Avatar: Seven Havens review: The Avatar apocalypse is a bold, brilliant addition to the franchise

2026 has been the year of Avatar: The Last Airbender, boasting both the continuation of Netflix's live-action adaptation and the first film from Avatar Studios, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender. While it's almost always a treat to return to a world of intricate bending and epic adventure, both these projects trod familiar ground. Netflix's series is nothing more than a drab retelling of the original. Avatar Aang boasted eye-popping action, exciting new lore, and a nostalgic return to our Gaang faves, but it also rehashed an airbender resurrection storyline that viewers had already seen before (and done better) in Avatar: The Legend of Korra.

That's why it's such a relief that Avatar: Seven Havens, the next TV series in the Avatar cycle, blows everything up.

If The Legend of Korra brought the world of Avatar into a more modern, industrialized era, then Seven Havens sends it screaming into a hazardous, post-apocalyptic future unlike anything we've seen before, headed up by an Avatar unlike any other. It's the boldest move the series could make, and it winds up being just what the franchise needs to move forward.

Avatar: Seven Havens ends the world, then rebuilds it spectacularly.

Seven Havens throws us headfirst into what feels like an alien landscape, by Avatar standards. Shimmering aurorae, once limited to the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, now fill the skies over a vast desert. Crystal clusters and tree-like rock formations burst from the sand. A more synth-heavy score from Avatar composer Jeremy Zuckerman emphasizes the strangeness of this environment, while vivid colors from new Avatar animation studio La Chouette Compagnie prove an eye-popping contrast from the prior two series. From these opening moments, one thing's for sure: We're not in the Four Kingdoms anymore.

That's because they no longer exist.

The world of Avatar as we know it was destroyed in an apocalyptic event known simply as "the cataclysm," which led humanity to hole itself up in secure cities known as Havens. Among these Havens is Ellora, a vast metropolis tucked away in a series of canyons. With its massive walls and aqueducts, and a crystalline fortress at its center, it gives Ba Sing Se a run for its money.

Lurking on the fringes of Elloran society is Pavi (voiced by Saheli Khan), a 9-year-old girl who lives alone with her cat monkey, Geet (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker). Pavi is a resourceful survivor: She's fashioned her own prosthetic leg, and she's built herself and Geet a comfortable home in what's basically a hole in the ground. She's also hiding a deadly secret: She's the Avatar.

In prior Avatar series, that would have been cause for celebration. Not in Seven Havens. According to Elloran history, Avatar Korra brought the cataclysm on the world. Now, she and any Avatar who may follow in her footsteps are despised. How can Pavi bring balance to a world that doesn't even want her?

Like everything else about the world of Seven Havens, the choice to have Korra be the reason for the apocalypse is a striking one. It feels like original series creator Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, working with executive producers Ethan Spaulding and Sehaj Sethi, are blowing up The Legend of Korra's legacy entirely. Yet Seven Havens also hints that there may be more to the story than the institutions of Ellora would have you believe.

Thanks to the mystery shrouding the cataclysm, Seven Havens becomes more of an overt puzzle box than its predecessors. But even more puzzling than the question of "What broke the world?" is that of "Who is Pavi, really?" She has no memories of her life beyond the past three years, and she knows nothing about her family. That all changes when a chance encounter brings Pavi face to face with her surprise twin, Nisha (voiced by Aishu Devan), and the pair set out to unravel their mysterious past together.

You will fall in love with Avatar: Seven Havens' Pavi and Nisha.

Pavi and Nisha are the irresistible pairing at Seven Havens' heart. Both have spent their whole lives — at least, what they can remember of them — thinking that they're alone. Finding out they have a sister unlocks a new chapter in their lives, and a new chapter for the show to explore.

As 9-year-olds, Pavi and Nisha are balls of energy who greet their newfound sister status with gleeful screams and a readiness for troublemaking that puts fear in the hearts of Nisha's guardian, Commander Karthik (voiced by Akshay Khanna), and the pair's airbending soldier friend, Jae (voiced by Major Curda). Their youthful joy contrasts with Karthik and Jae's serious concerns about keeping Pavi's Avatar status hidden while still protecting Ellora. As the haven weathers severe storms and attacks from bandits known as the Faceless, the last thing Karthik and Jae need is to worry about Nisha and Pavi getting trampled underfoot.

Just because Pavi is the youngest Avatar we've met yet doesn't mean Seven Havens loses sight of the gravity (and occasional darkness) that set both The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra apart. The threats facing Ellora are genuinely frightening, and Seven Havens makes no secret of the destruction that awaits it should its defenses fail. As resources dwindle and bender birth rates decrease, the situation within Ellora feels more and more helpless. Seven Havens artfully stokes the city's desperation, spinning up paranoia and conspiracies that recall The Last Airbender's claustrophobic Ba Sing Se arc.

Yet throughout the first six episodes sent to critics, Pavi and Nisha maintain their childlike joy, even if the weight of the world is on their shoulders. The pair make compelling foils. While Pavi follows Korra in the Avatar cycle, she feels more like a spiritual successor to Aang: an animal-loving goofball with a pacifist streak who treats reuniting a bug with its family just as seriously as saving a human's life. Nisha, on the other hand, takes after early Korra. She's a hot-headed, battle-ready warrior who wants nothing more than to break free of her sheltered upbringing.

The resulting dynamic is irresistible, as is the rest of Seven Havens. The series captures the original magic of The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, from powerful bending action to adorable animal companions. (I would die for Geet.) But it also fashions an incredible new take on the world we've come to know and love, one that's part-Mad Max, part-Jean "Mœbius" Giraud. It's an incredible sandbox for Seven Havens' tale of finding connection in a dire time, and a reminder that change is truly the Avatar franchise's greatest superpower.

The first three episodes of Avatar: Seven Havens are now streaming on Paramount+. New episodes premiere every Friday through Oct. 30.