One of the things I loved most about ATLA and The Legend of Korra was how beautifully bending was connected to real martial arts. The movements were fluid, dynamic, and actually looked like fighting techniques rather than just characters throwing elements around.
I’ve been practicing Kung Fu for almost 15 years, so this aspect of Avatar has always been especially important to me. You could really see the different martial arts styles behind each element, and that’s honestly a huge part of what made bending so incredible to watch.
But from what we’ve seen of Seven Havens so far, I feel like this aspect is barely there anymore. The bending looks much less fluid and dynamic, and the actual martial arts techniques seem to be missing.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the new series overall, and I’m really curious to see where the story goes! But somehow, it just doesn’t feel quite like Avatar to me. The martial arts-inspired bending was such a huge part of the identity of the original shows.
It’s honestly making it harder for me to fully enjoy the new series.
Has anyone else noticed this? And why do you think they’ve moved away from the traditional martial arts-inspired bending? I’d love to hear other perspectives.

On re-watching episode 2 I noticed Pavi say Nisha is the avatar and she herself must be a fluke. I kinda suspect this might be foreshadowing. Pavi will be the actual avatar but Nisha might not be the Dark avatar but a fluke. We have seen benders with unusual quirks. We've seen a spirit staff that can grant bending to non-benders. I think the clone theory has been thrown around at least as a joke.

I think it would be fascinating if Nisha who desperately wants to be the avatar turns out to have no connection to Raava (or Vaatu) and therefore seemingly no purpose. It could send her crashing and looking for meaning in all wrong places. I think it would be an interesting arc for her.

But like what happened regarding The Last Jedi, the fandom seems to be really attached to the Dark avatar theory so if it turns out to be something else people might be disappointed.

Korra died in the Avatar State. It took 200+ years for a new spiritual connection to form and for a new Avatar to reincarnate. That's the post.

And destruction of the spirit world would've resulted in the destruction of life itself?

I don't have much to back this up other than my disinterest in seeing Vaatu or the Dark avatar.

People were already conducting experiments with spirit energy in LoK. Maybe in doing so they unleashed either an as yet unknown evil or a natural disaster? If the threat to spirits was immediate but the threat to humanity was distant (à la climate change) then I can see whatever drastic measure Korra took to save the world being misinterpreted as an attack on humanity or her siding with the spirits over humanity.

I also think something from the movie will tie into ASH in some way since the immortal storm really reminds me of some of the visuals from ASH's trailers.

Episodes 4 - 6 tomorrow. Enjoy!

I've seen discussion on here about Karthik's white lotus potentially not being the good guys they seem to be. And the second I saw this tile from the new show it looked a pretty strange to me. I haven't seen this mentioned online so i figured I'd point it out.

I found it very interesting that the white lotus tile's colors from the new show are inverted. It looks more like what i would expect a Red Lotus tile to look like rather than a white one. Could just be the new art style but i doubt it, seems more like an intentional choice to me.

And im not talking about the haters, im talking about the actual fans that enjoy the show.

The show is more diverse now, thats a fact. A lot of people have already voiced their support and enjoyment of this fact. Enjoying the increased representation is not an issue.

However, this is objectively a change from the previous series that exists and most people acknowledge and celebrate it. But labeling everyone as racists that disagree with that creative direction is fundamentally toxic behavior that shouldnt have a place in the community. Yet these bigoted posts get thousands of upvotes on this subreddit.

While the show is currently getting overhated, I really wanted to give it a chance to see for myself. Seven havens has interesting ideas, but it had a slow start, I wanted to keep watching to see if it was to my liking. But after engaging with the community, I feel like dropping the show entirely.

Its frustrating to see the community kill the appeal of the show before it even released half a season.

