Zuko/Synopsis

Synopsis

NOTE: This character's history when he was a villain can be found here: Zuko's story in the villains wiki.

The history of the honorable fire prince-turned-lord Zuko from the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise.

Early Life[]

A young Zuko even back then very distant with his . — A young Zuko even back then very distant with his father.

Born in 83 AG, Zuko was the firstborn child of Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa of the Fire Nation during the time they were winning a war of "showing their greatness" to the rest of the world, but even though he was born into royalty from a young age, his life was anything but pampered to begin with as he was disdained by his father due to lacking the "spark in [his] eyes" typical for firebenders. Indeed, Zuko would struggle to become a strong bender; however, he displayed a strong sense of empathy and morality from a very early point. Zuko's early years were the only ones when his family was ever "actually happy" like how thry made frequent vacations to Ember Island, and often watched the play Love amongst the Dragons at the Ember Island Theater and in addition to being schooled by Kunyo in firebending, Zuko was also trained by his nation's greatest swordsman Piandao in the art of fighting with dual broadswords.

Zuko during a happy time with his mother.

However, as he got older and eventually became the older brother to a girl named Azula (who was named after their grandfather Azulon and was ruler Fire Nation at the time) he found herself always at her throat and he became the object of his sister's manipulation, ridicule, and deception all the while being also facing the jokes with her only friends Ty Lee & Mai. Their mother, however, loved both but on the other hand his father always favored him over his sister, causing further jealousy and strife and at one point being told by his dad that while "she was born lucky, he was lucky to be born" . However in the complete opposite to his dysfunctional relationships with his dad & sister, his relationship with his mother was still in a strong sense and in stark contrast to Ozai, Zuko had a strong bond with his older brother Iroh, who when he was not leading their nation's army as general would often spend time with him and at one point giving him a special dagger as a gift to him, however what he wouldn't know back then was that soon his life would change not only him, but the whole world forever.

The Night his mom "disappeared"[]

Zuko (after being urged into by ) spying on his father & 's discussion. — Zuko (after being urged into by Azula) spying on his father & grandfather's discussion.

When Zuko turned eleven years old, his cousin & Iroh's son Lu Ten died in battle during the Fire Nation's siege on the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se, devastated by the loss of his only child made abandon the siege (which had took 600 whole days) and while it was unknown when would Iroh be back, he felt bad for both him and his cousin as opposed to Azula. This turn of events slowly/unaffectedly began coming into play with his life as well when following an audience their grandfather (and failing at perfectly showing off his firebending prowess like his sister) where he along with his sister & mother are told to leave him & Ozai alone, Zuko was unfortunately pulled back by Azula and the two stood quiet as they heard them discuss some stuff. From behind the curtain, Zuko overheard his father asking Azulon that due to Iroh's bloodline dying while his bloodline isn't, he wants his father to give him the right to become his heir to the throne with the added addition of not knowing when Iroh will return, but the mere thought of betraying his firstborn proved more than enough to anger Azulon that the flames he spewed out of his throne (which was designed as such for all Fire Nation rulers) as well as his rage proved to be more than enough to make Zuko leave the room now.

Zuko getting a final hug from Ursa before she vanishes.

Once he made it back to his room he jumped into his bed to try and get some sleep, but what he just witnessed and wanted to be just a bad dream immediately became a nightmare-brought-to-life-and-worse when an extra-excited Azula heads into his room to mockingly inform him that when he left the throne room, Azulon had order their father to "know the pain of losing a firstborn son... by sacrificing [his] own", despite knowing how his father feels about him Zuko was sure he wouldn't go that far before their mother drags Azula out of his room. But with his sister's warning about this still stuck in his head Zuko does his best to treat it as just a taunt before finally falling asleep, however as he continued sleeping was awakened once again, but this time by his mother who was now wearing a black hood, despite being very sleepy now his mother told him that everything she had done, she had done to protect him, and instructed him not to forget who he was no matter how much things may change drifting to sleep once again.

A terrified Zuko as his father is crowned the new ruler of the . — A terrified Zuko as his father is crowned the new ruler of the their Nation.

The following morning, the moment Zuko wakes up he immediately remembered what transpired the night before and ran frantically through the halls, searching for his mother, but when he finds Azula she blithely told him that their grandfather died the previous night and their mother had gone missing. Still not believing a word she says Zuko continued running across the palace before eventually finding Ozai in the gardens of the palace and demanded to know where his mother was and when his dad did not answer, he hung his head in sorrow realizing she really is gone. However as the day turned to night Zuko had no time to perfectly grow out of this or his grandfather's death because for some strange reason, his "dying wish" was to grant Ozai the title he wanted... which he was given to him immediately after Azulon was laid to rest, and while all attending (his sister included) welcomed his age of power with pride, all Zuko could show was total terror as with his mom gone & his heartless dad now on an even higher position of power, his troubles really began.

As was expected Zuko's life with Ozai now that he was Firelord was nothing but a pain for him and his sister too made it worse than it should have been, but he still had a sliver of happiness during that time as once Iroh (having gone a very special life-changing journey following the loss of his son) returned to their nation, he backed off from becoming Firelord to spend some quality time with Zuko and they both filled the void of losing someone close to him as well as also slowly developing a crush on Mai. Although as he continued to grow up during his father's reign, despite how messed-up their relationship is, Zuko still hoped that one day he could maintain what his mother taught him while also making his father love and respect him as well as prove he can lead their nation, leading him to become quite reckless and gain serious anger-issues in the process.

The day he got scarred for life[]

Eventually Zuko's troubles eventually got to their highest-&-worst yet when he reached 13 and on one fateful day, he overheard a war meeting Ozai and some of his generals and went to the Firelord's war room to attend it but was blocked by one of the guards, even though his uncle assured him that he wasn't gonna miss anything, a little-more assurance from the prince was enough to allow him to attend. Unfortunately despite promising Iroh to attend the meeting just as long as he doesn't speak due to how sensitive (Ozai chief among them) some of them can be, Zuko fiercely ended up speaking out of term anyway against a general's decision to use an entire devision of new-&-inexperienced soldiers as cannon fodder, and although (as stated by his uncle) he was in the right, it just wasn't his place to speak, and the consequences on him were extra dire.

Zuko horrified to discover that he pitted himself against his father just for speaking out of term.

Just after Zuko was finished with his outburst, a furious Ozai told Zuko that his challenge against the general's plan was an act of complete disrespect, and if he doesn't change his mind about it he declared that there was only one way (in his eyes at least) to resolve this: a special type of fire duel in front of a crowd known as an Agni Kai. Looking back at the general he insulted, a headstrong Zuko agreed to the challenge and got ready for the fire duel and once the arena was set and an audience (his sister & uncle among them) he stepped up first, but the moment he turned to see his opponent, he was shocked to find Ozai there instead because (as explained by his dad) even though it was against a general, since it was in his war-room, it he who Zuko had disrespected: making Zuko realize to his horror that he agreed to fight his own father.

Zuko before Ozai permanently burns his face.

When Zuko realized the truth, he tearfully begged for his father's forgiveness and tried his best for justifying his earlier actions and even assuring him that he's loyal to him, but a merciless Ozai accepts none of that and once he gets close enough as the desperate prince in now on his knees he tells him that "[he] will learn respect, and suffering will be [his] teacher". The moment he finishes this statement and with all gathered (except his uncle) watching, Zuko is left powerless as his father burns his face so intensely that he's left with a gruesome scar that would stick with him for the rest of his life.

Sailing the world on a fool's errand[]

After the duel was over, Ozai told an already-broken Zuko that because he refused to fight he had showed "shameful weakness" and as such, he stripped his son of his birthright and exiled from their nation forever, only until he had captured the Avatar: a special bender born to each of the other nations that is capable of bending all four types at once & it was their duty to protect the world & maintain balance and thus their nation's biggest threat in achieving victory who had disappeared nearly one hundred years prior. In his father and the whole world's mind it was seen as a fool's errand and giving him that task looked as if it was the easiest way to finally get rid of his son without killing him under the belief he'd die in the process, but this task was Zuko clung desperately as his only hope of "regaining his honor" and everything he had lost, all the while succumbing to his father's corruption.

Because he was now banished, Zuko was given nothing but a little ship (as apposed to the massive ones in regular military use) and a just-as-small crew who was not even close to being interested in what his task was, the one other sliver of hope he got was that his uncle chose to come along with him in the hopes that he can make this banishment his journey of self-discovery. With all that he can manage to acquire to help him search for the Avatar, Zuko lead his crew on an expedition all over the world from the now-abandoned air temples (as the newest Avatar would be an airbender) to even the most remote locations on the planet believing that's where he'll find the last airbender with zero success, and despite everyone's objections to what he thinks, Zuko always hopes for a sign that he won't be destined to be the "banished prince who wanders the earth forever" but will be the man his nation he wants to be seen as.

Book One: Water[]

Seeing his sign[]

Zuko finally seeing the sign he was hoping for.

Two and a half years later of barely finding a single trace of the airbender, Zuko eventually lead his ship & crew down to the South Pole where not a single sign was shown to him, and it stayed that way until one fateful day when he was surveying atop the ship's deck where he witnessed a column of bright light shot right up into the sky and eagerly told his skeptical uncle Iroh that the light must have meant something powerful had been unleashed and the banished prince ordered the course be set for the source of the light, determined to see that his search had come to an end. As the evening wore on, Iroh advised Zuko to rest and reminded him that his quest was futile, as the prince's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had all attempted it and failed but Zuko tersely commented that they had not found the Avatar because their honor was not at stake, as opposed to him and that was something he wasn't doing as well.

Zuko preparing to confront . — Zuko preparing to confront the Avatar.

So the next day, Iroh taught firebending basics to Zuko, drilling the prince and his infantry sparring partners in a sequence Zuko could not quite complete correctly. After Iroh lectured on the importance of strength as an extension of breath and not brute force for firebending, an impatient Zuko tried to browbeat Iroh into teaching him a more advanced set but Zuko reasoned that it would take more than basics to defeat the Avatar, who had a century to master all the elements. Iroh grudgingly acquiesced, but first took a moment to finish his roast duck, soon Zuko saw a signal flare from an old Fire Nation shipwreck, and checking through his telescope Zuko saw the ones (one of them being a waterbending girl named Katara) leaving the ship and heading toward the nearby village through a telescope, with this sight Zuko told his crew to prepare to dock.

Discovering his prize[]

Zuko attacking the Southern "village" in his search.

As his warship sailed closer to the village, if it could even be considered as one, Zuko readied for battle and once his troops were ready to attack, the exiled Prince descended onto the place with a small number of soldiers marching behind him, he did find some form of defiance in Katara's headstrong brother Sokka, but since he was more experienced in fighting it was relatively easy for him to move on from it. Zuko demanded the location of the Avatar, and expecting to find an old man somewhere in the village, he grabbed Kanna threateningly as to who he was looking for before Sokka attacked him again but Zuko once again using only his bare hands to render Sokka's attacks useless, though he got a lucky hit when Sokka's signature boomerang struck the back of his helmet, but this angered the prince who threatened to use firebending on the villagers.

Zuko_and_Aang_first_encounter — Zuko and Aang first encounter

Zuko finally having his first fight with Aang.

Suddenly before he got a chance to set fire on what's left of the place the Avatar came from right behind and knocked him off his feet, but upon getting back up Zuko was shocked to discover that the Avatar was nothing like the ancient master he was expecting but merely a playful twelve-year-old boy named Aang as the Water Tribe villagers expressed their own surprise. Zuko quickly regained his focus, and wasted no time in launching a series of fire blasts at Aang who proved he was still capable of airbending, but even though he put up a good fight soon decided to stop the battle when he realized that Zuko's attacks would inevitably strike the children he had befriended which lead him to surrender, and still having the kindness in his heart Zuko ceased his attack and has his soldiers take the airbender him aboard as a prisoner before setting off for the Fire Nation.

Battle against the air[]

Zuko finally seeing the Avatar in chains... for a while.

As they begin sailing back to their homeland, a proud Zuko felt great satisfaction believing that his search has finally come to an end before ordering his guards to take their new prisoner below deck so he wouldn't try to escape. As for Aang's glider, a staff he uses for flight, he sees it as the perfect souvenir present he'll be give to his father when he finally returns home and has his uncle place it inside his quarters... who immediately passes that job to some other guard before they bring Aang below deck.

However just as he returns to his quarters thinking he can finally get a good rest now that his quest will be over, he immediately dumps that notion when he hears Aang had escaped his custody and knowing he'll come to get his staff back, he hides behind his room's door just as the young Avatar walks inside, he then launched a number of attacks in hopes of incapacitating Aang, but the airbender easily avoided them before confusing his with one of his nation's banners and slamming Zuko against the room's walls and ceiling, briefly stunning him. Aang then raced and prepared to make his escape on his glider but Zuko followed and leapt after him by grabbing his ankle which lead to both of them crashing onto the deck, as he prepared to attack again, he quickly saw the Avatar's sky bison Appa, carrying Sokka and Katara to Aang's rescue, but he was quick to regain his focus and launched more fire blasts that pressed Aang to the edge of the deck and knocked his staff away and while the Avatar remained unharmed by the flames, it caused him overboard into the frigid sea below.

Zuko in awe of the Avatar State before taking a frozen dip.

Shocked that he had unknowingly sent his only way of getting his life back to normal down into the ocean, Zuko raced to where Aang had fallen off in the hopes of seeing that he had actually survived the fall, only to get one that's too good as Aang enters a special mode called the Avatar State: a state that allows him to be at his most powerful as he waterbends the sea around him before pushing himself up in the air on a whirling column of water. Zuko, Katara, and Sokka were shocked at this immense display of bending power as Aang deposited himself on the deck of the ship before bending his liquid platform into a spinning wall of water that sent Zuko and all his guards on deck flying before he goes overboard as well just as his new friends fly down to get him.

Zuko before his ship crashes into an Avalanche.

Eventually Zuko manages to climb his way back on deck only for Sokka to once again stop him from climbing up further which left him to hang onto his ship's anchor which gave his enemies enough time to take out all of his remaining guards and soon all three took off on Appa just as Iroh arrived on the scene. As the Avatar and his compatriots fly away Zuko is helped on-deck by Iroh and with most of the guards out of commission the two launched a combined fire blast in an attempt to shoot down the escaping sky bison, unfortunately for them Aang uses their attack to his advantage as once their fire blasts were within range he batted it right next to the giant ice pillar they were passing, leading the prince to just watch in horror as an entire Avalanche comes crashing down on him and the Avatar & co. escape.

Even though he's now at a disadvantage, Zuko is still dead-set & getting the Avatar & his honor back.

Even though he's barely escaped with a destroyed ship and his uncle remark that they don't have to put that much fear in the Avatar now, Zuko however was completely undeterred by this by reminding how the "little kid" caused an Avalanche and ordered his men to get their ship out of the snow and follow the bison... as soon as they finish thawing out the ones who were frozen by Katara. Angered over how he was bested by a bender barely older than him and the fact that his hunt has now turned into a chase, the fire prince swore to never underestimate Aang again and will go through whatever lengths he has to go in order to get his honor back.

A proper fire duel[]

A lot of time digging later and Zuko's ship is finally out of the ice, unfortunately the ship took too much damage from the avalanche and as a result was in need of substantial repairs which forced them to dock at the closest Fire Nation controlled naval base they could sail to. As he and his uncle walked down on the ship he told him it must be done fast as well as not mention a thing about his battle with Aang as if word gets out that the Avatar is alive, others will come and fight him for his capture, something he's proven immediately right in when the new Commander Zhao eavesdrops enough to invite them over for tea... something Zuko reluctantly agrees to.

While sitting inside the commander's tent as well as was hearing of the Fire Nation's armies against the Earth Kingdom, Zuko was then questioned on his search for the Avatar to which Zuko, still keeping it to himself, replied he had been unsuccessful and although having expected that answer, Zhao suspected that Zuko was hiding something and tried to force Zuko to reveal the truth. Zuko became angered and attempted to leave but was stopped by Zhao's guards, who had interrogated the ship's crew on his orders where he now learned that Zuko had captured the Avatar before, and with that out of the bag Zuko was forced to tell the commander everything he had seen prior to the damage.

