AVATAR: What Happened to Zuko’s Mother? (The Last Airbender)

one of the plot threads left deliberately unresolved by the finale of nickelodeon's excellent animated series avatar the last airbender was what exactly happened to ursa the mother of zuko one of the show's main protagonists where she was hiding where she was from and why exactly she had to leave zuko when he was a child were later explored by the search a limited series of graphic novels written by avatar veteran jin yang and drawn by japanese illustration team studio gear hero released by darkhorse in 2013 to truly answer all of these questions however the book took a comprehensive look at ursa's entire life so what happened to zuko's mother let's start at the beginning but before we do if you enjoy what i'm doing here please toss this video a like and subscribe for more like this in the future and if you really want to help out ring the bell so you're notified every time i upload let me tell you you don't want to feel like you've been frozen for 100 years if you fall behind on these videos alright and with that out of the way let's get started many many years ago in the town of hirah during the height of the reign of firelord zulon a young man named kem is rehearsing for a role in a play called love amongst the dragons he is interrupted by a woman wearing a mask who startles him before revealing herself to be ursa she pokes fun at a chem for being able to surprise him so easily he is supposed to be the mighty dragon emperor hero of love amongst dragons the chem retorts that he is only so with the mask on without it he is just ursus cowardly but handsome boyfriend ursa informs akim that she won the part of the dragon empress which excites akim he's wanted to kiss ursa in front of the entire village for years the pair decide to practice bashing their masks together while reciting their lines it's obviously uncomfortable as ursa says that masked kissing is not so fun akhem pauses and out of nowhere proposes to ursa she wonders if that line is in the script checking her notes but he tells her that it's not he has loved ursa since they were six when she kicked a chem in the stomach and pushed his face into the dirt and he has wanted to marry her ever since he proposes again without any masks and ursa accepts the newly engaged couple kiss cementing their promise to one another ursa races home to tell her family the news accidentally waking some pig chickens along the way however as she bursts into her home she finds her mother weeping over an old headdress the one worn by ursa's grandfather avatar roku before his death ursa asks her mother what is wrong and where her father is she tells ursa that he is out back with a visitor before insisting that she loves ursa and hopes that she knows that in the family's greenhouse versus father jinzuk is entertaining a guest that requires proper respect firelord zulon she bows before him before zulon compliments her beauty the fire lord explains that they have searched for the descendants of roku for some time and it seemed as though the avatar deliberately kept his family hidden from the royals on the distant island of hira the fire sages have foreseen that the joining of the royal family with the former avatars will yield offspring of great power a bloodline that will ensure their rule for centuries after a zulon has died from the shadows of the greenhouse a young man steps forward the fire prince ozai who has a proposal of his own for ursa as they are headed out of the village zulon tells ursa that he believes she will appreciate the capital city's comforts especially compared to a backwater such as hira their procession is halted when a chem appears blocking the road with two prop swords he declares that the fire lord carries his true love within the carriage and that he cannot take her away from him the royal guards laugh at akim and zulon orders them to take care of him however akim is surprisingly deaft with the wooden weapons he takes advantage of a fire blast from one of the soldiers lighting his sword ablaze and throwing it at his opponents still ursa knows that he will not last long she begs ozai to call off the guards akem is a childhood friend and he is just confused risa promises that if they don't hurt him she can get him to leave and even proclaims ozai to be her love the fire prince steps out of the carriage telling the soldiers that they have done enough ursa exits as well telling akim to go home he pleads with her to stay whatever the royal family is offering isn't worth the pain of never belonging they will both feel if she leaves ursa explains that the decision has been made and nothing can change it kem is confused but says he will go home if marrying the prince is what she truly wants ursa stares back at the carriage and then vows before a chem explaining that ozai has honored her family by asking for her hand in marriage she lies and with her eyes wed with tears tells akim that she has joyfully accepted it was time for him to go home for both of their sakes the carriage passes akhem who begins to weep himself for a time akim is devastated living in hirah under a shroud of depression before wandering