Avatar: Ozai’s and Ursa’s Relationship Explained!

Avatar: The Last Airbender was a very popular anime-style TV series that attracted a lot of fans. With a great story and excellent animation, Avatar: The Last Airbender captured the hearts of fans around the world, and Netflix’s live-action adaptation is building on that success. And while we are covering the series here, we are also going to use this opportunity to reveal more details, not directly related to the live-action series. The relationship between Zuko’s and Azula’s parents, Ozai and Ursa, is one of the more interesting ones in the series, and we are going to use this article to provide you with more details about it.

The story of Ursa and Ozai is a very sad story without love or romance

As you might have assumed, the focus of this article is going to be the history of the Fire Nation in Avatar: The Last Airbender, as we are going to talk about two very important characters from the turbulent history of this belligerent nation. They are Ozai, one of the nation’s most famous and villainous rulers, and his wife, the gentle Ursa, who is also the mother of Zuko and Azula. This article will tell you the sad story of the two of them.

The story actually begins 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 tracked down Ursa, a relative of Roku’s, and made her wed his son Ozai, even though she was in love with and engaged to someone else, a man named Ikem. After the marriage was consummated, Ursa gave birth to a little boy named Zuko, and later to Azula. But this is where things start to get interesting.

Namely, Ozai had a brother – Iroh. Iroh was older than Ozai and was a general of the Fire Nation. When Iroh’s son perished in battle, Ozai immediately requested that his father cede his crown to him, ignoring Iroh altogether. Frustrated by the inquiry, the vicious Azulon chose to force Ozai to murder his own son, Zuko, in order to cause him to experience the same suffering that Iroh did. But, while many would have hesitated, Ozai did not. Ursa then struck a deal with him – she made him an untraceable and fatal poison, which he could use however he wanted, for their son’s life; he agreed, but he also sent her away from the Fire Nation.

Ursa’s sacrifice – as she was forced to leave her children behind – was a great one and it proved just how caring and good as a person she was. She never wanted to marry Ozai (as she loved Ikem), and she was mentally abused by her husband. He also controlled her life and constantly undermined all attempts of hers to teach their children how to be moral and good people. This is the true nature of their relationship: Ursa was simply a vessel, a “thing” that a prophecy mentioned, and Ozai, sadly, did treat her as such.

Did Ozai love Ursa?

Well… even if you haven’t seen the whole series or read the comics, it is quite obvious – from what we have said above – that there was no love between Ozai and Ursa; it remains doubtful whether Ozai could even feel such an emotion like love, but that is a wholly different question.

Be that as it may, no, Ozai did not love Ursa. He married because it was a duty of his, as we have explained, and all he did was control and abuse her, as well as sabotage all of her attempts to raise Zuko and Azula properly. The fact that he had sent her away after striking a deal with her confirms that he never really felt anything for her and that love was far from being an adequate description of their relationship. And that is the gist of it.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!

Liked this article? Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!