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Michael Dante DiMartino Hi, everybody. This is Mike DiMartino, co-creator, executive producer.
Bryan Konietzko This is Bryan Konietzko, the other co-creator and executive producer.
Joaquim Dos Santos This is Joaquim Dos Santos, uh, co-executive producer.
Mike Here we are, episode two.
Bryan Alright, so, we got off, we think, to a very good start for Book Three, which so far has been our favorite. Um, just really solid; I love the writing, I love the story, the animation, having the in-house design and storyboard team, and f-we somehow, even though we were still dealing with other, you know, the-the aftermath of other production problems, Book Three was pretty smooth. [Joaquim affirms.] I mean, the whole thing went...
Joaquim [Interjects.] Some stars definitely aligned.
Bryan Yeah. Which was a relief 'cause we had been...
Mike [Interjects.] Yeah, it's like, it's...
Bryan ... battered.
Mike ... it's never easy, but when things at least go relatively smoothie-smoothly, it makes it a lot easier. [Joaquim affirms; laughs.]
Bryan Sea-season one of any show, I mean, any show, is tough. Um, preschool, whatever, it's they're-they're-it-when you're starting from scratch, it's really hard, and uh... so we did that, and then Book Two, you know, we thought, "oh, okay, now we can catch our stride," but we had [Laughs.] just even more production problems. So, um...
Mike [In the background.] It was kinda like...
Bryan ... really wasn't until Book Three.
Mike ... two season ones [Bryan affirms.] in a row.
Joaquim Book Two was like trauma. [Bryan affirms; Mike laughs intermittently.] I f-I felt traumatized.
Bryan Triage, [Joaquim affirms.] trauma. I-I think it took about a year and a half off my life. [Mike and Joaquim chuckle.] Yeah. [Refers to when Asami arrived on Air Temple Island with a giant airship.] Um, so, uh, Asami's giant, Art Deco, um, Future Industries airship was really fun to design, and hard, and we put a lotta work into it, and then Mike and the writers were just like, "yeah, and then we're never gonna [Mike laughs.] see it again after like uh...
Mike [In the background.] Sorry about...
Bryan ... one more episode. I was like, "why did we-why did you write it?"
Mike Well, we-we thought they-they were gonna need a big one to collect all those airbenders.
Joaquim True. [Mike chuckles.]
Bryan But you guys were originally [Mike laughs.] thinking we were gonna have like th-seventy-five airbenders, and they were all gonna need these sleeping quarters; and they were really worried in the writer's room. I'd be in there, and they're like, "I mean, s-where we gonna fit them all? [Mike and Joaquim laugh.] How are they gonna fit?". I'm like, no one knows how big these airships are, they could've put any number of 'em in a police airship. So, we designed this whole airship for that reason, and then they got rid of it, and we never see it again.
Joaquim It is gorgeous, though.
Bryan Thank you.
Joaquim Very, very beautiful.
Bryan The ins-I'm al-I'm-I s-Christine Bian did an incredible job on the outside, and uh, was really fun working with her, [Refers to the glossy, metallic plating on the airship's hull, horizontally rotating propellors, and ballast tanks.] and a lotta discussion about how shiny it would be, [Joaquim gives an affirming murmur.] we're trying to make it like an Art Deco piece of architecture, or something. And then uh, yeah, and then the inside, uh, William, uh, Niu, uh, did an amazing, amazing job.
Mike [Refers to Ikki and Meelo complaining to their parents and Kya about being left behind on Air Temple Island while Jinora gets to travel the world.] Yeah, there's a lotta talk about, "alright, who do-who's going on this mission? [Bryan and Joaquim chuckle.] Who are we leaving home?". [Refers to when Kya said she will stay at Air Temple Island with Pema and the other airbender kids.] And uh, Kya didn't make the cut. Sorry, Kya. And Meelo and Ikki didn't make the cut.
Bryan It's uh...
Mike [Interjects.] We already had, like, so many characters [Laughs.] to deal with.
Bryan Well, this-this was the problem with uh, the old Avatar model was that [Mike affirms.] the, [Laughs.] they're on a road trip but they keep meeting new people, [Laughs; Joaquim affirms.] everyone has to keep coming along.
