Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Romantic Reincarnation Theory Explained

With The Legend of Korra‘s final shot noticeably reminiscent of Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s own satisfying conclusion, fans have continued theorizing just what role love plays within the beloved Nickelodeon franchise. Looking to evidence throughout the series and considering its many relevant themes, a theory has emerged around the Avatars’ various lovers and the role they play in the primary protagonist’s reincarnation.

To understand the mechanics behind the Avatar and their complicated mythology, one must look to the origin of the first Avatar, including the unique and ancient partnership between Avatar Wan and the spirt Raava. After accidentally setting her evil spiritual counterpart Vaatu free, Wan joins Raava on her mission of containing him in order to bring balance and light to the world. The peaceful Raava, who initially rejected Wan (citing humanity’s many mistakes and flirtations with darkness), eventually merges with him, enlisting him as the world’s very first Avatar. With their mission of keeping chaos and darkness at bay not yet complete, as Avatar Wan lay dying, Raava soothes him by saying, “Don’t worry, we will be together for all of your lifetimes, and we will never give up.” The line implies that their connection will live on even in death – an idea at the heart of the Avatar romantic reincarnation theory.

As themes of love, togetherness, loss, and death play such a crucial role in Avatar and its world-building, it would be no surprise if relationships (romantic or otherwise) play into mechanics of the Avatar Cycle and the world’s greater spiritual mythology, especially if they are facilitated by Raava, herself. But how do the spiritual warriors’ love interests play into Raava’s fusion with her new host body during the Avatar’s reincarnation process?

Theory: The Avatar’s Next Reincarnation Resembles Their Lover

The concept of reincarnation is featured throughout the Avatar franchise, most notably as it pertains to the Avatar Cycle. According to the series’ in-universe mythology, when an Avatar dies, he or she is reborn in another form, regressing to infancy. Throughout their new life, the Avatar is ultimately tasked with integrating his or her past lives into their current one, using previously acquired skills and knowledge to bring harmony to the world. Unfortunately, with such a long lineage of Avatars (625 to be exact), details regarding a majority of these generational and element-bending heroes have have been rather scarce.

However, when looking at the most well-known and prominent  masters of the elements, Aang and Korra, eagle-eyed fans might notice an unexpected parallel – one not only involving the Avatars, but also their romantic partners. The theory suggests that when the time comes for a new Avatar to emerge after the death of the old, he or she will bear a physical resemblance to the previous Avatar’s lover while in that new form. Admittedly, little is known about the Avatars preceding Aang and Korra, but the theory seems almost too perfect to not be intentional, especially when considering how thoughtful and well-conceived the mythology tends to be throughout both series.

Evidence For The Reincarnation Theory

When the titular heroine for The Legend of Korra was finally revealed, fans of the franchise were quick to notice the many similarities between her and Katara, who, after three seasons of aiding him in his efforts to end the world-shaking violence inflicted by the Fire Nation, ended Avatar:The Last Airbender beginning her relationship with Aang. Both young women were born into the Southern Water Tribe with nearly identical eye-color, hair color, and skin tone. It is possible that Raava and the Avatar Spirit sought Korra out as a newborn because of her stark similarities to Katara, Aang’s great love.

The Legend of Korra Ending Explained

But looking even further back to Avatar: The Last Airbender, viewers caught a glimpse of Avatar Roku’s late and familiar-looking wife, Lady Ta Min, in the episode “The Avatar and the Fire Lord.” With a round face and hazel-brown eyes, it would be hard to miss Ta Min’s similarities to her husband’s reincarnated successor, Aang. Even her hair color, a dark brown, is identical in shade to Aang’s, as seen in season three when it has grown out.

The Significance of Avatar and Legend of Korra’s Final Scenes

The final scene of The Last Airbender includes a sweet first kiss between Aang and Katara, while The Legend of Korra sees Korra and Asami holding hands while entering the Spirit World together for the first time. The creators’ choice to end both series coupling its main protagonist with their lover is significant. Choosing to leave viewers and fans with such evocative and symmetrical images is simultaneously satisfying and resonant, seeming to hint at something deeper at play as the Avatar, partner by their side, takes a new step into the unknown after the battle is won. It’s as if to say, “This is the end but also the beginning” – a concept very much in line with the larger franchise’s Buddhist and Hindu influences. The union of these characters is reminiscent to Wan’s own connection with the spirit Raava, who, representing the good and light of the world, would have celebrated such potent and awe-inspiring iterations of love and partnership.

The parallel and seemingly significant endings additionally point to more progressive ideas – which are particularly bold (but welcome) in a show intended primarily for children – namely in its reveal of a same-sex couple at the end of The Legend of Korra. Admittedly, the coupling of Korra and Asami is much less explicit than Aang and Katara’s, with show co-creator Bryan Konietzko claiming that despite the original plan to unite them, studio executives at Nickelodeon were reluctant to show a queer relationship so openly. However, with the whole concept of the Avatar hinging on reincarnation regardless of gender identity, it is reasonable to assume that a similar fluidity can surround their sexual orientations. The definitive confirmation of this, as seen in The Legend of Korra, proves that love, regardless of who gets to enjoy it, is a potent source of balance capable of rebuilding a broken world – a message relevant to both the Avatar Universe and our own.

By making the next Chosen One figure in each series an amalgamation of the old Avatar and their lover, the wider Avatar narrative asserts that these bonds are important, not only for the shows’ various storylines but for the wider in-universe mythology. Allowing a symbolic survival of an Avatar’s love to live on in their reincarnated form, the idea that the current Avatar resembles the previous Avatar’s love interest is a beautiful one. Able to draw upon the series’ own themes and history while validating the importance of coming together in times of great generational crisis, it would be a shame if the theory does not hold up beyond The Legend of Korra. After all, even from the time of Wan and Raava’s unlikely pairing, the journey of the Avatar was never meant to be a solitary one.

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