Thanks for the shout-out! Loved the video. Just shared it on our community posts too. For anyone saying this is click bait - not so fast! The prequel manga used content that was left out from the show due to time. That means it’s not that much of a stretch to call it a deleted scene. Despite the manga being forced to be marketing material for the live action movie, the two writers worked on materials for the show and one of them (Dave Roman) even said they used the show characterization!
Yeah of course! I'm happy you enjoyed the video. Thank you for stopping by and sharing the video I really appreciate it. ☺I love what you guys have done for this community, all of your work is top tier quality. Keep it up I'm looking forward to what you have coming next. :)
I like having the full back story on Zuko and Iroh. Most of this is implied in the show but giving Iroh a purpose helps navigate the story. The red mask is a cool add to the story.
@@anitatobin7427 Tbh, thought that was relatively obvious, we learned he lost his son, throne, and faced a great defeat. Especially clear in the Ba Sing Se arc when he had his tea shop
I was actually a little disappointed that Zuko didn't bring the blue spirit mask from the palace. Ursa had hidden theatre masks from her home at the palace, including the blue spirit mask, and when that was revealed I had always thought that Zuko had taken his mask from Ursa's stash, as if he was bringing a piece of her with him
it's probably because ursa's theatre stuff was written later as a retcon- the avatar extras say the blue spirit mask (originally was going to be red in the show, but they thought it was too on the nose that way) is actually part of a popular earth kingdom play. since the lore has since changed, i think u can imagine it however u like
@@capofantasma97 i admit it's been a minute, so i may be remembering wrong, but in the ember island players zuko claims ursa made them watch the ember island players butcher love amongst the dragons every year, right? that's the only mention in the original canon i remember hearing. lots of families watch plays in the time period setting of avatar, and if she were so deeply connected to theatre, one would think she would be more critical of a poor rendition, instead of making it a yearly tradition to see a "bad" group. unless zuko worded his inability to appreciate a fine art weirdly, or "momma's boy" zuko somehow disagreed with his equally invested mother on what makes a "good" play instead of inheriting her tastes, i think zuko was the only theatre nerd there, not his mom. of course this is talking before comic canon was introduced, so obviously none of this really matters. if anyone says ursa has theatre connections, there's canon to support it thanks to the comics. if there's more support in the original show, i don't remember it, but i DO wanna know if i actually legit forgot something lol
The 41st division crew backstory for the live action is actually good, it makes sense the crew that Zuko prevent from being used as war baits now repurposed to go with him.
Frankly, I suspect Iroh's presence on the ship was a perfectly calculated move, either by Azula or (more likely) Ozai. It's clear Ozai doesn't love anyone but himself, but given his cruelty to Zuko, I don't for a moment believe that Ozai would do that as a kindness to his son. Instead, he saw it as killing two birds with one stone. He clears the line of succession (removing both Iroh as a claimant and Zuko as an heir), weakens potential opposition within the court and Fire Sages, and perhaps best of all, gets a shortlist of people to watch closely or even imprison in the presumed-unlikely event that Zuko returned with a captured Avatar. All at the low cost of a single warship and the supplies to keep it fueled and fed. Strategically, it's a brilliant move, so long as you share Ozai's callous contempt for emotion, empathy, and the very concept of learning from failure. Of course, that's also exactly why it led to Ozai's downfall. He hand-crafted an heir that could legitimately succeed him, who had earned the respect of their people through said heir's own, personal deeds, explicitly _without_ support from Ozai. He put that heir under the direct and constant supervision of one of the kindest and wisest men in the Fire Nation, who had several reasons (personal and political) to guide and teach that heir. And, finally, by forcing that heir to hunt down the one enemy that could truly stop him, he ensured that that enemy was well-prepared to face him AND that his heir was strategically placed at exactly the same time so as to immediately assume power once the Avatar beat him. Ozai is an absolutely masterful manipulator, if and only if he's dealing with people driven by fear, pride, greed, or wrath. People driven by love, genuine and sincere love, are utterly alien to him, and it is that failing which costs him his crown. Every critical mistake stemmed from that source, yet if he had understood and appreciated the value of love, trust, and kindness, it's extremely unlikely he could have been the cold, ruthless monster he was. His failure was inevitable and yet invisible to him until it fell upon him.
Your first paragraph, I never really considered those parts until now, would make sense thinking about it. Removing all opposition at its finest. Your second one, yep that was a miscalculation on his part. He underestimated the effect Iroh would have on him. Finally, the third Ozai reminds me of a few people at work who kinda operate the same way. But then again how many places of business don't to some extent.
Yess, this is brilliant! And also reflects in Azula's character as she shares a lot of traits with him - like in the boiling rock episode where Mai betrays her and tells her she loved Zuko more than she feared her and Azula being caught off guard by this, even though she usually seems in control of every situation. But in her case she actually has some kind of suppressed wish for affection, as she genuinely seems upset that her mother didn't love her and hurt by Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal, even if she doesn't want to show it. In some kind of sense she probably would've liked to have them as friends even if she couldn't help but treat them like assets, like her father would've. Idk if that made sense, but damn the characters in this show are so amazing!
@@alexpokrandt4378 The similarities go on. XD In terms of ships, both Theon was given the ship with a mocking name--while Zuko's one and only ship was an absolute joke. It's tiny compared to the other ships in the Fire Nation fleet, given his status as a rejected, disgraced, and banished Prince. It really speaks of the poor social status of those two brothers. As for their sisters, they are both charismatic and skilled fighters with experience running an entire naval crew of their own. Their family dynamics are also extremely similar. Asha and Azula are clearly the favorite children in the eyes of their royal fathers, despite being women. By comparison, Zuko and Theon are constantly ridiculed, emotionally neglected, and physically abused. Unfortunately for Asha, the Iron Islands aren't as progressive as the Fire Nation in terms of women rulers/soldiers/guards. By all definition/aesthetic/seafaring merits, she is as Ironborn as Ironborn go--and would make a perfect Queen of the Iron Islands if she was given the chance. While Asha was never on Azula's level in terms of cruelty, she's still got some demons. Her little uh, "introduction" scene was so infamous and cursed that I'm still mortified ten years later.
I honestly don’t see an issue with Zuko and Iroh visiting the Fire Sages first. This is because it would make sense that if that was the first place they visited from the banishment, they could have stopped there before officially leaving fire nation territory. The fire nation could have simply looked at it as a “whatever as long as they get out soon” kind of thing. So on their way out, they stop with the fire sages, then they officially leave the fire nation territory to once the cross the blockade, they were to never cross again without the avatar.
That's a good point. The issue is the Western Air Temple is north of the fire nation so for them to go there and then back to the fire sages it just seemed a bit odd. Maybe the timing is reasonable where they'll think "oh zuko hasn't left just yet but will soon" but beyond that explanation it's confusing to me. Regardless it doesn't change the fact that I really enjoy this story. :)
I always wondered how he was able to visit the fire sages after being banished, and your thought was what crossed my mind. Maybe they stopped by before officially leaving.
@@BalancedCycleMaybe in the movies that territory isn't core Fire Nation land but more like an extraterritorial religious colony. A place administered by the Fire Nation, but not inside the Fire Nation so Zuko could travel there
Considering how many side trips Iroh was known to take that took them out of the way to finding the actual avatar it isn't too farfetched to think that he wouldn't do it. To the previous commentors point, they probably did see it as a "do it then get out of here" kind of thing since it was meant to be of use to find the avatar. That and if I'm remembering correctly the fire temples were on the edge of the Fire Nation so the higher ups might have had more reason to brush visit off.@@BalancedCycle
I just watched through Netflix's new live action series. And while the whole show isn't that great, the explanation for how zuko got his crew is one of the best things they did
@@lathafalls7675 I don't believe it either. It won't make sense. We all saw Azula enjoyed watching her brother getting disfigured and humiliated by their father and she smiled at it.
