What if Zuko wasn't banished?
What if Azula was on Team Avatar?
What if Ozai never took the throne?
All of these what ifs trace back to one simple question:
What if Ursa never disappeared?
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Now, back to our timelines.
In the canon timeline from the show and the graphic novels
Azulon ordered Ozai to kill Zuko
and Ozai was going to do it.
Really, he is.
Ursa found out about this plan from Azula
and she went to Ozai to make him a deal.
She brewed a poison and gave it to Ozai
who used it to kill Fire Lord Azulon
and name himself the new Fire Lord.
At the same time, Ozai banished Ursa
and kept Zuko and Azula with him in the palace.
And we know how that turned out.
[screaming]
Of course, Zuko never knew any of this
and it was one of the great mysteries
and tragedies of his life
that his mother vanished without a trace.
Never forget who you are.
But what would have happened if Ursa never disappeared?
The first question we have to ask is: How?
How could Ursa stay in the palace
with Ozai threatening her and her children?
He holds all the cards at this point.
Well, not all the cards.
Ursa is a skilled herbalist and she is already brewing
a fatal poison for Fire Lord Azulon.
So what if Ursa poisons
both Azulon and Ozai at the same time?
Yes, it seems drastic, and Ursa is a kind and gentle person,
but she'll also do anything to protect her children.
That's what moms are like.
If you mess with their babies...
[chomps] they're gonna bite you back.
[chuckling]
Keep in mind this isn't the first time
Ozai threatened Zuko in front of Ursa.
And it wouldn't be the last time
he was prepared to kill his son, either.
Both Ozai and Azulon
seemed ready to hurt or even kill Zuko
at any moment,
so Ursa might feel
that she has to destroy them both to protect her son.
Now, say she manages to poison both Ozai and Azulon that night,
who becomes the next Fire Lord?
With Iroh far away in the Earth Kingdom
and not returning anytime soon,
Zuko would have a strong case to become the next Fire Lord.
He's in the capital,
he's a firebender, and he's a direct descendant
of both Sozin and Avatar Roku.
Sozin was your father's grandfather.
Your mother's grandfather was Avatar Roku.
But he's also just a child,
so Ursa would become his most trusted adviser
and probably the de facto Fire Lord
in control of the whole nation.
Now, what does that mean for the war?
Well, the Fire Nation has been at war
for Ursa's entire life,
and while Zuko does have compassion
for the Fire Nation soldiers,
he was also raised to believe in the Fire Nation's propaganda.
Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation
was the greatest civilization in history
and somehow, the war was our way
of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world.
So even in this timeline
where Ozai never becomes the Fire Lord,
the hundred-year war would still continue.
With Zuko on the throne,
Ursa basically ruling through him,
and Iroh abroad mourning his son,
it would seem like business as usual in the Fire Nation.
Follow the Fire Lord and fight the war.
Ah-hah!
But don't forget about Azula.
Azula, who is two steps ahead of everyone, even as a child.
You'll never catch up.
Azula, who knows that Ursa went to see Ozai
the night he and Fire Lord Azulon
died of mysterious circumstances.
Azula, who believes that Ursa favors Zuko
and sees her as a monster.
What is wrong with that child?
Azula, who could easily find out about Ursa's letters to Ikem,
her true love from before she was married to Ozai.
We know that Azula learned the ins and outs
of the Fire Nation palace with all its secret passages,
so it's only a matter of time
before she tracks down one crucial letter.
The letter that says Zuko is not Ozai's son
and has no legitimate claim to the throne.
In classic Azula fashion, she would plot a coup.
To start, she might spread rumors in the palace
about Ursa sending suspicious letters home to Hira'a.
Then whispers would start to spread about how fishy it is
that both Ozai and Azulon died on the same night.
With these rumors swirling, Azula would leak the letter
about Zuko's father,
lighting the fuse on all of those tensions and rumors.
If Zuko isn't actually meant to be the Fire Lord,
then some factions would definitely want
to put Iroh on the throne instead.
The military would back Iroh,
since he is the Dragon of the West
and a trusted general.
