Summary
TheLegend of Korrabrought back a lot of beloved characters from the originalAvatar: The Last Airbenderseries and gave them prominent roles in the future. Katara is present from the very beginning, while Zuko and Toph rise to prominence in the later books. Toph in particular becomes a regular character in the final season of the show. Aang is, of course, not still alive, as he must have died in order for another Avatar to have been born. Even so, he still appears as an Avatar spirit present within Korra.
However, there are a few glaring omissions fromAvatar: The Last Airbender. Alongside Azula, the most notable of these is the absence of Sokka and Suki.
Where Is Sokka?
Sokka is an interesting case. While he is not living in the era ofKorra, a little bit of his life postThe Last Airbenderis explained. He appears in a single episode ofLegend of Korra, briefly showing up in a flashback during Book One. It is a fitting place for him to appear, as the first season of the show is all aboutthe oppression nonbenders facein Republic City and the beginning of their uprising.
Sokka stood out on Team Avatar as their resident non-bender, and often felt like he couldn’t contribute due to his lack of elemental abilities. A large part of his arc revolved around learning to contribute in spite of being the weakest member in combat, proving his worth as the team leader and strategist. It is actually rather disappointing that the decision was made to have Sokka gone before Korra’s time. His presence in this season would have added a lot of nuance to the relationship between the Avatar and nonbenders.
In the flashback, Sokka is shown as the Water Tribe representative on the Republic City Council in the midst of convicting the bloodbending criminal Yakone. In spite of the serious setting, Sokka’s good old goofy personality is fully intact, as he references his trusty boomerang during the hearing. This scene also shows how strong the relationship between Aang and Sokka has remained, with Aang depending on Sokka to navigate the political procedure required to lock Yakone away. It is unfortunate that this flashback is the only direct look at SokkaLegend of Korrahas to offer, but at least it shows the character at his best. He’s thriving in a leadership position,fighting to support his friends, and still his fun-loving self.
Little else is known about Sokka’s adult life up until his death. His name comes up again in Book Three, however, when Zaheer and the Red Lotus show up on the scene again. The anarchist group is revealed to have made an attempt to kidnap Korra as a baby to mold the Avatar into a warrior who would fight for their cause. Sokka is mentioned as part of the group that fought the Red Lotus off and saved Korra, alongside Tenzin and Zuko. Having been alive alongside baby Korra also confirms that Sokka outlived Aang. As a result of his involvement, fans speculate that Sokka may have been killed by Zaheer during another attempt to kidnap Korra. As of now, however, this is an unconfirmed theory.
Where Is Suki?
While there isn’t much shown about Sokka inLegend of Korra, he at least gets a few moments of attention. Suki, tragically, goes completely unmentioned in the series. However, there is some decent information about what she was up to followingthe end ofThe Last Airbender, thanks to the comics. She returned to her roots and reunited with the Kyoshi Warriors. The squad went on to become Zuko’s personal bodyguards in the wake of the New Ozai Society rising, a terrorist group who sought to dethrone Zuko and return his father to the throne. As they spent time togehter, the friendship between Zuko and Suki grew, and Suki came to truly forgive him for his attack on her village.
There is little detail about the adult lives that Sokka and Suki led together. Sokka’s personal life isn’t mentioned inLegend of Korra.Only his involvement with Aang and the council is brought up, and Suki is completely absent. Given that the couple stays happily together throughout the comics, it seems safe to assume that the pair never broke up. They apparently didn’t have any children, as none are mentioned or present inLegend of Korra. The best case scenario is that Sokka and Suki married and lived long, fulfilling lives with one another.
There is no clear reason why these two beloved characters didn’t have a more prominent role inLegend of Korra, or any role in the case of Suki.Legend of Korrawas a little strange in regards to references to the original series. In some instances, it seemed to embrace being a sequel and leaned into the source material. Aang’s appearances before Korra and Toph’s return, for instance, are treated asenormous moments worthy of celebration. In other cases, however, the series shies away from being a sequel to claim its own identity. This leads to some odd results. The lack of mention of characters like Azula, Sokka, and Suki makesLegend of Korrafeel incomplete and disconnected fromThe Last Airbender. The best hope at this point is that the upcoming movie sheds some light onto the adult lives of Sokka and Suki.
