Be aware: This text accommodates spoilers for all six episodes of Avatar: Seven Havens.
We’re now six episodes into Avatar: Seven Havens and lots of massive questions nonetheless stay a thriller. What really induced the cataclysm? Who’re the Faceless? Why are there twin Avatars?
This latest batch of episodes did, nonetheless, lastly give some hints about what might have occurred to trendy know-how. As you might bear in mind from The Legend of Korra, Republic Metropolis was on the coronary heart of an industrial revolution that produced automobiles, mechs, and even broadcast radio. So what precisely occurred within the 225 years since Korra’s time to destroy all that?
Earlier than we get into theories about what might have occurred, let’s dig into what know-how we have really seen within the present to this point.
Expertise in Seven Havens So Far
The primary few episodes of Seven Havens are fully devoid of any type of know-how, however we get our first glimpse of one thing in Episode 5 when Pavi and Nisha are digging by relics in Karthik’s workplace. They uncover an outdated radio that seems to nonetheless be working and receiving a transmission, presumably from members of the Order of the White Lotus in different Havens. When Chancellor Kayoko finds the radio and accuses Kathik of contacting the opposite havens, he writes it off as a “damaged relic from the outdated world.”
Then later on the finish of Episode 6, we get a have a look at Chancellor Kayoko calling on the opposite Havens for assist by way of a way more elaborate radio setup. Whereas Karthik is utilizing what seems to be a relic to covertly talk, it is clear that the Havens have nonetheless retained primary broadcast methods to remain in contact. This very a lot matches the entire “apocalypse” vibe as radio alerts depend on decrease frequencies and minimal energy to ship messages throughout longer distances. The truth that her radio station is hidden in a hid tower room solely helps affirm that this know-how is supposed for use sparingly.
The opposite massive clue about know-how additionally comes from Episode 6, the place the benders, who seem to suffer from the bizarre purple power, run into what appears to be a generator room. On the best way there, they move a sequence of flickering lights that present the bottom is definitely being powered by one thing, reasonably than relying purely on hearth mild. It is right here that we see the mysterious purple power (which can or is probably not Vaatu!) interacting with this energy grid.
The generator room seems to be fairly low tech, being harking back to the extra superior airships we noticed throughout Avatar Aang’s time. This reveals that though some type of know-how is getting used to energy Ellora, it is not practically as superior as what you’d anticipate from a society that ought to be much more industrialized.
What Might Have Occurred to Expertise?
Now that we have gotten an thought of what sorts of know-how people are nonetheless working with, we will begin making some respectable guesses about what really occurred. The most certainly purpose for the technological collapse goes all the best way again to what occurred after Korra left the spirit portals open. Large spirit vines discovered their method into the world and people, in fact, began utilizing them as an influence supply. This resulted in a mixture of know-how and spirit power that no one was actually ready for.
We noticed the devastating energy of this mixture in The Legend of Korra when Kuvira harnesses tree roots to energy a nuclear-level power cannon she mounts to a large mech swimsuit. The one purpose that cannon did not trigger the mass destruction it was able to was as a result of Korra was capable of redirect the huge blast with some good outdated Spiritbending.
So why does all of this matter for Seven Havens? Effectively, on the finish of The Legend of Korra, spirit vine power remains to be very a lot a contentious matter. Korra makes it clear she opposes any additional analysis into the sector, and he or she’s backed by the president of Republic Metropolis. But it surely actually looks as if that wasn’t the top of all that. Though Seven Havens hasn’t but revealed what really occurred, it appears doubtless that spirit vine know-how was on the coronary heart of it.
The opposite apparent clue we’ve got to make the case for that is the bizarre lamp Pavi finds in Karthik’s workplace, among the many different relics. It appears like some type of trendy use of spirit vines, suggesting the know-how doubtless grew to become extra intertwined with the physcial world.
Theorizing In regards to the Cataclysm
On the heart of each Avatar battle, there’s a difficulty of steadiness. For Aang, it was stopping the Fireplace Nation and bringing steadiness again to a world at battle with itself. For Korra, it was all about bringing again steadiness between the spirit world and the bodily world. Neither Avatar absolutely succeeded, however Korra’s story was left fairly unfinished as a result of the entire uncertainties after opening up the non secular floodgates on the world.
The prevailing principle about what induced the cataclysm in Seven Havens, and the one I imagine to be most certainly, is that the usage of spirit vine power obtained out of hand. Like every pure useful resource, abusing it’ll trigger some issues and destabilize the steadiness between the spirit world and the bodily world. The cataclysm, on this case, might very doubtless be the spirit world forcibly attempting to rebalance issues by destroying humanity and the know-how it constructed.
This principle would clarify why the one devices we’re seeing in Seven Havens seem like fairly low tech and the Chancellor is fairly cautious about utilizing the radio. It could additionally clarify why the mysterious purple power can be some type of electrical energy/spirit power hybrid that solely the Avatars can take care of.
Whereas this principle does appear to elucidate why know-how is noticeably absent from the sequence, it is nonetheless solely a principle. It is unlikely we’ll uncover the entire mysteries in Season 1, particularly now that it’s been renewed through a fourth season. Within the meantime, it is actually pleasurable to dig into what really occurred to the world Korra left behind.
Jacob Kienlen is a Senior Viewers Improvement Strategist and Author for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has thought of the Northwest his house for his whole life. With a bachelor’s diploma in communication and 10 years {of professional} writing expertise, his experience is unfold throughout a wide range of totally different popular culture matters — from TV sequence to books and the latest LEGO sets.