ATLA Books One → Three
Protect the original reveals, then cross the six comic trilogies before moving into the adult-Aang film and Korra.
Enter the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe
Follow one soul
Cross ten thousand years.
This is the Nickelodeon Avatar universe—not James Cameron’s films. Follow the Avatar Cycle from Wan through Yangchen, Kyoshi, Roku, Aang, Korra and the upcoming Pavi era, with the load-bearing comics, novels, games and separate adaptations kept visible.
Last editorial check
Universe orientation
Seven Avatars. Three continuities. One reincarnating map.
The quick answer
Watch Avatar: The Last Airbender Books One through Three first. Then read the six post-war comic trilogies before the 2026 Aang film and The Legend of Korra. Save Wan’s ‘Beginnings’ episodes and the older-Avatar novels for a later chronological pass so their reveals still work.
You land on the full chronology. Switch to release order—or turn on Starter Mode only when you need a shorter run.Universe explored
The Avatar: The Last Airbender universe, story by story
The full map follows the reincarnating Avatar role rather than pretending one protagonist owns the timeline. Embedded flashbacks stay visible at their in-world position, the essential Aang-to-Korra comic bridge is treated as structural story, and licensed games sit beside the eras they claim to depict.
Story chronology · Full mapped list
The numbered list follows the Avatar Cycle from Wan to Pavi, then records the Netflix and 2010 adaptations without visual divider cards. Ambiguous games keep an unconfirmed-canon label. ‘Beginnings’ is chronologically first but is still best watched inside Korra Book Two on a first viewing.
Showing 46 of 46 released stories.
- Episodes (Book 2, eps 7–8)Canon
The Legend of Korra, "Beginnings" Pts 1–2
Spoiler-sensitive placement — reveal note
The origin of the Avatar: Wan, the lion turtles, Raava and Vaatu. Visually distinct from everything else in the franchise — a deliberate stylistic break. Chronologically the earliest story and structurally embedded in a much later series. Watching it out of place is possible but spoils Korra Book 2's central reveal.
- Novel (Chronicles 3)Canon
The Dawn of Yangchen
ReadNovel (Chronicles 3)↗Official Abrams collection recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonF.C. Yee. A young Yangchen navigating a world of shadow economies and industrial politics. Tonally the most adult thing in the franchise.
- Novel (Chronicles 4)Canon
The Legacy of Yangchen
ReadNovel (Chronicles 4)↗Official Abrams collection recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonF.C. Yee. Concludes the Yangchen duology.
- Novel (Chronicles 1)Canon
The Rise of Kyoshi
ReadNovel (Chronicles 1)↗Official Abrams collection recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonF.C. Yee. The novel line's entry point and the book that proved this franchise could carry prose. Set 396 years before ATLA. Considerably darker than the shows.
- Novel (Chronicles 2)Canon
The Shadow of Kyoshi
ReadNovel (Chronicles 2)↗Official Abrams collection recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonF.C. Yee.
- Episode (Book 2, ep 5)Canon
Avatar: The Last Airbender, "Avatar Day"
Kyoshi's only substantial screen appearance. Establishes the personality the novels later build on.
- Novel (Chronicles 5)Canon
The Reckoning of Roku
ReadNovel (Chronicles 5)↗Official Abrams book recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonRandy Ribay. A young Roku and his friendship with Crown Prince Sozin — the friendship that eventually produces the Hundred Year War.
- Novel (Chronicles 6)Canon
The Awakening of Roku
ReadNovel (Chronicles 6)↗Official Abrams book recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonRandy Ribay. Three years after the first book; Roku in the Northern Water Tribe. Concludes the Roku duology.
- Episode (Book 3, ep 6)Canon
ATLA, "The Avatar and the Fire Lord"
The Roku/Sozin story compressed into 23 minutes. One of the best episodes in the series and the origin of the entire conflict.
- Online interactiveCanon unclearUnavailable / archived only
Escape from the Spirit World
Nickelodeon web game. Aang consults past Avatars — Kuruk, Kyoshi, Roku, Yangchen — with substantial original lore delivered as monologue. Long offline; preserved only in archives. Canon standing never formally addressed, but the lore has been treated as authoritative since.
