Something I did absolutely love was that the minute he realized he was at war he pulled his act together and tried to be the best leader he could if only for a few days
@@maxwellpauric00 well he became king at 4 so there is a good chance his dad did know, its just he was not exacly old enough to sit down for that kind of conversation before his dad died
I don’t think the Earth King was dumb. He was just naive. He trusted Long Feng way too much without knowing his scams. He seems like a really nice and kind king.
His biggest mistake is not going outside the palace. A good leader should know what he's controlling. Not experiencing any of it is just bad leadership
Again, He had no idea that Long Feng was cheating him. What I don’t understand is how did his ancestors manage to hide it from him. I mean, a war of 100 years, before he and Long Feng were born. @@teneesh3376
@@arnowisp6244 but he could have at least went to the lower wall at least once every 2 months. Or even the middle wall. Man didn't even go outside his palace
@@princezuko9414 only cause katra froze me in ice the mf almost killed me how was I supposed to be escape oh and where does she live I’m going to pay her a little vist
To be fair...it’s not *entirely* his fault, he was manipulated his whole life, and to quote the ever wise Toph Beifong: “He could’ve turned out a lot worse” *cough cough* the earth queen
You do realize that the Earth Queen is his daughter? The Earth King is the reason she was such a tyrant. He was a weak and inept ruler, and raised his daughter to be a monster.
@@ChienaAvtzon didn’t raise his daughter to be a tyrant, she just hated him and how weak he was and decided to go the complete opposite way and be a tyrant. Ye he was weak and inept but also he was raised by palace officials from the age of 4 and shut away from the world up till this point so he simply just had zero skills on how to run a country or raise kids.
basically he was raised to be like that, but somehow still not too bad, I just wan't to know does the earth queen was also been raised like that?, she somehow turned to be worse than him.
@@saaddudin7163because she wanted to be the opposite of him, He probably attempted to make her a strong ruler so a coup wouldnt happen but she took it too far
In the comics, he proves himself to be a very competent king. During his travels while in exile, he saw firsthand what the Fire Nation did to his people and was pissed to say the least. After being restored to power, he was determined to make sure all of his land was reclaimed and to enforce the exile of the Fire Nation Colonies. So when Zuko backs out on his promise due to paranoia, and manipulation from Ozai, Kuei doesnt back down. And was willing to start another war just to get the Fire Nation off Earth Kingdom territory. And his stances were justified, but once Aang came up with a compromise (a new nation for all the people), he was willing to agree to it. Unfortunately his daughter turned out to be a tyrant and frankly deserved her fate as horrible as it was.
@@divoulos5758 Those weren't their lands and you know it. Zuko knew that too but Ozai fed on his insecurities to make him back out of the deal. It is not unreasonable for a country to ask for the citizens of a colonizing power to leave when they regain control over their country. As long as the civilians being evicted are treated well and allowed to leave with their stuff.
@TimberlakeTigerGirl read the comic it gets a bit more complicated than that. Since earth kingdom and fire nation citizens lived together for about 100years the people living there aren't colonizers and they don't want each other to leave.
@@TimberlakeTigerGirl And those earthbenders citizens who live there, WANTED the fire nation citizens to stay. The only one who doesn't are those who live outside of the city. Because as already mention. It was part of there life for 100 of years. The fire nation people who live there, by the end of the war. Are no longer the same fire nation colonizer. They're already integrated into the city. Turning it into a cultural hub for both fire and earth bender craftmen to work together. Paving the way for an easier peace between different groups. then the shitty harmony restoration movement. Which all it does is just makes it easier to discriminate one another, as neither side truly knows what the other is experiencing
@mostdefinitelynotadurian1043 the fire nation actively arrested and interned all Earthbenders regardless of crimes indefinitely. There is a whole episode about the Gaang pretending to earthbound then be taken to one of the camps in the sea where they keep th3m and liberate the camp. The idea that comic presents to Earth and fire nation coexisting peac fully and harmoniously without major oppression is completly out of line with everything we see of fire nation occupation in the show itself. Literally every single person with a single earthbender family member would have had that family member strippedd from them by occupational forces and every single earthbender in occupied areas would have spent thied whole lives in a prison for the crime of existing. The idea that everythingthing was hunky dorry after the war in those areas is genuine insanity and straight up reviosionist to the extent I can't consider those comics canon
I feel for Kuei getting deceived by his closest advisor then Ba Sing Se getting taken unknowingly letting Azula know of the invasion plan it really was one thing after another. Least he got to travel the world with Bosco though.
@@Swiftbowyeah, that irks me. Even the comics show how much of a spineless coward he is when he was unwilling to face firelord zuko and even his own people xalling him out. It makes me wonder why the other earth kingdom monarchs like bumi didn't tried overthrow him? Like seriously there are a number of other rulers in the earth Kingdom who govern better and are great warriors.
Kuei was actually a fantastic king. He was raised from childhood to be a puppet like the kings and queens before him but as soon as he realizes there's a war and Long Feng is covering it up he has the traitor arrested, cooperates with the Deus Ex Machina of the world known as the Avatar, gets in contact with all the Earth Kingdom's generals, orders the redeployment of forces to go on a counteroffensive, and begins actively participating in the ongoing geopolitics. All within a few days or weeks before Azula coups Ba Sing Se. Then he travels the world as a king in exile before finally returning to his city and bringing order and reform to the Earth Kingdom in the wake of a 100 year long global war.
That travelling would've also helped him get to times, and experience the conditions of people outside of Ba Sing Se, considering he'd been living in luxury for his whole life.