into a nearby forest on his own there though he is still racked with bouts of horrible sorrow he decides to build a new life for himself near a circular pool akim builds a small hut hunting game and gathering plants to survive many months pass perhaps years and then one day he witnesses a large wolf spirit drinking from the pool beside which he has made his new home they lock eyes in the capital city ursa and ozai marry at the reception ozai comments on how lovely her parents are and that she should make sure to properly say goodbye if they have been so kind to her ursa's last words to them should be filled with gratitude so they always remember her fondly newly crowned princess questions last words ozai explains that she must completely sever all ties with her past to fulfill her new duties to the royal family in fact after this day he expects her to never mention her family or her ah or her old life ever again he leans over to her whispering in her ear that she belongs to the royal family and to him now ursa's eyes widen in shock horror and fear over the years ursus settles into her life at the royal palace mothering two children with ozai zuko and azula though she loved her children dearly she had found herself unable to truly leave her thoughts of hera and her loved ones behind she kept a set of masks from love amongst the dragons hidden in her chambers concealed behind a portrait of herself with ozai one of these masks would later find its way into the hands of prince zuko who used it as the vigilante known as the blue spirit despite ozai's orders to never contact her family again ursa also wrote to those she cared for in her old life employing a palace handmaiden named elua to make sure they were delivered to hira ah discreetly unfortunately ursa placed her trust in the wrong person alua never delivered any of her letters and instead handed them off to ozai though ozai never acted on any of these letters ursa eventually grew suspicious that he was somehow intercepting them and decided to test it she wrote a letter to akim falsely admitting that zuko was his son instead of ozai's as she expected alua took this letter to ozai who became furious that a kim remained nurse's thoughts at all he employed vacher one of the legendary union archers known to be able to pin a fly to a tree at a hundred yards without killing the insect the cheer was amongst the most skilled yu young claiming to do what all other yu yon could but blindfolded ozai tells the archer to travel to hira and rid the world of akim vacher tells the fireprince that he will leave it once and that no one would ever be able to connect his actions with ozai but ozai tells him not to bother with the secrecy he wants akim to know his death was personally ordered by the prince of the fire nation months later vachier returned to the capital city burnt bloody and exhausted he told ozai that akim no longer lived in hira and that he'd run off to live in a forest at the bottom of a nearby valley the archer searched the forest for months but never found any sign of a chem regardless the yu yan told the fireprince that he'd never seen anything like the forest everything within it down to the animals and insects and trees are determined to kill anyone trespassing within the cheer only barely survived and is convinced that a commoner like akem could not possibly survive the forest ozai is angered at this he expected vechu to bring him more than conjecture that the man was dead the archer profusely apologizes and begs forgiveness but ozai helps him to his feet telling him the groveling is unbecoming he then calmly informs vacher that he will return to his stronghold base and submit his resignation to his commanding officer the yuyon archers are the best of the best the cheer no longer belongs the fire prince immediately makes his way to his wife's chambers ordering her handmaidens to leave them he confronts ursa explaining that she was to forget her old life and that she was supposed to be entirely defined by her marriage to him the letter she wrote to akim is akin to treason her suspicions vindicated and incensed ursa questions ozai on his gall for intercepting her letters the fire prints toys with his wife proclaiming that proof of her treason lives under the palace roof and that he is a merciful man to allow the child to live ursa tells him to not be a fool but the prince tells her that though he showed mercy to zuko akhem was not as fortunate suddenly terrified ursa demands to know what ozai has done he says simply that he wiped that treacherous dog from existence heartbroken ursa begins to cry [Music] some time later news reaches the capital of the death of prince lou ten son of prince airo heir to the throne with his son now gone iro has lost the will to lead and has called off his siege of the earth kingdom capital of bossing say ozai seizes the opportunity requesting an audience with firelord a zulon he argues that now with a broken spirit and no air ira was not fit to take a zulon's place and that his birthright should now fall to ozai an argument that enrages zulon the fire lord berates the prince for being so callous towards his brother and for not respecting