What critical events shaped The Hundred Year War?
In our hands is the most successful empire in history.
It’s time we expanded it.
The Hundred Year War, also known as the Great War, began with fire Lord Sozin.
I’ve seen the colony, Sozin.
How dare you occupy Earth Kingdom Territory?
Avatar Roku could’ve prevented Sozin’s goal to expand the fire nation,
but he didn’t.
I’m sparing you, Sozin.
I'm letting you go in the name of our past friendship.
But I warn you, even a single step out of line will result in your permanent… end.
Fire Lord Sozin would not repay that kindness.
Not when the Avatar was in a life or death situation.
It’s too much.
Please.
Without you, all my plans are suddenly possible.
Roku passed at age 70.
Twelve years later, a great comet arrived.
One that would amplify the power of firebending by 100 suns.
Dreadfully, Sozin used that power for mass destruction.
The timing was perfect to change the world.
I knew the next avatar would be born an air nomad.
So, I wiped out the air temples.
The airbender annihilation marked the beginning of The Hundred Year War.
A war that continued to devastate the other nations.
And how was it Great Grandfather Sozin managed to win The Battle of Han Tui?
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 defense is burned to a crisp in minutes.
Fire Lord Sozin was a powerful leader.
Although, despite victories in battle, one failure haunted him.
Somehow the new Avatar eluded me.
I’ve wasted the remainder of my life searching in vain.
I know he's hiding out there somewhere.
The Fire Nation’s greatest threat, the Last Airbender.
His heir, Fire Lord Azulon, continued Sozin’s efforts.
The Earth kingdom City of Taku was once an important trading post.
It's home to a herbalist institute that used to send medicine across the world.
This was one of the first Earth Kingdom cities destroyed by the fire nation.
Likely, Azulon’s first major victory.
Not much is known about the battle of Garsai,
other than it was important enough to be mentioned in Azulon’s funeral.
Azulon, you were our fearless leader in the battle of Garsai.
Our matchless conqueror of the Hew Sin Provinces.
Many believed the Hew Sin Provinces turned into more fire nation colonies.
Thirty five years into the war, Azulon began his most heinous effort.
You’re a waterbender!
I've never met another waterbender from our tribe.
That's because the fire nation wiped them all out.
That’s right. Azulon’s army begin raids on the southern water tribes,
capturing every bender they could.
Their numbers quickly dwindled.
Hama, a lone survivor, was one of the last ones defending the tribe.
Finally, I, too, was captured.
I was led away in chains, the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe.
While those prisoners remained captive, the Southern Water Tribe was left
without a single waterbender for almost 50 years.
But we all know that Hama eventually escaped from her prison.
And she did so using a new fearfully powerful technique, bloodbending.
It is speculated that the blood bender’s escape
was the reason these raids continued roughly 60 years after they began.
It would also explain why they were even worse this time around.
My source says there’s one waterbender left in the Southern Water Tribe.
We’re not leaving until we find the waterbender.
It's me.
Take me as your prisoner.
I'm afraid I'm not taking prisoners today.
The next major event in The Hundred Year War
occurred at the Earth kingdom's largest city, Ba Sing Se.
If the city is as magnificent as its wall, Ba Sing Se must be something to behold.
I hope you all may see it someday. If we don’t burn it to the ground first.
[laughing]
Known as the Impenetrable City, the dual walled stronghold,
faced an invasion that lasted nearly two years.
But in the end, the Earth Nation prevailed.
I acknowledge my defeat at Ba Sing Se.
After 600 days away from home, my men were tired and I was tired.
[yawning]
And I’m still tired.
Many attributed that outcome to the death of one important soldier.
Iroh has lost his son.
Your cousin Lu Ten, did not survive the battle.
The impact of Lu Ten’s death on Iroh was no secret,
Though, even as this General gave up fighting,
there was another, more important change in leadership.
As was your dying wish, you are now, succeeded by your second son.
Hail Fire Lord Ozai!
Fire Lord Azulon had died in the 95th year of war.
Few would learn years later that Azula had actually been poisoned
at the will of a second son, the new Fire Lord.
Four years later, Avatar Aang emerged from a ball of ice
to an awfully unbalanced world.
Firebenders?
They were here?
Rumors began to spread across the world of the Avatar's return.
Hope returned as well. As evident by small pockets of insurgents.
One ship of Earth Kingdom prisoners was lost to a revolt.
Here’s your chance, Earthbenders! Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!
And another occupied village was disrupted by a flood.
