Yeah.?? What you said.

Could be true that he was crushed-- but they never showed his face, and he didn't talk.?? Remember in "The Storm" when Zuko had those flashbacks and we saw the fatherly hand on his shoulder as a boy??? We all assumed it was Ozai.?? Then bam, in "The Avatar State"??we are suddenly left wondering if it was Iroh's hand on his shoulder instead of Ozai's.?? To quote Iroh, "In our family, things are not always what they seem."

Well if you remember the scene currectly then you can tells that even thought Ozai never told Zuko where his mother is he was able to see his face and know that something bad happened. Just remember that we are the only ones that can't see his face everyone else on the show can and obviously his face was sad and hurt. If he was just contemplating something than Zuko wouldn't have gotten sad.

Now these pictures are hosted by Firebender.com and unfortunetly they didn't have the shoot of Zuko asking Ozai what happened to his mother but the picture shows Zuko in a serious face.

Now after asking we see Ozai at the pool.

Zuko is now sad and mildly shocked.

And now he is completely sad. Now obviously Ozai had some emotion on his face or else Zuko wouldn't have gotten so sad so quickly. And the most logical emotion would be saddness.

Now back to what someone198 said "Anyone who threatens his power dies (Azulon)" For one thing we don't know who killed Azulon but it is most likely Ursa who killed him and not Ozai.

Now that's a bit unfair don't you think? Blaming an entire situation on a single person. Unless I'm mistaken Azulon was the one who ordered Ozai to kill Zuko.

Even if Azulon did, in fact, plan to kill Ozai's son to punish him, Ozai started it when he made his move on his brother's throne. He knocked over the first proverbial domino.

I??didn't have a??problem with everything that was written, until this statement.?? Ozai may be fond of his family, but love... I don't think so.?? Ozai's love is for power.?? This is displayed in him requesting a meeting with the Fire Lord for the sole purpose of superseceding his brother to the throne.?? And how about his timing??? Oh yeah,??immediately after his brother lost his son to the war.?? NOW - does that sound like somebody who loves his brother?

2nd:?? that was??not a look of father's love when Zuko stepped forward to demonstrate to??for his grandfather. Looked more??like a look of disgust.?? Again,??Ozai loves power and apparently he??knew that Azula's firebending had matured faster and??was more powerful which is EXACTLY why he choose to have Azula demonstrate.

3rd:?? I'm not??yet convinced that it wasn't him that had something??to to with why Ursa had to flee in the first place.?? Afterall, if as most have speculated, Ursa was somehow responsible for Azulon's death, why hasn't??he, as the Fire Lord, pardoned??her so she could return.?? Better yet, as Fire Lord, why didn't he just keep everything under wraps considering??I think we all agree that Azulon's death wasn't just a mere coincidence.??

Finally, Ozai may have been living during the war, but he was far from the middle of it.?? His brother was commanding troops; he was living the royal life at home in the comforts of the Fire Nation.?? Doesn't sound like much of a hardship to me.?? And yes, Ozai loves Azula... why? - because she has power.

Alright let's have at it.

1) Yeah his timing trying to take Iroh's posistion was cruel but he did have to do it eventuallly since Iroh didn't have any line after him, Ozai was the only one that still had children to follow him.

2) Ozai was trying to show Azulon that his children were worthy of taking his place after he died. So let's see if your goal is to show someone that your children are worthy of something wouldnt' you pick the kid that was actually good? No I have a better idea I'll have the one that's bad show off that'll do it. ????And disgust? all we saw was a frown.

3) We have no information about anything about Azulon's death and Ursa so let's leave this alone until we actually know something.

4) Ozai loves Zuko too, if he didnt' care about him he would have killed him in that Agni Kai. Heck let's go back to that match if he didn't care about Zuko than he wouldn't have basically begged him to stand up and fight him instead of cowering on his knees, if he didn't care he would have banished him without any way of coming home but he didn't he gave his son a chance to earn back respect and come home.

Let's not forget that almost everything about Zuko being bannished was Zuko's fault.

What are you talking about? If Azula wanted to turn on Zuko she would have done it the moment Iroh was captured and the Gaang had left the city??she was surrounded by dozens of Dai Lee at the time and would have had not trouble doing it.

I've never thought it was anybody elses fault that Zuko got banished, but I believe it would have been just a matter of time before Ozai would find some other reason to bypass him in regards to the throne.?? Again, my arguement is, and always will be that Ozai LOVES power first.?? No he did not eventually have to address the heir to the throne.?? As any royal family works, Ozai was SECOND in line for that throne after Lu Ten died... he just didn't want to wait.?? He saw that it would be highly unlikely that in his lifetime he would ever sit on that throne and when Lu Ten died it gave him an opportunity to attempt to seize it from Iroh.??( i.e. The royal family of Great Britain, Prince Charles first, Prince William, Prince Harry, THEN Prince Andrew).?? So there is no reason why Lu Ten's death should have prompted any meeting between Ozai and his father.?? Succession would simply be Iroh then upon his death, it would be Ozai... or if Ozai was not considered fit for the throne, it would bypass him and go to Zuko.?? Kinda like what is being considered in England, possibly bypassing Charles for William depending on when Queen Elizabeth dies... so you see, it did not have to eventually be addressed - Ozai brought it for his own selfish reasons alone.

And Ozai did not have to show his children were worthy to take the throne, their birthright ensures that.?? He wanted to show-off Azula's prodigy status as he put it.?? And his look on his face was anything BUT love when Zuko stood up.?? You might think it wasn't disgust, but it was hardly pride or love.... at best, irratation.?? And as a parent, I would not look upon my child like that at all.?? He was 'irratated' because Zuko spoke out of turn (yet again) which was interrupting his strategically laid plane to 'dress to impress' with his father to get him to bypass his first born.

As for begging him to get up during the Agni Kai... it was more like a direct order.?? Yeah, he could have killed him - but how would that look to his subjects??? He basically banished him to a mission that was declared, as Zhao mentioned once, a wild goose chase.?? Everyone in the Fire Nation believed that the Avatar had been destroyed somehow and that Zuko's quest was all for naught.?? So he did not give his son a chance to earn respect and come back home; more like he killed 2 birds with 1 stone.?? Got Iroh out of any part he may have been able to play during war strategy and got Zuko out of dodge to open the door for his beloved prodigy Azula.

If you love a child, you are not going to banish them to a life away from you... not to mention his reaction upon the defeat at the North Pole.????And I quote, "Iroh is a traitor and your brother Zuko is a failure.".... hmmm.... nothing in there about 'thank goodness, Zuko wasn't killed by those pirates as earlier reported'... or 'my brother, I'm sure he had good reason to do what he did, I must talk to him right away, afterall he is one of the fire nation's top ranking generals'..... Nope, those are definitely negative comments with no love included with them at all.

But basically its just an opinion and yep, my personal opinion is he is power hungry... always has been, always will be.?? And like father, like daughter.?? But of course, nothing will be answered until the next season because I'm sure like they have always done, the writers/creators will tie up their loose ends.