@@KobaLenki mean, it seems weirdly in place with azula, as she attempted to murder zuko on multiple occasions just to give him a way back into the fire nation, azula def had meaning behind lending zuko a ship
Zuko and Uncle Iroh in Netflix live action is reviving my Avatar fangirl era and this time my favorite characters happens to be these two because damnnnn those flashbacks are hitting hard
Hands down the best Zuko-related addition to the 2024 show was the additional backstory here. He spoke out against the sacrifice of new soldiers in the war meeting, and Ozai deemed this inexperienced crew to be just as disposable as the general Zuko spoke out against. The post-Agni Kai scene got me in the feelings. 😅
It’s pretty nice to see the moments of Azula caring about Zuko. Even if they were pitted against each other by Ozai she still cared for him deep down, as did he.
Maybe because they knew that this was the better look for azula I wonder if the writers knew that the movie was going to fail even before everyone else saw it@@kittycatmeowmeow963
The blue spirit mask belonged to Zuko’s mother. We learn she was part of a play and that mask belonged to her lover, before she was forced to marry Ozai. She kept the mask in the fire nation capital. I wouldn’t consider this comic exactly cannon
Even if Zuko had the mask before leaving, he still could have gotten the idea of having an alter-ego using as the Blue Spirit from the Red Spirit as depicted in this cannon-adjacent comic.
I feel like Iroh may have been "ordered" to join zuko. Meaning iroh subtly manipulated Ozai to ordering him to join the quest. This gives Ozai the idea he has "eyes" in zuko's crew while allowing iroh to care for his nephew by keeping ozai's spys off the ship (and helping his nephew get the ship)
Iroh isnt Ozai's subordinate ,he aint his pawn he aint his friend. He is his big brother who was crown prince before he coveted the throne by assassinating his own father while his brother was outside. When he was growing out Iroh was the one who was smarter, wiser and stronger so his father always favored him while Ozai was rush unable to control his emotions and overly cruel for no reason which made his father not like him that much. He lived his whole life with an inferiority complex so it is normal for him to exile his brother because he cant kill him since assassination wont work,iroh is too smart for that and if anyone hears he had a hand on it it will be a rebellion since nation itself liked Iroh more too especially army. There is even a chance that he exiled Zuko just to be able to exile Iroh since he doesnt have particularly a reason for exiling Zuko after agi kai since the punishment was already given.
Also Iroh is has more legitimacy and respekt in the royal court at that time I doubt Ozai would be a popular person in the army while old jolly Iroh would be loved by them getting him out of court is a great thing for Ozai anyways. Also it would be a shame if Zuko would die in a to pittiful way because that would make Ozai seem like a huge douche
I like to think that Iroh still had a small group of soldiers that were loyal to him aswell as a firenation ship. When Zuko was banished Iroh basically took him under his wing and gave him reign of the ship to search for the Avatar. In the episode where Zuko makes amends with the shipcrew, why would they leave the fire nation (potential forever) to serve someone they didnt like. Clearly they were loyal to Iroh, the same person that was pushing Zuko to make amends with them. I do feel this is implied and hinted at in the show as others have said.
As much as I love how they did his backstory in the show, I think having that scene of him walking out and banished and everyone just watching him leave… man that is some emotional shit!
This is a great video and actually makes a ton of sense but one thing that confused me is the blue sprit mask. Idk I guess I always just kind of assumed Ursa, Zuko’s mom some how gave it to him because she used to act in Ember Island plays and had a similar set of masks, as you can see in the comics, but I guess not.
Thank you so much for the support I really appreciate it. Yeah I completely agree I'm a bit confused as well. There are some inconsistencies but that's expected. I believe it could be possible that Zuko had multiple versions of the Blue Spirit mask. Maybe Ursa gave him since we saw some of them in the search comic. We also know that Hong Shen gave him one but Zuko's ship blew up in Book 1 so the mask could've blown up alongside it. During Book 2 we see in the Swamp episode there's briefly a blue spirit mask on a wagon and later in the episode Zuko becomes the blue spirit again so it's possible there's multiple ones.
I don't know, I think it could be very tactical on Ozai's behalf to remove Iroh. While I think Iroh would absolutely go willingly, Ozai may not be able to comprehend his fatherly and empathetic nature toward Zuko. Azula may even have posed it as "killing two birds with one stone". I don't doubt that, within the fire nation, there were probably loyalists to Iroh even if he was technically disgraced. I'm sure there were rumours about the succession and I'm also sure many soldiers who worked under and closely with Iroh would remain staunchly loyal to him (and it wouldn't surprise me if some of them joined the crew, even if they may have later left). By removing Iroh entirely from not only the capital but the nation and further associating him with disgrace, it may have been a tactic to tarnish any image of the legendary warrior and future king that Iroh was once known as.
I know this video came out before the release of the Netflix show, but I love what they did where they gave Zuko the men he tried to save during his outburst in the war room. Great touch
The war meeting where Ozai and Azula made plans to burn the earth kingdom using Sozin's Comet was just a day before the day of black sun, and I've been wondering how Zuko made the decision to join the gaang in just a day. Guru Pathik's vision of him standing side by side with Aang is everything.That's how Zuko knew what he needed to do. Love this so much
He literally told Mai why. It's what he always thought he wanted, to be by his father's side "The perfect prince" but it just wasn't him. It took actually getting to that moment to realize this isn't what he wanted.
@@coryevarts9978 I agree! I just thought it was a big jump to go from realizing he wasn't in the right place to knowing exactly what he needed to do (joining team avatar) in just a day. I'd personally struggle to gain that much clarity in such a short amount of time, but adding Guru Pathik's vision into the story makes the jump make sense to me
@@madamemotarey I disagree. The meeting was the final straw but it was clear for the entire season that Zuko was having doubts. Hell, he was conflicted as far back as Crossroads of Destiny where he very clearly hesitated to join Azula. This wasn't a 180, it was him finally accepting what he had been in denial about for a while.
i like the Netflix live action version of how Zuko got his ship crew.. that its the squad that Zuko stood up for to his Fire Lord that resulted in his "lesson" and that The Fire Lord gives him the squad that he saved from a suicide mission.
Avatar the Last Airbender still stands as one of most outstanding animated series to date. The moral code, very nice teambuildung and diplomatic interconnections among the protagonists and he four bending nations all were definable features behind this excellent epic. I as a 27 year old nevertheless look forward to the upcoming animated movie and other projects the creators have in store!
That scene of Iroh hugging Zuko makes me tear up a bit. The show straight up broke me seeing Iroh in prison lmfao. Dude this is like the only show that acc made me all teary eyed and shit. Its really good.
It's funny to see some of the characters looking exactly like they do in the TV show (Azula, Admiral Zhao, Sage Shyu) next to Zuko and Iroh who look nothing like their TV show counterparts 😆
IKR It's so strange. I really hope an updated version comes out in the future with proper Zuko and Iroh. Maybe we could also see some color to the drawings down the road. That would be nice lol.
@@Lyoko2516 Azula did have a casting in the movie, during the flashback and end scene. She's barely in the movie though so I think they were able to get away with drawing her the same.
Finally, more proof that Azula has good in her just like Zuko does (just harder for her to bring it out because of her mental illness). Azula whether you want to except it or not has just as sad as a story growing up as Zuko did. She is literally his sibling and although she was treated “better” than him, she was the one (not to mention being younger) to take out the responsibilities and expectations of her father and country.
The scene could play out like this: Azula: What happened? Zuko: My face got burned Azula: Oh no! What happened? Zuko: I just told you. My face got burned! Azula: I meant how.
7:15 I would say that the news that he was banished might not have traveled as quickly as he did, Iroh in the series ofc adviced him against going there because it was already common knowledge at that this point that Zuko got banished.
