What Happened to Modern Technology in Avatar: Seven Havens?

The generator room appears to be pretty low tech, being reminiscent of the more advanced airships we saw during Avatar Aang’s time. This shows that although some form of technology is being used to power Ellora, it’s not nearly as advanced as what you’d expect from a society that should be far more industrialized.

What Could Have Happened to Technology?

Now that we’ve gotten an idea of what kinds of technology humans are still operating with, we can start making some decent guesses about what actually happened. The most likely reason for the technological collapse goes all the way back to what happened after Korra left the spirit portals open. Giant spirit vines found their way into the world and humans, of course, started using them as a power source. This resulted in a combination of technology and spirit energy that nobody was really prepared for.

We saw the devastating power of this combination in The Legend of Korra when Kuvira harnesses tree roots to power a nuclear-level energy cannon she mounts to a giant mech suit. The only reason that cannon didn’t cause the mass destruction it was capable of was because Korra was able to redirect the massive blast with some good old Spiritbending.

So why does all of this matter for Seven Havens? Well, at the end of The Legend of Korra, spirit vine energy is still very much a contentious topic. Korra makes it clear she opposes any further research into the field, and she’s backed by the president of Republic City. But it certainly seems like that wasn’t the end of all that. Although Seven Havens hasn’t yet revealed what actually happened, it seems likely that spirit vine technology was at the heart of it.

The other obvious clue we have to make the case for this is the weird lamp Pavi finds in Karthik’s office, among the other relics. It looks like some sort of modern use of spirit vines, suggesting the technology likely became more intertwined with the physcial world.

Theorizing About the Cataclysm

At the center of every Avatar conflict, there’s an issue of balance. For Aang, it was stopping the Fire Nation and bringing balance back to a world at war with itself. For Korra, it was all about bringing back balance between the spirit world and the physical world. Neither Avatar fully succeeded, but Korra’s story was left pretty unfinished due to all of the uncertainties after opening up the spiritual floodgates on the world.

The prevailing theory about what caused the cataclysm in Seven Havens, and the one I believe to be most likely, is that the use of spirit vine energy got out of hand. Like any natural resource, abusing it is going to cause some problems and destabilize the balance between the spirit world and the physical world. The cataclysm, in this case, could very likely be the spirit world forcibly trying to rebalance things by destroying humanity and the technology it built.

This theory would explain why the only gadgets we’re seeing in Seven Havens appear to be pretty low tech and the Chancellor is pretty careful about using the radio. It would also explain why the mysterious red energy would be some sort of electricity/spirit energy hybrid that only the Avatars can deal with.

While this theory does seem to explain why technology is noticeably absent from the series, it’s still only a theory. It’s unlikely we’ll uncover all of the mysteries in Season 1, especially now that it’s been renewed through a fourth season. In the meantime, it’s certainly enjoyable to dig into what actually happened to the world Korra left behind.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior Audience Development Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor’s degree in communication and 10 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different pop culture topics — from TV series to books and the latest LEGO sets.