Aang’s dilemma in Avatar: The Last Airbender was a unique one, something that Korra never faced in her tenure as the Avatar. While there are often times when the fandom decides to pit the two against each other, it might not be correct to assume that Korra was the superior of the two just because she did what Aang wanted to.
There seems to be a discourse online that Korra saved her worst enemy, while Aang had to resort to crippling his, and this somehow makes Korra a better Avatar. However, there has been plenty of discourse about how different Korra and Aang’s situations were, which does really prove that Aang was a better Avatar after all.
Aang was the last of his culture, and that changed everything for him as the Avatar
Avatar Aang was the last of his kind, while Korra was born in an objectively better world than in which Aang grew up. When it came to stopping Fire Lord Ozai, Aang was pushed into a corner by not only those around him but also his previous incarnations.
It is likely that they were never in the same position as he was i.e. being the last of his culture. Had he succumbed to this and decided to slay Ozai, the Air Nomad culture would be truly dead. However, Aang found a creative solution and made the best of the situation.
On the other hand, Korra had a lot of choices in her hands and faced a multitude of villains across her adventures. Especially when it came to Kuvira, who was much more malleable than Ozai, Korra took the best course forward too but was not burdened the same way that Aang was, and fans online agree.
There is also the fact that Korra did not actually redeem Kuvira but just chose not to kill her, in a similar way to Aang. However, the way Aang dealt with Ozai was a much more final solution than how Korra dealt with Kuvira, which makes the case for the former to be a thorough Avatar.
Avatar: Seven Havens might prove that Korra had a tougher time being an Avatar than Aang
Avatar Studios is currently hard at work on a series surrounding Korra’s successor. The show is going to be set in a very different world than what audiences have seen in previous iterations of the franchise. Humanity would be divided into Seven Havens, which will see the Avatar as a problem rather than the revered figure that they did in the time of Korra and Aang.
Given the image of the Avatar that these people have, and the state of the world when we come to Avatar: Seven Havens, Korra might not have had the best PR when she went out, possibly causing the cataclysm, or somehow causing the uneasy alliance that she brokered between people and spirits to come undone.
The Earthbending Avatar that fans are going to meet in Seven Havens will also have the handicap of not having access to the previous Avatar, which could be the main conflict that he or she faces. Perhaps it’s this inability to access the previous Avatars that caused Korra to not have the power to save the world, and her successor is going to restore the balance of the world once the Avatar cycle has been restored.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