It makes sense that they would make the animal companions visually similar yet easily distinguishable but the black/white colour scheme is pretty obvious, right? Even down to the opposite colors dot on the forehead. Doesn't mean Pavi will be the light avatar and Nisha the dark avatar since there could still be the typical yin/yang relationship between pet and owner but dark avatar is more or less a given in my book

Side note: I very much like Geet and Ruhi, they really are adorable. They have the potential to be much more memoriable than Korras bear-dog thing, which was kinda whatever in retrospect

Ellora is a real place in India! I wonder how much influence they took from it when designing the Ellora in the show!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellora_Caves

I know it's been hundreds of years, which seems to suggest we shouldn't expect to see any LoK characters alive during the time of Seven Havens. I'm sure we all expect Korra flashbacks and for the Avatars to get in touch with their Avatar spirit and still be able to connect with Korra at least (though I'm really curious about whether the writers hold true to the story that the Avatar's connection to their other lives was severed during Harmonic Convergence, meaning we may never see Aang again).

But the existence of Toph, Katara, Iroh (!) and Zuko still being in LoK and each having their own moment advising and connecting with Korra makes me think that holdover characters from the previous series are an important part of this world. And with Iroh living on in the Spirit World, that really makes me think it's possible we can find a way to spend more time with one of my favorites: Jinora.

Also, this is just an excuse for me to talk about how much Jinora fucking rocks and I don't think she gets her props often enough. The first Airbending master of a generation, Jinora is so Aang coded it's crazy. She's kind, wise for a young age, crazy self-sufficient, and a natural-born leader. When she comes up with the idea to have all the airbenders work together to save Korra with the tornado, it's a perfect hero moment because it's not about her being great on her own, but her recognizing the power of teamwork and being part of a group. I cry every single time we see her Master Anointing Ceremony. She's freaking awesome.

And on top of that, her natural connection to the spirits and the spirit world means she's both 1) a prime candidate to offer spiritual guidance to our twin Avatars who seem like they'll struggle to connect with that side of their Avatar abilities, and 2) someone who, like Iroh, might still be living on in the spirit world, allowing us to spend more time with a grown up version of her.

I loved seeing how Katara, Zuko and Toph had changed over the years, and seeing what wisdom they had to impart to Korra. I would really love to see the same in Jinora. But what about you, are there any characters you would hope to see again in spite of the massive time jump?

Since Avatar State give you experience of all avatars

And right now we have two, it would be interesting if they "become one"

Also I'd like to see giant spirit form of them both fusing power

The twin reincarnations of a single person is just like Serena and Veronica from Dragon Quest 11, thousands of years before the game there was a party of adventurers and one of the members was a sage named Serenica, in the current time there is a set of twins named Serena and Veronica who are both the split reincarnation of Serenica, there is no stated explanation for this.

the century long gap between Korra and the twins is like Fray from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the series finale of Buffy they cast a spell to activate all the potential slayers so they can fight off a horde of super vampires and seal a portal to hell, in the comics Buffy is sent 100 years into the future and finds out that there has been no new slayer for 100 years, until Fray was born.

I don't know of any recent posts (or posts at all) that assert this some thing or even close to it. Raava/Vaatu caught in spirit storm? No way anyone has proposed that. What happened here? Mods, can you look into this?

AAH AH AAAA. MY EYE.

I keep seeing people talk about scenes that i have not seen, I have watched the 3 episodes that are out right now and i know the scenes i am referring to did not appear, How has everyone else seemingly seen more of the show?

I mean in atla we had idk zuko but he’s still a minor, ursa (and maybe ozai…) and in tlok only Korra, Asami and Kuvira are hot (sorry mako and bolin).

With all the speculation around the two avatars and Raava and Vaatu, I'm starting to see that people have completely forgotten how reincarnation works in this world.

Guys, reincarnation is something humans do in this world. Raava isn't the one reincarnating. She isn't the one choosing who the next avatar is. Raava is simply bonded to Wan. "We will be together for all of your lifetimes" is what she tells him. These are Wan's reincarnations. These are all his lifetimes. We can assume that all humans reincarnate based on what we've been told. But only the avatars specifically are all born with the 4 elements, the avatar state, and access to the previous avatars, because they're all reincarnations of the same person. The one person who's bonded to Raava.

Twins, aren't the same person. We don't know exactly why there are two Avatars right now. And we don't exactly know if this bonding between the avatar and Raava still holds up the same way after Korra season 2, or how Vaatu fits into the mix. But the ideas some people are throwing out are kinda ridiculous.

