Actually...I hadn't been thinking of how Korra was raised when I made that last comment. The White Lotus who taught her aren't even alive anymore, which is why I discounted this thread, but yeah. The real explanation is that the White Lotus culture dictates that they only pay lip service to Korra being in charge. As far as they are concerned they're the oligarchy that runs Diqiu and the Avatar is their catspaw. I'm sure Jinora is partially aware of that but certainly not to this extent.

>
>The point is, there have always been those who have been convinced
>they know better than Korra does what she ought to be doing (and often
>with whom and for what reasons, as well). Not just in the White
>Lotus, as such - she got a bunch of that from Tenzin, too, as a
>teenager. He wised up eventually, and she thought the White Lotus had
>too. To say that she's disappointed by their recent performance is to
>undersell the point somewhat spectacularly. If you count the Tenneq
>conspiracy as a separate event, this incident marks at least the
>fourth time in her life that the White Lotus Society has failed her
>utterly and catastrophically at a critical moment.
>
>There will be consequences.

The wedding invitation episode was a zephyr in a corner compared to what they have earned now. Now it's more like a thousand-pound block of sulfur in a lake.

>
>>What -really- puzzles me
>>is why they thought their White Lotus oath obligated them to -not-
>>listen to Jinora! Cheong could waffle all he likes about serving the
>>office rather than Korra, he still can't explain away that.
>
>If this were a conversation that was happening at some point before
>the Battle of Fort Tonraq, Cheong would patiently explain to you that
>- while the Apsara Lama is a noble and generally wise woman - she's
>very old, she's out of touch with the needs and dangers of this
>complicated and difficult new era in which the world finds itself, and
>she's too attached to the Avatar personally to view the matter in a
>detached and rational manner. She's been letting Korra's cavalier
>attitude slide for her entire long and otherwise distinguished life,
>and it would be unrealistic to expect that to change now.

The natural response, of course, is to tell him to go bring it up to the council and try to have her voted out. But we all know the truth. A different leader might see through their schemes.

>
>>Obviously, the White Lotus being run by an Air Nomad, the traitors
>>will not be looking at capital punishment. And yet, what else fits?
>
>They could try life imprisonment without any semblance of due process.
> That's always worked for the White Lotus before!*
>
>* That has NEVER worked for the White Lotus
>before.

Sure didn't work when they tried it on Korra.

>
>>They invited demons--literally DEMONS--to a secure compound in a
>>secure pocket plane for the express purpose of capturing members of
>>the Avatar's family.
>
>In fairness, they had no way of knowing about the "demons" part and
>wouldn't have believed it if somebody told them.
>Dìqiú's modern cosmology doesn't even really have
>things like that. Dark spirits, sure, but demons? That's
>pre-War Fire Nation paganism crap, they don't even believe that in
>the Fire Nation any more.

Oh, agreed. Nevertheless, that's what happened, and it's sure to come up at the trial.

>
>Also, I don't think the "family" part really entered into Cheong's
>calculations either. They are, after all, manifestly not
>family members in a strictly definitional sense.

And yet Cheong knew how much emotional investment Korra had in them; it's the whole reason this happened. You're right, though, that wouldn't fly in court the same way.

>
>>What blows my mind about this is how they thought
>>Korra wouldn't find out what happened after the fact, even if
>>everything had gone according to plan!
>
>If everything had gone according to plan, at least by Cheong's
>calculations, it wouldn't matter if Korra knew - or, rather, her
>knowing that the Lotus had arranged for her visitors to stop
>overstaying their welcome would've been part of the plan.
>Cheong has - or had - a great faith in the persuasive power of the
>fait accompli. Surely once they've gone back to wherever they
>came from, she'll realize what a disruptive distraction their hanging
>around has been and get back to proper business.

I have to wonder if Cheong really grasped the true extra-Diqiu nature of Korra's powers. If they're elsewhere, especially in durance vile, she's just -go there- and rescue them. Or at least try. But...hm. Perhaps that White Lotus culture I spoke of earlier really twisted him.

>
>>Speaking of Oriphos, there's two presences still unaccounted for.
>>Saionji has finally touched on his real purpose for being there, and
>>rescuing Touga (physically and mentally) appeared to be one. Nanami, I
>>assume, was another. But what's going on with Mia?
>
>You'll find out.

Awesome. Mia Ausa has been unexplained (other than the Rangers having a job for her) for a very, very long time.

>
>>It may be silly of me, but I almost hope Leyna Tarrant ends up giving
>>up her hate instead of fighting to the end. Obviously Anakin has
>>contempt for her now, but I'm not sure if it's because she didn't care
>>if she lived or because her hate is all out of proportion to what
>>happened to her.
>
>The reasons for Anakin's reaction are touched on briefly in that same
>scene. Like her, he has something that he hates with a passion that
>defies any sense of proportion, but in Anakin's case, it's kidnappers
>and slavers - what we might call "human traffickers" in modern
>real-world parlance. He and Saionji knew when they arrived what the
>real objective of the Black Rose mission was (how, we'll get into
>later), and he assumes that Leyna did too - which makes her complicit,
>which, in his eyes, makes her lower than snakeshit, QE-effin-D.

Ohhh. It was late, I didn't pick up on the 'These guys are -enslaving- people' angle right away. Truth is, Leyna's hatred is moronic. He's got hundreds of years on her, not like it's her fault he whooped her. There's a crack in that emotional armor, and if Anakin learns a little emotional deftness (or Saionji shows them both) that crack could be pried wide open.

>
>So he saves her life, because that's what you do, and then he
>completely shuts her off, because that's what he has to do to live
>with having saved someone who would be part of such a scheme. For all
>that various efforts have been made to impress a nuanced complexity
>upon him, Anakin Skywalker is really a fairly simple soul.

He really kinda is. I have a coworker like that.

>
>>Now, I can't help but think about celestial politics for a minute
>>here. So far this event involved the kidnapping of Odin Winterbeard's
>>great granddaughter. By demons who by their covenant shouldn't be able
>>to affect the mortal world directly. From where I stand, that seems
>>like two legitimate reasons Asgard can step into this matter and not
>>violate the agreement.
>
>I can't speak to this at the moment, but hang onto that, you might
>want it for reference later.
>
>>Lin Beifong's presence (with a Valkyrie insignia!)
>
>Oh good, I was hoping someone would spot that. Good old no-longer-old
>Lin. We'll be seeing her again next time.

Oh hell yes, I spotted that. I never forgot the Valkyries' description back in the day, where they were investigating (when they weren't acting like a victorious sports team) back at the end of Endgame. Lin is a badass, no doubt a lot more attractive when younger than in LoK, and she's a genuine veteran cop. Perfect Valkyrie material if you need someone to investigate things.

Hadn't thought about what she could do to a prisoner in a STONE cell, though. Yikes.

>
>>I had a crazy thought, though. Anyone ever seen the Incredibles?
>>That's a gifted little girl there, she is...
>
>If you're alluding to Jack-Jack, I'm pretty sure he's a boy. :)

I was, but I'm well aware of that. I'm saying Annabelle is a future badass baby and had a comical thought of her opening up a junior-size can of whoopass on Akio from the crib.

I am in no way expecting or even endorsing that. I just thought the image was funny.

--------

Thy life is a riddle, to bear rapture and sorrow
To listen, to suffer, to entrust unto tomorrow
In one fleeting moment, from the Land doth life flow
Yet in one fleeting moment, for anew it doth grow
In the same fleeting moment thou must live, die and know