A post-‘Legend of Korra’ development might turn a widely anticipated nightmare into reality

Nickelodeon has finally confirmed the leaks about an Avatar sequel series that will make being the titular bender more of a curse than ever before seen in The Legend of Korra or its predecessor, The Last Airbender. Enter Avatar: Seven Havens, an upcoming TV show set in the same fantastical world from creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

A post-‘Legend of Korra’ development might turn your worrying daydream into reality – by making the new Avatar the villain.

The exciting news was shared in celebration of Avatar‘s 20th anniversary (please stop reminding us how old we are). As explained in the TikTok announcement, Seven Havens takes place in “a world shattered by a devastating cataclysm. A young Earthbender discovers she’s the new Avatar after Korra – but in this dangerous era, that title marks her as humanity’s destroyer, not its savior.”

So, we can assume the worries about Aang and Korra going too far one day will return with a vengeance with regards to this new hero (or anti-hero?). As for the plot, “Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization’s last strongholds collapse.”

Now, the twin thing could be interesting. They might share a spiritual connection, and possibly even powers. It seems unlikely, but who knows? After all, The Legend of Korra added to the lore with its own ideas.

It’s possible that, like in other Avatar media, fears about the chosen one might prove to be miscalculated. Aang had his fits of rage, but he was always able to reign it in when it really counted. As for Korra, much of her story was about her temperament and impertinence, which she may not have ever mastered, but she did find a way to use them, wrestling those qualities and shaping herself into an unlikely leader.

An Avatar antagonist would be a lot of fun. It would be like Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars — all that prophetic destiny weighing down until something snaps. There has never really been an evil Avatar, though. As pointed out on Reddit, this “is logical as we find out that Raava, the light spirit, is bonded with the Avatar.”

“They would all be basically good or at least have a justification for bad actions for the greater good and in general be seen as good and a light to the world because the Avatar state and the thing that gives the Avatar power is a spirit of light. I don’t think someone with the light spirit inside would commit a bad act unless it was for the greater good. Unalaq in LOK is the closest thing we had I’d say. He’s only a waterbender but had the spirit of darkness/chaos take over him kind of like an anti-Avatar origin story.”

As other fans mentioned in response, however, peace and balance don’t always equal intrinsic good. In real life, plenty of horrific things and overreaches of power have been done in the name of peace. Thanos made a whole speech about it in the MCU, remember?

Putting moral jostling aside for a second, narratively speaking, none of the series so far have framed an Avatar as a true villain, even if they sometimes do morally ambiguous things. Maybe now’s the opportunity, at least from the perspective of certain characters who won’t be aligned with the Avatar in Seven Havens.