[Zaheer] Instinct is a lie told by a fearful body hoping to be wrong.
[Guard] What's that supposed to mean?
[Zaheer] It means
that when you base your expectations only on what you see
you blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality
When Mike and Bryan set out to write the Legend of Korra
they did so with the clear intent to create their antagonists with some sort of justification
or bigger idea that would cause us, the audience, to stop and ask
are they the good guys?
While the final villain of The Last Airbender was Fire Lord Ozai
a tyrannical megalomaniac with few if any redeeming qualities
the antagonists of Legend of Korra offer a lot more for the viewer to consider.
One of the clearest examples of this was the antagonist of the third season
Zaheer
When we finally learned that the true intent of the Red Lotus is to kill Korra and end the Avatar cycle
Zaheer proclaims boldly that
[Zaheer] This band of brothers and sisters in anarchy are witnessing the beginning of an era of true freedom.
It's here that Zaheer describes himself as an anarchist
to define the term extremely broadly
Anarchism is a philosophy
that heavily emphasizes individual freedom
and is heavily skeptical of the justification of Authority
Especially those with political power
Anarchists often doubt whether we should even have a state or a government
In line with these anarchist beliefs, he explains to Korra that
[Zaheer] True freedom can only be achieved when oppressive governments are torn down.
But this statement is a bit of an odd one if Zaheer anarchist beliefs were only concerned with quote
"Oppressive governments", then that leaves us with one puzzling question
Why kill the Avatar? After all, the avatar is not a dictatorial tyrant oppressing people
Right?
Well to answer this question
We need to understand two principles of Zaheer's anarchist philosophy
The Red Lotus dreams of a world without what I am going to call for this essay
Institutions of Authority.
It's easy to understand why Zaheer would oppose monarchies
There are many people who oppose them on principle today
They're inherently unaccountable to their citizens and are historically prone to abuses of power that restricts the freedoms of their people
Zaheer rightly says, "You think freedom is something that you can give or take on a whim,"
"But to your people, freedom is just as essential as"
"air."
But Zaheer doesn't just oppose oppressive regimes like the Earth Queen
He is equally opposed to having a Fire Lord or a Water Tribe chief
Both of these are institutions of authority that are unaccountable to their citizens
The fact that Fire Lord Zuko or Chief Tonraq are benevolent does not matter to the Red Lotus
Zaheer reminds Korra that, "It wasn't too long ago that the airbenders were nearly all wiped out"
"Thanks to the Fire Lord's desire for world dominance."
You see Zaheer is acutely aware of the potential
of these institutions to restrict the freedoms of others in the future
And is that potential that justifies their elimination in his mind
Foremost, the first principle of Zaheer's philosophy is this:
if a person is under constant potential threat of the loss of their freedom, they are not truly free.
But this explanation still doesn't offer an answer as to why the Red Lotus wants to end the Avatar cycle
The avatar by nature is not a form of hereditary power like that of a monarch and every single avatar is different
So where does Zaheer's issue lie?
After I watched through season 3 once more
I realized that Zaheer is concerned with alleviating a far more subtle kind of oppression than say
Amon or Kuvira were
Where those who are oppressed may not even realize that they are oppressed
In fact, they may willingly reinforce the institutions of authority that oppress them and those they love
This is never clearer than in Yin, Mako and Bolin's grandmother
Despite living impoverished in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se
and being disadvantaged by the Earth Queen's over extravagance and dictatorial rule
she scolds those who dare criticize her majesty
[Yin] Don't talk like that about her majesty.
Long may she reign.
This respect and reverence for the Earth Queen is so deeply instilled in her that when her house is burning down
The one thing she takes with her is her photo of the Earth Queen.
Now remember what Zaheer wants
A world -
[Zaheer] Where a man's only allegiance is to himself and those he loves
This is Zaheer's ultimate belief
A person can never be free in a society and culture that teaches them they owe their allegiance to institutions of authority
without ever questioning why they deserve their allegiance.
That teaches them they should obey,
Revere or respect the authority of institutions like the Earth Queen.
