- [Narrator] How did Azula go from this to this?
(Azula screams) (intense cinematic music)
And did she find redemption after the series ended?
Here is the full timeline of Azula's rise and fall.
(intense cinematic music)
To understand this moment, (Azula laughing)
we have to start at the very beginning
with Azula's childhood.
- [Zuko] Everything always came easy to her.
She's a firebending prodigy.
My father says she was born lucky.
He says I was lucky to be born.
(intense cinematic music) (fire whooshing)
- [Narrator] Even as a kid, Azula is cunning
and Machiavellian.
She has already decided she'd rather be feared than loved.
- You'll never catch up.
- [Narrator] Azula learned early on
that being powerful, perfect, and pitiless
was the way to gain her father's approval.
- Great grandfather won because...
- Because even though his army was outnumbered,
he cleverly calculated his advantages.
The enemy was down wind, and there was a drought.
Their defenses burned to a crisp in minutes.
- [Ozai] Correct, my dear.
- [Narrator] So she uses the same tactics
to get her mother's attention, burning flowers, dolls,
and her brother.
- It's time for a talk. (somber cinematic music)
- [Narrator] Ursa's scolding only fuels Azula's belief
that her mother doesn't really love her.
(hurrying footsteps)
- What is wrong with that child?
- [Narrator] Azula's strained relationship with her mother
only strengthens her loyalty to Ozai,
who only cares about power.
(intense suspense music) (wooden door creaks)
- Dad's going to kill you!
Really, he is.
- [Zuko] Ha-ha, Azula, nice try.
- Fine, don't believe me, but I heard everything.
Grandfather said dad's punishment should fit his crime.
"You must know the pain of losing a first born son
"by sacrificing your own!"
- Dad would never do that to me.
- Your father would never do what to you?
What is going on here?
- [Narrator] Azula tells her mother about Ozai's plan,
directly leading to Ursa's disappearance.
- Where's mom?
- No one knows.
Oh, and last night, grandpa passed away.
- Not funny, Azula.
You're sick, and I want my knife back now.
(Zuko grunts)
- Whose going to make me, mom?
- [Narrator] After Ozai becomes the Fire Lord,
Azula seems ready to supplant Zuko as heir to the throne.
So just a few years later, Azula watches with a smile
while her father burns and banishes her brother.
(flames roaring) (Zuko screaming)
In the three years of her brother's banishment,
young Azula transforms herself into a fearsome firebender
and a brilliant strategist,
just as cold-blooded and ambitious as her father.
- [Ozai] Iroh is a traitor,
and your brother Zuko is a failure.
I have a task for you.
- [Narrator] Azula, who thinks love and trust
make her opponents weak, uses this to lure Zuko
into her trap.
- Father's changed his mind.
Family is suddenly very important to him.
He's heard rumors of plans to overthrow him,
treacherous plots. (intense cinematic music)
Family are the only ones you can really trust.
(intense cinematic music)
Father regrets your banishment.
He wants you home.
- You lied to me!
- Like I've never done that before.
(intense cinematic music) (fire whooshes)
- [Narrator] Then, she reunites with her friends,
Mai and Ty Lee.
And when we say reunites with her friends,
we mean manipulates and threatens her friends.
- Set the net on fire.
(fire whooshing) (fire crackling)
(intense cinematic music)
- The universe is giving me strong hints
that it's time for a career change.
I wanna join you on your mission.
- [Narrator] When she finds out the Avatar's on the loose,
she decides to do what Zuko couldn't.
- So, we're tracking down your brother and uncle, huh?
- It'll be interesting seeing Zuko again, won't it, Mai?
(intense cinematic music)
- It's not just Zuko and Iroh anymore.
We have a third target now.
- [Narrator] One-upping her brother isn't enough,
so when she tracks the Avatar to Ba Sing Se,
she does what even the brilliant General Iroh couldn't do.
- The Earth Kingdom will finally fall.
Then you can claim Ba Sing Se in the name of your father.
(wall crumbling) (intense cinematic music)
- We've done it, Zuko.
