Starting out as a freelance videogame writer and narrative designer for various indie game studios, Aoife O’Friel found her way into Ubisoft as a scriptwriter on the procedural quest team for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in 2018 and never looked back. She soon joined Massive Entertainment (an Ubisoft Studio), where she would spend the next seven years working in her chosen field to bring Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and its story packs, The Sky Breaker and Secrets of the Spires, to life as narrative lead.
Now, as a Narrative Director, O’Friel is in charge of the story for the latest expansion, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes, making her the perfect person to talk to about the game’s new protagonist, So’Lek.
During the preview event early last month at Lightstorm Entertainment HQ in L.A., despite her busy schedule, we briefly managed to sit down with O’Friel to discuss So’lek’s character, his motivations, what obstacles we can expect him to encounter, and who he is ultimately destined to cross paths with.
So Aoife, what can you tell us about So’lek? Obviously, we’ve met him as a recurring character in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, but it looks like From the Ashes will be the first time that we are actually able to control So’lek as a playable character, right?
Aoife O’Friel: Absolutely. So you are playing So’Lek in From the Ashes, and as you mentioned, we’ve met him before in Frontiers of Pandora. We understand that he has a lot of tragedy in his past. He’s had this loss of family, loss of Clan, even the loss of his first ikran [a.k.a. banshee, winged mount] in the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains. And then in the main game, we saw that vengeful drive he had to hunt down the commanders in that battle, and he took their dog tags. And he wore them around his neck.
But now, playing as So’lek, we really get to focus on, you know, what does that vengeance mean for him, and also, what is it doing to him, internally? Like he suffers from a lot of survivor’s guilt and PTSD, and this vengeance, [the] central path he’s on, where does it lead? He’s not going to find peace that way. He’s not going to get his family back. So getting to experience the western frontier through his perspective and [discovering] what he wants and what he’s looking for…It’s different, for sure.
Along those same lines, like, what inspired the decision to turn the focus from The Sarentu to So’lek in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes?
Aoife O’Friel: A lot of it was to do with Avatar: Fire and Ash. We had the opportunity to have the Mangkwan, the antagonist clan from the movie, also be the antagonists in From the Ashes. And so we wanted to be able to delve into their backstory and into their motivations. And So’lek ended up being a perfect fit for that, because he has this rich backstory that we haven’t really tapped into.
[In the first Avatar film], we saw, you know, of course, the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains that I mentioned, and then we see [So’lek’s] journey in the comic book series, but then he has so much in his past that is still unexplored. And we realized, you know, this is an opportunity to have the Ash Clan be part of So’lek’s past too, and [tie] these things together, especially as the Ash Clan are driven by darkness. So’lek, to a different extent, is also driven by darkness. So it [allowed] us to compare and contrast by choosing So’lek to be the protagonist.
Speaking of the new characters, what can you tell us about the new clans in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes? That was something that kind of surprised me. I was expecting that there was going to be at least one, as we saw in the trailer, but in fact, there are actually two.
Aoife O’Friel: Yeah, so we have our lovely Wind Traders who come a little earlier [to the Aranahe] than expected… because they have this warning that they have seen a darkness that is coming to the western frontier. And so they are different Wind Traders than [those] in the movie. They are a different clan of the Tlalim, but they are just as exuberant and are kind of a party people. They love to travel and trade and have gossip, and so they’re very fun-loving. And then it’s really interesting to see them be concerned.
They come to the Aranahe Hometree, and they warn the Aranahe and So’Lek that “something’s coming. Our journey here wasn’t easy. These are bad times.” So it was really fun to, like, have this, look at these, these really exuberant party people, and then have that be this nice beginning, I guess, before everything turns dark for the rest of the story, because the Mangkwan show up.
Yeah, building out those personalities with Lightstorm was really fun because we had a lot of questions for them on like, what do the Mangkwan Clan care about? How come they’re so different to other Na’vi, you know, what kind of relationships make sense for them, like Wukula and Zari, the brother and sister? Does it make sense for them to have a rivalry, you know, with Rakx and her ikran, and how hard she drives ikran and that she doesn’t take time to mourn [their deaths]? Does that make sense for how they feel about wildlife? So it was really great to explore this whole new culture and bring it into the game.
