One of the most compelling Avatars was born centuries before the events of The Last Airbender, and deserves their own show.

The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is rich with compelling characters that could be at the center of any potential spin-offs or sequel shows — but the most interesting next Avatar to tackle might not be fan favorites like Kyoshi or Korra. Aang is the hero of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but the in-universe mechanics of the Avatar result in the character reincarnating following every death. This allows the animated franchise to continue the story of Avatar‘s Four Nations beyond Aang in the original sequel series, The Legend of Korra.

However, the scope of the universe means that the creatives behind Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the franchise have more characters to play around with in potential follow-ups, even beyond the potential season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. One of the most exciting possibilities would take the universe back centuries, giving one of the franchise’s most interesting but underutilized Avatars a better showcase. Using books and comics as inspiration, there’s one Avatar who could introduce some deep political intrigue and thrilling espionage elements to the epic world of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Who Was Avatar Yangchen In The Avatar Universe?

Avatar: The Last Airbender introduces Yangchen as one of the prior versions of the Avatar, but doesn’t tease the full potential of the character to carry her own story. Born centuries before the events of the main show, Yangchen was the most recent Airbender (before Aang) to be the Avatar. Coming of age during a period of relative stability and isolation for the four nations, Yangchen’s mission to improve the world came from a place of optimism and hope. However, Yangchen was quickly forced to adapt to a surprisingly complex political system across the kingdoms.

Yangchen was presented as a resolute figure who called on Aang to forgo his morals for the betterment of the world at large.

Yangchen only fully appeared once in the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender, appearing as one of Aang’s spiritual guides. Despite sharing Aang’s faith in pacifism and the ways of the Airbending Nomads, Yangchen was presented as a resolute figure who called on Aang to forgo his morals for the betterment of the world at large. Her legacy is introduced in the live-action Avatar: The Last Bender‘s first episode. Yangchen is a fascinating figure within the mythology of the Avatar franchise, representing a quietly complex challenge of balancing one’s beliefs and optimism with the realities of politics and compromise.

What Would Be The Plot Of Yangchen’s Show?

The producers of Avatar: The Last Airbender have shown a willingness to tweak and change their story from the source material, as seen in season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. This could allow them to create all sorts of plots for the prior Avatars, like Yangchen. However, a prospective Yangchen show would likely take inspiration from the third and fourth volumes of F. C. Yee’s Chronicles of the Avatar book series, The Dawn Of Yangchen and The Legacy of Yangchen. After confronting a powerful spirit known as Old Iron, Yangchen shifted her attention on combating corruption across the world.

Many of Yangchen’s adventures focused on her efforts to navigate the politics of the four nations, eventually ensuring peace in her time.

Wracked with guilt over her past incarnations’ failures to improve the world, Yangchen took a decidedly proactive approach to ensuring peace. This goal took Yangchen around the world and led her to uncover the Unanimity Project, a scheme to use Combustionbenders as a means of controlling the various world governments through intimidation and violence. Many of Yangchen’s adventures focused on her efforts to navigate the politics of the four nations, eventually ensuring peace in her time — even if her actions opened up the door for problems with the Spirit World that future Avatars would have to deal with.

Why Yangchen Deserves Her Own Spin-Off Series

Yangchen is quietly one of the most fascinating Avatars in the franchise, with a story that begs for expansion. Her more cerebral approach to the politics of the fantasy setting could allow the live-action adaption to explore the kind of backroom dealings that proved uniquely compelling in shows like Game of Thrones. Yangchen’s self-doubt and attempts to balance her noble ambitions with her pragmatic fears would fit well into the tone of the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender, which spends much of season 1 incorporating a more dramatic tone into the carefree adventures that defined the original animated series.

Yangchen’s stories are more espionage stories than straight high fantasy.

Focusing a show on Yangchen would also present an opportunity to explore the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender from a different perspective. While The Legend of Korra is an ambitious sequel and the novels focusing on Kyoshi introduce gritty elements to the franchise, Yangchen’s stories are more espionage stories than straight high fantasy. Yangchen would be a perfect way to expand the tonal scope of the series more than what Avatar: The Last Airbender. By focusing any potential spin-offs on one of the franchise’s older Avatars, follow-ups to Avatar: The Last Airbender could prove how flexible the universe is.