Reunion

:This article is about The Legend of Korra episode. For The Shadow of Kyoshi chapter, see "The Reunion".
"Reunion" is the seventh episode of Book Four: Balance of The Legend of Korra and the 46th of the overall series. It was released online on Nick.com and through the Nick app on November 14, 2014, and aired on Nicktoons on December 12, 2014.
== Overview ==
Korra returns to Republic City with the airbenders. She talks with Tenzin and informs him of Kuvira's conquering of Zaofu. She meets with Asami and Mako for the first time in three years, but their reunion is dampered by Prince Wu. Their conversation quickly sparks tensions with all of them except Wu, who is kidnapped by supporters of Kuvira. Realizing what is happening, Team Avatar tracks him to Central City Station and rescues him. To protect him from further kidnapping attempts, Wu is left at Asami's residence to stay with Mako's extended family. Meanwhile, Bolin and Varrick team up with a group of fugitive firebenders and waterbenders to cross the fortified Earth Empire border. Successfully evading arrest by the guards, they reach the shore, where the grateful prisoners offer them passage on their small boat. In the Foggy Swamp, Kuvira's army begins to harvest spirit vines at the banyan-grove tree.
== Synopsis ==
At Air Temple Island, Pabu approaches a sleeping Naga and starts to play-hunt her tail, biting it in the process. Hearing Pepper groan upon its descent, Naga immediately perks her head and, seeing Korra enthusiastically wave at her, takes off in pursuit of them, with Pabu hanging off her tail. As soon as Pepper lands, Korra jumps off welcomes Naga with open arms; the ecstatic polar bear dog momentarily lifts Korra in the airs with her snout before they start to cuddle. While the three airbending children run up to their parents, with Meelo loudly announcing that they have returned with the Avatar, an excited Bumi, now donning an airbender wingsuit, is the first to greet Korra; running up to her with Bum-Ju in tow, he engulfs her in a bearhug and tells her that both of them missed her. Tenzin compliments his children on their work, and Meelo asks if he could have his tattoos in exchange. To Pema's amusement, Tenzin immediately declines and drops the subject. He approaches Korra and hugs her, welcoming her home. Asking them what happened in Zaofu, a downcast Korra glances to the side, and Opal tells him Kuvira, who had brought her entire army, has captured her mother, father, and brothers. Korra adds that she thought she was strong enough to defeat Kuvira but now feels like a failure. Tenzin tries to comfort her, saying she was not expected to face Kuvira alone, and ends by saying they are all just glad to have her back. Bumi asks Opal where Bolin is, not believing he would still be on Kuvira's side. Opal answers that she believes he, after seeing Kuvira's actions against her family, would abandon the Earth Empire army but admits that they do not know where he is.
Meanwhile, an exhausted Bolin, panting with exertion, carries a disheveled-looking Varrick on his back through a forest. He suggests that Varrick walks on his own for a while, to which Varrick responds that, upon his escape from the Republic City Prison, Zhu Li carried him twenty miles in one day, even after she sprained her ankle. Angrily reminding Varrick that Zhu Li is not there, Bolin dumps him on the ground, where he remains. He despondently tells Bolin to leave him for the worms to eat, believing himself to be deserving of death. Bolin scolds Varrick for wanting to take the easy way out and reminds him that he is responsible for the creation of the spirit-energy weapon, which has the capacity to cause mass destruction. Varrick yells back that he does not want to be reminded of it, declaring himself to be a horrible person for having invented it in the first place. Bolin, calming down, tells Varrick that both of them were fooled into doing Kuvira's "dirty work" and that they have a duty to return to Republic City to warn the citizens of the impending threat the weapon poses. Varrick, inspired by Bolin's speech, takes his hand and gets to his feet, telling him that he has a way with words. He even offers to carry Bolin for a while. Bolin, relieved, jumps on Varrick's back, and Varrick, struggling under Bolin's weight, takes one slow, painful step but immediately triggers a booby trap on the ground, and they are pulled high into the air. As they come to rest hanging from a tree limb, trapped in a hanging net, Bolin shouts in disbelief.
