Raava is the spirit of light and peace and, after fusing with Wan, the Avatar Spirit. She is one of the oldest known spirits, having existed over ten thousand lifetimes before the appearance of the first humans. She and Vaatu, the spirit of darkness and chaos, spent much of their existence combating each other, at least since the Harmonic Convergence in 19,829 BG, with neither able to fully vanquish the other. Even if Raava were to destroy Vaatu and usher in a new era of peace, what little darkness existed in Raava would magnify until Vaatu would be reborn and burst forth, beginning the cycle again; the reverse would happen to Vaatu if he were victorious over Raava.[2]
In 9,830 BG, after her grasp on Vaatu was severed by Wan, Raava was forced to team up with him to defeat the dark spirit. A year later, during the Harmonic Convergence of 9,829 BG, Raava permanently merged her essence with Wan's, creating the Avatar.[3] However, during the next convergence in 171 AG,[1] Raava was extracted from Korra and destroyed, with her connection to Wan and all the Avatars after him lost forever. She was, however, reborn shortly after and was able to merge again with Korra, restoring the Avatar Spirit and restarting the Avatar Cycle.[4]
