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Aaaand that's all, folks. Here's a direct download link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?icy71t6b4y77gkh

...Jeez Azula...

Re: the rest of it, to be hoenst I kind of like it. And at least there's a mystery there to be solved, as such.

More than one mystery. Also:
-We do not know if Ursa was speaking figuratively or literally.
-We do not know if Ursa was sure, or assuming.
-We do not know if Azula is Mr. Dragonmaskybutt's as well.
-We do not know if anyone will wise up and realize that Azula has developed acute schizophrenia as a result of post-traumatic stress.
-We do not know if that letter is real, or a fake that Ozai made to cut Zuko out of the loop if Ursa ever betrayed him.

A good place to start, though. I'm liking where this is going.

>>111313
>-We do not know if Azula is Mr. Dragonmaskybutt's as well.

Are you suggesting that human females can somehow store sperm in uterus for several years before allowing it to impregnate them?

>>111311
"You know, there's something you should always remember, Peter.
Francis may not have been your father,
but he raised you as if you were his own. And if that isn't love,
- I don't know what is."
-Brian Griffin, Family Guy

>>111315
I am suggesting that Ursa may have been sneakier than you give her credit for.

>>111317

I think the twist is that *Ursa* didn't want Zuko to inherit the throne, because she was trying to protect him from becoming like Ozai, so she tried to sabotage his chances of being Ozai's heir. If she knew her letters were being intercepted, then her comment about Zuko's parentage would inevitably find their way to Ozai.

...what? You think Azula inherited her ability to scheme from "Kill 'Em All with Fire" Ozai?

Who would've thought that one grammatical widget could lead to so many years of misery?

>>111315

Well, the Fire Lord's summer house is in ember island after all...

A little escapade in the moonless night with your true love...

i think it's obvious baiting and when ursa shows up she's going to be like, 'jesus christ your father thought the same exact thing'

Oh Zuko. All that time and affection wasted.

dsdsdsvdsvvsdvsd

MAURY: YOU ARE NOT THE FATHER!

Okay, Conspiracy Theory Azula is saddening.

-dat Sokka and Katara sibling interaction
-dat Aang and Zuko bromance "Your fireiness!" "It's only been a week." "WORST PLAN EVER!"
-Azula being the magnificent bastard she is, smacking Zuko's shit with the tea service tray, escaping, saving the day in the spirit wolf battle
-Azula being utterly ravaged by her mental illness to the point she curls into the fetal position when they camp out. Good lord that girl needs some love and help.
-Zuko not wanting to duel his sister again after she attacks Aang
-Aang is still getting the hang of the whole spirit world bridge thingy yet
-Appa smacking the Sprit Wolf's shit
-Ursa's backstory as a whole :( :( :(
-dat ambiguous wording of the letter at the very end. Ursa has to be referring to "our son" as in the Royal Couple's son and not her and Ikem's son. But man did this single page cause tumblr to goddamn implode on itself. I don't even want to know how /co/ took it.
-The kataang mushiness was drastically reeled in (I'm a sucker for it myself, but I can see how it would wear on some people).
-INTERIM FIRE LORD IROH AND TEA APPRECIATION DAY. YES GOOD A++++

I quite enjoyed all of it and can't wait for July! Yang has all of the character's voices down pat. I would love to hear some of the VA's recite a few pages at a con panel. Especially Grey Delisle.

Thanks for posting the rip, I'll make sure to order a physical copy once I'm back in my house. I'm still displaced by Shitheadstorm Sandy and my current storage situation is rather limited :| Comics and physical vidya have been off of my shopping list for the duration.

>>111281
Why is there still this forced tension between Suki and Zuko

>>111299
>>111295
Hahaw lordy 'dat rape face.

I was really surprised by how good this was. Not that I didn't enjoy The Promise, but it was a little weak at times. I wasn't sure if Yang would be able to pull of something as big as this, but I like where he's going.

I've noticed a curious phenomenon though: the people who don't seem to like it, curiously enough, are the ones who actually believe they are going to retcon Zuko as Ikem's kid while the people who do like it tend to be the ones who believe it is just to create doubt in Zuko's mind for dramatic purposes and that he is still Ozai's son. Odd, but entertaining.

>>111328

I don't really see how it is "forced." It's actually quite low key and so far has been completely one-sided and there's nothing wrong with Suki worrying about her friend, especially when it's part of her job.

Suki could be starting to want him, but there's no sexual tension between them.

>>111330

Strange, I've encountered the exact opposite. People who hate the swerve are frothing at the mouth about ZUKO'S WHOLE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ARC ERASED INSTANTLY and those who like it are all HOLY SHIT CALM YOUR TITS FANDOM THIS IS JUST PART 1 AND THERE ARE MULTIPLE OUTS FOR ZUKO'S ARC AT THIS POINT.

I forgot to mention that the Maury parody fanart spawned from this sent my sides to the next dimension. Fucking stunning.

>>111335

I think you misread my post, that's exactly what I was trying to say. I don't believe Zuko isn't Ozai's kid and I enjoyed this comic a lot.

People who don't like it appear to believe that they are actually going to go straight with it because "Yang is a shit writer and would do that."

>>111336

Fans are notoriously hard to please and like judging things as bad?

Like there are people I've talked to who say that Legend of Korra is LITERALLY the worst cartoon ever made. Which either means that they have no understanding of hyperbole, are kind of sheltered or have kind of a lack of grip. Flawed though it is, LoK isn't as bad as, say, Family Guy at its worst for example.

Personally I like what's been done in the search thus far, and I'm looking forward to more.

Gonna admit, I'm thankful that there were at lest a few pages of interaction between Zuko, Suki and Ty Lee. I was disappointed by it's absence in The Promise.

Still loling at how Zuko just brushes Ty Lee's attempts at getting comforted, though.

A thought occurs.

It's been previously established that the Fire Nation royal family believes in the Divine Right of Kings.

Could the marriage of Ozai and Ursa be an attempt by Azulon to put literal "divine" blood into his descendants, because even though there is not evidence that it would make more powerful benders they still would be related to a physical god in some form?

So by some twisted logic, they might have thought that just as the Avatar holds power on the world stage, being an Avatar's descendant means that they have the right to use that heritage too.

>>111339

I think the three of them might make an interesting trio.

I can also imagine all the shipper feels that would come with a Suki, Zuko and Ty Lee adventure.

>>111342
Yeah - I do wish that they'd tagged along, instead of Katara and Sokka. They're Zuko's body guards so it makes sense, and having two chiblockers on hand would also be a handy way to defuse the kind of threat Azula poses. We also get neat character interaction as a result.

>>111341

I don't doubt that may be some of Azulon's reasoning at all, but what I find weird is that Ozai is the one to give this bloodline not Iroh. The impression we were given was Iroh was the favored one. So I wonder who insisted on marrying Ursa to the younger prince, Ozai or Azulon.

If it was Azulon, then it seems like he may have considered making Ozai the heir to the throne.

If it was Ozai, perhaps Ozai thought that Ursa was the perfect opportunity to show up his older brother and have a better chance at becoming king.

>>111283
>Dual wielding swords
Laying it on a bit thick, aren't they? I'm also now imagining Zuko pretty much outright copying the Blue Spirit persona from Love Amongst the Dragons.

>>111346
The Dragon King Nuoh mask IS the Blue Spirit's mask.

>>111345
Azulon did mention that it took a long time to track down Roku's son, maybe Iroh was already married by then?

>>111345

Being the favored one could also mean Iroh was allowed to choose his own wife without an arrangement.

>>111359
I doubt it - heirs to a throne don't typically get all that much choice in the matter. More likely, since Lu Ten had already been born, the idea was to wed Ozai's descendants with Iroh's at some point before the power diluted itself to much.

>>111361

Maybe in real life, but a book aimed at Avatar's target audience of 6- to 11-year-olds isn't going to have inter-family marriage.

I wish Ty Lee came along. I won't lie that I ship it, but as someone who's been with Zuko and Azula since childhood, I think she would've been a better addition than the usual Gaang.

So Azula has rode Appa, slept in the camp and fought side-by-side the Gaang.

She's pretty much a member of Team Avatar now, right?

>>111363
Same here. Wish Suki was along for the ride as well, to show Azula interacting with a victim of hers who she wasn't close to. That and it makes sense for Zuko's guard to accompany him.

>>111345
Maybe it's because Iroh was already married, while Ozai was single. Another possibility is that Azulon thought Ursa would be more willing to marry a man closer to her own age.

>>111345
Maybe it's because Iroh was already married, while Ozai was single. Another possibility is that Azulon thought Ursa would be more willing to marry a man closer to her own age.

“Mai…Ozai’s not my father.”
“Who told you that?”
“I read it in a letter.”
“Where did you find this letter?”
“On Azula.”
“It’s a plot to usurp the throne. Ignore it.”
“Okay.”

lol

>>111369

This is why the plot required Mai's absence

>>111369
>Zuko telling people stuff

lol

>>111373
>Zuko

lol

is there anything he can't fuck up?