Is he seriously reformed the Earth Kingdoms why did literally anything that happened in Korra regarding rhe Earth kingdom happen? Seems his reforms didn't stick. Omashu fell from being taken by Fire nations armies. Ba Sing Se fell to 3 teenage girls. The city had whole armies at its disposal and allowed itself get coupled by a forieghn power. Ordering the Ba Sing Se army and Earth Kingdom Royal Guard to dismantle and arrest the Dai Lai whole sale after the extent of thier lies had been revealed. The very fact that he somehow believed Long Fang was alone responsible for everything and only had him arrested is proof of his ineptitude. Why keep the Dai Lai as an organization after everything? All it did was allow them to do a coup?
@@mouseprotector5081 "One weak link can end a dynasty", and we saw what happened in Korra. As for the Dai Li, it was just like how Beria was to the USSR. A monster that everyone (even Stalin) wanted gone, but was too valuable of an asset to give away.
@Memelord1117 are you not aware of Berias ultimate fate? I'll give you a hint. It's exactly what the Earth Kingdom should have done to Long Fang and the entirety of the Dai Lis leadership.
After a change in leadership the new soviet leadership heavily disagreed on berias usefulness and immediately moved to dispose of him. By quite literally having him dragged out back and shot. Exactly what should have happened to the Dai Li following rhe change in leadership that was the Earth king actually asserting his authority. You literally picked the worst possible example.
@@VividFlash that was until he understood why Zuko was not forcing all of the Fire Nation citizens out of the colony, he realized like Zuko did that the citizens of the Fire Nation and citizens of the earth Kingdom who lived there had intermingled and had families, and that a culture existed there that was neither Fire Nation nor Earth Kingdom. But yeah, he did almost start a war, primarily because he was trying to be more assertive and feared be manipulated again like what Long Feng did, but it made him more arrogant to the point where he even initially ignored Aang's, the AVATAR'S, counsel.
Kuei could be the dumbest king of Earth kingdom but her daughter clearly was THE WORST. Kuei was a fool manipulated puppet, and was even a coward sometimes, but at least he had noble and kind feelings, he recognized Gaang as allies and retired his approve to Dai Li for betray and control him. BUT her daughter was a pain in the ass of everyone and I'm afraid that almost all fans were happy when Zaheer killed her (but they won't admit it).
Calling someone "dumb" disregarding that they were raised a figurehead their entire life and actively strives to right a lifetime of wrongs after realization has massive twitter energy, not gonna lie.
yeah at least he wasn't crazy unlike his daughter. It seems after she knew how much power Kuei's advisor got she never trusted anyone other than the dai li
Yes, exactly. There's a clear-cut difference between "stupid"/unintelligent and gullible/manipulable. He's been led astray by Long Feng practically his entire life.
Eh, the two things go hand and hand. He was a figure head for the majority of his life and he essentially believed everything his advisor told him. For example, his response to the confirmation of his advisor lying to him about the bite. He doesn't even consider that people may be still loyal to his disgraced advisor. He doesn't think, he just responds in the realm of what is happening. Even to the point of revealing secrets loosely. By the way, the above has nothing to do with being a king, it has everything to do with being independent and thinking critically. All things considered, he should not have been reinstated as King.
@@LuminousWhispers11 issue is, I doubt he ever HAS been betrayed like how Long Feng did, knew the extent of their loyalty to Long Feng, or really had any experience in intrigue at all. After all, he was led completely in the wrong direction through decades of misinformation by Long Feng.
He seems really clueless for all the things happening around him and the fact that he has been controlled his whole life. But other than that, he's cool, humble, and nice. Seems like a down to earth person. And he's cute ngllll lol
Gas lighted from birth no less. The Earth kingdom is very much like a traditional Chinese empire, including loose loyalty by regional warlords and governors. If people think this is unrealistic, they would be wrong. Emperor's Xian from Later Han was a puppet who up until his throne was stolen was never allowed to leave the capital and was usually trapped in his estate. many others before and after spent most o their lives in the Palace from birth and never stepped out until an adult. The last emperor of China, Chuyi became a sociopath partly because he grew up in such an environment. The unfortunate truth is that children in pedestals of power will often have their upbringing dominated by others, warped by the whims of those seeking to control or usurp them. Wang Mang is infamous for stealing a throne and Dong Zhuo was famous for deposing child emperors and using them as political pawns.
It was not his fault he was kept ignorant all of his life, I think the important thing is that when he was faced with the truth he chose to accept it and do the right thing instead of reject it and follow Long Feng blindly.
"Earth King being the absolute dumbest leader". Well, that's actually not true because he proved to be capable after he was told the truth about the war.
1. The Earth King isn't a bender. He couldn't just join the war. He's a political figure, not a warrior 2. The fall of Ba Sing Se is the worst thing that happened to the Earth Kingdom, he couldn't do anything about it. His case wasn't like Prince Wu's who at least got the chance to help the people because back then, Republic City hasn't fallen yet 3. Disguising as a commoner on a vacation is better than showing himself up during the war against the Fire Lord
He wanted to be a good king, and he has all the qualities to be one. That's exactly why the Dai Li kept him under their control. He didn't expect his own servants to turn on him.
"These explosion? Oh yeah, these are firework we started a years of celebration in your honor !" "yeah, the giant bill is due to that" "yes, there are soldier everywhere, but it's normal, we need to keep the street secure, there are a lot of tourist" "yeah, like this huge mass of firenation guy outside"
It bothers me how they wrote him off. Avatar has always been about a rag tag group of friends traveling the world and when a characters written out not to interfere with the next episode it's done more organically. The most obvious one being Aang asking Moku if they would join them to Omashu and he flat out says no. The Earth King should of stayed with Hakoda's group, settled somewhere safe with team Avatar's allies until the war was over or went into hiding.