- Animated series (20 eps)Canon
Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book One: Water
The entry point to the entire franchise. Aang is unfrozen; Katara and Sokka find him.
- Action-adventureCanon unclearCanon standing unconfirmed
Avatar: The Last Airbender
THQ. Licensed tie-in; canon standing never addressed.
- Comic anthologyCanon
ATLA: The Lost Adventures
Collects the Nickelodeon Magazine shorts, slotted between episodes. Light, but canon.
- Animated series (20 eps)Canon
Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Two: Earth
Toph joins; Ba Sing Se. Where the series becomes what it's remembered as.
- Action-adventureCanon unclearCanon standing unconfirmed
ATLA: The Burning Earth
THQ. Notorious as one of the easiest achievement lists in Xbox history.
- Graphic novelCanon
Katara and the Pirate's Silver
ReadBook / comic↗Search Open Library — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonListenAudiobook / audio↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonFaith Erin Hicks. Set during Book Two, after "The Chase." Katara and Zuko separated from the group.
- Graphic novelCanon
Suki, Alone
ReadBook / comic↗Search Open Library — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonListenAudiobook / audio↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonFaith Erin Hicks. Suki's imprisonment in the Boiling Rock — a gap the series skipped entirely.
- Animated series (21 eps)Canon
Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Three: Fire
Sozin's Comet. The four-part finale is the franchise's high point.
- Action-adventureCanon unclearCanon standing unconfirmed
ATLA: Into the Inferno
THQ.
- Comic anthologyCanon
Team Avatar Tales
Short stories across the series' run by rotating creators.
- Animated shortsNon-canonDeliberately non-canon
ATLA chibi shorts
Comedy shorts. Explicitly non-canon.
- Graphic novel trilogyCanon
The Promise (Pts 1–3)
ReadGraphic novel trilogy↗Official publisher collection recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonGene Luen Yang. The Fire Nation colonies crisis. Directly seeds the founding of Republic City — the single most important comic in the franchise for Korra setup.
- Graphic novel trilogyCanon
The Search (Pts 1–3)
ReadGraphic novel trilogy↗Official publisher collection recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonGene Luen Yang. The fate of Ursa, Zuko's mother — the largest unanswered question the series left. The best-selling and most necessary of the comics.
- Graphic novel trilogyCanon
The Rift (Pts 1–3)
ReadGraphic novel trilogy↗Official publisher collection recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonGene Luen Yang. Industrialisation versus tradition; the Air Nomad legacy. Introduces the Earthen Fire Refinery and the roots of Korra's technological world.
- Graphic novel trilogyCanon
Smoke and Shadow (Pts 1–3)
ReadGraphic novel trilogy↗Official publisher collection recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonGene Luen Yang. Azula returns.
- Graphic novel trilogyCanon
North and South (Pts 1–3)
ReadGraphic novel trilogy↗Official publisher collection recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonGene Luen Yang. The Southern Water Tribe modernising.
- Graphic novel trilogyCanon
Imbalance (Pts 1–3)
ReadGraphic novel trilogy↗Official publisher comic recordCanonListenAudiobook edition↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonFaith Erin Hicks. Bender/non-bender tension — the direct ideological precursor to Korra Book One's Equalists.
- Graphic novelCanon
Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy
ReadBook / comic↗Search Open Library — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonListenAudiobook / audio↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonFaith Erin Hicks.
- Graphic novelCanon
Azula in the Spirit Temple
ReadBook / comic↗Search Open Library — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonListenAudiobook / audio↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonFaith Erin Hicks. Azula's psychological aftermath.
- Graphic novelCanon
The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer
ReadBook / comic↗Search Open Library — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonListenAudiobook / audio↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonJune and Iroh.
- Animated feature filmCanon
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender
An older Aang reunites with Katara, Sokka, Toph and Zuko when a threat to Air Nomad culture pulls Team Avatar into a new journey. Paramount+ confirms the film began streaming on 25 July 2026.
- Animated series (12 eps)Canon
The Legend of Korra, Book One: Air
Republic City; Amon and the Equalists. A deliberate tonal and technological jump.
- Turn-based RPG (3DS)Canon unclearCanon standing unconfirmed
The Legend of Korra: A New Era Begins
A turn-based Nintendo 3DS role-playing game set during Korra's era, using a separate licensed game continuity whose canon standing is unconfirmed.
