Daniel Dae Kim defends Fire Lord Ozai’s early debut in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, and how it aids Prince Zuko’s role in season 1.

Daniel Dae Kim opens up about the early debut of Fire Lord Ozai in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, explaining how the character’s earlier appearance adds depth to the live-action show. The 2024 fantasy show is an adaptation of the beloved Nickelodeon animated series, which saw a young boy blessed with mastery over all four elements take a stand against the conquest of the Fire Nation. Kim’s Ozai is the current ruler of the Fire Nation in his family’s dynasty, and is set on carrying out actions that would bring the entire world under the nation’s rule.

While Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender has been renewed for two more seasons, Kim has opened up to GQ about season 1’s early Ozai debut, and how it adjusts the character’s role in the story. Kim explained that to add depth to the early chapters of Aang’s (Gordon Cormier) travels, Ozai’s early appearance was featured to add more characterization to Zuko’s (Dallas Liu) arc, defining who he is and what is motivating his mission. Check out Kim’s full explanation below:

I think it was a dramaturgical function. There was an effort made to deepen all of the primary characters earlier on. If you look at Sokka’s story and Katara’s story, certain elements got pushed up. I think the reason they pushed up my story was in service of Zuko because we wanted to feel what his motivations were and why he was relentlessly chasing Aang. I personally applaud the decision, because I think you care so much more about the primary four than you would otherwise. It’s the right decision.

Avatar’s Extra Fire Nation Scenes Established Zuko’s True Potential

While Ozai and the debuts of Princess Azula (Elizabeth Yu), Mai (Thalia Tran), and Ty Lee (Momoda Tanada) mark a deviation from Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s source material, the Fire Nation sequences do succeed in adding further depth and detail to dynamics that weren’t explored in the animated series until later episodes. Through Ozai’s interactions with Azula, audiences see a glimpse of how the Fire Lord manipulates his children against one another, making them fight for his affection. However, Zuko’s origin perhaps receives the most development through new plots and scenes set within his Fire Nation flashbacks.

Alongside Avatar: The Last Airbender using the flashback of the actions that led to Zuko’s banishment to show his compassion and strength as a leader through his care for the 41st Division’s well-being, flashbacks to the funeral of Iroh’s (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) son Lu Ten show how he differs from other Fire Nation nobility. While Ozai and others see Lu Ten’s death as a justified, honorable thing, Zuko sits with Iroh to instead remember Lu Ten for who he was. Not only is Zuko and Iroh’s strong bond established, but Zuko’s potential for good is emphasized with these new scenes.

Though Ozai’s earlier appearances may ensure that Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender can’t build up to a later, more ominous debut, the greater depth to Zuko’s new and additional scenes is undoubtedly a worthy trade-off. Kim’s earlier appearances as Ozai establish the cold, tyrannical figure who has little compassion for even family due to his focus on his conquest. And with Kim eager to explore more of Ozai’s descent into villainy, his early debut could leave room for more original scenes and flashbacks.