I always just assumed, that the ship and crew were originally from Iroh, since he was still a man of power and has not been banished. For me it made sense, that he'd give command to Zuko to help him out. 🤷🏼♂️
NETFLIX SPOILER ALERT: This is one of the places where the reinterpretation in the new series actually works better for the overall story. Zuko was banished because he spoke out against his father in FAVOR of the humanity of the soldiers who would have been sacrificed. While the original show implies that this happened anyway, the Netflix show makes it so that these soldiers became Zuko's crew. This is huge and sets the stage for his redemption by 1. showing the nobility that he had all along and 2. demonstrating that he's already a hero who can make sacrifices for his people. We can already make the connection that his pursuit of the Avatar is about gaining his father's approval, but the Netflix series takes it a step further. Zuko was ALWAYS the more noble ruler than Ozai at his core, and Ozai used his disapproval of Zuko as a son to control him ideologically and suppress his sense of humanity. Iroh of course saw this nobility and not only loved him like a son, but knew he needed to be Fire Lord in the new world order when the war was over. All this to say, the Netflix series DOES add value to the ATLA universe, even if some choices were better than others.
In the Netflix avatar show they actually do a good job showing the events after zukos Agni Kai with ozaj we see iroh tending to a freshly wounded zuko right before we see ozai banish zuko telling him to get the avatar and it’s also explained that the crew on zukos ship is the same platoon that zuko saved from that generals idea to sacrifice them i think it adds a lot to it showing a constant reminder that the reason zuko is like this is because he was trying to help people
In the new netflix show, it's said that Zuko got the crew because, when he was banished and after the agni kai with his father, Ozai said that if he's so worried about the district that was gonna be sacrificed (on Ozai's plan of which Zuko interrupted) then Zuko should also bring it with him. Idk how he was given a boat, I just thought it was like "well, just get that random boat and go do your sidequest" and never questioned, but Iroh just chose to join him on the quest. This made more sense for me overall, but i might also think that just cause the comic's designs remind me of the live action it was based on and it makes me just not like it just for that. But i do like this version tho.
You just keep explaining more cool lore! I never actually knew what happened or how he got his ship, and his crew as he was hated alot. Overall great vid! M. Night didn't complete fail
Thank you so much I've got many more exciting videos on the way! Also yeah for many years now on rewatches I always think to myself I want to see what happened after he got burned and boom I read this story and it blew my mind. I'm glad something amazing like this was created as a result of something so awful lol.
Wow, RIGHT before you mentioned the restoration of the comic with more faithful designs, I was thinking about doing it myself, lol. That's funny and relieving at the same time.
I like to think the move Ozai tries to pull on Aang during their battle (the "fire slap") was the one who gave zuko his scar, although its shape suggests the flame was directly shot from the front.
im gonna be real the way that the live action show tolled how zuko got his crew and his crew went from hating him but then they changed to respecting him once they realise zuko made the ultimate sacrifice for them i loved the scene is made the crew have more depth
At least the wound looks like it will leave a disfiguring scar in this comic, unlike the movie where its barely even there. Also, the way Zuko is drawn, he looks like Mako from Korra.
as long as i remember it was mentioned in the first season that the crew zuko had was the one zuko stood up for in the war room (the place where the war strategy was being discussed and he interrupted saying they shouldn't that that certain troop near that place cz it will risk their lives)
The comic was pretty well written for the most part, I do have to say that I'm not a fan of Iroh being ordered to go with Zuko. It makes a lot more sense if Iroh chose to come to support Zuko, especially since he was the one who let Zuko into the meeting in the first place
I always got the idea that Zuko got information on the avatar frim the fire sages on his way out of the Fire Nation when he says in book 1 ep 1 that the sages tell them that the avatar is the last airbender.
If you try to buy a new copy of Zuko’s Story it’s 100 dollars. I got it used for 20 dollars and it was pretty good. Never watching more than five minutes of the movie, though.
@@BalancedCycle I am in total agreement, I love extra bits of canon that help tie pieces of a story together and this comic does just that for the beginning of Zuko's journey. Thank you for sharing.
When the movie first came out I love it in the theater but I was only nine years old at the time. Now I don't like it and for many reasons that I understand but the comic it is deftly interested. I like the date of the live action and made them into 2d Characters.
Honestly it should have been more time between banishment and episode 1 like several months Zuko was in a random spot the avatar never was (South pole) to common knowledge as he already exhausted every concievable locations, The air temples, And most groups and locations related to avatars such as kiyoshi island etc... Zuko has already learned a lot from Iroh as at episode 3 he was able to defeat zsao in agni kai. The crew were relatively used to him.
I think the whole comic of him even bothering to visit air temples looking for the avatar is weird in the first place. The air nomads were killed off over one hundred years ago at that point. If he wasn't frozen in ice, then Aang would be really old and somehow did nothing notable enough to catch attention during all that time, which is odd for an avatar. Zuko went to the South pole because it was generally assumed that the Avatar had been killed with the nomads or at least went into hiding until dying years later of old age and reincarnated into one of the water nations. Aang is 112 at that point. Not everyone ages like Bumi, not even the avatar.
At the most, people were generally expecting the avatar to be an old water tribe man born not long after the last of the air nomads were killed, not the actual air avatar still walking about.
I like the idea a bit more that the mask was his mother's because she loved plays and had theater masks. But I lije this comic if gives a lot of background and shows how hurt and angry Zuko is (wich is a very logical reaction of course)
I feel like Iroh had influence on Ozai when deciding to give Zuko a ship. Iroh is renowned in the fire nation at that time. Not necessarily for being the general to breach ba sing se, but a renowned general anyhow. I can imagine the stipulation to bring Iroh along was a direct biproduct of Iroh being the one in the first place to sway the fire lord's favor. Considering that it was likely that Iroh had some back-curtain information about the firelord's family that Ozai didn't want getting out, and it would be unwise to try to kill Iroh immediately after burning his own son in the public opinion.
I wouldn't be surprised if Azula, Ozai, and Iroh each had their own angles that they were working to try and get Iroh onto the ship with Zuko. Azula requesting a ship on Zuku's behalf would probably have been done in a way that demeans Zuko. "Look father, he's so pathetic that he can't even leave on his own. If we don't help him, he'll never even be able to start his exile since no one will take him away. Why not just give him a small ship and crew and be done with it? Of course, as weak and pathetic as he is, he'll never survive on his own out there while on his little quest of 'looking for the Avatar' to restore his honor. We should also probably send someone to keep him safe. But sending one of our precious generals would slow the war effort. Say, what's uncle Iroh up to these days? Surely he's not too busy, seeing as he neither governs nor participates in the war anymore..." With her line of thinking being, that while Iroh has probably lost his touch since his days of leading the war efforts, he is still a powerful fire bender in his own right, and soft enough to care about Zuko to the extent of looking after him long-term. Ozai, having exiled Zuko, should be more then happy to go along with his favorite child's suggestion on how to send off the exile quickly so that he'll no longer be an embarrassment or nuisance. The reminders of how "weak and pathetic" Zuko is simply reaffirming his beliefs and desire to see him gone. At first, the suggestion that Zuko needs someone to protect him while in exile would irritate Ozai. But with the mention of Iroh, a lightbulb goes off in his head. That brother of his lost his son in the war, he's been equally pathetic. These days opposing the war, contradicting Ozai with a sly tongue while doing little more than eating, drinking his fancy teas, and playing his meaningless pai sho game. Sending him off with Zuko would be an excellent idea, and he's glad he thought of it! Meanwhile, Iroh, already deeply concerned for his nephew Zuko, would likely be trying to think of a way to broach the subject of how to go with Zuko. A young man forced form his home after experiencing such pain and trauma at the hands of his own father? And how to make such a cruel man understand? Fortunately, during his nervous pacing, he happened to be passing by Azula and Ozai and overhear their conversation. Maybe in a more casual setting such as over a meal rather than in the throne room. After hearing Azula mention himself, the gears start turning in his head, and he lingers a moment before heading in, so that his timing seems to be a coincidence and not like he was eavesdropping, and makes his appeal, "Ah-hem. I hope I'm not interrupting! You know, I was thinking, Fire Lord Ozai. While Zuko may be banished, he still caries the royal bloodline. It would be such an embarrassment to you and the Fire Nation if, while in exile, Prince Zuko were to suffer some mishap. Imagine if he were to be captured or killed by some "lowly" pirates or mountain bandits, or taken for ransom by the Earth Kingdom. Er, perhaps I should go with him to keep him safe and continue his Fire bending training." Ozai, having already convinced himself to send Iroh away with Zuko thanks to Azula's manipulations, would only be even more eager after thinking about his exiled son somehow bringing him even more shame and embarrassment. And seemingly before Iroh stops talking, he'd already be issuing an order for Iroh to go with Zuko and keep him out of trouble.
