Apparently No Avatar for About 200 Years: Did Korra Die in the Avatar State?

Apparently, Avatar: Seven Havens is set in a world where no Avatar has been seen for about 200 years, and in episode 1 there's a whole festival celebrating Avatar Korra's defeat. "Defeat, not death." So did Korra actually die in the Avatar State, and if she did, how on earth do we have another Avatar?

According to everything we've been taught so far about the Avatar cycle, an Avatar who dies in the Avatar State is supposed to end the cycle. There's no next Avatar, no reincarnation, nothing at all. So I'm a bit confused. If Korra really died that way, then there's absolutely a puzzle, or someone has to explain how we got here, because we can't ignore one of the biggest rules in the entire Avatar universe. Later in this piece I'll also get to the twin Avatars, which my brain is still struggling to accept.

The mystery may be what happened to Korra, not just how she died

Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if we're asking the wrong questions. I do think the mystery isn't simply about how Korra died. Maybe it's about what happened to her and to the Avatar cycle, and perhaps why the world went so long without an Avatar.

Seven Havens is said to take place roughly 225 years after the events of The Legend of Korra. It's true that Korra's series ended, but that doesn't automatically mean she died right after the final episode. She could have lived for years or decades. Perhaps something happened to her afterward.

Two timelines mean the 200 year gap is not certain

There are two timelines here. The first is the span between the end of Korra's story and the beginning of Seven Havens. The second is the time between Korra's death and the arrival of the next Avatar. Whether the Avatar cycle stopped for 200 years depends entirely on when exactly Korra died, so we can't confidently say the cycle stopped for exactly 200 years.

Still, there's something strange about the absence of an Avatar. An Avatar isn't just any other character. It's a person who is supposed to maintain balance between the human and spirit worlds. So how does the world go that long without one? It makes me think that several generations grew up without seeing an Avatar.

The premiere gives us part of the answer. In episode 2, Pavi is told flat out that Avatar Korra caused the cataclysm, and because of that destruction, the Avatar became an enemy of the world. So even if an Avatar was born somewhere in those years, nobody was exactly out there looking for one.

Roku's warning to Aang is the rule Seven Havens has to answer

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Roku explained to Aang that if he is killed while in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle will end. The Avatar State is one of the most powerful abilities an Avatar has. It gives the Avatar access to the knowledge and power of their past lives, which also comes with some dangers. If that power is active and an Avatar dies, there will be no next Avatar.

So if Korra really died in the Avatar State, why is everything continuing as if it's normal? Episode 2 even says it out loud: Korra wasn't a normal Avatar. One thing is certain, the rule is non-negotiable and very important in the Avatar world. If we now have another Avatar, I'm forced to ask questions. Either someone restored the cycle, Raava came back under different circumstances, or the spirit world stepped in. If none of those happened, then why do we have Pavi?

I also can't rule out that Seven Havens is introducing some exceptions to the rules we already know. The writers created the story, so they can make changes, and it's possible they have expanded the mythology. So far there have been new spiritual concepts and many reveals about Avatar history that have helped us understand things. I think maybe if the writers want us to believe Korra died in the Avatar State, then we need more explanation of what happened over those 200 years. And if there really has been a restoration of the Avatar cycle, that's a big mystery in itself.

Zaheer's plan in Venom of the Red Lotus shows the rule still held

There was a time in The Legend of Korra when Zaheer wanted to defeat Korra and kill her in the Avatar State, because he understood the consequences of such an act. In Venom of the Red Lotus, that was exactly the plan: force Korra into the Avatar State and kill her while she was in it. That way there would be no next Avatar, and the reign of the Avatar would come to an end completely. You can tell from this plan that Zaheer wasn't trying to kill just one person, but to eliminate the entire line of Avatars permanently.

Yet Korra's connection to Aang, Roku, Kyoshi and the other previous Avatars had already been severed by then, and the danger of dying in the Avatar State was still a rule that existed. So I clearly think losing the connection to past Avatars doesn't automatically mean the reincarnation cycle no longer matters.

Some theories get a little confusing here. When Korra lost her connection to her past lives, some reactions treated it as though she had lost everything that makes her the Avatar. I don't think it should be seen that way. The connection to previous Avatars and the relationship between Raava and the Avatar are related, though I'm not saying they're one single thing. The question remains: if Korra really died that way, what happened? Pavi's existence adds another puzzle, and I think there's definitely an answer we have yet to discover.

Aang surviving Azula's lightning is not proof the cycle repairs itself

Some people will ask: what about Aang? Yes, I know. Aang was struck by Azula's lightning while entering the Avatar State in The Crossroads of Destiny. For a while Aang was gone, and Katara had to use the special healing water she received from the spirit oasis to bring him back. In The Awakening, Aang acknowledged how close he had come to death.

I understand using this as an argument, but it doesn't prove much. An Avatar suffered what appeared to be a fatal attack while entering the Avatar State, but he was brought back. It was the same person, and the story continued with him as the Avatar. I think Aang's experience is rather proof that with an extraordinary intervention, an Avatar can be saved from what could otherwise have been a fatal outcome. It doesn't prove that the reincarnation cycle automatically repairs itself after a permanent break.

