On December 19, 2014, I was home from college for winter break, and my friend organized a watch party at his house for the two-part finale of The Legend of Korra. We had a pretty high turnout, considering that the last two seasons had been taken off the air and relegated to being inconspicuously posted to Nick.com on Friday nights with no marketing. While Korra certainly had its low points, it had many more high points and ended on a solid note with a satisfying finale. I thought to myself that night, “I can’t wait for the next series; hopefully it doesn’t take more than a year or two to come out.” Oh, my sweet summer sparrowkeet.
Here we are, in October of 2026, almost 12 years later. After over a decade without new Avatar movies or shows due to both Nickelodeon and Paramount bumbling over and over, we made it. Just a few months ago, Paramount dumped the beautiful Avatar: Aang movie on streaming instead of giving it a proper theatrical release. I won’t harp on about it, but I truly believe Avatar: The Last Airbender is the most important (and perfect) television show ever, and having grown up with it and rewatched both it and Korra dozens of times, I was pretty indignant about how Avatar Studios’ parent company was treating the franchise. But, here we are! Flameo, hotman!
Avatar: Seven Havens sets us down in a very, very strange world that is unlike anything we’ve seen from this universe. 225 years after the finale of Korra, the five nations are no more. The world has been split apart by a terrible apocalyptic event called The Cataclysm, and seven cities have survived as refuges for humans against the vast spirit wastes. Storms full of radioactivity, lightning, poison, and more sweep across the world as the remaining humans have made a life for themselves inside the walls of these havens. People blame Korra for the Cataclysm (I highly doubt it was actually her fault, but that’s nothing new for her), and so they all now hate and fear the Avatar. Here’s something else new for us: there are now two Avatars for the first time in history.
We’re introduced to Pavi, a 9-year-old rebellious dirt gremlin who loves collecting bugs and daydreaming. Soon after, we meet her twin sister, Nisha. Nisha is the polar opposite of Pavi (of course), a creature of order, discipline, and determination who is excited to be the Avatar. By the end of episode 3, these two were beginning to grow on me, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed that creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko decided to focus the show on young children again, even younger than Aang and the gang.
This brings up my biggest issue with Seven Havens, which is simply a result of what it is – a children’s show. While The Legend of Korra grew up with its audience, targeting the teenagers that the fans of the original show had become, Seven Havens feels like a show targeting an audience that will never watch or care about it. I am hoping Mike and Bryan have plans to time skip and age up the characters over the next four seasons.
We’re also introduced to our other main character, Jae, an airbending member of the Bending Brigade. All benders in Ellora are mandated to join the Brigade, which keeps order in the city and fights off any spirit incursions that may happen during the storms. He’s kind of goofy, but not so much as Sokka or Bolin. He’s serious about his job, but not so much as Katara or Mako. He’s naive, but not so much as Aang or Korra. In that regard, I think me makes a good addition to the new Team Avatar without feeling like a reskin of an older character. He’s also openly gay, which I was pleasantly surprised Paramount let slide under the current regime. No one tell the Ellisons!
We also meet Commander Karthik, a general who becomes the leader of Ellora’s military and who has been training Nisha to be the Avatar in secret. He seems like someone who will very much become a villain by way of having good intentions that he follows too far; that would slot him in pretty well with someone like Zaheer. At the moment, though, he is a wise mentor to Jae, who clearly has very, very strong ideologies he has not fully shared with the audience yet. Also, as an American-born Indian, I was very happy to see three of our main characters as Desi; Guru Pathik is no longer our only rep!
So far, the story and characters have been really good, and I think the pacing for the first three episodes has been great. Honestly, there’s more of a hook here for the larger plot than the first three episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender, so I’m hopeful for the season’s writing to stay on par with the previous shows. I do have to admit that even after giving it an honest chance with an open mind, the animation looks really cheap. I suspect Paramount did not designate adequate funds for this show and Avatar Studios had to make compromises, so I can only hope Seasons 3 and 4, which are currently being made, have a higher budget.
I do want to take some time to shout out the music: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra composer Jeremy Zuckerman has thankfully returned and has not lost his touch. Although nothing like the epic East Asian sounds of ATLA or the jazz and blues of Korra, Seven Havens has an amazing score right out the gate. Blending 80s synth sounds, electronic drums, and orchestral strings, Zuckerman has created something not unlike the soundtrack of Stranger Things, but this time with a South Asian flair. It’s a standout score already, and does a lot of heavy lifting to establish a tone.
In the third episode, we finally get to the action – a red and black square spirit attacks Ellora. It looks extremely suspiciously like Vaatu, as many fans had noted in the trailer. Whether it is just Vaatu returning to finish off the Avatar, we don’t know, but we did see that the spirit specifically was hunting Pavi and Nisha. I’ve also personally had the pet theory that, as there are two Avatars and only one Raava to be inside them, Vaatu may have taken the opportunity to bond with one twin or the other. If that’s the case, I’m not sure what the red spirit is. It seems to have either bonded or tried to bond with the twins, though, after destroying a bunch of the city. I’m left wondering if all the spirit storms the seven havens are experiencing are just Vaatu blasting across the world searching for the Avatar. Lots to think about!
Overall, this was a very solid start and the perfect number of episodes to get our attention without dumping too much at once. I’m eager to see how Raava and Vaatu fit into this story, as well as what exactly happened in the Cataclysm. I also suspect there’s something funky going on with Karthik, and Jae is going to find out the hard way. I’m glad to see that my favorite franchise is firmly back, albeit with less than stellar animation, and am ready for the next batch of episodes this weekend. In the meantime, I hope the rumored Avatar Kyoshi movie is progressing smoothly and will actually get to make it to theaters this time.
Score: 8/10 – Excellent
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