One thing that I find interesting about Zuko's entire quest is WHY he's going to the western air temple. The air nomads were completely exterminated, and even if one, say, the avatar, survived, even the avatar isn't expected to live past a century. (Although Kyoshi lived WELL past a century, most avatars did not live very long lives, with Roku living to 70 and Aang eventually passing away at 66, they were both considered to be long-lived avatars, as most lived to 30-40) The fire nation knows that the rebirth of the avatar cycles both through elements and geography, which is why they exterminated all waterbenders of the southern water tribe; that was where the next avatar would be born (as evidenced by Korra). After that, in occupied areas of the Earth kingdom, they were actively rounding up and imprisoning earth benders in Mo Ce Sea Prison. Of course it's logical when occupying an area to focus on those most capable of resisting, such as benders, but just as they were doing to the Southern Waterbenders (up until Kya, unfortunately), They were imprisoning and isolating the benders, rather than executing them outright. Finally, there was absolutely zero effort put into actively surveying the air temples or anything airbender related, aside from a 16 year old kid sent out as a joke almost a century later. So we can kind of assume that the general consensus inside the fire nation seems to be that the avatar cycle has progressed back to the earth kingdom, and if they manage to catch/ kill that one they have a fire nation avatar on their hands again. However, Zuko travels to the Western air temple, which according to the law of the avatar cycle, the avatar couldn't be from, and which was known to have fallen. He also knows the avatar is male, and the Westen air temple was female-only. He also states in the first episode that the fire sages stated that the cycle was still in the air incarnation. So where does Zuko find get information? Why did he go to the wholly abandoned western air temple, and to the south pole not long after that, in many cases being the only firebender seen in those areas in years. Hell, the northern water tribe doesn't even know what extant fire bender armor looks like. Is it the influence of uncle Iroh, who perhaps is the only fire nation official who takes the sages seriously anymore? Or maybe Zuko just intuitively knows things due to him being a descendant of Avatar Roku? All that aside he kind of seems to be the only one actually capable of accurately tracking the (not very sneaky) avatar until Azula comes along. Idk I was 12 when I watched the show as it first came out, maybe I should re-watch it to see if I didn't just miss something lol
This is excellent. It complements the show perfectly. Azula being cruel to Zuko initially and then having a moment where she shows some care for him when he's at his lowest fits so well. Because she isn't a complete monster, but she's only able to interact like a normal person when Zuko's at the lowest he's ever been and no threat to her political ambitions to succeed Ozai as Fire Lord anymore.
I hated The Last Airbender movie but I love a series I kind of wish we would have saw Zuko right after he got his scar but Nickelodeon being kid friendly had to cut away when he got burnt I think but they could easily add something like that in a flashback in the new animated Netflix movie whenever it comes out they won't be as limited on the stuff they can show in the movie
i really hope they do something similar to this in the live action series. my hope is that they will get into greater detail of aspects not fully explored in the animated version such as this
I think this comic is a combination of both the movie and the cartoon because I have seen firebenders in this comic bend fire out of nothing which they couldn't do in the movie. It is likely the same basic story for the cartoon but a little different.
how i see it going is like this iroh wanted to go but zuko didnt want his crazy peace loving tea drinking uncle to come along on his search and ozi just wanting to get rid of iroh forces zuko to take him XD
Thanks for the shout-out! Loved the video. Just shared it on our community posts too. For anyone saying this is click bait - not so fast!
The prequel manga used content that was left out from the show due to time. That means it’s not that much of a stretch to call it a deleted scene. Despite the manga being forced to be marketing material for the live action movie, the two writers worked on materials for the show and one of them (Dave Roman) even said they used the show characterization!
Yeah of course! I'm happy you enjoyed the video. Thank you for stopping by and sharing the video I really appreciate it. ☺I love what you guys have done for this community, all of your work is top tier quality. Keep it up I'm looking forward to what you have coming next. :)
O
where can we find that comic, could you please tell us how?
hi
I like having the full back story on Zuko and Iroh. Most of this is implied in the show but giving Iroh a purpose helps navigate the story. The red mask is a cool add to the story.
IKR I've always thought about how we needed more scenes to fill the gaps and when I saw this prequel story I got so excited.
Iroh's purpose was stated several times, tho?
@katie5998 imo it gave him a purpose beyond just being a "guide" for Zuko. Iroh was also lost looking to find a new purpose.
@@anitatobin7427 Tbh, thought that was relatively obvious, we learned he lost his son, throne, and faced a great defeat. Especially clear in the Ba Sing Se arc when he had his tea shop
@@katie5998 Yeah, exactly. The tale of Iron segment of the tales of ba sing se episode made this more apparent than it already was for me.
I was actually a little disappointed that Zuko didn't bring the blue spirit mask from the palace. Ursa had hidden theatre masks from her home at the palace, including the blue spirit mask, and when that was revealed I had always thought that Zuko had taken his mask from Ursa's stash, as if he was bringing a piece of her with him
I like your theory better
This theory for The Blue Spirit is much better!!!!! An Emotional Connection. We see how badly Zuko wants Ozai to tell him what happened to his mother.
it's probably because ursa's theatre stuff was written later as a retcon- the avatar extras say the blue spirit mask (originally was going to be red in the show, but they thought it was too on the nose that way) is actually part of a popular earth kingdom play. since the lore has since changed, i think u can imagine it however u like
@@lapraslazuli270 it was mentioned Ursa's connection to the theatre world even during the Ember Island episode.
@@capofantasma97 i admit it's been a minute, so i may be remembering wrong, but in the ember island players zuko claims ursa made them watch the ember island players butcher love amongst the dragons every year, right? that's the only mention in the original canon i remember hearing. lots of families watch plays in the time period setting of avatar, and if she were so deeply connected to theatre, one would think she would be more critical of a poor rendition, instead of making it a yearly tradition to see a "bad" group. unless zuko worded his inability to appreciate a fine art weirdly, or "momma's boy" zuko somehow disagreed with his equally invested mother on what makes a "good" play instead of inheriting her tastes, i think zuko was the only theatre nerd there, not his mom.
of course this is talking before comic canon was introduced, so obviously none of this really matters. if anyone says ursa has theatre connections, there's canon to support it thanks to the comics. if there's more support in the original show, i don't remember it, but i DO wanna know if i actually legit forgot something lol
The 41st division crew backstory for the live action is actually good, it makes sense the crew that Zuko prevent from being used as war baits now repurposed to go with him.
Agreed! There’s this sense of lumping all of them to fail together, but they wind up becoming closer as a result.
