Avatar: Seven Havens Just Pulled Ellora, the Desert Haven, Into the Center of Its Story

A Haven that called for help and got a collapse

Ellora, the Haven of Wind and Sand, set off a summit in Avatar: Seven Havens that ended with its allies leaving and its government clamping down. ^[1] The city sits in the desert expanses of the post-apocalyptic world. ^[1]

The first six episodes established that the remote Havens are, for the most part, disconnected from one another. ^[1] In Ellora, contacting another Haven without council permission is illegal. ^[1]

The radio call

At the end of episode 6, Chancellor Kayoko sends out an emergency radio transmission to all Havens. ^[1] Her message identified the caller as Ellora, addressed any and all Havens, and told them Ellora needs them. ^[1]

Her plea culminates in a two-part summit across episodes 8 and 9, where survivors from other parts of the world are met. ^[1]

Why Ellora needed the summit

The summit was initially intended to address Ellora's crisis. ^[1] Bender birth rates are declining, and the fear-based Affliction is spreading because of red Anomaly crystals growing beneath the city. ^[1]

Ellora is under constant threat from storms, its population is starving, and its benders are being conscripted into the Bending Brigade. ^[1] Its government responds to disorder with increasingly authoritarian measures, and the Bending Brigade can barely maintain order. ^[1]

Who showed up

Feather Mountain is represented by Empress Yesha, described as a powerful and beloved airbender. ^[1] It is the orange Haven, located near the eastern coastline of the former Earth Kingdom, roughly east of the Si Wong Desert and Wan Shi Tong's buried library. ^[1]

New Ba Sing Se was built atop the former Earth Kingdom capital in the far northeast area of the continent. ^[1] Its people follow the old ways, and their delegation travels to Ellora on sky bison. ^[1]

Akasha's delegates arrive riding motorcycles, which matches Akasha's embrace of old-world technology. ^[1] Under Suyin Beifong, Zaofu was already one of the world's most technologically advanced cities during Korra's lifetime, and the article suggests it may be near Akasha's location. ^[1]

What the delegations revealed

Visiting delegations revealed that Benders are becoming scarce throughout the world. ^[1] Other Havens are struggling to produce enough food, and everyone needs resources their neighbors possess. ^[1]

Ellora's troubles are shared, then, and the summit was where the Havens found that out. ^[1]

How the summit fell apart

The Faceless infiltrated the summit. ^[1] Their true queen is revealed to be Agam (Sakina Jaffrey), the kindly baker who catered the event. ^[1]

Episode 9 ends with Nisha exposing herself as the Avatar, and another Anomaly manifestation attacking the summit. ^[1] Following the summit's collapse, the visiting Havens withdrew their support, Karthik was arrested, and Nisha escaped beyond the city walls. ^[1]

Chancellor Kayoko ends episode 9 by establishing a curfew and ordering the arrest of benders who refuse to serve. ^[1]

Pavi's vision and the root chakra

In episode 9, Pavi draws the Anomaly underground and enters a vision of a road of light floating in a cosmic void. ^[1] There she finds a glowing red symbol shaped like Ellora and reaches inside it, after which six other colored circles of spiritual energy are revealed. ^[1]

Ellora is the only Haven the article can confidently associate with a specific chakra, the red root chakra. ^[1] The root chakra is traditionally associated with stability, survival, and a sense of security. ^[1] According to Guru Pathik's explanation in Avatar: The Last Airbender, the root chakra is blocked by fear. ^[1]

The world Ellora lives in

Korra is regarded as responsible for the cataclysm that ruined the world, and the series is set 225 years after Korra's era. ^[2] In the premiere episode, Pavi witnesses a play that paints Korra as a villainous figure. ^[2]