A vocal part of the fanbase refuses to believe that the pre-Korra past lives are gone forever and wants Pavi to restore them.

Honestly, I have always thought this unlikely, for the following reasons:

"Evidence"

The "evidence" to the past lives being restored that fans cling to is that each Avatar dies with "unfinished business" and Korra's successor should thus address her "greatest failure".

I see this as wishful thinking.
If anything, it seems that Korra's "failure" that Pavi must fix is the Cataclysm.

Consequences

Even before The Legend of Korra got renewed for two more seasons, getting rid of the past lives served an underappreciated role in Korra's second Book.

Book 2 was all about "new beginnings" and Korra needing to "grow up".
At the start of the Book, having gotten everything she wanted without any lasting consequences in Book 1, she is more immature than ever, which leads her to make some pretty big mistakes whilst alienating her comrades.
The second half of Book 2 is all about Korra trying to fix these mistakes.

In this context, the loss of the past lives was because, to start over and mature, Korra needed to face a mistake that neither she nor anyone else could do anything about afterward!

Aang Issue

Now, the real-life reason the writers ditched the past lives was likely (partially) because this is supposed to be a story about the next generation.

In Korra's Book 1, the writers got around this "Aang Issue" by making her spiritually inept, allowing them to save him for the finale.
However, they did not know there was gonna be another book. So after they got a second, with the potential for more, they were probably like: "Okay, the past lives are becoming more of a burden than an asset; let's just get rid of them"!

Premise

Seven Havens actually seems to agree with getting rid of the past, with the new series essentially nuking the entire previous setting!
So, with a premise like that, it is unlikely that Seven Havens will bring back any past lives besides Korra, who is essential to the plot.

So I just wanted to go over all the major fan theories about the cause of the 'Cataclysm' and compare them by how likely they are to be true.

Spirit Energy

This theory suggests that humanity began using spirit energy as a power source, as we saw with Kuvira's cannon in Korra Book 4, resulting in the eventual destruction of the entire ecosystem through them messing with the planet's energy.

This is the theory I myself find most likely to be true because it makes the most sense with The Legend of Korra's semi-modern setting.
The creators claimed that the Cataclysm was the result of events over multiple Avatar eras, and what has been going on since at least Roku's era? Rapid technological advancement!

RaaVaatu

This theory was anonymously sent to Avatar YouTuber 'The Avatarist' and suggests that the Cataclysm was a side-effect of Korra leaving the spirit portals open, forcing Korra to fuse Raava and Vaatu into a single spirit to gain enough power to bend both the physical and spirit worlds into a single new one to save both from destruction.

Honestly, this theory has a major problem: the portals were open for 10,000 years in Wan's era, and the worlds remained separate that whole time, so why would there only be problems now?
Then, for this theory to be true, there must be additional factors.

Vaatu

This theory has gained traction as of late.
It suggests that Vaatu regenerated inside Raava, who is fused with Korra, and took control of the Avatar's body, and he then caused the Cataclysm whilst framing Korra.

Personally, after everything Korra went through, I cannot see her getting taken over by Vaatu.
It would honestly be a complete betrayal of a character who is supposed to embody resilience.

Sozin's Comet

This theory claims that Sozin's Comet crashed into the Avatar world, creating Seven Havens' wasteland setting.
Also, some fans theorize that the comet is, in fact, a spirit associated with fire.

Now, this theory has the same problem as RaaVaatu: the comet has flown by the Avatar world countless times, so why would it only cause an apocalypse now?
Also, Seven Havens' teaser makes it pretty clear that the Cataclysm was a weather disaster rather than a celestial body impact. So, I think this theory is pretty much dead.

So, according to leaks, Pavi and Nisha will both be prodigies who have each already unlocked all four elements at the start of Seven Havens.

However, after watching the teaser over and over again, I have come to believe Pavi might actually be a far more talented bender than Nisha.

Evidence

What set off this theory for me is the scene in the teaser where Pavi bends these big boulders while Nisha seemingly cowers in the background.
Later, we see Pavi and Nisha earthbend together, but they only manipulate small rocks.
In addition, in the Paramount+ promo art, Nisha is once again only shown with some small rocks, whereas Pavi is bending an entire boulder.

