| “ | Avatar Szeto was an ideal for us officials to live up to, and a shining example of Fire Nation values in general. Efficiency, precision, loyalty. | „ |
| ~ Dairin |
Szeto is one of the overarching protagonists in the Avatar franchise. He is the Fire Nation Avatar preceding Avatar Yangchen. Living in an era of immense crisis that threatened to destroy the Fire Nation, Szeto saved his home country by becoming a bureaucrat, diplomat, and accountant in service of Fire Lord Yosor. Eventually rising to Grand Advisor, Szeto greatly strengthened the Fire Nation's government, restored economic balance, and set up programs to aid the poor and needy.
Personality[]
Szeto was generally remembered as an extremely dutiful, humble, diplomatic, and honest man. However, this did not reflect the entire truth, with this public persona being to some degree carefully crafted by Szeto himself.
Biography[]
Life[]
Szeto as a young man.
Szeto was born into an era of great strife in the Fire Nation. Plagues and natural disasters destroyed the people's livelihoods, while violent conflicts between the nation's noble clans threatened to tear the nation apart. To rescue his homeland, Szeto opted for an extremely unusual approach. Instead of taking control himself or forcefully trying to enforce his decisions as was his right as Avatar, he became a junior minister in the Fire Nation's government. He rejected any privileges, and began to work as a regular official, advancing in the ranks according to his achievements instead of any birthrights. He accepted orders from Fire Lord Yosor, and senior ministers, and began to improve his country by using its bureaucracy.
Proving himself to be a talented bureaucrat, diplomat, and accountant, Szeto reinforced the government's authority, as him working for the Fire Lord meant that all his achievements also positively reflected on the Fire Nation's central government. Eventually, he was appointed Grand Advisor to Fire Lord Yosor, and brokered a lasting peace among the noble clans. Thereafter, Szeto concentrated on restoring the Fire Nation's economy which had greatly suffered from unrest and mismanagement. As Grand Advisor, he ended the debasement of coins, and set up the first official relief programs for farmers in times of famine. All the while, he kept meticulous records of his work.
At some point, Szeto visited the Northern Air Temple, and took up residence in the Avatar's quarters. He left the room completely empty except for the bed and desk, and the walls were bare. To an outside observer, he would have looked like a man with nothing to hide. In truth, however, his life was very "messy" and he was considered a "library of intrigue" in the realm of spycraft and trickery.
Szeto eventually died and was reincarnated as Yangchen of the Western Air Temple in accordance with the Avatar Cycle.
Legacy[]
After his death, he was included alongside other Fire Avatars in the Fire Nation Royal Palace's Royal Gallery. His painting depicted him in his trademark minister robes, holding an abacus and a large stamp. He became a revered figure in the Fire Nation, and a festival was set up in his honor. He was known to have coined the saying "You have lost the melon. Hang on to the sesame, no?" This encouraged others to look to their long-term success after failure, though the idiom was rather obscure outside the Fire Nation.
Szeto was also a very respected figure in the other nations, and his successor Yangchen struggled to live up to him as a young woman. While negotiating an agreement between the Saowon clan and the phoenix-eel spirits of Ma'inka Island, Yangchen was sure that it would have been respected if she had said it had been the will of Szeto, as such a decree would have had the authority of 'a mother, a father, a sifu, the Fire Lord, all rolled into one.' Looking back on her previous life, Yangchen thought that Szeto had a rather "messy" life. Yangchen in turn would eventually become a revered figure in her own right.
Appearances in Aang's life[]
Szeto first appeared to Aang in a spiritual vision directed by Avatar Roku, in which he was lavabending the magma from four volcanoes while in the Avatar State. The young airbender saw him again briefly in a similar vision during the battle at Wulong Forest, this time among a great number of Avatars all standing in a line, upon regaining his ability to enter the Avatar State.
Aang temporarily lost his connection to Szeto after removing the firebending emblem from his meditation beads; however, upon crafting and attaching a new one, he saw him again in a lineup of his past lives to indicate his restored link.
Appearances in Korra's life[]
Szeto was present, along with all the other Avatars, when Aang passed on the knowledge of energybending to Korra and restored her bending, representing the newly established connection she had made with her spiritual self.
After Unalaq had merged with Vaatu and proceeded to attack Raava, Szeto was present in the Avatar lineup that Korra envisioned; however, his connection to the latter was severed due to Unalaq's assault on and subsequent destruction of the Light Spirit.
Powers & Abilities[]
Besides the great bending powers associated with the Avatar in general, Szeto also possessed great administrative skills. In addition, he was regarded as a highly talented public speaker, a skill which helped him at becoming a flexible diplomat. Besides these publicly displayed abilities, Szeto was also a master at espionage and deception.
External Links[]
- Szeto on the Avatar Wiki
