The Spirit of Competition

"air"

- Look, it just isn't smart to date a teammate, especially during the tournament.

"The Spirit of Competition" is the fifth episode of Book One: Air of The Legend of Korra and the fifth of the overall series. It debuted on May 5, 2012 on Nickelodeon.

Overview
''The Pro-bending Tournament is about to begin, and, thanks to Hiroshi Sato's financial aid, the Fire Ferrets are competing. However, Korra and her teammates struggle to work together after romantic rivalries shake their foundation and threaten to end their championship bid.''

Synopsis
The Fire Ferrets practice together before the tournament in the arena's gym. Asami shows up after a group huddle to show them the new uniforms with the logo of Future Industries. She rubs noses with Mako before they both leave for a lunch date. Bolin tries to get closer romantically to Korra, but she leaves with an excuse of airbending practice with Tenzin, much to his disappointment. That night, while giving Pabu a bath, Bolin asks Mako what he thinks of Korra as a girlfriend. He responds that she is great, but tells Bolin that he does not consider her as girlfriend material. Bolin tries to convince Mako that he should date Korra as they were perfect for each other, but Mako tells him that dating a teammate would cause instability within the group. Meanwhile, Korra, in Air Temple Island, gets advice from Jinora, Ikki, and Pema on how to deal with her relationship problems and how to approach Mako.



After defeating the Red Sands Rabaroos with ease, Korra and the Fire Ferrets move on to the quarterfinals of the championship tournament. At the end of the game, Korra confesses her true romantic feelings to Mako. However, the firebender says that he does not see her romantically the same way and that he is with Asami. After this, Bolin invites Korra for a date, which she accepts, seeking to have some fun, much to Mako's annoyance. The two have dinner at Narook's Seaweed Noodlery, however, Tahno, the Wolfbats' waterbender, stares at them from another table. He comes over to the two and provokes Korra, who threatens to fight him. Bolin warns Korra to ignore Tahno's provocation, since fighting out of the arena would disqualify the team from the tournament. Korra calls on Naga instead, who growls at Tahno, intimidating him. Bolin and the Avatar then continue their date, having a drink in a bar and going to a tower where they could spot out several sites of Republic City. When the date ends, Korra finds Mako awaiting her in the Pro-bending Arena entrance. He asks her what kind of game she is playing with Bolin to get back at him, which makes Korra call his reaction jealousy, to which he says he is just concerned about his brother. This argument has an effect in their next match against the Boar-q-pines as the team does not seem to connect well between each other. Noticing this, Bolin, tries to step up his attacks, letting the team win the second round after a first-round defeat. After the third round ends in a tie, Bolin, seeing Mako is not focused, volunteers to be the fighter in the tiebreaker, choosing earth as the element with which to fight. He successfully defeats Chung, the Boar-q-pines' earthbender, clinching the match for the Fire Ferrets.



On a dock outside the Pro-bending Arena, Mako and Korra converse and confront each other on their conflicted feelings. Mako confesses his feelings toward Korra, but says that he really likes Asami too, so it is complicated. Korra takes this opportunity and passionately kisses him. Mako, at first, seems quite pleased and kisses her back, but then he realizes that Bolin was watching them with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Heartbroken, Bolin runs off sobbing, causing Mako to become angry with Korra and leave.

The next morning, Mako finds his little brother in Narook's Seaweed Noodlery, where he had spent the night. When he arrives, he sees Bolin slumped over on a table with Pabu. Mako tries to comfort him, but Bolin hysterically exclaims that he is a traitor and is no longer his brother or his friend, stating that Pabu is now the only one he can trust. Mako reminds him that the upcoming match is one of the most important matches in their career. At Bolin's refusal to leave the restaurant, Mako picks up his brother and carries him over his shoulder back to the Pro-bending Arena.



Later that night, the Fire Ferrets have their semifinal match against the Buzzard Wasps, a team that, according to Shiro Shinobi, could match them in both muscle and youth. After losing the first two rounds due to the poor group communication and lack of teamwork, Mako and Bolin give up hope, and after the Fire Ferrets' earthbender's arm is injured, the two brothers are both knocked out of the ring. On the way up from the water, the two brothers apologize to each other for their divide over the Avatar, and watch Korra continue to keep their slim hopes alive. With ten seconds remaining, Korra still manages to hold her own and dodges all of the attacks by the Buzzard Wasps. She then strategically aligns the three Buzzard Wasps in a single file using waterbending, before hurling one final torrent which sends the entire rival team out of the ring, winning the match for the Fire Ferrets.

