In the Season 2 premiere of Avatar: The Last Airbender, we learned a critical piece of info about the Avatar cycle. Roku warned Aang that if he were ever killed in the Avatar State, the entire reincarnation cycle—where a new Avatar is born following the death of their predecessor—would end forever.
But wait a minute. How would Roku know that? Has this happened before?
Has the Avatar Cycle Ever Been Broken Before The Legend of Korra?
We’ve always assumed that the Avatar cycle remained unbroken for thousands of years—until Season 2 of The Legend of Korra. When Unalaq, fused with the dark spirit Vaatu, ripped Raava from Korra’s body and destroyed her, Korra lost her connection to all past Avatars. By reuniting with Raava, she essentially restarted the cycle.
But what if that wasn’t the first time something like that had happened?
A Lost Chapter in Avatar History?
There have been thousands of Avatars, yet we only know about a handful—Yangchen, Kuruk, Kyoshi, etc. That alone leaves room for lost history, especially regarding the earliest reincarnations.
Wan was the first Avatar, but who came after him? We assume the cycle continued smoothly before Korra, but what if something went wrong early on?
A Possible Break in the Cycle
If the Avatar cycle had been broken before, it would explain why Roku was so certain about the consequences. Maybe a previous Avatar died in the Avatar State, erasing the cycle temporarily. If that happened, the world might have been forced to survive without an Avatar until Raava found a new host.
This would mean the Avatar cycle shown in Avatar: The Last Airbender was actually its second iteration. And that’s an interesting thought—because if history has already been reset once, it can be rewritten again.
Which leads to an even bigger question:
Did Raava Forget?
When Raava was torn from Korra, she lost all memories of past Avatars. If something similar happened before, she might not even remember that the cycle was previously broken.
If that’s the case, Roku’s knowledge could have come from an Avatar who learned the truth before those records were lost to time. Maybe a spirit revealed it. Maybe this moment was buried to protect future Avatars. Either way, if Raava herself doesn’t remember, that would explain why it was never acknowledged in Aang’s or Korra’s time.
What This Means for Avatar Lore
This theory raises some fascinating possibilities. There could be an entire lost era in Avatar history just waiting to be explored. It could mean the Avatar cycle is more fragile than we thought. And that the connection to past Avatars isn’t as permanent as it seems.
Hopefully, this will be explored in the upcoming Avatar: Seven Havens series. And if not—Nickelodeon and Avatar Studios, if you’re reading this, this would make a fantastic miniseries or novel. Just saying.
