The Legend of Korra/Heartwarming

Welcome to Republic City

• In the first episode, when Tenzin's kids land on the dock? Jinora is letting Meelo ride piggyback.
• The Bear Hug between Korra, Tenzin, and his kids at the end of the first episode. Also leads to a Funny Moment with Korra lifting not only the kids off of the ground, but also lifting Tenzin up with ease. Naga nuzzling them seals the deal.
• Katara smiling at Korra as she excitedly runs off after her training session in the first episode.
• Tenzin's kids calling Katara "Gran Gran".
  • Plus, Katara allowing Korra to go to Republic City, obviously remembering her grandmother letting her go on her own adventure.
• When Katara talks about her other children, she mentions that one of kids' name is Bumi. Aang named one of his sons after his best friend. Their eldest daughter, Kya, is also named after Katara's mother.

A Leaf in the Wind

• After Korra calls Tenzin a bad teacher and walks off, with Meelo imitating her and smashing things, his two little girls go and hug him.
• When restrained, unenthusiastic Tenzin, fresh off of getting VERY angry at Korra, stays behind to watch her Pro-Bending debut and cheers like a fanboy at her victory... then looks around to see if anyone saw him and slinks away awkwardly. Doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny.
• At the end of the episode Mako stares at the island while Korra stares at the city. The music and the atmosphere make the scene absolutely beautiful.
• More on the music. Korra's music and the music that seems to be setting the tone of the series is just perfect for it. But when Korra begins to use airbending movements at the fight the music changes to a callback of the previous series' music and is ultimately wonderfully nostalgic and triumphant.
• Jinora's crossing through the spinning gates. Anyone who watched the first season of The Last Airbender can tell the the girl's stance and movements are exactly like her grandfather's were. It's a truly beautiful thing to see Jinora is just as much a prodigy to airbending as Aang was.

The Revelation

• Bolin gleefully shouting "I love you!" to Mako as he's rescued.
• When it's revealed that Bolin spent a lot of money on groceries, Mako is really annoyed. But after that, and a hard day's work filled with grueling manual labor, he still gets Bolin's favorite dumplings on the way back home.
• When Korra returns to Air Temple Island, Tenzin is relieved to see her safe--and when she tells him an unlikely-yet-true story, he takes roughly two seconds before deciding that he believes her.
• Korra and Mako falling asleep against each other. The following reaction is priceless.

A Voice in the Night

• Korra wakes up from a nightmare and Naga lays her head on Korra's lap. Anyone who has ever owned a dog can vouch for this being Truth in Television. The moment is captured in gif form here.
• Asami and Mako's trip through the park at night. There's just something so sweet about her telling him that she feels safe with him, just as he feels safe with his father's scarf.
• Hiroshi Sato being willing to sponsor the Fire Ferrets. He's one of the wealthiest people in Republic City but he never forgot where he came from, and is happy to return the favor of a 'selfless loan.'
• Tenzin comforting Korra as she cries after her close encounter with Amon is the most heartwarming moment of the show so far.
  • Tenzin throughout the episode, where he pretty much sees exactly what's going on and gently tries to help and shield Korra in her struggle with her fear.
• Bolin giving Korra a cupcake and a rose as thanks for saving him from Amon, and then offering to deal with Tarrlok if he was harassing her.
• A retroactive one in which Mako explains to Asami how his Scarf of Asskicking is the only memento he has left of his father. In The Revelation, he lent it to Korra when they sneak in to the Equalist rally.

The Spirit Of Competition.

• Bolin and Korra hanging out together. Dear God, Bolin and Korra hanging out together. It's so cute, funny, and wonderful at the same time. Everything from them punking the Wolfbats at the restaurant, to their enjoying the view of the city in winter from one of the tower landmarks, to the burping contest that leaves the other restaurant patrons agape in disbelief at both of them! That sound you're hearing is the collective squeeing of all the Bolin/Korra shippers out there.
  • Heck, even fans who see them as Bros in a Bromance and Mako/Korra shippers love that sequence!
    • Everything Bolin does is so often Played for Laughs, which just amplifies the sweetness of the moment when Bolin's face softens as he watches Korra absorb the view at the end of this date sequence. It's a little moment, but one of this troper's favorites in the entire episode.
• Mako and Bolin in the aftermath of the Makorra kiss. Sweet Jesus. Bolin is drunk off his ass on Water Tribe noodles, and Mako knows exactly where he is and picks him up to carry him home. That's brotherly love for you.
• The Fire Ferrets realize that maybe romantic tensions have yet to be resolved, but life goes on and they can still be friends.
• Bolin and Mako making up.

Mako: "Are you okay? How's your shoulder"
Bolin: "It's messed up pretty bad...But yeah. I think I'll be all right."
Bolin: "Are we...gonna be all right?"
Mako: "Of course we are! We're brothers. We'll get through this mess. I'm sorry."

• Mako and Bolin cheering and Mako picking Bolin up from behind in a Bear Hug after Korra wins the match.

Bolin: "Shoulder! Shoulder!"

• Korra sincerely thanking Asami for all her help.
• Korra healing Bolin, as taught by none other than Katara, "the best there is".^[1]
• Bolin calling Korra the "smartest, funniest, toughest, buffest, talentedest, incrediblest girl in the world."

