The characters in The Legend of Korra often find themselves in complicated situations which often turn into some pretty dire straits. While Team Avatar doesn’t really have a particular proclivity for risk-taking, it seems like they are inexorably drawn towards conflict, willingly or otherwise.
Unsurprisingly, there are more than a few cases when Korra characters have come dangerously close to dying (but don’t). Their survival is mostly due to nearby allies and perfect timing, but the serendipity of plot armor plays just as large of a role in keeping them safe. Killing fan favorites just to prove a point will not work in Korra.
10 Tonraq Is Caught At The Last Second By Kuvira
Before Korra is abducted by the Red Lotus, Tonraq attempts to rescue her, managing to sever Zaheer’s only escape route in the process. Despite his considerable Waterbending skills, Tonraq is unable to best his Airbending opponent and is cast off the precipice edge.
The Avatar believes that her father is dead, a natural assumption given the altitude, but it’s later revealed that Kuvira had saved him in the nick of time.
9 Bumi Activates His Airbending Before Hitting The Ground
Harmonic Convergence restores the world’s elemental balance by randomly disseminating Airbending “genes” to people around the world, one of whom happens to be Aang’s firstborn son. Until that point, he was a nonbender.
Bumi discovers this ability at the point of near-death: before being dashed into the rocks below him, he triggers a jet of air from his palms to soften the blow. Nobody believes him, of course, until Meelo flings a plate at Bumi like a high-speed frisbee.
8 Asami Sato Survives Because Of Her Father’s Sacrifice
Asami has just begun to forgive her father for his earlier mistakes when Kuvira’s forces reach Republic City, forcing both of them to change priorities. Hiroshi helps his daughter repair their hummingbird suits and they eventually tag-team in order to create a point of entry on the seemingly indestructible platinum mech.
Asami tells Hiroshi to abandon the mission and regroup, but he merely ejects her from the hummingbird to save her life. It’s unfortunate that he dies on the spot, but his sacrifice doesn’t go unrecognized.
7 The Red Lotus Injects Korra With Mercury
Zaheer intends to activate the Avatar State by injecting Korra with mercury, correctly predicting that her death in that condition would destroy the Avatar Cycle permanently. However, the Red Lotus is far from equipped to deal with an enraged Korra in the Avatar State.
She immediately escapes and attacks Zaheer with her full strength. She is, however, not capable of resisting both the mercury’s debilitating effects and her enemy’s overwhelming power and would have been killed if not for Jinora and the others.
6 Tenzin’s 4-On-1 Battle At The Northern Air Temple
Although a vocal proponent of peace and nonviolence, Tenzin can channel the combat aspects of Airbending when his loved ones are in danger. In fact, he would have been able to best Zaheer’s newly discovered talents without exerting much effort if their match had been a one-on-one fight.
Tenzin impressively fights Ghazan, Ming-Hua, and P’li at the same time, all of whom succeed in overpowering him together. The Red Lotus chooses not to kill the master Airbender, using him to lay a trap for his allies instead.
5 Bolin, Mako, Asami, And Tenzin Are Caught Between Lava And A Cliff
Mako, Bolin, and Asami are surrounded by Ghazan’s lava, but Tenzin informs them of a hidden path that would let them avoid a fiery death. Bolin Earthbends a way through the mountain, but the bubbling river of lava chases after them with incredible speed.
In the end, the four of them are faced with two choices – burn to cinders or jump off the mountain and take their chances on the way down. Bolin instinctively tries to stop the lava, an act of heroism that rewards him with a fantastic new ability.
4 Kuvira Would Have Been Vaporized By The Spirit Cannon
Korra gradually overwhelms Kuvira in their final battle, but the Great Uniter simply refuses to back down from her ideological high horse. When the Avatar tells her opponent to give herself up, Kuvira attacks her and disappears into Republic City’s Spirit Wilds.
In the jungle, she discovers the still-functioning Spirit Cannon and shoots it at Korra. The resulting energy blast would have vaporized Kuvira, but Korra manages to deflect it (inadvertently generating a new Spirit Portal).
3 Mako Lightningbends Into The Platinum Mech’s Core
Bolin and Mako sneak into the platinum mech’s generator room and defeat the benders stationed there. They attempt to shut the suit off according to Baatar Jr.’s specific code, but the levers fail to work as expected.
Mako asks his brother to leave the area so he could use Lightningbending to overcharge the mech core and destroy it. He nearly dies while doing so, but Bolin comes back and carries the unconscious Mako to safety.
2 P’Li Nearly Blows Lin Beifong To Bits
As the Chief of Republic City’s Police Department, Lin Beifong has had her share of close shaves, but the closest one is when she faces P’Li atop Laghima’s Peak.
Despite fighting with her younger sister, Suyin, she is pushed back by the sheer force and deadly precision of Combustionbending. However, when P’li is about to blast Lin to pieces, Suyin jumps out with a flawlessly timed Metalbending attack that saves both sisters.
1 Jinora Is Held Hostage In The Spirit World
Wan Shi Tong betrays Jinora to Unalaq, who then kidnaps her with the help of a dark spirit. He orders Korra to unlock the Northern portal by jeopardizing the stability of Jinora’s soul, which remains in the Spirit World for the next several days.
Kya and Katara desperately try to maintain the child’s physical form in preparation for the return of her spirit. Fortunately, Jinora returns to her body before it’s too late.
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