending Police Force raid Cabbage Corp's headquarters, where they find large numbers of Equalist posters and weapons, namely electrified gloves. The owner, Lau Gan-Lan, is arrested in front of the cabbage merchant's statue where Lin Beifong then announces the official closing of the company to the media.



Korra then arrives at police headquarters where she sees Tahno, miserable on account of the failed attempts to restore his bending. After a short conversation and a promise of taking down Amon, Korra sees Hiroshi Sato conversing with Lin Beifong and Tenzin before leaving the establishment, demanding the Equalists pay for what they had done. Later, she visits the rest of the Fire Ferrets in Asami's house, where Bolin proudly explains of all the perks that come with living in the Sato estate.

After Korra and Asami participate in a Satomobile race, the Avatar goes to the restroom. Following a slight run-in with some make-up powder, she leaves the restroom and overhears Hiroshi talking on the phone of how the investigation of Cabbage Corp has bought them time and how he will be ready to strike soon. Korra quickly leaves the estate with the excuse that she remembered she is supposed to babysit Tenzin's children and goes to Tenzin and Lin, telling them of what she heard. Although quite disbelieving at first, they realize that Hiroshi's hate for benders may be because of the murder of his wife, done by a member of the Agni Kai Triad twelve years ago during a break-in and robbery at the mansion.



As they come to interrogate Hiroshi, Bolin, Mako, and Asami are quite annoyed; however, the businessman gives them permission to search all of Future Industries. This search proves to be unsuccessful, as no Equalist material is found. That all changes, however, when what appears to be a warehouse worker slips a note into Korra's hand, telling her where to meet him to learn more about Hiroshi's potential ties with Amon. As Lin, Tenzin, and Korra meet him, their contact admits to being an Equalist, now repentant over Amon's desire to create war between benders and non-benders. He reveals that Hiroshi Sato is working for the Equalists, producing equipment for them in a secret underground facility beneath his own estate. The former Equalist also reveals that there are rumors about Sato planning something big involving the Equalists.

Lin and her metalbenders, with Korra and Tenzin alongside them, enter the Sato estate with intentions of finding and eliminating any threat. Under the pressure of losing her job because of Tarrlok's recent speeches criticizing her, Lin uses seismic sense to discover a secret tunnel from Hiroshi's workshop to the secret underground factory. Lin orders Officer Song to stay behind and make sure Bolin, Mako, and Asami do not come down; then she enters, followed by her men, Korra, and Tenzin.

As they come to the bottom, they witness the machines produced by Hiroshi. They are then locked in by a wall made of platinum, something that metalbending cannot control or manipulate. Lin correctly guesses that the informant was nothing more than a setup. Unable to get out, the metalbenders, Lin, Tenzin and Korra are all forced to face Hiroshi and the Equalists; however, the machines play their part in giving the Equalists the advantage. In the meantime, Mako tricks Song by purposely "sneezing" a breath of fire as Bolin uses his earthbending to trip the officer. The brothers tie up the man and enter the hidden factory, leaving Asami behind.



All of the benders in the factory are easily defeated by Hiroshi's mecha tanks. Hiroshi then orders the chi blockers to round up their captives to be brought to Amon. As Mako and Bolin enter and try to save an unconscious Korra, Tenzin, and Lin, they are spotted by Hiroshi and the Lieutenant. Mako accuses Hiroshi of sponsoring the Fire Ferrets and supporting the Avatar just to gain their trust. Using an electrified glove, the businessman confirms it and states that it broke his heart watching Asami fall for a "firebending street rat" like Mako, then Asami enters. Seeing her disbelief and shock, Hiroshi asks her for forgiveness and tells her that he is doing this because of the loss of her mother who had been killed in the hands of a firebender. He then offers his daughter a glove and tells her to join him and Amon in making a world a better place, free of benders. As Asami takes up the glove, the Fire Ferrets look up in disbelief and despair. However, to everyone's surprise, Asami stuns her father and the Lieutenant and then helps them escape as the Equalists take notice.