Asami sits in a waiting area at a restaurant in Republic City, reading a magazine with a Future Industries advertisement on the back cover. Korra walks up to her and says that she hopes Asami has not been waiting long. Immediately putting her magazine away, Asami stands up and embraces Korra tightly, telling her that she "only" waited three years. They both tell each other how good it is to see the other again, and Asami compliments Korra's new hairdo, earning herself a compliment about her general appearance in return from a blushing Korra. Asami leads Korra into the restaurant, where Mako stands leaning against a wooden pillar near a booth, waiting for them. Mako and Korra embrace briefly, but their reunion is cut short by the sudden appearance of Prince Wu, who immediately begins flirting with Korra, much to her dismay. He leads her into the booth and orders for everyone. Meanwhile, Asami and Mako seat themselves opposite from Korra and Wu. Asami, in a heated whisper, asks Mako why Wu is with him, to which Mako replies unhappily that he could not get Wu to leave him alone. He adds that Wu promised to behave cordially, but at that moment, Wu leans over to Korra and asks her to enter the Avatar State so he can see her eyes glow. He is put out by Korra's immediate refusal, and Asami takes control of the situation by asking Korra if she can enter the Avatar State again, telling her she was worried when Korra told to her she could not. Before Korra can answer, Mako, suddenly suspicious, asks how Asami knew that. The two women share a look, and Korra confesses that she wrote letters to Asami while she was absent and asked her not to tell Mako and Bolin, a revelation that deeply frustrates the firebender. Korra apologizes for not staying in touch and changes the subject, asking Asami and Mako what has been going on with them. Asami tells them that she has visited her father in prison for the first time, as he had been writing her letters and she finally felt ready to try and forgive him. When Korra wonders aloud if she can trust Hiroshi, fearing that he might try to manipulate Asami again, Asami snaps back that she knows what her own father is capable of and that Korra, having vanished for three years, has no right to act like she knows what is best for Asami. Feeling conscious about her absence, Korra says that she never planned to be gone for three years; it was just something she needed to do in order to heal.
Wu interrupts the trio's tense exchange by announcing he needs to go to the bathroom and snaps his fingers to spur Mako to action, desiring him to stand guard. Mako adamantly refuses, telling Wu to go on his own "for once". Korra asks if he always follows him, to which he begins to explain only to end with "I don't want to talk about it." In the bathroom, an attendant offers to freshen Wu up with a spritz of cologne. Wu requests a double dose, and the attendant covers his mouth with his towel before spraying Wu with knockout gas. Yelling to Mako for help, Wu drops unconscious to the floor.
Back in the Earth Empire, Bolin and Varrick are still trapped in the net. Failing to break out, Bolin notes that he wished Pabu was there with him, as the fire ferret could have chewed through the ropes for them. Varrick, feeling melancholy, tells him that Zhu Li could have done the same thing. That moment, they are found by a group of escaped prisoners, who were responsible for placing the trap. Bolin asks them to release them, but Ahnah, the leading woman of the group, wonders why they would free a couple of "lowly Earth Empire soldiers". Varrick objects this assessment and tells them they were part of Kuvira's inner circle. Bolin is quick to emphasize the past tense of that loyalty and reiterates his request for freedom. Baraz, the male leader, says he has a plan for "Kuvira's top men" and cuts them down using his firebending.
Back at the restaurant, the food is served, and Mako wonders about Wu's longer-than-usual absence. Commenting that the prince is not one to miss out on lunch, he goes to check on him in the bathroom. Korra and Asami stand outside the bathroom, and Korra, noticing the bathroom attendant walking past with a cart full of laundry bags, decides to follow him. As he dumps the laundry into the back of a van, she asks him if he has seen Wu, and he tells her he has not. His casual denial is debunked by a semiconscious Wu rolling out of the laundry bags. The attendant attacks Korra by surprise, launching her against the ceiling with his earthbending, and jumps into the van. Mako and Asami come running outside, and Korra, having regained her bearings, shouts that Wu has been taken in the van now speeding away with screeching tires. Telling them to get the car, she goes after them on foot. The van leaves the alley next to the hotel, and Korra bends a fissure in its way, but the van jumps over it and keeps driving. Asami and Mako pull up next to her with a sports car; Korra jumps in, and Asami speeds off after the van.
Asami expertly swerves between the other cars and quickly gains on the van. However, the van turns down another alley and the attendant bends up a wall, blocking the way. Asami continues straight, and Mako tells her to turn right at the next block. She disregards his suggestion, saying she knows the streets better than he does, having built some of them. Driving up a bridge, they catch up to the van again, riding parallel to it on the elevated street. Korra stands up in the car, jumps with airbending onto the van, and metalbends the roof open, but finds the van to be empty save for the bathroom attendant, who is now driving. She tears him away from the driving seat with her airbending and stops the van next to a couple of spirit vines. Korra drags the attendant out of the van as the others join her and tells them the attendant was the only one left inside the truck. Mako grabs the attendant and slams him into the van, demanding to know where the prince is. The driver answers that Wu is halfway to Kuvira. A police car comes and Mako instructs the driver to relay the news of Wu's kidnapping to Lin Beifong. The car leaves and Asami and Mako are worried about where Wu could be. Korra touches the spirit vines, using them to search for Wu's energy; catching a glimpse of him, she tells the others Wu is being taken to the train station. Asami wonders how she knows that, and Korra tells them she will explain on the way, jumping in the car and telling her to drive.