Joaquim Well, it's an important job, holding down the fort, too. [Bryan affirms.] Don't discount.
Mike [Brief pause; refers to when Kya emphasized to Ikki and Meelo that they will have the responsibility of training new airbenders who come to Air Temple Island.] Yeah, I like the idea, we kinda setup the idea that there are gonna be potentially some more airbenders showing up, you know, at-on the island that uh, might need some uh, some assistance. [Joaquim affirms.]
Bryan Yeah, I did-I get a-I think I got asked by a, uh, a fan this weekend at Comic-Con that, you know, were there any airbenders popping up in the Fire Nation, and I would like to think there were. And just that we didn't get a chance to deal with it in the timeline, uh...
Mike [Interjects.] Yeah, to-I think there's more than what end up-we end up seeing, for sure. Um...
Bryan [Interjects.] In-in Book Three, yeah.
Mike Not like millions, but [Bryan affirms.] they're, you know, some probably were like, "I'm gonna stay home," [Everyone laughs.] and some just didn't know what to do, and...
Bryan [Interjects.] Or they...
Mike ... you know, little...
Bryan ... like, they shot air out of their hand and were like, "uh, I'm not telling anyone."
Mike Yeah, [Bryan affirms.] exactly. [Bryan laughs; Joaquim affirms.] Yeah, so the-the-there's definitely more out there, um, but, you know...
Bryan [In the background.] The...
Mike ... this-we-we couldn't uh, animate uh, two-hundred [Bryan affirms.] airbenders. So...
Joaquim Really?
Mike We had enough...
Bryan [Interjects.] But the idea is...
Mike ... as was. [Laughs.]
Bryan ... later-later, they-they show up. And, you know, maybe-maybe their abilities pop up later. [Refers to the shot panning through the airship's cockpit to the furnished galley built along the airship's curved shape.] So, here's the interior I was talking about, a lotta design work went into this location. I love this location, it's really cool. Was uh, not easy; weird shape.
Joaquim Yeah, dude; I remember seeing the uh, looked like the breakouts that you did for all this stuff, where it was just like, "oh my god, this is fully engineered, this is..."
Bryan [Interjects.] Yeah. [Refers to the scene cutting to a White Lotus prison, a wooden structure placed in the middle of the ocean.] So, this a good moment to talk about um...
Mike [Interjects; in a mock menacing tone.] Zaheer.
Bryan ... Zaheer. [Refers to a tattooed man doing pullups on the wooden beams of his similarly wooden cell.] Now, we're introducing Ghazan, [Mike affirms.] his buddy, but uh, the idea is that Zaheer was already a top-level martial artist, just a non-bender. [Refers to when Zaheer uses his airbending to augment his acrobatics while fighting and evading the White Lotus sentries.] Um, and much like if you gave a, you know, a high-level martial artist, if you-you threw them a-a broom or a chair, he or she could turn that into a weapon, you know, they could figure out how to use that as an extension of their abilities. So, the idea was that Zaheer was already good, got airbending, and pra...
Mike [Interjects.] He's even more dangerous.
Bryan Yeah, and he practiced in his uh, cell when the guards were playing Pai Sho, or something. Um...
Joaquim [Interjects.] And probably meditated on it, and...
Bryan [Interjects.] Yeah. [Mike affirms.] He's-he's that kinda guy; he-he's-he was just gonna be a master already from where he was starting. [Refers to the prisoner, Ghazan, liquefying and shaping several stones together into a throwing star-shaped molten rock.] So, now his buddy is a lavabender, and this was a little uh, tribute to Eighties, sci-fi fantasy film Krull.
Joaquim The greatest of all time. [Mike chuckles.]
Bryan He makes a-a glaive, a lava glaive.
Joaquim [Brief pause.] I guess...
Mike [Interjects; refers to when Ghazan sent his throwing star at a White Lotus sentry's head, knocking him offscreen.] That guy took like a glaive to the face. [Bryan laughs.]
Joaquim He did.
Mike That's gotta hurt.
Joaquim He's-he's a bit rough.
Mike It's gotta hurt. [Sighs.]