Zuko deciding to challenge Zhao to an Agni Kai.

...and determined to not make the same mistake again.

After telling him everything, Zhao is quite appalled over the fact the Zuko was bested by just a kid but despite passionately stating that he would not underestimate the Avatar again, Zhao replied that he will be taking over the hunt for the Avatar which left the prince to leap for Zhao in a rage but was held back by the guards which lead to the commander order for Zuko and Iroh to be kept in his tent and left. Once Zhao and his search party were almost ready to set sail on their search for the Avatar, he promised he will let Zuko and Iroh go but Zuko stated that he was going to capture the Avatar before Zhao, who laughed at the thought of Zuko defeating him, who had "hundreds of warships under his command" before then demeaned Zuko by telling him that his father would let him come home without the Avatar if he really did love him while also telling him that Ozai only saw in his son was a failure, but a little taunt about how he's "got the scar to prove" was the final straw for Zuko to snap and challenge Zhao to an Agni Kai at sunset which was something he agreed to, Iroh reminded Zuko about how his last duel with a firebending master turned out to which Zuko replied that he would never forget.

Prince_Zuko_vs_Commander_Zhao_-HD- — Prince Zuko vs Commander Zhao -HD-

Zuko actually fighting in an Agni Kai this time.

Once the sun began setting the arena for the Agni Kai was ready as Zuko stepped in for the first time since his banishment, before the fight Iroh counseled Zuko to remember his basics, as they were his greatest assets, but the prince did not appear to heed his uncle's wisdom, instead simply stating that he would not lose and assumed his stance. Zhao claimed that the duel would end swiftly and also assumed his stance. The two opponents stared deeply and fiercely into each other's eyes, as the gong sounded and the match commenced. Zhao seemed more than a match for Zuko, effortlessly avoiding and nullifying all of Zuko's fire blasts. As Zuko caught his breath, Iroh continued to advise him to remember his basics. Zhao then proceeded to throw his own volley of fire blasts. Zuko was able to block each, but was slowly forced back with every parry. For the final blast, Zhao used both fists, forming a blast that connected and knocked Zuko to the ground. Pressing the attack, Zhao leaped into the air, covering the distance between him and Zuko, and prepared a finishing fire blast aimed directly for Zuko's face but just before contact, Zuko rolled out of the way, rose with a kicking flourish, and knocked Zhao out of his stance, giving Zuko the chance to release a series of low attacks that caused Zhao to retreat, finishing him with a jet of fire from a full body kick, but just as he released a fire blast to make his victory clear, he only blasted it past Zhao's face instead, warning him that he "won't hold back" the next time Zhao "came in his way".

Zuko leaving after winning the challenge.

But as Zuko turned to walk away, Zhao, enraged by his defeat, sent a jet of fire at Zuko's back, which Iroh swiftly stopped with his bare hand before throwing Zhao to the ground, Iroh stopped an outraged Zuko from retaliating against Zhao so that he wouldn't "soil his victory" and lectured the commander about how dishonorably he had acted, stating that his nephew was more honorable "even in exile", although he did thank him for the tea before leaving the arena, this would be Zuko's first hint of what honor truly is as the pair head back to the ship.

Strike on Kyoshi island[]

Zuko as he lands on Island. — Zuko as he lands on Kyoshi Island.

After his second Agni Kai Zuko's chase for the Avatar leads him out on open waters once again with no information about the Avatar's current location due to multiple sightings of Aang but that he was impossible to track, showing his nephew a detailed map of where he had been spotted, making the prince that "he [was] a master of evasive maneuvering," eventually Zuko jumped up in surprise when he hears that the Avatar was spotted in Kyoshi Island, named after one of his incarnations and one of the few places untouched by the war. With this he readied to depart to Kyoshi Island, but not before quickly snatching his lunch away from Iroh, claiming that "[he] was going to save it for later." As the ship came to land at Koi Bay, Zuko was warned by his uncle that the locals had remained neutral in the war, meaning that they could possess unknown defensive capabilities. Zuko brushed these warnings aside, claiming that the island's fishing villages could not possibly offer any meaningful resistance.

He then began his raid, leading his troops on komodo rhinos into the island's interior, before they could reach the nearby village, however, his party was ambushed by a small number of Kyoshi Warriors but even though the Fire Nation forces fended off the attack, the locals successfully retreated. Angered at this unexpected attack and his foes' escape, Zuko urged his group to continue their march to the nearby village and before long, the group entered the town as they searched for the Avatar, only to be again ambushed. The Kyoshi Warriors made a good demonstration of their abilities and skills in battle, taking out many firebenders although outnumbered, Zuko on the other hand managed to best three Kyoshi Warriors at once, including their leader, Suki and once again Sokka, who was recently trained by Suki and after dispatching his opponents, Zuko yelled out for the Avatar, after Zuko saw Aang, they engaged in a short battle, in which Aang defeated Zuko by slamming him into a house with an air blast before the Avatar once again managed to escape and leave the island on his flying bison.

Getting a lead[]

Zuko finding something he can use to get the Avatar.

The downpour drenched Zuko and the defeat at the hands of the Kyoshi Warriors left his troops demoralized and humiliated, but Zuko would continue his pursuit, sometime later, Zuko came into Earth Kingdom territory where he arrived on a Fire Nation prison rig in the aftermath of a breakout of its earthbending prisoners with the assistance of the Avatar and his friends. Looking around the damage that had been left around, the prince found a Water Tribe necklace among the wreckage and deduced that it belonged to Katara, before continuing his journey to catch the Avatar, Zuko helped the prison rig's warden to restore some order and resume the rig's industrial production while also choosing to keep the necklace in the hopes that it could be useful for his hunt.

First fight with earthbenders[]

Zuko found relaxing, much to his annoyance. — Zuko found Iroh relaxing, much to his annoyance.

After sometime of sailing, Zuko's ship took a stop before the got back to sailing but since his uncle had went somewhere else for the meantime becoming very impatient and demanded that his uncle get ready to leave right away. Iroh (having been relaxing in a hot springs) agreed, but upon seeing he was not wearing anything, Zuko covered his eyes and decided to give his uncle a few more minutes to get ready. He gave a warning that if Iroh was not ready within a half hour, Zuko would leave without him, but Iroh, not heeding his nephew's warning, slumped back into the pool and fell asleep.

Zuko discovering his uncle's been kidnapped by earthbenders.

However when it soon became night and Iroh hasn't gotten back yet, Zuko came later with two soldiers, only to find what one of the soldiers deduced was a landslide but once the prince noticed that the rocks were moved up-hill, and realized that his uncle was captured by earthbenders. Zuko immediately pursued them riding his komodo rhino. The next morning following his search, Zuko found a sandal left by Iroh, deducing that it was his due to its horrible smell. While following the earthbender's trail, Zuko spotted the Avatar's bison and immediately turned to follow it, but hesitated and was faced with the choice to follow the Avatar or rescue his uncle, and chose the latter.

Later, just as the Earth Kingdom soldiers were about to crush Iroh's hands as punishment for an escape attempt, Zuko appeared and kicked the rock that was about to be dropped on Iroh's hands aside. He then lifted his leg and with one swift movement broke the chains that were binding Iroh in half, to which Iroh complimented him. Zuko smiled and replied that Iroh had "taught him well" and despite being greatly outnumbered, they showed their opponents that they were clearly outmatched, and defeated the earthbenders with little difficulty before promptly asking Iroh to "put on some clothes"

Storming an Avatar temple[]

Zuko discovering the Avatar's heading to his home territory.

After beating the earth soldiers Zuko discovers that Aang and his friends were at a village not far away and when he arrives there and threatens one of the locals on where was he headed now. The frightened local told him that after the Avatar an angry rampaging spirit (as the Avatar also acted as the connection to the mortal & spirit worlds) to leave the village in peace, he and his friends flew to a temple of his predecessor Roku... in the Fire Nation itself.

Zuko sailing into fire nation territory despite the danger it has.

Sailing after the Avatar's bison Zuko soon caught up with him as they entered the territory, but Iroh reminded him that because he was banished, if he entered their waters he would be arrested. Zuko replied that since he was chasing the Avatar, his father would understand, too focused on the fact that Ozai was not an understanding person. When Zuko managed to find Aang and his friends, he began firing his catapult toward Aang. Aang was able to help Appa barely dodge the shot. After missing him, Zuko ordered for the catapult to be reloaded when he saw a blockade of Fire Nation ships in a distance. Iroh told Zuko that since he was still in Earth Kingdom waters and that if he turned back now he would not be arrested. However, Zuko refused to turn away and ordered the ship continue forward.

Unsurprisingly, the blockcade was led by Commander Zhao who proceeded to attack both the Avatar and Zuko's sides, One of the shots hit Zuko's ship in the back causing the ship to smoke heavily. One of his men explained that the engines were damaged and that they needed to stop for repairs, but Zuko would not hear it and told them to continue. When Aang made it through a barrage of attacks from the blockade, a frustrated Zhao knew he had to follow him but he did not know where he was going. He then saw Zuko's ship approaching and instead of arresting him, Zhao allowed him to pass through the blockade untouched so he could follow Zuko to the Avatar which was something the prince did.

Zuko using his colossal dingy to continue the chase.

As the sun began setting Zuko was confused as to why Zhao let him pass, but Iroh explained that it was most likely because he wanted to use Zuko to find the Avatar. Hearing his uncle's theory, Zuko was at a loss for what to do. Zuko came up with an idea; since Zhao was following the smoke from his ship, Zuko could take a smaller vessel and sneak past Zhao under the smoke, while Zhao would continue following his ship. Thinking he evaded Zhao, Zuko arrived on Crescent Island and secretly entered the Crescent Island Fire Temple.

After tricking the Fire Sages, having since pledged allegiance to the royal family when the war began as well as losing hope of the Avatar returning, into opening the door with their firebending, each of the four sages were grabbed by Shyu the only sage still loyal to the avatar, Katara, Sokka, and Momo. Katara yelled to Aang to enter the chamber but there was no answer from him right beforeZuko then appeared from behind a pillar, with Aang captured by him. Due to their surprise, Aang's allies each in turn lost control over the sages and they were now held down by them and a frantic Zuko ordered the sages to close the door immediately and started to force Aang away from it, down the stairs, but the airbender wriggled free from his grasp, however, and kicked him down the stairs, before racing through the door, thinking fast Zuko and the sages attempted to stop him but he managed to get inside before the doors closed minutes before a bright light then came from the room and died away.

Outside the doors Zuko with literally no other way of capturing the Avatar until he finally made it out, decided to inquire Shyu why he helped Aang, to which the Fire Sage answered that it was once the Fire Sages' duty to help the Avatar and that it still was. This moment was interrupted by Zhao and a group of soldiers, the former of whom having quickly seen through the banished prince's ruse with the smoke, and immediately took control of the situation with Zhao placing Zuko under arrest and claiming that he would simply wait for the Avatar to come out.

Zuko spying on the Avatar after escaping the temple.

As Aang's Avatar Spirit activated, Zhao and his soldiers readied themselves to attack Aang the moment he stepped out of the room and with another flash of light, the door opened and they attacked the figure behind the door. However, they soon noticed that it was not the young Avatar Aang but Roku in his place, who stood before them. He sent the fire back with great force and knocked the group back. As the heat of the fire melted the chains that held Katara and the others, Zuko took this opportunity to run back to his boat, once he got back to his main boat Zuko managed to escape on his smaller ship, looking at the Avatar as he flew away

Working with pirates[]

Learning they have a common goal, Zuko teams up with pirates to find the Avatar.

A short time later following his escape from the collapsing temple, Zuko reluctantly takes a detour when his uncle wants to buy a backup white lotus tile for his painting sho game but while they were heading back to the ship they came across a band of pirates having an Avatar problem of their own: When the Avatar and his friends came to visit on what they were selling they stole a waterbending scroll from them. With an enemy they were both looking for Zuko joined forces with the pirates to hunt down Aang. Although the pirate captain believed they would try to escape in the forest as he correctly deduced that they would be near the river to practice waterbending.

Zuko revealing the necklace to a captured . — Zuko revealing the necklace to a captured Katara.

As night began to fall Zuko along with his men and the pirates soon docked to search for the Avatar on foot where they eventually found Katara, having grown frustrated to master the basics, alone, late at night practicing the water whip, with bo one around Zuko captured the waterbender and tied her to a tree, attempting to interrogate her for information on the Avatar. He even showed her that he had her mother's lost betrothal necklace in his possession, the last tie that she had to her mother in exchange and seeing as how the pirates were only interested in the scroll, so Zuko threatened to destroy it if they did not find Aang.

Eventually Aang and Sokka were captured as well but unfortunately just as Zuko and the pirates were about to make the trade of Aang exchanged with the scroll, Sokka convinced the pirates to not sell Aang by revealing to them that he was the Avatar, Zuko quickly saw what Sokka's attempting and tried to persuade the pirates to ignore Sokka's claims. But this ultimately failed as the pirates were quickly overcome with greed and decided to capture the Avatar for themselves, which caused a fight to break out, and while Zuko and the pirates fought, Aang, Katara, and Sokka escaped. Katara and Aang used waterbending to get the pirates' boat into water, sail away, and escape.

Zuko angry that he lost both his river boat and the Avatar.

Eventually Iroh stepped-in and stopped Zuko and the pirates' captain, showing them that the pirates' boat was being stolen, Zuko laughed at their misfortune, until he saw the pirates who taunted him by mooning him, except for the captain, stealing his smaller ship and starting to chase the Avatar. Eventually both ships were lost after falling over a waterfall while the Avatar and co. escaped again leaving Zuko there to see it all, Iroh discovered that his lost white lotus tile was stuck in his sleeve the whole time but now completely frustrated and angry that he lost both his river ship and the Avatar, Zuko grabbed the tile from Iroh's hand and threw it over the waterfall in anger.

Going into the storm[]

After this, Zuko was piloting his ship through what appeared to be a sunny, calm day, when Iroh stated that he could feel a storm coming and advised Zuko to sail away from the storm, but Zuko refused, stating wherever the Avatar went, they would follow but when it became clear they were sailing into a storm, Lieutenant Jee called Zuko out as the latter continued to refuse to turn around. Zuko responded by trying to instigate a duel, before a fight could begin, however, Iroh separated the two. Once again being alone in his room Zuko began on reflecting on the life he had before, and while the storm wreaked havoc on the ship and a lightning bolt almost struck it but Iroh managed to redirect it away. Zuko then noticed that the helmsman was dangling from the top of the ship. He then climbed up to the top and grabbed the helmsman's hand, successfully rescuing him. Finally, Zuko agreed to get the ship to safety, reaching the eye of the storm, during this time, he saw Aang flying up the eye, but just looked at him and let him pass.

First night as a Blue Spirit[]

An extra-grumpy Zuko not answering to a promoted Zhao's orders.

Eventually once the storm passes by Zuko soon faces an even bigger obstacle ahead of him when his father decided to promote Zhao to admiral and order all Avatar-activity be sent to him immediately, which is something he greatly fights back against and stays on-course as he knows that Zhao only wants to capture him because of the glory that comes with it. But secretly he expressed to his uncle disbelief in what he's doing now, as Zhao had far greater resources and power which makes him despondently state that he would soon lose all that he had been fighting for in the years since his exile, something he proved to be true when with the help of the best archers in the nation, the Avatar was captured with ease.

