Avatar Seven Havens S1 Eps 1‐3 Quick Thoughts

These aren't going to be as long as the Netflix ATLA Reviews because they're not ATLA or an adaptation of it which I hold to a higher degree of scrutiny. I'm also going in majorly blind (I haven't seen/watched/read anything past the 1st promotional images and the main trailer).

Just finished ep 1 and I am enthralled.
The animation difference compared to ATLA/LOK is noticeable & a bit jarring, but so long as the coming fight scenes have more frames, I'll think I'll get use to it.
The design & music is mesmerizing. There's still blending of Western/Asian cultures, but it largley seems to be inspired by Indian culture, which was present but vastly underutilized in previous series. The orchestral music reminds us of the series' previous entries (highlight the Avatar leitmotif when Pavi airbends) and the fusion of synth highlights the otherwordly future dystopia we're introduced to here.
The character designs are different and somewhat strange to me, especially the Airbenders. I get that the former nations are still together ala Republic City, so some blending of styles or a homogenozation would occur, but if we're still only 1 generation from Korra, wouldn't the Airbenders still try to adhere to Air Nomad culture (shaved/bald & arrow tattoos)? Hopefully, they'll be explained or I can infer why.
As a fan of the original, the plot (especially the last scene) has me GRIPPED. I imagine the cataclysm had to do something with the spirits, due to the new portal Korra "inadvertently" made in Republic City, but what escalated it to a cataclysm? Why is the Avatar (Korra especially) hated? Are the dwindiling militarized benders because of some spiritual imbalance in the world? WHY ARE THERE 2 PEOPLE WHO CAN BEND MULTIPLE ELEMENTS? And why is Karthik housing & sympathetic to this 2nd multi-bender when his military & society condems the Avatar?
I cannot WAIT to find out!

Ep2 showed that most history has been lost and what remains is held in secret by some higher ups in Ellora's "government". It also showed it's most likely some spiritual imbalance in the world. And those flashbacks caused by that diamond spirit thing are the biggest clues we have so far of what's going on. It looked like 2 adults traveling with only 1 child. Gonna make my 1st guess & say that Pavi & Nisha's parents knew the Avatar was hated in this world and didn't want their daughter to be the Avatar, so they "somehow" found a spirit or some spiritual energy that could remove the Avatar Spirit/Raava from their daughter (Vaatu?). However, instead of removing Raava from her, it "somehow" caused a split in both the Avatar Spirit & the daughter, making twins. That could also be why Pavi & Nisha's personalities are so different; they're the dominant personality traits of a singular person. Could one be a Dark Avatar, like Unalaq was in LOK Season 2? Also, that without a doubt was Republic City in that last "flashback" shown to Pavi & Nisha (the center building has the Future Industries logo on it). Cool touch having those Bismuth looking stones be the remains of the spirit's attack.

OH-HOO NEW INTRO BAYBEE. Love that the 2 girls are in the same stances & places from one element to the next with a slight shift in camera position. It's like they're using each element in one whole demonstration.
Figured by the title of ep 3 that the White Lotus would be showing up. So that explains Karthik's whole deal. The tsungi horn White Lotus leitmotif was cool to hear again (though it was also used for the Blue Spirit. Maybe it got attributed to whenever the Firebenders (Zuko/Iroh) did something secretive (like how the Star Wars Force Theme was originally Luke's Theme)).
The Cataclysm was 2 CENTURIES AGO?! Then either Korra lived for 200-some-odd years (Possible, but not likely. Kyoshi lived to be 230 years old, but that was with the teaching of Lao Ge, who was said to be immortal), the Avatar has gone undocumented for generations (Possible, what with the Avatar being hated/feared) or the world's been without an Avatar for a LONG time (More probable answer, but that means the Cataclysm had to hinder the Avatar's reincarnation for well past Korra's death).