Even the cook
honestly it doesnt make sense, why would ozai give zuko what he wants
@@kianbakker3691because ozai didn’t want them anyway, he was gonna let them die
Frankly, I suspect Iroh's presence on the ship was a perfectly calculated move, either by Azula or (more likely) Ozai. It's clear Ozai doesn't love anyone but himself, but given his cruelty to Zuko, I don't for a moment believe that Ozai would do that as a kindness to his son. Instead, he saw it as killing two birds with one stone. He clears the line of succession (removing both Iroh as a claimant and Zuko as an heir), weakens potential opposition within the court and Fire Sages, and perhaps best of all, gets a shortlist of people to watch closely or even imprison in the presumed-unlikely event that Zuko returned with a captured Avatar. All at the low cost of a single warship and the supplies to keep it fueled and fed. Strategically, it's a brilliant move, so long as you share Ozai's callous contempt for emotion, empathy, and the very concept of learning from failure.
Of course, that's also exactly why it led to Ozai's downfall. He hand-crafted an heir that could legitimately succeed him, who had earned the respect of their people through said heir's own, personal deeds, explicitly _without_ support from Ozai. He put that heir under the direct and constant supervision of one of the kindest and wisest men in the Fire Nation, who had several reasons (personal and political) to guide and teach that heir. And, finally, by forcing that heir to hunt down the one enemy that could truly stop him, he ensured that that enemy was well-prepared to face him AND that his heir was strategically placed at exactly the same time so as to immediately assume power once the Avatar beat him.
Ozai is an absolutely masterful manipulator, if and only if he's dealing with people driven by fear, pride, greed, or wrath. People driven by love, genuine and sincere love, are utterly alien to him, and it is that failing which costs him his crown. Every critical mistake stemmed from that source, yet if he had understood and appreciated the value of love, trust, and kindness, it's extremely unlikely he could have been the cold, ruthless monster he was. His failure was inevitable and yet invisible to him until it fell upon him.
Your first paragraph, I never really considered those parts until now, would make sense thinking about it. Removing all opposition at its finest. Your second one, yep that was a miscalculation on his part. He underestimated the effect Iroh would have on him. Finally, the third Ozai reminds me of a few people at work who kinda operate the same way. But then again how many places of business don't to some extent.
this is so well written ong. I love your style of writing.
Yess, this is brilliant! And also reflects in Azula's character as she shares a lot of traits with him - like in the boiling rock episode where Mai betrays her and tells her she loved Zuko more than she feared her and Azula being caught off guard by this, even though she usually seems in control of every situation. But in her case she actually has some kind of suppressed wish for affection, as she genuinely seems upset that her mother didn't love her and hurt by Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal, even if she doesn't want to show it. In some kind of sense she probably would've liked to have them as friends even if she couldn't help but treat them like assets, like her father would've. Idk if that made sense, but damn the characters in this show are so amazing!
Dude, that reminded me so much of the story of Firaun (Pharoah), and how evil is so self-defeating.
Amazing comment
Azula gives Zuko a ship:
"We call it the 'Seabitch'. Thought it would be perfect for you."
Wait where in the video was i5 showed?
@@asteroidalassassin6949 Nowhere. That's just a Game of Thrones reference lol
That never happen
Azula has SUCH Asha/Yara energy, oh my god. XD
@@alexpokrandt4378 The similarities go on. XD In terms of ships, both Theon was given the ship with a mocking name--while Zuko's one and only ship was an absolute joke. It's tiny compared to the other ships in the Fire Nation fleet, given his status as a rejected, disgraced, and banished Prince. It really speaks of the poor social status of those two brothers. As for their sisters, they are both charismatic and skilled fighters with experience running an entire naval crew of their own. Their family dynamics are also extremely similar. Asha and Azula are clearly the favorite children in the eyes of their royal fathers, despite being women. By comparison, Zuko and Theon are constantly ridiculed, emotionally neglected, and physically abused. Unfortunately for Asha, the Iron Islands aren't as progressive as the Fire Nation in terms of women rulers/soldiers/guards. By all definition/aesthetic/seafaring merits, she is as Ironborn as Ironborn go--and would make a perfect Queen of the Iron Islands if she was given the chance. While Asha was never on Azula's level in terms of cruelty, she's still got some demons. Her little uh, "introduction" scene was so infamous and cursed that I'm still mortified ten years later.
I honestly don’t see an issue with Zuko and Iroh visiting the Fire Sages first. This is because it would make sense that if that was the first place they visited from the banishment, they could have stopped there before officially leaving fire nation territory. The fire nation could have simply looked at it as a “whatever as long as they get out soon” kind of thing. So on their way out, they stop with the fire sages, then they officially leave the fire nation territory to once the cross the blockade, they were to never cross again without the avatar.
That's a good point. The issue is the Western Air Temple is north of the fire nation so for them to go there and then back to the fire sages it just seemed a bit odd. Maybe the timing is reasonable where they'll think "oh zuko hasn't left just yet but will soon" but beyond that explanation it's confusing to me. Regardless it doesn't change the fact that I really enjoy this story. :)
I always wondered how he was able to visit the fire sages after being banished, and your thought was what crossed my mind. Maybe they stopped by before officially leaving.
@@BalancedCycleMaybe in the movies that territory isn't core Fire Nation land but more like an extraterritorial religious colony. A place administered by the Fire Nation, but not inside the Fire Nation so Zuko could travel there
They said they visited the fire sages/ temples before they left the Fire Nation a few times in the show. Guess there was a grace period.
Considering how many side trips Iroh was known to take that took them out of the way to finding the actual avatar it isn't too farfetched to think that he wouldn't do it. To the previous commentors point, they probably did see it as a "do it then get out of here" kind of thing since it was meant to be of use to find the avatar. That and if I'm remembering correctly the fire temples were on the edge of the Fire Nation so the higher ups might have had more reason to brush visit off.@@BalancedCycle
I just watched through Netflix's new live action series. And while the whole show isn't that great, the explanation for how zuko got his crew is one of the best things they did
I loved the show
Love how Azula helped Zuko prepare for his banishment. buy convincing Ozia to let Zuko have a Ship.
That never happen
@@lathafalls7675 I don't believe it either. It won't make sense. We all saw Azula enjoyed watching her brother getting disfigured and humiliated by their father and she smiled at it.
@@KobaLenki mean, it seems weirdly in place with azula, as she attempted to murder zuko on multiple occasions just to give him a way back into the fire nation, azula def had meaning behind lending zuko a ship
@@KobaLenk She should be happy to see him leave as fast as possible with no risk of him returning any time soon.
or she could just let him starve or die of infection. why give him even a small chance at success? it really doesn't fit her@@wildfire9280
For a comic to a movie that doesn't exist, this one's fire.
Uhh look it up it exists it's just bad
@@doggoPlayzVRno it doesnt
Zuko and Uncle Iroh in Netflix live action is reviving my Avatar fangirl era and this time my favorite characters happens to be these two because damnnnn those flashbacks are hitting hard
Hands down the best Zuko-related addition to the 2024 show was the additional backstory here. He spoke out against the sacrifice of new soldiers in the war meeting, and Ozai deemed this inexperienced crew to be just as disposable as the general Zuko spoke out against.
The post-Agni Kai scene got me in the feelings. 😅
That was a pretty good story. It shows just how desperate Zuko was at his worst and how important Iroh is for Zuko.
I 100% agree :)
It’s pretty nice to see the moments of Azula caring about Zuko. Even if they were pitted against each other by Ozai she still cared for him deep down, as did he.
Lol. Zuko and Iroh lookin like the movje and Azula is straight outta ATLA
Ikr? She was in the movie too. Why didn't they use that one?