Fortunately Iroh's words of never lose your hope eventually get to Zuko and is once again determined to not let Zhao get the best of him and once he learns that the Avatar is currently being held at the Fire Nation Stronghold of Ponghuai, he dons on an all-black spy suit and a "blue spirit" mask of his mother's favorite play he decided to bring with him, and taking two broadswords with him as he decided to not use any firebending to further hide his identity, Zuko traveled to the stronghold alone by nightfall, and with Zhao keen on his victory and making a speech about his success to all those stationed there, no one is around to stop him from sneaking into the fortress and once he found out where Aang was being chained, he cut him loose and made their way to the exit. Eventually they soon got the attention of all the guards still there and that lead to the two of them fighting them all off, but knowing he needed the Avatar alive Zuko placed his swords at Aang's throat, threatening to kill him making a frustrated Zhao to order the guards to open the gates, and still holding his blades to Aang's neck, he marched the two of them outside, never turning either of their backs to the fortress, but just as Zhao ordered a Yuyan Archer to knock out Zuko, his life spared due to the protection provided by his mask while Aang immediately airbent up a large dust cloud to conceal himself, while a group of Fire Nation soldiers raced from the fortress to capture them, while this happened Aang took the time to discover Zuko behind the mask but they still manage to escape without a trace.

Do_you_think_we_could_have_been_friends_too? — Do you think we could have been friends too?

Zuko hearing Aang talk about his past after escaping.

Soon it was day again and Zuko regained consciousness to discover he was somewhere in a forest, and he was with Aang in a wooded area as the airbender spoke nostalgically of Kuzon, a Fire Nation boy he knew as one of his closest friends a century before. He laughed at the thought of how much trouble he got into with his friend. After reflecting, he asked Zuko if under different circumstances they too could have been friends like him and Kuzon, Zuko paused for a bit, then responded by launching a fire blast, which Aang easily avoided before leaping through the trees but his stern expression softened slightly, and he decided not to pursue the Avatar, at least for then before finally returning to his ship to get some sleep.

Riding with a Shirshu[]

Zuko amazed with he just saw. — Zuko amazed with the tracker he just saw.

A bit of time afterward following his escape from Ponghuai stronghold, Zuko and his uncle felt a disturbance on the deck and when they went to check it out, they encountered a giant beast called a shirshu and it's master, a bounty hunter named June invading the ship, claiming to be in pursuit of a stowaway. Just as Zuko claimed there were no stowaways on his ship, the shirshu ripped open the deck, found the stowaway among the cargo, and paralyzed him with its venomous tongue, an astonished Zuko asked the bounty hunter how she was able to find the man so easily, to which she answered that her shirshu could detect a scent for miles by just smelling an object before leaving the damaged ship with her prize, leaving both Zuko & Iroh (in an attracted way) impressed.

Zuko using Katara's necklace to find both her & Aang.

Sensing his biggest opportunity to find the Avatar yet, Zuko along with Iroh traveled to the closest tavern where June decided to rest up for the night to enlist her help, though he initially demanded she helped him to compensate for the damage to his ship but she only agreed when Iroh offered to pay her in gold. Zuko, ignoring Iroh's flirtations with June and June's cracks about "his girlfriend", showed her Katara's necklace to use to follow her scent, tracking Aang by proxy and the moment she has her shirshu sniff it, the beast quickly caught on her trail and they rode off to get to them.

After a bit of traveling Zuko and June eventually found Katara and Sokka and after paralyzing them, they realized that Aang was not with them. The shirshu sought out Aang's scent from a map that he had held, and they tracked him into the abbey, Zuko ended up in a one-on-one showdown with Aang, while June and the shirshu fought Appa. Everybody brawled, and Zuko chased Aang across the abbey, ferociously attacking him with firebending while Aang defended himself with airbending. Sokka, coming out of paralysis thanks to the nuns' remedy, devised a plan to blind the shirshu by overpowering its sense of smell with perfume and Katara waterbent the perfume onto the shirshu, and it lost control and now blinded and panicking, it paralyzed both Zuko and June (with Iroh pretending to be) which allowed the gang to escape, with Aang taking back Katara's necklace as well.

Escaping his own ship[]

Zuko terrified that Zhao's discovering his alter-ego.

Eventually Zuko follows the Avatar's trail all the way up to the North Pole before he once again docks his ship for the night, unfortunately his plans of hunting the Avatar face an even bigger problem than ever when Zhao, also following his trail, came on board to conscript the crew for his colossal attack on the Northern Water Tribe, something Iroh all but confirmed when they went to his room. The minute Zuko is finished hearing this, he tried to attack Zhao, but he was restrained by Iroh but his problems only increased when Zhao discovers both his mask & broadswords which he recognized as the blue spirit (a name he had because he has since done some stuff disguised as such) and casually asked Zuko if he had any skill with the swords, knowing that Zhao suspected him of being the Blue Spirit, Zuko replied that the swords were only antiques used for decoration, he then left the ship but not before revealing he also extended that offer to join him to his uncle as well.

Zuko disguised as a soldier on Zhao's flagship.

After the crew left, Zuko was left with feeling bitter and resentful and rejected Iroh's offer to go for a walk, opting instead to stay in his room and sulk, but he was soon moved into action when Zhao hired the same pirate crew Zuko had met before to assassinate him. Although successful in planting the explosives, one of the pirates accidentally created some noise which alerted him and went to investigate the source of the noise but found nothing until he saw the pirate captain's iguana parrot, but this seemingly proved to be too late as they quickly triggered the explosives, but moments before the flames hit him, Zuko formed a fire shield around himself, which saved his life, with his ship now all but destroyed Zuko reunited with Iroh and knowing that Zhao's fleet is heading north, he stowed away aboard Zhao's ship while his uncle accepted the offer to be the admiral's adviser.

Sneaking during the northern siege[]

Zuko as Zhao's fleet sails to the North Pole.

As the colossal fire nation continued to sail up North Zuko, having disguised himself as a foot soldier on Zhao's flagship, kept his identity secret until his uncle met with him to inform him that they'll be reaching the North soon and once the rest of the invasion force decide to take a break after launching their first attack, this will give Zuko the right opportunity to sneak out and catch the Avatar, although he admits that he hasn't thought of what to do next.

Eventually that time to sneak out came when nightfall arrived, mostly because his uncle convinced Zhao to wait because he's well aware that water benders are most powerful at night especially because it's a full moon, and with everyone on board asleep he commandeered a boat, and planned to sneak into the capital city of Agna Qel'a to take Aang. Before he left, Iroh met with him, gave him advice, and told him that he had thought of him as his own son since son's death, something Zuko said he knew, and promised that they would meet again, after he had captured the Avatar, leading Iroh to wish him well before heading down.

Despite it all, Zuko made it to the North city.

He rowed his way to the shoreline next to the walls of the Northern capital but can't risk climbing or melting the walls as he discovered that there are guards noticed a group of turtle seals diving into a hole, and realized that they must have another place where they came up for air, he dove in to follow them. Once he makes it to where the turtles seals live and shushing them to not wake anyone from above, the banished prince came to a place where he was trapped under ice, but using his firebending he melted the ice, and came up in the city.

Rising with the sun[]

Now inside the city before Zhao's entire armada, Zuko traveled all over the sleeping city to discover where Aang might be but found he was nowhere to be found, that is until he realized he must've gone somewhere that's much more spiritual and that thought soon took him outside the city where he found a special oasis with two koi fish living in it's one lake as well as Aang (providedly in a meditating state), Katara, and the princess of the northern water tribe Yue (who luckily for him is not a bender) there as well. With no one else around to protect them the stubborn prince demanded that they give Aang to him but Katara moved to defend him, as Yue ran away, and Zuko took a fighting stance and with just her to deal with the two began to fight, at first they were relatively equal now that Katara trained under a master, but thanks to being empowered by the moon, Katara gained the upper hand and trapped Zuko in a prison of ice.

Fortunately for him just as the sun rises again, Zuko's firebending strength increases, and he manages to melt his way out of Katara's trap and overpowers her, rendering her unconscious by throwing her against a gate post with a fire blast. Standing over her motionless form, he notes that while she rises with the moon, he rises the sun, before taking Aang's body and escaping from the oasis just as the Fire Nation army breaks into the city as well.

Taking a break in a cave[]

Zuko carrying Aang across the snowstorm.

However knowing he just can't carry an unconscious Avatar past an invading Fire Nation Army lead by a jerk who tried to assassinate him, he goes for the dangerous move to carry the Avatar out of the city and through icy terrain which is soon only made more difficult when a raging blizzard entered the fray. Despite this he manages to avoid falling through the icy terrain and as he catches his breath, he sees a cave a short distance from where he is and drags Aang's body into the shelter, where he binds him.

Zuko reflecting on everything that stood against him.

As the banished prince creates a fire to make his stay in the cave a lot more comfortable, he laments over the irony of finally succeeding in capturing the Avatar but being prevented from returning to the Fire Nation by the blizzard and muses that there is always something and even though he knows Aang in unconscious, he makes time to compare him his sister, complaining how everything always came easy to her, from being a firebending prodigy to being adored by all and bitterly recalling his father's statement that she was born lucky, while he was lucky to be born, but he denounces his need for luck as his struggles have made him strong. Eventually he Avatar woke up and once Zuko faces him the airbender tries to escape but failed as Zuko's ropes proved to tough for him and just as Aang makes it out of the cave Zuko quickly restrained him.

Unfortunately another thing once again gets in his way when before he even has the chance to knock the Avatar out Katara, Sokka, and Yue, who had been following them, come down on Appa to rescue Aang. Despite assuming he'll defeat her again, because it's night and that there is loads of snow, Katara easily defeats Zuko, knocking him out , but before they fly off the young Avatar decides to Zuko's life for a second time, insisting that Zuko must be brought along instead of being left unconscious in the snow where he would surely die, much to the other's displeasure.

Putting "the moon slayer" in his place[]

Zuko revealing to Zhao he's still alive.

By the time he wakes up he not only finds himself back at the oasis, but things had gone to completely insane disasters when Zhao takes a step for glory too far when he decides to kill the moon spirit (revealed to be one of the koi fish in the pond) thinking it'll just destroy only the watertribes. While everyone against him, his uncle included, fight back Zuko takes the chance to escape and as the Avatar and the ocean spirit team up to destroy "the moon slayer's" armada, Zuko takes the time to reveal to a terrified Zhao he's still alive.

Zuko_Vs_Zhao_Final_Fight_1080p — Zuko Vs Zhao Final Fight 1080p

Zuko's final fight with Zhao.

Deciding to make good on his promise that he will kill him if he ever got in his way again, Zuko immediately jumps right into his face and attacks him, as Zhao clarifies on his actions at the stronghold of freeing the Avatar Zuko counters that he had no choice, but Zhao tells Zuko that he should have accepted his fate as a failure and a disgrace as he at least had the choice to live, and they once again begin to fight. Right on his word, Zuko's struggle more than made him too much for Zhao to overcome this time and he is soon able to back the admiral down in an alley where he once again has him fall to his knees and as a special twist in this, the moon (through some heartbreaking choices) returns to it's place in the sky, making all his efforts completely for nothing.

Zuko watching Zhao get killed by the ocean.

Luckily (in a sense) for Zuko he doesn't have to even finish off Zhao as a result of his actions of disrespect against both the spirits & the balance the vengeful Ocean Spirit, taking the form of a giant hand, seizes Zhao and begins to pick him up. Zuko, forgetting the duel and remembering how the Avatar saved him, tries to help Zhao by telling him to take out a hand to him, but Zhao stubbornly refuses to take it, and he is pulled beneath the water, where he disappears from view.

Escaping the north[]

Zuko deciding to sleep after a really rough night.

One long night later and the entirety of the Fire Nation fleet is defeated and what's left of it decides to retreat and leave the North tribe alone for real, and while the Avatar and the rest of the Northern water tribe recover from the battle they just won Zuko rejoins Iroh on a simple catamaran he made out of the wreckage from the Fire fleet. As they sail on Iroh slyly says he is surprised that Zuko is not absorbed with capturing the Avatar to which Zuko, still reeling from what he had been denied what his heart wanted him to fo, simply replies the he is tired, to which Iroh softly tells him that a man needs his rest and taking his advice Zuko lays flat on his back and closes his eyes as his uncle continues sailing out of the North.

Book Two: Earth[]

Facing his sister again[]

Zuko remembering today of the anniversary he was banished.

Three weeks later following their escape from the north, Zuko and Iroh eventually reached land and decided to rest up at a Fire Nation village resort, where Iroh received a massage, while Zuko brooded over the three-year anniversary of his banishment. He expressed his desire to fulfill his goal of capturing the Avatar and regaining his honor, the throne, and his father's respect, his uncle tried to cheer him up by saying "Why would he banish you if he didn't care?" but the way he spelled it out didn't help at all.

Despite still looking down on this day, Zuko found himself getting a crazy surprise because when he and Iroh returned to their room, the two found Azula waiting for them, after exchanging cold greetings, in which Azula mocked Zuko about he's become uncivilized and called him "Zuzu", a nickname he always hated, Azula informed them that Ozai had heard of plans to overthrow him, and intended to surround himself with the only people he could trust, his family. She told Zuko that their father regretted his banishment, and wished for him to come home, news that shocked Zuko before leaving the room, giving him time to mull it over.

Zuko as Iroh expresses doubt in Azula's message.

Even though he always believes his sister lies to him, Zuko ironically believed his sister, and was ecstatic at the prospect of finally going home, Iroh, on the other hand, remained skeptical, as he had never known Ozai to forgive anyone. Zuko insisted that his father truly cared about him, but Iroh suspected that the invitation to return home was fraudulent but this made him angry, calling him lazy, selfish, and jealous, before storming off.

Barely evading capture[]

Zuko seeing Iroh's joining him after all.

The following morning, Zuko proceeded to meet Azula on the ship she sailed here alone when he was suddenly approached by Iroh because the retired general had ultimately chosen to accompany Zuko, although he remained somewhat suspicious even as they arrived at the harbor where Azula's ship was docked, Azula welcomed both of them warmly. His suspicions on the real reason of her visit, however, was revealed when her ship's captain referred to them as "prisoners", leaving a momentary silence at this revelation before Iroh sprang into action and began fighting her guards.

Zuko on the other hand, was left in a blazing fury and he immediately took out some her guards as well before taking the fight to her, Azula fought him off with her hand-to-hand skills, twisting his arms out of her way and using his weight to manipulate his movements all the while continuing to play on his need to be welcomed in their dad's arms but he's now seen as both a failure and an embarrassment. His reckless attacks on her proved even more futile when she gained the high ground on a set of stairs and blasted Zuko away with a blue-fire attack, he was then put in a more dangerous stance when she reveals she's now strong enough to lightningbend, an instant-kill move only the most advanced firebending can do, but before he was blasted by it Iroh interceded, redirecting the lightning and kicking her overboard before the duo escaped from the harbor.

Unfortunately they now can't return to the spa resort now that Azula beat them to it and makes their announcement as criminals official, which lead to the two of them running into the forest until they came far enough away to not be spotted. Eventually running out of breath they sat by a stream, and now accepting he can no longer go home again, Zuko pulled out his dagger Iroh had given him years earlier and now 100% believing he can't count on anyone else from his homeland, he cut off his top-knot as a symbol of severance from his family and the Fire Nation, and gave the dagger to his uncle, who did the same.

First night on the run[]

After a change of clothes now that they're outlaws, Zuko and his uncle try their best to make the best of their newfound situation which sadly fail at doing, 'cause Zuko cannot catch any fish while staying near a stream, while Iroh makes tea using the dangerous white jade bush, mistaking it for the legendary white dragon bush, Iroh's situation eventually makes Zuko state that they are done taking any more chances with strange plants and need to find help. Zuko and Iroh weigh their options: if they head to the Earth Kingdom and are discovered, they will be executed, but if the Fire Nation catches them, they will be turned over to Azula, hearing the second danger proved more than enough for Zuko to choose that they go to the closest Earth village for help.

Zuko and Iroh soon make it to the earth kingdom village they were hoping for and rest up at the local spa place, while there they meet a friendly girl named Song but when she inquires as to their identities, Zuko states his name is Lee and Iroh's name is Mushi, but a displeased Iroh made his name connect with his dad much to Zuko's dismay. Song invites the two to her house for dinner that evening, an invitation they eventually accept when she mentions her mother would be cooking roast duck, during the meal, Song tells the duo that during a raid on her village, the Fire Nation captured her father, whom she has not seen since but when she asks Zuko if his father is fighting in the Hundred Year War, Zuko affirms this without telling him who he really is.

Zuko now riding on a stolen Ostrich-horse.