Bryan [Refers to Ghazan being bare-chested, the tattoos on his neck, torso, and arms being on full display.] Unfortunately, this pretty much the last time you see Ghazan's tats in their uh...
Mike [In the background; simultaneously with Bryan.] Full glory.
Bryan ... full glory. [Mike chuckles.] Yeah, I like his tattoos; that took a lotta time for me to design, and then you never 'em again, which the animators are probably happy about, 'cause they were hard to animate.
Joaquim [Refers to when Zaheer and Ghazan clasp each other's hands as they greet one another.] Has anybody done a GIF of them like, like, clasping hands, saying like, "bro's," or anything?
Bryan [Laughs.] I don't know. [Joaquim laughs.]
Mike Not that I've seen, but...
Bryan [Brief pause.] Bro...
Mike ... someone will now.
Bryan Bro power.
Joaquim Bro power. [Mike laughs.]
Bryan [Refers to Mako standing with Team Avatar, his right knee bent out while his left leg remains straight.] Mako's stance, there, cracks me up. [Joaquim and Mike laugh.] I think he has to pee [Joaquim laughs.] really bad.
Mike They were...
Bryan Maybe the bathroom is...
Mike [Interjects.] It's a long trip.
Bryan Asami's ship...
Joaquim [Interjects.] He's feeling dainty, man. He's like...
Bryan [In the background.] Hi-his ship...
Joaquim ... "hey, look at me."
Bryan The ship's bathroom got clogged up, and he really had to go. [Joaquim chuckles; refers to the shot of the dinner table Team Avatar is sitting at with the villagers, the camera moving up to an elevated position, distorting the front of the table in that it appears to be closer to the camera.] So, like, there's another perspective shift, [Mike affirms.] that they just-fancy compositing, through and through.
Joaquim And it's a fine line; if you do it too much, it's totally, like, noticeable, and it kinda breaks the perspective.
Bryan And it becomes like Peter Jackson. It's like, "wah! [Joaquim laughs intermittently.] Every shot! Look how much the camera's moving!"
Joaquim [Brief pause; refers to Pabu dragging the pie that just hit Bolin in the face off the table.] Pabu's outta there!
Mike [Brief pause; refers to Tenzin telling Kuon, a new airbender living in the Earth Kingdom, that his abilities make him more than just a farmer.] So, this is uh, Tenzin trying to pitch this guy on how awesome [Bryan chuckles intermittently.] life is gonna be as an airbender. But thi-this was the interesting thing we were talking about when we were coming up with these stories was like, you know, you would think, like, "oh yeah! I'm an airbender, whoo-hoo! I'm gonna be awesome now". [Refers to Kuon refusing to go to the Northern Air Temple with Tenzin given his obligations to his family and farm.] But like, most people, like, it totally is gonna disrupt their lives completely, [Laughs; Joaquim affirms.] and-and, you know, ninety-nine percent of people are gonna be like, "I-I-I got, you know," 'cause this guy's got a family, he's got his uh, his finance-his farm's doing great, [Bryan and Joaquim laugh.] and now-and now Tenzin's like, you know, "leave your lucrative business, and uh, give away all your worldly possessions."
Joaquim [Refers to Tenzin expecting that Kuon and his family would realize and accept the supposed need for him to be an Air Nomad.] I love that, like, Tenzin, the wisest among them, is, like, he's got so many lessons to learn still. He's still figuring it out. [Bryan affirms.]
Mike Totally. [Brief pause.] Yeah, I mean, Tenzin has pretty much known nothing but, like, being like an airbender and an Air Nomad. So, for him, he thinks like, it's-it's great.
Joaquim [Imitates Tenzin.] "Come along."
Bryan It's kinda like when Korra showed up in Republic City, and there were anti-benders, and her whole life had been about bending. [Mike affirms intermittently.] She can't-it was hard for her to concede someone had a different opinion.
Joaquim I love it when she's like, "it's like the most awesome thing [Bryan laughs.] in the world, why wouldn't you wanna do this? C'mon."
Mike [Brief pause.] Uh, and also these, I fee-I feel like traditionally in a season, usually the second episode is a little-we always do a little lighter in tone, especially on the old series. Um, and this was written by Josh Hamilton, who uh, he wrote like episode two of uh, Avatar Book Two, "Cave of Two Lovers". He's good with the lighter episodes, for sure.