And The Winner Is

• Lin, who has a grudge against Korra for being a Destructive Savior, still chooses saving Korra on multiple occasions over fighting/arresting the Equalists.
• Tenzin reveals that despite Lin's personality not having changed much since she was a kid, she still "got along famously" with Aang.
  • She even calls Aang, Tenzin's sweet oldman when comparing Korra to him, she still respects him and likes him after all these years.
• Mako and Bolin hug Korra after she comes back from trying and failing to get to Amon. They can truly be called the Krew now.
  • Particularly Mako's earnest tone of voice when he tells her "I'm so glad you're safe!" Yeah, he definitely likes her.
• There's another moment when Tenzin reveals to Lin since Korra joined the Fire Ferrets he's brushed up on the rules for pro-bending, a sport he was initially opposed to and thought of as a "mockery" of bending.

The Aftermath

• After the events with the previous episode, Tahno has shown he has opened up a kind side to him and has a short chat with Korra, both having no resentment. Before he goes with Lin and Tenzin to be interrogated, he looks to Korra and gives a farewell with a smirk, dropping the accent to boot.

Tahno: See you around, Avatar.

• Korra sacrificing her own possible relationship with Mako, telling him Asami will need him after learning her father is an Equalist.
• The Cabbage Man, the eternal Butt Monkey of the original series, now has his own statue at the company he built.
• Korra offering Mako and Bolin a place to stay at the beginning of the episode, an offer that she says is both still open and extended to Asami after they learn the truth about Hiroshi Sato.
  • Even before that, Korra consistently showed sympathy toward Asami, never angry or suspicious toward her even when rightfully accusing her father and having Asami vehemently defending him.
• Korra and Asami bonding at the race track, with Korra admitting she was wrong to judge her before.
• A small one, but Bolin and Mako (Mako!) messing around in the pool like the brothers they are is really sweet, especially in between the previous episode and the climax of this one.
• Combined with Fridge Brilliance, look carefully at Tenzin's use of Air-Cycle. Not only he is using a modified version of Aang's air-scooter, he's showing that despite being the opposite of his father, he's still proud to be his son.

When Extremes Meet

• Meelo's crush on Asami, doubling as a running Crowning Moment of Funny.
• We hear Shiro Shinobi narrating the "Recap" at the beginning. For everyone who was worried about what happened to him after he disappeared the last week, he's okay. Many fans grinned when they heard his voice.
• Pabu comforting Korra by licking at her face. He seems to like her as much as Naga.
• Korra telling Naga "Don't worry, girl, I'll be all right" before going to fight Tarrlok, and Naga nuzzling her. Also a tearjerker, considering the end of the episode.
• When Bolin shouts, "The new Team Avatar!" for the first time, hearts will melt.
• After Tarrlok mentions that Korra is merely an "Avatar-in-training" due to her inability to airbend, she's very down on herself and considers herself a failure. Mako comments that even Avatar Aang did not know all of the elements when he faced the Fire Nation, and Bolin comments that Aang also didn't face his problems alone, he had his friends who saw him through everything. Mako, Bolin, and Asami all pledge their support to Korra, and snap her right out of her funk.
• Mako opening the car door for Korra. Given the current status of their relationship, it was probably an innocent act of friendship, which means that both shippers and none-shippers of Makorra can enjoy it. Anyone who's ever had a close friend do something like that for them, small but sweet, knows how heartwarming it is. If nothing else, it's just nice to see Korra and Mako, who spend a lot of time fighting and picking on each other, showing the softer side of their relationship.
• Arguably, the moment when the crowd being rounded up by Tarrlok and the police force beg Korra for help. It's a horrible situation, crossing into Tear Jerker, but at the same time, despite Tarrlok's actions validating everything that Amon and the Equalists have been saying about bender oppression, ordinary people still have faith in the Avatar to stand up for all people, which is exactly what she proceeds to do.

Out Of The Past

• Mako's concern for Korra is quite intensely heartwarming; he was willing to go so far as threatening an Equalist mook with firebending to tell him what he wanted to know.

General/Unsorted/Teasers

• When the viewers first look up to see a giant statue of Aang; it shows how despite all his struggles, he truly was able to save the world.
  • It also shows, through the sheer size and detail of the thing, that he must have been REALLY appreciated by the world, too.
    • It was also built by members of the Fire Nation as a gesture of good will.
• Getting to see all the flying bison, and the knowledge that Appa didn't have to be the Last of His Kind.
  • Same goes for Momo and the flying lemurs.
• Katara was Korra's waterbending teacher.
• The fact that two people from previously warring nations who hated each other were able to fall in love and produce Bolin and Mako.
  • Hell, just Mako's name. ^[2]
• The Air Nomad culture surviving through Tenzin, his children and the Air Acolytes.
• The fact that Guru Pathik's teachings about how the nations are all one people comes true in the series, as the city that's the series's main setting sprung up from the efforts of all the world's nations.
• The names of Aang and Katara's two other children: Kya and Bumi. ^[3]
• Mako's devotion to Bolin - he'd do anything to keep his little brother safe.
  • Not only that, but Nick.com's guide to Republic City reveals that even Bolin would give up his life for his brother.
• Zuko is still alive, left the throne to his daughter and travels around the world as an ambassador of peace.
• Yue Bay. I think it's safe to assume the name was Sokka's idea.

1. ↑ The statement is sweeter when one considers that Katara herself was the key for restoring the Waterbending Teachings in the South Water Tribe.
2. ↑ He was named after the voice actor for Iroh, who died during recording of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
3. ↑ Named after Katara's mother Kya, and Aang's best friend (pre-iceberg) Bumi.