It kinda makes sense though, this is his first time leading his nation without anyone to advise him since he was a kid so he's guaranteed to make some fuck ups along the way. Plus he didn't know who Azula was because he didn't even know his own country was at war. I do agree that he should've told them at least that he spoiled the plan because a buncha people just got arrested or probably even killed because they knew.
I also love how his decisions even paid off in the remainder of the show. They planned the invasion of the Fire Nation for many, many episodes, but it ultimately failed because the Earth King had already revealed the plans to Azula months earlier
@@dinoboiis8147He found out that they were enemies right before Ba Sing Se was taken over. Why didn't he TELL the gaang that he told Azula about the plan?
I wouldn't really call him dumb. The guy was manupulated by all of his advisors for his whole life. He had no reason to NOT believe Long Feng. But the second he knew what was going on, he shaped up and actually did his best. His only mistake at that point was not realizing that Azula and her friends weren't The Kiyoshi Warriors. But considering Sokka stated that the Gaang knew the Kiyoshi Warriors, Kuei assumed they were trustworthy. After all, he had never seen the Kiyoshi Warriors, Mai, Ty Lee, or Azula.
I don't think he was actually dumb, just influenced his whole life in the wrong way, and when he realizes that there is indeed, a war, he takes full responsability and blames himself for not finding it out on his own
Ba Sing Se defended for 100 years. This guy finds out about the war for 1 day. Not only does the impregnable city get taken over but he spoils the invasion plan and the avatar almost dies. ONE DAY! Long Feng was right to hide the truth
@@dakotastein9499 Assuming he has zero people capable of performing a background check, keeping in mind Azula's face is world famous being the fire nation princess, he could just not tell strangers about secret invasion plans.
id considder him more "ignorent" than dumb...him sticking by the delusion about the war and continuing to believe longfang would make him an idiot.... but prior to the evidence he genuinely had no reason to believe them. 1. like most monarchs of ba sing se,he never left the inner ring and was rather ignorent of what went on beyond the walls...not to mention there was an active conspiracy indended on keeping him that way. 2. ba sing se was as close as things came to a peacefull and prosperous save haven,away from the war as nobody from the fire nation could get anywhere near conqoring it...the closest being iroh and that was years prior. so evidence of what was essentially a world war was limited to non existant in the city. not to mention the dai li aboducting and brainwashing anyone that mentioned the war.
Late comment, but Long Feng was a Earthbender and he managed to take full control of the Kingdom. Toph and Bumi had brains and used them better in comparison to others.
Aw come on, that's way too harsh. Obviously if you thought your entire life that there was no war in the world, you wouldn't believe it immediately. And Kuei was even willing to hear Team Avatar out to an extent. He may not have been a great ruler, but can you blame him when he had no experience at all due to being manipulated his whole life?
After watching The Legend of Korra I think he was the best Earth King. His daughter and Wu were terrible (and both so annoying characters 🙄) He was at least just easy to manipulate and not annoying af
“This guy is so dumb because he doesn’t instantly believe these four strangers who his own government arrested.” “He can’t tell the difference between the original kyoshi warriors and these fakes, what an idiot” He’s not dumb, you’re biased towards the perspective of the GAang
Unfortunately, he's a product of his environment. According to the Wiki, Kuei was four years old when his father died and he ascended the throne with Long Feng as his regent. Unfortunately, that gave Long Feng all the power in the world to manipulate Kuei. Even after he stands up to Long Feng, he trusts the Gaang's word a little too much, letting the "Kiyoshi Warriors" into the city without having anyone confirm their identities and then spilling the secret invasion plans to them immediately. It is nice that he apparently grew into his role after the war.
To be fair, he was groomed to be this was. Sheltered from birth, never leaving the kingdom, always going off the words of another, and always being told that this was the right thing to do. In his world, the people he surrounded himself were reliable. In his world, there really was no war in Ba Sing Se.
He was manipulated all his life and after the 100 years he was humble enough to know his qualities as a leader and ruler were not great. And he needed to learn much. But what I never understand is why he didnt abolish the Dei li and replace them wih something like the keoshi warriors. They are to powerhungry. They betrayed their life long leader for the princes of the fire nation. Dei li would betray the earth kingdom again in a instant it would benefit them and if the avartar wasnt around.
The Fire Nation is a genuine meritocracy, the Earth Kingdom is a more stereotypical autocracy. The FN is still autocratic but even if you're nobility, if you're incompetent no one respects you.
Really though country/military leaders don’t just reveal invasion plans to anyone who just walks into their palace. This guy dropped the entire day of black sun plan to Azula. Sokka’s plan was doomed before it even began.
I mean to be fair although he was manipulated his whole life by long Feng he was a pretty nice guy his daughter an the other hand you maybe Zaheer did us a favour by killing her in the most metal way possible
To be honest, being sheltered and manipulated by the Dai Li is what caused his naivete. In the comics, his attempts to become a stronger and better leader almost reignited the war, however he was able to see the fault in his ways. I like Kuei because he is a character which is actively trying to better himself.
The earth king is Lowkey one of the most tragic character in avatar. He was manipulated his whole life and once he realizes this he immediately tries to make up for it by being an active leader but leaks crucial information! Then does try to live among the people but even in the comics when he’s back in the throne he still seems to have that sheltered mentality to some extent. Dude really did try you got to give him that.
