The Legend of Korra s04e06 Episode Script
The Battle of Zaofu
Earth.
Fire.
Air.
Water.
Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world.
Kuvira threatens to take Zaofu by force.
After tensions flared between Su Beifong and her former protege, Korra brokered a truce.
But it was too late.
Su and her sons were already on their way to put an end to Kuvira.
Meanwhile, Bolin and Varrick learned of Kuvira's true tyrannical intent and deserted her army.
But they were captured and betrayed by Zhu Li.
Now they're being held against their will.
Are you sure this will work? Even without Kuvira, they could still crush us.
Most of this army has been forced into service by Kuvira.
If we take her out, they'll have no reason to fight.
Tonight we end her reign of terror.
She's alone in there.
Now's our chance.
- Don't hurt me! - Zhu Li? I knew you'd try a sneak attack.
You were afraid to step up and lead the earth kingdom when you had the chance, you were afraid to join me when I became the leader, and now you're afraid of a fair fight.
You've always been a coward.
Take them.
Korra, you have to go stop Su before she does something terrible.
Stop her? We should be helping her! We have no idea where your mom is or what her plan is.
If we go charging into Kuvira's camp, we could get them all captured or worse.
All we can do now is wait.
Attention, citizens of Zaofu.
Your leader, Su Beifong, attempted to attack me tonight while I slept, ignoring the terms of our truce.
Luckily, I now have her and her assault team in custody.
No.
Rest assured that I will not take revenge on the peaceful citizens of Zaofu, as long as your remaining representatives meet me outside the city at dawn to offer the full and unconditional surrender of your city.
That is all.
Korra, you can't let Kuvira get away with this.
We have to go break out mom and my brothers.
You swore an oath of nonaggression when you became an airbender.
You can't just attack Kuvira.
I don't care about the oath.
I have to save my family.
No, Jinora is right.
Your mom attacked the camp.
Kuvira was just defending herself.
Defending herself? She was going to attack our city! I can't believe you're refusing to fight.
Why is that loudspeaker lady talking when I'm trying to sleep? Korra, what are we going to do? Jinora and I will go talk to Kuvira at dawn, and maybe we can work something out.
I promise I'll do everything I can to keep the peace.
I'll go with you.
- We'll go, too.
- No.
Dad told us to find Korra, and we found her.
Now you need to stay safe.
Come on, let us help.
I can't risk anyone else being captured.
You can stay with Baatar and Huan while I work this out with Kuvira.
Make sure they get back to Tenzin safely if anything goes wrong.
Aw, man.
When am I gonna see some action? Cookie jar empty.
No hot towels.
Waxy buildup.
Zhu Li! Aw, she really is gone.
Up and at 'em, Varrick.
Time to go to work.
We have another lab set up for you.
Kuvira wants the spirit vine weapon operational as soon as possible.
Zhu Li always greeted me in the morning with a a hot cup of tea.
You'll get your tea when you start working.
Well, I'm really only productive for about 15 minutes a day, usually in the afternoon around 3:45.
You'll work now.
I want you to show me how the device works.
What's going on? Go back to sleep.
We only need Varrick.
You'll need your energy when you get to the reeducation camp.
I can't be expected to work without an assistant.
Without Zhu Li, I'm helpless.
One of the guards will be your assistant.
I'll be supervising.
Well, I guess he'll be fine, as long as he doesn't need his hands afterwards.
What's he talking about, sir? The last time we worked with the spirit vines, it created an uncontrollable blast that burned through a wall and could still be blowing up comets in space, as far as I know.
I wouldn't want to assist me if I were you.
Maybe we should just let the kid help him out.
Fine.
Bolin can assist.
Wait, what? I need my hands! Uh, hold on.
Can we get breakfast first? While we still have hands? Release them now! If Su agrees to bow to me and turn over Zaofu, she and the rest of your family will not be harmed.
Never! I'll never bow to you! There must be some way for us to resolve this.
I've already laid out my terms, and I think they're very reasonable.
After all, Su did try to take me out during our peaceful negotiations.
You call bringing an army to threaten our city peaceful? Where's Bolin? I know he would never go along with this! Bolin is with my fiance, working on something very important, but I assure you he's on board with my plans.
You two have been apart for some time.
I guess you don't realize how much Bolin has grown up.
Now turn over Zaofu.
I can't just let you take the city.
