Watch Legend of Korra Out of Order

Watching Book 1 last has completely changed my view of the series

When Netflix announced it was releasing Avatar the Last Airbender (ATLA), my immediate response was joy followed by dread. There was no way I was going to be able to watch ATLA without watching its sequel, The Legend of Korra (TLOK). I’ve seen Book 1 two times, Book 2 1.5x, and Books 3 & 4 only once.

I loved TLOK Book 1, had sharp criticisms with Book 2, enjoyed Book 3 — which restored my faith in the show — and liked Book 4. However, by the time the series ended, the ecstasy I first felt for Korra was long gone. Instead, I became more vocal about the flaws in the story, and I stopped rewatching the show.

With TLOK back in the conversation, I figured now was a good time for a rewatch. After all, I love the characters, the music, and of course, the art/animation. Enough time had passed for me to forget what made me love the story in the first place and why I eventually became disillusioned.

I wanted to end on a high note this time around, and so I decided to watch Book 1, my favorite season, last. I’d figured it’d work since it’s practically considered a standalone season.

The mindblowing decision to save the best for last.

I started with Book 2, the worst season in the series, and this time I enjoyed it. The episodes were not as dismal or dull as I remembered. Despite Korra’s character flaws, Book 2 was much more tolerable to get through. Even the dreaded love triangle between Korra, Mako, and Asami, was more consumable when starting with Book 2. The story picks up in Book 3, where the pacing is much faster and the action more intense and creative. By the time the season ended, I was excited to see what happened to Korra and how she was going to heal. Book 4 gave me most of the closure I needed.

Overall, the last three books on their own are entertaining. TLOK has a rough start, but the creators eventually find their footing and ended the show on an iconic note. Rewatching the last three seasons of Korra felt like I was watching a well-loved show for the first time, and I fell in love with the characters all over again. Here would be a perfect time to watch ATLA if you hadn’t seen it already and craved more of the Avatar Universe. I still had a few criticisms, but I was satisfied overall.

Then I watched Book 1, and I wish I could emphasize how much that season destroyed my perspective of the other books. Book 1 is truly on a different level. The characters themselves are different. The story is intoxicating. The intense love I felt and the catharsis brought me back to my 2012 Tumblr days of expressing myself and being creative.

Rewatching Book 1 reminded me why I stopped rewatching the entire series and almost ended up bashing TLOK by time Book 4 ended back in 2014. The overall story became compromised and veered off from the many ideas that made Book 1 so intriguing. The aspects that made TLOK a beautiful work of art changed over time.

Book 2 is dead to me once again. Not even the music and animation will be able to bring me back as it did at first. Book 4, the season I enjoyed twice, is something I don’t think I can watch again without becoming angry at how the quality of the show had changed. Korra’s PTSD, and maybe Kurvia, will always interest me, but all the things I found beautiful and clever in Book 1 becomes long gone by the time we reach Book 4. Book 3 remains mature and action-packed that I still hold it in high regard. I’m pretty much skipping to it whenever I want to watch TLOK again.

The writers did us a favor by creating these self-contained seasons.

Despite my overall view of TLOK, I had a much better experience watching the seasons out of order. You don’t need to watch every book to understand what’s happening. Even Book 4's clip episode works out perfectly by giving you any backstory you craved had you skipped out on Book 1 as I did. In light of this, I started considering new ways to watch the show.

I don’t need to watch Book 2 to enjoy Book 3. Sure, there’s going to be some inconsistencies like air benders and spirits popping up out of nowhere, but the show summarizes the significant happenings in the previous season.

Severing Book 4 from Book 3 is much more challenging since it’s a continuation of what happens to Korra. Many have argued Book 3 should have been the first season because Zaheer was a fantastic villain, and I full-heartedly agree. From here, you can easily transition to Book 4. Books 1 and 2 will be out of place with this order, especially since the characters are older by the end of the series, but the clips episodes can help ties these books in, so you can watch these books in whatever order works for you. I prefer ending with a bang, so I’d suggest ending with Book 1.

It’s been a bit harder to end with Book 1 since the characters are all introduced to each other here, but it works when you view Book 1 as a standalone series and an alternate universe. It’s even harder to end with Book 2. Besides, the fact it’s also the least popular book and therefore wouldn’t be an enjoyable season finale, the general timeline with throws off the rest of the seasons. You can start with Books 3 & 4, and end with Book 2 instead of Book 1, but with the books tied so closely together, it doesn’t make much sense to go down this path.

Ending the series with Book 3 would be the grim route. Leaving Korra in the state, Zaheer leaves her in almost forces you to continue her story in Book 4. It’s’s only possible to sever Book 4 if you want a darker and more depressing ending. My recommendation is to limit the series into a duology by watching only Books 1 and 3. You can add in Book 2, which will only add to the weight of being the Avatar, but at this point, you might as well watch the series in order and see Korra get the healing she well deserves.

You can manage with watching only Books 1 and 4 as the 3-year gap leaves a lot of room to cover the events that passed. This gap also works for going straight into the season from Book 2.

Book 4 is the season finale making it nearly impossible to start with and adding in the rest of the series. You’ll need to cut out Book 3, but with the spirit world already in full bloom, Book 2 becomes out of place as well. The clips episode is maybe the one thing that ties book 1 with Book 4, but even then, I don’t recommend the duology route. If you want to try starting with Book 4, then Book 4 should be the only season to watch.

Overall, each TLOK has plenty of enjoyable content that can be watched both in order and out of it. Let me know if you’re fans of TLOK as well and if you ever tried to watch the books out of order. I hope this experiment gives you the same fun experience for you as it did for me.