Back in the Earth Empire, Bolin and Varrick's captors have the two bound as the waterbenders of the group refill their water skins by a river. Bolin asks what firebenders and waterbenders were doing in one of Kuvira's re-education camps, and Baraz and his friend, Ahnah, clarify that it is more of a prison, one to which Kuvira had been sending anyone not of Earth Kingdom origin. They are confused to realize the two of them are not aware of what she was doing, as they were a part of her inner circle, but Bolin reiterates that they were only part of the inner circle for about a day. Varrick demands to know where they are going, and the escapees explain that they intend to use the two of them to get past the security detail at the border; only then will they consider letting them go. Varrick shoots Bolin a quick look, and as the former dives away from his captors toward the latter, Bolin knocks them down with earthbending, then lavabends to separate them from the fugitives. He apologizes to the fugitives for what Kuvira has done, but restates that he and Varrick are no longer aligned with Kuvira; Varrick adds that they cannot risk crossing the border checkpoint without himself or Bolin being recognized. Baraz tells them that the checkpoint is the only way out, as the wall surrounding it is constantly patrolled. Ahnah objects to their allying with Bolin and Varrick, telling Baraz that she does not trust them, but she relents when Baraz reasons that if Bolin could have buried them in lava, killing them, if he wanted. Having heard Baraz's argument and plan, Bolin chooses to trust him out of necessity, and asks where the border crossing is.
Back in Republic City, as Team Avatar drives the streets, Mako asks Korra how she was able to discern Wu's location. She explained that she learned it from Toph Beifong herself, who learned to connect with the outside world using spirit vines in the Foggy Swamp, to her friends' amazement. Mako asks what she was like, causing Korra to claim she was "a cranky, more miserable version of Lin", to Mako's disbelief. Arriving at the train station, they split up to find Wu.
Meanwhile, Bolin and Varrick lead the escapees to the border checkpoint, telling the guards that they captured the group of fugitives and are taking them to a secure facility. The checkpoint guard asks where the prisoners escaped from, and Bolin names Camp 14, which, the guard promptly points out, is in the wrong direction from them. Bolin lies that he is acting on Kuvira's orders, and the guard asks for his transfer papers. Varrick, pulling the guards' focus away from the papers, promptly goes into a tirade, ranting about all the wild animals he has had to face (one of which, he asserts, ate the papers), his poor hygiene, and the size of his blisters, and threatens to report the guard to Kuvira if he does not let them pass. The guard finally acquiesces, signaling the other guards to open the gate; as they are walking through, however, Bolin and Varrick are recognized as wanted deserters based on several wall-poster mugshots, and the Earth Empire soldiers quickly surround them, sparking a fight. Varrick sneaks away from the melee; spotting a generator inside the guard station, he manages to fashion a makeshift electromagnetic pulse device, disabling the guards' mecha suits. Varrick subsequently calls to Bolin to flee with him, but the latter refuses to allow Baraz's group to be captured, and uses lavabending to drive the soldiers away from them. Baraz, knowing that Bolin did not need to come back for them, thanks him for his help.
At the Central City Station, Korra again uses Toph's chi technique to find the train Wu is on. Team Avatar is able to board it as it departs; as they pass through the passenger compartment, Mako asks Korra if she is sure that Wu is on the train. Irked, Korra yells at him for not keeping a proper watch on Wu, as was his job, unaware that Kuvira's agents have overheard them. As Mako and Korra make their way into the baggage car, they find Wu stuffed into a suitcase, but two of Kuvira's agents attack them. Korra deflects their metalbending attacks before airbending them into the roof of the car; as two more agents approach from opposite ends of the train car, Korra shuts the doors and metalbends a hole into the roof. Wu refuses to go outside, forcing Korra to airbend him out; Kuvira's agents promptly begin to metalbend the roof of the adjourning car, peeling it back toward the Avatar's group and intending to trap them between themselves. Seeing no other option, Korra yells at her friends to jump over the side, which they do; Korra airbends them roughly, but unharmed, to the ground. Once safe, Wu emphatically thanks Mako for saving him, stating that he will probably get a raise; the latter insists he thank Korra for his freedom. In exchange for her efforts, Wu offers to take Korra on a date, and again, she bluntly refuses. She turns to Mako and Asami and the three of them turn nostalgic, remarking that their adventure was "just like old times". They share a group hug, in which Wu tries to include himself, but Korra holds him back at arm's length. She asks what they should do about Wu, thinking it to be too dangerous to return him to the hotel, a sentiment Wu wholly agrees with. Mako decides to hide him at Asami's mansion, where his family has been staying since the fall of Ba Sing Se. Upon bringing him there, Mako's grandmother Yin swoons upon seeing Wu, who desperately runs to find a bathroom, having been unable to relieve himself all day.
