Kya is the second born and the only daughter of Avatar Aang and Katara. Kya also has a central role in the TV series The Legend of Korra and is also the only Waterbending child of the couple. She has a close attachment to his older brother Bumi but is also close to her younger brother Tenzin. In this article, we will look at Kya’s role in The Legend of Korra and how she helped Avatar and her team on countless occasions.
Early Life
At first glance, it is implied that all three children, including Kya, had a great childhood. But as the series progresses, the viewers get more clarity. It is revealed that Kya and Bumi were not favored as much as Tenzin because he was an Air bender. In one of the arguments in The Legend of Korra between Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin, the latter asks that they have beautiful vacations. To this, Kya replied that they did not know since they were not present, and only Tenzin accompanied Aang on vacations.
She never really hated anybody and admits that she and Bumi were both loved but resented the Air Nomad culture because of Tenzin being favored more as a child because of being an Air bender. This also leads her to develop a stronger bond with Katara. She learned the art of Water Bending from Katara and became a Master healer. She traveled around the world a lot till Aang’s death. After this, she settled in the Southern Water Tribe to look after her aging mother.
We see a mature Katara at the Glacial Spirits festival, where she is accompanying Katara and waiting for Tenzin and her family.
Southern Air Temple
Sometime later, after the festival, we see Katara saying goodbye to Tenzin and his family before they leave for Southern Air Temple. But she later joins them on Katara’s insistence. While at the Air Temple, Bumi and Kya are visibly frustrated when the Air Acolytes don’t know who they are. They thought that Tenzin was the only child of Avatar Aang.
Tenzin’s daughter Ikki gets lost, and the siblings leave to find her. There Tenzin and Kya get into an argument about who their Father loved more. Tenzin tried to avoid saying anything, to which both Bumi and Kya joked that Tenzin was using his Air Nomad technique to move away from difficult situations.
Bumi and Kya return to the temple to see if Ikki has returned. The next day Kya sees her older brother Bumi standing in front of Aang’s statue and questioning for approval. Kya overhears this conversation and assures her brother that their father would be proud of him.
Tenzin arrives at the temple after finding Ikki; the siblings hug each other and apologize.
Travel To The Spirit World
The siblings travel to the Eastern Air Temple for training and meditation, which is disturbed by various events. However, Korra arrives at the temple asking for help as she needs to travel to the spirit world. Kya makes the arrangements, but Tenzin cannot travel to the spirit world, blaming Kya for burning the wrong type of incense, which Kya counters by stating that she followed Tenzin’s instructions.
The next day, however, Tenzin is still unable to travel to the spirit world, and Kya discovers that he had never made this journey before. She calls out Jinora, who then reveals that she is in contact with spirits, and Kya convinces Tenzin that it is Jinora’s fate to guide the Avatar. Jinora and Korra travel to the spirit world, but Korra unexpectedly returns without Korra. The group then left Jinora’s body in the care of her mother and had to travel to Republic City due to Unalaq’s invasion.
They clashed numerous times with the Unalaq’s forces and then traveled to Southern Water Tribe to enter the spirit world through the portal. However, the portal is surrounded by the Northern Water Tribe’s forces, who are captured trying to enter the portal. Unalaq then mocks them and reveals that he has now become the Dark Avatar, and they just won front-row seats to his new world order.
Rescuing Jinora
After Unalaq leaves, the group is rescued by Bumu, who accompanies Kya and Tenzin to the spirit world to find Jinora. The group gets lost but rescued by Uncle Iroh, who advises them to return to the mortal world. He further explains that the Unlalaq’s dark energy spread like a disease turning every spirit dark and monstrous.
The group then disturbs a spider spirit prompting it to capture them. The spirit throws them inside the Fog of Lost Souls. The fog slowly starts to affect all of them, and Bumi and Kya get lost while Tenzin suffers from an anxiety attack. The fog forces him to remember all his failures, and he gets down on his feet. He is only rescued by Aang’s spirit, who gives him clarity, and the fog around him clears. Finally, he saves Jinora and his siblings and gets out of the fog.
Defeating Dark Avatar
The siblings and Jinora then help Korra in defeating the Dark Avatar. Kya also stood behind Korra when she announced the end of the Water Tribe Civil War after Tonraq was elected as the new Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. She also declares that a new age has begun in which people and spirits would live in peace.
Red Lotus
After the harmonic convergence, the balance in the world was restored. Since very few Airbenders were left in the Avatar world, many people started developing Airbending techniques. The leader of the Red Lotus after Unalaq was Zaheer, who fantasized about Air Bending and got Air Bending techniques. He went to the Air Temple Island in disguise but was discovered by Kya. She had an intense fight with the villain, but he managed to escape.
Tenzin took the new Airbenders to the Northern Air Temple for training. Red Lotus attacked the temple, and Kya faced off with Ming-Hua. She fought valiantly, but the Red Lotus overpowered the group.
Kya was integral in fighting and defeating the Red Lotus. She was injured heavily and had to walk with a crutch even after two weeks of care. Kya also witnessed how Suyin extracted the metal from Korra and saved the Avatar’s life. She also caught Jinora’s anointment as the youngest Air Bending master, getting her arrows while on crutches. After this, she went back to the Southern Water Tribe.
She also returned to the Republic City to aid in helping the refugees from Kuvira’s war.
Abilities
She is a master Water Bender and has mastered several attacking and defensive techniques. For example, Kya could break an ice blade off Ming-Hua’s attack and subsequently redirect it to use against her. She also displayed the skill to hold her own against the Red Lotus; however, she was not powerful enough to defeat them.
She is also a master healer and learned from her mother, Katara. As a result, she could treat Bumi’s head injuries without the water making contact with him. Ky also kept Jinora’s energy circulating for almost a week despite the absence of the young Airbender’s spirit from her body.
Conclusion
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