Towards the beginning of Book 1 of The Legend of Korra, we were informed that Mako and Bolin had lost their parents to a firebending mugger at very young ages. But after this was mentioned, it was never really touched upon again throughout the course of Book 1. Mike and Bryan kind of set that story to the side and continued with the main focus: the Equalist Regime. But I can understand why they chose not to talk about the death of Mako and Bolin’s parent in Book 1. Fitting so many dynamic storylines in 12 episodes is a nearly impossible task. But either way, this is still no excuses to completely scrap the idea all together.

At some point in the series, I expect Mike and Bryan to at least revisit the death again. In reality, it’s actually an extremely important scene in the series as a whole, and by not revisiting it, Mike and Bryan could severally delay the character development of Mako and Bolin. But I have faith in Mike and Bryan to talk about the death at some point. In fact, I’m expecting a flashback of the death sometime during the course of Book 2.

The death of Mako and Bolin’s parents is extremely important because it essentially molded the characters into what they are now. When Mako and Bolin lost their parents, they were 8 and 6, respectively. Living alone and caring for themselves is what made them who they are now. And if Mike and Bryan choose not to show the main cause of Mako and Bolin’s poverty, it could be detrimental to their overall character development.

But Mike and Bryan are too smart to make a mistake like this. They know how important this scene would be to implement more character development. Mako and Bolin – Mako specifically – lacked character development in Book 1. By the end of Book 1, Mako was the guy with the bad attitude and Bolin was the guy that cracked jokes and got teary eyed when his feelings got hurt. Characters generally have much more depth than this, and that’s why The Legend of Korra will consist of four books.

But in order to fully start the character development of Mako and Bolin, we need to see that drastic event that changed their lives forever. If we see that event, it could open the door to so many other character developmental flashbacks. We could see Mako and Bolin while they’re fighting poverty. We could see them working for the Triads in order to obtain money. And before you know it, we’d see the characters entire lives in a matter of a few episodes.

This one important scene could be responsible for opening the door to understanding Mako and Bolin’s character in an unimaginable amount of depth.

In the end, it’s all about character development. It’s fairly obvious that Mike and Bryan plan on developing their characters significantly more in Book 2 of The Legend of Korra. I’ve already talked about what I expect to see from Asami’s character in Book 2. By including the scene of Mako and Bolin’s parents’ death, Mike and Bryan would take another huge step in the process of developing these two very important characters.

If Mike and Bryan do decide to take this step in Book 2, I think Mako and Bolin – Mako specifically – will be even more likable than they already are.

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Filed under: Opinion, Speculation