Bolin and Varrick's group, having left the border behind, reaches the shore of the Mo Ce Sea. Bolin apologizes to the escapees for what Kuvira has done to them, and Ahnah offers to give him and Varrick a boat ride north, toward Republic City. Varrick, noting the dingy, rickety-looking boat they are using, initially declines the offer, but a nudge from Bolin prompts him to change his statement.
Having traveled with a portion of the army to the Foggy Swamp, Baatar Jr. uses a probe to test the spirit vines of the banyan-grove tree, and determines that they are more powerful than the samples taken from Republic City. When he relays this information to Kuvira, who stands near him, she orders her men, equipped with mecha suits, to harvest every last vine, leaving nothing behind.
== Credits ==
* Written by:
** Michael Dante DiMartino
* Directed by:
** Colin Heck
* Starring:
** Janet Varney - Korra
** David Faustino - Mako
** P. J. Byrne - Bolin
** J. K. Simmons - Tenzin
** Seychelle Gabriel - Asami
** Zelda Williams - Kuvira
** Logan Wells - Meelo
** Jeff Bennett
*** Radio broadcaster
*** Head soldier
* Also starring:
** John Michael Higgins - Varrick
** Sunil Malhotra - Wu
** Susan Silo - Yin
** Richard Riehle - Bumi
** Alyson Stoner - Opal
** Todd Haberkorn - Baatar Jr
** Steve Blum - Baraz
** Nika Futterman - Ahnah
** Jim Meskimen
*** Train conductor
*** Guard post soldier
*** Bathroom attendant
** Dee Bradley Baker
*** Naga
*** Pabu
*** Poki
*** Bumju
*** Pepper
*** Sugar glider
== Production notes ==
=== Transcript ===
=== Translations ===
=== Series continuity ===
* Mako learns that Korra wrote to Asami during her time away from Republic City, something Korra asked Asami not to disclose to him in "Korra Alone".
* Asami reveals to Korra and Mako that she is attempting to reconnect with her father and visited him in prison in "Enemy at the Gates".
* Varrick recalls how Zhu Li carried him for twenty miles a day after they escaped Republic City in "Light in the Dark".
* Varrick reiterates that Bolin is a natural speaker, the reason for which he made the earthbender a mover star in "Peacekeepers".
* Korra recalls learning how to detect spiritual energies by harnessing the power of the spirit vines, a technique she learned from Toph Beifong in "The Calling".
=== Character revelations ===
* Asami helped build some of the new roads in Republic City.
* Yin and her family have been living at the Sato estate since 171 AG.
* Kuvira has been purging settlements in the Earth Empire and imprisoning citizens who are not of Earth Kingdom descent.
* Korra is able to track individuals by sensing their energies through her surroundings.
=== Goofs ===
* When Asami kicks at the agent atop the train roof, the tips of her shoes are no longer colored a darker gray.
=== Trivia ===
* This is Bumi's last speaking role in the series.
* When Varrick says he fought off six wolfbats, he makes a hand gesture with his thumb and his pinky extended. This is the Chinese number gesture for six.
* The device Varrick disassembles to make his EMP emitter is the same one on the magazine Asami was reading in the beginning of the episode.
* In the original storyboard, Asami was reading a fashion magazine featuring Ginger on the back cover advertisement. This was later changed to an advertisement in an engineering magazine for female Future Industries applicants to showcase Asami's interest in science-related fields.DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan; Wynn, Benjamin & Tanchum, Aran (March 10, 2015). "Reunion" commentary. Book Four: Balance Blu-ray.
* This is the fourth episode in The Legend of Korra whose title is only one word, the others being "Endgame", "Peacekeepers", "Rebirth", and "Remembrances". Avatar: The Last Airbender contained only two episodes like this: "Imprisoned", and "Jet".
== References ==
de:Wieder vereint
es:Reunión
fi:Reunion
fr:Réunion
nl:Korra:Reunion
pl:Spotkanie
ru:Воссоединение
Category:A to Z
Category:Book Four: Balance
Category:Episodes of The Legend of Korra
Category:Real world