Eventually Zuko sits on the front porch of Song's house, the young Earth Kingdom girl joins him who observes that the Fire Nation has hurt him, but when she tries to tenderly touch his scar, but Zuko rebuffs her which leads her to symphasize with him by choosing to show Zuko a burn scar on her leg, the result of a firebending attack, much to his shock. Later on Zuko and Iroh depart from Song's residence with Iroh expressing his gratitude to the family for their excellent meal but when Song tells Zuko not to lose hope as the Avatar had returned to which Zuko responds that he is well aware of this, he soon steals family's ostrich horse, wishing for an easy means of traveling which is something Iroh reluctantly agrees too before they ride off.

Continuing being the blue thief[]

Sometime traveling later Zuko and Iroh stop by another Earth kingdom village where they attempt to get some money but determined to keep what dignity he has left, Zuko refuses to grovel while Iroh is more than willing to accept their new situation and do what he must to get by. A swordsman approaches Iroh and has him perform for a gold coin. Iroh begins to sing, but the man wants more of a show and swings his blades at Iroh's feet to make him dance and as the swordsman leaves, Zuko is angered and humiliated by his uncle's self-degradation so he decides to take matters in his own hands. Once night arrives, Zuko once more dons on his Blue Spirit costume (which he managed to salvage when his ship was destroyed) and confronts the man at a dark alleyway, when he senses someone there and pulls out his blades, demanding that the person show himself which makes the prince grab his wrist, making him release the blades, and with the man unarmed Zuko throws him into a stack of crates, knocking him out and taking his swords for himself.

Choosing to go-it alone[]

Following this little thievery and now that he's armed, Zuko uses his Blue Spirit alter-ego to steal from the wealthy which he start by attacking a house with a man and a woman still living in ot to steal their baskets with provision and following this heist, the prince returns to a cave where his uncle Iroh is, where they have temporarily settled and when Iroh comments on how he does not like the fact that his nephew has been hiding the source of their provisions, but nevertheless, Iroh eats the food. Later, Zuko robs a tax collector in the coach, easily defeating the guards and stealing the money, and uses it to decorate their cave. Iroh tells him to not be ashamed of poverty and, when Zuko mentions one more time the capture of the Avatar, he adds that it will not solve all their problems and he must not fall into despair. Worried about how the prince is coping with the situation, Iroh tells him, "in the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength", this makes Zuko tell his uncle that he has to find his way in life, which Iroh understands and decides not to stop Zuko when he goes out of the cave and, after thinking about what his uncle said, decides to travel alone.

Helping a family[]

Now completely alone, Zuko wandered through the Earth Kingdom, passing through forbidding and uninhabited areas but because he didn't pack that much food he slowly started to feel the craving for something to eat which provoked him to rob the first band of travelers he spots. However when he does find a traveling party he is eager to steal their food, despite his worsening hunger and lack of supplies, he decided not to rob them when that traveling party included a young couple, especially when he noticed that the woman was pregnant, leading him to continue to travel all the while having flashbacks of the childhood he wished to change.

After standing up to corrupt soldiers, Zuko won the admiration of a farm boy.

Eventually, he stumbled upon a small town to buy some food, only to discover that it was anything but fair as it was being "protected"-but-regularly harassed by a troop of unscrupulous Earth Kingdom soldiers which he first felt when they got his anger, but not going to let this slide Zuko stood up to those soldiers which makes them leave him alone. This selfless act ended up impressing a young boy named Lee, who invited Zuko back to his family's farm for food and shelter where he spent the day helping with chores, and thinking of his own, far less happy childhood and while there acted as something of a substitute brother for Lee, whose older brother was off fighting in the war, even giving Lee a quick lesson in how to use dual broadswords when Lee's curiosity prompted him to take them.

Eventually Zuko finishes what he's done for the family and prepares to set off with some food for his journey, but just as he is about to leave the soldiers from the village come with grave news that Lee's older brother's battalion had been captured and they rudely joked on what he was about to face, infuriated by the tasteless remark, Lee's dad Gansu tells the band's leader Gow to watch his mouth. Insulted, Gow prepares to strike Gansu for his outburst, but Zuko blocks his advance by positioning his mount between the two parties which make him leave the scene with the rest of his company, but worried for the worst Gansu decided to join the army to try to get his son back and when a sad Lee asked Zuko to stay and take care of them, but Zuko declined but before leaving in an attempt to lift his spirits, Zuko decided to give Lee the dagger that he received from Iroh as a boy.

Fighting off harassers[]

Of course Zuko didn't quit get that far from the town and decided to take a nap down the road, but still keeping himself awake with the memory of the night his mother disappeared, but soon enough Lee's mother Sela came to him, telling him how the soldiers had come back after both him and her husband left to harass the family and took Lee away when he threatened them with the dagger. Having no one else to turn to, she asked Zuko to save him which is something he promised to do and he rode back to the town as the sun began setting where he found Lee tied to a tower with the guards underneath, and once they saw him coming the soldiers immediately marched up to him for a fight.

Just before he even began fighting Zuko denounced the soldiers as common bullies and defeated most of them easily, but once he moved in to fight Gow, he showed himself to be an earthbender and Zuko was unable to beat him using only his broadswords. After recalling his mother's last words to him before her disappearance, to "never forget who you are", Zuko firebent to save himself and announced his identity proudly to the town. He retrieved his dagger from the beaten Gow and tried to give the knife to Lee, but Lee declined and claimed his hatred for Zuko due to his former alliance with the Fire Nation. Despite what he had done for them, the townspeople rejected Zuko because of his identity and he departed, alone, with his dagger

Joining his prize against his sister[]

Zuko followed the progression of a tank train belonging to Azula, who was in turn relentlessly hunting and harrying Aang and company. He eventually came across Azula in a deserted town where she and Aang were about to face off. He assumed a fighting stance and warned his sister to leave Aang's capture to him. Not willing to budge, she prepared to battle herself. The three stood off, waiting for one to make the first attack. Eventually, Azula fired at Zuko, knocking him over. When she proceeded to attack Aang, a three-way battle ensued. Azula dominated the fight by launching many powerful attacks and keeping Aang and Zuko on the defensive. Zuko traded several fire attacks with her, and pursued her into a building, where she finally landed a knock-out blow to Zuko. After several minutes, Iroh, who had been following Zuko and watching over his nephew from afar, shook Zuko out of unconsciousness. The two of them joined Aang and his friends, who had joined him earlier. All six cornered Azula, who feigned surrender, only to attack and badly wound Iroh in a moment of distraction. Zuko, Aang, Katara, and Toph each launched an elemental attack, but Azula disappeared, utilizing a clever firebending move. Zuko ran to his wounded uncle, grief-stricken. When Aang and his companions approached, he angrily demanded that they leave. Katara offered help, but Zuko launched a fire blast at them, leading them to run away and leaving Zuko to tend to his uncle's injuries

Facing the lightning[]

Zuko helping Iroh heal after facing Azula.

The following morning after battling Azula, Zuko managed to bring Iroh to a small shack on the outskirts of the town to tend to his wound where he bandaged him and prepared tea and when his uncle woke up, Zuko explained what happened, and offered him the tea which Iroh did not like, but gracefully accepted. Aware that he would eventually encounter Azula again, Zuko appealed to his uncle for instruction in more advanced firebending and anticipated an argument, predicting that his uncle would say he should try to get along with Azula, however he found a surprise when Iroh agreed and told him Azula was "crazy and [needed] to go down" and thus they began to resume the former's training.

In his new lessons on how to battle lightning during some genuine tea time, Zuko learns from Iroh that lightning required calm and peace of mind, and that it was not fueled by rage or emotion unlike firebending so the two of them went out to the cliff side, where Iroh explained the process more fully and demonstrated lightning generation. Zuko eagerly proclaimed he was ready to try it but when he did attempt it, he only created an explosion that knocked him back, despite this attempt he persisted in proving he was ready to shoot lightning, but each attempt to produce lightning just exploded in his face.

Zuko learning how to redirect lightning instead.

Eventually after his latest attempt yielded the same result he got frustrated over thinking how it's a reminder of everything he does will just "explode in his face" to which Iroh explained that Zuko's emotional turmoil was preventing him from feeling the calm needed to produce lightning. He told Zuko that he would be unable to produce lightning until he got over the shame that he felt but since he wasn't making progress with that part yet, instead of lightning generation, Iroh offered to teach Zuko a firebending technique he himself had invented. He began the lesson by giving a lecture about each of the four nations and told Zuko that he had to draw his knowledge and power from more than one source, and that looking to other cultures and the other elements could help him become whole. When Zuko compared this to the Avatar, Iroh told him that incorporating ideas from all four nations could empower him, like the Avatar. He told Zuko that the technique he was about to teach him was one he learned by studying the waterbenders: lightning redirection, one where Zuko had to do the smooth, flowing movements of waterbending, entailing absorbing and redirecting energy, necessary for the technique which is something Zuko succeeded in.

Zuko_Yells_At_The_Sky — Zuko Yells At The Sky

Zuko yelling at the world that he's no longer helpless.

When Iroh praised him, Zuko eagerly asked to try it out with real lightning, hearing this request left Iroh shocked, and refused, even going to the extent of calling him insane by reminding him that lightning was too dangerous, and that if Zuko was lucky, he would never have to use this technique. Zuko, seeing a thunderstorm in the distance, told his uncle he would find his own lightning and to that end he rode off and climbed up a mountain in the middle of the storm, intent on accomplishing the task before raging at the storm and the world in general when no lightning came close enough until finally, exhausted and emotionally spent, he broke down bitterly in tears.

Discovering a secret society[]

Sometime following this failed attempt as they ride on, Iroh utters several fake-moans, pretending to be in pain in order to get Zuko to stop for a break which is something he eventually gives into, but as soon as the duo halts to make camp, they get an unfriendly greeting in the form of Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos. Iroh greets them in a friendly manner, but takes note of where they all are, as the colonel has stated they are there to capture some fugitives but the moment the group attacks, Iroh and Zuko effectively maneuver an escape, as they were riding away Zuko asks Iroh if he has any old friends that do not want to attack them, giving Iroh an idea.

Following his directions Zuko and Iroh traveled to a desert oasis where the young Fire prince discovers that during his time following the death of his son, his uncle had become part of a secret society that is essentially everything he stands for now: the Order of the White Lotus. Zuko and Iroh found out that the Fire Nation had placed a large bounty on their heads when two earthbender, on the hunt for the Avatar's new earthbending teacher, tried to claim their bounties. However, the White Lotus aided them in dodging bounty hunters and garnered documentation so that Iroh and Zuko could pass away from the seen undetected, and from there they decided to head to the one place where they're sure they'll start a new life in the safe kind, which happened to be the same place where Iroh lost his son: Ba Sing Se.

Sailing to the Earth capital[]

Eventually after some more traveling Zuko and Iroh make their way to a secret harbor that leads directly to Ba Sing Se and board one of the boats stationed there but while still eager to start anew, Zuko is still glum about the fact that he'll be entering the city as a refugee, but he finds himself something exciting to do when he is approached by another young teen named Jet who is also on his way to the city as a refugee with a band he calls the "Freedom Fighters". From him he learns that the ship's captain selfishly hoards all the good food for himself and knowing this isn't fair he agrees to join the gang on night raid to steal as much food as they can for them and all the others there, which worked like a charm, after the heist they distribute with what they got to all on deck where Iroh and Zuko think about how great it will be to see the wall of the great city. Iroh says it is a sight to behold as he saw it once when he was a different man, making the guy reply that he is going there for a new beginning, and Iroh, appearing to be directing his attention at Zuko, says that people deserve a second chance.

Going through the gate[]

Before long Zuko and Iroh arrive at the city and walk to the ticket gate in the Ba Sing Se monorail station but as the ticket woman accidentally pronounces their names incorrectly and casts them suspicious looks, to settle the tension Iroh quickly compliments her, comparing her beauty to that of a flower in full bloom, flattered by this the lady compliments him back, stamps their tickets, and welcomes them to Ba Sing Se, much to Zuko's disgust. As they waited for the monorail to arrive when Zuko discovers Iroh trying to warm up some tea with firebending and quickly snuffs it out to avoid further suspicions before the monorail they were scheduled to ride on finally arrives and they head into the city, unaware that the little spark was just hot enough to get someone's anger rolling.

Giving a customer a show[]

Zuko as he begins to settle in Ba Sing Se.

After arriving in the city, Zuko and his uncle manage to settle in one of the apartments inside Ba Sing Se's lower rings but while the ex-general is more than ready to make a life hear, Zuko remains glum over how he sees the city as nothing more than a prison for him. When he also expresses his annoyance on how making a life hear isn't worth it, Iroh makes it clear that they are still living this life whether he likes it or not and is told to get ready as he had also gotten them the chance at a new career for both of them.

Zuko grumpy on his first day as a tea-shop worker.

Soon enough Zuko learns to his annoyance what that job is actually is: working at a local tea shop as servers, something he greatly objects to as it pretty much makes the life he had back in the Fire Nation completely meaningless, even more so because apparently nobody feels like talking about the war raging across the rest of the world. On the other hand though Zuko gets a little more comeuppance with his new position in life as his uncle Iroh soon took it upon himself to greatly improve the quality of the local tea, which gave him a degree of fame amongst the locals and his new boss.

Zuko_vs_Jet_-ATLA_S2E14- — Zuko vs Jet -ATLA S2E14-

Zuko battling Jet when he goes way in over his head.

Soon enough on his first night as a tea shop server and annoyed that he can't do anything dangerous, the ex-prince soon gets what he wished for when an angry Jet (due to a Fire Nation raid killing his family which lead him to hate all firebenders and lead him to be willing to hurt anyone as long as Fire Nation casualties were involved) bursts into the shop and accuses them as such. When nobody believes and Jet decides to attack Iroh by using his dual crowbar-swords into firebending Zuko (having apparently been waiting to finally beat up an annoying customer) takes two swords belonging to the police and gives Jet "a show" by battling him which soon leads to them fighting outside, despite being provoked into firebending Zuko successfully manages to hold out long enough for everyone to see the the guy in insane and for agents of Ba Sing Se's elite police the Dai Li to arrest Jet, leaving him completely satisfied that he finally got to blow off steam.

The Tale of Zuko in Ba Sing Se[]

In the time following Jet's arrest, Zuko reluctantly continues to adapt into his new life, but he does get to do one nice thing like being convinced by his uncle into going on a date with Jin, a young girl who was a regular customer of the tea house where he worked and who had developed a crush on Zuko. Toward the end of their date, she lightly kissed him, a gesture he reciprocated before pulling away, claiming, "It's complicated," and leaving the scene. Upon arriving back at his apartment, Iroh inquired about his date; Zuko went straight into his room without answering, but after a few seconds, he cracked open the door and quietly remarked that "it was nice".

His final Blue Spirit run[]

Eventually after sometime of working at the tea-shop, Zuko is present at a very special customer's request for his uncle: with his tea-making skills becoming so popular the customer, revealed to be a wealthy businessman, gives Iroh the opportunity to let him have his own tea shop in the upper ring, with a new apartment and everything, something Iroh excitedly takes up while Zuko remains gloomy. Walking outside and reflecting on the future of him actually serving tea forever, Zuko is all but blunt about this until he se sees another sign literally falling from the sky: a missing poster for Appa, quietly moving on top of the roofs he begins to see more posters falling down which means only one thing to him: Aang is in Ba Sing Se

With his chance to "regain his honor" now back in action, the following night Zuko returns to his apartment where he tells Iroh, thinking of naming his new tea shop the "Jasmine Dragon", that the Avatar is in the city and searching for his bison. Despite now being eager to finally get the Avatar, the prince is warned by his uncle that further pursuing the Avatar in Ba Sing Se could jeopardize their attempts at rebuilding their lives and while Zuko argues that he is doing this so he can reclaim his believed destiny, Iroh tells him that he should take the time to think about what that means.