Could something similar have happened to Korra? Someone could have intervened to save her, some spiritual event could have changed the outcome, or there was something about her final battle that we haven't been told. Even if any of that is so, it brings us back to the drawing board. Who would have saved Korra? Did she survive, or was the cycle just restored? I believe we may get the answer through Seven Havens as time goes on, but I wouldn't advise using Katara's intervention to explain Korra's story.

Raava's destruction during the fight with Unalaq and Vaatu could be a clue

Remember what happened when Korra fought Unalaq and Vaatu. Raava was torn from Korra and destroyed during the battle, and for a moment it looked as though the foundation of the Avatar's power had been taken away. But during Harmonic Convergence, Raava returned and Korra fused with her again. Her connection to her past lives didn't return, though, and she couldn't communicate with the previous Avatars the way she normally could.

That makes me wonder whether something happened to the connection between Raava and the Avatar that could explain why the world went so long without a recognized successor. It's a theory, not a fact, so I won't assume the rules have been changed.

Korra might have disappeared rather than died

Remember what was celebrated in episode 1: a defeat. You can defeat somebody without killing them. But what if there's also a big possibility that Korra never actually died? Perhaps people declared her dead when she had actually disappeared. It's almost funny, but if Aang could disappear into an iceberg for 100 years, allowing the Fire Nation to gain the upper hand, then perhaps Korra could have disappeared too. A long absence isn't simply proof of death. The Avatar universe has already shown us that the current Avatar can be missing for a long time without the cycle moving on.

Korra may not have been frozen somewhere, but what if she was captured and imprisoned, or trapped somewhere? Maybe she was preserved by some unknown spiritual forces. To me, these could be one of the great possibilities we can bet on. We can imagine Korra caught in a catastrophic event and unable to return to the world. That would make people believe she was dead and make it impossible for her to fulfill her role, and it could lead generations to think the Avatar had abandoned her duty.

The sad part would be Korra being alive but trapped, knowing the people need her but unable to reach them, while the world moves on without her. "That's actually heartbreaking." It could also make things more interesting. And a world that throws festivals for her defeat would never go looking for her.

An unknown Avatar in between would break the element order

What if, in the space of those 200 years, there was another Avatar nobody knew about? The cycle could have continued, but because of how things ended with Korra, the world didn't know a new one existed. Seven Havens presents Pavi as the new Avatar, and the available description of the series makes her Korra's successor. What baffles me is this: does an Avatar have to be publicly recognized for the reincarnation cycle to continue?

Maybe an Avatar was born in a remote place, grew up without knowing who they were, never received proper training, or died before anyone found out. The world would then believe there was no Avatar, even though the cycle had continued. Episode 2 even admits that most recorded history is lost, so an Avatar could have come and gone without anybody writing it down.

But this doesn't fit the order. Korra was the water Avatar, so the next reincarnation should be an earth Avatar. If there was ever an Avatar between Korra and Pavi, there must be an explanation for why Pavi is associated with earth. We can't just insert an Avatar into the timeline to fit a theory while ignoring the rules. There could still be an unknown Avatar, but I wouldn't put this at the top of the list. We need clear evidence.

Twin Avatars Pavi and her sister may point to a change in the mythology

This could get complicated, because Pavi and her twin are a mystery. The premiere confirms that the two are twins and both of them are Avatars, and episode 2 settles it. Have there ever been twin Avatars before? No. So how is this even possible, and how does it work? We're looking at two sisters who both share a connection to the Avatar spirit, and "my brain is still refusing to process it."

Either something unusual is going on with the Avatar cycle in this new era, or there's an explanation we should just sit back and wait for. The traditional cycle only gives us one reincarnated Avatar at a time, so if both sisters are connected, perhaps there's a major change to the mythology. What if it's connected to whatever happened to Korra? Perhaps an event involving Raava changed the way the Avatar spirit manifests, or the usual rules have been altered.

Honestly, I'm tempted to say Korra died in the Avatar State, Raava split, and maybe that's why we have two Avatars. But I think that would be using one unconfirmed theory to explain another. I think if we can find out what happened to Korra, everything else will fall into place.

I don't think we should confidently say Korra died

If you ask me, something extraordinary happened to Korra or to the Avatar cycle, rather than her simply dying in the Avatar State with everything continuing normally. Whatever the explanation is, I can't wait to see what the story tells us. If Korra died and the cycle was permanently broken, then Pavi is a serious puzzle, and there should be an event that changed everything over those 200 years.

In conclusion, I don't think we should confidently say Korra died. There are many possibilities, and Aang's experience reminds us that an Avatar can disappear for a very long time without the cycle moving on. The world may have believed the Avatar was gone, but there could be a serious truth hidden somewhere.

Do you believe Korra died in the Avatar State, or do you think she disappeared under different circumstances?