Bryan Did he-did he write the uh, the dance party one? A...
Mike [Interjects.] Uh...
Bryan ... n-number two?
Mike No, that was John O'Bryan, as I re...
Bryan [In the background.] John O'Bryan wrote that.
Mike ... as I recall.
Bryan 'Cause I was-'cause Joaquim directed that one. But that was [Mike affirms intermittently.] another really fun, light second episode of a season.
Mike It's a good time to do it. It's like, [Bryan affirms.] things haven't gotten too crazy yet, and uh, you know, [Refers to the montage sequence of Tenzin trying to convince people to join the Air Nation, and giving comically unsuited appeals for each individual.] this-this scenario definitely provided a lotta potential humor with these, [Joaquim affirms.] when they recruit people, and...
Joaquim This... yeah, the montage, they were incredible.
Bryan [Refers to Mako's small chibi head, moving along a map of the Avatar World with his friends' similarly designed heads, hiding behind a flag.] I like-it-I'd like to point out that Mako, [Laughs.] for some reason, his little chibi face is hiding behind the flag. [Everyone laughs.] And he's still not fully invested in the group.
Mike [Gives an affirming murmur.] So symbolic.
Bryan [Imitates Mako.] "I'm drifting. [Mike chuckles intermittently.] I'm behind the flag". [Refers to when the montage fast cuts between several residential locations Tenzin visits.] So, here's a case where, you know, might just seem like a silly little montage; we have to design every one of those locations that just shows up for a few seconds, we have to paint it, we have to dial the characters and props to match the lighting and color of the painting. So, yeah, it's a lotta work.
Joaquim I was just gonna say that when we were-you guys had mentioned the uh, the dancing episode in uh, in Airbender, and I was like, "that was a lighter one, but uh, it hurt. [Bryan laughs.] That hurt, there's a lotta dancing." [Laughs.]
Mike Yeah, no, I mean, even the lighter ones are-I'm not saying they're light on work.
Joaquim Totally. [Bryan affirms.]
Mike [Laughs.] Just in tone. [Bryan affirms; refers to Korra using "tough love" to try and recruit Ryu, an adult, unmotivated new airbender living with his parents.] Alright, now we have my favorite scene of all time. [Joaquim laughs.]
Bryan [Refers to Ryu's mother.] First, we have Maria Bamford, here, who's-who's our, [Mike affirms.] a-a-a friend of ours, amazing stand-up comedian, and uh...
Mike [Interjects.] And she normally plays Pema...
Bryan [Interjects.] Pema, voice...
Mike ... who is in this episode, so we were like, "oh yeah, she could play this mom. It's like the perfect, like..."
Bryan [Interjects.] M-Maria has a whole cast of...
In the background, Joaquim and Mike chuckle after Ryu's mother screams in delight, ecstatic after Korra explains how they want to take her son to the Northern Air Temple.
Bryan ... characters in her head that uh, she can pull out. She's often imitating her mom in her routines, and I think a little bit of it is in there. [Refers to Ryu, a bespectacled, unkempt young man, coming up from the basement steps.] And then this is our good buddy, Ryu.
Joaquim Here's our boy.
Bryan So, Ryu, if you don't know, is uh, uh, Ki Hyun Ryu; he's uh, was an animator on Avatar: The Last Airbender in Korea. Um, he designed Jet and uh, Jet's gang in the old series. He then moved to the United States, started doing storyboards, various shows at different studios, and then when we were able to start up uh, Korra, we were able to get him to come with Joaquim, uh, as the-as the first uh, supervising producer on the show. So, we just thought it'd be fun to make him a character. And then it's voiced by the great...
Mike Jon Heder, who is Napoleon Dynamite. And the crazy thing is like, sometimes, you know, sometimes we will pursue an actor that we like or think would be good for a part, you know, and if they're even somewhat well known, like usually you have to offer the part to them, or something. But, like, every once in a while, the-the, like, auditions will come in, and they'll be like, "Jon Heder auditioned for this part". We're like, "really? Alright, cool. [Mike and Joaquim chuckle.] He's awesome. Let's-let's get him."