However still choosing the one he's been doing since his banishment, Zuko once again dons his Blue Spirit costume and goes into the night to find out where his bison is, but knowing that the local police-force won't know where the bison is, he decides to go and interrogate the first Dai Li agent walking alone to find out where the bison is being kept, which he succeeds in by getting him to attack a dummy dressed like him. From the captured agent, Zuko finds a lot more secrets than he expected: the biggest one being that the reason nobody talks about the war is because not only was the Earth King himself not aware of this, but because he's been reduced nothing but a mere figurehead and that his chancellor Long Feng has gone through insane lengths to ensure it stays that way and is willing to silence anyone, even the Avatar & co., to who tries to go against him.

Eventually he discovers that the Dai Li had indeed captured Appa when he flew into Ba Sing Se and also where he is being kept: inside a special prison hidden underneath the local lake laogai, now knowing where to start looking the next morning Zuko (again wearing his blue spirit disguise) sneaks his way past all the security and into the entrance to the underwater base, and after successfully evading capture from all the guards, he makes it to the cell where the sky bison is kept, but just before he has the chance to cut thee chains holding down the beast he finds himself in the presence of Iroh (having somehow managed to enter the underwater base far easier than he did) where he takes off his mask. It was there that while he is still dead set on stealing the bison, he has no clear plan on what to do with him which is something Iroh explicitly chews him out for doing especially by reminding him what happened at the North Pole, in which he would have died had the Avatar's friends not come along, but as Zuko tries to argue that he knows his destiny but his uncle questions is it really his or something someone else (his dad) is trying to make him do before making Zuko begin to ask the question he's been really avoiding: who he is and what he wants? which makes the already conflicted prince throw his mask and swords to the ground in anger.

Zuko after choosing to return Appa to the Avatar instead.

With that question now burning inside his mind, Zuko ultimately gives up on his "use the bison as bait for the Avatar so he can catch him" plan and he breaks the chains so he can fly out of his prison on his own where he reunites with the Avatar and his friends. A little while later after they easily leave the base and barely missing the fighting where they succeed in going against the Dai Li, Zuko acknowledges his uncle's words before dropping the Blue Spirit mask into the water, signifying that he's finally beginning to leave his life as the Fire Nation prince, and to a lesser extent his life as the Blue Spirit, behind for good.

War in his mind[]

However even though he is now content in beginning his new life in the Earth Kingdom capital, Zuko faces another problem as he and his uncle return to their apartment before they officially move into their new one in the upper ring as Iroh praises him for his good deed for freeing the Avatar's sky bison. But while he appreciates his compliment about it Zuko for some reason, begins to feel greatly sick and dazedly states that he does not feel right and suddenly collapses on the floor and shocked and worried (as well as being fully aware on what's going on with him) on what his nephew is going through, Iroh rushes to Zuko's aid.

As he is resting on the mattress, Zuko begins having nightmares on what he originally wished to have: in the first dream, he sees himself as the Fire Lord with a hair style similar to Ozai's and no scars (likely from his wish of having never spoken out during the war meeting) has two dragons, one blue, the other red, coil around his throne and whisper advice to him where the blue dragon, in Azula's voice, tries to persuade Fire Lord Zuko to "rest", while the red dragon, in Iroh's voice, tells him not to listen to the blue dragon and to instead "get out of [there]". The scene soon crumbles around Zuko and the blue dragon attacks, fading to darkness as Zuko sees an image of Ursa calling out for help before waking up in shock.

Zuko after going through his metamorphosis.

Once he wakes up as his uncle prepares tea for him, when Zuko asks just what he went through, Iroh informs his nephew that he is going through a spiritual metamorphosis because releasing Appa went so strongly against his self-image but assures the prince that that while this transformation will not be pleasant, in the end, he will emerge as the "beautiful prince [he was] always meant to be". Eventually Zuko seemingly wakes up from his feverish nightmares and, seeing that Iroh is asleep, goes to the bathroom to wash his face but when he looks up at the mirror, he is shocked to see himself without his scar, replaced by the shaved head and blue arrow tattoos of an airbender before he soon awakens in reality, letting out a loud scream, the whole scenario having merely been a nightmare and when he touches his scar, it's the prefect sign to himself that he is actually awake.

First step with a new leaf[]

Eventually Zuko fully recovers from his inner-fever and enters the room and comments on the smell of the pasty white soup, though Iroh warns his nephew that he probably would not like it, but Zuko contradicts him, smelling a ladle-full and saying he would love to have some, this leaves his uncle somewhat surprised and observes Zuko's emotional change since he recovered from the fever he had suffered, but the ex-prince simply smiles and announces optimistically that it is a new day, Iroh's new tea shop is opening, they have a wonderful new apartment, and things in general are looking up. The time soon came when the Jasmine Dragon officially opens it's doors and the duo stand proudly as customers arrive at the tea shop. Iroh says that he is in disbelief at having accomplished his dream of running his own shop but he still advises the teen to follow his own dreams as well, and Zuko congratulates him. Iroh expresses pride in his nephew for having chosen to be with him in this happy time as Zuko enthusiastically hugs his uncle, before running off to start preparing tea which Iroh soon happily joins him and soon enough they quickly become popular and attract the whole city... and I mean everyone there.

The crossroads of his life[]

Soon enough Zuko and his uncle are called to the royal palace as an audience for the Earth King himself, but as they arrive in the place they're supposed to meet the king a bunch of Dai Li agents come into the room first which makes Zuko feel uneasy, and it's soon revealed why as he sees that Azula, after sneaking into the city in disguise, has struck an alliance with Long Feng and the Dai Li (because they are still foolishly doing what they can to take back the city) to overthrow the Earth King. As Zuko takes a defensive stance, he luckily backs down when Iroh begins to breathe fire (a little reminder on how he got the nickname of "Dragon of the west" when he was a general) to attack the Dai Li agents surrounding them before beginning their escape but as Iroh blows a hole in the wall and leaps out of the palace, Zuko decides to quit running away from his sister and turns to fight Azula, much to his uncle's annoyance, of course because of her new alliance with the Dai Li he is quickly defeated.

Although he is saved from being further humiliated, Zuko is instead throne into a catacomb entirely filled with crystals which has been now made into a makeshift dungeon... where he thrown right next to an already-captured Katara, as he gets up she is first enraged to see him, she tells him that all he cares about is capturing the Avatar, and how spreading war and hatred is in his blood but when she says that he does not know the pain of the Fire Nation killing her mother, Zuko apologizes, and says that this is something they both have in common, softening her slowly. After she apologizes for her earlier outburst, when Zuko remarks how he may never get rid of the scar he is still haunted by, he has gained Katara's trust to the point where she offers to heal his scar using the water from the Spirit Oasis just Aang and Iroh, because his uncle came to the Avatar & co. for help (as well as getting their trust through Toph) in saving them, burst through the prison wall and after hugging for a bit, Iroh lets the air & waterbender go ahead first while he discusses something with his nephew.

Zuko now made to choose between what he wanted & what he needed.

When he asked his uncle why did he choose to get the Avatar's help as he knew they weren't that willing to help him after all the trouble he caused them, Iroh makes it clear to the prince that he is a different and changed man that is now stronger and wiser than ever before and makes it known that the time had come for him to permanently choose that path, but before Zuko can reply, a mass of crystals springs up and immobilize Iroh as Azula and a couple of Dai Li agents emerge from the shadows. But before he can even attack her, Zuko is given the proposal that he's been wanting to have at his ally since he was first banished: he joins her is conquering the city and he will gain back their father's "love and honor", hearing this Iroh begs Zuko to not listen to Azula because he knows what she's offering is not the redemption for him and as both sides drive him to choose Zuko is given time to look deep inside his heart and see what he truly wants as Azula heads off to capture Aang & Katara.

Eventually after some serious thinking, Zuko entered the battle between his and Aang and Katara... where he ultimately teamed up with Azula in attacking Aang, doing so with manic zeal. Zuko assisted his sister directly several times, freeing her from Katara's grasp at one point. When Aang was knocked into a wall by Azula, Katara was left to battle both Zuko and Azula which forced the water tribe girl to use water shields to deflect the blasts, but the siblings quickly overpowered her, leaving her defenseless. However as they are about to go nuts on the surrounded Katara as well as being backed up by the coming Dai Li agents, they all watch in amazement as Aang go into the Avatar-State but before he can attack them, Azula blasts the young Avatar with Lightning right in his back causing him to collapse back onto the ground which forces Katara to bend a big wave over him and the other Dai Li agents to catch him from falling.

Zuko left even more conflicted after conquering Ba Sing Se.

However just before he could even begin to attack, Iroh arrived on the scene and covered Katara and Aang's escape and he quite easily held off the siblings and scared off the Dai Li agents until they had safely exited the cavern before he subsequently let himself be captured, leaving Azula and Zuko to triumphantly return to the throne room. Even though he did finally help his nation conquer Ba Sing Se (which soon got even more locked in as his sister convinced the Dai Li to betray Long Feng), Zuko grew uncertain once more and greatly questioned his actions and expressed regret at having betrayed Iroh, but his sister turned them down and convinced him that it was Iroh who had betrayed him and expressed confidence that Zuko had restored his own honor, but deep down Zuko appeared greatly conflicted about his decision.

Choosing to return home[]

Sometime following the coup of the Earth Kingdom capital, Zuko informing his sister of his intention to remain in Ba Sing Se, the princess pulled out a trump card in the form of an old friend—Mai, who had shared a mutual crush with Zuko as a child. After foiling Azula's dinner date set up, Zuko accompanied the governor's daughter on a stroll throughout the city, where —after an incident involving Jin, octofish, and a fountain— the two ended up kissing and reminiscing. The following day, as he saw Mai off during the boardings, Zuko severely contemplated returning home with her, watched on by Azula. The princess turned her attention to Iroh being led aboard a Fire Nation ship in chains and wondered aloud if he will even survive the trip. As she bid her brother farewell, Zuko suddenly made the resolve to come with them back to the Fire Nation. Azula slyly told her brother to do whatever he wanted, as it is his decision.

Book Three: Fire[]

Finally getting his dream[]

Zuko as he finally returns home a "hero".

In the following weeks after choosing to finally return home, as the ship approached Fire Nation waters, Zuko expressed his fear at how much everything had changed, and how much he himself had changed with the experience from his uncle and everyone else. Despite reassurances from Mai and deafening cheers from the citizens of the Fire Nation hailing him as the hero he used to dream of getting, Zuko was still uncertain as to how his father would receive him, and even doubtful as to whether or not the Avatar was truly dead, a feeling he consequentially expressed to his sister when he got back to the palace.

Inevitably after some time with Azula making him want to see him first, Zuko eventually decides to once again walk into his father's throne room where he bows down to the same man who burned his face, before he gets up on his legs where he welcomes him back with pride, everything he hoped to here the day he left to go avatar hunting, but not even this left him calm. This soon grew even more intense he learned from Ozai that Zuko had fully "redeemed himself" by "slaying" the Avatar, but he managed to contain his surprise at this, knowing fully well that it had been Azula who had delivered the blow, not him.

Zuko_Confronts_Azula-_Full_Scene_-HD- — Zuko Confronts Azula- Full Scene -HD-

Zuko questions Azula's latest lie.

Although the false claim finally gave him the redemption he had so longed for, Zuko confronted his sister that night about why she had given him the credit, to which she claimed that she saw how worried Zuko was about not having the Avatar, she decided to give him the credit for his demise out of a generous gesture to repay his part in the takeover of Ba Sing Se but refused to believe her explanation. This makes her nonchalantly pointed out how letting him have all the glory over slaying the Avatar could do little to benefit her, but went on to insidiously acknowledge the fact that should it be discovered that the Avatar was alive, all that glory would swiftly turn into shame and foolishness, and although he is once again backed up by his earlier belief that the Avatar was dead, it did little to calm his nerves.

Conflicted with what he got[]

Despite the possibility of the Avatar still being alive being on his nerves, Zuko decides to actually enjoy being in home again and as a bonus finally pursue a romantic relationship with Mai like he had been dreaming of, but rather than finding the closure he was sure of achieving, he instead found more emptiness and confusion even before he was sentenced to sailing the world forever. Another form of turmoil he had been going through is that he's been secretly seeing his imprisoned uncle, telling the guard to say nothing but Iroh would have none of him and refused to listen to Zuko's claims he could have returned a hero which would promptly and angrily call Iroh a crazy old man before leaving.

Zuko_visits_Iroh_in_prison — Zuko visits Iroh in prison

Zuko still wondering what will he do next.

While on a picnic with Mai, they were interrupted by Azula who cautioned Zuko not to be discovered visiting Iroh (having somewhat figured it out thanks to his many times walking out of the palace) as it would be seen as if he was conspiring with him. After delivering a box of chicken to his uncle, Zuko said to his uncle that he had everything he had ever wanted, but was tortured over how it was nothing but causing him even more dissent, not even counting the possibility that the Avatar was still alive and is left in a wreck with Iroh's guidance, but when he again refused to advise his nephew, he is left flying into another rage, berating him and declaring he'll figure it out himself before leaving.

Meeting one-last hunter[]

Zuko hiring a special assassin to finish the Avatar.

Eventually after a long day of thinking just how he's gonna figure out his turmoil solo, he concluded that it would possibly be the simplest solution of making the false claim of the Avatar being dead made real and because he is now back in his home and his status as the prince now officially valid again (as well as choosing to not to use his "Blue Spirit" persona again due it making him a traitor in the people's eyes) he decided to hire an assassin that's a great secret-keeper to kill the Avatar with no one else knowing. Soon enough after some searching for just the right individual perfectly capable of making this mission a success, the fire prince hears tales of a crippled man with a metal leg-&-foot as well as an eye-like tattoo on his forehead... which somehow makes him capable of firebending with his mind that had taken the job of bounty-hunting as well as not being able to speak, so at night once again, Zuko meets with the man at the closest fire nation factory as he knew that no one would think to check there, and with the clarification that he wasn't followed Zuko tells him that the Avatar's alive and orders him to finish the job, which he agrees to.

Back to Ember Island[]

Avatar- The Last Airbender Book 3 Fire The Beach - Zuko Azula Mai and Ty Lee Arrive At Ember Island

Zuko at Ember Island.

In the time following his meeting with the third-eyed assassin, Zuko (as a sort of punishment for his last crashout in the war room) Zuko along with Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee was forced to on vacation to Ember Island at Lo and Li's beach house, due to the fact Fire Lord Ozai was holding a restricted meeting with his confidants, at the beach, Zuko made several unsuccessful attempts to impress Mai with pretty shells and ice cream; the former failed to appeal to her, and the latter fell on Mai's leg in the unlucky fashion Zuko was famous for and Later, the group was invited to a party at Chan's house. During the party, after fetching Mai some food, Zuko found Ruon-Jian talking to Mai which made the prince lose his temper and violently threw Ruon-Jian into a large pot across the room. Disgusted, Mai angrily told Zuko that his temper was out of control; he took his anger out on her, saying that she did not feel anything and was a "big blah", hurt and confused by this accusation, Mai told Zuko that their relationship was over. Chan returned and ejected Zuko from the party.

Conflict with himself[]

In an attempt to finally clear his head Zuko headed off and went to his family's abandoned vacation house where he reminisced about memories of himself as a child with Ursa, Ozai, and Iroh and spotted a stone imprinted with his own baby hand print, only for his eyes to be drawn to an old family portrait hanging on the wall and when his sister found him, they all went down to the beach again. Zuko tried to reconcile with Mai, but she was still cold toward him. When words started to fly, Zuko pushed into a rant about his own life, where he admitted that he was angry but unsure why. The girls all pressured him into giving an answer, and he finally screamed that he was angry at himself because he did not know the difference between right and wrong anymore. Finally understanding what bothers Zuko so much, Mai returned to his side and said that there was one thing she cared about and kissed him once again and with this revelation the four return to the party... where they trash the whole house.

Learning life before the war[]

Zuko learning what he needs to learn next.