the horrible pain ira now suffers as punishment he demands that ozai should feel the same agony of losing his firstborn and that he must kill zuko himself unbeknownst to both of them the beginning of the conversation was overheard by zuko and the entire thing by azulla she fined zuko later that night mocking him and telling him that their father was going to kill him ursa overhears this and pulls azula aside coaxing the entire truth from her daughter though honeyed with some feigned fear for her brother's life ursa orders azula to bed before finding ozai staring out of a window contemplating what he must do she tells him that he cannot go through with it but josiah insists that he must refusing the fire lord's command is treason but he is a merciful man and is waiting until zuko is asleep so he does not feel any pain or fear ursa offers to make ozai a deal to save zuko's life but ozai dismisses this she has nothing he could possibly want she retorts that he wants the throne and after a pause he tells her to continue ursa knows of a poison that is colorless and odorless for all intents and purposes it is untraceable it causes whomever to consume it to pass quietly and peacefully as though they had just fallen asleep she knows how to brew this poison because her mother was an herbalist and she will trade a vial of this poison for zuko's life whatever ozai does with it afterwards is in his own hands ozai accepts the deal but with one condition after they have made their exchange ursa is to leave the capital and never return elsewise this poison finds its way into ozai's cup in the future ursa agrees but she is taking her children with her ozai flightly refuses this the children are his collateral on the deal as long as ursa keeps her end of the deal no harm will come to either of them part of the deal that ozai himself later reneges exon if ursa tries to take either of them or stay in the capital ozai will have them all hunted down and destroyed just like he did a chem the princess spends the evening brewing this poison handing the vial to ozai before sneaking into her children's rooms she silently says goodbye to azula kissing her lightly on the cheek she does the same to zuko but he wakes ursa tells her son that everything she has done she has done to protect him and to never forget who he is she hugs him tightly before departing the city and returning to hira she knocks on the door of her parents house but a young girl answers she asks what has happened to them to magistrate junzuk and his wife rina she lowers her eyes and tells ursa that they both sadly passed away years ago the banished princess wanders to the center of town curling up on the acting troop stage and beginning to sob a man named noren passes her by lightly joking that if she was looking to audition tryouts ended weeks ago ursus stands and wipes the tears from her face explaining that she was just visiting old memories noren apologizes not realizing that she was upset but stops wide-eyed when he sees her face he introduces himself as the director of the hera acting troupe and ursa cautiously asks of the fate of grandma gucci the previous director noren gently assures her that he took over the troop when she retired he tells ursa that visiting old memories does not have to be unpleasant and then watching the sun rise on an empty stage is no way to begin a day as they eat ursa tells norn that his name seems like such a coincidence in the play love amongst the dragons the dragon emperor took the name noren when he entered the mortal world the man pauses before confirming that ursa has a point but the princess stands suddenly distressed she had not introduced herself she begins to walk away but noren stops her asking for the opportunity to explain himself he explains that when they were six she kicked him in the stomach and pushed his face into the dirt later when they were 21 she shattered his heart in disbelief ursa turns around this man is a chem he shows her around the town eventually coming to the troops prop warehouse ursa jokes about the clutter noren doesn't appear to be any more organized than grandma gucci was on the wall rests a set of masks from love amongst the dragons ursa examines them commenting on their beauty and telling noren that she had a set made in secret at the palace to remind her of hira ah the acting troupe and of akim noren explains that after ursa left a kem died in a figurative sense everyone in the town would come up to a kin and tell him that everything was going to be okay but deep down they all knew that wasn't true at other times people simply stared at him as if he had been disfigured akhem concluded that it was too painful to remain in the town even though it was the only place he had ever called home he wandered into the forest into the forgetful valley hoping to lose the memories that had brought him so much pain there he encountered apparitions from the spirit world beings he only thought were folklore he explains that occasionally a spirit walks through the forest and will grant those she encounters with a new face norin came back to hear ah a different man with a new identity and a new life ursa asks noren why he