Avatar: Seven Havens' gay characters got what Korra and Asami never did on screen
The Legend of Korra ended in 2014 with two women holding hands, because Nickelodeon wouldn't let them do more. Twelve years later, the Avatar franchise is finally allowed a kiss, even if it's only on the cheek.
Avatar: Seven Havens premiered on Paramount+ on October 9, 2026, and it's the first new animated Avatar series since The Legend of Korra. It's set after Korra's era, in a world wrecked by a cataclysm the survivors blame on her, where civilization hangs on in seven remaining havens. The new Avatar is Pavi (Saheli Khan), a young earthbender who discovers she's Korra's successor. Within three episodes, the show had also done something the franchise spent a decade being told it couldn't.
Jae and Datu
Jae (Major Curda) is introduced in the first episode as an airbender who befriends and mentors Pavi and her long-lost twin, Nisha (Aishu Devan). Episode 3 introduces Datu, a member of Ellora's guard, and the show doesn't make it a mystery. When the two men meet, they embrace and Datu kisses Jae on the cheek.
That's it, and that's the point. They're a couple, the show treats it as ordinary, and the story moves on. GCN called them the first confirmed canon gay male couple in the Avatar universe. Devan summed up the show's attitude to CBR in one line.
"He has a boyfriend. He's still Jae."
— Aishu Devan, voice of Nisha, to CBR
What Korra and Asami got instead
The Legend of Korra's 2014 finale ended with Korra and Asami holding hands and walking into the spirit world together. The writers weren't allowed a kiss or an "I love you." Co-creator Bryan Konietzko confirmed the relationship after the finale aired, telling fans that "Korra and Asami fell in love," and explained why the show had stopped short.
"There was a limit to how far we could go with it."
— Bryan Konietzko, December 2014, via TV Guide
Michael Dante DiMartino has been just as direct about the difference now. He told The Direct that the original team faced "pushback about what we could and couldn't show," and that "the kids' animation landscape has definitely changed."
In 2014, Korra and Asami needed a spirit portal and a blog post to become canon. In 2026, a guard kisses an airbender on the cheek in episode 3 and nobody needs an explainer.
Korra and Asami aren't done either
Seven Havens hasn't forgotten them. Flashbacks show older versions of Korra and Asami, seemingly married. Developer Sehaj Sethi has also confirmed that Asami is "definitely dead" by the time of the new show, so whatever we see of them will be in the past.
DiMartino promised that "we will see more of what Korra and Asami's relationship was like in the past," and Sethi said season 2 will reveal more. The first season's 13 episodes finished on October 30. Paramount+ has already ordered season 2, and at New York Comic Con on October 9, it renewed the series for seasons 3 and 4 as well.
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Korra's love story was the one Avatar couldn't show while it was happening. The new show is going back to fill it in, a decade late, on a platform that apparently doesn't mind.
Previously we wrote: Stranger Things Day: still no secret ninth episode — Netflix answered the theory with a prequel instead