It's taken 100 years, but the Fire Nation
has conquered Ba Sing Se.
- [Narrator] Basically, Azula saw capturing the Avatar
as just a side quest.
And she decided to casually take over the Earth Kingdom too,
you know, while she was in the neighborhood.
That's how ambitious she is.
What other members of her family
spend years trying to accomplish,
Azula sees as just a tiny step in an even bigger plan
to consolidate her power. (lasers whooshing)
The fall of Ba Sing Se is Azula's mightiest moment,
but it doesn't last.
(dramatic action music) (lasers whooshing)
Before we dive into Azula's downfall,
make sure you're subscribed, and hit the notification bell
(bell dings) (dramatic suspense music)
so you never miss a new video.
Okay, back to Azula.
- Don't let me interrupt your whatever it is you were doing.
(intense cinematic music)
- [Narrator] So after Azula conquers Ba Sing Se,
she and Zuko return to the Fire Nation.
Even though Zuko is restored as the heir to the throne,
Azula's still in charge, pulling all the strings.
- What could I possibly gain
by letting you get all the glory
for defeating the Avatar?
Unless somehow the Avatar was actually alive?
All that glory would suddenly turn to shame and foolishness.
(dramatic suspense music)
But you said yourself that was impossible.
(dramatic suspense music)
Sleep well, Zuzu.
- [Narrator] With Zuko under her thumb
and her loyal friends following all her orders,
Azula lets her guard down for just a second on Ember Island.
- Those were wonderful performances, everyone.
- I guess you wouldn't understand, would you, Azula?
Because you're just so perfect.
- Well yes, I guess you're right.
I don't have sob stories like all of you.
I could sit here and complain
how our mom liked Zuko more than me,
but I don't really care.
My own mother thought I was a monster.
(somber music)
She was right, of course, but it still hurt.
- [Narrator] This tiny dent in Azula's emotional armor
explains so much about her character.
Azula decided long ago
that it was better to be feared than loved,
because she didn't think she could be loved.
If her own mother thought she was a monster,
then how else could she maintain power,
except by acting like a monster?
(fire crackling) - Yes,
we defeated you for all time.
You will never rise from the ashes
of your shame and humiliation!
- [Narrator] Azula finds out the limits
of ruling through fear during her mission
to the Boiling Rock.
- The thing I don't understand is why.
Why would you do it?
You know the consequences.
(dramatic suspense music)
- I guess you just don't know people
as well as you think you do.
You miscalculated.
I love Zuko more than I fear you.
- No, you miscalculated!
You should've feared me more!
(dramatic suspense music)
(blade whooshes)
(women grunting)
(dramatic suspense music)
(Azula gasps) (Azula grunts)
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] Mai's stand is the beginning of the end
for Azula.
Without her friends, she turns to Ozai for approval.
(dramatic music)
- Sorry I'm late, father.
Good Palanquin Bearers are so hard to come by these days.
So, is everything ready for our departure?
- [Ozai] There has been a change of plans, Azula.
- What?
- [Ozai] I've decided to lead the fleet of airships
to Ba Sing Se alone.
You will remain here in the Fire Nation.
- [Narrator] In her mind, Azula did everything right.
She was a loyal second in command,
who cut ties with her brother, her uncle, her mother,
and her best friends for the sake of being the perfect heir.
So when she did everything right
and it still looks like Ozai is discarding her,
Azula cracks.
- But, I thought we were going to do this together?
- [Ozai] My decision is final.
- You, you can't treat me like this!
You can't treat me like Zuko!
- Azula, silence yourself.
- But it was my idea to burn everything to the ground!
I deserve to be by your side!
- Azula! (dramatic music)
- [Narrator] She gets what she always wanted.
- I need you here to watch over the homeland.
It's a very important job that I can only entrust to you!
(dramatic music)
- Really?
- And for your loyalty, I've decided to declare you
the new Fire Lord.
- [Narrator] But this brief exchange shows Azula
just how easy it is to slip from Ozai's favor,
because just like Azula, Ozai rules through fear.