- ActionCanon unclearUnavailable / delisted
The Legend of Korra
Platinum Games. Mechanically the best Avatar game by a distance, and still slight — roughly four hours. Delisted in 2020; no longer legally purchasable.
- Animated series (14 eps)Canon
The Legend of Korra, Book Two: Spirits
Contains "Beginnings" (entry 1) — Wan's origin. The weakest-received book, carrying the franchise's most important lore.
- Animated series (13 eps)Canon
The Legend of Korra, Book Three: Change
Zaheer and the Red Lotus. Widely considered the series' peak.
- Animated series (13 eps)Canon
The Legend of Korra, Book Four: Balance
Kuvira. The finale that ended the animated universe for twelve years.
- Graphic novel trilogyCanon
Turf Wars (Pts 1–3)
ReadBook / comic↗Search Open Library — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonListenAudiobook / audio↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonMichael Dante DiMartino. Picks up in the exact moment the finale ends. Continues Korra and Asami's relationship, which the show could only imply.
- Graphic novel trilogyCanon
Ruins of the Empire (Pts 1–3)
ReadBook / comic↗Search Open Library — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonListenAudiobook / audio↗Search Audible — edition not verified · Opens search resultsCanonMichael Dante DiMartino. Kuvira's trial and the Earth Kingdom's future.
- Comic anthologyCanon
Patterns in Time
Short stories across the Korra era.
- Comic anthologyCanon
Threads of Time
Companion anthology.
- Tabletop RPGCanon
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game
Magpie Games. Among the highest-funded tabletop Kickstarters ever. Contains substantial original lore across all five eras — including material on Avatars the novels haven't reached. Genuinely canon-adjacent and almost never discussed outside tabletop circles.
- Mobile RPGCanon unclearUnavailable / service closed
Avatar Generations
Navigator Games. Shut down; unrecoverable.
- Live-action series (8 eps)Adaptation continuity
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1
Restructures the source substantially — several episodes' events are compressed, reordered or reassigned.
- Live-action series (7 eps)Adaptation continuity
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2
The Earth Kingdom and Ba Sing Se; Toph introduced, played by Miya Cech. First episode premiered two days early at Netflix's TUDUM event.
- Live-action featureAdaptation continuity
The Last Airbender
M. Night Shyamalan. Planned as the first of a trilogy; the sequels were never made. Comprehensively rejected by critics, audiences and the franchise itself. Its continuity has one entry and will never have another — a genuinely orphaned lane.
Not part of the checklist
Announced and unreleased
These records are tracked for context but are excluded from chronology numbers, filters and progress until release.
- Chronicles of the Avatar, Book 7 (untitled)TBAReported upcoming · official details unverified
- Avatar: Seven Havens9 Oct 2026Upcoming — 9 Oct 2026
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3TBAUpcoming — date TBA
Useful ways through
Chronology is a map. This is where to begin.
The full list is for reference. These shorter routes preserve the reveals and relationships that make the universe work.
Wan → Yangchen → Kyoshi → Roku
Use this on a rewatch. Starting with ‘Beginnings’ spoils Korra Book Two’s central reveal.
Do not skip the comics
The Promise through Imbalance explains Republic City, Ursa, industrialisation and the politics Korra inherits.
Keep adaptations in their lanes
Netflix and the 2010 film retell Aang’s story; neither belongs inside animated canon.
One title, all its doors
Pick the version that fits your evening.
When a story has researched editions or adaptations, those routes stay together. Some universes currently have richer version coverage than others; each page’s coverage note states the boundary.
See how stories are organised →Receipts, not vibes
Where this map gets its bearings.
Official franchise, creator and publisher sources anchor the chronology. When those sources disagree—or stay suspiciously quiet—we say so instead of inventing certainty.
Official Paramount+ animated viewing order ↗Official Avatar Aang film guide ↗Official Avatar: Seven Havens guide ↗Official Netflix Season 2 guide ↗Abrams Chronicles of the Avatar collection ↗Official Awakening of Roku record ↗Official Dark Horse comic collection record ↗Official Avatar Legends RPG core book ↗
Spot a missing branch?
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