And the Winner Is...

"And the Winner Is..." is the sixth episode of season one of The Legend of Korra and the sixth of the overall series. It debuted on May 12, 2012 on Nickelodeon.

Overview
''Korra and the Fire Ferrets prepare for the pro-bending finals as Amon threatens the United Republic Council to cancel the tournament lest severe consequences follow. At the Avatar and Lin Beifong's bidding, the Council disregards the threat, and Amon and his Equalists attack the Pro-bending Arena and its bending spectators.''

Synopsis
Korra, Mako, and Bolin are training for the pro-bending championship match when they hear Amon's voice on the radio. He demands that the United Republic Council close the Pro-bending Arena, threatening severe consequences should they fail to do so.



The Fire Ferrets dash to City Hall on Naga to learn about the Council's decision firsthand. When they arrive, Tenzin and Tarrlok tell them that the Council has unanimously agreed to close the Bending Arena. The team does not give up and tries to persuade them to change their minds, arguing that pro-bending brings the people of the city together in peace. The Council, however, does not seem affected by their defense. Just as Tarrlok is ready to strike his gavel and close the discussion, Lin Beifong intervenes by cutting it in two with her metal cables. She declares that she "agrees with the Avatar for once" and argues that closing the arena would be giving in to Amon. Then she agrees to personally protect the citizens at the arena, promising on her reputation that she and her metalbenders would be ample protection against the Equalists. All but Tenzin then vote for the tournament to continue.

Korra then asks Tenzin of Lin's sour attitude toward her and, after Tenzin tells Korra that Lin is against him and not her, Korra realizes that Lin had been Tenzin's former girlfriend. Tenzin begins to explain their story, but stops halfway through, saying that it wasn't Korra's business.



Lin Beifong and her metalbenders secure the arena before the match, and deploy numerous police boats and airships to surround the arena. The two teams are introduced and the match begins. The White Falls Wolfbats, however, are caught cheating by Shiro Shinobi, but the referee does nothing. The Wolfbats seemingly win round one with a knockout but Shinobi spots Mako and Korra hanging from the edge of the ring. Korra throws Mako back into the fray and he lands a strike on one of the Wolfbats as they celebrate. Before round two, Mako comments that the referee has probably been bought off. Korra suggests that they cheat as well, but Mako tells her that it would not be an option and she reluctantly listens.

After another round of illegal moves by the Wolfbats, the two teams tie and the Fire Ferrets win the coin toss. Korra and Tahno then contend in the tie-breaker face-off. Korra humiliates Tahno by not only knocking him out of the ring, but knocking his helmet off and ruining his hair.

In the third round, more acts of cheating are committed, the final one being Tahno's use of both earth and water to knock out all three Ferrets with brutal head-shots.



After the Wolfbats win the match, Equalists in the stands put on their equipment and start electrocuting the metalbending cops. Lin and Tenzin, caught off guard, are also incapacitated. Amon, his Lieutenant, and some other Equalists appear on the stage. After a short duel, Amon takes Tahno's and his teammates' bending away after the Wolfbat's waterbender begs Amon to spare him. Korra, Mako, and Bolin, now in the pool, are electrocuted when the Lieutenant touches the water with his electrified kali sticks. Korra begins to have more flashbacks of Toph, Aang, and an unknown man. The unconscious trio is then dragged out of the water and tied to one of the ring's supports. After waking up during Amon's speech about equality, Bolin tells Pabu to chew through the ropes binding them. Amon then begins his exit via a specialized airship and blows up the pro-bending ring. Debris falls as Pabu frees Korra, Mako, and Bolin. As Amon rides a small platform from the arena to his airship, Korra follows by pushing herself toward the glass ceiling with waterbending. When she runs out of water and starts falling back down, she is saved by Lin using her metal cables.

Korra and Lin then proceed to go after Amon. When the pair reach the top of the arena, the harbor can be seen in the background with all of the police boats and airships burning in the water. A battle on top of the arena follows, with Korra fighting the Lieutenant until she knocks him off the roof and Lin fighting a couple of Equalists. After Lin throws the Equalists off, she uses her metal cables to grab onto the airship and go after Amon. After Korra wins her fight, the glass roof cracks and she falls through. She is again saved by Lin, who had to make a split-second decision between going after Amon or rescuing Korra. Korra thanks her, but Lin tells her not to mention it.

