I know folks probably don't read this stuff anymore, but I really love the show and didn't watch it till this year.
Book 1 is mostly okay, though I would adjust some of it to make the nonbender revolution have a bit more complexity beyond just Amon's side. I'd also take out the damn love triangle. (Mako and Korra have literally no chemistry; it's basically like a crush she has and it fails spectacularly in book 2, but it takes way too long in book 2 for the damn thing to end. ugh.)
Book 2 sucked. It nearly killed the show. The plot meanders, it's not cohesive, the motivations of the characters are confusing, and then it threw in the Raava/Vaatu stuff into the middle of the season with very little foreshadowing. It wasn't put together well at all. The only well written part was Tenzin and his family at the Air Temple. I wrote a post about everything that was wrong with it. I have never met a single person that liked that season.
So fuck it, I rewrote it. (Wrote a post about it earlier). I'm about 1/4 of the way through what I have planned: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45387310?view_full_work=true
More chapters to come! Please read and leave a comment on what you enjoyed and what confused you! Honestly, i wish i had more feedback. I also wish i had a beta reader. I guess that's what I get for writing fanfiction for an animated show that's this old. oh well. : / Below is just me analyzing character motivations and arcs and the intersection of spirit and civil war plotlines. I dumped it here as notes for myself mostly. Whether my notes to myself makes sense to others, who knows.
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I incorporated Avatar Wan visions from the get-go, but I cut up his story and timed them to correspond to certain actions Korra is doing. These are clues to guide her (which she fails to understand at first, but Asami acts as her reflection foil to help her see the pattern). Korra's journey here is twofold: she needs to sort through the visions and what the spirits need to restore their balance AND she needs to find a way to resolve the Civil War, which has its roots in the troubles with the spirits and long-standing anger at the North for their actions in One Hundred Year War and Southern Reconstruction Project. Korra's journey here also will help her reconnect with her people, learn how to balance spirits, and unveil through each vision the truth about Raava/Vaatu. I wanted to mirror the visions with Korra's actions because there's some interesting parallels there, which would have made a great way to dish out Wan's story slowly to add to the mystery and clue-finding. (For example: Wan goes up against authority figure and rebels against them. Korra, on the other hand, ends up siding with the authority figure of her uncle at first but eventually rebels. Wan learns how to befriend and work with spirits; Korra must learn this too. Wan makes a grave mistake that unbalances the world; Korra does as well during the time she is following her uncle. Wan must hold himself accountable and engage in repair; Korra must do this as well in order to resolve the spirit/Civil War crises. Wan confronts Vaatu and resolves that crisis by imprisoning him; Korra must do the same, but the way she resolves it will differ from Wan's significantly. She'll take the knowledge from him and all that she's learned up to this point, to try a new path forward.)
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Chief Unalaq will also explain in depth how he even knows of these portals (hint: he found the Northern one, did research and meditating into spirit world to find out how to open them by visiting Wan Shi Tong's library. He's not evil/power-hungry, just misguided about how he thinks the world should be "balanced" and ends up corrupted by his own zealotry.) Also, Chief Unalaq's actions to try to bring about his version of harmony intensifies the corruption of spirits (leading to Vaatu's release) AND intensifies the Civil War. The weapons used in the Civil War - any of the war machines for example - will increase spirit attacks, which will require Team Avatar to decide whether to split forces: Korra to go to confront Chief Unalaq and Asami to sabotage the tech angering the spirits and intensifying the bloodshed.
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I gave Bolin and Mako things to do that will test their resolve and loyalty. Bolin is too trusting. He is in an abusive relationship with the Northern princess, and Varrick takes advantage of that to get data on guards at palace for his grand plan. Bolin will need to face the consequences of his helping Varrick. He'll also safely get out of his abusive relationship and Korra and Asami will be a solid support to help him heal (Mako will too but he has to work through shit before he's capable of that). Bolin learns how to stand up for himself with Varrick, thanks to the support of his friends and his growth in the rewrite.
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Mako's motivations are difficult to pin down as the show wrote him as Mr. McBlandness. Even in Book 1 most of his character arc is being indecisive about who to date. It's a boring arc. So I'm rewriting his motivations: Mako's indecision is him not understanding who he is or what he actually believes, he tends to be a follower mostly, but he has to learn how to take accountability, engage in repair, and discover what he actually believes. To show this and his journey here, I put him as siding with Chief Unalaq at first, because he views the Chief's authority as valid, the need to keep the peace - even if troops are used at first - as valid, and believes Unalaq's words about seeking to avoid bloodshed. But his stance is shaken by the events of the Civil War and the sham trial of Korra's father. This forces him into an identity/belief crisis, where he questions his beliefs and what are the lines that shouldn't be crossed if he is to stay true to justice and Korra's mission of harmony.