This implies to me that earthbending these small rocks is the best Nisha can do.
Meanwhile, Pavi, whose body language throughout the teaser shows she is socially withdrawn, is likely hiding her true skills in the scene where she and Nisha bend together.

Above everything, Pavi being stronger than Nisha makes sense!
After all, while Nisha grew up in luxury, Pavi likely had to become strong to survive.

Storytelling Potential

Now, Pavi being more skilled than Nisha could make for an interesting narrative.

As stated above, I believe that Pavi is a socially withdrawn person as a result of how she grew up, whereas leaks suggest that Nisha, like Korra, takes pride in being the Avatar.
So this socially awkward girl already being a highly skilled bender by the start of the series would be an entertaining contrast.
Meanwhile, Nisha suddenly discovering there is another Avatar who is better than her at everything could be a jumping-off platform for an interesting arc.

If true, there are several ways this could go for Nisha, such as: going through a villain arc where her jealousy of Pavi consumes her, or her using it as motivation to become stronger.

Having repeatedly come across these X posts about Aang and Toph's friendship spanning generations, I have now found this one, which includes the popular fan theory that Pavi is a Beifong and Jea a descendant of Aang.

So, I would like to know your opinion.
Would you like this theory to be true?

My Opinion

While I have been a critic of The Legend of Korra's legacy characters in the past, I honestly would not mind this theory being true.

Link: STORY｜完全新作TVアニメーション「魔法少女リリカルなのは EXCEEDS Gun Blaze Vengeance」公式サイト

• Looks like this episode will give us Mana and Eiji's backstories.
  • Personally, I believe this flashback is meant to have us understand but not sympathise with them; I doubt they are gonna get redeemed after everything they did to Towa and the other victims of their Diaboli Drugs.
• As shown in the previous episode, Mana and Eiji are gonna try to capture Towa to get hold of her Gluttony mutation.
• It also seems that EXCEEDS will get caught in the crossfire.

When leaks about Nisha having apparently been taken and raised by the White Lotus from an early age first surfaced, there was a lot of fan speculation that the order might be Seven Havens' antagonists.

So I just wanted to go over the actual plausibility of this and the possible storylines that could sprout from it.
Please let me know your thoughts

Plausibility

While The Last Airbender categorizes the White Lotus as firmly 'good' due to its association with characters like Iroh and the other masters whom the Gaang met on their journey, expanded universe content has exposed the order as a sort of Illuminati that has influenced the Avatar and the world from the shadows for countless centuries.

So, yes... Looking at the order like this, them serving as antagonists is definitely plausible.
In fact, The Legend of Korra already showed some danger signs, with them gaining more authority to the point that they were able to confine Korra for her entire adolescence.

Possible Storylines

Now, looking at the storylines that might come from the White Lotus being antagonists, I think we can look first to Jae.
According to leaks, he will find Pavi and recruit her into Ellora. This led fans to speculate that his arc will be that he starts as a loyal soldier but later defects after realizing that the system of drafting benders is wrong.
Making Jae a White Lotus member, I believe, would only strengthen such a storyline by giving him relationships with other members, who will see him as a traitor after he defects.

Also, during the production of the Last Airbender Netflix series, the creators apparently wanted to deviate from the original story by making Iroh a twist antagonist.
While this obviously would not work for a Last Airbender adaptation, it might for Seven Havens: "We follow the White Lotus for a season and grow to trust them, only to learn that, surprise, they are the antagonists defending this post-apocalyptic world's broken status quo."

So, I've had this theory for a while now:
That Seven Havens' colorful and "cartoony" art style is actually a deception by the creators to contrast with this potentially being the tonally darkest Avatar series yet!

Age Rating

I really began to believe this theory once the show's age rating on IMDB was released: TV-PG.

This means that Seven Havens is rated the same as The Legend of Korra!
You know, the series that was not afraid to explore heavy themes and even used tricks like pulling the camera away to get away with murder in a kids' show!

For comparison, The Last Airbender was only rated TV-Y7-FV.

Dark Themes

According to leaks, it seems that Seven Havens will be delving into some pretty dark subject matter like persecution, forced conscription, and child grooming.

On top of that, there is the whole post-apocalyptic setting, which will likely come with the usual exploration of the darkest parts of human nature.

