The new trailer for Avatar: Seven Havens has arrived, and if you’ve spent the last decade defending Korra from people who blame her for everything that went wrong in the Avatar universe, congratulations. Your job just got a lot harder.
The big idea running through the trailer is that the fractured world of Avatar has finally found something everyone can agree on… they hate the Avatar.
That’s a serious problem for Pavi, voiced by Saheli Khan, the new Earth Avatar who follows Korra in the reincarnation cycle. Instead of being welcomed as humanity’s next great protector, Pavi enters a world where simply being the Avatar makes her a target. Anyone who gives her shelter could also pay the price.
Apparently, Korra screwed things up badly enough that people have decided the Avatar itself is the problem. The consequences have spread across the entire world, affecting benders, nonbenders, and creatures from the spirit realm.
Pavi isn’t completely alone, though. Her twin sister Nisha, voiced by Aishu Devan, is part of her story, along with Jae, voiced by Major Curda, and members of a secret organization known as the Order of the White Phoenix.
The big question is, what the hell did Korra do? We finally have a better idea of just how much history separates the two series. In an interview with Polygon, showrunner Sehaj Sethi confirmed that Seven Havens takes place 225 years after the events of The Legend of Korra.
When we last saw her, Korra and Asami were heading into the Spirit World together at the end of Book Four. A 225-year gap doesn’t necessarily mean Korra died shortly after those events. Avatar Kyoshi famously lived to 230 years old, so extremely long lifespans aren’t unprecedented for an Avatar.
Korra potentially sticking around for another century or two opens the door to a massive amount of unexplored history. More importantly, something happened during that history that left the Avatar with a reputation so toxic that Pavi is being hunted generations later.
For Korra defenders, this is dangerous territory. Korra has already spent years getting blamed by parts of the fandom for decisions, disasters, and changes to the Avatar world, sometimes fairly and sometimes very much not.
Now Seven Havens appears to be taking that criticism and making it part of the actual world. Humanity isn’t simply skeptical of the next Avatar. People apparently believe Korra helped doom civilization.
Maybe she eventually adopted a little more of Kyoshi’s problem-solving philosophy. Talk less, punch more. Considering everything Korra dealt with during four books, I wouldn’t entirely blame her.
Hopefully, creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have something more interesting planned than turning Korra into the convenient historical villain responsible for the state of Pavi’s world. There’s plenty of room for the truth to be more complicated, especially with more than two centuries separating the shows.
It would also be fascinating if Korra’s influence eventually becomes part of Pavi’s development. The Avatar has always inherited more than bending abilities. Each incarnation has to deal with the consequences, lessons, victories, and mistakes left behind by the people who came before them. Pavi inheriting a world that despises her because of Korra could make that relationship particularly messy.
Avatar: Seven Havens will consist of 26 episodes on Paramount+, divided into two 13-episode books. Book One begins October 9 with the first three episodes. Paramount+ will then release three additional episodes every Friday through October 30, bringing the first batch to Episode 13. Details about the premiere of Book Two will be announced later.