This was a victory, Katara. Remember that.
The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe.
But when Avatar Aang was captured by Admiral Zhao and the Yuyan Archers,
Resistance arrived in an unexpected form.
Who are you? What's going on? Are you here to rescue me?
I’ll take that as a yes.
The man behind the Blue Spirit, Firelord Ozai's son, Prince Zuko.
The banished prince needed to capture Aang himself to regain his honor.
So, Zuko took the victory away from his peer, Admiral Zhao.
But in doing so, Zuko made a powerful enemy.
I didn't know you were skilled with broad swords, Prince Zuko.
I’m not. They’re antiques.
Just decorative.
Have you heard of the Blue Spirit, General Iroh?
Just rumors. I don't think he is real.
He’s real all right.
He’s a criminal and an enemy of the fire nation.
But I have a feeling justice will catch up with him soon.
The discovery of Zuko’s secret led to an attempted assassination.
Ahh!
Huah! Ahh!
Meanwhile, the Avatar and his allies
discovered Earth Kingdom refugees in the Northern Air Temple.
These refugees were being forced to build weapons for the fire nation.
So, Team Avatar helped liberate them.
This had dire consequence, though, because in the process
they unknowingly handed the fire nation a game changing invention.
This defeat is the gateway to many victories.
Conflict arose further north as the Fire Navy approached their next target.
Admiral Zhao brought his fleet to the doorstep of The Northern Water tribe.
Aided by a reinstated General Iroh, the Fire Navy waited until morning to attack.
[screaming]
It was a two day assault.
One that even the Avatar wasn't powerful enough to stop at first.
I can't do it.
- I can't do it. - What happened?
I must’ve taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships.
There’s just too many of them.
Zhao's fleet anchored on the first night.
It was known that the moon amplified a water bender's power.
The next day, the Fire Nation breached the tribes defense.
The Water Tribe can trying to resist the inevitable,
but their city will fall today.
As the fire nation battles the Northern Water Tribe,
Admiral Zhao snuck into the tribe’s sacred space, the Spirit Oasis.
This was home to the moon and ocean spirit.
And by taking out the moon spirit, the power of waterbending
would be erased from this world.
Whatever you do to that spirit, I’ll unleash on you tenfold! Let it go, now!
[Argh!
He succeeded, briefly,
until Princess Yue surrendered herself to become the new Moon Spirit.
That sacrifice, along with the Avatar and the Ocean Spirit,
secured a victory for the Northern Water Tribe.
Admiral Zhao was lost in battle. Winter concluded without further incident.
In Spring of the 100th year, the Fire Nation invaded
the second largest city in the Earth Kingdom, Omashu.
The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do.
- He looked me in the eye and said... - I'm going to do nothing.
[laughing]
Omashu’s main industry was making weapons for war.
So, when King Bumi surrendered,
it did not bode well for the rest of the Earth Kingdom.
Ba Sing Se was faced with another assault by the Fire Nation.
This time, the invaders planned to break through
the city's protective walls by unconventional means.
This drill is a feat of scientific ingenuity and raw, destructive power.
Once it tunnels through the wall, our troops will storm their city.
The Earth Kingdom will finally fall and you can claim Ba Sing Se.
Nothing can stop us.
The Earth Kingdom Army was totally unprepared for such a machine.
Even Team Avatar struggled for a solution.
There's the inner mechanism where we are now, and the outer shell.
The inner part and the outer part are connected by these braces.
If we cut through them, the entire thing will collapse.
This was a major victory for the Earth Kingdom.
We lost.
The machine also proved to the Earth King that there was in fact a war going on.
Until now, the king had been gaslighted by his police force, the Dai Li.
His Highness had no clue there had been a war raging his entire life.
Surely you don't believe these children instead of your most loyal attendant.
Dai Li, arrest Long Feng.
I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom.
Team Avatar stopped the takeover from the outside, but not inside.
We are the Earth King's humble servants.
Disguised as a Kyoshi warrior, Firelord Ozai's daughter infiltrated the city.
Princess Azula established control over the Dai Li
and the coup of Ba Sing Se was swift.
Eventually, after the perceived death of Avatar Aang,
the impenetrable city was taken.
We've done it, Zuko.
It's taken a hundred years, but the Fire Nation has conquered Ba Sing Se.
The Fire Nation had come closer to conquering the entire Earth Kingdom
than ever before.
But there was still a dangerous variable.
- General Shinu, your report. - Thank you, sir.
