Really? I thought that it deviated a lot. They resisted the urge to go overboard with fanservice – characters like Toph, Zuko and Katara were relegated to background roles with few exceptions. They also expanded the lore a lot with the episodes about the start of the Avatar cycle, and they explored their themes with a lot more depth. The world of Korra was a lot more complex and changed over time in a clearly observable way. The characters were all more multi-faceted, the villains were (with the exception of book 3) relatively complex and morally neutral. Where Ozai was just a big evil baddie who wanted to control the world, Amon saw that bending could be abused and that non benders were disadvantaged in the world, so removing bending was the only way for everyone to live equally. Zaheer saw that most people are manipulated by greedy monarchs and dictators, and that true freedom comes from being able to decide your own fate and enjoy the fruits of your own labours (he was basically a communist). Kuvira was trying to unite a country which had been torn apart by conflict, and could only do it by employing force. All the villains had understandable motives, even if they were too extreme or misled. Plus the animation quality was much better, and the music was improved too.

I only have two criticisms of the show.

(A) It lacked the overarching plot of Legend of Aang, which is largely because Nickelodeon ordered one series, then another series, then two more. So they had to write the show in a way where each series was self contained.

(B) The bending seemed to lose complexity. It all became about punching and kicking elements at an opponent rather than utilising the unique styles of each element.