Avatar Korra, you are interfering with internal earth empire business and letting your personal feelings get in the way of reason.
Zaofu cannot continue to rule itself.
They have been hoarding their riches and technology too long.
I'm here to distribute those resources fairly throughout the nation.
This is about equality.
You don't care about equality! This is about control! Just take her down.
You know it's the right thing to do.
You have to stop this! The only way you're going to keep me from marching into Zaofu is if you physically stop me.
Now what are you going to do? It looks like you're not giving me a choice.
Fine.
I want you all to know that I would never ask any of you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself.
So rather than risk your lives, I will fight the Avatar one-on-one.
Korra, if you win, then you can do whatever you want with Zaofu.
But after I beat you, I want you out of my business for good.
I'm the one who brought peace to the earth empire, not you.
You're not relevant here anymore.
Fine.
You want to fight the Avatar? Then let's finish this right here, right now! Are you really ready to fight her? Just stay back and let me handle this.
It's been a while, but I got a lot of pent-up rage.
Don't mess around.
Kuvira is too good.
Just go into the Avatar state and get it over with.
No, I'm only going to use that as a last resort.
Be careful.
Use whatever you want, all the elements, the Avatar state, anything you need.
I know you're a little rusty.
Enough talk.
Looks like the Avatar is a little off her game.
don't let her get you frustrated! She wants you to make a mistake! Bolin, do the thing.
- What thing? - The thing! I never had to tell Zhu Li what thing! I'm not Zhu Li, okay? Pretend I don't know anything about anything that's happening here.
Also pretend I don't want to build a super weapon or get my hands blown off.
Walk me through what you're doing.
I want to know every detail of your work.
You know, when I started working with the vines, the point was to find a clean, unlimited source of energy, not develop some spirity death ray.
Clean energy, sounds great! Who doesn't like that stuff? Let's do that instead.
Quiet.
You're here to help, not talk.
And you of all people should realize that once a discovery is made, it is our responsibility as scientists to pursue it as far as we can, wherever it leads.
How would you know? You couldn't discover a wolf-bat if it was building a nest in your butt.
Ooh.
You're pathetic.
Wolf-bats don't build nests.
Ooh, you got me there, Dr.
science.
You'll never know how it feels to give birth to genius, only to have it kidnapped and raised by fools.
Are you done with your rambling, or do the guards need to encourage you to continue your work? Okay, okay, okay.
The last time we ran the current through the vine, we couldn't control the power.
So I'm trying something new to see if I can direct it.
Come on, Avatar.
Get up.
Show me what you've got.
We have to help her.
No.
Stay back.
I can handle this.
So I see how the current interacts with the vine, and here is a kind of directional tube, but this baffling here at the base It looks like that would only redirect the energy right back where it came from.
And what's that piece of equipment you're fiddling with now on the power source? Hand me the screw-turn-thingy, would ya? Ugh, I can't believe you're helping them.
You know this isn't right.
Funny story, Bolin.
I first got the idea for harnessing spirit power when I watched that giant Unalaq monster attack the city from my jail cell.
That giant monster set me free.
Trust me, kid.
I know what I'm doing.
That ought to do it.
Huh.
Okay, stand back.
There we go.
What's that ticking? That's the timer.
The timer for what? For the bomb, of course! What? What bomb? The bomb that's going to explode in five minutes and destroy this entire train, all of the spirit vines, and everything else within a few hundred yards.
You know what, I'd get out of here if I were you.
This is the first time I've built a timer, and it might run a little fast.
Bolin and I are ready to go down with the ship or train in this case but you seem like you have a lot to live for.
No, no, no, no! I'm not ready to go down with the ship or the train! You're bluffing.
Stick around five minutes, and you'll find out who's bluffing.
You'll be sorry you left me, Zhu Li! When they write the history books, your name will be synonymous with betrayal! People will say, "hey, what happened to that guy?" "Oh, didn't you hear, he Varrick'd himself because some girl Zhu Li'd him!" Enough.
What makes you think we'd let you blow yourself up? You're working for Kuvira.
You don't get to quit.
Grab him.
You try to pull me away from this thing, and I'll hit this remote and blow it immediately.
Why do you have a timer and a remote? Well, first I built the timer, but then I thought you could drag me off the train, so then I built a remote.
But then I thought, "well, now", "do I really need the timer anymore? Because I got a remote in my" whatever! I'm covering all my bases! The point is, you're leaving.