Eventually Zuko's need to find out what his destiny really is soon gets another sign when something wakes him up during his sleep and he walks outside his room, from there he found a message telling him that he needed to learn the complete story of his great-grandfather Sozin, the same man who started the war a century ago. it would help reveal his own destiny. Unfortunately the following morning he didn't have that much of a helpful start as he only got a repeat on what he had been taught in the academy and the prince puzzled over something the message wanted to show, until he finally threw it over his lamp revealing a secret message written on the other side revealed by fire alone, telling him that the Fire Sages kept the Secret History in the Dragonbone Catacombs.

With this new lead discovered the fire prince sneaked into the catacombs to ensure what he's doing remains secret to public eyes, and upon entering the place, after some searching he finds in Sozin's section "The Final Testament of Fire Lord Sozin", an autobiographical record of his life. Sitting down on where he had discovered the scroll, the eager prince read on how Sozin was at the end of his life when he was writing his last testament, before remarking how simple his life used to be when he was just a kid.

Continuing to read the testament, Zuko discovered that prior to all of the battles that occurred now, Sozin and Roku were once the best of friends who even shared the same birthday, which they celebrated together, but that all changed when on their 16th birthday, Roku's identity as the Avatar was revealed by the Fire Sages and the two friends were forced to separate as Roku had to leave the Fire Nation to master the other three elements while he stayed behind to continue to be prince he was born as. In the the 12 years as Roku had finally become a master of the other elements and he and a now firelord Sozin reunited with him where he was invited to his friends wedding as his best man, but during the party Sozin remarked that the Fire Nation was going through a period of great prosperity. With him as the Fire Lord and Roku as the Avatar, he believed the two of them could spread the Fire Nation's influence and create a prospering empire, something Roku greatly objected to but discovered that Sozin already went through with his plan, confronting the firelord he and his former best friend engaged in a brief "battle" that just left Sozin hanging, afterwards the Avatar starkly warned him he was sparing his life in recognition of their past friendship, but warned if he overstepped his boundaries again he will not hesitate to kill him.

Zuko after reaching the end of the testament.

Twenty-five years later with no contact between the two since that confrontation, Roku's island was consumed in a massive volcanic eruption in the middle of the night and as all the other islanders escape the place, Roku attempted to save his home but soon lost his luck, that is until Sozin arrived on the scene and the two worked together to try and quell the second peak, while their effort appeared successful, the volcano released yet another plume of smoke and ash and the two flee down the slope but having already been weakened by the poisonous gas, a sudden venting of gas overwhelmed Roku when it catches him full in the face and caused him to collapse to the ground and called to Sozin for help, but (through some dark cosmic force) Sozin realized the elimination of the Avatar would make all his future plans for the Fire Nation suddenly possible and left his former best friend their to die. As he had expected with no Avatar in his way, it was the prefect time to change the world in his image as Sozin's attack of the Air Nomads to eliminate the next Avatar, but he had a lingering feeling in his gut that the Avatar managed to escape somehow and went on explaining wasted the rest of his life searching fruitlessly to find the Fire Nation's greatest threat: "The Last Airbender", but as he finishes reading this text Zuko is disappointed that this is where the record ends, even checking the underside of the scroll for this mystery he is supposed to find, still not understanding how it concerns him.

Discovering his hidden family branch[]

Fortunately he knew just exactly who would send him the message and come the following morning, he travels to the Fire Nation jail tower and bursts angrily into Iroh's cell where he accuses Iroh of having sent him the message and demands the point, as the testament did not even reveal anything significant about Sozin's death, but his uncle explains that the message did not refer to his father's grandfather, Sozin, but to his mother's grandfather, Avatar Roku. Zuko is alarmed by this, and Iroh further explains that their combined heritage is the reason Zuko is still conflicted over his destiny; whether he should destroy or assist the Avatar and removes a brick from the back wall of his cell, revealing a hidden space behind it, and retrieves a small wrapped bundle from within and he explains that it is the lost Crown Prince's ornamental hairpiece and gives it to Zuko, telling him he alone has the power to redeem their family and the sins of the Fire Nation by restoring balance to the world.

Entering the war room again[]

Zuko taking his mind off of what he learned.

Despite learning what he had on the line now, Zuko once more attempted to ignore the newest crossroad in his destiny and in the following weeks he began thoroughly enjoying life as the prince & hero like servants attending to his every need and the population adored him, and had romantic evenings with Mai. A few days before the Day of Black Sun, a solar eclipse which will leave all firebending powerless until it's over, he visited Mai's house and the two were happier than ever as Mai was now much more open with her emotions and when he asked if Mai could have anything she wanted in the world at that moment what it would be, he discovered her love for fruit tarts and with his servants was able to answer to such desires.

Zuko thinking that he's got nothing to worry about now.

Suddenly, Mai mentioned that Azula got invited to an important war meeting with their father and apparently Zuko did not get invited and at this he talked to Azula who assured him that he was not told about the war meeting because he was already expected to be there. However, the fact that he, the Crown Prince was not informed as opposed to the princess insulted him, so he refused to go and when he sulked about it, Mai suggested he order some servants around or enjoy a fruit tart considering how his last trip to the place went, but Zuko was not in the mood, but come the following morning, Zuko was told that Ozai refused to start without him, setting his mind at ease feeling that he's finally become the son his dad always wanted.

Seeing who his dad really is[]

Zuko when asked how to deal with earthbender rebellions.

So getting all dressed-up to properly prepare for the meeting, Zuko once more entered the war chamber with everyone, his father and sister included, treated him with the utmost respect and it got a bit softer as father treated him like his right-hand man even being literally seated by his right side. From there he also learned that even though Ba Sing Se is still completely under Fire Nation control, there were still ongoing rebellions that prevented a total victory in the Earth Kingdom and since he had traveled through the nation during his exile, Ozai asked Zuko's opinion on the matter which made him remark that the people of the Earth Kingdom were proud and strong and that they could endure anything as long as they had hope.

Zuko finally seeing who his "" really is. — Zuko finally seeing who his "father" *really* is.

Unfortunately rather than making things be settled through a political way as he had always thought it was up to that point, Zuko's statement on hope made his father deduce that it's something they simply have to destroy to get the job done, and before he could even give the context to his suggestion his sister made the flimsy one of taking their hope & everything else that they own... and burn them all to the ground. Hearing this makes Ozai remember that in the time following the eclipse a special comet will come down to pass the earth and will give all firebenders the "power of a hundred suns" while also remarking how the last time the comet came Sozin lead his army to wipe out the air nomads, and since then it has now been named "Sozin's comet" in his victory, and now Ozai plans to use it's power to incinerate the entire Earth kingdom, and to a lesser extent the water tribes, to the ground.

Hearing this statement, a horrified Zuko was urged by his heart to speak against this insane genocide, but his head forbid him to do so, but it still assured himself that this was the final sign that his nation and the war they are fighting only made things worse for the world, as well as the man his father really was. Following the meeting, Zuko told Mai that his father had let him sit at his right side, much to her delight, but he also confided in her that although he had acted like the son his father had always wanted, he was not himself, making him realize that he was not to be that person and that the war must come to an end.

Finally sticking it to the man[]

Zuko admitting his mistakes and finally ready to set things right.

Following the meeting the day of the eclipse had finally arrived but rather than choosing to march into the front lines (because Azula had discovered the whole invasion plan when she was masquerading as one of the earth kingdom warriors) or head into the secret bunker like the rest of his family, Zuko found it as the right time to finally start making the right choices now. So taking off his armor and all the other royal accessories, Zuko writes a farewell note to Mai about his plans and so as to not drag her into it, plays it off as the nicest way of dumping her and immediately after that he faces a picture of his mother where confesses his earlier mistakes and promises aloud that he will do what is right and with his dual broadswords-in-hand, he puts on a cloak (the same way his mother did before she vanished) and heads out.

But before he left the palace for good, Zuko first decides to do something he should've done a long time ago and heads to the secret bunker not far from the capital as it was built underground, and navigates through all the tricky tunnels hidden there until he reaches the room where his father is staying for safety. Once he makes it Zuko speaks out-loud that he is more than ready to finally face him and opens the door to face Ozai, who was drinking tea while also being guarded by several Royal Procession guards (as he really had no other skills aside from firebending) and makes his presence known to him.

Making it clear he's ready to tell the truth, his father is so interested in this that it's enough for him to call off the procession under the assumption that it's not that big of an issue, and with the playing field now in his favor the determined prince confessed to his father that Azula was the one who dealt the killing blow to the Avatar, giving him the credit with the premonition that Aang managed to survive and when he confirmed that his sister had been right and even going as for as to assume that he's leading the invasion right to him, an infuriated Ozai ordered his son to leave, but Zuko refused and held him back from a physical threat with his swords. Standing up to his father, Zuko noted that Ozai had never been there for him during his childhood and called him out on his cruel action of challenging his thirteen-year-old son to an Agni Kai, permanently scarring him just for speaking out of turn during a war meeting. He also stated that, having had a first-hand look at the destruction the Fire Nation had caused to the world, the Fire Nation had lied to its citizens about spreading its greatness and prosperity via warfare, for they had only scarred the world, and the other nations feared and loathed them for it and in order to remedy this, Zuko concluded that an era of "love and kindness" was long overdue and then noted that he was leaving to free his uncle and beg for his forgiveness, realizing Iroh had been an actual father to him.

As a final declaration, he announced his intention to ally with the Avatar to defeat Ozai and while his ex-father attempted to goad him into finishing him off right now, since he was powerless without his firebending and Zuko, while also lacking his firebending, was holding broadswords. But despite having the urge to really do it Zuko refused to act, noting that it was the Avatar's destiny to defeat him, not his before making a anything-but-heartwarming goodbye, but just as he was about to leave the bunker, he's baited into staying until the eclipse is over when his father decides to reveal another thing that's been haunting him for years: what just happened to his mom.

Zuko discovering his mom is actually alive.

Even though he knew full-well that sticking around until the moon moves past the sun's range will give Ozai power to attack him, the thought of learning what became of the only other parent that loved him is what greatly lingered in the ex-prince's mind so he decided to do just that, from there he learned that his grandfather's threat to Ozai was something he was completely willing to do and when his mother found out (through Azula) she swore to protect him. Completely aware that his attempt to convince Azulon to revoke Iroh's birthright was nothing but to fuel his desire to become the ruler of the fire nation and finally step out of his brother's shadow, Ursa gave him a plan to (i.e. an untraceable poison) kill Azulon and make up everything about what else happened that night, and when it was found out Ursa took the complete blame and was banished, fueling Zuko with the belief that his mother is actually alive.

Zuko_redirects_Ozai's_lightning_-_ATLA — Zuko redirects Ozai's lightning - ATLA

Zuko finally striking back.

While his ex-father believed otherwise, Ozai came to the realization that banishment was a punishment far too merciful for treason against him, intending to not make the same mistake with Zuko again, the mere second that the moon's orbit passed-by the blocking sun, signifying that the eclipse is coming to an end and that firebending was usable again, Ozai leaped from his seat and fired a lightning bolt at his son, fully glad to finally be rid of the son he hated. But luckily for Zuko, remembering what Iroh had taught him about lightning during there time in the earth kingdom, the much-more balanced ex-prince caught the attack and redirected the charge at a much-surprised Ozai which caused such a powerful impact that it slammed Ozai into the back wall, finally proving to himself, his father, and the rest of the universe in-general, that he's powerful enough to give back anything he's thrown at as this distraction also gave him enough time to escape.

Now that he's made it clear that he's done being the soldier in his ex-father's messed-up reality but knowing he's now a full-blown traitor this time around in his eyes and by extension the rest of the fire nation, Zuko knew that only the Avatar and his companions still had it out for him after the choice he made back in Ba Sing Se, so to get that fixed he first raced to the prison to set Iroh free, even though he believes he probably hates him now. Headed to the prison, ignoring the sign that most of the guards there were unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, he raced up the stairs where he found Iroh's cell busted open with the warden next to it and demanded to know what had happened to his uncle, to which the warden (both in-awe and traumatized from what he had seen) revealed that Iroh was like a "one-man army" and had broken himself out.

Even though he still desperately desired to make things right with the real dad he was too blinded to see, Zuko knew full-well that Iroh would've wanted him to help the Avatar first before finding his way back to him, which has been made especially more hard to do because the Fire Nation had found a prototype war-balloon which they got and made more of them... which also paved the way for a massive fleet of airships to be built as well. Seeing as the airships has essentially made their nation completely dominant in the skies but also completely distracted from any missing balloon, the ex-prince hurried to one of the capital's factories and stole the closest war-balloon he could find, and secretly flew past all the airships just as they had finished destroying the failed invasion-force's getaway ride, and seeing Aang and his compatriots flying away from the scene on Appa, Zuko followed them completely intent to make things right with them for real.

Failing to show his new colors[]

Eventually as the sky bison (due to wearing armor for the invasion) grew too tired and left the Avatar and all those who chose to escape the capital, Zuko set up camp up in a nearby forest and arrived back to the place where he visited following his first week of his banishment: the western air temple, as he believed that this was where Aang and the others would go to to lay low for a while, something he was shown to be right in when they finally arrived, but not feeling ready to face them again, Zuko hurried back to his campsite where in preparations to face his ex-enemies. He practiced a speech to show to Team Avatar that he now was good and wanted to join their group in front of a badgerfrog with little success, so he tries a different move by wondering what Iroh would do, even ,imicking his uncle's hoarse voice and rambles about "looking within [him]self to save [him]self", but finds himself unable to understand his mystical uncle even when pretending to be him and when switches to Azula, quickly accepts that threatening to "do something unspeakably horrible" to Aang and his friends will not get him far.

Eventually Zuko decides to just confront them his own, newly-changed self, and come the evening he returned to the temple and appeared before Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph, where upon his arrival Appa licked him in gratitude for his assistance in Ba Sing Se, which surprised Aang, once that was done Zuko tried his speech, and offered to teach Aang firebending, but the group was unwilling to let him due to their mistrust of him, especially Katara. Zuko attempted to talk about the good he's done like revealing to them he set Appa free and began apologizing for the bad things he did to them, but accidentally let slip the fact that he sent the assassin, who they gave the nickname of Combustion Man, after them, enraged at this, the gang demanded that Zuko leave them now even after reminding Aang's remark of the possibility of them being friends, Zuko instead offered to be accepted as their prisoner, but Katara waterbent at him and ordered him to leave.

"Why_I_Am_So_Bad_At_Being_Good" — "Why I Am So Bad At Being Good"

Zuko making himself look worse.

Returning back to his campsite with the same badgerfrog he was talking to still sticking around, Zuko berated himself for how bad his attempt at joining their group was, including voicing his regret for not having blamed Azula for hiring Combustion Man, as that would have been a believable statement, soon that got himself into an even bigger pickle when later that night, Toph, having sensed that Zuko had been sincere, went to visit him. She made a noise that startled Zuko, causing him to act on instinct and firebend at the intruder, not knowing it was Toph he burned her feet by accident, and when he tried to apologize and help her, Toph, earthbent at him in panicked self-defense and retreated back to the temple, thinking his act disillusioned her belief in his sincerity, Zuko collapsed to the ground and shouted in frustration: "Why am I so bad at being good?!"

Firing the bounty hunter[]

The following morning after getting a good night's rest, Zuko decided to go at another chance at proving he's no longer the angry jerk he once was, but as he was making it back down into the temple he saw that Combustion Man had tracked down Team Avatar to the temple, seeing this Zuko attacked Combustion Man with a flying kick, causing his attack to miss Aang and his friends before trying to order him to stop hunting the Avatar, even offering to increase his pay, but Combustion Man (probably having heard that he was now a traitor) ignored him and continued to attack the team. Zuko attempted to stop him with a fire punch but was stopped when the assassin grabbed his shirt but the banished prince kicked him and was able to free himself and when he caused Combustion Man to misfire again, the angry retaliated by shooting a blast at Zuko, who managed to shield himself with a fire wall, luckily the force of the blast pushed him off the edge, though he was able to catch a vine at the last moment which proved to be his salvation as it gave Sokka enough time to strike Combustion Man in his third eye which caused him to blow himself up and sending him down the cliff.

