One of the most interesting aspects of The Legend of Korra was something that viewers saw in the first few episodes, Pro-bending. Pro-bending was a popular sport in Republic City. In a match of Pro-bending, each side has a Fire, Water and Earth-bender on their side. From there, they duke it out in the arena, trying to send their opponents flying off the stage. Pro-bending was a really interesting concept, and if would have been fascinating if it had been explored further. But was it really worth the investment?
10 More Pro-Bending: It Completely Went Away
One really upsetting factor of Pro-bending is the fact that it went away so quickly. By the time that season three had rolled around, it was more or less a non-entity on the show. This is a shame, because as the series progressed there were plot points that we'll get into a bit later that could have really changed how Pro-bending worked as a whole. Instead, it was just sent away.
9 We Got Enough: It Stopped Servicing The Story
It is important to note, however, that by that point, there wasn't really all that much of a need for Pro-bending anymore. The scope of the show had grown out of Republic City, and there wasn't as much time for the sport to make an appearance as there had been in the past. But does that mean that it should have just been outright eliminated?
8 More Pro-Bending: There Was Room For So Much More
No, it really doesn't. Just because the show had grown to a new scale doesn't mean that Pro-bending had to be done away with. It could have grown with the show.
Maybe Pro-bending could have expanded out of Republic City. Perhaps new variations of the sport could have popped up. There were plenty of ways it could had grown with the story.
7 We Got Enough: The Whole Thing Got A Bit Stale
That's part of the problem with Pro-bending, however. Things started to feel a bit samey. The gang would fight the same battles and win or lose depending on what the story needed that episode. Pro-bending really did need a little something to spice things back up and make it interesting. But whatever could that have been?
6 More Pro-Bending: The Airbenders
The introduction of air-benders back into the world could have been absolutely huge for the Pro-bending scene. While air-benders are generally a lot more passive than other benders, there were likely still plenty that would have been willing to join the fight. Would the rules be adjusted to allow four members per team, or would you only be allowed to choose three elements for your side of the battle? The possibilities are endless.
5 We Got Enough: We Already Saw The Avatar Play
Does it really get any better than watching the Avatar pro-bend? No, it doesn't. Korra joined the Pro-bending scene very early on in the show's run, and you can't get more power on your side than that. After Korra left the arena, the only way that things could go, at least power-wise, was down.
4 More Pro-Bending: The Announcer
Shiro Shinobi is an absolute king, and when he wasn't commentating Pro-bending matches, he was known for recapping the opening reel in The Legend of Korra.
He was one of the best parts of the Pro-bending matches. His razor-sharp commentary was always a blast to listen to. We should have gotten to see more pro-bending for that reason alone.
3 We Got Enough: It Might Not Be Great Seperated From The Story
One of the factors that made Pro-bending so compelling is the fact that it was always tied into the story of The Legend of Korra. Often, the competitor's moods or feelings would affect how they were playing, for better or for worse. If Pro-bending had expanded and wasn't as tied into the story as it had been during its original run, would it still be as impactful and interesting as it had been? Or would it just have existed to exist?
2 More Pro-Bending: It's An Interesting Sport
All-in-all, Pro-bending was just super interesting from every angle. The fact that bending had been turned into a sport was an interesting concept in and of itself, and watching it all unfold on screen was so much fun. There were so many different strategies and interesting ideas that went on during Pro-bending, and it was all beautifully animated. Watching a Pro-bending match was never a bad time, you could always count on some great action to take place.
1 More Pro-Bending: Other Teams
The final reason that we needed to see more Pro-bending was due to the fact that there was an opportunity to see some really interesting teams enter the arena. We had already seen plenty of other teams sure, some kind, some on the more nefarious side, but meeting brand new interesting characters that had their own motivations during matches of Pro-bending could have been a great reason to keep the sport as an essential part of The Legend of Korra's identity.