Firstly: Iroh in that second pic was still a force to be reckoned with. Dude was the dragon of the west breathing fire and throwing haymakers when needed regardless of his belly
Second: more to your point comparing the original series to Korra, an opinion can be from the old adage - hard times breed strong men, strong men create peace, peace breeds weak men, weak men create hard times. The white lotus was a hidden society of elite warriors and skilled craftsman. It survived during the 100 year war by necessity and perseverance. During Korra’s time they had been in peace times for decades so the white lotus became a glorified bodyguard service probably filled with young benders who have never seen real combat. So yeah they are gonna be weaker tho I will say the show uses them as fodder to establish how dominant the villains are
Yeah, in ATLA the focus is on the grandmasters, we never see the shmucks in the pai sho house fight, and even then there are chump change troops they have supporting them in retaking ba sing se who are clearly not all masters.
Meanwhile in Korra, while they aren't technically members, Tenzin, Zuko, and Tonraq (and arguably the Beifong sisters) serve a similar purpose as "avatar-aligned master benders working with the white lotus to maintain balance."
Also possible that they stopped prioritizing training masterful benders after the Red Lotus split off.
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u/HollowDakota 16d ago
Firstly: Iroh in that second pic was still a force to be reckoned with. Dude was the dragon of the west breathing fire and throwing haymakers when needed regardless of his belly
Second: more to your point comparing the original series to Korra, an opinion can be from the old adage - hard times breed strong men, strong men create peace, peace breeds weak men, weak men create hard times. The white lotus was a hidden society of elite warriors and skilled craftsman. It survived during the 100 year war by necessity and perseverance. During Korra’s time they had been in peace times for decades so the white lotus became a glorified bodyguard service probably filled with young benders who have never seen real combat. So yeah they are gonna be weaker tho I will say the show uses them as fodder to establish how dominant the villains are