We're staying.
You have to go into the Avatar state! Do it! I don't understand.
We got the poison out.
What's wrong with her? I knew you were weak.
You broke our agreement! Attack! Keep them back! I'm calling for help.
Stunning work, Ikki.
It hurts my eyes with its raw emotional power.
Ah, pedestrian.
I already know what you look like on the outside.
I want you to show me the inner Meelo.
Help! You have to get Korra and the rest of us out of here now! Hurry! Finally! Let's get it on! This is everyone.
Our half of the train is clear.
That's good.
We're almost out of time.
You're insane.
You knew that when you hired me.
Bolin, do the thing.
Uh Unhook the cars! Oh, come on, that was an easy one! Man, that was great.
I gotta admit, you had me going there for a while.
I really thought you were going to blow us up.
Now, how do we turn this thing off? Oh, we can't turn it off.
We're going to blow up.
But we had a pretty good run, right? What are you talking about, a good run? I'm still running! I like running! I'll see you on the other side, Zhu Li.
I want you to know, I hate you.
I can't believe he actually blew himself up.
That man was crazier than a sewer-pipe elephant rat.
Let's get back to Zaofu.
Yes! You did it, Bolin.
You did the thing.
Mwah! I can't believe Zhu Li worked for you as long as she did.
Dive, pepper! Dive! Here comes a hurricane! You can't handle all this Meelo! We've got her! Go! We have to save them! Opal, get out of here! We'll be fine! Just go! I'll be back for you! I love you! Zaofu is ours! Bring the citizens of Zaofu to kneel before the Great Uniter.
All who pledge their loyalty to me will keep their freedom and be dealt with fairly as full citizens of the earth empire.
The rest will be imprisoned as traitors, like Su Beifong and her sons.
Now bow.
Bow to her! Do it! She is your rightful leader! I'm so disappointed in you, junior.
Take them away! Get your hands off me.
You're crushing my individuality.
All hail the Great Uniter! Are you sure there's no way they survived? Positive, but I think I can replicate his work with the spirit vines and get us back on track.
I'll just need an assistant.
How would you like to help Baatar build the most powerful weapon the world has ever seen? It would be my honor, Great Uniter.
Begin dismantling the domes.
Fire.
Air.
Water.
Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world.
Kuvira threatens to take Zaofu by force.
After tensions flared between Su Beifong and her former protege, Korra brokered a truce.
But it was too late.
Su and her sons were already on their way to put an end to Kuvira.
Meanwhile, Bolin and Varrick learned of Kuvira's true tyrannical intent and deserted her army.
But they were captured and betrayed by Zhu Li.
Now they're being held against their will.
Are you sure this will work? Even without Kuvira, they could still crush us.
Most of this army has been forced into service by Kuvira.
If we take her out, they'll have no reason to fight.
Tonight we end her reign of terror.
She's alone in there.
Now's our chance.
- Don't hurt me! - Zhu Li? I knew you'd try a sneak attack.
You were afraid to step up and lead the earth kingdom when you had the chance, you were afraid to join me when I became the leader, and now you're afraid of a fair fight.
You've always been a coward.
Take them.
Korra, you have to go stop Su before she does something terrible.
Stop her? We should be helping her! We have no idea where your mom is or what her plan is.
If we go charging into Kuvira's camp, we could get them all captured or worse.
All we can do now is wait.
Attention, citizens of Zaofu.
Your leader, Su Beifong, attempted to attack me tonight while I slept, ignoring the terms of our truce.
Luckily, I now have her and her assault team in custody.
No.
Rest assured that I will not take revenge on the peaceful citizens of Zaofu, as long as your remaining representatives meet me outside the city at dawn to offer the full and unconditional surrender of your city.
That is all.
Korra, you can't let Kuvira get away with this.
We have to go break out mom and my brothers.
You swore an oath of nonaggression when you became an airbender.
You can't just attack Kuvira.
I don't care about the oath.
I have to save my family.
No, Jinora is right.
Your mom attacked the camp.
Kuvira was just defending herself.
Defending herself? She was going to attack our city! I can't believe you're refusing to fight.
Why is that loudspeaker lady talking when I'm trying to sleep? Korra, what are we going to do? Jinora and I will go talk to Kuvira at dawn, and maybe we can work something out.
I promise I'll do everything I can to keep the peace.
I'll go with you.