To be fair, he did become Earth King when he was 4 and Long Feng used him as a figure head just to keep Ba Sing Se from suffering a capital wide panic if they found out about the Hundred Year War and the Fire Nation knocking on their walls.
you can’t call him dumb he was just naive and literally did not know about the war 💀 if he was dumb, then he would’ve kept believing long feng after seeing the drill and had the gaang arrested
Kui is modelled, at least as far as looks go, after Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor. Pu Yi was cruel, paranoid and cowardly (not a surprising development considering his upbringing and the fact that people were exploiting him for his entire life), while Kui is only naive.
Kuei was a good and reasonable man, he was naive and being manipulated all his life, but when he realized it, he tried his best to undo the damage the Dai Li caused and be a true King, he even took responsibility for his own ignorance, calling himself the King of Fools. He could have turned out far worse like his daughter Hou-Ting, power hungry, selfish, and evil. Kuei was a good character, after the fall of Ba Sing Se, he decided to travel the Earth Kingdom with Basco and see what it's like to be a real person, he saw the damage the Fire Nation caused his Kingdom and in the comics decided to stand up and force the Fire Nation colonies out of his Kingdom.
Something I did absolutely love was that the minute he realized he was at war he pulled his act together and tried to be the best leader he could if only for a few days
It could've worked if the kyoshi warriors never got caught lacking by azula, giving them a disguise to sneak into Ba Sing Se.
This guy can’t get a break, he has been gaslighted by not one, BUT HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO TRUST
Also since his father never told him. That's means his family were gas lite for 2-3 generations
@@maxwellpauric00 not to mention his daughter was probably one of the worst ruler ever
@@maxwellpauric00 well he became king at 4 so there is a good chance his dad did know, its just he was not exacly old enough to sit down for that kind of conversation before his dad died
To be honest I really like the earth king, at least he was better than the earth queen
Ah true
Who was the earth queen what??
@@lhingthem5651
Kuei's daughter (I think? I can't remember) she's in Legend of Korra, the sequel to Avatar
@@_BriDG3 the one that died because of zaheer
@@raziqmew7619
Yeah, that one
I don’t think the Earth King was dumb. He was just naive. He trusted Long Feng way too much without knowing his scams. He seems like a really nice and kind king.
His biggest mistake is not going outside the palace. A good leader should know what he's controlling. Not experiencing any of it is just bad leadership
Again, He had no idea that Long Feng was cheating him. What I don’t understand is how did his ancestors manage to hide it from him. I mean, a war of 100 years, before he and Long Feng were born. @@teneesh3376
@@teneesh3376 Ba Sing Se is the size of a Small Country Alone. It's no surprise it was Possible for Them to hide the existence of the war.
@@arnowisp6244 but he could have at least went to the lower wall at least once every 2 months. Or even the middle wall. Man didn't even go outside his palace
@@teneesh3376I don’t think he could if he wanted to, he didn’t really hold the power
I love how some of these clips are just the Earth King existing, not even talking.
Basically his entire job before that episode
There is no war in Ba Sing Se.
_There is no war in Ba Sing Se._
*There is no war in Ba Sing Se.*
THERE IS NO WAR IN BA SING SE
I started it
There is no war now....Aang stopped it
@@princezuko9414 yah right 😒
@@azula.badazzx6985 Aang has stopped the war and your just mad about it
@@princezuko9414 only cause katra froze me in ice the mf almost killed me how was I supposed to be escape oh and where does she live I’m going to pay her a little vist
To be fair...it’s not *entirely* his fault, he was manipulated his whole life, and to quote the ever wise Toph Beifong: “He could’ve turned out a lot worse”
*cough cough* the earth queen
You do realize that the Earth Queen is his daughter? The Earth King is the reason she was such a tyrant. He was a weak and inept ruler, and raised his daughter to be a monster.
@@ChienaAvtzon And back to Wu, who used to also be weak and inept
@@ChienaAvtzon didn’t raise his daughter to be a tyrant, she just hated him and how weak he was and decided to go the complete opposite way and be a tyrant. Ye he was weak and inept but also he was raised by palace officials from the age of 4 and shut away from the world up till this point so he simply just had zero skills on how to run a country or raise kids.
basically he was raised to be like that, but somehow still not too bad, I just wan't to know does the earth queen was also been raised like that?, she somehow turned to be worse than him.
@@saaddudin7163because she wanted to be the opposite of him,
He probably attempted to make her a strong ruler so a coup wouldnt happen but she took it too far
In the comics, he proves himself to be a very competent king. During his travels while in exile, he saw firsthand what the Fire Nation did to his people and was pissed to say the least. After being restored to power, he was determined to make sure all of his land was reclaimed and to enforce the exile of the Fire Nation Colonies. So when Zuko backs out on his promise due to paranoia, and manipulation from Ozai, Kuei doesnt back down. And was willing to start another war just to get the Fire Nation off Earth Kingdom territory. And his stances were justified, but once Aang came up with a compromise (a new nation for all the people), he was willing to agree to it.
Unfortunately his daughter turned out to be a tyrant and frankly deserved her fate as horrible as it was.
Manipulation by ozai? Firenation citizens were in that town, zuko had to defend it from the earth kingdom forces if he cared about his citizens.
@@divoulos5758 Those weren't their lands and you know it. Zuko knew that too but Ozai fed on his insecurities to make him back out of the deal. It is not unreasonable for a country to ask for the citizens of a colonizing power to leave when they regain control over their country. As long as the civilians being evicted are treated well and allowed to leave with their stuff.
@TimberlakeTigerGirl read the comic it gets a bit more complicated than that. Since earth kingdom and fire nation citizens lived together for about 100years the people living there aren't colonizers and they don't want each other to leave.
