Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Legend of the Korra: Ruins of the Empire #2, by Michael Dante DiMartino, Michelle Wong, Killian Ng, and Rachel Deering, on sale now.
The most recent installment of The Legend of Korra comic series reintroduced a concept not touched upon since the second season of its parent series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. After briefly being introduced in that series, brainwashing is already making major waves for Korra and her friends again.
First introduced as a prolonged technique used by the Dai Li, the brainwashing process was used to instill and maintain order in the city of Ba Sing Se during the Great War. The Dai Li were primarily responsible for keeping any public discussion or knowledge of the war outside the walled city from propagating, and their brainwashing technique helped turn dissenters and rabble-rousers into mindless drones in service of their cause.
From the moment they hear the trigger words "The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai," the victims of the brainwashing process were subjected to the Dai Li's repeated propaganda as a hypnotic light circled their head. The process was so effective that it turned the Avatar's friend, Jet, into a pawn who fought his former friends. Luckily, Jet came to his senses and snapped out of the brainwashing.
Unluckily for Korra, the process has been refined since then. Combined with the latest in the technological advancements that took place in the ensuing 50 years since Jet's brainwashing, the process' reappeared in Ruins of the Empire deadlier than ever. While it was explained that the Dai Li's process was rediscovered and its former flaws were recognized, the machinery that manipulates magnetic fields around a subject makes it far more efficient than it ever was before.
In a matter of moments Korra's dear friend Mako and significant other Asami are turned against the Avatar. Told to hate their dear companion, Mako and Asami become helpless to resist the brainwashing and even physically combat Korra without the slightest hint of turning back to the side of good. Unlike Jet, knocking sense back into the pair may be far more complicated than just trying to remind them of who they are.
The two weren't the sole subjects of the process, either. With an election upcoming to decide a governorship within the Earth Kingdom, more and more people are reduced to repeating slogans and platitudes clearly brainwashed into them. In continuing the Avatar comics' trend of politically-charged storytelling, Ruins of an Empire complicates the idea of just what a democracy looks like when free will starts to disappear.
As a further threat to democracy, the issue's end saw the abduction of the former Earth King Wu. Since democracy is only a fledgling concept in the world of Avatar, the idea does get proposed that Wu could retake political control of the Kingdom be using his immense public support for a good cause. However, the possibility that Wu himself would lose his free will to the brainwashing process makes the hopes for freedom throughout the Earth Kingdom look pretty dire.
The last part of the story arc is not set to appear until the end of February, so fans will have to wait for a little while before learning what happens next. The recent move to reintegrate brainwashing into the world of Legend of Korra gives the sequel series the opportunity to greatly expand on concepts on briefly touched on before, and as the story draws toward a conclusion there's no telling just what shape that growth could take.
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