The team then forgives each others' mistakes, and agree to remain on friendly terms. Then, the White Falls Wolfbats enter the arena for their match, with Tahno taunting the Fire Ferrets, but Korra confidently tells him they will defeat them in the finals. Asami then enters the room to congratulate them, and Korra thanks her and her father for their sponsorship. As Bolin writhes in pain, Korra comes to his aid heals his injury, while apologizing for hurting his feelings. Moments later, the healing session is interrupted by a shocking announcement—the White Falls Wolfbats win their match with a brutal first-round knockout. Their opposing team's members, seriously injured, are lifted from the ring by paramedics, much to the Fire Ferrets' worry.

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
 * J.K. Simmons is credited despite Tenzin not appearing in the episode.
 * Seychelle Gabriel - Asami
 * Dee Bradley Baker:
 * Naga
 * Pabu
 * Lemurs


 * Also starring:
 * Darcy Rose Byrnes - Ikki
 * Kiernan Shipka - Jinora
 * Maria Bamford - Pema
 * Jeff Bennett - Radio broadcaster
 * Tom Kenny - Referee
 * Jason Harris - Ring announcer
 * Rami Malek - Tahno


 * Additional voices:
 * Dee Bradley Baker
 * Janet Varney
 * Jeff Bennett
 * Maria Bamford
 * Tom Kenny

Series continuity

 * Korra takes a leave of absence from Tarrlok's anti-Equalist task force after her encounter with Amon in "The Voice in the Night".
 * This is the first time a sudden death pro-bending round has been seen in the series.
 * Korra's hat trick is the second known time the pro-bending feat has occurred; the first such accomplishment was by Mako against the Golden Temple Tigerdillos in "A Leaf in the Wind".
 * This episode marks the first yellow fan issued, which was given to Korra for unnecessary roughness and then for bending at the referee.
 * The way Korra kisses Mako after discussing their relationship is similar to the way Aang kissed Katara in "The Ember Island Players".

Character revelations

 * Korra was taught healing by Katara.
 * Mako is infatuated with Korra and is trying to hide it from his brother, Bolin. He is also keeping it a secret from his girlfriend, Asami.
 * Bolin frequents Narook's Seaweed Noodlery, which is made evident when Mako looks for his brother at this place after Bolin ran away heartbroken. Narook seemed to treat Bolin and Mako as regulars.

Goofs

 * When the Fire Ferrets advance into the Rabaroos' territory in the first round, Bolin is the middle player of the Ferrets. However, when the match resumes, Korra and Bolin have switched places.
 * After the first match, Korra puts her helmet on the small table next to the door where it topples to the right. When the helmet is shown again, it stands upright.
 * According to the official rules of pro-bending, the match between the Fire Ferrets and Buzzard Wasps should have been stopped temporarily in round three when Bolin injured his shoulder.
 * When Korra and Bolin are eating at the restaurant, Tahno comes over to speak with Korra. Korra's hands are not on the chopsticks, however, when the scene changes to a different angle, she grunts and her hands are on top of the chopsticks. When it goes back to the original view, her hands once again are not on them.
 * J.K. Simmons is credited despite Tenzin not appearing in the episode.
 * In the last pro-bending match of the episode, the earth disk first sent at Korra in round three was a head shot, but it was not called.

Trivia

 * The man who attempted to greet Mako outside the Pro-bending Arena and trailed off after being ignored was voiced by co-executive producer Joaquim Dos Santos in an uncredited role. Dos Santos had seen the drawing of the character standing there and made a small joke about how it seemed like he would be "excited to see Mako before getting shut down".
 * The waterbending move Korra uses to score a hat trick against the Buzzard Wasps is similar to the waterbending move she executes in the opening sequence.
 * The sponsor for one of the matches is "Flamey Os' Instant Noodles".
 * This is the first episode in which Tenzin does not appear.