- We'll go, too.
- No.
Dad told us to find Korra, and we found her.
Now you need to stay safe.
Come on, let us help.
I can't risk anyone else being captured.
You can stay with Baatar and Huan while I work this out with Kuvira.
Make sure they get back to Tenzin safely if anything goes wrong.
Aw, man.
When am I gonna see some action? Cookie jar empty.
No hot towels.
Waxy buildup.
Zhu Li! Aw, she really is gone.
Up and at 'em, Varrick.
Time to go to work.
We have another lab set up for you.
Kuvira wants the spirit vine weapon operational as soon as possible.
Zhu Li always greeted me in the morning with a a hot cup of tea.
You'll get your tea when you start working.
Well, I'm really only productive for about 15 minutes a day, usually in the afternoon around 3:45.
You'll work now.
I want you to show me how the device works.
What's going on? Go back to sleep.
We only need Varrick.
You'll need your energy when you get to the reeducation camp.
I can't be expected to work without an assistant.
Without Zhu Li, I'm helpless.
One of the guards will be your assistant.
I'll be supervising.
Well, I guess he'll be fine, as long as he doesn't need his hands afterwards.
What's he talking about, sir? The last time we worked with the spirit vines, it created an uncontrollable blast that burned through a wall and could still be blowing up comets in space, as far as I know.
I wouldn't want to assist me if I were you.
Maybe we should just let the kid help him out.
Fine.
Bolin can assist.
Wait, what? I need my hands! Uh, hold on.
Can we get breakfast first? While we still have hands? Release them now! If Su agrees to bow to me and turn over Zaofu, she and the rest of your family will not be harmed.
Never! I'll never bow to you! There must be some way for us to resolve this.
I've already laid out my terms, and I think they're very reasonable.
After all, Su did try to take me out during our peaceful negotiations.
You call bringing an army to threaten our city peaceful? Where's Bolin? I know he would never go along with this! Bolin is with my fiance, working on something very important, but I assure you he's on board with my plans.
You two have been apart for some time.
I guess you don't realize how much Bolin has grown up.
Now turn over Zaofu.
I can't just let you take the city.
Avatar Korra, you are interfering with internal earth empire business and letting your personal feelings get in the way of reason.
Zaofu cannot continue to rule itself.
They have been hoarding their riches and technology too long.
I'm here to distribute those resources fairly throughout the nation.
This is about equality.
You don't care about equality! This is about control! Just take her down.
You know it's the right thing to do.
You have to stop this! The only way you're going to keep me from marching into Zaofu is if you physically stop me.
Now what are you going to do? It looks like you're not giving me a choice.
Fine.
I want you all to know that I would never ask any of you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself.
So rather than risk your lives, I will fight the Avatar one-on-one.
Korra, if you win, then you can do whatever you want with Zaofu.
But after I beat you, I want you out of my business for good.
I'm the one who brought peace to the earth empire, not you.
You're not relevant here anymore.
Fine.
You want to fight the Avatar? Then let's finish this right here, right now! Are you really ready to fight her? Just stay back and let me handle this.
It's been a while, but I got a lot of pent-up rage.
Don't mess around.
Kuvira is too good.
Just go into the Avatar state and get it over with.
No, I'm only going to use that as a last resort.
Be careful.
Use whatever you want, all the elements, the Avatar state, anything you need.
I know you're a little rusty.
Enough talk.
Looks like the Avatar is a little off her game.
don't let her get you frustrated! She wants you to make a mistake! Bolin, do the thing.
- What thing? - The thing! I never had to tell Zhu Li what thing! I'm not Zhu Li, okay? Pretend I don't know anything about anything that's happening here.
Also pretend I don't want to build a super weapon or get my hands blown off.
Walk me through what you're doing.
I want to know every detail of your work.
You know, when I started working with the vines, the point was to find a clean, unlimited source of energy, not develop some spirity death ray.
Clean energy, sounds great! Who doesn't like that stuff? Let's do that instead.
Quiet.
You're here to help, not talk.
And you of all people should realize that once a discovery is made, it is our responsibility as scientists to pursue it as far as we can, wherever it leads.
How would you know? You couldn't discover a wolf-bat if it was building a nest in your butt.
Ooh.
You're pathetic.
Wolf-bats don't build nests.
Ooh, you got me there, Dr.
science.
You'll never know how it feels to give birth to genius, only to have it kidnapped and raised by fools.
