Seven Havens Began as a 2008 Idea, and Geet and Ruhi Are Konietzko's Cats

Avatar: Seven Havens is an older idea than it looks. Bryan Konietzko told BuzzFeed at New York Comic Con that he and Michael Dante DiMartino first thought of it in 2008, right after the original series ended. "It wasn't the right story to tell when we got to make Korra," he said. They picked it back up at Avatar Studios in 2021. DiMartino said it started as a question about what a post-apocalyptic Avatar world would look like and grew into a story about two Avatars.

Konietzko's favorite part of the show is its cat-monkeys. Geet and Ruhi are based on his own cats. He helped design them and credited the French animation studio La Chouette with bringing them to life. Dee Bradley Baker voices both.

The rest of the team named their own favorites. DiMartino picked the sisters' relationship, which he called heartbreaking. Executive producer Ethan Spaulding picked Pavi, and Sehaj Sethi said she is proud of Jae and of what the writers put him through. Spaulding added that every haven needed its own culture and mindset, a big job given how long the team spent on Ellora alone.

Major Curda said he spotted bits of Sokka, Katara, Bolin and Tenzin in Jae when he first read the script. He wanted to honor them while keeping Jae a new character.