Katara's necklace



Katara's Necklace is a blue choker with a light blue, hand-crafted jewel bearing the symbol of Waterbending. It was originally crafted as a Betrothal Necklace, but has since become a family heirloom passed from mother to daughter, starting from Kanna to Kya, and eventually to Katara herself. The locket is of heavy importance to Katara, who considers it her most treasured possession, serving as the only memento of her deceased mother.

History
Roughly during 40 ASC, this pendant was crafted by Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe as a Betrothal Necklace for his arranged wife, Kanna. It served as a proclamation of his affection and adulation for the young woman. However, Kanna did not want to partake in the Northern Water Tribe's customary boundaries, most of which oppressed women, and so she fled to the Southern Water Tribe seeking a new beginning. Despite her subsequent marriage to a southern tribesman, Kanna kept the necklace with her for unknown reasons.

Eventually, Kanna passed the necklace on to Kya, the wife of Hakoda, her son. Kya wore the necklace six years prior to the Avatar's return, during a Fire Nation raid that claimed her life. Following her death, the necklace was passed on to Kya's eight year old daughter, Katara.

Katara explains to Haru that she keeps the necklace as it is the only reminder of her mother. However, she exclaims that the necklace itself is not enough to fill the emotional void caused by her mother's death. Shortly afterward, she begins a revolt on a Fire Nation Prison Rig, only to discover her necklace missing following her escape. During this time, the necklace comes into possession of Zuko, who found the lost necklace lying on the abandoned rig.

Zuko discovers and captures Katara as she is attempting to practice from a stolen Waterbending Scroll. After binding her to a tree, he reveals that he has possession of Katara's missing necklace, the last tie Katara has to her mother. Zuko bribes her with the keepsake, promising to return it if she is willing to trade Aang. Katara refuses, and escapes shortly afterwards with Aang and Sokka, leaving Zuko with possession over the necklace.

Later, near the vicinity of Makapu Village, Aang crafts a new necklace for Katara out of flowers and Sokka's fishing line. It is Katara's modeling of this necklace that pushes Aang's attraction into a full blown crush. Though she is seen wearing the hand-crafted necklace, it consistently appears and disappears from her neck during their stay, even so far as to never being seen again after the gang's departure from Makapu Village.

Zuko contracts a bounty hunter, June, who uses the scent from Katara's necklace for her Shirshu to track down Katara. Catching up with her once more, Zuko captures the young Waterbender and her brother, Sokka, and confronts Aang in battle at an Abbey. It is during this battle that Aang successfully recovers Katara's necklace from Zuko. As they fly away on Appa, he offers his prize to Katara, who thanks him with a kiss on the cheek.

While at the Northern Water Tribe, a skilled healer, Yugoda, recognizes Katara as Kanna's granddaughter after observing the carvings on Katara's necklace. It is here that Katara learns that her grandmother was raised in the Northern Water Tribe. Later Katara duels with Pakku, a Waterbending master who refuses to take her on as his apprentice, due to prejudice towards women in the Northern Water Tribe culture. During this skirmish, the necklace falls from Katara's neck and onto the icy floor of the sparring circle. Katara is soon defeated, by being encased in a prison of ice. Having defeated Katara, Pakku begins to leave the arena and sights the necklace that he had hand-crafted sixty years ago. This is what convinces him to finally put away his old prejudices and teach Katara, his past love's granddaughter, Waterbending.

Having learned of Kanna's whereabouts, Pakku heads to the South Pole to aid in rebuilding efforts, and to reunite with his lost love. From then on, the necklace remains safe in Katara's possession during her journey to Ba Sing Se, where she is captured by Azula and imprisoned alongside Zuko during the overthrow of the Earth King. Katara begins to berate Zuko for his and his nation's cruelty toward the world. She further expresses her grief by telling Zuko of how his nation murdered her mother, clutching onto the necklace as she breaks down into tears. This is what sparks Zuko to share his mother's loss with Katara, which convinces her that he has the ability to change.

Having escaped Aang's death and Zuko's sudden betrayal, Team Avatar sneaks into the Fire Nation, obtaining local attire in order to blend in. Katara models for Aang once again, leading him to comment that the necklace would reveal her identity. Reluctantly, Katara removes it as it was obviously an accessory from the Water Tribes. Katara begins to wear the necklace again when she re-dons her Water Tribe attire during the Day of Black Sun, and continues to wear it afterward, except in cases that required her to sport her Fire Nation clothes, such as when she watches a play on Ember Island and when she and Suki search for Aang.

Katara is last seen with the necklace during Zuko's coronation as Fire Lord, where she reunites with her father once again. Hakoda tells Katara and her brother that he heard of their brave feats in the final stages of the war, and that he is the proudest father in the world. In addition, he turns to Katara and states their mother would be proud as well. This brings tears to Katara's eyes, as she rests her fingertips against the carved stone of her mother's necklace.

The last time we see Katara is with the rest of Team Avatar at Iroh's tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon, in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se. Here, she is seen wearing a white-collared green Earth Kingdom dress, without her mother's necklace around her neck. .

Trivia

 * It is interesting to note that the carving on Katara's necklace is a close match to the Waterbending symbol. It is probable that this was intended, as we can assume that Pakku was already a gifted Waterbender at the time of Kanna's betrothal.