Avatar: Seven Havens – Episodes 10 to 13 Review

Avatar: Seven Havens’ first book has reached its conclusion with some of the emotionally wrought episodes in Avatar history.

Pavi and Nisha are forced to go on the run after Nisha revealed herself as the Avatar and their protector, Karthik, has been arrested after Jae’s betrayal. As fear spreads across the Ellora, the Anomaly grows beyond control. The key to defeating it and saving Ellora lies in Pavi and Nisha’s past.

Avatar: Seven Havens has been a great series so far. It started strong and only got better as it progressed. The final episode had some of the best drama the franchise has had to offer. The Avatar franchise may seem like a comedic action series for children, but it did tackle heavy subject matter like war, genocide, survivor’s guilt, and PTSD. The final block finally revealed what happened to Pavi and Nisha, and it wasn’t as rosy as Pavi thought it would be.

This block of episodes finally revealed what happened to the twins’ parents and how they got separated, and it turns out that it wasn’t as rosy as Pavi first believed. It was like in Star Wars: The Last Jedi where Rey found her parents abandoned her for drinking money. The twins’ parents were scared of Nisha and willing to abandon her. Their father will challenge Fire Lord Ozai and Yakone for being the worst dad in the Avatar universe. Their mother had some reservations, so I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. It was heartbreaking because a child no older than six was abandoned, and Pavi and Nisha were so close.

Nisha discovers a dark truth about what happened when she was separated from Pavi. It was so bad that she had to cover it up so Pavi wouldn’t find out. The idea and the presentation were like in the Doctor Who episode “The Beast Below”, where Amy found out the dark secret of Starship UK and chose to forget it. In the episode “Battle of the Ruins”, Nisha was so shaken by what she saw that afraid to use her bending.

Whilst the mystery about what happened to the Twins’ parents and why they split up had some answers, some new mysteries started. The first was why Nisha’s parents were afraid of her? Was it because they thought she was the Avatar, or due to her strange connection with the Anomaly, or did she display disturbing behaviour which the series hasn’t shown yet?

This block of episodes finally confirmed the Twins needed to clear their chakras to unleash their full power. This has been building up because Ellora was breaking down due to the spread of fear, and at the end of the previous block of episodes Pavi found herself in the Astral Plane before a red portal. Agam (Sakina Jaffrey) stated that Pavi and Nisha’s chakras were a mess and described the Root Chakra being blocked by fear. This tied into Pavi’s character arc throughout the season because she was a scared girl who didn’t think she was capable of being the Avatar or a hero, and was afraid of how the world would treat her if she found out. This culminated in the best Avatar declaration as Pavi finally embraces destiny. It was pitch-perfect because it completed Pavi’s first journey, catharsis, and was topped off by great animation and Saheli Khan’s emotional vocal performance.

The final block of the episode did tackle some heavy subject matter, but there was still lightness and fun. There was quite a bit of humour, like Geet and Ruhi’s reaction to Jae, Pavi trying to help Nisha relax with a bath, and Pavi using mud bending to disguise Nisha. The episodes gave us a glimpse of Geet and Ruhi as kitten monkeys, and they were adorable. This block of episodes was the most action-oriented set so far in Seven Havens. There was a jailbreak that allowed displays of martial arts, and the Bending Brigade and the Faceless teamed up to rescue citizens as the Anomaly grew.

Agam was a great character who has grown in prominence as the series progressed. She started as a kindly baker who looked out for Pavi before revealing that she was the Faceless Queen. Agam played a triple role because she was a motherly figure, a tough warrior with arms like tree trunks, and a spiritual guide. She relished the opportunity to break out of prison and fight Kayoko’s loyalists. It does look like Pavi and Nisha will form a surrogate family with Karthik, Agam, and Jae and show that family isn’t bound by blood.

Jae also experienced a lot of growth as the series progressed. He started as a loyal member of the Bending Brigade who believed the stories that the Avatar was a destroyer, but eventually developed a rebellious streak as his worldview was shaken. It led to Jae having a me

ssy break-up with Datu (Topher Ngo). That should leave Jae open to a relationship with the Empress Yeshe since he had more of a spark with her than with his boyfriend.

The final episodes of Book One were some of the best material the Avatar series has produced, which is a massive achievement considering what The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra have done. It had everything an Avatar fan would want.