Bryan Sometimes, we get lucky, and, um, pe-you know, with Avatar being having been out there for a long time, and-and finding a lotta people, and um, it's just like, it's a more visible property now, and so we can actually, uh, attract, [Mike affirms.] you know, these-these-these top-tier actors, and we get lucky.
Joaquim [Brief pause; refers to when Bolin, having dragged Korra away from the premises with his brother, wished Ryu's mother good luck when it came to dealing with her son.] "Good luck with your son". [Joaquim and Bryan laugh; refers to the establishing shot of another White Lotus prison, this one built in a volcano standing amidst a barren landscape lined with a thin lava flow, the sun hanging low past one of the prison's towers.] Aw, so beautiful.
Mike [Refers to the shot tilting down to a prison cell, suspended by wires over an active volcano.] Now we meet our third villain. [Lingers on the "A" in "Hua".] Ming-Hua.
Bryan Yeah. So, we based Ming-Hua's design on my friend uh, Michi; very cool looking, and uh, small. Very small person.
Mike [Refers to Ming-Hua being armless.] But Michi does have arms, just to be clear.
Bryan She has flesh and bone arms, [Mike chuckles; refers to when Ming-Hua uses the water provided to her by Zaheer to bend tentacle-like arms akin to prostheses.] not water arms. [Mike affirms.] Um, but uh, but yeah, Michi, uh, and her-her husband, Jimmy, were very gracious in taking some cool headshots for character design reference. Um, and at first, you know, I-'cause I think Michi looks so cool, I went too realistic with it, I kinda follow... photo reference too closely, and the design just wasn't-I think Joaquim was giving me some feedback on it, was just not really clickin'. Um...
Joaquim [Interjects.] It-it totally did look like her, but it was just-it just seemed like it was, sort of, a little removed from the style of the show.
Bryan And what happens with that, if something's too realistic, it just-people get scared to do expressions with them, and-and they end up looking too stiff, and it didn't work out. So, at the eleventh hour, I stylized her a bit much. [Refers to the shots of Ming-Hua standing with Ghazan and Zaheer, saying she never expected to see their ugly faces again.] She-these aren't her best models, [Laughs.] right here. She ends up looking a lot better, later, in the-in the series. But...
Mike [Interjects.] And she was voiced by Grey DeLisle, who does uh, who was the voice of, um...
Bryan [Interjects.] Azula.
Mike ... Azula.
Joaquim Azula.
Mike Although I think she goes by "Grey Griffin" now.
Bryan Oh.
Mike My apologies.
Bryan Um, she, yeah, it was like her recording name, right? Like her...
Mike [Interjects.] Yeah.
Bryan I don't know.
Mike Anyway.
Bryan She-Grey, uh...
Mike [Interjects.] She's a...
Bryan ... also does...
Mike ... she's a lady of many names, and [Simultaneously with Bryan.] many voices.
Bryan [Simultaneously with Mike.] Many voices. Does the voice for-voices for about half the voices in animation. [Joaquim affirms.] I think Joaqui...
Mike [Interjects; refers to when Kuon's wife reassured her daughter that Team Avatar wasn't going to take Kuon away.] Oh, and she was also-I, uh, she was also the-the voice of the mom, earlier. Little-people might not no-notice.
Bryan [Refers to Ryu's mother.] Different mom?
Joaquim The-the-the...
Mike [In the background.] The mom...
Joaquim ... the farmer?
Mike Oh, sorry; yeah, the farmer's wife.
Bryan I didn't know that. [Mike affirms.] See? I-every time, [Mike and Bryan laugh.] I learn about another voice Grey did. [Brief pause; refers to Bolin holding an impromptu performance for an Earth Kingdom town, displaying the wonders and talents of The Amazing Airbenders.] This was a fun-fun sequence.
Joaquim [Refers to when Tenzin disrobes in front of the crowd, demonstrating his airbending while bare-chested.] So, this-this was a one that I remember getting some traction online, too, with uh, shirtless Tenzin, [Bryan laughs.] coming up. Everybody's like, "oh, my!"
