When Extremes Meet

"air"

- You're in my way Avatar, and you need to be removed.

"When Extremes Meet" is the eighth episode of Book One: Air of The Legend of Korra and the eighth of the overall series. It debuted on June 2, 2012, on Nickelodeon.

Overview
''After Saikhan's appointment as Chief of the Metalbending Police Force, Tarrlok exercises increased control over the city. As Mako, Korra, Bolin, and Asami form the new Team Avatar, they interfere with the councilman's goals, prompting him to retaliate against them.''

Synopsis
Mako, Bolin, and Asami arrive at Air Temple Island via the Air Temple Island ferry, where they are greeted by Korra, Ikki, Jinora, and Meelo. As the group heads to the temple, they learn that men and women reside in separate sections. Meelo remarks that Asami is beautiful and affectionately asks for some of her hair to which Mako jokingly states that he has competition.

Meelo and Jinora show Mako and Bolin to their room, while Korra and Ikki show Asami to hers. On the way, Ikki blurts out to Asami that Korra likes Mako, visibly shocking Korra and perplexing Asami. Korra quickly slams the door on Ikki to prevent her from entering the room, much to the young airbender's dismay.

Asami openly admires the room for its charm, adding that there is nothing to remind her of her father. When someone knocks on the door, Korra assumes it is Ikki and yells at her to leave only to grow visibly embarrassed when Tenzin enters. Tenzin greets them and does not take offense from Korra's actions. He informs her that a new police chief will be inducted, an event they should attend.



Upon arriving, they witness former Captain Saikhan assuming Lin Beifong's place as chief of the Metalbending Police Force. He announces that all information concerning the Equalists and their revolt will be directly passed down to Councilman Tarrlok. This sudden revelation startles both Tenzin and Korra.

Korra and Tenzin confront Tarrlok during which the Councilman expresses his excitement and wish for Korra to rejoin his task force with the pro-bending season now over. Korra, however, strictly rejects his request and further emphasizes that she does not need his help, being the Avatar. Tarrlok, however, calls her a "half-baked Avatar in training" who cannot even airbend, asking both rhetorically and mockingly if she has made significant progress with her training. Korra reacts with dejection to these words, believing herself to be a failure. A smug Tarrlok leaves and warns Korra to stay out of his affairs if she does not return to his task force.

As she and Tenzin leave the ceremony on Oogi, Tenzin's sky bison, Korra asks her instructor why she cannot airbend, despite having memorized most of the forms. Tenzin tells her that Aang not only had his bending teachers, but also the past Avatars to whom he could talk. Korra subsequently reveals her visions of Aang to Tenzin, who advises her to meditate on her visions.



After some time to herself, Korra is approached by Mako, Bolin, Asami, and Pabu. The Avatar confesses to her friends that she feels alone and believes herself to be "the worst Avatar ever". They encourage her by reminding her that even Aang had not mastered all four elements while he was battling the Fire Nation and that he had the support of his friends. Together, they decide to patrol Republic City with Bolin deeming them the new Team Avatar. After Naga's refusal to carry all four members, Asami decides to use one of her father's Satomobiles as a means of transportation.

Using police scanners Hiroshi installed on the Satomobile, the team easily locates and captures an escaping group of Equalists. When Tarrlok, his task force, and the police arrive, multiple reporters are already taking photographs of the team and their success. Korra subsequently mocks Tarrlok for his tardiness, prompting the Councilman to warn the Avatar to stay out of his way.

The next day, he proposes a new law prohibiting anyone to join the Equalists and imposing a curfew on all nonbenders. Tenzin opposes the law, arguing that it restricts the rights of the nonbenders. Nevertheless, the rest of the Council votes in support.



After hearing reports of an Equalist threat, Team Avatar arrives on the scene only to discover that the Councilman had actually forced nonbenders to live without electricity late at night. The pleads of the innocent people for help remind Korra of her responsibilities as their Avatar. Korra's attempts to discuss the issue with Tarrlok, however, are completely ignored; furthermore, Tarrlok starts arresting the people, believing them to be Equalists. When Korra opposes him, he arrests Asami, Mako, and Bolin. The Avatar lifts two huge slabs of earth and aims at Tarrlok in protest, to which the latter threatens to arrest her as well should she carry out her attack. At Mako's command, Korra reluctantly drops the earth slabs and assures her friends that she will talk to Tenzin and resolve the entire issue.

When Tenzin arrives, he immediately seeks the release of Korra's friends and the innocent nonbenders, saying that they are entitled to due process of law. Chief Saikhan directs him to Tarrlok, explaining that he is the one he would need to address to resolve this issue. Korra denounces Saikhan as the worst chief of police ever, a statement affirmed by Tenzin.

That night, Korra rides Naga to City Hall, where she confronts Tarrlok. The Councilman is keen to remind her that by intimidating him to cower to her will, she is doing exactly what the Equalists have been protesting against. Korra rejects the idea and retorts that Tarrlok's oppression toward nonbenders is similar to Amon's actions. Outraged, Tarrlok lashes out at Korra, wishing to prevent her from thwarting his plans. He uses waterbending to attack the Avatar and force her to the wall away from him. Being attacked with razor sharp icicles, she was unable to lash back, subsequently creating a wall of earth to shield herself from the icy projectiles. The Avatar eventually gains the upper hand by earthbending the fountain wall against Tarrlok, pushing him out of the room. He falls to the ground with Korra in pursuit.