Maybe because they knew that this was the better look for azula I wonder if the writers knew that the movie was going to fail even before everyone else saw it@@kittycatmeowmeow963
The blue spirit mask belonged to Zuko’s mother. We learn she was part of a play and that mask belonged to her lover, before she was forced to marry Ozai. She kept the mask in the fire nation capital. I wouldn’t consider this comic exactly cannon
The comic obviously ain't canon the crappy movie designs gave it away
True
Yeah the mask canonically belonged to Ursa. Zuko probably found it after she left.
Even if Zuko had the mask before leaving, he still could have gotten the idea of having an alter-ego using as the Blue Spirit from the Red Spirit as depicted in this cannon-adjacent comic.
I feel like Iroh may have been "ordered" to join zuko. Meaning iroh subtly manipulated Ozai to ordering him to join the quest. This gives Ozai the idea he has "eyes" in zuko's crew while allowing iroh to care for his nephew by keeping ozai's spys off the ship (and helping his nephew get the ship)
Iroh isnt Ozai's subordinate ,he aint his pawn he aint his friend. He is his big brother who was crown prince before he coveted the throne by assassinating his own father while his brother was outside. When he was growing out Iroh was the one who was smarter, wiser and stronger so his father always favored him while Ozai was rush unable to control his emotions and overly cruel for no reason which made his father not like him that much. He lived his whole life with an inferiority complex so it is normal for him to exile his brother because he cant kill him since assassination wont work,iroh is too smart for that and if anyone hears he had a hand on it it will be a rebellion since nation itself liked Iroh more too especially army.
There is even a chance that he exiled Zuko just to be able to exile Iroh since he doesnt have particularly a reason for exiling Zuko after agi kai since the punishment was already given.
Also Iroh is has more legitimacy and respekt in the royal court at that time I doubt Ozai would be a popular person in the army while old jolly Iroh would be loved by them getting him out of court is a great thing for Ozai anyways. Also it would be a shame if Zuko would die in a to pittiful way because that would make Ozai seem like a huge douche
I like to think that Iroh still had a small group of soldiers that were loyal to him aswell as a firenation ship. When Zuko was banished Iroh basically took him under his wing and gave him reign of the ship to search for the Avatar. In the episode where Zuko makes amends with the shipcrew, why would they leave the fire nation (potential forever) to serve someone they didnt like. Clearly they were loyal to Iroh, the same person that was pushing Zuko to make amends with them. I do feel this is implied and hinted at in the show as others have said.
As much as I love how they did his backstory in the show, I think having that scene of him walking out and banished and everyone just watching him leave… man that is some emotional shit!
Zuko has too much heart to be like his father
This is a great video and actually makes a ton of sense but one thing that confused me is the blue sprit mask. Idk I guess I always just kind of assumed Ursa, Zuko’s mom some how gave it to him because she used to act in Ember Island plays and had a similar set of masks, as you can see in the comics, but I guess not.
Thank you so much for the support I really appreciate it. Yeah I completely agree I'm a bit confused as well. There are some inconsistencies but that's expected. I believe it could be possible that Zuko had multiple versions of the Blue Spirit mask. Maybe Ursa gave him since we saw some of them in the search comic. We also know that Hong Shen gave him one but Zuko's ship blew up in Book 1 so the mask could've blown up alongside it. During Book 2 we see in the Swamp episode there's briefly a blue spirit mask on a wagon and later in the episode Zuko becomes the blue spirit again so it's possible there's multiple ones.
I mean this doesn’t fully follow the show, it’s more for the movie, so the Ursa theory could still be viable
I like the backstory of how Zuko got his crew from atla in the live action series
I don't know, I think it could be very tactical on Ozai's behalf to remove Iroh. While I think Iroh would absolutely go willingly, Ozai may not be able to comprehend his fatherly and empathetic nature toward Zuko. Azula may even have posed it as "killing two birds with one stone".
I don't doubt that, within the fire nation, there were probably loyalists to Iroh even if he was technically disgraced. I'm sure there were rumours about the succession and I'm also sure many soldiers who worked under and closely with Iroh would remain staunchly loyal to him (and it wouldn't surprise me if some of them joined the crew, even if they may have later left). By removing Iroh entirely from not only the capital but the nation and further associating him with disgrace, it may have been a tactic to tarnish any image of the legendary warrior and future king that Iroh was once known as.
There was so many unsolved questions in the animated series…I’m so glad they made comic books that explain everything better
I know this video came out before the release of the Netflix show, but I love what they did where they gave Zuko the men he tried to save during his outburst in the war room. Great touch
I completely agree It's one of the best changes they made. I accept it as official canon even though this Zuko prequel story also did a solid job.
The war meeting where Ozai and Azula made plans to burn the earth kingdom using Sozin's Comet was just a day before the day of black sun, and I've been wondering how Zuko made the decision to join the gaang in just a day. Guru Pathik's vision of him standing side by side with Aang is everything.That's how Zuko knew what he needed to do. Love this so much
He literally told Mai why. It's what he always thought he wanted, to be by his father's side "The perfect prince" but it just wasn't him. It took actually getting to that moment to realize this isn't what he wanted.
@@coryevarts9978 I agree! I just thought it was a big jump to go from realizing he wasn't in the right place to knowing exactly what he needed to do (joining team avatar) in just a day. I'd personally struggle to gain that much clarity in such a short amount of time, but adding Guru Pathik's vision into the story makes the jump make sense to me
@@madamemotarey I disagree. The meeting was the final straw but it was clear for the entire season that Zuko was having doubts. Hell, he was conflicted as far back as Crossroads of Destiny where he very clearly hesitated to join Azula. This wasn't a 180, it was him finally accepting what he had been in denial about for a while.
@@cameronjosephvideos5942 Good point, I think Iroh's guidance must've helped a lot too
I liked how his banishment was detailed in one fanfiction called "Absolute Trust".
i like the Netflix live action version of how Zuko got his ship crew.. that its the squad that Zuko stood up for to his Fire Lord that resulted in his "lesson" and that The Fire Lord gives him the squad that he saved from a suicide mission.
Avatar the Last Airbender still stands as one of most outstanding animated series to
date. The moral code, very nice teambuildung and diplomatic interconnections among the protagonists and he four bending nations all were definable features behind this excellent epic. I as a 27 year old nevertheless look forward to
the upcoming animated movie and other projects the creators have in store!
That scene of Iroh hugging Zuko makes me tear up a bit.
The show straight up broke me seeing Iroh in prison lmfao.
Dude this is like the only show that acc made me all teary eyed and shit. Its really good.
Netflix show had a better written story for his crew IMO
This is why you have 25 likes
1:05 I love this panel in particular. The Fire Nation citizens are not bad people. They live under a very violent government.
It's funny to see some of the characters looking exactly like they do in the TV show (Azula, Admiral Zhao, Sage Shyu) next to Zuko and Iroh who look nothing like their TV show counterparts 😆
IKR It's so strange. I really hope an updated version comes out in the future with proper Zuko and Iroh. Maybe we could also see some color to the drawings down the road. That would be nice lol.
@@BalancedCycle Yeah. I guess since we never saw who they would have cast as Azula, they had to mix the two mediums in such a way. That's my guess.
@@Lyoko2516 Azula did have a casting in the movie, during the flashback and end scene. She's barely in the movie though so I think they were able to get away with drawing her the same.
@@BalancedCycle Is it cannon to the TV Show?
Finally, more proof that Azula has good in her just like Zuko does (just harder for her to bring it out because of her mental illness). Azula whether you want to except it or not has just as sad as a story growing up as Zuko did. She is literally his sibling and although she was treated “better” than him, she was the one (not to mention being younger) to take out the responsibilities and expectations of her father and country.
I had absolutely no idea this comic existed. Your review is excellent, and I’m happy to stumble upon it. Now I’ve GOT to read it myself.
Thanks!
The scene could play out like this:
Azula: What happened?
Zuko: My face got burned
Azula: Oh no! What happened?
Zuko: I just told you. My face got burned!