Mike That was totally a storyboard thing, if I remember. I remember you guys showed a storyboard, we're like, "really? [Bryan laughs.] He's gonna be shirtless? [Joaquim laughs.] Alright, that's cool."
Bryan I think it's hilarious.
Mike It is pretty funny. It's one of the few times where-where Tenzin acts very like, like, "I'm awesome, guys." [Joaquim chuckles.]
Bryan And uh...
Mike [Interjects.] "Check me out."
Bryan [Refers to Tenzin moving before the crowd on an air wheel.] I think this was Joaquim's idea to have him uh, bust out his gyro...
Joaquim [Interjects.] The little wheel.
Bryan ... wheel move, which we saw a bit in, I think in 107, of uh...
Joaquim [In the background.] Yes, when he was fighting the mecha tanks.
Bryan ... Korra, yeah. So, that, we figured that was his variation on his d-you know, his dad, Aang, invented the air scooter, the little-the little ball. So, Tenzin came up with a more, kinda like that cool thing in Steamboy, that, [Joaquim affirms.] which they actually have made those crazy things. I don't know what they're called.
Mike [Refers to when Mako tells the crowd, in his unenthused cadence, that he is the escaped convict Bolin mentioned and they will reap his fire.] So, Mako's not into this...
Joaquim [Interjects.] He doesn't care.
Mike ... routine. [Laughs.]
Bryan [Refers to when Korra raises up Mako on a small tornado, dropping him down toward the ground, only to catch him on another airbent vortex.] Mako, [Mike chuckles.] it's-this is karma, he's paying for his uh, [Mike affirms.] his-his crimes of romance. [Joaquim laughs.]
Mike "Crimes of romance".
Bryan It's catchin' up to him, here, [Joaquim laughs; refers to when Korra, chuckling at Mako's animated protestations, looks over her shoulder to see Asami's amused reaction.] and his ex-girlfriends are having-having a laugh at his expense. [Brief pause; refers to Mako, spinning around in the tornado's funnel, yelling at Korra that this is not what they had rehearsed for the performance.] I love that they rehearsed it. [Everyone laughs.]
Mike You gotta. Oh, it's a dangerous move, you gotta rehearse that.
Joaquim It's true. [Bryan affirms.]
A brief pause in commentary until Bolin, describing Oogi flying and spinning through the air to the crowd, noting in a hushed tone that the bison can float like a feather.
Bryan P. J.'s uh, performance as Bolin in this stuff is hilarious.
Mike Yeah, whenever we give him license to be even more, like, animated than [Laughs.] usual, he-he goes pretty far with it. It's fun.
Bryan [Refers to Bolin's fake moustache.] We-I don't know where he got that moustache, but he seems to keep it with him from his...
Mike [Interjects.] Yeah, it was from his old uh, circus costume. [Bryan affirms.] Remember his...
Bryan [Interjects.] And that...
Mike ... Pabu...
Joaquim [Interjects.] Yeah, he's got the...
Mike ... street performer costume.
Bryan Kinda dusted off his cir-circus persona.
Mike I love that, yeah, I love [Bryan laughs.] that he packed it. He's like, "I don't know...
Joaquim [In the background.] "Gotta take the 'stache."
Mike ... we might need this. You never know."
Bryan And sure enough, they did.
Mike "You never know when you need the 'stache". [Refers to a young boy introducing himself, and his airbending, to Team Avatar.] And then here's our new-new buddy, Kai.
Bryan [Laughs; refers to Kai saying "hey", then "hello" as he runs up to the group.] Does he say-I think Kai goes, "hi. [Mike chuckles.] Hello," [Bryan and Joaquim laugh.] I was like, "why would he say both?"
Mike I don't-I-I don't...
Joaquim [Interjects.] It's a very, like, in a-in a very weird way, it's a very like kinda anime [Bryan chuckles.] way to just-trying to fit mouth code, or something. [Mike chuckles.]
Bryan [Refers to Team Avatar accepting their new airbending recruit.] So, yeah, I mean, honestly, I was a little worried about adding Kai just because we already had so many characters; uh, nothing against him. Um, and then I was a little worried, I just didn't know, 'cause he was kinda Aang's age, and he was a little Aang-like, little bit of a trickster. So, I was like, "man, I don't know if people are gonna like him. Are they gonna be like... feel like he's stepping on Aang's toes, or something," but, man, talking to the fans at Comic-Con, [Mike affirms.] they love Kai.