How can they be free when (A)
They are forced to abide by laws dictated to them by others
and (B)
The only reason they accept this is because they were indoctrinated into cultures that make them believe it is okay.
That makes them believe they owe their allegiance to this institution and should respect its authority
When Zaheer tells the earth Queen before he kills her that -
"I don't believe in Queens."
He is making a point
The only reason these institutions have political and social authority
is because people are indoctrinated into believing they should have it
The same sort of reverence can be seen in regards to the Fire Lord when Bolin cries,
"Oh my gosh, it's Lord Zuko, I can't believe it... ahh!"
Even Korra cannot escape her biases when she admits -
[Zaheer] Don't you think the world would be better off if leaders like them were eliminated?
[Korra] No
[Korra] I mean, I don't really agree with what they've done
[Korra] But taking out world leaders isn't the answer.
And Bumi half-heartedly says,
[Bumi] Well, technically the earth Queen has a right to conscript her citizens.
Now while an offhanded remark
It does reflect how deeply ingrained these institutions of authority are into society
on some level each of them believe that these institutions are justified
When in reality their power is entirely without basis
these people are not naturally better leaders
Bolin, Bumi, Korra, and everyone else have just grown up in a culture that
reinforces these institutions by teaching people that they owe them their allegiance
This is the second principle of Zaheer's philosophy:
A person is not free if they are indoctrinated by their culture into believing institutions of authority should have authority over them.
It is in the vein of this second principle
that Zaheer sees the avatar as the ultimate institution of authority that needs to be eliminated
By Korra's time, the avatar has approval ratings in Republic City
She holds press conferences like that of a politician
Korra automatically has access to the Republic City Council and other world leaders
and is often treated as above the law purely by virtue of being born the Avatar
Zaheer points out the expanded political power of the Avatar as well
[Zaheer] We are what the White Lotus was meant to be but after the hundred year war the White Lotus lost its true purpose
[Zaheer] Its members came out of hiding and openly served the avatar
[Zaheer] They became nothing but glorified bodyguards -
The White Lotus was at least originally partially intended to make the avatar accountable to someone
where no single nation could
But the avatar is now ahead of it
The head of an international organization
with the capabilities to interfere with Individuals on a worldwide scale
and the culture teaches people to think that she deserves this power
Zaheer wishes for a world where a man's allegiance is only to himself and those he loves
But this same toxic culture of reverence and allegiance that surrounds monarchs
can also be seen in regards to the Avatar
The sages were a group in the Fire Nation
[Sage] In the past the sages were loyal only to the Avatar.
Being something of a priesthood their loyalty to the avatar is akin to a pseudo religious following
They even bow before him
Suyin Beifong's son, Wing, even comments that it's an honor to be dueling with the avatar
[Wing] I can't believe I'm sparring with the avatar!
Likewise in Aang's travels
He was often revered and given special privileges purely because he was the avatar
In the final episode of the season
Tenzin says that, "The world getting more and more dangerous, we need the Avatar now more than ever."
And this sentiment is echoed by numerous characters all throughout the series
It creates this sense of authority in the avatar for bringing the world to balance
that both Korra and all of those around her buy into
This was never clearer than in the online comic series
Where Kyoshi tells us about the peasant uprising in Ba Sing Se
When she admonished the Earth King for defying the Avatar
Kyoshi expected the earth king to obey her and Zaheer sees this kind of entitlement as a problem
most importantly the Red Lotus realized a long time ago that -
[Spirit Creature] You made the world this way, we're just living in it.
Of any institution of authority
the world has been undeniably shaped more by the consequences of the avatars actions
Who should be protected and who should be punished has often been determined by them and them alone
just as even democratic states like Republic City dictate where people can go and live with borders and regulations
Zaheer points that it was wrong for the Avatar to determine whether or not people were allowed to go into the spirit world
[Zaheer] The idea of having nations and governments is as foolish as keeping the human and spirit realms separate
So back to our original question
Why kill the avatar?