***POTENTIAL SPOILERS START***
So I'm putting all my chips in on Vaatu being involved somehow. Both the abacus-holding White Lotus member describing Nisha's style as "chaotic" as well as that armadillo camel being calmed by music leaves little else it could be in my mind. I'm just wondering how Vaatu could be involved because, after being defeated by Raava, he's supposed to heal & re-emerge after 10,000 years. Maybe because Vaatu couldn't be placed back into the Tree of Time in the Spirit World, Vaatu regenerated inside of Raava, like they use to before Avatar Wan interfered. That could explain how Vaatu, leeching off & copying Raava, could allow a person that carried Vaatu the ability to bend multiple elements. Maybe allowing the spirits back into the physical world caused Vaatu to regenerate faster than 10,000 years and Korra had to fight Vaatu again, causing the Cataclysm. Then, 200 years later, a weakened Vaatu found the new Avatar through her parents, wanted to accelerate his healing & told them he could remove the Avatar Spirit from their daughter's body (my theory & what we saw in that flashback in ep 2).
***POTENTIAL SPOILERS END***

***MORE PROBABLE SPOILERS START***
WAIT. I'm taking some of my chips back! Vaatu is a (pseudo) RED HERRING! Remember, I went into this blind, so I'm putting this all together on the spot...
I just saw this season's last episode title and something BIG clicked. The title is "The Root Chakra". If you remember ATLA, Aang had to clear his chakras, pools of spiritual energy in the body, as a means to control the Avatar State. The 1st Chakra, or ROOT CHAKRA, is the EARTH Chakra, located at the base of the spine. It deals with SURVIVAL and is blocked by FEAR. Now where did we see SURVIVAL? THIS SEASON'S NAME! And FEAR? Pavi was AFRAID to some degree in EVERY episode so far (Ep 1 afraid of being found out as the Avatar, Ep2 afraid of helping Nisha, Ep3 afraid of fighting or using force). And Nisha has been fearless in each. Fear and fearless; Opposites. Keep that in mind.
Also, there are SEVEN Havens and SEVEN chakras, each color coded with the ROY G BIV colors in the new opening AS WELL AS THE SCENES WITH AANG IN ATLA! And the EARTH chakra's color? RED! THE SAME AS THAT DIAMOND! Maybe in Korra's time, Future Industries, wanting to harness spiritual energy like Kuvira was doing with spirit roots but not wanting to risk losing control of something from the Spirit World, tried to harness the world's spiritual energy. The Avatar is said to be the embodiment of the world, so maybe this caused Korra to be weakened or at least feel the effects of their attempts to take this energy. Maybe she eventually found out about it & destroyed their research, potentially injuring Raava, the Avatar Spirit, in the process. This could lead to a Cataclysm, Korra being blamed for it, the 200 year gap in between Avatars & why these negative forces attributed to the chakras are ravaging the world.
As for why they're two Avatars, maybe Vaatu DID rebond with Raava & when Korra died, they became 2 linked spirits again, allowing Vaatu to bond with another person like Raava does, but not a wholly separate individual because of the link. AKA twins. Maybe Vaatu took the positives of the chakras and gave them to Nisha (fear for Pavi, fearless for Nisha). However, to punctuate the balance that the world & these Avatars need, for this season, maybe they'll have Nisha be fearless to a fault (almost had it in Ep3). Maybe they'll have her blind fearlessness as a detriment & Pavi has to rein in Nisha's fearlessness as much as Nisha has helped Pavi be more fearless, not having one side be wholly correct & finding a BALANCE between the two. Maybe future seasons explores the other chakras in the same way and by the end, they bring BALANCE to the world (not wholly order/Raava or chaos/Vaatu) by bringing balance to each other. I think this is a better setup because it keeps Nisha as the "Dark" Avatar without making her evil and a potential villain.
***MORE PROBABLE SPOILERS END***

Not to toot my own horn, but did I just figure out the plot of the whole show? It all sounds plausible to me.
That just leaves these masked figures at the end. It could be as simple as the Red Lotus but how could they know the Avatar is back? Communication between Havens seems sparse & difficult. If they're there because of the Avatar's prescence, the only thing to know that outside of Ellora was that red diamond.
Solved or not, either way, I'm hooked. AVATAR IS BACK!