Back on the police airship, Korra tells the two brothers that not only they, but Asami, too, are welcome to come live on Air Temple Island, a proposition which they now gladly accept. At the same time, Lin tells Tenzin that Tarrlok was right in saying that she has failed her duty as chief of the police force, and that she will resign the next morning. When Tenzin tells her not to give up, she replies that she has not given up, and that she is going to look for her men and face Amon "outside the law". Korra then turns to Mako and tells him to go to Asami, knowing that she needs him. As he does so, Asami, confused and hurt, emotionally embraces Mako as the airship slowly approaches the Republic City coastline at night.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Michael Dante DiMartino
 * Bryan Konietzko


 * Directed by:
 * Joaquim Dos Santos
 * Ki Hyun Ryu


 * Starring:
 * Janet Varney - Korra
 * David Faustino - Mako
 * P. J. Byrne - Bolin
 * J.K. Simmons - Tenzin
 * Seychelle Gabriel - Asami
 * Mindy Sterling - Beifong
 * Dee Bradley Baker:
 * Tarrlok
 * Pabu
 * Naga
 * Butler


 * Also starring:
 * Richard Epcar:
 * Captain Saikhan
 * Warehouse worker
 * Daniel Dae Kim - Hiroshi
 * James Sie - Lau Gan-Lan
 * Rami Malek - Tahno


 * Additional voices:
 * J.K. Simmons
 * Dee Bradley Baker
 * Richard Epcar
 * Jason Harris
 * Mindy Sterling

Series continuity

 * The schematic for the mecha tanks Hiroshi uses first appeared during the Lieutenant's conversation with Amon in "Welcome to Republic City".
 * This the first time Tarrlok has narrated the opening newsreel, instead of Shiro Shinobi.
 * Five officers of the Metalbending Police Force are captured by the Equalists.

Character revelations

 * A member of the Agni Kai Triad was responsible for the death of Hiroshi's wife in 158 ASC.
 * Hiroshi Sato is a member of the Equalists and has been producing technology for them.
 * Asami Sato does not support her father's ties with the Equalists and opposes the organization's actions against benders.
 * Lin Beifong knows the seismic sense technique.

Goofs

 * When Lin Beifong and her officers were searching Hiroshi Sato's personal workshop, Lin used her metalbending to move a large piece of the floor, revealing the secret tunnel. Later on in the episode, however, Bolin earthbends part of the floor in order to trip a metalbending officer.
 * While Asami was electrifying the Lieutenant, she also touched him with her other hand, which was bare, but she was not electrified as well.
 * In the scene where Korra meets Tahno, a man can be seen on a bench across from Tahno. In the next shot, however, he is gone.
 * Mako was seen wearing his gloves while packing with Bolin; however, when he waves goodbye to Korra as she leaves, he is not wearing them anymore.
 * As Korra is leaving with the police to investigate the hidden factory, Mako is seen standing behind Bolin and Asami. When Korra glances back at the trio, Mako is then seen standing in front of the two.
 * When Mako left Korra after having a conversation, one of Korra's ears is the same color as her hair.
 * During the escape, when Tenzin and Lin were still unconscious, Bolin had picked up Tenzin; however, when they were jumping in the small earthbent tunnel, Mako was carrying him.

Trivia

 * The push daggers that came out of Lin Beifong's arms are similar to an Indian weapon known as the katara.
 * This is the second episode in a row where Ikki, Meelo, and Jinora have not appeared.
 * When Bolin jumps in the Satos' pool, he exclaims, "Earthbending bomb!", similar to Katara's "Waterbending bomb!" in "The Serpent's Pass".
 * This is the first time Mako and Bolin are shown to have committed a misdemeanor, by assaulting a police officer.
 * The way in which Asami turns against her father is similar to Zuko's in that both involve lightning: Asami turns against her father using an Electrified Glove, while Zuko retaliated against his father with lightning redirection.

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