Standing Alone: Why I Love Lin Beifong

Standing alone: Why I love Lin Beifong

(Spoilers, a very long piece of personal opinions and interpretations, ahead)

Let’s talk about Lin Beifong. And it’s kind of impossible to talk about Lin Beifong without talking about “LinZin”, but that’s the point. I remember her from way back in Season 1 Episode 6, “And the winner is”, when Lin’s voice and eyes soften when she tells Tenzin they are helping each other out at the Pro-Bending finals “like old times”. What a contrast that was, from the anger and coldness we saw from her before. I remember Lin asking Tenzin not to turn back when she jumps onto the Equalist airship for a battle to the death, all so Tenzin’s family has a chance to escape. I remember Lin turning her battle of words with Su to a real battle when Su flippantly brought up Tenzin in their argument. I know everyone has their own interpretation of the show, but I always thought it’s so painfully obvious that Lin hasn’t moved on from Tenzin, and I love LoK for showing us that despite all this, Lin can survive. 

There are too many stories – books, movies, TV shows – that focus on people finding the one, the one true love of their life, who will make their life and happiness complete. But what if the world doesn’t work like that? What if the world didn’t miraculously pair us all off for a happy ending? What are the stories of those people who end up alone for one reason or another? 

I love the “LinZin” story because it’s one of those stories. As far as I can tell, Lin’s separation from Tenzin was not rooted in a lack of love but differences in what they wanted in a future together. Tenzin wanted children. Lin didn’t. Perhaps they have always loved each other, but they won’t be happy together. In the end, they separated to pursue their own paths, and it doesn’t feel fair because Tenzin ends up with the family and Airbender legacy he wanted but Lin is still alone after all these years. And the loneliness bothers Lin. Lin, who withstood having her face scarred and her bending removed with determinedly dry eyes, broken down in tears when Korra reminds her that she is still a bitter, lonely woman. Although that happened during the “Metal Clan” episode, and the loneliness likely referred to Lin’s relationship with her family as well as her past with Tenzin, the fact still stands – Lin is alone, and she doesn’t really want to be. 

Unlike your typical relationship storyline, Lin’s romantic journey doesn’t end with Lin and Tenzin choosing their relationship over everything and everyone else, nor is about Lin resenting Tenzin for finding happiness with Pema, and nor is it about Lin finding love with someone else. It ends with Lin and Tenzin rekindling a friendship that probably defined their childhood, with the children of heroes becoming heroes in their own right, with two platonic friends fighting side by side to save the world. Lin chooses justice, kindness, and not to sacrifice the sense of self she held onto even as it drove her and Tenzin apart. Lin can bear the pain of losing a love, not by denying love or repeating it, but taking the best of it – the understanding, empathy, and camaraderie – and make something good out of that. Even though it takes a long time, Lin finds a place in the world despite her heartbreak. Maybe she will always feel the heartbreak in some parts of her, bur Lin’s life carries on in a meaningful, positive manner, even as she stands alone.   

(Toph and Suyin are no less pivotal figures in Lin’s story, but this post is getting too long as it is.) 

I love Lin’s story because in the end, it ends well even though it isn’t perfect. Her relationship with Tenzin is such a big part of her, yet she has to brave the emptiness and bitterness of being without him. She seems to have so much less, compared to Tenzin. She seems to have it so much harder, compared to Suyin. She ends up alone not because she wants to be alone, but because she didn’t find the right person with whom to share her life. Many villains in fiction have turned to the dark side for less.  And yet for all the horrible hands fate has dealt her, Lin comes out a hero. 

It takes strength to accept and bear the pain that will inevitably enter into our lives. It takes strength to stand alone in a world that focuses so much on the idea of romance and love. But that’s the kind of strength that helps Lin find peace in the world, and I think that’s the kind of strength that allows Lin the clarity to make decisions that make her a hero.