@@TimberlakeTigerGirl And those earthbenders citizens who live there, WANTED the fire nation citizens to stay. The only one who doesn't are those who live outside of the city. Because as already mention. It was part of there life for 100 of years. The fire nation people who live there, by the end of the war. Are no longer the same fire nation colonizer. They're already integrated into the city. Turning it into a cultural hub for both fire and earth bender craftmen to work together.
Paving the way for an easier peace between different groups. then the shitty harmony restoration movement. Which all it does is just makes it easier to discriminate one another, as neither side truly knows what the other is experiencing
@mostdefinitelynotadurian1043 the fire nation actively arrested and interned all Earthbenders regardless of crimes indefinitely. There is a whole episode about the Gaang pretending to earthbound then be taken to one of the camps in the sea where they keep th3m and liberate the camp. The idea that comic presents to Earth and fire nation coexisting peac fully and harmoniously without major oppression is completly out of line with everything we see of fire nation occupation in the show itself. Literally every single person with a single earthbender family member would have had that family member strippedd from them by occupational forces and every single earthbender in occupied areas would have spent thied whole lives in a prison for the crime of existing. The idea that everythingthing was hunky dorry after the war in those areas is genuine insanity and straight up reviosionist to the extent I can't consider those comics canon
I feel for Kuei getting deceived by his closest advisor then Ba Sing Se getting taken unknowingly letting Azula know of the invasion plan it really was one thing after another.
Least he got to travel the world with Bosco though.
🥺cute
That was even worse, though. The moment all his idiocy came to fruition, instead of leading his people in a resistance? He just runs off on vacation.
@@Swiftbowyeah, that irks me. Even the comics show how much of a spineless coward he is when he was unwilling to face firelord zuko and even his own people xalling him out. It makes me wonder why the other earth kingdom monarchs like bumi didn't tried overthrow him? Like seriously there are a number of other rulers in the earth Kingdom who govern better and are great warriors.
Kuei was actually a fantastic king. He was raised from childhood to be a puppet like the kings and queens before him but as soon as he realizes there's a war and Long Feng is covering it up he has the traitor arrested, cooperates with the Deus Ex Machina of the world known as the Avatar, gets in contact with all the Earth Kingdom's generals, orders the redeployment of forces to go on a counteroffensive, and begins actively participating in the ongoing geopolitics. All within a few days or weeks before Azula coups Ba Sing Se. Then he travels the world as a king in exile before finally returning to his city and bringing order and reform to the Earth Kingdom in the wake of a 100 year long global war.
That travelling would've also helped him get to times, and experience the conditions of people outside of Ba Sing Se, considering he'd been living in luxury for his whole life.
Is he seriously reformed the Earth Kingdoms why did literally anything that happened in Korra regarding rhe Earth kingdom happen? Seems his reforms didn't stick. Omashu fell from being taken by Fire nations armies. Ba Sing Se fell to 3 teenage girls. The city had whole armies at its disposal and allowed itself get coupled by a forieghn power. Ordering the Ba Sing Se army and Earth Kingdom Royal Guard to dismantle and arrest the Dai Lai whole sale after the extent of thier lies had been revealed. The very fact that he somehow believed Long Fang was alone responsible for everything and only had him arrested is proof of his ineptitude. Why keep the Dai Lai as an organization after everything? All it did was allow them to do a coup?
@@mouseprotector5081 "One weak link can end a dynasty", and we saw what happened in Korra.
As for the Dai Li, it was just like how Beria was to the USSR. A monster that everyone (even Stalin) wanted gone, but was too valuable of an asset to give away.
@Memelord1117 are you not aware of Berias ultimate fate? I'll give you a hint. It's exactly what the Earth Kingdom should have done to Long Fang and the entirety of the Dai Lis leadership.
After a change in leadership the new soviet leadership heavily disagreed on berias usefulness and immediately moved to dispose of him. By quite literally having him dragged out back and shot. Exactly what should have happened to the Dai Li following rhe change in leadership that was the Earth king actually asserting his authority. You literally picked the worst possible example.
At least after the war was done, he resolved to be a better, more active king.
Actually, he was too busy raising his daughter to be a monster.
@@ChienaAvtzonbut if he was good king it would make sense mother was one raising monster
According to the comics he straight went and tried to go to war with the fire nation again
@@nothing_to_read_here That's what happened to Thailand today. The previous King was great and loved by all people. But his son now,
@@VividFlash that was until he understood why Zuko was not forcing all of the Fire Nation citizens out of the colony, he realized like Zuko did that the citizens of the Fire Nation and citizens of the earth Kingdom who lived there had intermingled and had families, and that a culture existed there that was neither Fire Nation nor Earth Kingdom.
But yeah, he did almost start a war, primarily because he was trying to be more assertive and feared be manipulated again like what Long Feng did, but it made him more arrogant to the point where he even initially ignored Aang's, the AVATAR'S, counsel.
Kuei could be the dumbest king of Earth kingdom but her daughter clearly was THE WORST. Kuei was a fool manipulated puppet, and was even a coward sometimes, but at least he had noble and kind feelings, he recognized Gaang as allies and retired his approve to Dai Li for betray and control him. BUT her daughter was a pain in the ass of everyone and I'm afraid that almost all fans were happy when Zaheer killed her (but they won't admit it).
Therr isn't only one true king of the earth kingdom. There are more +
I mean his name mean "Puppet" or "Leader"
@@timotheysan3605 interesting 🤔🤔
Hey I was overjoyed.