So, two YouTubers that I watched analyze the Seven Havens teaser both came to the same conclusion:
"If the writers want to bring back Vaatu, then they should change him and Raava away from simply 'Raava good, Vaatu bad', and the easiest way to do that is to make Pavi the Dark Avatar rather than Nisha."

Personally, I think that this could work because of these reasons:

Precedent

Actually, Avatar has precedent for these "characters' positions do not reflect their nature" storylines.
In fact, they were like the entire plots of both The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra!

Aang was a pacifist monk forced to fight in a war, whereas Korra was a warrior who was essentially forced into politics.

Character Designs

In a previous post, I went over the designs of both Pavi and Nisha and how they connect to Raava and Vaatu.
Interestingly, Nisha wears whites and blues, the colors of Raava, whereas Pavi has a red shirt, Vaatu's color, cleverly hidden underneath her cloak.

Even their names, which mean "light" and "dark" respectively, and the colors of their animal companions could just be a clever misdirect by the writers, easily explained by their identities getting mixed up when they got separated.

Plot

Given leaks suggesting that Benders will supposedly be an oppressed minority, drafted into the military upon discovery, I have long suspected that the main antagonists of this series will not be Vaatu or the masked men in the teaser, but the seven havens themselves.

Pavi being the Dark Avatar would actually play into this nicely.
There is no balance to be found here; the havens need to be abolished entirely so something new can take their place.

Though Seven Havens seems to be ditching The Legend of Korra's setting and returning to something resembling The Last Airbender, some people have claimed that the series will actually include sci-fi elements, with Benders apparently wearing powersuits and the character Jae reportedly having an airbending-operated hoverboard.

So, I just wanted to share my thoughts on it.

Availability

Honestly, I do not think sci-fi elements will be a problem provided they are used sparingly.

The Last Airbender was similar.
The Fire Nation was undergoing an industrial revolution, with them having steamboats, tanks, and later even airships.
However, since this technology was directed solely toward the military, other nations and even the civilians of the Fire Nation itself never saw any benefit from it; thus, the world still felt properly medieval.

Korra's semi-modern setting completely shifted this around, to the point that pre-timeskip Korra and the airbenders felt the last vestiges of The Last Airbender in this 20th-century setting.

Now, I have faith that Seven Havens will have a more even balance of characters with access to technology.
You only have to look at Pavi herself. Compared to Jae and his powersuit, she wears clothes that you expect to see in The Last Airbender.
In fact, I expect the citizens of Alora will have a similar technological split. Looking at the haven, it has an upper city atop the mountain and an under city built into it, implying a class divide, with the upper class likely hoarding the really advanced tech.

Travel

Then there is technology's impact on traveling.

Korra had a bit of an issue where technology, wide access to Sky Bisons, and a lack of enemies essentially trivialized travel to the point that characters made multiple trips around the world in seemingly no time.

Due to the Seven Havens' post-apocalyptic setting, along with the synopsis stating that humans and spirits will chase Pavi, I'm already guessing that travel will be a more arduous affair than in Korra.
For starters, air travel seems to be out entirely, with there apparently being no Sky Bisons or airships in this series.
This leaves traveling by land, which will be more time-consuming. In fact, I think Pavi and Nisha being kids is so that the writers can age them up to showcase time passing.

When I first learned of Seven Havens' post-apocalyptic world, I thought: "This is clearly the writers getting rid of The Legend of Korra's semi-modern setting and hitting the 'reset button' to return to something resembling The Last Airbender".

Even now, I still believe that this new setting is the right move and exactly what the Avatar franchise needed, for these reasons:

Charted World

By the end of Korra, it kinda felt like the Last Airbender's world had run its course.
People complain about the four nations being gone, but their traditional forms already sort of ceased to exist; Republic City was founded, the Water Tribes became independent, the Air Nomads adapted with the times, the Earth Kingdom fell apart into separate states, and the Fire Nation had already been reformed.

In fact, by Last Airbender's end, Aang and Co. had pretty much already visited every notable landmark in the world; thus, Korra introduced Republic City and Zaofu.
However, these new locations soon became constraining; since most characters were permanently stationed there, we constantly had to return to them.
Also, all of Korra's other settings were really just updated Last Airbender locations.

