A Future Wasteland Replaces the Four Nations
This summer, the Avatar franchise brought back its most recognizable figure, Aang, the lead of Avatar: The Last Airbender, a tale now in its third decade. Now Avatar Studios, the label run by original creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and charged with turning the Nickelodeon kids' show into a broader multimedia property, must handle a tougher challenge: launching fresh leads and concepts while keeping what made the franchise beloved. The Paramount+ show Avatar: Seven Havens pushes the narrative into the future, unfolding over two hundred years after Avatar: The Legend of Korra, the follow-up series that finished in 2014.[S1]
DiMartino and Konietzko created Seven Havens, and it uses that time jump to reshape the invented world at its foundation. The four nations tied to the elements, once living in balance, then thrown into conflict and gradually pieced back together, no longer exist. Instead, an environmental disaster blamed on Korra has left a barren landscape. The havens of the title are refuge cities shielding people from sandstorms, raiders and similar dangers, while the Avatar, a near-messianic figure who can bend all four elements, is a feared outcast absent for generations. Veteran animation figure Ethan Spaulding serves as executive producer, with co-executive producer Sehaj Sethi rounding out the creative staff.[S1]
Pavi, Ellora and a Broader Cultural Palette
At the heart of the show is Pavi, played by Saheli Khan, an orphan living in the haven of Ellora who scavenges for meals, hides her ability to bend multiple elements, and converses with objects since she has no friends. Her name points to another expansion of Avatar lore: the addition of South Asian culture to a universe already drawing on Chinese, Japanese, Inuit and other traditions. She loves kachoris, which a neighborhood shopkeeper, voiced by seasoned performer Sakina Jaffrey, deliberately sets aside for her. Food matters throughout Seven Havens, with mochi, kimchi jjigae and bitter melon all named within the opening episodes.[S1]
Another major change Seven Havens makes to its world-building concerns how it renders nature, a central concern for any tale built on air, earth, fire and water. Around Ellora stretch the Harshlands, full of stone, sand and an eerie, spectral charm. The show's colors run warmer than earlier Avatar entries, leaning into the oranges and pinks of a nearly Saharan vastness. Franchise mainstay Jeremy Zuckerman gives the score a more electronic character, further distinguishing it. There are cats with monkey-like tails and camels that curl into balls like armadillos. With such an indifferent, even hostile postapocalyptic setting, the reviewer was put in mind of Scavengers Reign, the superb but brief HBO Max series, and hopes the IP connection grants Seven Havens room to keep exploring.[S1]
A Younger Hero and a Team Still Forming
Seven Havens needs room to develop. Pavi is an even younger hero than twelve-year-old Aang, possibly a bid to bring Avatar to a fresh generation of children, whereas the film catered more to existing fans. Shy, bookish and naturally nonviolent, Pavi has a personality, though it is still taking shape. She learns from Jae, voiced by Major Curda, a member of Ellora's city Bending Brigade, and his captain Karthik, voiced by Akshay Khanna, who regards the Avatar's promise more hopefully than those who hold her responsible for the world's end. Across the six episodes given to critics, this group has yet to gel into a true team, but Seven Havens builds enough intrigue about its world to earn patience.[S1]
Seven Havens adds yet another twist to Avatar lore that the reviewer cannot reveal, though it eases some of the burden on Pavi as Karthik pursues his notion that the Avatar might restore bending as a fading practice. Each generation, we're told, produces fewer benders, even though bending the elements remains essential against assaults of lightning and wind. Along with the visuals and a wider set of references, Seven Havens makes plain that it is a new and different sort of Avatar series while keeping the immersive world-building that has sustained the franchise. The first three episodes of Avatar: Seven Havens are streaming now on Paramount+, with the rest arriving weekly in batches of three on Fridays.[S1]