Now with the Combustion Bender out of the way and once he sat into Team Avatar's campsite, Zuko appeared to Team Avatar once more and apologized to them again, saying that he had been through a lot the past few years and apologized to Toph for burning her, remarking that he had to be in better control of his bending, and that fire could be a dangerous thing if not controlled, hearing this from him made Aang realize that he is meant to teach because he understood what Aang went through when he first tried to firebend and burned Katara by accident. Zuko asked one more time to join the group and this time Aang accepted and asked his friends if he could be allowed to join them, something Toph & Sokka agreed, saying jokingly that it would give her time to get back at Zuko for burning her and knowing that Aang knew what he was doing while Katara reluctantly allowed him to join and with the OK from everyone else Zuko happily promised that he would not let them down and with that settled, the rest of the gang turned around and headed into the temple.

Zuko seeing that Katara's still angry with him.

After Sokka showed Zuko to his room in the temple, he began to unpack his things, pulling out a picture of his uncle and fondly remembering that he told him he would one day find his own destiny, but as soon as he was done he found an angry Katara standing in his doorway. Just as Zuko began to show delight at her letting him join the team, she informed Zuko that even though the others accepted him, she still did not trust him and warned him makes it clear he makes the choice of crossing the line again, she will kill him before leaving, making it clear he's not out of the water with them all yet.

Facing the dragons[]

Now that he's buried the hatchet with most of Team Avatar, the following morning Zuko begins his lesson in showing Aang firebending and once Aang showed him that he could not create fire, Zuko attempted to demonstrate, but was only able to produce weak and faint fire blasts from any form of the temple, and the following night Zuko informed the rest of the group about his loss of firebending, Sokka and Katara poked fun at him, the former by referring to firebending as "jerkbending" and the latter by calling it ironic since it "would have been nice for [them] if [Zuko] lost [his] firebending a long time ago" while Sokka believed that he just simply wasn't angry enough anymore. After surviving being poked into anger by the water tribe man, Zuko urged them that if he wanted to help them end the war, he's gotta do it without anger, which makes Toph suggest that Zuko and Aang learn from the original source of firebending, but this was something he felt he was out of luck because firebending originated from the dragons, which were extinct, but he did inform them that there were old ruins of the ancient Sun Warrior civilization located near to the Western Air Temple, and that they might learn something there.

So the following morning, an annoyed Zuko hopped on Appa and he traveled with Aang to find the Sun warrior's way to firebend and upon arriving at the ruins, Aang was almost caught in a booby trap while Zuko avoided it, saying that places with booby traps always have something worth protecting. While exploring, Zuko eventually revealed that in-addition to starting the war (and despite having a dragon of his own) his great-grandfather Sozin began a messed-up tradition that if anyone hunted a dragon and killed it, their firebending would become legendary, and be granted the title of "Dragon" as they were seen as the ultimate firebenders, which got especially rough on him because his uncle was the one to kill the last dragon.

Eventually they arrive at the center of the abandoned city later found their way into a room through using his sword to lead the sunlight they find themselves with a circular alignment of statues, that were labeled as the Dancing Dragon, which was an ancient firebending form, after the both of them perform the form, a glowing jewel appeared in the center of the room despite Aang's advice and his own better judgement, he touches it and accidentally triggers another trap that leaves them hanging on the ceiling. There the ex-prince and Avatar laid there stuck all-day long until were both found by members of the Sun Warrior tribe a while later who were actually still alive, after they told them their identities, Zuko admitted the shame his people forgot to feel about how they misused firebending and is willing to learn the old way, to which the chief told them that if they wish to master firebending, they must meet the tribe's masters.

The following morning Zuko and Aang were brought to a stone furnace that contains the very first fire given to humanity by the dragons and are told that they must bring a piece of it up to the top of the closest mountain to present to the masters Ran & Shaw, s they travel up, Aang is nervous about his fire, but thanks to some tips from Zuko, remains steady and in control and by noon they reach the lair of the masters and are sent to the top of a stairway, where they see two caves at the top but not before they're are warned of the master's judgement (Zuko's lineage due to being responsible for wiping out the dragons and Aang because he ditched being the Avatar) might not be pretty. As both of them made it to the top after trying to assure Aang they can take the masters, they revealed themselves to be dragons who began circling around them, before long Zuko and Aang performed the Dancing Dragon, which mimicked the dragon's movements and once they finished the masters deemed them worthy, and demonstrated their bending by creating a rainbow colored column of fire which amazes both of them.

As they walked back down, Zuko learned that Iroh lied about killing the dragons and instead learnt the knowledge from Ran and Shaw and let them live, making Zuko realize he was so focused on relying on anger, rage and the will to capture Aang that he let it become his "inner fire", but now that he's seen the error of his ways he instead decides to draw from the true source, his desire to bring balance to the world. Of course because of how secret their society has become, alongside Aang and his uncle, Zuko promised to not tell anyone that he met them and when they returned to the western air temple he & Aang performed the firebending form to the gang, and as Sokka poked fun at them saying that they could dance to defeat the Fire Lord, a frustrated Zuko argued with him, but when he told the group the form was called the Dancing Dragon, he was left embarrassed as the group laughed at him, but it nonetheless proved he was getting better at being a good guy now.

A boiling escape/rescue[]

A little while later after finally learning how to bend fire in a non-angry way, as he was finally putting his tea-making skills to good use, Zuko is pulled aside for a private talk with Sokka, having finally come around to trust the guy, where he asked him in which prison Fire Nation criminals were placed for war, as he wanted to know what fate had befallen his father, Chief Hakoda. Zuko initially refused, fearing that knowing the truth would do more harm than he, he eventually relented when Sokka was insistent on knowing, despite warning him that it would be a bad idea and told him that Hakoda would likely have been taken to the Boiling Rock, his nation's number #1 security prison that was appropriately located on a volcano island with a boiling lake surrounding it, and although Sokka denied to have any intentions of acting on the information, Zuko remained suspicious of Sokka's goals.

So once everyone else was sound-asleep, the ex-prince chose to sped the night inside Appa's saddle until an already well-rested Sokka showed up and surprised him by his presence, and with his cover blown he learns that Sokka's planning to rescue his dad from the boiling rock to atone for his mistake of choosing to continue the fight in the invasion even though things were looking grim for them. Even though he was told he didn't have to come along the ex-prince, having pretty-much the best experience of wanting to get your honor back, convinces Sokka to come along anyway, suggesting they took his less conspicuous Fire Nation war balloon, just not before making a note for the rest of the gang that they had left for a few days to get some fish and to remind Aang to do some fire fists and hotsquats for firebending practice, much to the Avatar's dismay.

As they fly to the boiling rock's location, Zuko and Sokka spent most of their journey there awkward silence until the latter broke the silence by stating that a friend of his designed the war balloons, making the ex-prince comment that his father was good at war, to which Sokka replied that it "seemed to run in the family" but he claimed that not all of his family was like that, referring about his uncle, whom he was still downcast over betraying. Sokka tried assuring him that his uncle would be proud that he left his home to help them and that it was hard, but Zuko claimed it was not that hard, since the only one he left behind that he cared about was his girlfriend, Mai. Zuko said that he did not want to get her involved since he was now a traitor, making the water-tribe man to relate to him as he shared that "his first girlfriend turned into the moon", making him remark "That's rough buddy".

Zuko & Sokka staring at the Boiling Rock.

Eventually after sometime flying across the ocean as soon as nightfall arrived, Zuko and Sokka finally arrived at the volcano where the boiling rock is located where they saw a significant amount of steam emitting from the volcano, unfortunately this gave them a problem because thanks to the colossal amounts of steam, the balloon air was no longer hot in relation to the outside air. This soon caused the firebender and non-bender's ride to fall and crash, meaning there was no way off of the prison, which made the desperate Sokka choose to shove what's left of the balloon into the water to let it sink as well as leave no suspicion, after this Zuko told Sokka that he "hope[d Sokka] knew what he was doing", as there was no turning back as the pair looked up in awe-&-horror at the toughest prison the Fire Nation had to offer.

So after scailing up the prison's walls due to there not being a door anywhere in the place, Zuko and Sokka secretly crept around the prison until morning arrived, at that point they then stole some typical guard uniforms in the hopes that none of the regular once suspected them, which came just in the nick of time when most of them rushed to settle a scuffle in the yard which made them go out as well. Making it out in the yard, they saw an altercation was ongoing between a guard and Chit Sang, a firebending prisoner who "broke" the rule of "not bowing down to a prison guard", after he continued to stand up to him the guard made a fire whip and used it against Chit Sang and because it was prohibited in the prison, he was taken away.

The duo then faced a little setback when Sokka was urged to help bring Chit Sang into the cooler, a special prison for breaking the firebending rule that leaves you temporarily frozen, and Zuko was then made to continue the search for his dad alone, eventually he went to eat at the lounge where he asked some guards whether or not the Boiling Rock also held war prisoners and when they met up later on the firebender told the warrior that Water Tribe prisoners were not located in this prison, much to Sokka's sorrow. Sokka believed he failed, yet again, but Zuko attempted to cheer him up with one of Iroh's wise sayings, which he messed up anyway, but after saying this Sokka was now back in a hopeful mood, not at the Zuko's advice 'cause it made just no sense, but at the sight of his girlfriend, Suki, who was returning to her prison cell, meaning they can still make this prison break-in into a rescue.

With the latter's girlfriend now at their chance to rescue, Zuko and Sokka went inside her cell to talk to her while Zuko stood guard and as the water-tribe warrior and Suki reunited, a guard came by to check on Suki which urged Zuko to try and keep her out, at first with an excuse, but when that didn't work he used physical force. By the time Sokka came out, back in his guard disguise, he helped the guard arrest Zuko, but whispered to him that he would figure something out, this was able to ease Zuko's worries and thus allows himself to get captured, and he was taken to an empty prison cell.

Zuko being confronted by ... & 's uncle. — Zuko being confronted by the prison's warden... & Mai's uncle.

After being stripped off of his boiling rock disguise, Zuko is then left in the presence of the Boiling Rock's warden but is left a bit surprised when the latter knows who he is, partly because of the stunt he pulled in front of his father... and because of he "broke [his] niece's heart", revealing himself to be Mai's uncle. Even though he tries to assure that it wasn't on purpose, the warden silences him and and that he intends to turn him in to his father and collect the reward and he best behave himself lest he be torn apart by all the other prisoners here out of anger for the stunt he pulled with his father, something he's forced to oblige to.

Zuko & Suki listening to Sokka's escape plan.

A little while later, Zuko and Suki were up to mopping duty as the kyoshi warrior reminded Zuko from when he attacked her village, which made things a bit awkward for the guy as Sokka met up with them, from there he informed them that he had gathered enough intel for a perfect escape plan: seeing how effective the cooler can be, it is useful for the perfect escape boat to sail across the boiling water and they can do it just by simply sailing with the current, just with the little cog of someone needing to remove all the nuts and bolts from the inside of one of them.

Zuko making sure the plan is going off without a hitch.

Their little escape plan however was overheard by Chit Sang, but fortunately for them he just wants in on the escape as well, and despite Zuko's little urge to refuse his help, they are fortunately made to work together and the plan soon begins, to which he volunteered to be the one to unbolt the cooler by pretending to fight with Chit Sang with firebending. After some mildly pathetic acting from them, he did some firebending and he was sent to the cooler cell that's blind between two guard towers, and using his fire breath to keep himself warm, he was successful in unscrewing the cooler free just as Sokka arrived to tell them that Suki and Chit Sang are already free.

Zuko asking Sokka what do they do if might be coming. — Zuko asking Sokka what do they do if his dad might be coming.

However before they can even begin to move the cooler into the shore, guards passed by and the two hid inside, from there they overheard information that new arrivals would be coming the next day, including war prisoners, giving Zuko and Sokka hope that they might get the chance to rescue his father after all. But when Zuko asks what will this mean for the plan, Sokka decides to go along with what they got until the time comes when he will choose and they do the best they can to quietly get the cooler down to the shore.

That night, the pair bring the loose cooler cell, where they see that Chit Sang brought his girlfriend and best friend to the escape but knowing about the arrival of new prisoners tomorrow, Sokka decides against escaping and stays at the prison to break his father out, something Zuko and Suki agree and decide to stay and give him the backup he needs while Chit Sang leaves with his friends. At dawn though, Chit Sang and his friends sweat so much in the cell-boat due the current being slow, prompting the prisoner to break a piece of metal to use as an oar but is burned by the steaming water and yells out in pain, alerting the guards of the escape attempt and catch the cooler cell drifting away, but as the prisoners are busted, Sokka, Suki, and Zuko hide and see the prisoners come out of the gondola used to transport prisoners into the prison and after a few come out, Sokka loses hope of seeing his father, until one last person is called out: Hakoda.

With the confirmation of Sokka's dad being here now valid, Zuko is then transported into another cell and after reuniting with his father, Sokka made his way to Zuko's prison cell and tried to share another escape plan that he and Hakoda made, but was interrupted by two Fire Nation guards. To avoid any suspicion Sokka feigned brutalizing Zuko as he is filled in on the new plan: they will let every prisoner out and then start a prison riot, which will give them all enough time to capture the warden and use him as a hostage so that they won't cut the line and informed him with where to meet before he is brought to another cell.

Zuko being berated by Mai for not facing her to dump her.

But despite urging that he didn't do anything, he finds himself once again in the presence of Mai (which means by extension the arrival of his sister and Ty Lee) and still hurt that Zuko broke up with her, she berates him for leaving only a farewell letter and made her think that he had abandoned her, claiming that he could have least "looked [her] in the eye when [he] ripped out [her] heart" before leaving to join the Avatar. Zuko tries to explain he had to leave in order to save the Fire Nation, though Mai counters that he is betraying it as the ex-prince firmly tells her he does not see it that way prompting Mai to cross her arms and look to the side in a huff.

Zuko looking Mai in the eye before escaping.

Eventually the rest of Zuko's party get the escape plan going off pretty well and in the confusion, the warden sent a guard to keep Mai safe even until the madness is completely quelled even though both exes agreed the former doesn't even need protecting, but as the guard tries to relay what he had been ordered Zuko uses this opportunity takes the chance to make a break for it, so he firebends at the guard's feet and rushes out of the room and when the attempts to shield Mai from the fire, preventing her from reacting the ex-prince locks her and the guard in the cell and escapes to the yard, just not before facing Mai directly before leaving.

Zuko and the others now with a captive Warden.

Making it to the yard now engulfed in chaos Zuko successfully moves his way around all the fighting where he meets up with the others, but just as he and Sokka argue about how to capture the warden, they quickly see that Suki had decided to take the initiative and goes after him on her own. She runs on the heads of the rioting prisoners and guards and scales the walls of the yard with an amazing display of acrobatics where she disables the guards protecting the warden, ties him up, and gags him just as he and the others (along with Chit Sang) all meet up with her, the warden now their hostage, and make their way to the gondola.

With the boss of the prison now at their mercy Zuko and co. easily make it to the gondola without any interference from the guards and as they all make it on board Zuko decides to break the lever to make it unstoppable, but they soon discover a problem: They were being followed by Azula and Ty Lee, but Zuko and Suki had been waiting for a rematch with the two, respectively. Sokka, Suki, and Zuko climbed to the roof of the gondola and battled Ty Lee and Azula. Suki battled evenly with Ty Lee and Sokka and Zuko matched Azula fairly. The warden broke free of his binding and orders the guards to cut the line, even though that meant he and the others would not survive. The guards proceed on doing so. Azula and Ty Lee made it onto another gondola, but the group was trapped. Just as the guards were about to finish cutting the line, they were stopped by Mai. Mai started to pin the guards with her daggers, much to everyone's confusion. A guard asked her what she was doing, to which she replied, "Saving the jerk who dumped me" to which she freed the line and the gondola used by the group started moving again as Ty Lee quickly follows suit and once everyone made it to the other side the group left a still-tied warden behind.