>>111376
He's certainly completely incapable at keeping his sister under wraps

>>111376
You know, I don't really like the way Yang writes Sokka, in the comics he seems much more like the Ember Island Players parody of Sokka than the fully developed character from the end of the series. But I've got to tell you, Bad Decision Lord is the perfect nickname for Zuko.

>>111387

Sokka was a comic relief character but he was also the voice of reason a lot of times when his friends acted dumb or reckless.

Yang did have that little thing by the campfire between he and Zuko, so I don't think Yang of writing the more serious side of Sokka. The stories so far in the comics just haven't seemed to call for it I guess, at least not from him.

>>111388

>*is incapable of writing

>>111376
Treachery

>>111369

Ha!

Mai not being around to advice Zuko is the Avatar equivalent of not being able to get a cell phone signal when the monster's stalking you through the woods.

>>111387
I think the real issue is that Yang just isn't very funny in general. A lot of his jokes rely on people being WACKY and Sokka just has to fall into that role even though sarcasm was always Sokka's main tool for comedy. Sarcasm can be written if it's done well enough, but so far it's been completely absent.

The art is simply gorgeous.

>>111393

Is it just me or does Zuko look prettier in the issue?

>>111394
I think that it's the reduced stress load.

I'm out of touch with the fandom, what's the general reaction to this?
I'm liking it far more than The Promise, but I hope the flashbacks and letters are just red herring.

>>111396
general consensus seems to be "it's better than the promise but not by much", plus a lot of freaking out over the twist at the end. tumblr also doesn't seem happy about how azula's mental problems are being handled.

and the flashbacks probably aren't a red herring, since they explain some things about ursa like why she always made the family to go ember island, but the letter definitely is.

I was really luking forward to this...THAnks a ton!!!

>>111397
>tumblr also doesn't seem happy

Quelle surprise.

>>111397

I'm seeing a lot of people really enjoy it actually. There is a divide though about that letter. Most of the people who enjoy the comic thinks it's a red herring.

But I'm seeing a lot more people get into than the Promise. Tumblr's shit about Azula's mental illness is just their woobifying waifu bullshit.

>>111400
>>111399
i actually kind of agree with tumblr on this one, something about it is just rubbing me the wrong way (and not in the sense that you're supposed to be able to tell just how messed up azula is), but i don't think yang is a hack because of it. mental illness is probably really difficult to write well for a kid's comic, and yang isn't even all that good of a writer to begin with.

>>111401

Well, for one thing, with all the supernatural stuff in this comic series, it's possible Azula's insanity is far from conventional and the result, at least partially, of some external force.

And I don't really see the problem since she's not really acting any different than how she was in the finale and people who actually have experience with the mentally ill that I talk to have no trouble categorizing her sickness.

I think we can all agree on the pacing being a lot better this time.
Even the fights look more dynamic and fun, maybe because there's Azula involved instead of random characters/boring OCs.

I know the twist at the end is thrown in there for the sake of drama, but when you really think about, it makes so many things make a lot more sense from Ozai's perspective.

Start with the fact that his arranged marriage was the result of them wanting to combine Sozin and Roku's bloodline in hopes of producing some kind of nazi-youth-uber-bender... Then the daughter you know is part of that bloodline starts to easily outperform her older brother, the son that he has doubts about because of that letter years ago... At this point that was probably all the proof he needed. The prodigy Azula was clearly his real offspring. Her natural talent being proof of her pedigree. While Zuko is just some peasant's bastard. Cue a lifetime of Ozai favoring Azula and shunning Zuko.

Seriously, as far as forced twists go, and keep in mind that I'm not suggesting that Zuko actually isn't Ozai's son. I believe he is. However, it makes a ridiculous amount of sense, and puts Ozai's actions in a much more understandable context if he believed it to be true.


And just to be clear, don't confuse "understandable" with "justifiable". I simply mean that in context to his character, it makes a lot more sense for this to be the fuel of his animosity towards Zuko rather than 'just because'.

The Search - Part 1
Dante likes it. And I've been avoiding tumblr like the plague, but I'm sure Grey commented and voiced something too.

I'm just going to say that the facial and bodily expressions in this are fucking gorgeous. And you'd never really guess Ozai would become winner of the 'Worst Douchebag Father of the Year' award 5 times in a row from his face the first time you see him in this. He even calls off those guards for Ursa!

>>111402
Well if Azula is having hallucinations about her mother she probably has schizophrenia and if she's afraid that her mother is turning everyone against her then she has paranoia. So Azula is a paranoid schizophrenic.

However if her mother actually is talking to her then she's just paranoid.

I was half expecting Ozai to call of the guards himself, challenge Ikem to a duel, kick his shit in, and leave with Ursa. He seemed too cartoony villain here, but then again Ozai's never been a very complex villain.

I was also waiting for Azula to wait for Sokka's turn guarding her, bring up Suki spending so much time at the FN capital and her relationship with Zuko, and flee in the ensuing conflict. But that's the shipperfag in me talking.

>>111414
>He seemed too cartoony villain here

Ozai's villainy is virtually non-existent in the comic though. He's mostly just shown to have a hard on for Ursa.

>I was also waiting for Azula to wait for Sokka's turn guarding her, bring up Suki spending so much time at the FN capital and her relationship with Zuko, and flee in the ensuing conflict.

Now you're just making me hope that we get scenes in later comics of redeemed Azula making fun of the fact that Suki wants to fuck her brother.

And chances are, with the way Search might end, I'm not gonna get them ;_;

>>111418
Well in a comic about Ursa marrying into Fire Nation Royalty, even though she loves someone else, Suki doing a similar thing with Zuko would be an interesting juxtaposition.

>>111434

Especially if the fan theory that Suki is Kyoshi's descendant turned out true.

I remember someone on /co/ made the comment that they thought Suki and young Ursa actually looked similar. Don't know if I agree, but it seems like now everyone sees Suki/Zuko in every corner.

>>111303

>>111442

glorious, simply glorious

>>111434
It would be incredibly hamhanded

>>111450

Not necessarily, it'd be more of an interesting foil since Suki would probably only agree to something she wanted to do in the first place.

i really like the theory that the spirit wolf helped Ikem into seeing Ursa again, and in that fateful reunion, Azula was concieved

basing on that, maybe what Ozai said was '"impossible" is that Azula was the one Ursa was referring to in the letter.

but why would Ozai still keep Azula if that were the case?

maybe because he doesn't want to be known as the unfortunate, dishonored cuckolded Prince of the Fire Nation, especially by his father, who painstakingly hunted down Roku's descendants for him to mate with. and besides, he already has his firstborn son, so his succession requirements is clear enough (i am aware that in the time period of Ozai finding out about the letter, Zuko and Azula were still too young to display their firebending talents)

and once Azula grew to be the prodigy that she is, Ozai excused her being a 'bastard' and adopted her as his own because her firebending prowess would bring glory and honor to his name; not to mention evidence to Azulon that his eugenics experiment worked, AND to ensure a loyal and powerful weapon to use against his enemies. brilliant!

But if he adopted Azula as his own, wouldn't he be concerned that he is breaking his family's dynasty? that's where my theory goes; Ozai doesn't really love Azula; he sees her as a weapon, and only adopted and tolerated her bastardity because of that. once all his enemies are vanquished, and his path to victory already clear, he would off Azula, like some disposable spoon and fork, and have new kids with another woman.

why not Zuko? well, he did try to kill Zuko in Day of Black Sun, and even though Zuko is his true heir, Zuko sucks so bad and is probably a reminder of his suck-ish genes. he strikes me as someone who would try his luck again with another kid and hopefully that kid won't suck as much as Zuko.

but why would the letter say "our son" instead of "our daughter" if this theory is true? simple forgery my friend. the rest of the message were the original written by Ursa, except for the phrase "our son", "his" , and "Zuko". my theory is that, for a time, that letter sat unedited in the chest containing the rest, but once Ozai saw that Zuko sucked and Azula became a skilled prodigy, following with my theory above, he edited the letter in case the inevitable happens that Zuko will take over him. or maybe he forged the letter after Zuko told him he is joining the avatar to help defeat him so he edited it to kick Zuko off his throne when the opportunity comes.

what does this mean for Azula? i think you guys already discussed this in previous posts. if Azula found out that she isn't Ozai's child it could mean that:
a. she would no longer be tied to Ozai anymore; she doesn't have any obligations for him anymore.
b. it could set her on a new path in life; rethink her course in life
c. it could change her values and how she views family
Etc, etc, etc.

not to mention that the Roku/Sozin bloodlines would go to a whole new level in this one: Zuko turned out honorable and ended the war, when he has both Roku and Sozin's blood in himself, whereas Azula would be of pure Avatar ancestry yet she turned out the way she is because of upbringing and being too much in the influence of Ozai. it's like nature vs. nurture revamped or something wow....idk guys my head is about to explode!