Then there is Korra's semi-modern technology, which trivializes travel.
While I understand that time DOES pass, Korra was depicted as traveling so fast compared to Aang that she might as well have been teleporting.
So ditch all that technology that made things too easy!

Now, Seven Havens' world already seems to be designed with more longevity in mind.
For starters, as the title says, there are SEVEN, which already means multiple locations, rather than just Republic City, that will be explored in-depth.
Also, according to leaks, there will be ruins from the Last Airbender/Korra world, though the focus will probably remain on the havens.

Themes

Each previous Avatar series has reflected the themes of its respective protagonist's element, as explained by Iroh.
"Wind is the element of freedom", so The Last Airbender was a world-hopping adventure to defeat a military dictatorship attempting to dominate it.
"Water is the element of change", so Korra explored the Avatar's role in a rapidly modernizing, "post-Avatar" world, with its antagonists all being extremists.

From this perspective, the modern world Korra was developing into clearly did not fit the themes of earth—"diversity, strength, and endurance".
"A series set in a post-apocalyptic world where the Avatar and fellow Benders face prejudice", now that represents the element of earth!

Legacy Characters

Korra had arguably something of a legacy character problem.
Yes, Avatar has always been about legacy—Aang inherited Roku's, Korra was constantly in the shadow of Aang's—but the way Korra did this, by constantly bringing back the old cast and focusing on their descendants over the new characters, had a side-effect of making the world feel smaller in my opinion.

So, when I first saw leaks that Pavi's reincarnation was delayed, I thought: "Looks like the writers are ensuring there are no legacy characters this time around".
Now, just like with the setting, I'm behind this move because, while the legacy characters at least fit Korra's themes, I do not think they would work in Seven Havens' setting, where the Avatar is reviled, which could be ruined if too many people sing Korra's praises.

Leaks from people who saw Seven Havens' test screening have spawned many theories about how Pavi and Nisha could both bend all four elements, with the most recurring one being that one has Raava and the other Vaatu.
However, all these theories point to Nisha being the Dark Avatar.

So, I want to explore the other option and see how this theory could work if Pavi were the Dark Avatar.
After all, the series is titled "Avatar", not distinguishing between Light- or Dark.

Character Designs

Actually, looking at leaked character designs, this theory actually has some credence.

Pavi and Nisha both have dark skin and hair, probably inspired by Seven Havens' wasteland setting, and green eyes as a nod to the Earth Kingdom's traditional color.
However, identical twins aside, this is where the similarities end.

What really sets off some alarm bells for me is Nisha's clothing.
She wears cyan-blue pants, a grayish-white shirt, and a white necktie and armbands, colors associated with Raava.
Meanwhile, Pavi wears green pants and a yellow cloak, hairpiece, and wristbands in what I'm guessing is another nod to the old Earth Kingdom. However, her shirt—cleverly hidden underneath her cape—is red, the color of Vaatu.
Also, Nisha's hair is neater and more orderly, whereas Pavi's is messier and more chaotic.
Even Pavi's missing left leg might be a reference to Wan separating Raava and Vaatu, effectively amputating them, af the latter's request.

One of the biggest reasons Nisha is assumed to be the Dark Avatar is that her name literally means "Darkness," whereas Pavi means "Light".
However, this could just be a misdirection, with Pavi instead being "Vaatu's light" while Nisha is "Raava's darkness".

Narrative significance

Story-wise, Pavi being the Dark Avatar could be really interesting and serve as her narrative low-point, akin to Aang's loss at Ba Sing Se and Korra's PTSD arc.

Just imagine, after spending the whole series being called a monster due to being the Avatar, Pavi finds evidence that Korra did not destroy the world after all (because of course she did not), only to learn that she truly IS a monster with the most powerful dark spirit in history residing inside her.
This would also make the two-dimensional Vaatu interesting: turn him into an inner demon-type character who torments Pavi whilst plotting to take control of her body.

Pavi being the Dark Avatar could showcase that chaos does not automatically equal evil.
Yes, Vaatu is 100% an evil, but Pavi does not have to be.

Mythology

Finally, I want to explore this theory from a mythological angle.