Ba Sing Se is still under our control.
However, earthbender rebellions have prevented us
from achieving total victory in the Earth Kingdom.
What are you suggesting, sir?
When the comet last came, my grandfather, Firelord Sozin,
used it to wipe out the Air Nomads.
Now, I will use its power to end the Earth Kingdom, permanently.
If not sooner,
The Hundred Year War would be decided during the return of Sozin's Comet.
But there was another celestial event shortly before. An eclipse.
Without the sun, firebenders will be powerless.
So, the Resistance chose this moment to invade the Fire Nation capital.
It appeared to be the biggest organized retaliation against the Fire Nation yet.
When this is finished, the Avatar will have defeated the Firelord.
We will have control of the Fire Nation capital and this war will be over.
[cheering]
Unfortunately,
Avatar Aang did not reach Firelord Ozai during the eight minute eclipse.
The invasion failed.
You're our only chance in the long run.
You and Sokka have to go with Aang somewhere safe.
It's the only way to keep hope alive.
The youngest of our group should go with you.
The adults will stay behind and surrender.
We’ll be prisoners, but we’ll all survive this battle.
This day was a failure for the Resistance, in part.
Though, a key ally would be liberated.
Prince Zuko took the opportunity of the eclipse to stand up to his father,
officially severing ties with Fire Lord Ozai's regime.
I’m going to join the Avatar and I’m going to help him to defeat you.
Really?
Elsewhere, an even larger victory against the Fire Nation emerged in Omashu.
An eclipse! That'll do it.
King Bumi liberated the city after patiently biding his time.
Omashu, which had been briefly renamed New Ozai,
was purged of its Fire Nation invaders.
What do you think you're doing?
[grunting]
Taking back my city!
You’ve got no fire power, and it’s payback time!
In the short time between the Eclipse and the Comet,
Zuko played a critical role in rescuing prisoners
from a containment camp at Boiling Rock.
This was the first successful escape from the Fire Nation’s most advanced
maximum security prison.
Sorry, Warden. Your record is officially broken.
The escape led Princess Azula to the Western Air Temple,
where her forces nearly captured Zuko and Aang. Team Avatar got away.
The Resistance were free to regroup and strategize.
And it all led up to this.
One hundred years after it departed, Sozin’s Comet returned.
Its presence fueled Fire Benders like gasoline.
The Hundred Year War came down to three central battles.
The first occurred in Ba Sing Se.
A charge was led by the Order of the White Lotus,
a group of Master Benders from every nation.
Directed by former General Iroh.
When I was a boy, I had a vision that I would one day take Ba Sing Se.
Only now do I see that my destiny is to take it back from the Fire Nation
so the Earth Kingdom can be free again.
The second major battle happened on a smaller scale.
It was an Agni Kai for the Fire Nation Throne.
Zuko, ou must return to the Fire Nation so that when the Fire Lord falls,
you can assume the throne and restore peace and order.
But Azula will be there waiting for you.
- I can handle Azula. - Not alone. You’ll need help.
You're right. Katara, how would you like to help me put Azula in her place.
It would be my pleasure.
Finally, the battle at Wulong Forest
would decide a trajectory for the rest of the world.
Fire Lord Ozai, now the self-proclaimed Phoenix King,
led an army to eradicate the Earth Nation.
But one challenger intervened.
It was the boy who had eluded Ozai in his forefathers
for a century, Avatar Aang, The Last Airbender.
Fire Lord Ozai, you and your forefathers have devastated the balance of this world.
And now you shall pay the ultimate price.
The passing of Sozin’s Comet drew great power and great destruction.
And in the end, the Fire Nation’s army fell. The air ships were destroyed.
Ba Sing Se was liberated.
Azula was defeated by Katara of the Southern Water Tribe.
And, interestingly enough, it was Azula’s namesake, Fire Lord Azulon,
who had originally tried to eradicate waterbenders in the Southern Water Tribe.
Had Azulon succeeded, perhaps so would have Azula.
But most importantly, Ozai’s reign ended when the Phoenix King was
stripped of his firebending powers entirely. An absolutely unheard of feat.
The war was over.
I promised my uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation, and I will.
The road ahead of us is challenging.
A hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided.
But with the Avatar’s help, we can get it back on the right path
and begin a new era of love and peace.
What lessons can we learn from The Hundred Year War?
Comment below and keep watching for all things Avatar.
Make sense of our past, Aang,
and you will bring peace and restore balance in the world.