Avatar: Seven Havens Episode 4-6 Recap and Review

Avatar: The Seven Vaults Episodes 4-6 recap and review: Pavi and Nisha's story continues as we catalog Avatar artifacts and more.

Warning: This review contains full spoilers for Avatar: Seven Havens Season 1, Episodes 4-6!

With the next three-part installment of Avatar: Seven Havens now streaming on Paramount+, we're almost halfway through the series' first season. The show clearly has an episodic rhythm, raising the stakes for our twin avatars, Paavi (Sahli Kaan) and Nisha (Aishu Dhawan), as well as their safe haven of Ellora. But we're still in Elora, and aside from a very dangerous red diamond and a group of raiders called the Faceless, it's strange that we still don't quite know what the overall point of the story is.

Avatar: Seven Havens Episode 1-3 Recap and Review

Well, that's not exactly true; The plot of Book 1: Survival (the original title of the season) certainly looks like Pavy and Nisha regaining lost memories of their past while tensions and mistrust of Ellora rise to unbearable levels, largely focused on the invisible threat of the Avatar - after all, we're told it was two centuries ago that she left the Avatar. Humanity lives in seven shelters.

But the real question for viewers watching the series is: when are they going to leave this one (1) sanctuary and explore six (6) more to make seven? Look, it should happen—probably—but it's not the focus on a city that consumed most of Legend of Korra. There, it was reasonable to spend a lot of time in Republic City; The steampunk-inspired home for all four types of benders and humans was a vast array of landscapes and social strata. Elora, in terms of design, is smaller and more in line with where we first met Aang with the Southern Water Tribe before heading off to explore the vast world of Avatar.

In fact, if you look at a similar time frame in The Last Airbender, by episode 6 Team Avatar had left the Southern Water Tribe, gone to the Southern Air Temple, met the Kyoshi Warriors, traveled to the Earth Kingdom of Umasho, and fought the then-villain Zuko several times. Not that Seven Havens needs this formula, but the curiosity factor is high on the new outlook of the world after the Korraclysm? We end episode 6, "Night of the Wretched," with Elora calling the other shelters for help. However, it probably means that the other shelters are coming to Ellora, not Pavy and Nisha going to them.

Episode after episode, this show is so lovely to watch, it's wonderfully funny, and it does a good job of slowly building up the extensive cast.

This would be a lot less of a problem if every episode consisted of the twins talking about how they want to go find their parents and see if they're alive. However, not once did anyone say, "Okay, let's check out Elora," which is where they were last seen. Yes, Elora and its citizens spend a lot of time in the sun, and they're all interesting in their own way. But at this point, it feels like Seven Havens is fighting itself to keep our characters in town instead of following the quest structure the season seemed to be setting up.

Five paragraphs aside, let's not forget that this is a very entertaining show and a great addition to the Avatar canon. While the one-season preview raises questions about the show's direction, it's still lovable episode-by-episode, surprisingly funny, and gently rounding out the expansive cast. And thanks to news from New York Comic Con that the show will now run for at least four seasons, there's a little breathing room for Seven Havens before Pavi, Nisha, and possibly Jae (Major Curda) stay in Elora to repair this broken world. You could hear the clock ticking in the background when they had just announced season two. For now, they can hang out in Ellora for Season 1, but hopefully hit the road in Seasons 2-4.

OK, long enough. To further break up the plot, episode 4, "Faceless," focuses on what appeared to be last week's big threat. As it turns out, they're really raiders taking grain and other goods from Ellora - late in the episode they kidnap a herd of camels. The clever thing this half-hour does is take that threat and pair it with a very small, personal quest for our three leads to find missing Bending Brigade member Uki (Kimberly Woods). Not only does this allow Pavy to get a lot weirder, based on her "Actually, I'm talking to her and they're my friends" moment from episode 3, but it also gives us more of a chance to understand the growing fear in Elora that's caused by what's been left or amplified by Red Diamond.

To compare and contrast two very different shows, however, take a look at Lanterns on HBO, which spent a lot of time telling us how nervous the people of Rushville, Nebraska are, while only showing us those people once or twice in eight episodes. Seven Havens, meanwhile, portrays this on many levels, from the ruling class to the citizens in a seemingly delicious bakery to Uki's insanely large family who worry not only about him, but the town itself. As viewers, this gives us a special emotional connection to Pavy and Nisha riding their cat monkeys in a city of faceless people. This storyline is all about panic and the fear of the unknown, something that is very relevant to our modern world. If we didn't care about the common people of Elora, the rebellion in episode 5, "The One Left Behind" and the pseudo-zombie attacks in episode 6, "Night of the Afflicted," wouldn't have been nearly as effective.

And now a quick side trip to theory town (and scroll down for a really big theory bordering on possible spoilers): We all agree that the Faceless aren't bad guys. They are people trying to survive outside the shelter, right? And considering the "you should join us" moment at the beginning of the episode, when Jae finds Uki again, do you understand the faceless vision? ok cool

Moving on to Episode 5, tensions are unbearably high now that the town guard of Mullin (Esric Chau) has been possessed by the red creature and knows (or thinks he knows) that the Avatar is in town. What works so well with the animation here is that the expressions convey the real pain and terror that everyone feels as the guards work to track down the Avatar. Meanwhile, Jae and Kham Brigade Commander Karthik (Akshay Khanna) try to allay fears despite knowing there are not just one, but two Avatars in Ellora.

There's a lot to love about this episode. Shout out to Seven Havens, which doubles down on the relationship between Jae and Datu (Topher Ngo). It's the funniest moment they've ever had, with an old woman responding to Jae's passionate pleas with a raspberry, then a burly man proudly taking her away. And of course, Karthik has a secret closet full of artifacts, aka Avatar Easter Eggs, which we'll get to more after the recap. But the biggest advantage is that you can focus everything again on the emotions while taking away the plot. Here, thanks to a rediscovered bracelet along with Pavy's brooch, we learn that Nisha and Pavy's parents tried to hide them and contacted the Order of the White Lotus, but when Karthik arrived, he found Nisha alone in the wasteland. There are strong shades of Rey from Star Wars: The Last Jedi here, though it's clear that the parents of our twin Avatars know a lot more about world-shattering. We already know that.

And then there's episode 6, where Elora intensifies her fears with the crystalline structures left behind by the red diamond, and the evil diamond returns to Pavy and Nisha, not to attack but to show another vision of their mother and father. Perhaps most importantly, Povey calms Moline down by pinning her against a "cozy wall," which ranks second only to Raspberry Lady on the episode's list of funniest moments. It doesn't sound like a broken record, but once again this episode pairs the zombie scare story (the big story) with Pavy's own fears of not being good enough thanks to the loss of his leg (seemingly the small story). There's obviously more to say, but the animation conveys her pain and frustration as she tries to help Nisha and Jae quell the madness, and the final delivery of a new prosthetic from a very kind doctor is heartwarming as Pavi bounces around the room.

As with The Last Airbender and subsequent seasons of The Legend of Korra, the focus is on characters and emotions first.

Naturally, there are mysteries here - why are there two avatars? What about the red diamond? Is it really the anger of the spirit world or something else? What about the other six shelters? - They are great for theorizing. But like The Last Airbender and later seasons of The Legend of Korra (they made the mistake of going a little too plot-heavy in the first season), the focus is on characters and emotions. First.

It ties in perfectly with The Big Theory, which we'll be covering next, and while there's a bit of "when are they going to get to the fireworks factory" in regards to those other six havens in a bunch of episodes this week, Seven Havens is doing a great job of making us care not just about Pavy and Nisha, but all of Elora. There is a kindness and empathy in this series that is rare even for animated shows. In short? Avatar: Seven Havens is like sitting inside a nice cozy wall for 60 minutes every week.

Easter egg avatars, references, and connections

Before we get into the specific Easter eggs, here's the theory we mentioned — and while it's just a fan theory posted on Reddit, it's one that sounds so true, it might have figured out the entire show after the first week. So possible spoilers ahead in: Seven Sanctuary, Seven Chakras. Here's the short version, but if you don't remember - in the second season of The Last Airbender, Aang learned about the seven chakras that, when unlocked, allow him to enter the versatile avatar mode. He was initially unable to unlock the connections due to not releasing them, and was later severely injured due to Azula's lightning bending.

Each chakra has an associated color and emotion, and the colors of the Seven Heavens all correspond exactly to the colors of the different chakras. Elora, you may not be surprised to learn, is depicted in red in the opening credits and is the red chakra or root chakra. Blocked by fear The title of the first season finale of Seven Havens? "Root Chakra."

While not exactly "case closed," the theory goes that Korra either did something or tried to make something happen (and failed) that broke the world's chakras. So when Pavy and Nisha figure this out, they won't be on a journey to figure out bending à la Aang and Korra because they've already mastered all four elements, but to unlock the seven chakras of the universe and restore balance. Weird weather? This is because the chakras are blocked. It also explains why red diamonds are not bad. Only Pavy and Nisha have to do something to get rid of Ellora's fear.

If this is indeed a journey to restore chakras, the place where Korra probably made her last stand would definitely be her home from Legend of Korra.

Anyway, another aspect of this theory is that intrepid fans have already placed the map of the seven sanctuaries from the opening credits onto the known map of the Avatar world. While some of the locations are unknown or guesswork, it seems almost certain that one of the sanctuaries is Ba Sing Se, while the latest possibility is none other than Republic City. Again, this makes a lot of sense. If this is indeed a journey to restore chakras, the place where Korra probably made her final stand would definitely be her home from Legend of Korra.

Is this all true? Just wild guesses? We'll find out as the show goes on, but let's throw in some Easter eggs and references that we know for sure.

To work backwards (because pretty much everything we have to talk about is in episode 5), it's nice to see Lightning bending again, aka the most interesting bending. We also get to see Pavy and Nisha bending energy to destroy the red diamond that stuns Karthik. While the big theory above seems more likely, this could put a little more fire on the "Ang did something that removed Ozai's fire lord bending" theory, since that theory also involved energy bending.

Okay, okay, episode 5. Right at the beginning, we get a cool little hint of "Commander Buontan once told me he saw a lemur man dancing in the rough." While there's no way Bountan can actually see this, it's clear that this is a reference to Momo's iconic dance in The Last Airbender Season 2, "Tales of Ba Sing Se," where she danced with some monkeys while trying to find the missing Apa.

...and then Pavy and Nisha end up in Karthik's secret room, a treasure trove of artifacts collected by the Order of the White Lotus. Look, full disclosure: we're definitely going to miss something here because there's so much, so if you don't understand something, let us know in the comments below. But a partial list of artifacts includes:

Club Sokka, which Pavy uses as a backscratcher, pulling a classic Sokka face as he does so.

It looks like they may also have Sokka's sword on one of the higher shelves

Avatar artifacts, aka toys used to identify avatars. At least there's a hand drum, a wooden hog monkey, and a wire grasshopper used in the background of Ang as Nisha enters the room.

World map as seen in the opening title sequence of The Last Airbender

Zuko's blue spirit mask from when he went into hiding as a caretaker

Nisha picks up an object with three spins representing the air nation

There is a musical instrument on the wall that is the closest in shape to Chong's instrument - the Dramaine - from The Last Airbender in Season 2's "Cave of Lovers".

Any radio will be from the Legend of Korra era, as the technology was not developed at the time of The Last Airbender. One of these might be the Bumi portable radio, or some form based on it

As Pavi accidentally turns on the radio and freaks out, we see a red umbrella, which is probably the same red umbrella that Aang received as a gift in the last episode of Season 1, Episode 14, "The Fortuneteller."

The "Lantern" Povey excitedly calls out definitely sounds like it's something, so feel free to make fun of us for not realizing what it is. Ditto for the purple robe with long sleeves in the back, which looks like something Princess Yu would wear but isn't. probably Regardless, there's a lot to frame and comb through, and it makes sense that they wouldn't have a lot of Korra-era artifacts because, you know, they hate Korra.

What is your favorite episode of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise?

Everything is resolved in a rhythm in this week's series of episodes, and it's all a little less surprising than the premiere, as we get to know Elora more. Plus, the resistance to leaving the shelter seems to hold the show back a bit. But despite all this, strong emotional hooks, some forward movement in the mythology, funny moments and a killer twist put the show on par with previous entries in the franchise.