With no available water to bend and with Korra preparing to firebend at him, Tarrlok resorts to bloodbending despite the absence of a full moon, telling a stunned Korra that there are many things she does not know about him. With a swift motion, Tarrlok slams Korra into a building column and towers over her as she starts to black out. Korra subsequently has another vision of Aang, Toph, and Sokka at Yakone's trial, which had been seen in previous visions. When Sokka appears to be incapacitated and in severe pain, Toph attempts to attack Yakone with metalbending cables, but is unable to. The vision quickly shifts to Aang, with several people behind him being subdued by bloodbending. He reaches his hand out toward Yakone, but struggles in doing so; the vision ends on a close-up of Aang's face.

Tarrlok subsequently ties up Korra and throws her in the back of a truck, telling her that he is taking her somewhere far away from Republic City, where she will never get in his way again. She is barely able to let out a breath of fire before Tarrlok shuts the door and starts driving toward parts unknown.

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
 * Dee Bradley Baker:
 * Tarrlok
 * Pabu
 * Naga
 * Oogi


 * Also starring:
 * Kiernan Shipka - Jinora
 * Darcy Rose Byrnes - Ikki
 * Logan Wells - Meelo
 * Richard Epcar - Captain Saikhan
 * AJ Gentile - Council page
 * Jeff Bennett - Radio broadcaster


 * Additional voices:
 * Janet Varney
 * J.K. Simmons
 * Dee Bradley Baker - Police dispatcher
 * Darcy Rose Byrnes
 * AJ Gentile
 * Jeff Bennett

Series continuity

 * Lin Beifong is recovering from the injuries she received during the battle at the Equalist factory.
 * Shiro Shinobi returns to narrating the opening newsreel after being knocked out by an electrified glove in "And the Winner Is...".
 * Asami uses the electrified glove given to her by her father in "The Aftermath".
 * Korra has her third known vision of the past, this time of Aang, Sokka, and Toph being bloodbent.
 * Aang and Sokka were bloodbent for the second time, as shown in Korra's flashback. The first time was by Hama during the full moon in the episode, "The Puppetmaster".
 * Tarrlok passes laws undermining the key civil rights of the nonbending population of Republic City, as well as ensuring that any affiliation with the Equalists is illegal.
 * Mako, Bolin, and Asami are imprisoned by the Metalbending Police Force under orders from Tarrlok.
 * Korra is bloodbent for the first time and incapacitated by Tarrlok, resulting in her capture by the latter.

Character revelations

 * Tarrlok is revealed to be a bloodbender, the third known user of the art in the franchise following Hama and Katara. He is also the first bloodbender to be shown performing the technique without the aid of a full moon.
 * Ikki refers to her grandfather Aang as "Grandpa Aang".
 * Saikhan is the new chief of the Metalbending Police Force, having been appointed by his predecessor, Chief Lin Beifong.

Goofs

 * Asami's outfit changes when talking to Korra with Mako and Bolin shortly before forming Team Avatar, switching from a jacket with a dress to her driving outfit and changes back to the jacket and dress. This also occurs when she is seen on Naga, wearing the jacket and dress, only for her outfit to revert to her driver's outfit while Team Avatar patrols the city.
 * On Air Temple Island, right before the members of Team Avatar place their hands together, Bolin is seen with his hand on top, but in the next shot, his hand is at the bottom, switching places with Asami.
 * When Asami presents her electrified glove to the team, she is wearing her racing uniform. In the next scene, where Team Avatar attempts to ride Naga, Asami is wearing her usual outfit, and when she gets up, she is wearing her racing uniform again. This error also occurs earlier in the episode, when Team Avatar is formed. Before the group unites their hands, Asami is wearing her racing uniform, while in the next shot, she is wearing her usual outfit.
 * When Team Avatar is listening to the police scanner and eating dumplings, the dumplings in Mako, Korra, and Asami's hands disappear in the next panel.
 * When Asami hits two chi blockers with the car and knocks them off their bikes, both chi blockers are female. When they land on the car to fight Team Avatar, one is female and the other is male.
 * When Korra earthbends the wall of Tarrlok's study, the waterfall flow is immediately interrupted at the side when the wall begins to flip. When Tarrlok notices that the wall is flipping, the waterfall flow is not interrupted until it almost hits him.
 * When Tarrlok states Korra is in his way, just after bloodbending her to the ground, his left arm is outstretched and pointing downward, while his right arm is pulled back and almost parallel to the ground, just a bit downward. In the next panel, his left arm is bent to his right side, across his chest, while his right arm angles upward.

Trivia

 * Reading right-to-left, Asami's police scanner reads from "ichi" (one) to "jū-ni" (twelve) in Japanese numerals.
 * This is the first time that a character is seen bleeding in The Legend of Korra, this being when Korra is cut by a few icicles fired by Tarrlok. This is the third time a character has bled in the Avatar franchise.
 * Tarrlok and Korra's duel at City Hall bears similarities to the encounter between Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin when Roku discovered Sozin's Earth Kingdom colonies in "The Avatar and the Fire Lord". In both cases, the Avatar arrived at a government building to confront a politician from their own nation about their previous actions against a people they held power over. In both cases, the politician struck first.
 * Korra declines Tarrlok's offer to rejoin his task force by dismissing it as nothing more than a "vanity project". This was the same reason used by Colonel Shinu in "The Blue Spirit", when he refused to supply Zhao with the Yuyan Archers in his quest to find the Avatar.
 * Tarrlok has a petroglyph depicting Tui and La encircling each other on the stone wall behind the waterfall in his office.
 * This episode has the lowest viewership of Book One.
 * Tarrlok's decision to hide Avatar Korra in a cabin outside of the city is an homage to film noir, which features the use of hidden mountainside cabins by villains as a common plot device.