Harmonic Convergence


 * This article is about the celestial event. For the episode, see Harmonic Convergence (episode).

"spirit"

- Harmonic Convergence. That is when Vaatu and I must battle for the fate of the world.



Harmonic Convergence is a supernatural phenomenon that occurs once every ten thousand years, when the planets align and greatly amplify spiritual energy, causing the two spirit portals in the North and South Poles to overlap and a purple aura envelops the physical world. During this, Raava and the Avatar must battle Vaatu in the Spirit World near the two portals that connect the two poles. The victor in this battle determines the fate of the world until the next Harmonic Convergence.

History


Around 19,829 BSC, Vaatu, the spirit of darkness and chaos, began to battle Raava, the spirit of light and peace. Although Raava was able to keep Vaatu restrained, the latter managed to break through the barriers that separated humans and spirits, allowing both entities to travel from one world to the next.

Prior to the Harmonic Convergence that occurred in 9,829 BSC, the link that kept Raava and Vaatu connected was severed by Wan, who unknowingly set loose chaos into the world under the belief that releasing Vaatu would aid in maintaining spiritual balance. As a result, Vaatu was able to harness negative energy and turn several spirits dark, allowing him to gather strength while Raava weakened.

To atone for his mistakes, Wan resolved to master all four bending arts to aid Raava in the next battle, providing his body to the spirit as a host. Though Wan initially struggled in fighting Vaatu, he was able to trap the spirit in an elemental sphere and imprison him within the Tree of Time after allowing his spirit to permanently merge with Raava, in the process creating the Avatar Spirit. To prevent humans from freeing Vaatu, Wan led the spirits from the physical world into the Spirit World and closed the two spirit portals.

Ten millennia later, Avatar Korra reopened the Southern spirit portal in an attempt to calm the dark spirits rampaging in the South. Later, she learned about the origins of the Avatar Spirit and the Harmonic Convergence from Wan while recovering from a dark spirit attack that had left her amnesiac. After regaining her memory, Korra spoke with the shaman who had aided her, and discovered that the next Harmonic Convergence was only weeks away. Determined to close the Southern spirit portal, Korra set out on a flying bison from a herd that the shaman maintained during the Hundred Year War.

Together with Jinora, Korra meditated into the Spirit World, where the two eventually found themselves separated. Jinora made her way to Wan Shi Tong's Library, where she found a book detailing that if both spirit portals were open when Harmonic Convergence occurs, spirit energy would be amplified, enabling Vaatu to free himself, starting the battle between good and evil anew. Before she could relay this information to the Avatar, she was captured by Unalaq, who threatened the young airbender's safety to force Korra to open the Northern spirit portal.

The Avatar later returned to the Spirit World via the southern portal and attempted to close it, but Harmonic Convergence began, keeping the portal open. The spirit portals once again merged and the energy released freed Vaatu from the Tree of Time. Korra attempted to reimprison the dark spirit, but Unalaq managed to stop her. Vaatu managed to merge with Unalaq and by touching the northern portal, became the first Dark Avatar. He fought against his niece right back to the South Pole, where Unalaq manages to wrest Raava out of Korra. He proceeded to pummel the light spirit, ultimately destroying it and severing Korra's connection to the past Avatars. Unalaq then transformed into a massive dark spirit and traveled to Republic City via the spirit lights to lay waste to it. However, Tenzin encouraged Korra to draw on her own spirit as she meditated within the Tree of Time, using the cosmic energy of the universe to do so. Korra's spirit manifested and grew to a massive size as she went to confront Unalaq. Initially, the fight went in her favour, but Unalaq soon got the upper hand and attempted to corrupt her spirit, only for Jinora's spirit to appear and radiate a blinding light that interrupted the process and reveal the new Raava inside Unalaq. Korra managed to free Raava before using Unalaq's pacification technique to purify him into a golden light. Korra, Raava and Jinora returned to the Spirit World, where they used the combined spirit portals to merge once more and restore the Avatar, as Harmonic Convergence ended.

Known Harmonic Convergences

 * 19,829 BSC – Result: Raava was victorious.
 * 9,829 BSC – Result: Raava permanently merged with Wan's essence and Vaatu was imprisoned in the Spirit World.
 * 171 ASC – Result: Raava was destroyed by Unalaq, severing the Avatar Cycle, but she soon bonded with Korra once again in order to begin the Avatar Cycle anew. Unalaq merged with Vaatu but was destroyed by Avatar Korra.

Trivia

 * Raava and Vaatu cannot permanently destroy each other, as the defeated spirit is eventually regenerated from the victor. This is because neither light nor darkness can exist by itself.
 * The only way to prevent the battle between good and evil is if the portals remain closed while Vaatu is in his prison.
 * The battle takes place in the Spirit World, near the spirit portals where the two realms intersect.
 * In the real world, Harmonic Convergence refers to the first globally synchronized meditation, which coincided with a rare alignment of the planets.
 * This event purportedly corresponded with a great shift in the planet's energy from warlike to peaceful, similar to how Raava's victories in both historic Harmonic Convergences resulted in the maintenance of balance in the Avatar World.
 * During the observances, Mount Shasta and Mount Fuji were regarded as "power centers" where spiritual energy was held to be particularly strong, similar to the two spirit portals in the North and South Poles.