As Tenzin rushes over to them, Lin expresses her devastation at what had just happened. Tenzin concludes that Republic City is at war.

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
 * Steve Blum - Amon
 * Mindy Sterling - Lin Beifong
 * Dee Bradley Baker:
 * Tarrlok
 * Pabu
 * Radio host


 * Also starring:
 * Seychelle Gabriel - Asami
 * Lance Henriksen - Lieutenant
 * Jeff Bennett - Radio broadcaster
 * Tom Kenny - Referee
 * Jason Harris - Ring announcer
 * Rami Malek - Tahno


 * Additional voices:
 * Steve Blum
 * Mindy Sterling
 * Dee Bradley Baker
 * Jeff Bennett
 * Tom Kenny

Series continuity

 * The White Falls Wolfbats lose their bending.
 * Lin Beifong and Korra develop a friendlier relationship.
 * The Pro-bending Tournament is over.
 * Korra has another vision of the past, this time with Aang going into the Avatar state. The vision also featured the same unknown man that Korra saw in her vision in "The Voice in the Night", however, his full face is revealed this time.
 * This is the second known time Amon has used his abilities to remove people's bending permanently, the first being on members of the Triple Threat Triad in "The Revelation".
 * The two girls Tahno was with at Narook's Seaweed Noodlery in "The Spirit of Competition" are in the audience watching him.
 * This is the first episode in which neither Ikki nor Jinora appeared.
 * This is the third episode in which Tenzin has the final line, the others being "The Revelation" and "The Voice in the Night".

Character revelations

 * Lin Beifong was Tenzin's former girlfriend that Pema mentioned in "The Spirit of Competition". In addition, Lin and Tenzin have known each other since childhood.
 * Tenzin states that his father and Lin got along "famously".

Goofs

 * As the Fire Ferrets walk on the playing field, Bolin is standing on the left. After a closeup of Bolin, he prepares to perform a trick with Pabu, and suddenly he stand on the right. He and Korra have switched places.
 * When Amon takes away Tahno's bending, he initially reaches toward his face with his left hand. However, when the camera shows Tahno's face, Amon touches his face with his right hand.
 * When the Lieutenant begins to extract the Fire Ferrets from the water after electrifying them, he starts with Korra. When returning to this scene, Mako and Bolin have already been removed from the water, but he's just finishing with Korra.
 * During Korra's flashback, Toph has six fingers on her left hand when she's pointing.
 * In the shot where Amon's lieutenant is tying the Ferrets to the column, we can see that their hands are in front of them. Then, they are pictured with their hands behind them.
 * During Tahno and Korra's "tiebreaker" match, Tahno's face initially sways right when he is hit by Korra. However, during the slow-mo replay, his face only sways left.
 * When Amon's reinforcements' grapples are descending, Amon and his men are seen standing on the blue side of the pro-bending field. In the next viewpoint, they're standing on the red side. Then, in the subsequent point of view, only Amon is on the red side, and his men are on the blue side.
 * When Amon's lieutenant strikes down Lin, her cable was never retracted and left lying on the roof. In the following fight, the loose cable is never shown.

Trivia

 * Before Amon is heard over the radio at the beginning of the episode, an advertisement from Cabbage Corp can be heard. The voice over the radio describes Cabbage Corp as, "Republic City's trusted name in technology for over fifty years". This would mean that Republic City was, to some extent, up and running by 120 ASC, a mere twenty years after the end of the Hundred Year War. It may also be a homage to the Cabbage Merchant from the previous series.
 * This is the first time that Tenzin uses airbending in combat on-screen.
 * During the Pro-bending Tournament's final match, three enthusiastic fans can be seen in the crowd dressed as Korra, Mako, and Bolin. This is most likely a shout-out to the real-life fans who cosplay as their favorite characters.