The Southern Lights

"The Southern Lights" is the second episode of Book Two: Spirits and the fourteenth episode of the overall series. It first aired alongside "Rebel Spirit" on Nickelodeon on September 13, 2013.

Overview
''Korra begins her spiritual training under Unalaq. The first step of this training is to travel to the South Pole and open up the spirit portal residing deep within the area. Mako, Bolin, Tonraq, Desna, and Eska come along as well.''

Synopsis
A dark spirit manifests itself outside the Southern Water Tribe. Meanwhile, in the city, Korra meets with and begins training under Unalaq. He tells her that her training will be much more than learning how to fight spirits, and that the first step is to travel to the South Pole and open the spirit portal. However, he warns her that it will be very dangerous, but Korra remains enthusiastic about the trip.



Meanwhile, Tenzin and his family arrive at the Southern Air Temple, where they are greeted by the Air Acolytes leader, Abbot Shung, who presents Tenzin with an airbender head shaver and Pema with a large bouquet of flowers. Jinora and Ikki get into a fight over a book, even though the latter does not like to read. Meelo picks out a flying lemur for himself, naming him Poki, and chases after him. As for Kya and Bumi, they ask for help with their luggage. A female Air Acolyte mistakes them for servants, before they introduce themselves as Aang's children. The Acolyte asks if they are also airbenders, which they refute, to the woman's embarrassment and their chagrin.

Back in the South Pole, Mako, Bolin, and Desna and Eska come along for Korra's expedition. Tonraq insists on coming along, saying he wants to help and keep Korra safe from the Everstorm that is brewing down there: a blizzard that has been going on for decades. He insists on traveling with the group, despite Unalaq's protests about Tonraq. The tense staredown is interrupted by Bolin, who rolls in a snowmobile he got from Varrick.



Eska walks up to Bolin and asks if his machine's passenger compartment can hold two people. Eager to impress her, Bolin asks who will drive, though he finds himself the driver while the twins are in the passenger seat, to his chagrin. Mako attempts to smugly comment but Bolin stops him.

Unalaq explains that their destination is a spirit portal for Korra to open. He also explains that there are light and dark spirits. He explains that when spirits become unbalanced, the darkness takes over. With the winter solstice the next day, it is imperative that the Avatar reach it before it is over.

The group notices that dark spirits are stalking them, so they set up camp in a cave-like area. After the group gets a fire going, Unalaq says that he believes that he knows the reasons why the dark spirits are after them. He pins the blame on Tonraq. He asks Korra if she had ever wondered how her father ended up in the south or why he never took her to visit his homeland in the north. Tonraq is upset with his brother revealing his past, to which Unalaq retorts that he should have told his daughter the truth a long time ago. Tonraq is then forced to confess that he left the North Pole because he was banished.



Tonraq reveals to the party that when he was younger, he had been the general in the Northern Water Tribe. The tribe was being attacked by barbarians at the time when he and his troops responded with a counterattack. His efforts were so successful, he was able to rout the barbarians to a sacred spiritual forest. Refusing to let the barbarians gain sanctuary on hallowed ground, Tonraq and his troops initiate an assault on the troops, while destroying the sacred forest in the process. The spirits turned hostile after the destruction of their habitat and attacked the capital city. Luckily, Unalaq was able to apply the same waterbending technique he uses in the present to guide the spirits back to the forest and turn them neutral. However, since Tonraq was responsible for the attack in the first place, his father banished him from the Northern Water Tribe. Tonraq accepted his fate and began to pursue a new life in the South.

With the story at an end, Bolin notes that Tonraq was supposed to be the tribal chief, only for Unalaq to take his place, which would explain the animosity between them. Mako gives him a hard nudge in the gut. Korra gets upset that Tonraq kept his big secret from her all this time. Tonraq defends that he only wanted to protect her from the shame he had brought on the family. Korra angrily retorts that she has had enough of his protection and secrets and storms off.



Meanwhile, Tenzin shows Jinora the hall of Avatar statues. However, Meelo and Ikki are preoccupied racing each other on air scooters, resulting in the boy crashing into a statue and accidentally destroying it, prompting Tenzin to tend to him. Jinora looks up the statue of Aang, being intrigued by it. However, she suddenly senses something behind her, though as she flips around, there is no one there.

Back in the south, as the group continues on their way, Tonraq tells Korra that she has a right to be angry with him. He confesses that he does not want her to repeat his mistakes and insists they cease this quest, claiming that the physical and spirit worlds are to remain separate. Korra reminds him that the Avatar is the bridge between both worlds and she has this chance to live up to her potential. Her father, however, insists that Unalaq may not be right about the spirits. His brother interjects, stating that the northern lights are spirits lighting up the night sky, but the southern lights are absent. Due to the Hundred Year War, the South was thrown out of balance. The Northern Water Tribe has helped the South rebuild physically, but it lacks spirituality, hence the dark spirits' rampage.



