Along the way, she learns more about her parents and picks up her characteristic look - battle clothes, fans, face paint, and all. Seeking out bending masters, Kyoshi falls in with the Flying Opera Company, a ragtag group of criminals with unique bending skills. However, no one knows that Kyoshi is the Avatar, and instead believes that an Earthbender named Yun is the spirit’s current reincarnation.Īfter Jianzhu (and Kyoshi) discover Kyoshi’s true identity, she flees with Rangi, a firebender sworn to protect the Avatar. Kyoshi’s origin story is a bit unconventional: Abandoned by parents in the coastal Earth Kingdom city of Yokoya, she works as a servant at the Avatar’s estate under Jianzhu, an Earth Kingdom political mastermind, and Kelsang, an airbender, both former companions of Avatar Kuruk. While previous Avatars, Kyoshi included, have appeared in both series to give their current incarnations counsel, little is known about their individual lives. One of the most worldbuilding-heavy ventures of the 21st century, the franchise’s canon runs deep: between two animated series ( Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra) and a slew of graphic novels, comic books, and animated shorts, there’s a lot of history to reckon with. Tackling an Avatar story is no easy feat. The story takes place more than 300 years before the timeline of the original Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon, and fleshes out not only its protagonists’ backstory, but also the history of the Avatar universe at large.

Yee’s novel The Rise of Kyoshi, the newest entry in the Avatar: The Last Airbender canon, tracks the legendary Avatar Kyoshi’s origin story.

Avatar the last airbender the rise of kyoshi