The Fire Nation was unyielding in their pursuit of the Avatar,
and Prince Zuko almost caught Aang several times.
I don't need any calming tea, I need to capture the Avatar!
How do Zuko's efforts stack up in comparison?
Coming in at number nine:
Enough, we need to leave now.
Get out of the water.
Very well.
On second thought, why don't you take
another few minutes, but be back at the ship
in half an hour or I'm leaving without you.
[sighing]
Now, despite coming in last place,
this was actually a successful capture attempt
by the Earth Kingdom,
except the Avatar wasn't their target.
This is the Fire Lord's brother, the Dragon of the West,
the once great General Iroh.
But now he's our prisoner.
So why is this at the bottom of our list?
Because Prince Zuko had the Avatar in his sights.
The Avatar.
Yet still, Zuko chose to rescue his uncle instead.
These dangerous hands must be crushed.
[grunting]
Excellent form, Prince Zuko.
You taught me well.
For better or for worse,
the prince barely made any effort to capture Aang.
But we did get to see
why the royal family is not to be trifled with.
Now, would you please put on some clothes?
Next up:
The Avatar's coming with me.
[groaning]
Zuko briefly got a hold of Avatar Aang
after sneaking into the Fire Nation,
the homeland that banished him.
When Aang easily slipped from the prince's grasp
and escaped behind these shrine doors,
Zuko quickly went from predator to prey.
What a moving and heartfelt performance.
Commander Zhao.
And Prince Zuko, two traitors in one day.
The Fire Lord will be pleased.
That's right. Zuko himself was captured.
How embarrassing.
Ready?
No! Aang!
Fire!
When Zhao turned his sights on the Avatar,
the commander's victory went up in flames.
Avatar Roku.
[groaning]
[grunting]
Falling into fort is our next [clearing throat]
failed capture attempt.
Firebenders have landed on our shores.
Girls, come quickly.
Hey, I'm not a... ah, whatever.
Come out, Avatar. You can't hide from me forever.
Uh, after being hidden for 100 years,
we beg to differ.
Zuko and his army have made it a powerful fight
against the Kyoshi Warriors.
But still the prince's attempt is quickly extinguished.
[grunting]
Thank you, Avatar.
My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away.
Well, I'm impressed.
After several failed encounters with Avatar Aang,
Prince Zuko upgraded his efforts by recruiting
a local bounty hunter.
What's it doing? It's just going in a circle.
The confrontation was explosiv.
But after tipping over some perfume containers
and rendering the shirshu useless,
it was Team Avatar enjoying the sweet smell of success.
No!
Prince Zuko got even more resourceful
in this next attempt.
I'll save you from the pirates.
Zuko captured one member of Team Avatar
when he found Katara using a stolen scroll.
Now you help me find what I want.
You'll get this back and everyone goes home happy.
And you've got to hand it to those pirates.
Their spear nets caught Aang as easy as a [unintelligible]
I've got him! Come on!
Give me the boy.
You give us the scroll.
You're really going to hand over the Avatar
for a stupid piece of parchment?
With quick thinking, Sokka turs
the pirates against Prince Zuko's army
giving Team Avatar enough coverage
for an action packed escape.
Now, over the next several months,
Zuko hired another bounty huntr
who also chose to hold Katara hostage.
Except Sparky Sparky Boom Man captured the Blind Bandit too.
We're the bait. He wants Aang.
I can't believe I was so stupid!
See, this is exactly why I'm against these scams,
I knew this would happen!
But this was your idea.
Combustion Man's plan might have worked too,
if only Katara hadn't discovered sweatbending.
Katara, you're a genius, a sweaty, stinky genius.
Together, Team Avatar left this bounty hunter
out in the cold.
Aang, get up!
At number three:
You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun.
Zuko's hunt brought him to the North Pole,
and while Admiral Zhao's army flooded the front defenses,
the prince finally got his pre.
I can't believe I lost him.
You did everything you could.
And now we need to do everything we can to get him back.
Zuko can't have gotten far.
So why was this capture attempt still a failure?
Well, Uncle Iroh said it best
when he reflected back on this moment.
You had him and then you had nowhere to go!
I would've figured something out.
No! If his friends hadn't found you,
you would have frozen to death!
This was indeed a chilling lesson
for Prince Zuko.
Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy
who's constantly trying to kill us.
You're just a child.
Well, you're just a teenager.
Zuko's most successful capture attempt was
almost his first attempt.
[screaming]
If I go with you,
will you promise to leave everyone alone?
All right, in this instance,
Aang did technically volunteer to be captured,
but still, this debut encounter was a victory.
[inhaling]
Briefly.
[Zuko] Looks like I underestimated you.
Being the first to battle an airbender in 100 years is
a pretty good excuse as to why
you let the Avatar escape.
Shoot them down!
[grunting]
In fact, Zuko and Iroh couldn't even stop Aang
with their powers combined.
[grunting]
[gasping]
[laughing]
And finally, the most successfl capture attempt happened
when Aang was targeted by the Union Archers,
courtesy of Admiral Zhao.
Uh, I think you dropped this.
Aang had no backup
because Sokka and Katara were under the weather.
Aang, what in the world is taking you so long?
And in search of medicinal frogs,
Aang failed to leap out of harm's way.
So, this is the great Avatar, master of all the elements.
I don't know how you've managed to elude
the Fire Nation for 100 years,
but your little game of hide and seek is over.
I've never hidden from you.
There is no escaping this fortress,
and no one is coming to rescue you.
Uh, actually, that's wrong on both accounts.
Because to the surprise of everybody,
a masked figure broke into the Fire Nation fortress
and freed Aang.
Who are you? What's going on?
Are you here to rescue me?
I'll take that as a yes.
Aang, please hurry.
The Avatar and his mysterious hero escape,
thanks to an unspoken teamwork.
Do you have a clear shot?
But it wasn't until afterwards
that Aang finally discovered his savior's identity.
[gasping]
That's right, Zuko acted against his own nation
to rescue Aang, but why?
Only by being the Avatar's capture
could Zuko restore his honor in the eyes of Fire Lord Ozai.
So if Zuko couldn't have that victory
then no one else could either.
[croaking]
We're calling this the top capture attempt
because Aang was technically captured.
The Avatar must be captured alive!
[groaning]
Let them out... now.
And Zuko showed off some fantastic strategic
and combative skills, all without firebending.
Zuko even had Aang in his grasp until he, too, was targeted
by that Yuyan Archer.
If we knew each other back then,
do you think we could've been friends, too?
[grunting]
What do you think was the best capture attempt
by Prince Zuko?
Comment below, like and subscribe
and keep following for all things Avatar.
I'm surprised Prince Zuko.
Surprised that you are not, at this moment,
trying to capture the Avatar.
I'm tired.