Getting back to Sol’ek, he seems even angrier nowadays, despite having suffered the loss of his clan several years ago, right? Obviously, he’s gone on quite some adventures [and] misadventures in the comic book series as well, so there are other factors, but would you be able to elaborate a little more on that?
Aoife O’Friel: Yeah, I agree with you, [if anything] he has gotten angrier, but it’s because of everything that’s happened before, right? He has suffered so much loss before, and he hasn’t fully come to terms with it, and now everything that he’s finally managed to grasp for himself, his new family, it’s all under threat again, and so he’s been here before, right? He’s lost people before, and he is so afraid of losing more people. He’s suffering from that survivor’s guilt we talked about, the PTSD, and he’s just, he can’t go through it again. And so I think that’s really what drives so much of his anger in From the Ashes because he knows what’s at stake.
So as we all know, a new third-person mode will be coming as a free update to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on December 5th and will also be a part of the upcoming From the Ashes paid DLC expansion when it launches on December 19th, right alongside the theatrical release of Avatar: Fire and Ash. The base game and its previous story packs, The Sky Breaker and Secrets of the Spires, both supported co-op. Will there be a co-op mode for From the Ashes?
Aoife O’Friel: In From the Ashes, no, there is no co-op, but perhaps you’re thinking of the Sarentu character returning as a companion?
Oh, yes, my mistake, confusing those two things. Actually, regarding the Sarentu, in the previous game, the Sarentu were referred to and addressed as They/Them and had three voice options (male, female and androgynous) portraying them. Will the Sarentu still be voiced by the same actors in their new supporting role?
Aoife O’Friel: Yes. The Sarentu character… some players have spent hundreds of hours with that character, as we’ve talked about, and they built that character to be who they want them to be, choosing voice, choosing appearance, choosing gear, and that’s the character then that you will see, as the Sarentu companion in From the Ashes. It’s the one that you have created yourself.
That’s great to hear, as I’ve grown quite attached to my Sarentu! Moving on really quickly, is it necessary for players to have played through The Sky Breaker or Secret of the Spires DLC to get the most out of this new expansion?
Aoife O’Friel: I mean, of course I would recommend it (laughs jokingly). But no, you don’t even have to have played the main game. If you want to jump straight into From the Ashes, you absolutely can. We’re going to have a little video at the beginning, like a “Previously on Pandora” type video that will set up the main characters and the main events.
So if you want to jump right into From the Ashes, you absolutely can, and you can understand what’s come before. But yeah, I mean, I think to get the full experience, of course, play [them]! I hope the players will want to. Maybe they start From the Ashes, and they’re like, “Oh, I really want to know more about this person,” and they’ll want to jump into the rest of them.
We’re almost out of time, but how excited are you about this new DLC addition and the fact that it’s being connected to the movies in such a direct way [as opposed to the non-canon Avatar games of the past, like 2009’s Avatar: The Game]?
Aoife O’Friel: It’s true, I mean, we’ve always had the connection. I mean, everything that we do is canon, which is an incredible privilege to be part of this universe and to know that everything that we made is actually contributing to the entire history of the franchise. But, yeah, especially now with From the Ashes being very closely tied to Avatar: Fire and Ash because of the Mongkwan and the RDA alliance and that they want to spread their fire across Pandora, we get more of that tie-in. But yeah, I’m beyond excited. I’m embarrassingly excited. Yeah, I can’t wait for people to experience it and just to see how this universe keeps evolving.
Final question: What’s it like working with James Cameron? Like having him sign off on all your [work], making it “officially canon?”
Aoife O’Friel: It’s so cool to know that. I mean, I’ve never had the privilege of speaking to him, but it is so cool to know that he, of course, is incredibly invested in this universe. He created this universe, and he has [signed off] on everything that we do, and makes sure that it all fits into the canon, and that it feels cohesive and it feels real. So it’s incredible to know that he likes this, and he’s, you know, giving it the seal of approval. Yeah, it’s really fun.
Aoife, it’s been lovely meeting you. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me and allowing me to ask you some questions. I personally look forward to playing Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes once it’s finally in the public’s hands.
Aoife O’Friel: Nice to meet you, and oh, thank you!
The DLC expansion for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes will release on digital storefronts for PC and current-gen consoles (PS5, Xbox Series, PC, Steam, Amazon Luna) on December 19th, 2025.
Read more in our full preview of From the Ashes here.