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Korra breaks up with Mako right away because their relationship was nothing but endless fights. Mako doesn't seem to even try to understand Korra, spends most of it just trying to convince her to understand other's viewpoints, which isn't what she needs. So I put their breakup way sooner because it bogs down the plot. I also want it out of the way because the real chemistry is between Korra and Asami, and I want to lay the foundation of their closeness in Book 3 (come on, Asami gifts her an airship right away? Crush much?). There is no more love triangle - that's cut entirely as it made no sense and muddled the plot. Also, the entirety of book 3 - Korra and Asami are totally gay for each other; all the things they do together, the fact Korra outright flirts with her a few times, and so forth. It's so damn cute, but I wanna lay the foundation for that.
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In regards to Asami -- she had the potential for a really interesting complex arc and the original book 2 kind of screwed her over so that's being fixed. She'll play the role of reflection foil to Korra. First off: Asami has a strong friendship with Pema and her family. The kids adore her, and they basically treat her like part of their family. She's not completely alone, and I don't know why the book 2 mostly shows her only concerned about her company as if that's all she has. It's not. For Asami's story arc: Asami must deal with the big issue of what to do with the weapons of war her father made that's a large part of her company stock still. While helping Korra with figuring out the needs of the spirits, she'll come face to face with the ways certain technology can harm to the spirits, which in turn incites their rage toward humans. She will need to make a choice whether to go through with the deal with Varrick - who wants her to sell her stock to his people to further the war - or to not go through with it. If she doesn't, she could lose her company for good. If she does, she could prolong the war and anger the spirits, intensifying the problems in the South.
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Tenzin and his family's story arc at the Air Temples stays the same. That's actually well written ironically. The only difference is how Korra will return to Tenzin and how the meditation into the spirit world will go with Jinora. I haven't sorted out how to write this because I have to be very careful to not pull full text from the show as it could violate copyright, so I may write around these scenes to imply the book 2 original scenes here did happen. I haven't sorted that out yet though.
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The Civil War breaks out in earnest, thanks to Varrick mostly. But Korra's father will still go on trial and take the fall despite him having nothing to do with it. (This incident will correspond to a moment in Wan's life, so Korra will have another vision). The results of this trial will cause protests in the streets. What Team Avatar witnesses regarding how Chief Unalaq deals with the protests will force them to rethink where they stand. The dark spirits will intensify this because of the weaponry that will find its way into some of the rebels' hands, and this will damage major sections of Wolf's Cove (particularly the gaudy ferris wheel and industrial sector). Through Korra and Asami's actions, the remnants of the Southerners spiritual side will come to the aid of the rebels in dealing with the dark spirits.
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Tonraq needs to confront his past, learn to trust Korra, and decide if he will take the leadership of the Southerner resistance. Through his journey, he must learn how to work with the spirits (with the help of those Southerners that do retain some of their spiritual heritage that Asami and Korra will find) in order to protect his people from them so they can focus on the Northerners' attacks.
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Varrick's motivations in the original book 2 are pure greed. He wants to keep his business flowing without any disruptions. The problem in book 2 for Varrick is he suffers no consequences for his actions. None. Hell, even his jail cell is set up like an apartment almost. Ugh. So I want him to face some consequences. He's set up as an uncaring narcissist, so him suddenly having a conscience about lines in the sand he won't cross makes no sense in book 4. So that needs set up somewhere and I figured some consequences in book 2 would have pushed him toward that path.
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Raava versus Vaatu story line: this feels too much like good versus evil which fails on so many counts. I think it would be truer to the roots of the Avatar Universe to build up toward a balancing between the two, where it's not that Raava wins over Vaatu, but Korra stops the permanent fusion of Vaatu and Unalaq to avoid a dark avatar, which would lead to permanent war between light avatar and dark avatar. Instead, Vaatu and Raava are both within Korra - one spiritually balanced avatar. Vaatu is the symbol of change/chaos. Raava is the symbol of harmony/order. The two need reconciled for the spirit world to be truly balanced (which will aid in balancing the physical world).
How Team Avatar solves this is probably where I'm going to have the most fun in the rewrite. I have it mapped out in my head, and it's going to lead to an epic battle that involves spirits on one end, and the Civil War fighting on the other, where both are entangled in the other. That's how it ought to have been.