Finally watched this show, all 3 seasons.
Overall, it was fun.
The pros:
+The animation is superb. This is the closest I've seen a 3D animated show come to replicated 2D animation and the results are damn good. The choppiness in season 1 was annoying (at times), but it was fixed in season 2 and 3. Lots of good action, and large scale fights. Solid art design.
+One of the issues with Legend of Korra was that bending was "too easy" - there were too many instances of characters discovering they could do advanced bending, just because the plot called for it. But here, Callum doesn't just start using magic - he needs to learn it and really connect with it. This was one of the highlights of the show.
+Callum in general is basically just Sokka, and is therefore awesome. Great reference to Avatar too ("Something... seems so familiar.... Boomerang?")
+The romance between Callum and Rayla was super sweet, and I'm glad it was shown fairly easy. Too many cartoons drag out the main romance to the end, and basically just show one kiss at the end. But here, they were shown being intimate multiple times through the back half of season 3.
+Evil elf trapped in the mirror. Same VA as Koh from Avatar.
+Lots of LGBT representation, a deaf woman, multiple races (rather than everyone being white)
The issues I had were significant though:
-Bad lore and world building and semi-unoriginal story. The entire setting is generic. The "one type of fake magic exclusive to humans feeds off real magical creatures" aspect is fine but everything around it is just cookie cutter. And I mean come on, "dark magic" just sounds evil.
-Occasionally clunky dialogue. For the most part, the writing was good but occasionally became a bit to cheesy. Ezran was generally the worst offender.
-A few questionable plot points. Callum and Ezran's dad resigned himself to death real quick. Seriously, your kingdom is that defenseless? Ezran abdicating was stupid and the entire plot point made little sense. Too many conveniences in the final battle (the girl queen showing up was a bit of an ass pull, though to be fair the allies Ezran left behind did say they'd go seek her out).
-Viren is only a tiny bit more compellin a villain than Unalaq was.
-The elve's accents.
Overall, i liked it. Its not even close to Avatar's legacy, and overall it holds no special place in my heart as some of the animated greats (both american and japanese) do. but it was enjoyable enough, and I'd like to see more.
