Avatar: Seven Havens Introduces A Major Franchise First

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Spoiler Nation attacked. Beware, spoilers ahead for the first 3 episodes of "Avatar: Seven Havens."

It's been a rather bittersweet year for "Avatar" fans. Sure, we got the grandiose return of Team Avatar in "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender," the very first animated feature film set in this universe, which followed Aang and the rest of the gang as adults. Unfortunately, as good as the movie was, Paramount butchered its release, with the full film getting leaked months in advance, then going unceremoniously from a theatrical release to a streaming one, and finally getting dumped on streaming with barely a trailer released in advance.

Now, we're getting the first new "Avatar" animated TV show in over a decade, with "Avatar: Seven Havens" introducing the next Avatar in the cycle. And once again, Paramount has done rather little to spread the word — though that's not entirely surprising considering the studio's recent history with animation. That being said, this is an excellent show that pushes the "Avatar" franchise forward in several ways, with a new art style that immediately sets it apart from the previous two shows, a visually distinct post-apocalyptic setting and an intriguing central mystery about what brought the world to the brink of collapse.

In the middle of all that is Pavi (Saheli Khan), a young Earthbender who learns she is the new Avatar. She also learns that she has a twin sister named Nisha (Aishu Devan). The two were separated long ago under mysterious circumstances. Oh, and they both happen to be the Avatar. That's right, for the first time in the franchise we have not one, but two Avatars at the same time.

When we first meet Pavi, she is living on the streets only with her cat monkey. She has to hide her bending, as all benders are forced to register and seemingly have to join the army of their haven. This stands in big contrast to Korra, who was so eager to be the Avatar she escaped from home to embrace her destiny, or even Aang, who was so afraid of his duties he escaped from home and got trapped in ice. On the other hand, Nisha was raised sheltered and hidden by the White Lotus, fully aware that the entire outside world despises her and celebrates the Avatar being gone.

A big part of the appeal of the "Avatar" franchise is that each new Avatar in the cycle is born in a vastly different world that reacts to their existence. Aang had to endure hostility and skepticism from a world abandoned by him for a century. Meanwhile, Korra had to deal with both the public's criticism to Aang's actions (such as the rise of the Equalists whose origin we saw in "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender"), as well as all the ways in which she fundamentally changed the world around her like opening the spirit portals or bringing back the Air Nation. The idea that something so bad happened while Korra was the Avatar that civilization nearly broke is a fascinating idea that creates a compelling mystery at the center of "Seven Havens." How that relates to us getting not one but two Avatars in this show is part of that mystery, but it's easy to assume it's not a coincidence.

We don't know much about the state of the world in "Avatar: Seven Havens" or what exactly Korra did, but it is very clear from the first three episodes that it heavily involves the spirit world. The red and black color motif in the strange natural phenomena in these episodes evokes Vaatu, the spirit of darkness and chaos from "The Legend of Korra" that nearly ended the Avatar cycle.

So, if the spirit of darkness and chaos caused civilization to end, plunging the world into more darkness than it had been in millennia, it makes sense that Raava, the spirit of light and peace, would be able to counteract it somehow. Perhaps Raava's big bet to stop Vaatu is to split her essence and be reborn in not one but two Avatars. This could be a "Force Awakens" scenario, with the spirit world wilfully countering a rise in darkness with an even stronger opposing force, giving the Avatar a chance by giving us twins with powers. It's the first time this has happened in the entire history of "Avatar."

It will be interesting to see how "Avatar: Seven Havens" develops its world, after "The Legend of Korra" went so deep into the lore of this universe and the history of the Avatar itself. At the very least, the mystery at the center of this show is compelling and unlike anything we've seen from this franchise.

It's been 20 years since "Avatar: The Last Airbender" changed TV forever, and it's clear the franchise is just getting started.