Storytelling Toolboxes

In The A.V. Club’s review for The Legend of Korra’s seventh episode “The Aftermath,” Emily Guendelsberger notes that she appeared on a podcast about the show and that the hosts speculated that a major character (most likely Bolin) would be killed by the season’s end. Guendelsberger notes that many people forget that Korra airs on Nickelodeon on Saturday mornings, a fact many adult viewers tend to forget about. She comments on how the “target audience” limits the storytelling tools available to writers and belies that Korra’s writers can’t kill anyone.
Looking at Avatar: The Last Airbender, that certainly seems true. There were almost no onscreen deaths (if there were any), and even the two main villains made it out of the show alive. Then again, Korra has shown itself to be a much darker show than Avatar (it has already eclipsed the Ba Sing Se arc in terms of darkness), and I wouldn’t be quite as ready to rule out the chances of death. Then again, if I had to put the odds on anyone, Bolin would be completely safe. I would actually see Asami as being in the most danger. Her death could cause Hiroshi to reexamine his belief in Amon. The thought of losing Asami saddens me, because today she rocketed up my list of favorite characters. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.