You don't kill Bosco and retain my sympathies
@@timotheysan3605 it means both in chinese
Calling someone "dumb" disregarding that they were raised a figurehead their entire life and actively strives to right a lifetime of wrongs after realization has massive twitter energy, not gonna lie.
I miss when people like you and me were commonplace.
Glad someone else thinks the same.
yeah at least he wasn't crazy unlike his daughter. It seems after she knew how much power Kuei's advisor got she never trusted anyone other than the dai li
Aw come on, he isn't dumb. He's just easy to manipulate
Yes, exactly. There's a clear-cut difference between "stupid"/unintelligent and gullible/manipulable. He's been led astray by Long Feng practically his entire life.
Eh, the two things go hand and hand. He was a figure head for the majority of his life and he essentially believed everything his advisor told him. For example, his response to the confirmation of his advisor lying to him about the bite.
He doesn't even consider that people may be still loyal to his disgraced advisor. He doesn't think, he just responds in the realm of what is happening. Even to the point of revealing secrets loosely.
By the way, the above has nothing to do with being a king, it has everything to do with being independent and thinking critically. All things considered, he should not have been reinstated as King.
Gullible people usually have a lower IQ.
@@LuminousWhispers11 issue is, I doubt he ever HAS been betrayed like how Long Feng did, knew the extent of their loyalty to Long Feng, or really had any experience in intrigue at all. After all, he was led completely in the wrong direction through decades of misinformation by Long Feng.
In the comics he is a champ, taking actions himself and never being afraid of going in person up and down the world, even when he could sends legates.
He seems really clueless for all the things happening around him and the fact that he has been controlled his whole life. But other than that, he's cool, humble, and nice. Seems like a down to earth person. And he's cute ngllll lol
fr
pun intended
Even as a child he didn't know lol, and he wasn't even earth king yet
He was 4 when he was crowned, so
There is no war in Ba Sing Se.
Earth King: There is no secret war!
Me: How would you know? You've never been outside of your own house
I feel bad for this guy, he was gaslighted by pretty much everyone he trusted
Gas lighted from birth no less. The Earth kingdom is very much like a traditional Chinese empire, including loose loyalty by regional warlords and governors.
If people think this is unrealistic, they would be wrong. Emperor's Xian from Later Han was a puppet who up until his throne was stolen was never allowed to leave the capital and was usually trapped in his estate. many others before and after spent most o their lives in the Palace from birth and never stepped out until an adult. The last emperor of China, Chuyi became a sociopath partly because he grew up in such an environment.
The unfortunate truth is that children in pedestals of power will often have their upbringing dominated by others, warped by the whims of those seeking to control or usurp them. Wang Mang is infamous for stealing a throne and Dong Zhuo was famous for deposing child emperors and using them as political pawns.
I blame his parents
They died when he was 4
Blame Long Fang
Basically Blame who raised him
Honestly it’s not his fault at least he’s a nice guy
and humble
It was not his fault he was kept ignorant all of his life, I think the important thing is that when he was faced with the truth he chose to accept it and do the right thing instead of reject it and follow Long Feng blindly.
He’s modeled after the last ever emperor of China who was kept up in Forbidden City
Yeah it mix cultures of ming and qing style
Glasses gave it away.
"Earth King being the absolute dumbest leader". Well, that's actually not true because he proved to be capable after he was told the truth about the war.
He took his role at 4 years old. It's just gullibility and naivete, not stupidity.
1. The Earth King isn't a bender. He couldn't just join the war. He's a political figure, not a warrior
2. The fall of Ba Sing Se is the worst thing that happened to the Earth Kingdom, he couldn't do anything about it. His case wasn't like Prince Wu's who at least got the chance to help the people because back then, Republic City hasn't fallen yet
3. Disguising as a commoner on a vacation is better than showing himself up during the war against the Fire Lord
Seeing him now that I finished LOK, he gives me certain Wu vibes 🤔🤔...
I'm pretty sure they are related.
@@barboraklepalova3886 yeah, because Wu is the nephew of Kuei's daughter, so it could mean that Kuei had another child who is Wu mother or father.
Wu is the great grandson of Kuei
He wanted to be a good king, and he has all the qualities to be one. That's exactly why the Dai Li kept him under their control. He didn't expect his own servants to turn on him.
Iroh tried to take over the Ba Sing Se w/in his lifetime, so I wonder what he was told about that, or if he even knew at all
"These explosion? Oh yeah, these are firework we started a years of celebration in your honor !" "yeah, the giant bill is due to that" "yes, there are soldier everywhere, but it's normal, we need to keep the street secure, there are a lot of tourist" "yeah, like this huge mass of firenation guy outside"
It bothers me how they wrote him off. Avatar has always been about a rag tag group of friends traveling the world and when a characters written out not to interfere with the next episode it's done more organically. The most obvious one being Aang asking Moku if they would join them to Omashu and he flat out says no. The Earth King should of stayed with Hakoda's group, settled somewhere safe with team Avatar's allies until the war was over or went into hiding.
It kinda makes sense though, this is his first time leading his nation without anyone to advise him since he was a kid so he's guaranteed to make some fuck ups along the way. Plus he didn't know who Azula was because he didn't even know his own country was at war. I do agree that he should've told them at least that he spoiled the plan because a buncha people just got arrested or probably even killed because they knew.
I also love how his decisions even paid off in the remainder of the show. They planned the invasion of the Fire Nation for many, many episodes, but it ultimately failed because the Earth King had already revealed the plans to Azula months earlier
His ignorance was frustrating but throwing bday parties for his bear bff did make me like him a little more 😅
break down my *f a n c y* door-- *INHALE* and you expect me to trust you?!
1:46 badgermole in the background!
wow thank you for pointing that out! i never noticed this before
I mean
They DID break down his fancy door
The dumbest thing he did was talking about their Invasion plans to the enemy, and then not informing them that he yielded critical information.
i feel like its just because hes so inexperienced with that kind of stuff
The enemy who are disguised as allies of the Gaang…
Yeah can’t fault him there
@@dinoboiis8147He found out that they were enemies right before Ba Sing Se was taken over. Why didn't he TELL the gaang that he told Azula about the plan?
Tbh this dude was the perfect person for azula to trick. Not like she wouldn't trick most kings but this dude was made to be tricked by design
I wouldn't really call him dumb. The guy was manupulated by all of his advisors for his whole life. He had no reason to NOT believe Long Feng.
But the second he knew what was going on, he shaped up and actually did his best. His only mistake at that point was not realizing that Azula and her friends weren't The Kiyoshi Warriors.
But considering Sokka stated that the Gaang knew the Kiyoshi Warriors, Kuei assumed they were trustworthy. After all, he had never seen the Kiyoshi Warriors, Mai, Ty Lee, or Azula.
I don't think he was actually dumb, just influenced his whole life in the wrong way, and when he realizes that there is indeed, a war, he takes full responsability and blames himself for not finding it out on his own
Okay but the Earth King is kind of iconic. I love how much he cares about Bosco 🐻❤️
Ba Sing Se defended for 100 years. This guy finds out about the war for 1 day. Not only does the impregnable city get taken over but he spoils the invasion plan and the avatar almost dies. ONE DAY!
Long Feng was right to hide the truth
not really since long feng did allow azula to take charge of the dai li, he didn't see the fire nation as a threat
Long Feng also didn't like the Day of Darkest Sun Invasion.
how the hell was he supposed to know that they werent the real kyoshi warriors?
@@dakotastein9499 Assuming he has zero people capable of performing a background check, keeping in mind Azula's face is world famous being the fire nation princess, he could just not tell strangers about secret invasion plans.
@@OMGSAMCOPSEYhe didn't even know there is a train in his city, how the hell he was supposed to know about enemy spy or something
If this guy never said anything to the “ Kyoshi warriors” then Sokkas plan would’ve worked😭😭😭😭
Well, his first phrase was a fact. Aang and his gang behaved like terrorists, almost killing King’s army.
he is a gamer he hasnt touched grass and hasnt been outside
To be honest he was better than his daughter. Even, if he WASN’T the sharpest person.
I facepalmed so hard when he told the solar eclipse plan to some random kids who showed up to the palace one day
He's a better ruler than The Earth Queen, that's for sure
Eh. Still a better leader than the Earth Queen. That's for sure.
@@reubensalter8125 True.
isn't she his daughter
@@eightfoottallman That’s the sad part.
id considder him more "ignorent" than dumb...him sticking by the delusion about the war and continuing to believe longfang would make him an idiot.... but prior to the evidence he genuinely had no reason to believe them.
1. like most monarchs of ba sing se,he never left the inner ring and was rather ignorent of what went on beyond the walls...not to mention there was an active conspiracy indended on keeping him that way.
2. ba sing se was as close as things came to a peacefull and prosperous save haven,away from the war as nobody from the fire nation could get anywhere near conqoring it...the closest being iroh and that was years prior. so evidence of what was essentially a world war was limited to non existant in the city. not to mention the dai li aboducting and brainwashing anyone that mentioned the war.
IIRC his parents died when he was 4 and Long Feng manipulated him his entire life
Long Feng wouldn’t have covertly had his queen and king killed, would he?😥
Everyone forgets that Katara Dropped THE INVASION PLANS with every little detail when Ty Lee chi blocked Katara & she forgot to tell everyone else.
Ruling country doesnt need muscle. It needs brain. So that's why not all earth king are a bender.
Late comment, but Long Feng was a Earthbender and he managed to take full control of the Kingdom. Toph and Bumi had brains and used them better in comparison to others.
Aw come on, that's way too harsh. Obviously if you thought your entire life that there was no war in the world, you wouldn't believe it immediately. And Kuei was even willing to hear Team Avatar out to an extent. He may not have been a great ruler, but can you blame him when he had no experience at all due to being manipulated his whole life?
After watching The Legend of Korra I think he was the best Earth King.
His daughter and Wu were terrible (and both so annoying characters 🙄)
He was at least just easy to manipulate and not annoying af
at least wu at the end decided to have the earth kingdom run as democratic city states instead of a monarch system, after that he wasn’t so annoying
@@MusicNoteAnn That's right, it got better and he learned a lot
Still not my favourite character, but better 😅
@Ann608fun2 monarchy was always better than democracy so i take this as her being a coward incapable of making a choice and following it through
Geometry problem: prove this is a triangle
Me: bro look at it, it's a literal _triangle_
Wise teacher: 0:54
At least he actually acknowledged the fact that he was a fool
Well, coming to his defense, he had no idea what a Kyoshi Warrior should look like, besides looking like Kyoshi ofc
“This guy is so dumb because he doesn’t instantly believe these four strangers who his own government arrested.”
“He can’t tell the difference between the original kyoshi warriors and these fakes, what an idiot”
He’s not dumb, you’re biased towards the perspective of the GAang
Unfortunately, he's a product of his environment. According to the Wiki, Kuei was four years old when his father died and he ascended the throne with Long Feng as his regent. Unfortunately, that gave Long Feng all the power in the world to manipulate Kuei. Even after he stands up to Long Feng, he trusts the Gaang's word a little too much, letting the "Kiyoshi Warriors" into the city without having anyone confirm their identities and then spilling the secret invasion plans to them immediately. It is nice that he apparently grew into his role after the war.
2:02 the one smart thing he said
I just like how he grew as a better leader, he was manipulated yes but he was still moving forward
He is so handsome❤
Kuei isn’t the best king but least he would never force airbenders into an army.
To be fair, he was groomed to be this was. Sheltered from birth, never leaving the kingdom, always going off the words of another, and always being told that this was the right thing to do. In his world, the people he surrounded himself were reliable. In his world, there really was no war in Ba Sing Se.
In all fairness, he was manipulated into being a puppet for the Dai Li.
OH nooo!!!! no the fancy door 😱
I thought the earth king was 17😅plus he looks more like a prince instead of a king😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
bro gives off heavy Guangxu Emperor vibes... if ykwimykwim
0:45 Long Feng: *sneezes*
Earth King: "I have to trust my advisor."
Katara: "maybe reconquer ba sing se in the name of the Earth King?"
Zuko: "Y"
He was manipulated all his life and after the 100 years he was humble enough to know his qualities as a leader and ruler were not great. And he needed to learn much. But what I never understand is why he didnt abolish the Dei li and replace them wih something like the keoshi warriors. They are to powerhungry. They betrayed their life long leader for the princes of the fire nation. Dei li would betray the earth kingdom again in a instant it would benefit them and if the avartar wasnt around.
1:56 to be fair, I don't think he was alive for all those 100 years.
Wait til he finds out what happened to the air nation
This king is like a uni student who only learned there’s an exam he should have been preparing for a semester 30 mins before it starts.
Fun fact, in Legend of Korra, the earth queen ate Bosco
Darth Vader: NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He's not really dumb. He was literally turned into a puppet and had information withheld from him.
The world building sets up the Firelord and people w/ his/her genes to be the most powerful firebender, but here the Earth King is just some guy.
The Fire Nation is a genuine meritocracy, the Earth Kingdom is a more stereotypical autocracy. The FN is still autocratic but even if you're nobility, if you're incompetent no one respects you.
And to think that he is only the second-worst Earth Kingdom monarch.
Really though country/military leaders don’t just reveal invasion plans to anyone who just walks into their palace. This guy dropped the entire day of black sun plan to Azula. Sokka’s plan was doomed before it even began.
I mean to be fair although he was manipulated his whole life by long Feng he was a pretty nice guy his daughter an the other hand you maybe Zaheer did us a favour by killing her in the most metal way possible
The earth queen ate Bosco, the 🐻?
I mean !
Right??
I wish that rumor wasn’t true.
Funny thing is after Ba Sing Se is liberated he becomes a great ruler who is proactive and strives to right by his people
Being unaware of a 100 year war outside your city actually sounds like a really peaceful life. After all, there is no war in Ba Sing Se
The Earth King finally realizes the truth 🙌 🙏 👏 ❤️ 🤧 😌.
His ignorance is 😅😅😅
I will never call someone who recognizes his flaws actively corrects his mistakes "dumb".
Massive L video
To be honest, being sheltered and manipulated by the Dai Li is what caused his naivete. In the comics, his attempts to become a stronger and better leader almost reignited the war, however he was able to see the fault in his ways. I like Kuei because he is a character which is actively trying to better himself.
That Bear tho...
"that bear" his name is Bosco... smh 🙁
Still can’t believe earth king is voiced by king Phil Lamar
Calling him dumb misses the ENTIRE point of this entire book and storyline….
It's little heartbreaking when he say's "We're in war, with the Fire Nation"😢
The earth king is Lowkey one of the most tragic character in avatar. He was manipulated his whole life and once he realizes this he immediately tries to make up for it by being an active leader but leaks crucial information! Then does try to live among the people but even in the comics when he’s back in the throne he still seems to have that sheltered mentality to some extent. Dude really did try you got to give him that.
Kuei has alot of historical parallels with the last Emperor of China, Puyi. It's really quite interesting to see and adds a nice touch to the show.
Going back to ATLA as an adult, and suddenly instead of crushing on Azula and Zuko I'm inexplicably attracted to this fool
STFU!!!!!!!!! earth king swag💯🔥💯🙏
LMAOOOOOO FR 🔥🔥🔥🔥
I only just now found out that he's voiced by Phil Lmarr. Same person who voiced Samurai Jack, Static Shock, and many more.
To be fair, he did become Earth King when he was 4 and Long Feng used him as a figure head just to keep Ba Sing Se from suffering a capital wide panic if they found out about the Hundred Year War and the Fire Nation knocking on their walls.
When you think about it, he's actually more intelligent than most world leaders.
you can’t call him dumb he was just naive and literally did not know about the war 💀
if he was dumb, then he would’ve kept believing long feng after seeing the drill and had the gaang arrested
Kui is modelled, at least as far as looks go, after Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor. Pu Yi was cruel, paranoid and cowardly (not a surprising development considering his upbringing and the fact that people were exploiting him for his entire life), while Kui is only naive.
Kuei was a good and reasonable man, he was naive and being manipulated all his life, but when he realized it, he tried his best to undo the damage the Dai Li caused and be a true King, he even took responsibility for his own ignorance, calling himself the King of Fools. He could have turned out far worse like his daughter Hou-Ting, power hungry, selfish, and evil.
Kuei was a good character, after the fall of Ba Sing Se, he decided to travel the Earth Kingdom with Basco and see what it's like to be a real person, he saw the damage the Fire Nation caused his Kingdom and in the comics decided to stand up and force the Fire Nation colonies out of his Kingdom.