The creators are apparently drawing from Indian mythology for inspiration for Seven Havens.
Now, while I am not an expert on the subject, one of the most famous Indian mythological figures is the god of destruction, Shiva, who does not destroy because he is evil, but to erase corruption and make room for something new.
Pavi could play a similar role. From what we know about the havens, they are fundamentally broken and should be dissolved and replaced with something better.

Looking at Seven Havens' setting and premise, a world with two Avatars where there is conflict between Benders and Non-Benders, I cannot help but be reminded of the first two seasons of The Legend of Korra.

It seems to me that this new series will be the writer's second attempt at these storylines. This time, without all the production problems they had to deal with back then.

Behind the Scenes

Without a doubt, The Legend of Korra's biggest issue was behind-the-scenes drama.
It was originally meant to be a one-season show, but it kept getting renewed amidst production, forcing rewrites.
This was bad because the narrative, characters, and setting were not designed for a long-running show.
Also, executives did not let the writers tell the stories they wanted, like KorraxAsami.

Seven Havens seems to be avoiding these issues by just having better planning.
The show has been confirmed for two seasons, with it having reportedly already been renewed for two more early in production.
Also, the writers seemingly have more creative freedom this time around.

Setting

With Aang and Co. having already visited every notable landmark during The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra needed a new setting; thus, Republic City.
However, while functional in Korra's first season, it became a ball-and-chain in subsequent ones, with every conflict needing to involve it because most characters live there.
Also, the 20th-century vibe removed much of The Last Airbender's charming mysticism.

Seven Havens' solution is "The Cataclysm".
Complain all you want, but narratively, it serves as a reset button, allowing the writers to start fresh while keeping the series' lore.
Also, there are SEVEN havens, which means the show will have 7+ potentially brand new locations to work with.

Characters

As stated before, The Legend of Korra's characters were not designed for a long-running show.
Yes, it gave us storylines like the Tenzen and Beifong family drama, and, in Korra's case, the writers turned this weakness into a strength, with her PTSD arc from everything she went through. However, it also left Korra's Team Avatar—Mako, Bolin, and Asami—underdeveloped, with them lacking an overarching storyline besides their relationship drama.

With Pavi's reincarnation having reportedly been delayed, just like with the setting, Seven Havens seems to be wiping the slate clean by ensuring that all Last Airbender and Korra characters are long deceased.
Also, I'm personally already feeling potential in Seven Havens' cast. For example, there's Jae, an initially loyal conscripted Bender who gradually grows disillusioned with the havens' system.

Groundwork

Love or hate Korra, you cannot deny that it laid the groundwork for Seven Havens, with her leaving the spirit portals open and the introduction of the Dark Avatar being partly the reasons why Nisha and the cataclysm's cause are so discussed.

In fact, while people hate on Korra for losing the past Avatars, Seven Havens actually seems to take advantage of it.
In The Legend of Korra: An Avatar's Chronicle book, Tenzen theorizes that the past Avatars are lost to all future reincarnations, including Korra for Pavi.
Now, this potentially makes the cataclysm mystery far more interesting, since Pavi cannot just get all the answers from Korra's spirit.

So I've been thinking about how each Avatar series has been about the protagonist balancing something.
The Last Airbender was about balancing the four elements, symbolized by the four nations, while The Legend of Korra was about finding spiritual balance in a rapidly modernizing world.

So, since we could identify the previous series' conflicts by looking at their settings, doing so for Seven Havens makes it pretty clear that something must be done about the world being a wasteland.

The Cataclysm

For my thoughts about the cataclysm, I 100% believe Korra was framed.

Personally, I'm with the theory that this world is a result of an unresolved plot threat from Legend of Korra: humans exploiting spirits.
Basically, humanity started using spirit power as a resource. However, it turned out not to be the unlimited clean energy they thought. In fact, they were essentially consuming the planet's life.
Korra may have tried to intervene, but by then it was already too late, resulting in the planet undergoing an "energy shift".

This theory tracks with how benders seem to be treated in this new series: Exploited as resources.

The conflict

With the series confirmed for two seasons, I'm guessing the first will revolve around Pavi and Co. learning the truth behind the cataclysm before culminating in her and Nisha having a falling out regarding how to balance their world, which will be the primary conflict for season two.