>>111479

Eh, I dunno. Azula looks way too much like Ozai for that to be the case.

Just read this and HOLYYY CRAP I LOVE EVERY BIT OF IT. So good.
Azula and the Fire Royals are probably my favorite part of Avatar though so of course I love it. But I'm glad nothing disappointed me and the story, art, and characters were actually better than I hoped for.

>>111330
I'm actually hoping that he is indeed Ikem's son. It just makes everything make so much sense. I don't think even Ozai would burn off half of his own flesh and bloods face just because he talked back to him and wasn't an exceptionally talented fighter. But thinking that he wasn't his own son, and that he represented the love his wife has for another man? It's completely understandable why he would hate Zuko's guts. And it may be why Azula is the more skilled one in the first place - knowing that she is his only child so early, he would have made sure she got the best training and his approval, while ignoring Zuko's efforts. He probably gave Azula his own tips and advice.

And Zuko is like Ikem in that they're somewhat fearful, or "cowardly" as Ikem called himself. And it would explain why Ursa gave so much more affection and love to Zuko - sure Azula was a mischievous little brat, but I don't think Ursa would be the type to play favorites just because of that. But knowing Zuko was made from the man she loves (and was a physical reminder of him) and Azula was made from the man she hates, it makes more sense. Everything just clicks so much. Bryke had probably thought of this while they were still making the show.

Of course it also makes sense that it's a ruse by Ursa. I don't believe she'd be so dumb as to not figure out her letters were being intercepted. But then it's insanely risky to even pull something like that. Why would she think Ozai wouldn't just banish/kill her and Zuko immediately when he found out?

It's just interesting to think of Zuko and Azula being only half-siblings. Zuko son of Ikem and Azula daughter of Ozai. I don't get why you guys don't like the idea.

Also, that first panel - "Wait, I want to know everything"... - D'you think that's Ursa and Zuko talking?

Okay, so far "The Search" is much better than "The Promise", but there are still some things bugging me.

>Lily livers
>Sweetie

Goddammit, Yang, don't make me beat you with a thesaurus.

>Azula being unbound, no chi-blockers on the journey, and has escaped from custody MULTIPLE times (and this is just the first part) and STILL nobody is trying to do anything about that.

Seriously. Seriously? After the first attempt or two, they should've bound her hands at least, while she was awake anyway. Yet they still insist on doing things the stupid/suicidal way. Brilliant writing there. If this was real, she probably could've assassinated at least half of them by now. Of course, if they were smart, Aang would've taken away her bending too. She's even more dangerous than Ozai, in my opinion. And she'd be dangerous even without her bending, but that would be the best thing to do. I'm just having a hard time swallowing this.

I'm also not entirely fond of the whole plot where Ursa had a past boyfriend she gave up and that she was cut off from her family. The way Mike and Bryan put it, Ursa's arranged marriage to Ozai wasn't all that bad, at least in the beginning. But I find it hard to believe she enjoyed it much after those things happened. It just seems like unnecessary drama.

But oh well. Other than those things, and Katara's now random habit of throwing snowballs at Sokka, this thing is still light-years ahead of "The Promise", so I'm going to keep reading.

>>111507
>I don't think even Ozai would burn off half of his own flesh and bloods face just because he talked back to him and wasn't an exceptionally talented fighter.

There's this thing called "child abuse" and a lot of parents do it to their own flesh-and-blood biological children. Some even kill them.

>I don't get why you guys don't like the idea.

Because it's a stupid ass-pull. Oh look, Ozai wasn't really Zuko's daddy, so that explains everything! Children are never abused by their real parents, and now Zuko can live happily with his mommy and his real daddy!

But I'm going to wait and see how this goes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Yang doesn't actually try to pull that one off. I doubt Bryke would let him anyway.

Either Ursa wrote the message knowing Iroh reads them or it's simply shoddy writing. "Our child" could refer to her and Iroh, and the line about the eyes could mean he has a personality more like her old boyfriend.

>>111573
Ozai

>>111513
I blame a good portion of the lack of security around Azula on the apparent need to shove Katara and Sokka into everything. I still can't think of any reason why Zuko's chi blocking bodyguards aren't taggig along as well.

>>111577
Why is Aang there except to lead into some season 2 Korra shit?

>>111578
spirits is why

>>111578
For transport, and because Yang needs to at least make a token effort to prevent anyone from realizing that he considers Zuko Avatar's main character.

And he'd actually be useful in trying to keep Azula contained.

Sokka and Katara are there for the brother/sister parallel. Katara's also a healer and has proven she can take care of Azula just fine, while chi-blockers need to get close or take her by surprise.
Aang is there because he's Zuko best friend, he's useful with spirits and he's helping the whole fire nation though it's fire lord.

>>111589

Well, Zuko and Aang are A:TLA's main characters, so The Promise was all about them. This comic, however, is about the quest for Ursa, so I don't think we have room to complain that this particular comic is focused on the royal siblings.

>>111589
Is that why he's getting all the bitches

>>111513
They can't remove Azula's bending because they require her cooperation to find Ursa. So until they fins Ursa Azula can do what she wants without having to worry about the consequences. However once they find Ursa ...

>>111595
Zuko's always gotten all the bitches. He's just always failed to notice.

>>111597
-Azula will get off with limited punishment.

>>111600
Having done what wrong, exactly? Being mean to Zuko?

>>111599
Zuko's cockblocking powers are so great that he cockblocks even himself. Which is an impressive feat since he's a brooding bad boy with a heart who is attractive other than his cool scar, and also he's rich and powerful.

>>111603
>rich and powerful

Disagree with this point; at least in ATLA- For the first two seasons, Zuko was pretty much poor and isolated. He had a ship and a crew in the first season, but it's implied they're pretty much the dregs and no one respects him much.

>>111604
I'm talking about once he becomes Fire Lord.

>>111603
Having bacon for a face isn't really a 'cool scar'

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=44611

>>111613
I know Ursa(?) is really talking about Azula's attempt to discredit Zuko's claim to the throne, but no wonder Azula has mommy issues. Ursa is the worst mother ever.
>your mom calls your quest to find her futile and you should just go home already
>also your mom telling you to stop getting in the way of her favorite child(not you), it's his destiny to be the thing that you always wanted to be and not yours

>>111613
Well, this is definitely going to make Azula even more determined now. Still curious on how determined Zuko will be to find his mother, though.

>>111614
>>111615

It's a dream sequence you fucktrucks. You seriously think Ursa is still walking around in her royal robes/hairpiece nearly a decade after being banished?

>>111614

While I am prone to think that Ursa probably didn't do the best job raising Azula, and that's probably the way Azula interprets her, I don't think we can say yet whether Ursa is sincerely worried about her daughter.

You're kind of jumping to conclusions here.

What if it's not entirely an hallucination? What if Ursa's consciousness really has been haunting her from the spirit world?

These "hallucinations" have certainly entered spirit territory by now.

>>111646
That certainly changes the meaning of a lot of scenes in the finale.

>>111646
That would mean that Ursa is dead.

>>111650
Not necessarily.

>>111622
And you don't think that hearing such comments, regardless of it's source, will galvanize Azula further?

>>111651
Let's hope she is dead. Dead parents are the best.

>>111657

Maybe she got killed by a Firebender

>>111657
>>111659
And Amon is secretly her great-grandson whose family was killed by the same Firebender! Genius!

>>111613
Why is there a large blue-black eyeless crow behind Azula in the last panel?
You can't unsee it now

>>111719
It's the bluebird of unhappiness crow of madness, and Koh stole its face.

You suck.

>>111719
What are you...

You can't unsee it now

Oh god dammit!

>>111719
Well, one for sorrow...

Shit, that is way more distracting than reptilian Zuko.

What happened to that Mai solo comic?

>>111740
Cancelled, she slits her wrists offscreen and is never mentioned again.

>>111740

As a more serious answer, it's gonna be a Free Comic Book Day release.

Preview image for part 2.

Badass Katara is Badass

Volume 2: Story Time

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Now we know what happened to Ursa.

She's married to that director wearing the Blue Spirit mask, and had a kid that's half-sister to Zuko and Azula. She got a new face in the Forgotten Valley... and so did Ikem. He's the director. Believe it!

>yfw it turns out Mai was Ursa all along

I have mixed feelings on Part 2.

On the one hand, it is kinda nice to see Zuko and Azula getting along in their own, strange manner. On the other, they do seem to be playing the 'poor Zuko, always bullied by Azula' angle pretty damn hard, which seems at odds with what we saw of their relationship in the show.