Although as they ran over the mountainside Suki wondered how they were going to leave, which makes Zuko realize that Azula must have come to the Boiling Rock somehow and spotted her airship, using it to escape from the island, after a day of traveling all the way until night, Zuko and the others got back to the Western Air Temple, Katara asked Sokka and Zuko what happened to Zuko's small war balloon. Zuko merely answered, "It kinda got destroyed." After the rest of the gang asked if they acquired some meat; Sokka answered that he did and it was the best meat of all, which was the meat of friendship and fatherhood. Hakoda, Suki, and Chit Sang presented themselves. Katara embraced her father before Sokka was pulled in as Zuko watched the moment with a genuine smile on his face, happy to see a father, in contrast to his own, who actually loved his children

A little closure quest[]

The following morning after a goodnight sleep, bombs started shooting from a fleet of Fire Nation airships there having followed them all the way from the Boiling rock, Aang airbent the large doors closed to protect the group while Zuko pushed Katara out of the way when the ceiling almost fell on her but when the latter told her that he was keeping rocks from crushing her, but Katara just shoved him off and said that she was not crushed and he could get off of her now, making the ex-prince guess "I'll take that as a thank you", and got up. During the group's escape, Zuko acted as a distraction to buy them some time, having a premonition that Azula was involved which was something proven true 'cause when he finds her, he hears her happily cry (but secretly depressed & angry over how her only friends chose to support him over her) about her "becoming an only child", Zuko fought Azula atop one of the airships, and was saved from certain death when the rest of the team flew under him on Appa and caught him after he and Azula blasted each other off, as he watched his sister fall Zuko was concerned that he might have killed his sister only to be completely absolved when Azula propelled herself to the face of the cliffside and anchored her position with her hairpin, much to his chagrin.

Zuko being reminded why Katara still hates him.

Sometime after escaping the northern air temple, Zuko and the others fly back to an isolated beach by nightfall Aang remarked that camping was just like old times. Zuko made a joke that if he wanted it to feel like old times, he could chase Aang around and try to capture him. Everyone laughed except Katara, who was still holding a grudge against Zuko. Sokka made a toast to Zuko, but Zuko modestly said he did not deserve it. Katara coldly agreed with him and stormed off. Zuko followed her, finding out why Katara had been acting so bitter toward him, and that everyone seemed to trust him now which makes her angrily berate the ex-prince by reminding him that she was the first person to trust him in Ba Sing Se until his poorly-made decision, this prompted Zuko to ask what he could do to make it up to her and she said if she ever wanted to be his friend, which makes her reply "Maybe you can reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King! Or, I know, you can bring my mother back!" before leaving him alone by the cliffside.

However after some thinking Zuko decides to do something about this dilemma, heading over to Sokka's test, and being annoyed over with he had it done for some alone time with Suki, the ex-prince asks Sokka to tell him about the death of his mother, as he thinks Katara might be taking her anger over the loss of her mother out on him, though reluctant Sokka informs Zuko that the Fire Nation attacked their village six years prior, when Katara was eight and he was nine and although the attack was short and the invaders soon retreated, once it was over, they discovered that their mother had been killed. After learning this Zuko asks Sokka if he can identify any specific details about the soldiers who raided their village to which the latter describes the lead ship as hoisting flags bearing sea ravens, which Zuko recognizes as the symbol of the Southern Raiders and after thanking him and being pushed impatiently out of the tent and waits until the morning to tell Katara that he can help her find the man who killed her mom, something she accepted almost instantly.

After Zuko relayed how they can do it, the both of them asked Aang if they could borrow Appa, Aang jokingly asked whether it was Katara's turn to take a field trip with Zuko only for her to confirm this, Aang asked as to what was happening Zuko revealed to him and Sokka that he knew who murdered Katara's mother and that they intended to find him. An argument ensued, with Zuko and Katara claiming that she needed to achieve emotional resolution, while Aang and Sokka both claimed it to be a bad idea as both violence and vengeance were never the answer which ended with Katara angrily storming off later that night, Katara and Zuko prepare to take Appa without Aang's consent, however, Aang catches them in the act and confronts them. Ultimately, Aang allows them to take Appa, believing it is a journey Katara needs to take, but he pleads with her to choose forgiveness rather than revenge which was criticized by Zuko before they fly off.

Flying off into the night, which was extra easy due to it being a full-moon, Zuko informed Katara that they would have to sneak into the closest Fire Navy communication tower as their chances of catching the Southern Raiders would be impossible otherwise and with their skills they soon discovered the raiders were in Whaletail Island, which led them to quickly escape on Appa, during their journey, Katara told Zuko the story of what happened to her mother from her point of view: when the Southern Raiders came, Katara went to her family's house to find her mother. There, she saw the leader of the Southern Raiders with her mother and looked into his eyes which left her completely scared, but her mother told her not to worry, and to find her father. She ran outside as fast as she could and, when she told Hakoda about this, the two started running toward their igloo but when they got there, it was too late, after hearing this the ex-prince lamented to Katara that her mother was a brave woman, which she knew while touching her necklace.

After some flying, Zuko spots the Southern Raiders' ship and in a swift, strong, and powerful display of waterbending enhanced by the full moon, Katara sends most of the crew overboard with a massive wave, the two proceed to the main control room to capture the ship's captain. Upon reaching him Katara quickly subdues with bloodbending (which she very reluctantly learned from someone that has become messed-up) which greatly sets the young firebender off, Zuko can properly interrogate him but after realizing by appearance that he is not the man who killed her mother, Zuko interrogates the captain and the two learn that the raiders' last commanding officer, Yon Rha retired four years ago.

Zuko after Katara chose to spare . — Zuko after Katara chose to spare Yon Rha.

With this newfound information and where to go now, Zuko and Katara once again flew on Appa where they stopped by the village where Yon Rha is now living just as a rainstorm begins, once she officially recognizes him they quickly ambushed him and after several harsh demands from Katara, Yon Rha realized she was the Water Tribe girl he had seen six years earlier before revealing he had been ordered to find and kill the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe and that Katara's mother had claimed it was her which left Katara even more enraged and told him that her mother had deliberately lied to protect the last Southern waterbender: herself... before promptly created a dome from the rain and transformed the water into dozens of ice spikes, which she hurled at the man, intent on finishing him.

However, she stops the assault at the last second and releases her control over the icicles, which turn to water and as a terrified Yon Rha pleads for his life, even offering his own mother to even the situation, Katara boldly tells him she always wondered what kind of man could do such a terrible thing, but understands now that she sees him before proceeding to hatefully call him a weak, pathetic, and empty human being, whom she cannot bring herself to kill for revenge and with it (mostly) out of her system, she and Zuko leave the scene. With the quest somewhat complete Zuko and Katara fly back to another uninhabited beach where everyone else is waiting for them, from there Katara told Zuko that she had forgiven him, and hugged him warmly finally being welcoming and grateful to him for the first time before leaving, as she heads off Zuko tells Aang that he was right about what Katara needed, and Aang reaffirms that violence is never the answer... only for the ex-prince to turn to the Avatar and strike him with a colossally strong question where the pacifist Avatar has his own problem figuring out: just what will he do, when he finally faces his ex-father?

Revealing the Fiery solution[]

Regardless, now that he's cleared the beef with everyone he used to hunt down, Zuko and the others proceed to make preparations for the time to finally confront his ex-father, but with all the nation now at their throat, Zuko leads them all to lay low at ember island. Upon arrival they all go for his decision to lay-low in his family's abandoned summer-house where Katara asks whether taking refuge in the Fire Lord's house is safe, but Zuko assures her that it is the last place his father or anyone would look for them as he continues training the Avatar.

Eventually by the time Aang has become a semi-master firebender, Zuko discovers that Sozin's Comet will return to earth in precisely three days and and the latter told them they should not be having beach parties when the comet was only three days away. Aang and the others awkwardly told him that they had planned to wait until after the comet came to fight the Fire Lord, as the war had been lost after the capture of Ba Sing Se and that Aang needed more practice but much to the horror of the group, Zuko told them of his father's plan incinerate the entire earth kingdom through the power of the comet and grimly concluded that if Aang did not defeat Ozai before the comet came, there would not be a world to save anymore.

Preparing for the final battle[]

Zuko showing Aang how to redirect lightning.

Downhearted by this news, Aang feels overwhelmed and doubts his abilities to successfully face the Fire Lord but his friends, however, declare that they will fight alongside him to have a better shot at defeating Ozai and with the young airbender comforted, Team Avatar joins together in a group hug, including a reluctant Zuko, afterwards Zuko teaches Aang the technique of lightning redirection he learned from Iroh but cautions that while the feeling of power by holding that much energy is exhilarating, it is also just as terrifying, as the user is aware that one wrong move could prove fatal something Zuko admits to almost facing when he recalls the incident with his father and with Katara revealing she's fresh out of Spirit water, Zuko stresses that against an opponent as vicious as Ozai, Aang has no choice but to take his life.

By the evening, Zuko and the others all gather around for a battle-meeting with Sokka final battle training against Ozai, but while things all go smoothly at first, they all soon come face-to-face with another problem on their side: Aang's complete refusal to actually kill the Firelord, though everyone else assured him that he needed to kill Ozai for the good of the world, this caused the conflicted Avatar to storm away in a huff and when Katara attempted to follow him to drag him back into the problem, Zuko (once again being all to familiar with this scenario) stops her from doing so as this is something he's gotta figure out himself, something she ultimately obliges to.

One last Avatar hunt[]

However Zuko and the others soon face another setback in their original battle-plans when come the following morning as they all gear up to battle Ozai before the comet arrives, Aang and Momo missing and knowing they need him now more than ever they decided to split up, with Toph eagerly going with Zuko, as she wanted her own "life-changing field trip" with him... where she spent the entire trip telling Zuko her problems with her parents but was disappointed when Zuko had difficulty maintaining sympathy with her, mostly due to the graveness of the situation. After an extensive search of the island revealed nothing, the gang turned to Zuko to find him, as he was the one with the most experience tracking the Avatar, something hew knew all-too-well and decided to use his avatar-hunting skills for the good of all at last.

So knowing just what to do to find him, Zuko flies them back to the Earth Kingdom all the way to a seedy tavern, where they once again run into June and after some tough convincing on his part, she is now properly motivated to track down Aang, as the fate of the world depended on it. However, while her shirshu was able to find Aang's scent but are unable to find him, the group was initially horrified, believing that Aang was dead, but June stated that her shirshu would be able to find him if he was dead, clarifying that he just disappeared which left them all initially distraught.

Reuniting with his real father[]

Fortunately for them all Zuko was not going to give up that easily because even though he to believes that they may not be able to find Aang in time for the comet's arrival, he thought that there was one other person who may be able to defeat Ozai: his uncle Iroh and provided June a smell sample they can use to track him: his uncle's sweaty sandal, which he had kept. Despite the rather gross-yet-sweet motive, June's shirshu was able to track the scent and they all followed it all the way to the destroyed Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se and after arriving at the wall, June wished them luck and left and they all chose to get a good night sleep before they continue their search.

Zuko and co. meet the Order of the White Lotus.

However as they are all sleeping, they are suddenly woken up by a booming noise and assuming it was an attack, they all get up and find to their luck that the noise came from all of the masters they've encountered through their travels: Pakku, Bumi, Jeong Jeong, and Piandao. After some chatting they all reveal themselves to be members of the White Lotus as well and have all opted to stay out of the war until now because they tell them, much to Zuko's surprise, that their uncle has summoned them all hear and allow them all to see him.

Zuko finding the courage to face his REAL dad again. — Zuko finding the courage to face his *REAL dad* again.

After some walking to the white lotus camp, Zuko is pointed in the direction where his uncle is staying in but as he arrives at the entrance he fearfully sits down as this would be the first he'll face his real dad again since the Ba Sing Se coup and is worried that Iroh hates him for his betrayal. When Katara sees this she sits by his side and comforts him, believing that Iroh would forgive Zuko if he was truly sorry which is enough for Zuko to enter the tent and finds his uncle asleep, snoring loudly and with a wry, affectionate smile, he sits down to wait for Iroh to wake.

Iroh_Forgives_Zuko — Iroh Forgives Zuko

Zuko in Iroh's hug again.

One long night later as morning arrives with Sozin's comet passing them tomorrow, Zuko watches as Iroh inevitably wakes up and faces his direction at this Zuko tearfully apologizes for all he has done, but before he can ask how to redeem himself, Iroh grabs and hugs him, surprising Zuko. Tears streaming from his own eyes, Iroh states he was never angry at his nephew, but was afraid he had lost his way to which he admits that he had, but Iroh establishes that he found it again and did so by himself and when he mentions that he is very happy that Zuko found his way to the encampment, Zuko jokes that it was not that hard as Iroh "has a pretty strong scent" and they hug once more.

Learning his destiny[]

Now that everything is water under the bridge with his actual dad, Iroh suggests that Zuko become the next Fire Lord, citing Zuko's "unquestionable honor".

Fighting his last Agni Kai[]

Arriving at the Fire Nation capital with Katara, Zuko duels an increasingly unhinged Azula for the throne.

When Azula faces defeat, she forces Zuko to place himself in the path of a lighting bolt aimed at Katara, which leaves him wounded and immobile. Katara defeats Azula and heals Zuko, leading the defeated princess's psyche to finally shatter, with her screaming, breathing fire and falls on her side crying uncontrollably, while Zuko and Katara look on in pity.

Claiming his birthright[]

After Aang wins the war, Zuko becomes the new Fire Lord, promising world order and harmony with the aid of the Avatar and dates Mai again.

Sequel comics[]

Zuka sought to end the occupation of the Fire Nation in the Earth Kingdom, having his troops relocate citizens back to the Fire Nation. However, Zuko eventually found some issues in one settlement, Yu Dao. Due to the fact it was a prosperous city where the Fire Nation colonists had long since mixed bloodlines with the local Earth Kingdom citizens, making it highly impossible to remove Fire Nation descendants without breaking up families and starting a revolt.

Together with Team Avatar's help, Zuko decided against the relocation plan and they helped found the United Republic of Nations from the Fire Nation settlements. Now all three cultures could be allowed to live harmoniously.

The Legend of Aang Movie[]

COMING SOON:

The Legend of Korra[]

Sometime in his adult life Zuko found and tamed a dragon which he named Druk. Following Aang's death, the new Avatar was found to be a young girl from the Southern Water Tribe named Korra. Not long after, four dangerous criminals, Zaheer, Ming Hua, Ghazan and P'li, attempted to kidnap the newly found Avatar but were stopped by Zuko alongside Korra's father Tonraq, Sokka, and Aang's son Tenzin. Zuko helped build special prisons to restrain the criminals and interrogate them about their motivations behind the kidnapping attempt but none of them ever yielded. A few years later an aging Zuko stepped down from the throne and passed the title to his daughter Izumi.

2 weeks after Harmonic Convergence several non-Benders around the world became Airbenders due to the shift in spiritual energy across the world. Zaheer was one of the non-Benders to obtain Air Bending which he promptly used to escape his prison then proceeded to free Ghazan and Ming Hua. Zuko, infuriated by the break outs scolded the White Lotus for allowing the criminals to escape and headed to the North Water Tribe to ambush Zaheer before he could release the final criminal P'Li. Zuko was joined by Esna, Deska, and Tonraq but their efforts proved to be futile and Zaheer succeeded in freeing P'Li. Zuko then went to warn the rest of the world leaders that the four terrorists were now on the loose and sent a direct order to protect Korra.

Zuko continued to assist in the hunt for Zaheer's gang. Korra found out that the group refer themselves as the Red Lotus and are a group of anarchists devoted to taking down all world leaders. The Red Lotus succeeded at murdering the Earth Queen and thew the entire Earth Kingdom into chaos, in response Zuko opted to return to the Fire Nation and protect his daughter from the Red Lotus knowing they would eventually go after the Fire Lord as well but not before giving Korra helpful advice in how to deal with the terrorists.

Korra eventually managed to defeat Zaheer with the help of the newly revived Air Nation, however Korra suffered severe physical trauma during the battle due to the Mercury poisoning that Zaheer inflicted on her, leaving Korra in a wheel chair incapacitated to assist in restoring the anarchist Earth Kingdom. Additionally Zuko pointed out that even though Zaheer's gang was defeated there are still other Red Lotus sleeper agents out there.

Avatar: Seven Havens[]

COMING SOON: