Avatar: Did Ozai Really Kill His Wife?

Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the popular Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series is finally here, and we on Fiction Horizon are going to be covering the series, explaining all the changes from the original animated series, as well as some crucial story elements that you might be wondering about. This article will be dedicated to Ursa, Zuko’s and Azula’s mother, and the former wife of Ozai. Her story is one of the saddest in the whole series, and we are once again going to talk about it as we are going to explain her fate to you. In this article, you are going to find out whether Ozai indeed killed Ursa in the series or not.

Ozai and Ursa had a horrible relationship

Long before Zuko was born, when his grandpa, the Fire Lord Azulon, was told by a prophecy that if his ancestry blended with that of the Avatar Roku, his bloodline would continue to rule the Fire Nation. Knowing this, he found Ursa, a relative of Roku’s, and forced her to marry his son Ozai despite the fact that she was engaged to and in love with another man, Ikem. Ursa gave birth to Azula and Zuko after the marriage was completed.

Ozai was, as you might assume, a horrible father to the children and an even worse husband to Ursa. There was no hint of emotion between them, and Ozai’s sadistic personality actually caused a lot of issues for all of them. Ozai was a narcissist, and all he cared about was himself, especially his tyrannical goals and his insatiable lust for power. But, there was a problem – his brother Iroh.

Iroh was a general in the Fire Nation and older than Ozai. Ozai ignored Iroh completely and demanded that his father give him the throne when Iroh’s son died in combat. Frustrated by the question, the ferocious Azulon agreed, but he decided to make Ozai kill his own son, Zuko, so he may face the same fate as Iroh; this was a brutal move on Azulon’s side, but he probably thought that Ozai would then back down. However, Ozai did not hesitate, and this is where Ursa had to intervene.

Although she suffered much abuse from him so that she could be by her children’s side in silence, when she found out that Ozai was ready to kill Zuko, she decided to intervene. She promised she would make him an untraceable and lethal poison in exchange for their son’s life, which he could use in any way he pleased. He, of course, wanted to kill Azulon with it and take over the Fire Nation. Ozai agreed, and soon after that, Ursa disappeared. So, what happened to her?

No, Ozai did not kill Ursa – he simply banished her from the Fire Nation

Despite the fact that many fans thought that Ozai killed Ursa then and there, he did not actually take her life. Namely, after agreeing to trade Zuko’s life for the poison, he added an additional condition – Ursa would have to leave the Fire Nation forever and never again see her two children. Although it hurt her, she agreed to do so, effectively banishing herself from the Fire Nation and making a major sacrifice to save the life of her son.

Certainly, she would not be by their side anymore, but she would continue living knowing that they were alive. And that is exactly what happened. Ursa left and later managed to find happiness with Noren, staying away from Ozai and his tyranny. And while Ozai himself said later that banishment was a light punishment for Ursa, he did not kill her. As the series revealed, she would later return to face her ex-husband when he ended up imprisoned and was just a weak and defenseless man with absolutely no power. And that is Ursa’s fate in Avatar.

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