This kind of leads into my main problem with Part 2, though, which is that Zuko strikes me as being incredibly OOC most of the time. For a guy who takes great pride form the fact that he's endured hardship and flourished, he seems to eager to throw in the towel.

That said - Koh steals faces, lives in a twisted tree and a giant wolf could be seen in the background as Aang went to see him. Now, the Mother of Faces (and what a grand name, might I add) apparently gives away faces, kinda looks like a tree and has a pet giant wolf. Besides from incredibly unsubtle that is, what's the odds we'll have Rule 34 of the 2 before the day's out?

>>112703
i think zuko is reacting that way because despite his whole 'good and evil are inside of you' struggle it still has to be fucking relieving to hear a guy like ozai isn't your father, and therefore you might be exempt from that whole thing. we also know being fire lord has taken a big toll on him, the dude can't sleep and people keep trying to assassinate him.

that said, i think it was stupid of him to give it back. if he seriously did want to abdicate, you'd think he'd want to keep the letter and then maybe take it to iroh and convince him to take the throne again.

I'm kinda on Azula's side on this, who gives a fuck about these two water tribe people? The only interesting portion of Part 2 is the flashbacks because the present day just feels like a rehashing of what already happened in Part 1.

>>112707
the water tribe people are plot devices to explain what the spirit does. also, misu's brother may or may not have had his face taken by koh.

When is part 3 coming out?

Also I guess we'll have to wait until part 3 to find out what directions the story could go in. It's possible that the spirits will do something to Azula if she disturbs one of the pools.

Still have to read this, but the art is getting even prettier.

it's happening

Interesting... the theory given above looks like it might be the correct one, I think.

And it's always nice to see more spirits in this series. :)

>>112701
If true then why doesn't Ursa recognise Zuko or Azula? While Zuko is partially disguised Azula isn't disguised and is addressed by name. Though if you also lose your memories when you get a new face this would explain why Ursa didn't try to contact her children after Ozai was overthrown. However this doesn't explain the Ursa that Azula keeps seeing (unless Azula has gone insane).

I also have a theory Azula will annoy the spirits and get turned into a baby. Zuko will then raise baby Azula as his daughter and later give her control of the Fire Nation.

>>112726
You just want a young Azula in LoK, don't you?

>>112727

Young? She'd be about seventy.

>>112726
You just have a diaper fetish, don't you

>>112726
>(unless Azula has gone insane)

That would be why she was in the mental asylum, yes.

>>112728
Younger then, you know what I mean.

>>112726

The spirit gives you a new face AND takes away your memories. That's why it's called The Forgetful Valley. ;)

I wonder if Ursa's spirit that's been haunting Azula's hallucinations is her memories? Maybe normally they're cast out or sealed someplace, but her love as a mother meant it was sent to Azula, who is in need of the most spiritual guidance.

Also, can't wait to find out that AZULA is the lovechild. BELIEVE IT!

Also, the Mother of Faces looks BAD ASS.

>>112739
That would be so much less problematic than it being Zuko

Zuko not being Ozai's child is just about as likely as Aang killing Zuko.

>>112739
That's what I'm thinking, which is also why she's trying to dissuade her from the throne. Because she's not actually qualified for it.

>>112739
>>112747
Explain to me exactly how that would work? Was Ikem sending packets of semen to her in the mail? Because I'm pretty sure Ozai would notice if his wife went missing for a week or so as she traveled back to her old village to yip-yip on Ikem's bison. Or did a skunky hobo just sneak into what should be one of the most well guarded places in the Fire Nation to secretly bang a member of the royal family right under the nose of the prince without anyone noticing?

It would be dumb enough for Zuko to be a bastard (which I don't believe he is), but it would be downright nonsensically retarded for it to be Azula.

>>112747

I don't buy it. Zuko and Azula both look way too much like Ozai for either to be illegitimate. Plus, it seems like a pretty big cop out. I'd rather see Azula come to terms with how her life is now and move on by her own decision rather than just being disqualified. That would just be too tidy of a resolution.

I'm still digging this series. It's got some great character interaction, the spirit designs are hella cool, and the art just keeps getting better - I fucking love the coloring! I'm guessing the big point of this series is for Zuko to realize he's his own man and that he needs to stop looking to his ancestors to determine himself as a person.

>>112749
>ursa can't even send letters without ozai knowing
>people somehow expect her to be capable of pulling off an affair

>>112752
"Me tooing" with greentext, the fuck man?

>Ursa made them watch "Love among the Dragons" every year.

>Ikem was one of the ember island actors.

>After every play, Ursa managed to sneak away for a quickie.

Done

>>112749
>Was Ikem sending packets of semen to her in the mail?
>she traveled back to her old village to yip-yip on Ikem's bison

>>112754
ikem left to go hobo it up in the forest like right after ursa left.

>>112739
So, if the Mother takes your memories and gives you a face in return, does that mean that Koh gives you memories in exchange for your face?

The flashback scenes with Ozai and Zuko are making me think of this.

>>112763

If yes, then in true ironic fashion you have no face or will to express the cosmic secrets banging around inside your head.

>>112739
That would be a massively gimmicky thing to do.

And I would love to see it happen.

>>112763
Nah, he will talk with you but if he catches you making any sort of expression he'll yoink your face. He'll also steal your wife if he feels like it.

Koh is a dick.

How come Ozai didn't just have the Yu Yan guy executed for his failure instead of letting him live and just giving him the boot, from which he'll be free to tattle the truth of the Fire Lord's NTRing to everybody, especially now that he's this disgruntled.

Maybe I've just been reading too much ASoIaF.

>>112771
Yu Yan Clan ain't nothin to fuck with, son.

>>112771

Given his later treatment of Ursa and Zuko (and Iroh by proxy), Ozai seems to believe that punishing people with a life in exile is the worst punishment possible.

>>112781

Ozai's got a god complex, so maybe the whole exile option is his smug way of proving how just and merciful a ruler he is to himself. It's his way of being so much better than those crude barbarians that inhabit the rest of the world. I got that feeling from Azula's banishment spree, and pretty much her whole worldview is from Ozai.

>>112727
>>112729
Actually I said this because it provides an easy way to prevent Azula trying to kill Zuko to take the throne. Since it would be completely out of character for Azula to just let Zuko be Firelord I predict that Azula will either teleported to another time or transformed into something to prevent her trying to overthrow Zuko.

Though it's entirely possible that the next series of books will be about Azula trying to overthrow Zuko.

>>112785
>it would be completely out of character for Azula to just let Zuko be Firelord

There's something called character development. We'll have to wait on the next issue to see how well it's handled though.

>>112788
I also get the feeling, what with spirit/hallucination Ursa constantly telling Azula that her destiny lies elsewhere and not on the throne, that we might get another series of comics after this one focusing more exclusively on Azula.

Of which I would have no problem with.

>>112789
I hope so. Even if it's somewhat understandable, she's always been a little too cartoonishly psychotic for me, so it would be nice to at least see her grow to a level that's less caricature-esque. Something that's less Bolton/Clegane and more Lannister/Baelish.

>>112789
This. Please let this happen

>>112790
To be fair Sandor and even Roose are both fairly complicated, but somehow I suppose those aren't who you are talking about.

>>112797
Yeah, I was talking more about Ramsay and Gregor, who tend to do dickish stuff just because, even when it's clearly the stupidest thing to do. I have the same issue with Azula, where they make her so nutty/evil that you've got to wonder how she has any allies left in the first place. Now that I think about it she's also kind of like TV Joffrey, a character who also suffered from a particularly bad case of mustache twirling.

Burning a flower because it wasn't pretty enough? Telling your potential BF "we can rule together"? I know it's a kid's series so you can only achieve so much depth and subtlety before it becomes incomprehensible for the younger parts of the audience, but I like to think she's capable of turning off the paranoia/imperialism/social Darwinism for even a few seconds. When the majority of her actions are interpreted through those lens it makes her a shallow and uninteresting villain.

>>112799
Some people are just fucked in the head.

>>112799

I think you've been reading too much fanfiction if you're comparing her to Joffrey, Ramsay, and Gregor. Azula is never shown killing/torturing for no reason in the show. Her biggest villainous act was taking Ba Sing Se with no casualties and only one attempted casualty.

>>112803
azula and joffrey are actually pretty similar, they were both spurned by parents they tried their best to please and were instead coddled by the other parent who encouraged them to indulge in their darker sides. of course they aren't exactly the same but i think drawing a comparison between the two of them isn't that far fetched.

>>112804
Having parental issues does not make two people similar. Azula is nowhere near the same level of cruelty as Joffrey and she's about a million times more capable, intelligent, hard-working and brave.

>>112805
Honestly, in comparison to Joffrey, Azula seems almost like a good guy.

>>112804

Hm. I guess that's actually a good point. However the earlier posts are comparing them together more for the whole evil for the sake of evil thing, which only really exists with Azula in fanfic. I mean, really pretty much everyone she's captured at one point (Iroh, Mai, Ty Lee, the Kyoshi Warriors, the council of 5, the Earth King) have survived with no apparent trauma. Plus, the only people she actually tried to kill were Aang, Zuko, and Mai who were actively fighting against her country/"right" to the throne or turned traitor (for good reason, but still).

I'm not at all justifying her actions. She's definitely a villain who is horrible to her friends and brother and was actively fighting to conquer the world for a tyrant and her own ego. She just hasn't been written as a complete murderous psychopath with no depth.

There is one little thing about Azula I don't think gets as much discussion as it should. Without Azula's interference, Ozai's plan to murder his son in the middle of the night would have gone without a hitch. So I think it's a pretty important question to ask. Was telling Zuko just her trying to taunt him about his impending doom? Or was she, in her own twisted way, actually trying warn Zuko?

I'd actually like to see that addressed, as I think the answer would give some rather drastic insight into whether or not she can be, or is even worth redeeming.

>>112803
thats because she's from a kiddy show... if she was't she likely would have been killed at the end of the war.

>>112811

>>112805
when you use a blanket term like that, duh. i specifically narrowed it down to joff and azula's personal experiences, and they're actually quite similar.

of course, people are right that azula is much more competent than joff and they're similarities end with their issues concerning their mother/father.

>Azula is nowhere near the same level of cruelty as Joffrey
look, i don't want to be one of those people who say if avatar was on a different network or had a higher rating it would be blood and gore out the wazoo, but i'm pretty sure if it were azula would probably do a lot more messed up things.

hell, in the show she did some messed up things. not on the same level as joff (who yeah was mostly violent just because he could be, azula's most troubling moments that didn't involve her enemies was taking joy in zuko having his face burnt off and the whole ty lee recruit scene) but she got as close to that sort of stuff as being in a kid's show would allow her.

>>112814
One similarity in personal background does not make two characters similar is the point.

>look, i don't want to be one of those people who say if avatar was on a different network or had a higher rating it would be blood and gore out the wazoo, but i'm pretty sure if it were azula would probably do a lot more messed up things.
So you don't want to be one of those people who make completely baseless assumptions, but you will anyways?

There's absolutely no point in talking about "what if Azula was on a more mature-rated show" because there'd be no fucking way to know. What we do know is that Azula isn't so cruel and petty where she will strip and beat a defenseless girl for something someone else did. The "Azula of another show" could just as likely be worse or be just the same, but really this hypothetical Azula doesn't matter because she doesn't exist and likely never will.

Honestly, you can be ruthless, cunning and even a little sadistic without being a completely irredeemable psychotic and murderous prick like Joffrey. Even someone like Jaime enjoys killing people way more than he should, but that doesn't make him Joffrey.

Things would have been going a bit better in the post-war era if instead of treating the rest of the royal family with kid-gloves Ozai and Azula had been executed, its not like they hadn't done enough to deserve it.

>>112818
Ozai was no worse than his father. why does everyone forget that?

>>112819
And Ozai's father was assassinated, so you agree with me Ozai should have been offed?

Seriously though, your point has nothing to do with my post in any way. I never even mentioned his father and it is completely irrelevant.

>>112818

What would the basis for executing Azula be? Her big moment in the war was a bloodless coup. Ozai I can see since he was actually in charge, though I see his actual punishment as more fitting - the powerhungry man now with no power.

>What would the basis for executing Azula be?
probably because she's royal blood and therefore someone else for zuko's opponents to rally behind (if ozai is dead). alternatively, she can give birth and that kid could be a threat to zuko's rule.

of course this would only be a factor if she wasn't insane.

>>112834
Multiple counts Attempted/1 Temporarily Successful murder of a 12 year old boy who also happens to be the spirit of the world?

>>112848
Soldiers killing enemy combatants is not murder.

Oh look. This shit again.

Azula has done nothing but serve her country. That is not a crime and it certainly not worthy of a death sentence. You water tribals are just butthurt.

>>112844

That goes entirely against Zuko's morals. I wonder why some of you even watch this show. If you want grimdark shit, just go watch Game of Thrones.

>>112849

Especially when the enemy combatant is the primary threat to your military and is in the process of unleashing god-like power that would wipe out you and all your allies.

>>112851
i never said anything about zuko killing her, someone asked what a reason could be and i gave it. didn't say anything about zuko agreeing with it.

i mean, he obviously had the chance to kill her when she was bound by chains and he didn't take it so unless azula does something to really warrant being killed (and people have died in atla before) she's going to be fine.

>>112852

But given your reason, who would kill her except Zuko or one of Zuko's allies?

>>112853

Actually, to add onto this. We are specifically talking about execution, which would have to be approved by Zuko, so it would be totally up to him.

Zuko could never kill his sister, by execution because he's too soft-hearted or in self-defense in battle because he's soft-hearted and she makes him look pathetic no matter what handicap she's currently suffering.

>>112855
i dunno man in >>112668 >>112669 it sounds like he's actually starting to get sick of her (i mean, even more so than he already was). he's obviously not going to kill her but i feel like he and azula are headed towards a meltdown where they just yell at each other instead of throwing fire.

>>112856

He's also trying to rebuild their relationship. He clearly wants to, but it sure as hell isn't going to be easy. I mean, immediately after that they agree to a truce and later on try to remember good times >>112675

And their body language in >>112693 doesn't read as hatred. It looks more like they're both kind of regretting/resentful that they don't have that kind of relationship. Everything in The Search looks like it's heading towards them rebuilding their sibling relationship. Even if they don't I really doubt that Zuko would ever be at a place where he'd be fine with killing her. He was genuinely sad when she appeared to be falling to her death in The Southern Raiders - they probably would have saved her if she hadn't saved herself.

>>112857

Whoops, sorry, I missed the part where you agreed he wouldn't kill her. And yeah, I'm expecting an angry showdown at some point too. It might be good for them too; they can air out all their pent up grievances with each other and maybe understand one another better.

>>112855
>in self-defense in battle

I'd disagree with that one. Zuko's never once held back in their fights - in their very first one we see, he did try to slam a fire dagger into her unguarded back. And then of course, there's the fact that he deliberately provoked Azula into generating lightning in the finale (which is pretty much a kill shot with no safeguard against barring redirection).

I'd argue that whilst Zuko would prefer not to kill his sister in a fight, that doesn't mean he's unwilling or incapable of it.

>>112788
Character development is only good if there's a logical reason for the character to develop this way. For example Zuko becoming disillusioned with the Fire Nation and leaving to join Aang was good character development because it was understandable why he was leaving. By contrast Azula suddenly accepting that Zuko should be Fire Lord, despite considering him inferior to her and actively plotting to overthrow him, would be bad character development unless there's a very good reason for her to do this.

Personally I can't think of any way to resolve the who-gets-to-be-Firelord problem in one comic without Azula being incapacitated in some way. Though if there were more comics which showed Azula changing over a period of months or years this would be more believable character development.

>>112863

The twist is that Azula lacks royal blood.

>>112863
as much as i hate it i'm starting to think the whole 'azula gets trapped in the spirit world' is true because you're right, there's no way they can resolve this realistically within the next volume without something happening to her.

>>112865
Azula's patient, and arrogant. As far as she's concerned, she can just wait for another opportunity to take the throne, because she knows Zuko's going to fuck up again.

It's quite feasible for Azula to still be aiming for the throne by the end of The Search, and still be around.

>>112866
yeah but what about in the long run? is she really going to spend the rest of her life sitting around waiting for zuko to fuck up so she can step in and take the throne?

>>112867
In the long run, it'll be dealt with by consistent character development, where Azula eventually comes to support her brother.

>>112865

We're probably going to keep getting comics for a while (though I wish they'd bring in another team so we could get a couple per year, each following different characters and storylines), so there's plenty of time to build up.

Plus, look at >>112663 and >>112664, Ursa's telling her she has a destiny and Azula even seems confused as to whether the throne actually is it. They're setting up something, and considering Ursa's telling her that her destiny is back home away from the spirit world, it probably isn't that. Maybe she'll be head of the United Forces (though lol at Ba Sing Se being ok with that), start like the FN's CIA?

Possibly what could happen is that she realizes that her father has treated her as nothing but a tool, and that she doesn't know if the throne is actually what she wants or what her father wanted for her to want.

>Amazon.co.uk
>We are pleased to report that the following item will dispatch sooner than expected:
>Gurihiru "Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Search Part 2"
>Previous estimated arrival date: July 26 2013 - July 26 2013
>New estimated arrival date: July 13 2013 - July 13 2013

Thank fuck, then I won't have to keep avoiding this thread.

>>112863

being firelord is zuko's birthright, just as it was iroh's, because he is the first-born. the way i see it azula can only take the throne one of two ways:

1. killing him or having him be killed.

2. proving that zuko is not part of the royal bloodline (which is her current plan).

now, what's going to happen when it's revealed that point #2 is a lost cause because it's quite obvious - to us, as we know that doesn't make any sense in storyline and already know he remained firelord - that it's total bullshit, and that she doesn't really want to kill her own brother, or have him be killed?

of course, it would help if she had some other life purpose, which seems to be what her ursa visions are leading up to. what i'm curious about is what that could be, because so far there hasn't been any hint of it in this series.

>>112992
Azula is going to marry Sokka and become a housewife after Suki cheats on him with, then proceeds to get married to, Firelord Zuko.

>>112993
If Sokkla happened in the comics, that'd be really an unexpected journey.

>>112869
Azula's destiny will have to be pretty amazing for her to willingly give up on the Fire Nation.

>>113168
What if it's something like that she's destined to become the ancestor of the next Avatar, or maybe she'll achieve some sort of apotheosis of her own with her powerful firebending?

>>113168
Grey said she'd be voicing something called the Dark Spirit come this season, who knows.

http://drippler.com/amazon/kindle_touch#!934434
bumping because preview. couldnt find it on a less obscure site, sorry

fish look really great, though. beautifully colored

>>113468

Both The Promise and The Search have had beautiful coloring - the jungle, Mother of Faces stuff, and Zuko's moody palace scenes in The Promise stand out as favorites for me color-wise.

Damn, there's already a review out for part 3 - minor spoilers: http://speakgeekytome.com/2013/08/avatar-the-last-airbender-the-search-part-3-comic-review/

>>113476
Call it now : Ursa and Ikem are the two Fire Nation dudes who welcomed the team when they arrived, Noren and Noriko, who got a new indentity and memories thanks to the mother of faces, and the little girl they had, Kiyi, is Wuko's and Azula's half-sister.

As of the tragedy happening, someone get killed : Ursa/Noriko or Ikem/Noren while trying to protect Kiyi from Azula's rampage, or one of the two retarded Water tribe sibling for reasons.

>>113499

I initially thought that the tragic ending would be Ursa having forgotten her memories and not being able to regain them or Zuko and Azula being able to return them to her but choosing to leave her be. However, the first panel of part 1 has someone who is most likely Ursa telling the story, so that's probably not it.

>>113499
Oh wow, I'm glad you called it because you're the first!

>>113499
I think the tragedy will be more like Azula realizing she's never going to get the closure she wanted (whether it was actually killing Ursa or just seeing her again) and accepting that she's going to have to move on, orrrr she possibly dies but I don't know if they can get away with that in the comic.

>>113501
>However, the first panel of part 1 has someone who is most likely Ursa telling the story, so that's probably not it.
Fuck, I totally forgot about that. Maybe the narrator is actually an older Zuko and he... somehow found out more about Ursa's past? Maybe from her letters?

>>113517

Before reading that review I thought Ursa giving up her face would give her a new life but preserve her memories/part of her spirit in the spirit world and that Azula or Zuko found her there and got the story. After that they'd have to decide whether to tell her and reunite or leave her be with her new happy life without the memories of Ozai's torment and abuse. Yet, from the review it sounds like neither of them enter it (unless they somehow do on the way back and out of the jungle), so I got nothing. That's probably a good thing. Hopefully it surprises me in a good way.

>>113468
Wow, Mother of Faces is kind of creepy looking. Hopefully the series is willing to delve into the more freakish creatures and aspects of Eastern mythology like Baiguji, jiangshi, and tsukumogami. There's some cool stuff to be had there.

>>113476
"Through the great and wise actions of Aang and his friends, most of them reach a happy ending. But don’t let that fool you, as this final volume has some serious tragedy and any one with a bit of heart is sure to close this book having shed at least one tear."

Aw man Azula's gonna die isn't she

>>113530
I'd be disappointed if that happened since one of the messages of ATLA is that sometimes people deserve a second chance.

[spoiler]God just please don't let it be a vague spirit-related death so we don't have people screeching that the Dark Spirit is actually Azula.

>>113530
She best not.

I want more twisted Fire Nation Royal relationship stuff in the future. It's one of the best things about the Avatar franchise.

>>113530
I'm more worried about Ursa now. But I'm going to be pissed if that happens to either of them. I've already been disappointed by these comics; they don't need to rub salt in the wound while they're at it.

>While Aang and the rest of Team Avatar hope to do the right thing and allow Rafa his long awaited recovery, Azula pushes past and makes her request, learning the surprising truth about Ursa. While Zuko and Sokka chase after Azula, who has run off to deal with this startling news, Aang attempts to beg the Mother of Faces for one more favor. Sadly, the Mother of Faces does not like to be told what to do by insolent humans, and for a very good reason, causing her to lash out against the benders.

And none of that would have happened, of course, if they had just kept Azula restrained like they should have. But unfortunately, these comics aren't good at keeping the characters IN character or able to make common sense decisions like that.

>When Zuko comes to full understanding about his parents and what he must do, I was on the edge of tears, the moment was so wonderfully written and drawn.

I swear, if he actually made Zuko or Azula a bastard child...

>>113551
Yang's already gone against the "Ursa and Ozai did have a loving relationship in the past", so why not bother going the full hog and making one of the kids a bastard?

>>113552
Because it's just a terrible idea, period.

>>113551
>And none of that would have happened, of course, if they had just kept Azula restrained like they should have. But unfortunately, these comics aren't good at keeping the characters IN character or able to make common sense decisions like that.

Well, Sokka's "Bad Decision Lord"nickname for Zuko wasn't unwarranted!


Another thing possible to keep a part of tragedy while preventing anyone to die is that Team Avatar restrains Azula before she kills everyone(since her breakdown she has become more easily predictable in battle and to restrain), and decides that the best for her is to give her another life : somehow they convince the Mother of Face to grant them another wish, she gives Azula a new face and memories as Ursa/Noriko and Ikem/Noren older daughter.
Zuko is sad because he will never get the chance to make up with his sister, but at least she's happy now, even if it's all a construct, and even better, with that even if Zuko is a bastard Ozai don't have any descendant anymore, so Zuko's place in the throne is secured!

Oh and Aang take away her firebending, just to be on the sure side.


That would be the ending that would really pisses me off the most, all of the problems and tensions being magically erased by some BS reset button offered by a Koh knock-off...


As for the Water Tribe sibbling, fuck them, they were never important to begin with.

>>113554
That would be a completely stupid copout.

>Oh and Aang take away her firebending, just to be on the sure side.

This is the only logical thing, and should have been done a long time ago.

>As for the Water Tribe sibbling, fuck them, they were never important to begin with.

Oh wait, I'm talking to you again, aren't I, Fire Lo?

>>113555
Nope, wasn't me.

>>113555
However, given the predestined resolution of The Promise I think a completely stupid cop-out is what we should expect.

>>113557
The Promise didn't really have a copout ending though, Zuko actually took a stand against Aang and the restoration movement and wasn't going to back down and Aang realized he was right and actually broke off contact with Roku over it. I mean, unless you wanted it to actually end with Aang killing Zuko or another war breaking out.

>>113552
>so why not bother going the full hog and making one of the kids a bastard?
Whether or not Zuko is Ikem's is still up for debate (at this point I'm leaning towards the comic leaving it unresolved, though I think he's Ozai's), but it CAN'T be Azula. Ursa never saw Ikem again after she left her village -- which ISN'T on Ember Island. Ikem went off to become a hermit in that forgetful valley almost right after Ursa left. Also, Ursa couldn't write letters without Ozai knowing about them, I don't know how people expect her to pull off an affair.

>>113554
I could accept it.
It's tragic and more like Azula's fall in ATLA than the poor cop-out that was Aang's victory against Ozai.

>>113555
>>113554
>taking away Azula's bending

I'm still not sure why people think this would be a good idea to do in universe. Even ignoring the fact that it could potentially backfire and leave Aang without his (and possibly fucking up the Avatar Spirit as a side effect), but the political fall out would be pretty bad as well since not only would it appear as though Zuko is overly reliant upon Aang, but there'd be no stopping the rumours that the reason for Azula's insanity is because Aang screwed up her head when he took her bending away, leading to an ea where the Avatar is even more strongly feared than before.

Using energybending as a last resort makes sense, especially when a given individual is already contained.

>>113558
>Also, Ursa couldn't write letters without Ozai knowing about them, I don't know how people expect her to pull off an affair.
There are always ways around that sort of thing. In Ancient China, women weren't allowed to learn to write Chinese, so they invented their own written language which they disguised as random designs on tapestries, for example. Which allowed them to keep secret histories and write messages to other women without drawing the ire of the men who didn't want them to be able to do those things.

>>113562
>In Ancient China
This isn't ancient China.

And, again, even if they did reference that with Ursa (who may I remind you THOUGHT her letters were being safely delivered for the most part), it doesn't erase the fact that Ikem up and disappeared almost immediately after she left and she never once went back to her home village until after her banishment. Unless the mother of faces also can make portals that hook up to Ursa's bedroom, Azula is not the illegitimate one.

>>113563
>Unless the mother of faces also can make portals that hook up to Ursa's bedroom, Azula is not the illegitimate one.

That's just silly.

Clearly, the Mother of Faces artificially inseminated Ursa instead, giving one of the faces she created a chance to start life from the very beginning. This was Ikem's one wish, to give Ursa something to remember him b, before he drowned himself in one of the lakes.

>>113564

The idea that Ikem was reborn somehow as Zuko is actually plausible I think

>>113567

>>113567

That's an interesting idea. The fandom's talked itself to death about how the letter is a red herring, but what if Noren and Noriko are one as well? Them being Ursa and Ikem is just so obvious, people figured it out right after the book got leaked, so maybe it's just meant to seem obvious. What if Noren isn't Ikem and just happened to run into Ursa, let her know the town gossip of how Ikem ran off into the jungle, and then Ursa goes in after Ikem and gets a new face to hide from Ozai but isn't Noriko? Perhaps the tragedy is for Ursa rather than the kids. She came back to her home town to find her family, but they died, and then she goes into the jungle to find Ikem, but it turns out he died as well. Most fitting would be that he killed himself because they couldn't be together (dramatic, I know). She wrote that Zuko had Ikem's eyes not because he was even possibly Ikem's son, but instead because he's Ikem's reincarnation and honestly reminds her of him. Fanfiction's going to get weird if this is the case though lol

>>113570

After I posted this I checked Avatar Spirit's forums, and they are having the exact same theorizing going on. One of them mentioned that the review states that the Mother of Faces grants wishes as well, so maybe Ikem wished that he could see Ursa again. As a spirit, she doesn't really see the world in human morality, so grants it in a way he did not intend: Ikem dies and is reincarnated as Zuko. In the flashback sequence his growing a beard may have not have been just to show how long he'd isolated himself but also to show us he'd stayed in the forest long enough to encounter the MoF after Ursa had gone through the formal wedding, whatever preplanning/customary cultural stuff before hand, and most of her pregnancy for Zuko.

>>113567
>>113570
>>113572
Seriously?

>>113570

Well, Noriko could still be Ursa, but Noren may or may not be Ikem. The trouble with the face swap theory though is that it relies a bit on this idea that the price one has to pay for the face swap is a memory wipe, which hasn't been confirmed, but even if it is true, it seems very possible Noren could still just be Noren. It looked like he remembered who Ursa was and he certainly looks old enough to be able to remember her at least vaguely. He could be Ikem, but I'm not seeing any real evidence that he is at this point. He's probably lying to protect Ursa, but if he has a reason to protect Ursa and his wife is Ursa and he knows it, I think he'd be a little more wary about people coming into town snooping around asking questions about her.

>>113572


Well, the review says Azula steals the wish and demands to know where Ursa is and when the spirit answers, she considers this to be enough fulfillment of the wish.

But Ikem must have met the face chick too since he was at the water pool the wolf spirit was drinking from. He could have asked for a chance to be with Ursa and maybe part of the deal was that he had to reborn or something. Ikem could have accepted whatever the terms were and the reason Zuko's eyes remind Ursa of Ikem and the reason Ursa and her son got along so well is because Zuko is, in essence, Ikem himself with a new "face."

>all this theorizing about Ikem actually being Zuko

Do we really need to add more incestuous overtones to the family?

>>113578

Yes, we do and if Ursa's spirit is inside Azula too, that makes it all the better.

>>113567
>>113570
>>113572

I think you guys have had a bit too much cactus juice. That was clearly a bad batch.

>After I posted this I checked Avatar Spirit's forums, and they are having the exact same theorizing going on

Yeah, but ASN has always been terrible like that.

>>113581

You know it's going to be true, anon.

>>113581

Hey, it's more interesting than Zuko's babydaddy drama, and it'd be way less obvious than Ursa and Ikem as Noriko and Noren. It'd tie into the Guru's teachings to Aang on grief and how old love can be reborn into a new kind of love. Yeah, internet weirdos would be creepy and sexual about it, but weirdos are going to weirdo no matter what you do.

ASN is usually garbage, but every now and then they have a creative thought.

>>113578

Why not? Perhaps Mai's secretly Ozai's half-daughter from an affair with Mai's Mom. (I kid.)

Why don't you guys just come out and admit you want some incest

Everytime Aang takes somebody's bending, although retroactively, Noatak/Amon is proven right.

>>113599
The series has never made it out to where the actions of the Avatar are proven beneficial to anyone but him anyway.

>>113597

>Zuko is Ursa's fiance
>Azula has Ursa's spirit possessing her or some shit
>As a result, they can't help the sexual attraction they feel towards one another

fund it.

>>113600
Troll harder, son.

Oh I'm hoping they don't choose the lazy path and kill/energybend/memorywipe/deface my favorite villain character...

I mean, we all have our favorite characters and "favorite" kind of means "I don't want this to be destroyed".

>>113608

I highly doubt Azula is going to be memory wiped and she's not going to die until we found out what that "destiny" for her is. I wouldn't entirely rule out the possibility of her losing her bending, that seems unlikely.

It's unlikely that anything bad will happen to Azula because at the start Zuko's was upset because his mother was missing, his father was in prison, and his sister was in an asylum; thus from Zuko perspective he's getting a bad ending if his mother is still missing, his father is still in prison, and Azula is now dead/insane/missing. Let's face it without Azula Zuko is unlikely to ever be able to make amends with his father.

Regarding Azula's destiny as there's a statue of both Zuko and Aang in Republic City but no mention of Azula it seems that her destiny doesn't have anything to do with fixing the problems caused by the war. As Zuko remains Fire Lord it doesn't have anything to do with ruling the Fire Nation (unless Azula helps Zuko in some way). The fact that Ikki talks to Katara about the story where they search for "Zuko's mother" also isn't encouraging.

>>113619
Honestly, from the way they treat actual information on Toph, I think they deliberately avoided referencing Azula in any way because they knew Yang would be doing the comics featuring both of them.

>>113619
>Let's face it without Azula Zuko is unlikely to ever be able to make amends with his father.

Why should he even TRY to make amends with Ozai? The man flat-out tried to kill him, among other things. We've seen how much Zuko screwed up just by attempting to take his advice, and even that was a terrible idea. Bad Decision Lord or not, Zuko shouldn't be THAT stupid, but from the way Yang writes him, you'd be hard-pressed to realize it.

>The fact that Ikki talks to Katara about the story where they search for "Zuko's mother" also isn't encouraging.

That was just the creators trolling the fans for a laugh. And Katara started to explain what happened, but Ikki (you got her and Jinora confused) interrupted.

>>113632
Making amends with Ozai is about as smart as making amends with Azula, and yet everyone seems to think that's a grand idea.

And frankly, I'm still not seeing what was so bad about the advice that Ozai gave Zuko in The Promise. It's the same piece of advice you hear repeated over and over again when it comes to leadership - the leader has to be certain in his course of action. And that's ignoring the fact that all Zuko wanted advice on was how to cope with the tress of being a Fire Lord.

>>113633
The problem is, unlike Azula Ozai has never shown to have a softer side or that he wants to make amends with Zuko (which neither has Azula but we know for sure she's a victim of her upbringing and she "deserves" a second chance, but we don't know anything about Ozai) -- the whole thing with the letters and Azula is just a scheme to get the throne back. He gave good advice, big whoop, that doesn't mean we should pat the guy on the back and apologize for misjudging him. HE doesn't want to make amends -- and likely nothing Zuko or Azula could do could get him to change his mind on that.

I don't even really know WHY Zuko wants to fix his relationship with the man who burned his face and kicked him out of the country for three years, Ozai deserves to rot imo. Maybe The Search is actually about Zuko realizing his family is hopeless and he should look to the future or something cheesy like that.

>>113635
>I don't even really know WHY Zuko wants to fix his relationship with the man

Does he?

I mean, I can't really think of anything that Zuko's really done to reach out to Ozai - quite the opposite, really, since Zuko appears to ignore him until he becomes useful.

>>113637
>I can't really think of anything that Zuko's really done to reach out to Ozai
Him setting up that meeting between Ozai and Azula? He even left them tea and stuff.

>>113638
Which Zuko only did because he wants to know where his mother is, not out of any desire to reconcile with his father.

>>113639
I thought it was (besides that) also because he realized he had tossed two of his family members in prisons and had basically been ignoring them for over a year and that guy's quote made him rethink his actions.

>>113635
Azula did seem to like Zuko when they were children (in some flashbacks they're shown playing together). Azula also was shown working with Zuko in Book 3 (until Zuko left and rejoined the Avatar). So Azula has shown a softer side.

Ozai hasn't really shown a softer side, mainly because he's always been disappointed with Zuko and possibly because he thought Zuko was illegitimate. Though he did praise Zuko for killing the Avatar and delay a meeting until Zuko arrived.

One final thing is that Zuko spent 3 years trying to find the Avatar to restore his honour and win back his father's respect. So for most of the series he has been trying to fix his relationship with his father.

>>113667
And there's those painting style flashbacks in The Storm where Ozai's shown resting a hand on Zuko's shoulder, and there's that other one of three figures running in the hills (two children, and an adult). So the entire family was happy at some point - IIRC, Byke once said before The Search that Ursa and Ozai genuinely loved each other at one point in the past, though that's clearly been retconned.

To be honest, the family's implied collapse was one of the things that made me find it so interesting.

>>113668
Ozai's hand? I always assumed that was Iroh's hand.

>>113669
Always struck me as being too tall for Iroh, and to me it makes more sense for it be Ozai since the flashbacks are supposed to be Zuko looking back on happier times, and he doesn't have any reason to reminisce about his relationship with Iroh.

>>113669
>>113670
It's Ozai's hand. Iroh isn't left out of the flashbacks, but the one with his hand on Zuko's shoulder is always Ozai. You can see it again here in the royal family portrait at the beach house.

To me, this is the biggest and most obvious hint that Ozai really did love Zuko at one point, and that somewhere down the road, that love began to fade. Who knows what caused it, but my guess was that it started after Ursa was banished. Ozai may have regretted trading his wife, essentially, for a son that was becoming a huge disappointment in his eyes. He loved Ursa, and the fact that she had to be sent away in order to get him the throne and spare Zuko's life must have bothered him on some level. Zuko, with his gentle nature and desire to do the right thing instead of following Ozai's teachings, must have been a constant reminder of Ursa and her influence on the boy too.

That's a great deal of speculation on my part, but it makes sense, doesn't it? A lot more sense than this stupid retcon of Ozai being a total dick right from the very beginning, separating Ursa from her family and being cruel to her, and hating Zuko because he thinks he's someone else's child. None of this fits with what we've seen on the show or what the creators have told us about before. I hate stupid out of character changes like this.

>but my guess was that it started after Ursa was banished. Ozai may have regretted trading his wife, essentially, for a son that was becoming a huge disappointment in his eyes.
Lolwut
He was ready to kill Zuko for the stupidest reason, I'd say there wasn't much love left. Also he was already a dick to his son according to the flashbacks in Zuko Alone.

>and hating Zuko because he thinks he's someone else's child.
We're entering spoiler territory but that's not what the search part 3 says.

>>114986
>He was ready to kill Zuko for the stupidest reason, I'd say there wasn't much love left. Also he was already a dick to his son according to the flashbacks in Zuko Alone.

You may have a point there, but I always assumed the reason why he was going along with the whole "kill your son" thing was mostly due to Asian notions of duty, family honor, etc. He couldn't outright refuse an order from his father, the Fire Lord. But it was also clear that he didn't care about Zuko very much at that point, so you're right. I think if Azulon hadn't given that order, though, he still might look down on Zuko, but not really wish him any specific harm.

Ozai told Zuko he was lucky to be born before the banishment. I think his feelings of love probably faded somewhere around when Azula started firebending.

I always liked the idea that Ozai hated Zuko because Zuko reminded him of himself - the impulsiveness, short temper, and inability to plan ahead - mixed with the "weakness" of Ursa's compassion. And that he favored Azula because her manipulative qualities, strategic talent, and prodigious firebending reminded him of Iroh who he always envied, but without Iroh's "weakness" of compassion. I also always liked the idea that Iroh favored Zuko over Azula because Azula reminded him of all the bad things he didn't like about himself whereas Zuko had the good qualities, and maybe the same for Ursa.

>>115095
Too bad Ursa has no real good qualities to speak of.

>>116975
Just goes to show that she fits in with the rest of the family, then.

>>116975
>people think Ursa is a legitimately horrible person

>>116977
I'm sorry, but yeah. She ain't great.

Discarding the memory of your son like an old dish rag doesn't exactly qualify you for mom of the year material.

>>116975
People don't exist at absolutes.

>>116978
She has her flaws but just writing her off as being terrible because she chose to erase her memories of her kids is like, really simplifying her situation and intentionally leaving out information that could, God forbid, make her look sympathetic.

>>116980
Being an okay mom to one of her kids was practically the only thing she had going for her.

What she did just wasn't right, by any measure. You can't excuse it.

>>116981
Yes, how wrong it was of Ursa to want to be happy after being told that she'd never see her children again and having nothing to make her believe otherwise and going back to a home she hadn't been to in years to find her parents had died and her ex-fiance had been missing for as long as she'd been gone. She clearly should have become a nun and been miserable for the rest of her life instead of taking an opportunity to be happy.

Didn't we just have this same exact conversation in another thread?

>>116983
If we did, I wasn't part of it.

The point is it's totally unfair to Ursa to look at everything she had been through and then saying she's a terrible person for in the end choosing what she felt could be the only way she could be happy. Whether or not it's selfish I think is a matter of personal interpretation, but being selfish doesn't automatically make you a horrible person.

>>116982
This entire line of reasoning is so immature and stupid. Something people who have no idea of motherhood will sprout.
If she wanted to start over, fair enough.
But to try to hit the restart button on her life, erase all memories of her so-called loved ones? Especially when they're still out there?
It's abandonment. Plain and simple.
And it speaks of Ursa as a weak person.
I don't begrudge her wanting to be happy again. I begrudge her that she wanted and got an easy way out and she was more than willing to pay the price.

Ursa a shit.

>>116985
>Especially when they're still out there?
When they're still out there and she can't do anything for them, she can't protect them from Ozai and she has practically no hope of seeing them again (Zuko thought she was DEAD and Ozai obviously didn't argue that until the day of the eclipse). She's not royal blood, she doesn't have a kingdom she can run back to so she can raise its banners and she can wage war against Ozai in the name of her children, she can't do ANYTHING and that probably made her more miserable than anything else. Some people can handle that burden, others can't, and it doesn't make them bad because they want to be happy again. Ursa shouldn't have had to sacrifice her happiness on what she felt (and at the time, was) the off chance that she would be able to be with her kids again.

>>116986
It makes her a weak and immature person. And a hypocrite, for she doesn't practice what she preached to her own son.
She signed away her responsibilities, her doubts, her regrets and her memories. The things that make people who they are.
It's not just an insult.

It's the kind of choice a person makes that is ultimately childishly selfish and harmful to himself and others.
You can argue until the cows come home, but we've all seen "Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind"
Feel free to emphasize with her as much as you want. That doesn't make her a good parent or a good person though.

>>116987
>It makes her a weak
There's nothing wrong with that considering how bad her life had become.

> and immature
Debatable.

>She signed away her responsibilities, her doubts, her regrets and her memories. The things that make people who they are.
Well at that point she had no responsibilities so I don't know what you're talking about her, and regardless she was still under no obligation to anyone to stay miserable. No, not even her children. Ursa is a human being who is not solely defined by the fact that she's a mother.

And I'm not saying Ursa is ultimately a good person incapable of fucking up. She did fuck up, but given her situation I can't fault her and label her a terrible human being for doing so. It's not a clear cut black and white situation, which is probably why the comic didn't go, "SEE?! SEE HOW TERRIBLE OF A HUMAN BEING URSA IS?!"

>>116988
Eh, it seems more like we're supposed to emphasize with her in the comic.
Which is bullshit for two reasons.
1. We barely know Ursa and only cared about her ultimate fate for Azula and Zuko's sake.
2. The fact that she's "gotten over" her kids and lived a pleasant, carefree life all this time, while her son was actively worrying for her and her daughter went mad thanks in no small part to her and everyone went to great trouble to find her. There was no reward in doing so. She might as well be dead. Shoot, Ursa is dead. She killed herself.

Actually, I don't really see how anyone can truly like her, seeing as how things went.

>>116989
>We barely know Ursa and only cared about her ultimate fate for Azula and Zuko's sake.
Which is probably why they spent roughly half of the entire comic on flashbacks about Ursa's past, so she would become a bit more than just a symbol to us.

>The fact that she's "gotten over" her kids and lived a pleasant, carefree life all this time, while her son was actively worrying for her and her daughter went mad thanks in no small part to her and everyone went to great trouble to find her. There was no reward in doing so. She might as well be dead. Shoot, Ursa is dead. She killed herself.
I think the fact that she chose to erase her memories actually meant she COULDN'T get over it but at the same time couldn't live with the fact that her kids were being raised by a sociopath and couldn't do anything to help them. Hell, if Avatar were aimed at an older audience she probably WOULD have actually killed herself.

I mean I think the whole point is that Ursa, Zuko and Azula are all tragic characters who have done messed up things as a result of their relationships with Ozai.