General Iroh, great hero of our nation.
Meanwhile, nobles like Mai's parents
might prefer to keep Zuko as the Fire Lord,
since he's young and easy to manipulate.
A civil war would erupt in the Fire Nation
as the supporters of Iroh and the supporters of Zuko
fought over who had
the stronger claim to the throne.
And if the citizens of the Fire Nation
are fighting each other,
they wouldn't be fighting the other nations.
A civil war in the Fire Nation
would mean no resources or troops
to attack the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribes.
And so the Fire Nation war effort
would collapse from within
ending the hundred-year war
and marking the Fire Nation's defeat.
Now, none of this would make Sokka do his own laundry.
I promise, we're going somewhere with this.
In this timeline, the Southern Raiders
would still have killed Sokka and Katara's mother,
so Katara would still be doing all the work at home,
including cleaning Sokka's socks.
Have you ever smelled your dirty socks?
Let me tell you, not pleasant!
Katara!
Which means she would still end up yelling at him,
cracking open an iceberg,
and bringing back the Avatar,
the world's great hope for peace.
Except in this timeline,
the hundred-year war would already be over.
And Aang would spend his days l.
What should we do today?
I'm tapped out, I already picked my toes.
Twice.
Just because the war's over
doesn't mean Avatar Aang has nothing to do.
The Fire Nation will be tearing itself apart
from the inside,
and Sozin's Comet
would still be on the horizon.
Aang would have just one year before
the firebender vs firebender conflict
got supercharged by the comet.
As the Avatar, he would have to restore balance
by ending the Fire Nation's civil war of succession
before Sozin's Comet arrives
and the warring factions in the Fire Nation
destroy themselves completely.
But all of that depends on Ursa staying in the palace
while removing Ozai from the equation,
and that's not an easy feat.
As much as it pains me to say,
it was a smart move for Ozai to banish Ursa
in the timeline that we know.
He knows that she can brew a fatal poison,
and he also knows that she is not his biggest fan.
He even says it's only a matter of time
before she uses a colorless, odorless poison against him.
Why would Ozai let someone who is that big of a threat go free?
It's possible that instead of banishing her,
Ozai might choose to put her in prison,
where he could keep a very close eye on her.
In this timeline,
Ozai probably wouldn't tell his children
what happened to their mother,
but you know Azula would find out
where Ursa was eventually.
And if you think she wouldn't use that against Zuko,
well, this is Azula we're talking about.
I hear you've been to visit your Uncle Fatso
in the prison tower.
That guard told you?
No, you did.
Just now.
Azula knows that Zuko would do anything
to see his mother again,
and she would use that to her advantage.
She might tell Zuko exactly where Ursa was being kept
and even help him plan to sneak out and see her.
And then, she'd spring her trap.
Azula would wait until Zuko was very clearly
sneaking into prison to see his mother
after Ozai expressly forbade it,
and then she would raise the alarm,
catching Zuko in the act.
From there, Ozai might choose to banish him as punishment,
or he might decide that if Zuko is so intent
on visiting his mother in prison,
then Zuko belongs in prison right alongside her.
After all, that's what he wanted, right?
To be with his mother?
After Ozai imprisons his wife and firstborn son,
he would name Azula as his new heir,
as a reward for her loyalty.
Ozai would be totally secure as the Fire Lord.
Well, not quite,
because, as we know,
Iroh does eventually return to the Fire Nation capital,
and he returns a changed man.
Ever since I lost my son...
Uncle, you don't have to say it.
I think of you as my own.
In this timeline,
if Iroh returned to the capital after losing his son,
and found Zuko and Ursa in prison,
that would be a bad day to be fire Lord Ozai.
The Iroh we know couldn't save Zuko
from his father's punishment.
But the Iroh of this timeline could save Zuko and Ursa.
He might not be able to interfere
with an official, ceremonial Agni Kai,
but we know he can handle a prison break.
He was like a one-man army!
Iroh would challenge Ozai to an Agni Kai for the throne,
and the future of the Fire Nation.
And all of this because Ursa didn't disappear.
But what if Ursa did disappear from the Fire Nation,
but not from Zuko's life?
Let me explain.
What if, after hearing about Azulon's order,
Ursa didn't run to Ozai to bargain for Zuko's life?
What if instead she just fled with her son?
Well, Azulon would still be alive
and Ozai would need to find another way to get the throne.
What if Ozai decided to force Azulon's hand
by removing Iroh from the line of succession permanently?
How hard could it really be
to arrange for an accident to happen
in the middle of a siege?
This would put Ozai directly in line for the throne
whenever Azulon died in this timeline.
Now, what about Ursa and Zuko?
In this timeline, after fleeing,
they would go back to Ursa's hometown of Hira'a.
There, Ursa would find her true love Ikem again,
just like she does in The Search.
Together the three of them would become a family.
It would be dangerous,
and they'd always be looking over their shoulders,
waiting for Ozai to find them.
But at least they'd be together.
However, this would leave both Azula and Ozai
back in the Fire Nation.
With Zuko out of the picture,
Ozai could raise Azula as his perfect heir.
With these two leading the fight,
the Fire Nation would probably destroy Ba Sing Se
and win the war before Aang even got a chance to train.
You pretty much mastered airbending
and that only took you 112 years.
I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer.
So in a timeline where Ursa and Zuko
fled the Fire Nation capital together,
Zuko would grow up with his mother in his life,
but the rest of the world would be at the mercy
of Ozai and Azula
as they plotted the end of the war
and the ultimate victory of the Fire Nation.
But wait, there's something wrong with this timeline.
It has Ursa fleeing with just Zuko and leaving Azula behind.
That's because it reflects Azula's view
that her mother never loved her
and thought she was a monster beyond saving.
And that's not true.
Ursa would take both her children
because she loves both her children.
Now, if Ursa forced her to leave the palace,
Azula would probably be furious.
At least at first.
But the firm belief
that her mother never loved her because she's a monster,
that's a belief that Azula builds for herself,
mostly in Ursa's absence.
But in this timeline, Azula would have years to rebuild
and restore her relationship with her mother,
away from Ozai's influence,
and eventually she might just accept
what Ursa says as the truth.
Even you fear me.
No. I love you, Azula.
I do.
Now, what about Zuko in exile?
He says it's his destiny to teach the Avatar firebending,
and, well...
Destiny is a funny thing.
So, in all their travels,
Team Avatar might just happen across
these two sibling firebenders
who are enemies of the Fire Nation
and wanted for treason.
And Team Avatar loves firebenders
who are enemies of the Fire Nation
and wanted for treason,
because Aang needs to learn firebending.
There's got to be someone who can teach him firebending.
Hello, Zuko here.
I was wondering when you'd show up, Zuzu.
[snickering]
Zuzu?
So in this timeline,
both Zuko and Azula would teach Aang firebending.
Can you imagine?
Aang trying to learn firebending from Azula?
[screaming]
He could barely handle Toph!
You blew it!
You had a perfect stance and perfect form,
but when it came right down to it,
you didn't have the guts.
While Aang is training
with his two firebending masters,
Ozai would be deadlocked in the hundred-year war.
It was only Azula's genius
that could bring down the walls of Ba Sing Se.
Without her, the Fire Nation
would still be trying to break into the city
instead of taking it down from the inside.
[yawning]
Plus, Azula is the one who found out
about the planned invasion during the eclipse.
Without her, who's Ozai going to count on?
Zhao?
[laughing] Please.
[screams]
In this timeline, where the Avatar
has Azula and Zuko as his firebending masters,
the full force
of the Earth Kingdom army at his back,
and the element of surprise for the invasion,
the war would be over far before Sozin's Comet crossed the sky.
[cheering]
So, if Ursa disappeared from the Fire Nation,
but didn't disappear from her children's lives,
balance and peace would be restored.
And growing up with her mother away from her father
might just save Azula, too.
So Ursa's disappearance doesn't just affect Zuko,
it actually has a lot of serious repercussions
for the whole world of Avatar.
What do you think would happen if Ursa never vanished?
Let us know in the comments
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