Avatar State

A seventeen-year-old Avatar navigating a modernizing world while mastering the four elements.

The Legend of Korra centers on Avatar Korra, a seventeen-year-old from the Southern Water Tribe and the reincarnation of Aang. Set seventy years after the original series in a modernizing world, the story follows her journey to maintain balance while facing political unrest and terrorism. Unlike her predecessor, Korra begins as a master of three elements but must learn airbending under Tenzin, Aang's son. The series spans four seasons from April 14, 2012, to December 19, 2014, totaling 52 episodes across Books One through Four.

Quick Facts

User: The Avatar
Origin: Wan (First Avatar)

Lore & Background

The series is set in a fictional universe where bending allows telekinetic manipulation of water, earth, fire, or air. Only the Avatar can bend all four elements and maintains global balance through cyclic reincarnation among the four nations: Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. Due to a past genocide, only one living family of airbenders existed at the start of the series until Harmonic Convergence in Book Two created new airbenders. The Avatar state connects the host to Raava, the spirit of light, a bond formed when the first Avatar, Wan, fused with Raava during the decamillennial alignment. This connection allows access to past lives and bending mastery, though Unalaq temporarily severed this link by freeing Vaatu, the spirit of darkness, before Korra restored the balance.

Reader's Guide

The narrative follows four distinct seasons, each telling a standalone story across 52 chapters. Book One focuses on political unrest in Republic City; Book Two expands to the Southern Water Tribe and spirit world; Books Three and Four take place largely in the Earth Kingdom. New episodes began distributing via the Internet starting with episode 9 of season 3. The series features main voice actors Janet Varney, Seychelle Gabriel, David Faustino, P. J. Byrne, J. K. Simmons, and Mindy Sterling. It addresses sociopolitical issues including social unrest, terrorism, race, gender, and sexual orientation, culminating in a final scene depicting the beginning of a same-sex romance between Korra and Asami Sato.