"Maybe Raava is split between both twins because twins in the womb start as one person". "Maybe Vaatu grew inside Korra and when she died they reincarnated as twins"

To me these sound like you either think twins are half a person, or that one person can reincarnate into two people at once. Which doesn't really make any sense. And again, the person is the one reincarnating, not the spirits.

We don't exactly know what is going on with Raava and Vaatu, but what's for sure is that only ONE of these kids is Korra and Aang and the previous avatar's reincarnation. Only one of the twins is the lifetime we've been following. And only one should be able to connect to Korra as their past life.

If we want to figure out why the other kid also has the 4 elements, we're going to need to think a bit more creatively and remember what has been established. And really, does anyone genuinely think that the real explanation is going to involve Raava splitting in the womb or anything close to that? Come on now lol.

I'm so scared for the twins. The plot decrees Avatars will always reincarnate but it doesn't mean both of them need to survive until the end of series.

It would be an interesting limit to their powers. One is fighting with earth so the other can’t use it. If one enters the avatar state, then the other is unable to bend.maybe they can share the bending and avatar state if they’re touching.

I haven't seen the new series yet, but the way Korra is perceived within the world strongly reminds me of the reception of the Knights Radiant from *The Stormlight Archive*. They were orders of knights possessing immense power who protected humanity, yet at some point, their members abandoned their mission. Most people view them as traitors, though small groups still revere them. Later, it turns out they had a very rational reason for abandoning humanity...

This reminds me a lot of Korra's situation.

Feel free to discuss, I will also be using this as a "told ya!" log later on if and when I end up being correct. A lot of the points I've heard other people theorise about too, hopefully those people will find something new here in my thoughts as additions as well!

WHY ARE THERE TWO?

The main issue for the first episode is the pre-established canonical fact that Pavi and Nisha cannot both be the Avatar. This is established in that Avatars such as Roku have been twins before, and this in fact does not happen. (Also writing and public reception-wise, the Avatar spirit is one singular spirit, and it's a pretty obvious writing no-no to essentially assert that twins are one soul split in two instead of whole individuals.)

So how can both bend all elements? Simple. They are both Avatars, but not of the same spirit. Pavi holds Raava, and Nisha holds Vaatu. We're getting a true Light and Dark Avatar arc, finally.

The only reason Vaatu could not give Unalaq bending was because Vaatu never held any lionturtle gifts for even a moment. He was never in Raava while that was happening. But it is reasonable to assume that whatever Raava can do, her equal can as well.

DANG, KORRA DESTROYED THE WORLD

In canon, we hear that the spirits can never be destroyed, as they are fundamental building blocks of the world and more importantly, linked. Korra did not bind Vaatu away like Wan, but instead destroyed him, which we hear will always lead to Vaatu slowly growing into existence inside Raava until bursting out again.

Vaatu forms inside Raava in Korra, and in this gains access to all five Lion Turtle gifts (elements and spirit bending). He finally fully forms and causes Korra to either destroy the world, or leads into its destruction while Korra battles him while linked.

THE AVATAR CYCLE TAKING CENTURIES TO RESUME

Korra's battle probably happens in the Northern Water Tribe at the spiritual centre of the world, where she may escape into the spirit realm to try to stop Vaatu from destroying everything. This may have 1. Extended her life as she is stuck in the spirit world for centuries OR 2. Blocked the spirits from entering the world again (leading to horrible chaos and the fragmentation of all human kind) until something finally happened centuries later to allow them back in....

But when Korra finally dies, Vaatu and Raava are both still linked to her spirit, but cannot sustain living in a singular host while fully formed. Enter twins.

WHAT CAN'T THE TWINS REMEMBER?

Pavi and Nisha are from "Republic City" (we don't know the Haven's name yet), since it's not as interesting if they are from the haven we begin in. The most thematically fitting would be the Haven corresponding to the Truth Chakra (will return to this), and in the flashbacks we also see what looks like the Republic City spirit portal. Their mother is still alive but thinks her children may have perished in the storm she saw the day they left.

