With Avatar: Seven Havens, franchise architects Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and showrunners Sehaj Sethi and Ethan Spaulding have fundamentally upended what audiences expect from the world of bending. Streaming now on Paramount Plus, the series drops viewers into a post-apocalyptic era set more than 200 years after The Legend of Korra, in which humanity no longer exists as a unified Four Nations. Civilization has splintered into seven isolated urban sanctuaries, called the Seven Havens, each offering their own unique blend of cultures and perspectives on this new and ravaged world.
The series follows Pavi (Saheli Khan), a young earthbender from the walled city of Ellora, and her long-lost twin sister, Nisha (Aishu Devan), both of whom discover they’re the next Avatar. In a world that increasingly sees that mantle as a destroyer rather than a savior, the sisters must flee human and spirit enemies alike while uncovering the truth about their origins. Along the way, they're joined by airbender guard Jae (Major Curda), guard captain Karthik (Akshay Khanna), and cat-monkey companions Geet and Ruhi, both voiced by franchise veteran Dee Bradley Baker.
At New York Comic Con 2026, Polygon caught up with Sethi and Spaulding to discuss the new series’ creative roots and some of the mysteries surrounding its radically transformed world. The conversation took an interesting turn when we asked why there are exactly “Seven” Havens and whether their placement across the map is intentional. Considering how meticulously the Avatar universe builds its lore, it felt worth asking if the geographic layout was hiding a larger secret in plain sight.
Sethi and Spaulding shared a quick look and a laugh before offering the following response: Sehaj Sethi: “There’s a reason. I don't think we can say why yet.” Ethan Spaulding: “I don't think we can.” It’s not the most revealing of answers, but it leaves plenty of room for speculation, particularly given how often the franchise has tied its geography to the spiritual history of the Avatar world. Fans have come up with plenty of theories of their own, which Sethi and Spaulding couldn’t verify, for obvious reasons.
They range from interesting to ridiculous, and offer perspectives on where the Seven Havens storyline might take the future of the bending world. One such possibility is that the Havens have some connection to the ancient Lion Turtles. Long before Avatar Wan became the first Avatar, humans lived on the backs of colossal creatures, which offered them protection from the dangers of the spirit wilds.
The Seven Havens in this show could have been established on or around surviving Lion Turtles, turning these ancient sanctuaries into the last reliable refuges for humanity. It's a decidedly speculative theory, but might not hold much water given that all but one were hunted to extinction well before Aang’s time. Given that the Lion Turtles were also seafaring animals, it’s hard to see this theory holding up to scrutiny, even if it would give the Havens a connection to the world's earliest civilizations.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