Joaquim Are they into him?
Bryan Yeah. [Refers to Kai's undercut hairstyle.] I like his hair.
Joaquim Yeah. [Bryan laughs.]
Mike Yeah. No, he's a cool-he's a cool little kid.
Bryan Angie and I, we-we had a tough time with his design, um, again, maybe because I was worried about, uh, being too similar to Aang, or something; and um, Ryu took the one Angie and I had done, which I don't think we had done a good job, and Ryu gave him these cool suspenders, and...
Joaquim [Interjects.] I love drawing him.
Bryan ... made his hair really f-fun to draw. Yeah, came out cool.
Mike I think that was the thing; it was like, in a season where like, we have to-we're gonna get this new Air Nation together, you know, you wanna actually meet some of these people. And as you'll see later, like, there's-there's a bunch of airbenders we never name [Bryan affirms.] or spend any time with, or even hear t-speak. So, we had to, you know, Daw, he's around, he's not a huge character, but, [Joaquim affirms.] you know, he has at least a personality, and Kai was like the main, Kai and then later Opal...
Bryan [In the background.] Opal, yeah.
Mike ... who we'll meet, were like the two main, um, you know...
Bryan [Interjects.] Representatives.
Mike Yeah, yeah.
Bryan Yeah. [Refers to Kai.] Um, and S-Skyler's his name, right? Skyler?
Mike Yeah.
Bryan Skyler did a great job with his voice. Um, [Laughs.] we'll talk about it later, but in-we-it's uh, you know, we love using real kids [Mike affirms intermittently.] for voices. Um, the problem is their voices change, [Mike chuckles.] um, which we always-we're just willing to deal with, 'cause it's-to us, it's worth it for that authenticity. Um, most... most series, you know, their goal is to run for ten seasons, and we're never-that's never [Laughs.] our goal. We just wanna get in, get out. So, we're like, "ah, we'll just use real kids". [Brief pause.] With the, you know, with the older teenage characters, we can use adults who just sound younger, like Korra. [Brief pause.] Janet's my age.
Mike Yeah, she's got a youthful voice.
Bryan Yeah. [Joaquim affirms; refers to the Earth Kingdom "outlaws" lying on the ground defeated after being beaten down by Korra's bending.] Man, that's just a bad day on the job for these sh-these sheriffs. [Laughs.] They're just like, "oh, man."
Joaquim They all got slammed.
Bryan [Refers to one of the outlaws, in actuality an Earth Kingdom sheriff, revealing that he and his deputies had been tracking down Kai, a runaway petty thief.] "Why did this kid have to run away to the Avatar?"
Joaquim [Brief pause; refers to the sheriff's shaped, edged beard.] Man, he's got the facial hair [Bryan laughs.] of all facial hair, right there, that guy.
Bryan So, yeah, the voice of the sheriff, there, is my old friend and old neighbor, Jason Miller, um, who I think now goes by Jason Charles Miller. He's...
Mike [Interjects.] Yeah, why is everyone changing their names all the time?
Bryan You know, they're-it's these-it's these...
Mike [In the background.] I'm gonna change my name.
Bryan ... slashes, it's slashes. They uh, [Mike snickers.] they're voice actors/singer song writers. [Mike affirms.] So, Jason's um, now doing like renegade country stuff.
Mike And he did a bunch of, like, incidental voices on the old series as well.
Bryan Yeah, he was the prisoner in episode 2-205, "Avatar Day".
Mike Whoa, good memory.
Bryan And I based it on him 'cause he's uh, he's got these, he's like, shaved head, tall guy with tattoos; kinda looks intimidating, but is a puppy dog, who's like the nicest guy in the world. So, anyways, he was so excited to come back, do some voices for Korra. [Refers to the sheriff telling Bolin that he's taking a now arrested Kai to jail.] So, there he is, that's him. [Mike gives an affirming murmur.]