Azula: I meant how.
That Can't happen, as Azula was present when Zuko got burnt
0:39 Zuko is staring deep into my soul 😐😨
7:15 I would say that the news that he was banished might not have traveled as quickly as he did, Iroh in the series ofc adviced him against going there because it was already common knowledge at that this point that Zuko got banished.
ozai couldve agreed to irohs request to get him out of his skin
Anyone else see this after the live action series
I always just assumed, that the ship and crew were originally from Iroh, since he was still a man of power and has not been banished.
For me it made sense, that he'd give command to Zuko to help him out. 🤷🏼♂️
I like how the Live action Netflix show has it’s own version of how Zuko got his ship and why Iroh went with him
NETFLIX SPOILER ALERT:
This is one of the places where the reinterpretation in the new series actually works better for the overall story. Zuko was banished because he spoke out against his father in FAVOR of the humanity of the soldiers who would have been sacrificed. While the original show implies that this happened anyway, the Netflix show makes it so that these soldiers became Zuko's crew. This is huge and sets the stage for his redemption by 1. showing the nobility that he had all along and 2. demonstrating that he's already a hero who can make sacrifices for his people. We can already make the connection that his pursuit of the Avatar is about gaining his father's approval, but the Netflix series takes it a step further. Zuko was ALWAYS the more noble ruler than Ozai at his core, and Ozai used his disapproval of Zuko as a son to control him ideologically and suppress his sense of humanity. Iroh of course saw this nobility and not only loved him like a son, but knew he needed to be Fire Lord in the new world order when the war was over.
All this to say, the Netflix series DOES add value to the ATLA universe, even if some choices were better than others.
I hope Netflix will release spin-off with Zuko and Iroh's 3 year trip before the main events because they were nailed perfect ❤
A:TLA movie? There is no movie in Ba Sing Se
In the Netflix avatar show they actually do a good job showing the events after zukos Agni Kai with ozaj we see iroh tending to a freshly wounded zuko right before we see ozai banish zuko telling him to get the avatar and it’s also explained that the crew on zukos ship is the same platoon that zuko saved from that generals idea to sacrifice them i think it adds a lot to it showing a constant reminder that the reason zuko is like this is because he was trying to help people
In the new netflix show, it's said that Zuko got the crew because, when he was banished and after the agni kai with his father, Ozai said that if he's so worried about the district that was gonna be sacrificed (on Ozai's plan of which Zuko interrupted) then Zuko should also bring it with him. Idk how he was given a boat, I just thought it was like "well, just get that random boat and go do your sidequest" and never questioned, but Iroh just chose to join him on the quest.
This made more sense for me overall, but i might also think that just cause the comic's designs remind me of the live action it was based on and it makes me just not like it just for that. But i do like this version tho.
You just keep explaining more cool lore! I never actually knew what happened or how he got his ship, and his crew as he was hated alot. Overall great vid! M. Night didn't complete fail
Thank you so much I've got many more exciting videos on the way! Also yeah for many years now on rewatches I always think to myself I want to see what happened after he got burned and boom I read this story and it blew my mind. I'm glad something amazing like this was created as a result of something so awful lol.
I liked in the Netflix show his crew is the group of soldiers he was defending at the Council which makes sense.
this actually feels true to the story so I would consider this 100% canon
I hadn't seen this before! Thanks for sharing.
Wow, RIGHT before you mentioned the restoration of the comic with more faithful designs, I was thinking about doing it myself, lol. That's funny and relieving at the same time.
I like to think the move Ozai tries to pull on Aang during their battle (the "fire slap") was the one who gave zuko his scar, although its shape suggests the flame was directly shot from the front.
I've always wanted some fan artists to colourise this comic and redo the visuals in the style of the show.
This comic contradicts the origin story of the blue spirit mask as told by future comics
im gonna be real the way that the live action show tolled how zuko got his crew and his crew went from hating him but then they changed to respecting him once they realise zuko made the ultimate sacrifice for them i loved the scene is made the crew have more depth
The part about the Red Mask was honestly a pretty cool addition to the overall story
In all honesty, Zuko and Iroh were the best parts of the 2010 movie.
Even though it's not accurate, Zuko does look really cool drawn in that style. Definitely could be the protagonist of a shonen manga.
I REALLY LIKED THE ART STYLE!!
At least the wound looks like it will leave a disfiguring scar in this comic, unlike the movie where its barely even there. Also, the way Zuko is drawn, he looks like Mako from Korra.
as long as i remember it was mentioned in the first season that the crew zuko had was the one zuko stood up for in the war room (the place where the war strategy was being discussed and he interrupted saying they shouldn't that that certain troop near that place cz it will risk their lives)
This comic is my favourite
sir 41 is the ship and crew
0:03 but the camera cuts away
The comic was pretty well written for the most part, I do have to say that I'm not a fan of Iroh being ordered to go with Zuko. It makes a lot more sense if Iroh chose to come to support Zuko, especially since he was the one who let Zuko into the meeting in the first place
This is awesome, and I love it!
zuko looks like prince woo from korra in the movie 💀
I always got the idea that Zuko got information on the avatar frim the fire sages on his way out of the Fire Nation when he says in book 1 ep 1 that the sages tell them that the avatar is the last airbender.
If you try to buy a new copy of Zuko’s Story it’s 100 dollars. I got it used for 20 dollars and it was pretty good. Never watching more than five minutes of the movie, though.
I had no idea this comic even existed. This is amazing.
IKR IT'S SO GREAT! It's surprising that something good came from a non-existent movie lol.
@@BalancedCycle I am in total agreement, I love extra bits of canon that help tie pieces of a story together and this comic does just that for the beginning of Zuko's journey. Thank you for sharing.
@@BalancedCycleThey did make a movie from this show
@@lathafalls7675 there is no movie we don’t talk about it
I'm kinda happy that the comic is in black and white so Zuko, Iroh, and the rest don't have dark skin.
When the movie first came out I love it in the theater but I was only nine years old at the time.
Now I don't like it and for many reasons that I understand but the comic it is deftly interested.
I like the date of the live action and made them into 2d Characters.
Honestly it should have been more time between banishment and episode 1 like several months
Zuko was in a random spot the avatar never was (South pole) to common knowledge as he already exhausted every concievable locations, The air temples, And most groups and locations related to avatars such as kiyoshi island etc...
Zuko has already learned a lot from Iroh as at episode 3 he was able to defeat zsao in agni kai.
The crew were relatively used to him.
I think the whole comic of him even bothering to visit air temples looking for the avatar is weird in the first place. The air nomads were killed off over one hundred years ago at that point. If he wasn't frozen in ice, then Aang would be really old and somehow did nothing notable enough to catch attention during all that time, which is odd for an avatar. Zuko went to the South pole because it was generally assumed that the Avatar had been killed with the nomads or at least went into hiding until dying years later of old age and reincarnated into one of the water nations. Aang is 112 at that point. Not everyone ages like Bumi, not even the avatar.
At the most, people were generally expecting the avatar to be an old water tribe man born not long after the last of the air nomads were killed, not the actual air avatar still walking about.
I actually think it is a few years becuz I think they mentioned it somewhere in the show
It was insanely good for a prequel to the movie timeline. I wouldn't even mind if this was officially canon to the show's timeline.
I agree.
I like the idea a bit more that the mask was his mother's because she loved plays and had theater masks. But I lije this comic if gives a lot of background and shows how hurt and angry Zuko is (wich is a very logical reaction of course)
the live-action based artstyle looks good actually
The art of this comic is really good. Too bad the live action movie sucks.