Fundamentally the avatar has become no different to the Fire Lord, the Water Tribe chief, the President of Republic City or the Earth Queen
The Avatar has become and unaccountable institution of authority with almost limitless power.
Zaheer even says as much in the fourth season
[Korra] But my powers have limits
[Zaheer] You're wrong
[Zaheer] That poison should have killed you, but you're able to fight it off. You think your power has limits
[Zaheer] I say, It's limitless
If the potential danger of a tyrannical Fire Lord is enough to justify their removal
Then in Zaheer's philosophy the potential danger of a tyrannical Avatar is tenfold
Korra fits the criteria
Firstly
People are forced to abide by the Avatar's moral standards - a person thy did not choose to be in authority.
And secondly
They are indoctrinated by their culture into revering the Avatar as believing they should have this authority over them.
With these two principles
Zaheer aims to free people from an oppression they do not even realize they are under
The Avatar
The Red Lotus sees past the mythicism surrounding the Avatar
and merely because Korra can bend all four elements does not mean she should be afforded any special authority
She's just someone who was born with access to a nuclear arsenal
Of course the obvious rebuttal to this is that the Avatar does not fit Zaheer's first principle
That they are not under the constant potential threat of the loss of their freedom
and that the avatar has no real potential to turn tyrannical
But there isn't much merit to this argument
While each avatar has tried to do good in their world
their subjective perception of what good means has varied greatly
Avatar Kyoshi established the Dai Li as a means to protect the Earth Kingdom's cultural heritage
But however noble her intentions were it was far from a good decision
They soon turned corrupt and began oppressing Earth Kingdom citizens
Roku's decision not to kill Fire Lord Sozin led to the deaths of possibly millions of people
Beyond this, Korra herself is clearly subject to her own biases
She's temperamental, impulsive, impatient and prone to outbursts of anger in ways that Aang never was
Kyoshi expressed that she was perfectly willing to kill where she deemed it necessary
[Kyoshi] But I assure you, I would have done whatever it took to stop chin
The truth is there is no reason for anyone to believe that the Avatar will never interfere with the freedoms of others
Purposefully or un-purposefully
Avatars are neither automatically wise or good leaders
Zaheer's philosophy is based in the idea that nobody knows what is best for someone other than themselves
For this reason -
[Zaheer] Moronic president
And monarchs can never truly make decisions in the best interests of their citizens
If elected officials cannot, then the Avatar surely can't.
They do not know what is in the best interest of every citizen of the world
Not only is their moral judgment fallible?
But historically it's often wrong, and we've seen it has detrimental consequences
So what can we understand Zaheer to believe?
I think this statement best encompasses everything that the Red Lotus stands for
[Zaheer] Where a man's only allegiance is to himself and those he loves
A man cannot be free when firstly
he is under the potential threat of the loss of his freedoms,
And secondly
they are indoctrinated by their culture into believing institutions of authority should have authority over them.
The avatar has become an institution of Authority in itself
that people have been raised to believe they owe their allegiance to
when the reality is that Korra is just someone else with fallible judgment, her own biases and
essentially a nuclear arsenal to take out whoever she chooses
People around the world give her unearned authority because they think she's somehow
naturally wiser or better than she is because she's the Avatar
Zaheer's anarchist philosophy looks at this culture and simply asks
How is this right?
Hey subfuries, I really hope that you enjoyed - kind of - my first video essay type piece
And if you did then please let me know down in the comments that you want me to do more
That would be really helpful
I have like 13 pages worth of notes
And I really did put a lot of time and effort into scripting and making this video
I had like a whole thing that I wanted to talk about called the problem of tacit consent
But I think I clearly ran out of time
My question for you today is: Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter?
Let me know down in the comments below
And I'd love for you to come join other subfuries following me on my second channel, tothefuture
There's a link to that down in the comments below
It's more casual where you can get to know me
And I would love to get to know you as well
As well it would be awesome if you follow me on Twitter
Wattpad, Facebook, email me stuff, send me stuff you've made at the address and links in the description below
Stay nerdy subfuries, and I'll see you in the future