never married or had children but he tells her that she knows why ursa realizes that ozai had lied to her noren's new face had kept him safe noren suggested that ursa could do the same that he could take her to the forgetful valley and they could start over together ursa considers it but declines though there is a great deal about her life in the royal palace she wishes to leave behind she cannot forget her children but if she wore a new face she may be able to return to the capital undetected to see her children and make sure they are okay noren tells her that this would not be a life worth living one where she only dreamed of catching glimpses of her children watching them grow up from afar ursa insists that noren has no idea what it's like to wonder how her children are if they're happy or in pain at all times it's torture after a pause ursa asks him to take her to the forgetful valley so that they can meet this spirit of faces the couple spend many months in the forest once again finding the pool a chem lived next to and building a small home together noren teaches her how to survive to light fires in the rain and hun in the forest eventually they come across the wolf spirit drinking from the pool nora knows that the mother of faces is near ursa begins to well up with sadness but noren says that she should be happy she may be able to see her children again now ursa explains that living the forest with noren has made her feel like she has finally found her place in the world he wonders if they could steal her children away and that they could all live together in hira but ursa knows that this would only endanger the entire town to ozai's wrath ursa approaches the spirit the mother of faces who questions what the human asks of her as ursa requests a new face and new identity the mother of faces wonders why a woman so beautiful would desire a new face she is willing to grant her one but it would be far plainer than the one she currently wears the princess insists that any face would do as ursa examines the new face offered to her the mother tells her that she senses much pain within the woman and questions if a new face would truly ease it the answer is no ursa replies her pain comes from memories of a life she had no choice in the mother tells her that she can give ursa a new mind along with her new face one that would not remember the pain of her previous life shocked ursa asks if she would remember norin the mother tells her that she will if he is not part of the life she wishes to forget staring at the dirt arms held to her chest ursa then asks of her children they are part of the life she wishes to forget so she will forget them the mother tells her that a decision must be made ursa begins to cry apologizing to zuko to azula she will take the new mind and let go of her old life the mother tells her to hold still molding a new face under ursa's body she screams and noren rushes to hold her as the mother loosens her hold disappearing into the water the woman now called noriko asks for noren who tells her that he is right there he will always be right there some time later the two went in a ceremony attended by the entirety of hiraha they build a new home and the new life for themselves eventually bearing a daughter named kiyi the family lived happily noriko in complete ignorance of her former life until avatar aang and firelord zuko ended the hundred year war irsa's son defeated her ex-husband and claimed the throne of the fire nation for himself and set out to find his mother alongside azula aang and his other allies their search was not entirely a smooth one both azula and zuko had very different reasons for seeking ursa out and both had very different methods and goals if you'd like to find out how team avatar found zuko's mother make sure you subscribe for my future video explaining that adventure i must say i really appreciate that they made ursa a character with such depth one that makes mistakes chooses to forget her loved ones in a moment of weakness and pain and someone who wants to atone for those missteps that makes her an incredibly interesting character her story is one that earns its place and the richness that is the avatar universe what other stories or lore would you like explained let me know down in the comments below and don't forget to like this if you liked it and subscribe if you want more and hey you can hit that bell so you actually know when it comes out as always thank you so much for watching and i'll see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Full Motion Videos

Views: 11,206

Keywords: Avatar, The Last Airbender, avatar the last airbender, Zuko, Zuko's Mother, Zuko's Mom, Azula, nickelodeon, last airbender, firebender, Ursa, lore, The Search, The Search avatar, Aang, Ozai, ozai vs zuko, team avatar, full motion videos, avatar lore, last airbender lore, last airbender comic books, last airbender the search, avatar the search, what happened to zuko's mother, atla, the search atla, what happened to zuko's mom, search zuko's mom, dykm, didyouknowmovies, completionist, furst

Id: 4IMSWGZDFcY

Length: 21min 23sec (1283 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 02 2020