Joaquim [Refers to the stolen contents of Kai's bag spilling out after Mako throws it to the ground, revealing a plethora of shining jewelry and coins.] Can I just say the rich stuff looked really, really-like, I want it. Just very rich looking, all the...
Bryan [Interjects.] The-all the...
Joaquim ... coins...
Bryan ... the jewels?
Joaquim ... and the jewels.
Bryan Rich...
Joaquim [In the background.] Stuff.
Bryan Is that what you call it?
Joaquim The rich stuff!
Bryan [Laughs.] Rich stuff.
Joaquim Yeah.
Bryan Stole some rich stuff. It was very shiny, the uh, Studio Mir put some-some nice, all the, like, closeups of rich stuff...
Joaquim [Interjects; laughs.] Yeah.
Bryan ... this season, they put all these uh, shimmery effects on it. [Brief pause; refers to Kai hugging Korra after he's released into Team Avatar's custody by the sheriff.] And here's our nine-hundredth hug [Mike chuckles.] in uh, The Legend of Korra. Lots of hugs. [Refers to Bolin and Jinora joining in on Kai and Korra's hug.] Lots of group hugs. [Refers to Bumi hugging Tenzin, who was standing away and apart from the youths.] I love that [Joaquim chuckles.] Bumi's just like...
Mike [In the background.] Uh...
Bryan ... it's like residual, extra hug.
Mike Yeah, he's like, "everybody's hugging? I'm in. [Bryan chuckles.] Gimme someone to hug."
Joaquim [Refers to Mako stopping Kai from joining the rest of the group on the airship, grasping him by the head, and turning the young airbender around to look at him face-to-face.] Here we go.
Mike [Refers to Mako letting Kai know that he is watching him.] So, yeah, I like that Mako kinda, he's got his eye on this uh, this little punk.
Bryan Yeah, the idea is, [Mike chuckles.] you know, Mako had to live on the street, and he-he was a pickpocket, and would, uh, shoplifter, and, you know, worked for [Laughs.] criminal organizations, just to survive, and uh, never doing anything too-too nefarious. [Mike affirms; refers to when Mako tells Kai he knows what the airbender is about due to his own similar life experiences.] And uh, so, his point is like, you know, "takes one to know one, kid. I-I-I know exactly what you're about."
Mike [Refers to Tenzin standing at the airship's entryway, telling Jinora that they are leaving after she had stayed on the ramp to talk to Kai.] And Tenzin, he's...
Joaquim [In the background.] That's-that's a...
Mike ... he doesn't like him either.
Joaquim ... a great gag, [Mike and Bryan laugh.] Tenzin in the background.
Mike Alright. [Refers to Zuko learning from the White Lotus that, in addition to Zaheer and Ghazan freeing Ming-Hua, that the former prisoner is now an airbender.] Oh, and now-I always forget this part is in this episode.
Bryan Yeah.
Mike [Laughs.] Where we get to meet Lord Zuko. And he's just "Lord" now, he's not Fire Lord, because his daughter is the Fire Lord; he turned it over to her a few years back. [Bryan affirms intermittently.] And we're-we always talked about, even back in Book One, you know, we knew Zuko was out there, somewhere. We always talked about him being kinda like this traveling emissary, ambassador-type guy who was, you know, he was on call if you needed some-some advice, or something.
Joaquim Consultation.
Bryan He's probably-probably doing a lotta work in the Fire Nation still, [Mike affirms.] even though he's not uh, the Fire Lord. You know, he's... trying to better the lives of his people. [Refers to the shot dollying past Zuko and a White Lotus sentry, fading out from the white exterior light covering the entrance to reveal Zuko's dragon, Druk.] And he's got a dragon.
Mike Yeah.
Joaquim Boom.
Bryan So, I think the idea is that this is the descendant of Ran and Shaw, right?
Mike Yeah, yeah.
Bryan I think that was...
Mike [Interjects.] That was the thought.
Bryan That was the idea. Or another one. I don't know. Whatever.
Mike Maybe there were some dragon eggs kicking around, somewhere.
Bryan [In a falsetto voice.] Where is my dragon? [Mike and Joaquim laugh; refers to Druk flying off into the horizon.] There it is. Oh, alright. Go fly away.
Mike See ya, dragon.

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