The twins' memories were taken away by some spirit stuff, probably. The other option is Lake Laogai style brainwashing, but due to my running theory being that the kids were never actually both in White Lotus care at the same time, I don't think it was that intentional in nature.

KARTHIK'S BETRAYAL

The While Lotus is also just a really cheap and easy twist tool to use, since we have so much pre-established good will towards them (hammered home by showing us a picture of Iroh).

The White Lotus finds out that the Avatar is reborn through some method, and Captain Karthik goes looking. Karthik finds Pavi, Nisha and their mom, and sees both are bending multiple elements. He agrees with their mother to take them to Ellora to be trained and hidden safely, but doesn't like that there are two and what it entails... Karthik still either takes both, or only grabs one of them, leaving the other behind with their mother. The one left behind secretly follows them though. A Storm (probably caused by evil spirits) hits on the way to Ellora, and the kids are separated escaping. Karthik decides to leave the more suspicious one behind and only save Pavi who shows truer signs of carrying Raava (I think the man carrying Pavi in the flashback is Captain Karthik). Something goes down where Pavi is thought to die and Karthik grabs Nisha as a replacement, satisfied that at least now there's just one.

Pavi loses her leg (this is a really specific theory I have, I just think her being born without it is a false memory. It's suspicious her leg is never visible in flashbacks and someone with no memories of their past responding with "I was born like this" is always sus as hell) but survives by entering the Avatar State.

CHAKRAS AND THE HAVENS AS A FRAMING TOOL

Chakras are a huge part of the lore. Seven havens for seven chakras. Ellora is the first haven we see, and the Root Chakra is the first chakra in the body. The Root Chakra is the canonical equivalent of the Earth Chakra, both at the base of the spine.

The first episode is titled Survival, which is the canonical opening force of the Earth Chakra. Earth is also Pavi and Nisha's home element. The symbols of the Havens also correspond to common Chakra design, and the colours of the Chakras also work well with the order of chakras in the body in ascending order (the Root Chakra is also red, as is Ellora).

Most likely the planet is in a state of spiritual disconnect that can be opened up in a similar way to the human being in canon. The story will be Pavi (and Nisha) healing the world and connecting the peoples again by opening each chakra, while doing the same to themselves in their ascencion to Avatarhood, as we find new mentors in different Havens and save them from rioting spirits.

Additional guess: we will likely have thematic revelations in connection to each chakra. So the Light Chakra (in the Fire Nation capital, blocked by Illusion) is probably gonna be a big one. I don't think we'll wait that long for this reveal, but it may be the location we find out that not all Havens actually blame Korra at all, and we see the truth of what went down.

The Truth Chakra (in Republic City) is also quite far along in the show, but it could well be where we find out that not all of our "friends" are to be trusted... and the truth and lies of what went down in Republic City the day the girls were separated.

THE FINAL SHOWDOWN

The Thought Chakra of Pure Cosmic Energy (purple or here a little pinkish to differentiate) is also in Agna Q'ela, the Northern Water Tribe capital. Seeing as this is likely the final Chakra we must open, the series probably has its peak there. This works super well with both the story of the show AND the chakra theory, since Agna Q'ela is built on the spirit oasis (massive spiritual realm connection).

It is likely where Korra lived out her final years to have someone to connect us to the location or had her final battle (that destroyed the world) there that we must face too. Resolving the previous Avatars greatest failure is usually in Avatar media the final showdown.

My running theory is that the main opposing force (though not "villain" at the end) will be Nisha. Given that the characters will probably stay kids, I sincerely doubt the resolution is "we destroy them" but I don't think they'll bind Vaatu away again either.

HOW DOES IT END?
I think ASH will end with a note of "light and dark are necessary for balance, and we should not repeat the mistakes of our past by pretending we can hide either away" (not my favourite but I think the writers will think it boring to essentially do the same stuff again) and the new Avatar cycle will consist of both a Dark and Light Avatar every rebirth. Nisha and Pavi live on and love each other, but the struggle never ends.

(They might also somehow combine the spirits into one, which I really hope doesn't happen.)

Thanks for reading through, if you bothered!