I feel like Iroh had influence on Ozai when deciding to give Zuko a ship. Iroh is renowned in the fire nation at that time. Not necessarily for being the general to breach ba sing se, but a renowned general anyhow. I can imagine the stipulation to bring Iroh along was a direct biproduct of Iroh being the one in the first place to sway the fire lord's favor. Considering that it was likely that Iroh had some back-curtain information about the firelord's family that Ozai didn't want getting out, and it would be unwise to try to kill Iroh immediately after burning his own son in the public opinion.
in the show it says zuko was given the army/soldier people that zuko once saved, saved which became the reason zuko got his scar
I wouldn't be surprised if Azula, Ozai, and Iroh each had their own angles that they were working to try and get Iroh onto the ship with Zuko.
Azula requesting a ship on Zuku's behalf would probably have been done in a way that demeans Zuko. "Look father, he's so pathetic that he can't even leave on his own. If we don't help him, he'll never even be able to start his exile since no one will take him away. Why not just give him a small ship and crew and be done with it? Of course, as weak and pathetic as he is, he'll never survive on his own out there while on his little quest of 'looking for the Avatar' to restore his honor. We should also probably send someone to keep him safe. But sending one of our precious generals would slow the war effort. Say, what's uncle Iroh up to these days? Surely he's not too busy, seeing as he neither governs nor participates in the war anymore..." With her line of thinking being, that while Iroh has probably lost his touch since his days of leading the war efforts, he is still a powerful fire bender in his own right, and soft enough to care about Zuko to the extent of looking after him long-term.
Ozai, having exiled Zuko, should be more then happy to go along with his favorite child's suggestion on how to send off the exile quickly so that he'll no longer be an embarrassment or nuisance. The reminders of how "weak and pathetic" Zuko is simply reaffirming his beliefs and desire to see him gone. At first, the suggestion that Zuko needs someone to protect him while in exile would irritate Ozai. But with the mention of Iroh, a lightbulb goes off in his head. That brother of his lost his son in the war, he's been equally pathetic. These days opposing the war, contradicting Ozai with a sly tongue while doing little more than eating, drinking his fancy teas, and playing his meaningless pai sho game. Sending him off with Zuko would be an excellent idea, and he's glad he thought of it!
Meanwhile, Iroh, already deeply concerned for his nephew Zuko, would likely be trying to think of a way to broach the subject of how to go with Zuko. A young man forced form his home after experiencing such pain and trauma at the hands of his own father? And how to make such a cruel man understand? Fortunately, during his nervous pacing, he happened to be passing by Azula and Ozai and overhear their conversation. Maybe in a more casual setting such as over a meal rather than in the throne room. After hearing Azula mention himself, the gears start turning in his head, and he lingers a moment before heading in, so that his timing seems to be a coincidence and not like he was eavesdropping, and makes his appeal, "Ah-hem. I hope I'm not interrupting! You know, I was thinking, Fire Lord Ozai. While Zuko may be banished, he still caries the royal bloodline. It would be such an embarrassment to you and the Fire Nation if, while in exile, Prince Zuko were to suffer some mishap. Imagine if he were to be captured or killed by some "lowly" pirates or mountain bandits, or taken for ransom by the Earth Kingdom. Er, perhaps I should go with him to keep him safe and continue his Fire bending training."
Ozai, having already convinced himself to send Iroh away with Zuko thanks to Azula's manipulations, would only be even more eager after thinking about his exiled son somehow bringing him even more shame and embarrassment. And seemingly before Iroh stops talking, he'd already be issuing an order for Iroh to go with Zuko and keep him out of trouble.
I could see the iroh thing as both he wanted to go when he found out and possibly asked to join zuko so thats why its a condition
Never utter the words "the last airbender movie being made was a good thing" ever again.
I wish this was a two episode OVA of Avatar! This was great and makes perfect sense for the story of Avatar.
I always thought Zuko's crew was originally Iroh's and Iroh let him take command. This lore is still cool to know
7:10 love the random Tron pic
Edit: nvm your name has “Derezzed” in it, I shoulda known
Thanks lol. Yeah I make videos on all things Tron & Avatar :)
One thing that I find interesting about Zuko's entire quest is WHY he's going to the western air temple. The air nomads were completely exterminated, and even if one, say, the avatar, survived, even the avatar isn't expected to live past a century. (Although Kyoshi lived WELL past a century, most avatars did not live very long lives, with Roku living to 70 and Aang eventually passing away at 66, they were both considered to be long-lived avatars, as most lived to 30-40)
The fire nation knows that the rebirth of the avatar cycles both through elements and geography, which is why they exterminated all waterbenders of the southern water tribe; that was where the next avatar would be born (as evidenced by Korra).
After that, in occupied areas of the Earth kingdom, they were actively rounding up and imprisoning earth benders in Mo Ce Sea Prison. Of course it's logical when occupying an area to focus on those most capable of resisting, such as benders, but just as they were doing to the Southern Waterbenders (up until Kya, unfortunately), They were imprisoning and isolating the benders, rather than executing them outright.
Finally, there was absolutely zero effort put into actively surveying the air temples or anything airbender related, aside from a 16 year old kid sent out as a joke almost a century later.
So we can kind of assume that the general consensus inside the fire nation seems to be that the avatar cycle has progressed back to the earth kingdom, and if they manage to catch/ kill that one they have a fire nation avatar on their hands again.
However, Zuko travels to the Western air temple, which according to the law of the avatar cycle, the avatar couldn't be from, and which was known to have fallen. He also knows the avatar is male, and the Westen air temple was female-only. He also states in the first episode that the fire sages stated that the cycle was still in the air incarnation.
So where does Zuko find get information? Why did he go to the wholly abandoned western air temple, and to the south pole not long after that, in many cases being the only firebender seen in those areas in years. Hell, the northern water tribe doesn't even know what extant fire bender armor looks like.
Is it the influence of uncle Iroh, who perhaps is the only fire nation official who takes the sages seriously anymore? Or maybe Zuko just intuitively knows things due to him being a descendant of Avatar Roku? All that aside he kind of seems to be the only one actually capable of accurately tracking the (not very sneaky) avatar until Azula comes along.
Idk I was 12 when I watched the show as it first came out, maybe I should re-watch it to see if I didn't just miss something lol
Azula helping zuko out like that completely changes my understanding of her character
How so
Read the new comic about her
Not sure if I’m the only one but I love how Azula’s design is literally just the tv show’s design of her
It would be fye if avatar had a manga
The missed opportunity to call this afterburner is depressing
Oh I remember reading that I thought about it for weeks after I finished
This is excellent. It complements the show perfectly. Azula being cruel to Zuko initially and then having a moment where she shows some care for him when he's at his lowest fits so well. Because she isn't a complete monster, but she's only able to interact like a normal person when Zuko's at the lowest he's ever been and no threat to her political ambitions to succeed Ozai as Fire Lord anymore.
I hated The Last Airbender movie but I love a series I kind of wish we would have saw Zuko right after he got his scar but Nickelodeon being kid friendly had to cut away when he got burnt I think but they could easily add something like that in a flashback in the new animated Netflix movie whenever it comes out they won't be as limited on the stuff they can show in the movie
i really hope they do something similar to this in the live action series. my hope is that they will get into greater detail of aspects not fully explored in the animated version such as this
Netflix running time for its book 1 is 20 minutes longer than animated book 1. So more lore?
If my dad did that to me im starting my villain arc instead of looking for the avatar
Awesome Video Bro!
Thank you so much I appreciate it. :)
No problem.
I think this comic is a combination of both the movie and the cartoon because I have seen firebenders in this comic bend fire out of nothing which they couldn't do in the movie. It is likely the same basic story for the cartoon but a little different.
This is addressed in the new netflix adaptation
7:10 dang, aang with "throne" movie design? cool!
how i see it going is like this iroh wanted to go but zuko didnt want his crazy peace loving tea drinking uncle to come along on his search and ozi just wanting to get rid of iroh forces zuko to take him XD