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NYCC: THE LEGEND OF KORRA Bids Fans the Farewell They Deserve

While certain network decisions have overshadowed its quality in recent months, there’s no denying Nickelodeon’s The Legend of Korra is one of the finest pieces of television to come out of the medium since the series’ predecessor, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Now in the home stretch of its tale with the final season currently streaming a new episode every Friday on Nick.com, there’s little else to do by way of promotion. Knowing this, instead of doing the typical marketing thing, franchise creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, along with voice cast Janet Varney, David Faustino and P. J. Byrne, took to the Empire Stage at New York Comic-Con one final time this week to bid their fans a farewell they would never forget.

Before the water works really kicked into high gear, attendees at the panel were first treated to an early screening of the second episode of the final season’s run– an episode that’s now available for all to view on Nick.com and via the Nick app. Following the screening, Bryan and Michael reminisced about how at first they were upset they couldn’t have shared the season premiere in the room before it premiered, but having seen how well the second episode turned out from a drama perspective, they’re happy it ended up being the one fans got to watch with them in the room.

However, while the episode was a massive hit (particularly in its final moments featuring a surprise appearance by an old-school fan favorite), the cast had something they needed to say, or rather, show. To the surprise of their bosses, Varney; Faustino and Byrne took over the panel for a moment and played a video of their “process” before recording. In actuality, the clip consisted of fake gags that, in the room, served as a fun reminder of how well the cast gets along around one another, and it was that video that lead to the eventual heartfelt goodbyes.

One by one, each of the three voice actors took a moment to express their gratitude for having worked on Korra for the last four seasons. Varney in particular got very chocked up as she recalled the day of the series premiere where a Nickelodeon executive told her, her life was about to change forever. At the time, she didn’t believe the hype. But now, sitting amongst a sea of her highly excitable supporters years later, she realized just how integral the show has been not only in her career, but in her life.

Following the cast’s statements, Bryan and Michael showed off a little artwork of their own and played an early recording of the cast from their first audition together, before getting into their own words about Avatar. As the room began to clear (the panel was the last of the day), Bryan and Michael expressed the joy they’ve felt over the last twelve years– Bryan in particular, telling the story of when he and Michael first crafted their world of people that could control the elements. It was in that moment everyone in the room cheered for the joy they’d been brought by the dynamic duo, and in the end, all that mattered was everyone from the stage to the exit knew that while its ending didn’t come the way it should have thanks to an executive decision, nothing will ever change the fact that The Legend of Korra will live on for generations to come.

Image: Nickelodeon

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Comments

  1. Nate says:

    What is this talk about it not ending as they intended due to an executive decision? Can someone educate me?

    • Amos says:

      Well the executives didn’t give it the chance it deserved. Rather than being in a prime time slot for their audience they chose an off time that didn’t work very well giving them less views on tv. This made it seem like no one was watching it even though everyone would catch it online afterwards somewhere like nick.com or one of the many illegal streaming websites out there.
      At first they just sped up the show by airing two episodes a night rather than 1 (Which in a show with only 13 episodes makes it go by way too fast) Essentially they were just trying to get it done and over with. 
      After that they went even further and made it an online only show. So you can only watch it on nick.com.
      So yeah the execs really screwed them over.

  2. Cliff Russell says:

    Screw you executive scum, why do this when you have such a large & loyal fanbase? 

    • Robin says:

      Cause it wasn’t nearly as big of a hit as it should’ve been. A very healthy amount of people who watched it just downloaded it online making the ratings for it pretty bad.

    • christopher says:

      They did the same thing with the Last Airbender. Rushed the last season so that they could get to the live action movie which inevitably BOMBED. Executives only see the bottom line. 

  3. Taylor Anne says:

    I teared up just reading this. I need to marathon the entire series before I gather up the courage to start the final season.

    • Amanda says:

      Bahaha I totally did just that last week. About 6 hours a season, if you sacrifice sleep and food you can get ‘er done in two days!

  4. fede says:

    avatar: the last airbender & the legend of korra will always be remembered as one of the best cartoons of all times! to me is like Game of Thrones for “kids”… it just has that level of epicness! 

    • shellz says:

      i loved the last airbender…i always watched it w/my kids…reminded me of an asian harry potter if malfoy would’ve turned good 

      • andy says:

        malfoy did turn good. o.0   He had the choice to reveal harry’s identity to the death eaters/snatchers and chose instead to say he wasn’t sure.

    • rick says:

      Wait, does this comment imply that the decision to make S4 of Korra the final season of Avatar in general has been confirmed?