Avatar: Why Zuko Was Banished From The Fire Nation
Born to the reigning ruler of the Fire Nation and his reluctant yet kind wife Ursa, Zuko’s early life involved no shortage of tragedy.
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Avatar: The Last Airbender’s broody Prince Zuko has a rather dramatic character arc, deeply rooted in his contentious relationship with the father who banished him from the Fire Nation. Zuko’s journey is marked by plenty of ups and downs, but it can be argued that his separation from Fire Lord Ozai resulted in the young firebender’s immense growth — an evolution tracked throughout all three of the show’s action-packed seasons.
Born to the reigning ruler of the Fire Nation and his reluctant yet kind wife Ursa, Zuko’s early life involved no shortage of tragedy. Even at a young age, Zuko realized his father favored his sister Azula and, though his mother tried to compensate for this with additional love and encouragement, she was eventually banished from the palace by Ozai. With Ursa gone, Zuko was left to continually seek his father’s approval, not only for the Fire Lord’s attention, but for his own survival as well. This yearning to prove himself ultimately led to him overstepping his bounds, leading to his own harsh banishment.
Zuko’s genial Uncle Iroh recounts the sad tale in the season 1 episode “The Storm.” According to Iroh, a teenage Zuko asked him to sit in on his father’s important war council meeting and his uncle agreed, with the condition that Zuko was to remain silent throughout. But in the meeting, after a Fire Nation general outlined a plan which would strategically sacrifice many of his own men, Zuko was unable to stay quiet. Zuko’s challenge of the general earned him admonishments from his father, who decided to punish Zuko further by forcing him to participate in an Agni Kai or “fire duel.” Though Zuko assumed his opponent would be the general, he was shaken to learn his own father intended to do battle with him. Zuko refused to attack his father and, on his knees, begged for forgiveness. Disgusted by his son’s perceived weakness, Ozai banished him, but not before burning his face and leaving him with scarred.
However, in the comic series “The Search,” which was released some years after Avatar: The Last Airbender’s series finale and Zuko’s eventual heel-face turn, Ozai’s truer motivations were illuminated. In the comic, Zuko discovers the reasoning behind his mother’s abrupt departure. Unhappy in her marriage, Ursa — who assumed that all of her correspondence was being intercepted by her controlling husband — decided to test her theory, writing that Zuko was not really Ozai’s son but, instead, her former lover’s, a man by the name of Ikem.
Though Fire Lord Ozai knew this information to be false (he had, of course, been following Ursa’s every move since their marriage), he nevertheless confronted his wife and ask why she would dare write such a thing. Ursa admits she was partially motivated by her own fantasy that Zuko was Ikem’s child, so that her son would never inherit Ozai’s thirst for violence and cruelty. Angered, the leader of the Fire Nation claims that because of this, he will treat Zuko with even more distain and as if he wasn’t his son at all so that her wish would become more of a reality. Heartbroken and fearing for her son’s future, Ursa is exiled shortly thereafter.
This bit of backstory fills many gaps in Zuko’s character arc, even after the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender. While his story is plagued with hardship and struggle, Zuko’s strength of character — no doubt instilled in him by his mother — allowed him to succeed, not only in surviving his father’s violence, but ultimately leading to Ozai’s fall from power. Zuko’s desire to capture Avatar Aang to regain his honor set him on course for a powerful redemption arc, eventually evolving into Aang’s close friend and firebending master. Since Aang eventually bests Ozai and takes away his bending, in many ways, it was Fire Lord’s hubristic decision to have his son banished which led to his ultimate defeat.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/avatar-last-airbender-zuko-banished-fire-nation-reason/