The Faces of “Avatar: Seven Havens”

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first season of Seven Havens

A month ago, a new Avatar series premiered, fourteen years after its predecessor, Legend of Korra. I’m a lifelong Avatar fan, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have enough thoughts about it to fill at least several pages, so I’m going to focus in on just one aspect for now: the characters.

Pavi and Nisha:

The twin leads are immediately compelling and endearing, and I appreciated how their brief origin story unfolds—to the audience and to themselves—over the course of the season. They are nine years old, and they act like it, which is sometimes difficult to achieve, especially with dialogue. Korra was aimed at a slightly older audience, but it appears that Seven Havens is going back to its kid-friendly roots, and I think that approach works well with the two avatars, even if it does result in the occasional corny bit or eye-rolling quip. Several times, I found myself sort of perplexed by Pavi and Nisha’s actions, before I remembered that key factor: “Oh, right. They’re nine.” I was also impressed by how distinctive the two characters felt, and how believable their dynamic was, both in camaraderie and conflict. It seems like a foundational aspect of the overarching plot at this point, so it’s important to get that right, and I think they did.

Jae:

Initially, I was a little concerned that Jae was going to be discount Sokka, but those fears were assuaged pretty quickly as we got to see the trajectory of his arc for the season, which was well executed. He works really well as the audience perspective character, and I’m so excited to see where he goes over the course of the show. I’m also incredibly pleased to see his doomed relationship with Datu play out. It felt surprisingly natural, smoothly integrated but not conspicuously pointed out, which is really cool considering the history of queer rep in Avatar.

Karthik:

I love this man, and I’m so glad he turned out to be genuine, despite some suspicious detractors whose root chakra is probably blocked anyways. In a show with kids as part of the audience, and especially with kids as the main characters, it seems important to have at least some adults that are trustworthy.

Kayoko:

Kayoko worked well as a leader who represented the attitude of the haven writ large, but I felt that she fell a little flat as a villain as the episodes went on. Especially the moment when she fully sacrificed her scientist into the evil spirit goop… that felt a little out of place, especially for a show that’s trying to portray more grey characters. At the same time, I wouldn’t mind her as a first season bad guy looking back, once more complex ones appear later. And I could see her story going somewhere else, too, given her background with Karthik.

Daemin:

A bandana and a dangly earring… he has my heart. Some online are saying it feels as though he probably has a bigger role later on in the show, but was included here in season one just so we are already a little familiar with him. I’d say this makes sense, given that he did almost nothing this season. But his visual design is right up my alley.

Agam:

I’ll admit that this reveal did surprise me, but in less of a “woah!” type of way, and more of a “oh, huh” type of way. Nevertheless, I liked Agam’s role in the latter half of the season, especially in teaching the girls about the chakras. I’m curious to see how we track hers and the faceless’ story going forward, given that they are aimed toward what is likely one of the last stops on the journey.

Geet/Ruhi: 

I’m obsessed with these two. Appa and Momo are a hard act to follow, and Naga and Pabu didn’t manage to establish their own identity much past ‘Korra’s version of Appa and Momo,’ even if they had their heroic moments here and there. Sorry, guys. Fortunately, Geet and Ruhi seem to be striking the right balance of being ambiently adorable and being practical companions for the Avatars, such that I’m always happy to see them on screen. And of course, the legendary voice of Dee Bradley Baker doesn’t hurt. Honestly, I would love to get a little more insight into the Avatar animal guides, which we still don’t know much about.

Head Lotuses Nobuo, Rehan, Tanushree:

These three only really had the one scene testing Nisha to show a little personality, but I was really intrigued by them, and based on their detailed designs I’m hoping we continue to see more of them over the course of the show. Seeing the various bending styles’ evolution is super intriguing to me, and I’m glad we’ve only been given some crumbs so far. That type of worldbuilding anticipation goes a long way.