The group arrives at the Everstorm. Suddenly, they are attacked by dark spirits, which steal their supplies, as well as cause Bolin's snowmobile to go haywire and send him and the twins speeding toward a mountain. Tonraq and Korra fight off the spirits and during the fight, she attempts to use Unalaq's spirit healing technique but it fails to work. Unalaq is able to save her when the spirit came close to harming her. Meanwhile, the twins leap off the snowmobile with Bolin. They slide down the slope, Bolin's coat inflating while the twins slide down on ice shoes. Once they slow to a stop, Eska waterbends ice to deflate Bolin. With their supplies gone, Tonraq insists they turn back. However, Korra coldly tells him to leave. Tonraq heeds Korra's advice and leaves the party.



Shortly afterward, the group keeps on traveling and reaches the Everstorm. Unalaq tells Korra that inside the frozen spirit forest is the spirit portal, and that she must open it again so that the South will become spiritually balanced once again. However, he says that Korra must do it alone despite Mako and Bolin's protests. Korra heads in and is attacked by dark spirits. She struggles to fight them off, but succeeds in trapping them behind ice. She reaches the portal, and attempts to open it by force using her bending, only to fail. She is attacked by a large number of dark spirits which grab and restrain her. She enters the Avatar State in a desperate attempt to break free. While pulling away, she taps the portal and it opens, causing the sky to light up. At the same time, Jinora finds an Avatar statue that is different from the others which lights up.



Tonraq, who is heading home, smiles as Korra heads out of the Everstorm. Bolin embraces her, only for Eska to waterbend ice around his neck and drag him toward her, demanding to know why he is initiating physical contact with another woman. Korra turns to Unalaq, remarking that everything he said was true. Her uncle commends her for her actions, stating that what she has done will help restore spiritual balance to the south and maybe the whole world. Korra turns to hug Mako, whom is equally pleased that she has succeeded. The group travels back where they see Northern Water Tribe fleets gathering at the Southern Water Tribe's shores. Unalaq tells her that the South's spiritual decay cannot be cured simply by opening the source, which leaves Korra worried.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Joshua Hamilton


 * Directed by:
 * Ian Graham
 * Colin Heck


 * Starring:
 * Janet Varney - Korra
 * David Faustino - Mako
 * P. J. Byrne - Bolin
 * J.K. Simmons - Tenzin
 * James Remar - Tonraq
 * Adrian LaTourelle:
 * Unalaq
 * Young Unalaq
 * Dee Bradley Baker:
 * Pabu
 * Naga
 * Oogi
 * Poki


 * Also starring:
 * Kiernan Shipka - Jinora
 * Darcy Rose Byrnes - Ikki
 * Logan Wells - Meelo
 * Aubrey Plaza - Eska
 * Lisa Edelstein - Kya
 * Richard Riehle - Bumi
 * Jeff Bennett - Radio broadcaster
 * Maria Bamford - Pema
 * James Sie - Abbot Shung
 * Amy Hill - Acolyte


 * Additional voices:
 * Jeff Bennett
 * Dee Bradley Baker
 * J.K. Simmons

Character revelations

 * Tonraq was originally from the Northern Water Tribe and next in-line to be chief, but was banished because he destroyed a spirit forest, which resulted in dark spirit attacks.
 * Bolin is revealed to dislike ghost stories.
 * It is revealed by Jinora that Ikki does not like to read.

Goofs

 * When Desna and Eska are sitting in the sidecar, Desna is on the inside while Eska is on the outside. However, when Bolin loses control of the machine, Eska is on the inside of the car when they save him from crashing.
 * When Eska confronts Bolin after he makes physical contact with Korra, her makeup is gone.
 * When Tenzin and his family arrive at the Southern Air Temple and are greeted by the Air Acolytes, Pema's eye color changes.
 * When Korra speaks with Mako after opening the spirit portal, the insignia on her parka changes color.
 * When Bolin comes to join the group during Tonraq and Unalaq's argument, Korra's sleeves become full length gloves and back to sleeves in the same scene.
 * When Meelo loses grip of the flying lemur and jumps off on his air scooter, a box between the two Air Acolytes disappears, leaving one of the Acolytes without feet.

Trivia

 * The scene in which the Northern Water Tribe ships arrive at the South Pole for war, bears similarity to the scene in  where the ships arrive at the  to launch a siege.

Las Luces del Sur Южное сияние