Ever wonder what happened to Fire Lady Ursa?
In the official comic book series, The Search,
Zuko and Azula must team up to find their long lost mother.
Will they succeed on their quest?
Where is my mother?
In the small Fire Nation villae of Hira, young Ursa's gotten
the most wonderful news.
Her boyfriend, Ikem, has asked her to marry him.
And she said, "Yes".
But fate has other plans.
Firelord Azulon showed up with his son Ozai.
The Fire Prince had a proposal of his own.
As Avatar Roku's granddaughter, Ursa could begin
a powerful firebender bloodline by marrying Ozai.
She didn't want to, but had no choice.
[screaming]
She was forced to sever her connection to Hira,
along with her family and Ikem.
Firelord Zuko had decided it was time
to find his long lost mother.
If he wanted to locate Ursa, he'll need Azula's help.
[Zuko groaning] Stop!
And that isn't going to be eas.
[Zuko] Get back here!
Azula showed Zuko something their father had locked away
for years. Before she disappeared, Ursa
secretly sent letters to Hira.
While it wasn't a huge lead,
it was the first one Zuko had in years.
No!
[Azula laughing]
Zuko recruited Team Avatar to accompany him to Hira.
There was just one problem.
[grunting]
Azula was joining them.
Zuki!
Zuko had given his word
she wouldn't travel as a prisoner.
Of course, it was going to be hard
for the team to trust her.
Sokka!
But this was their best shot at finding Ursa.
They set off for Hira, and as you probably guessed,
it didn't take Azula long
before she started sabotaging everything.
[grunting]
But she didn't get far.
During Sozin's Comet, Azula had begun to hallucinate
her mother, and it's getting worse.
I love you, Azula.
[groaning]
[grunting]
Yeah! Boomerang!
[growling]
[growling, grunting]
[screaming]
Appa!
Yahoo!
[whimpering]
Are you okay?
[groaning]
Zuzu, you don't look so good.
After escaping the wolf spirit, Team Avatar set up camp.
Wait, what's that hiding in Azula's boot?
One of Ursa's letters?
"My dearest Ikem, it's taken me a long time to admit it.
But you were right.
I belong with you and nothing is worth this pain.
My only consolation is our son, Zuko.
When I look into his eyes,
it's as if I am looking into yours.
My thoughts are always with yo.
Love, Ursula."
For many years, Ursa had been keeping
the mementos of her old life.
[knocking]
She had never forgotten about Hira or Ikem
and had been secretly writing letters to him.
But unbeknownst to Ursa,
Ozai had been intercepting the letters,
including the one Zuko just read.
How was this possible?
Could Ikem be Zuko's real father?
Ozai ordered a Yuyan Archer to track down
and assassinate Ikem
but he barely made it back alive.
He tracked Ikem to the nearby forest,
but after months of searching, he was never found.
I can't believe it.
Zuko shared the letter with the Avatar.
Something didn't add up.
And if Zuko was in fact not Ozai's son,
his claim to the throne could e in jeopardy.
Wait. That would mean Azula could--
There you are! [grunting]
[screaming]
It became obvious why Azula kept that letter.
She thinks it's her destiny to be Fire Lord.
But they will never find Ursa if they keep fighting.
They finally made it to Hira. In classic Team Avatar fashion,
they threw on some disguises and headed into town.
A large group gathered to catch the local theater performance,
which looked like a good place to start asking around.
Ah!
Meet Noren, director of the Hira Acting Troupe.
Ursa used to be a member years ago,
so Noren recognized her name.
He brought Team Avatar back to his home,
where they met his wife, Norik, and their daughter, Kiki.
They told Zuko that Ursa left town many years ago.
It was rumored that she married
into the Fire Nation royal family.
As for Ikem, he disappeared shortly after.
Some say he went to the Forgotten Valle,
an ancient forest outside of town.
But neither of them had been seen in years.
Zuko felt Ursa getting closer
as his final memory of her began to surface.
I'm only telling you for your own good.
I know. Maybe you could find
a nice Earth Kingdom family to adopt you.
Stop it, you're lying!
Dad would never do that to me.
Your father would never do what to you?
What is going on here?
I don't know.
It's time for a talk.
Azula told Ursa she overheard Azulon.
He ordered Ozai to kill Zuko as punishment
for betraying Iroh.
She knew I wanted the throne, and she proposed a plan.
A plan in which I would become Fire Lord
and your life would be spared.
Ursa made a deadly medicine.
Ozai used it to poison Azulon in his sleep.
Then to hide his deed and protect himself,
he banished Ursa from the capital.
Mom?
Zuko, please, my love, listen to me.
Everything I've done, I've done to protect you.
Remember this, Zuko.
No matter how things may seem to change,
never forget who you are.
When Team Avatar arrived at the Forgotten Valley,
Aang felt a strong spiritual presence.
He followed a flutter back to a small pool.
It was clear, peaceful and tranquil.
[grunting]
[Sokka] Look out!
What's going on?
Is the forest attacking them?
[groaning]
No, wait. Someone's bending the water and the vines.
[gasping]
They introduced themselves as Misu and Rafa,
two siblings of the Northern Water Tribe.
Several years ago, Rafa's face had been horribly disfigured.
Not even the best healer's in their tribe could help him.
But Misu learned about an ancient spirit.
According to the legend,
this spirit could give people new faces.
And could possibly heal Rafa.
That legend brought them to the valley.
But they've had no luck in finding
the mysterious spirit.
Aang offered to meditate
into the spirit world in order to find her.
But Azula nearly ruined everything again.
No!
Whoa!
It's the giant wolf spirit from before.
But this time he's not attacking Aang.
[chanting]
The Mother of Faces arrived,
and she did, in fact, know a woman named Ursa.
After Ursa's banishment, she reunited with Ikem.
Together, they found the spirit
and requested new faces and memories.
The spirit had transformed Ikem and Ursa into Noren and Noriko.
This was it.
With Ursa's identity revealed,
Zuko needed to find her before Azula did.
[knocking]
Luckily for Zuko, he made it back
to Noriko's house with no Azula in sight.
[gasping]
Back in the forest, Aang pleadd
with the spirit to restore Misu's face.
It was taken from him by Koh, the Face Stealer.
Meanwhile, in Hira, Zuko revealed
his true identity as Fire Lord.
But just as Zuko was about to get some answers...
- It's over. - Back off, Azula.
[groaning]
Come back!
After Azula fled, the Mother of Faces returned.
She offered to restore Noriko's original face
and memories, and Noriko accepted.
The next morning, Zuko finally reunited
with the woman who was truly his mother.
With all of her memories back,
she told Zuko his father was indeed Ozai.
The letter Azula kept was simply an attempt
to hurt Ozai, but they both knew the truth.
Zuko's claim to the throne was legitimate.
Now, Ursa had years of catching up to do with Zuko.
That wraps up The Search.
Which comic book should we recap next?
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