Korra's Voice Actor Janet Varney Says the Seven Havens Premiere Left Her in Tears

Janet Varney, who voiced Korra for four seasons, says she cried through the first episode of Avatar: Seven Havens.

"I sobbed through this pilot episode. I was shattered," she said on Avatar: Braving the Elements, the official podcast she hosts with Dante Basco. In the premiere, the people of Ellora remember Korra as the Avatar who caused the Cataclysm and celebrate her downfall.

Varney said her first worry was for the fans who love Korra and have defended her for years. After she had time to grieve, she went back and watched the episode again with fresh eyes. The hardest part, she said, was hearing children talk about Korra as if she were a monster. She isn't Korra, she added, but she knows what the character means to people.

She asked fans to keep the faith, since nobody knows yet where the story is going. Forbes' Paul Tassi made a similar case, arguing that the show is setting up Korra's reputation as a mystery to solve, not rejecting her.

Korra's creators have said much the same. Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino told Teen Vogue that they love the character and that there is more to her story than the first episodes show.