While some series’ popularity fades with time, others remain just as relevant years later. It’s been 14 years since its premiere, but The Legend of Korrais one of the latter. Created as a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, the 2012 series features the same world but takes place decades later. In general, sequels are easy to write off, especially when the original stands on its own, but The Legend of Korra hits the mark. Admittedly, it never reached the same level of popularity as its predecessor, but the spin-off weaves a creative and emotionally complex story that deserves more recognition than it receives.
With four seasons, The Legend of Korra builds on the fantasy world’s lore, showing the development of technology as it explores the next generation of benders. Despite their clear connection, the spin-off does a lot to distinguish itself from its predecessor. Though like Avatar: The Last Airbender, the series balances humor and emotional depth, the spin-off includes more mature themes and dives into the darker aspects of the world more thoroughly. As much flak as it gets, The Legend of Korra isn’t just worth watching but worth returning to time and time again.
What Is ‘The Legend of Korra’ About?
Taking place roughly 70 years after Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra features a modernized world where technological advancements have created a 1920s-esque era, and Republic City is home to benders of all kinds. The story follows the next Avatar in the cycle, Korra (Janet Varney), a talented, if headstrong, bender who must navigate a rapidly changing world while maintaining balance. Leaving her sheltered home in the Southern Water Tribe, Korra moves to Republic City to complete her training and learn Airbending from Aang’s son, Tenzin (J. K. Simmons), the only living Airbending master. As she takes her place as Avatar, Korra makes her own team, consisting of brothers Bolin (P. J. Byrne) and Mako (David Faustino), and heiress Asami (Seychelle Gabriel). Never one to back down from a fight, Korra quickly becomes involved in stopping an anti-bender uprising, forcing her to grow into her role as the Avatar.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
This is only the first challenge she faces as the world rapidly changes around her. Korra must prove her worth as the Avatar several times over as she encounters evil spirits, an anarchist society, and an authoritarian takeover in the Earth Kingdom. Each of these enemies challenges her determined nature and forces her to figure out what being the Avatar truly means. This concept allows the series to create a compelling story of accepting change, emotional growth, and overcoming trauma. With complex villains and flawed heroes, The Legend of Korra tells a compelling story that is always worth returning to.
Korra’s actions set off a domino effect that needs to be dealt with.
‘The Legend of Korra’ Never Tries To Recreate ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’
The Legend of Korra doesn’t have the glowing reputation of its predecessor, and that is fair, but the sequel deserves more credit than it receives. After all, few shows can hold up in comparison to Avatar: The Last Airbender, but The Legend of Korra doesn’t try to do the same thing. The sequel series provides plenty of nostalgia for fans, with the children of beloved characters playing major roles and several familiar faces showing up, but the story itself is separate. Korra’s battles have little to do with Aang’s journey to stop the Fire Nation’s conquest, allowing the sequel to forge a new path. In fact, it doesn’t even use the same structure because Korra not only doesn’t have to travel the world with only her friends for company, but has already learned to bend most of the elements.
This difference immediately makes The Legend of Korra stand out, and the series doubles down on that by taking a more mature approach to the world. The sequel series includes things that Avatar: The Last Airbender never did, like graphic deaths and a thinly-veiled lesbian relationship (which was later explicitly revealed in the comics). But, more notably, it explores themes of trauma, identity, growth, and political ideology in great depth throughout the four seasons. These complex ideas make the series as intriguing as it is exciting, and with so much meaning packed into The Legend of Korra, there is always something new to see when you go back and experience the series again.
Release Date
2012 – 2014
Network
Nickelodeon
Showrunner
Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino
Directors
Colin Heck, Joaquim Dos Santos, Ki Hyun Ryu, Melchior Zwyer