With friends who betrayed her
and a father who is less like a father
and more like a constant threat,
it's no wonder Azula feels paranoid.
By Sozin's Comet, she sees danger and disloyalty everywhere.
- Azula, we heard what happened.
Why have you banished all your servants?
Or your Dai Li Agent?
- And the Imperial Firebenders?
- None of them could be trusted.
Sooner or later, they all would've betrayed me,
just like Mai and Ty Lee did.
- [Narrator] And that isn't all she sees.
(dramatic suspense music)
- Ugh!
Alright hair, it's time to face your doom!
(dramatic music) (scissor blades chop)
- What a shame, you always had such beautiful hair.
- What are you doing here?
- I didn't wanna miss my own daughter's coronation.
- Don't pretend to act proud.
I know what you really think of me.
You think I'm a monster.
- I think you're confused.
All your life, you've used fear to control people,
like your friends, Mai and Ty Lee.
- Well, what choice do I have?
Trust is for fools.
Fear is the only reliable way.
Even you fear me.
- No, I love you, Azula.
I do.
(dramatic suspense music)
(Azula grunts) (glass shatters)
- [Narrator] Azula is forced to face a hard truth
that she still refuses to accept.
If Ursa loves Azula no matter what,
then Azula has been wrong this whole time.
She doesn't have to act like a monster to be powerful.
She could be loved instead of feared.
And love and trust are stronger than fear and manipulation.
Hearing the truth breaks Azula.
(Azula laughing) (intense cinematic music)
(fire roaring)
When Katara defeats her in the Agni Kai,
everything Azula wrote off as weak or foolish wins the day,
and everything she thought was important
comes crashing down. (Azula panting)
(intense cinematic music)
(Azula screaming) (fire whooshing)
(Azula groaning)
(Azula sobbing)
(Azula moaning)
After losing the Agni Kai and her crown
on the day of Sozin's Comet, Azula is institutionalized.
(dramatic music)
A year later, Zuko visits her asking her to talk to Ozai
about Ursa's disappearance.
She uses this opportunity to scheme her way
into Zuko's mission to find their mother.
The journey with Team Avatar is a tense one,
and after leaping off Appa mid-flight,
Azula has another hallucination of Ursa.
Once again, this vision of her mother insists she loves her,
an idea that Azula still can't bear to consider.
The hallucinations continue,
urging Azula to recognize her mother's love
and find her own destiny.
(dramatic music)
Once Team Avatar finds Ursa in her new life,
(lasers whooshing) Azula confronts her mother,
demanding to know why she wasn't worthy of Ursa's love.
(rhythmic action music)
But just when it seems like Azula
will finally embrace her mother,
Zuko leaps in and Azula lashes out.
(lasers whooshing) (rhythmic action music)
She asks Zuko to give her the throne,
begging to be rid of the nagging in her head.
Zuko says the Fire Nation throne is his destiny,
but he says that Azula has value as a person,
not just as the Fire Lord.
At this, she flees into the forest.
While in hiding, Azula's hallucinations stop.
She returns to the Fire Nation capital
and takes on the image of a Kemurikage.
Dressed as these dark spirits,
Azula and a group of her followers
begin stirring up unrest in the capital.
When Zuko unmasks her, Azula attacks.
She reveals that she's decided on a new destiny.
By creating chaos, she'll turn Zuko into a Fire Lord
who rules through fear just like Ozai.
(dramatic music) - Relax, Fire Lord Zuko.
Just let go, give into it.
- [Narrator] And much to his horror,
Zuko realizes that trying to stop Azula's scheming
has turned him into an authoritarian ruler
just like his father. (intense cinematic music)
At that, Azula vanishes in smoke.
(intense cinematic music)
Once the Princess of the Fire Nation,
now Azula is a shadowy figure,
haunted and haunting, planning her next move.
There's no trace of Azula in the Legend of Korra,
so that's all we know about her life so far.
(rhythmic action music)
Do you think Azula could ever find redemption?
Let us know in the comments,
and make sure to subscribe for more Avatar timelines.
- [Azula] Now it's over.