| "Back on Avatar, the first series, fans were like 'Wait there's one more book, there needs to be air'. We were always like, well Aang had already mastered air, each season was about what the Avatar was trying to master. When we came up with the character of Korra, it was the perfect opportunity to have that book, you know, and not be redundant for Aang." |
| — Bryan Konietzko about Book One: Air.[1] |
The cover of the DVD box set for Book One: Air features Team Avatar, with Korra in the foreground.
Book One: Air (气) is the first book of the first season of The Legend of Korra, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The nomenclature refers to the Avatar Cycle: water, earth, fire, and air. The primary focus of the season is Korra's attempts to learn airbending from Tenzin while defending Republic City from the Equalist revolt, led by the masked Amon.
The season began on March 24, 2012, with the online airing of "Welcome to Republic City" and "A Leaf in the Wind", and ended at twelve episodes on June 23 of that year with "Skeletons in the Closet" and "Endgame". It was followed by Book Two: Spirits, which began airing on television in September 13, 2013.
| Chapter | Episode | Episode name | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01 | "Welcome to Republic City" | March 24, 2012 (online)
April 14, 2012 (television) |
| 2 | 02 | "A Leaf in the Wind" | March 24, 2012 (online)
April 14, 2012 (television) |
| 3 | 03 | "The Revelation" | April 21, 2012 |
| 4 | 04 | "The Voice in the Night" | April 28, 2012 |
| 5 | 05 | "The Spirit of Competition" | May 5, 2012 |
| 6 | 06 | "And the Winner Is..." | May 12, 2012 |
| 7 | 07 | "The Aftermath" | May 19, 2012 |
| 8 | 08 | "When Extremes Meet" | June 2, 2012 |
| 9 | 09 | "Out of the Past" | June 9, 2012 |
| 10 | 10 | "Turning the Tides" | June 16, 2012 |
| 11 | 11 | "Skeletons in the Closet" | June 23, 2012 |
| 12 | 12 | "Endgame" | June 23, 2012 |
The episodes were released on individual box sets of DVD and Blu-ray on July 9, 2013.
| Volume title | Episodes | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Book One: Air (DVD) | All episodes of Book One | July 9, 2013 |
| Book One: Air (Blu-ray) | All episodes of Book One | July 9, 2013 |
Trivia
- One of the most prominent references and inspirations for Book One was Shorpy.com, which gave the creators a glimpse of what child factory workers had to deal with in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This time period correlated with their use of "street urchins" in Republic City.[2]
- The first two episodes were released online before airing on television.
- Nicktoons reaired Book One in July 2012 under the name Korra: Making of a Legend, with commentaries added from the creators of the show.
- The first two episodes were the most watched of the book, reaching 4.55 million viewers in the U.S.
- The Legend of Korra was originally intended to only consist of Book One, but the series was ultimately extended to four books. Additionally, this book has the least episodes, or chapters, across both series.[3]
References
- ↑ Commentary for Making of a Legend, "A Leaf in the Wind".
- ↑ The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book One: Air, page 62.
- ↑ Christopher John Farley (March 8, 2011). The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra: The Creators Speak. Speakeasy. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on March 8, 2011.