Are you done with your rambling, or do the guards need to encourage you to continue your work? Okay, okay, okay.
The last time we ran the current through the vine, we couldn't control the power.
So I'm trying something new to see if I can direct it.
Come on, Avatar.
Get up.
Show me what you've got.
We have to help her.
No.
Stay back.
I can handle this.
So I see how the current interacts with the vine, and here is a kind of directional tube, but this baffling here at the base It looks like that would only redirect the energy right back where it came from.
And what's that piece of equipment you're fiddling with now on the power source? Hand me the screw-turn-thingy, would ya? Ugh, I can't believe you're helping them.
You know this isn't right.
Funny story, Bolin.
I first got the idea for harnessing spirit power when I watched that giant Unalaq monster attack the city from my jail cell.
That giant monster set me free.
Trust me, kid.
I know what I'm doing.
That ought to do it.
Huh.
Okay, stand back.
There we go.
What's that ticking? That's the timer.
The timer for what? For the bomb, of course! What? What bomb? The bomb that's going to explode in five minutes and destroy this entire train, all of the spirit vines, and everything else within a few hundred yards.
You know what, I'd get out of here if I were you.
This is the first time I've built a timer, and it might run a little fast.
Bolin and I are ready to go down with the ship or train in this case but you seem like you have a lot to live for.
No, no, no, no! I'm not ready to go down with the ship or the train! You're bluffing.
Stick around five minutes, and you'll find out who's bluffing.
You'll be sorry you left me, Zhu Li! When they write the history books, your name will be synonymous with betrayal! People will say, "hey, what happened to that guy?" "Oh, didn't you hear, he Varrick'd himself because some girl Zhu Li'd him!" Enough.
What makes you think we'd let you blow yourself up? You're working for Kuvira.
You don't get to quit.
Grab him.
You try to pull me away from this thing, and I'll hit this remote and blow it immediately.
Why do you have a timer and a remote? Well, first I built the timer, but then I thought you could drag me off the train, so then I built a remote.
But then I thought, "well, now", "do I really need the timer anymore? Because I got a remote in my" whatever! I'm covering all my bases! The point is, you're leaving.
We're staying.
You have to go into the Avatar state! Do it! I don't understand.
We got the poison out.
What's wrong with her? I knew you were weak.
You broke our agreement! Attack! Keep them back! I'm calling for help.
Stunning work, Ikki.
It hurts my eyes with its raw emotional power.
Ah, pedestrian.
I already know what you look like on the outside.
I want you to show me the inner Meelo.
Help! You have to get Korra and the rest of us out of here now! Hurry! Finally! Let's get it on! This is everyone.
Our half of the train is clear.
That's good.
We're almost out of time.
You're insane.
You knew that when you hired me.
Bolin, do the thing.
Uh Unhook the cars! Oh, come on, that was an easy one! Man, that was great.
I gotta admit, you had me going there for a while.
I really thought you were going to blow us up.
Now, how do we turn this thing off? Oh, we can't turn it off.
We're going to blow up.
But we had a pretty good run, right? What are you talking about, a good run? I'm still running! I like running! I'll see you on the other side, Zhu Li.
I want you to know, I hate you.
I can't believe he actually blew himself up.
That man was crazier than a sewer-pipe elephant rat.
Let's get back to Zaofu.
Yes! You did it, Bolin.
You did the thing.
Mwah! I can't believe Zhu Li worked for you as long as she did.
Dive, pepper! Dive! Here comes a hurricane! You can't handle all this Meelo! We've got her! Go! We have to save them! Opal, get out of here! We'll be fine! Just go! I'll be back for you! I love you! Zaofu is ours! Bring the citizens of Zaofu to kneel before the Great Uniter.
All who pledge their loyalty to me will keep their freedom and be dealt with fairly as full citizens of the earth empire.
The rest will be imprisoned as traitors, like Su Beifong and her sons.
Now bow.
Bow to her! Do it! She is your rightful leader! I'm so disappointed in you, junior.
Take them away! Get your hands off me.
You're crushing my individuality.
All hail the Great Uniter! Are you sure there's no way they survived? Positive, but I think I can replicate his work with the spirit vines and get us back on track.
I'll just need an assistant.
How would you like to help Baatar build the most powerful weapon the world has ever seen? It would be my honor, Great Uniter.
Begin dismantling the domes.