Zuko is a central character in The Last Airbender and appeared in The Legend of Korra. His story arc in Avatar: The Last Airbender received massive critical acclaim worldwide. Zuko was introduced as a secondary antagonist who was looking for the Avatar. He wanted to capture the Avatar and present him to his father, Lord Ozai. We saw Zuko chasing the Avatar and saving him from Commander Zhao to capture him later. Meanwhile, Zuko’s development saw him mature throughout Avatar: The Last Airbender and fulfill his destiny.
In this article, we will look at Zuko’s appearances after The Legend of Korra.
Zuko After The Last Airbender
As soon as Zuko became the Firelord post The Last Airbender, he started the Harmony Restoration Movement that involved the removal of all Fire Nation colonies inside other Nations. He also planned to relocate all the citizens of these colonies to the Fire Nation. However, this plan was met with strong resistance on two fronts. The first ones to resist were the Fire Nation Nationalists, that considered this an act of weakness and wanted to restore Ozai as the Firelord.
The second group to resist this movement comprised the citizens of the said Fire Nation colonies. This was because the older colonies on Earth Nation were established more than 100 years earlier. The citizens of these colonies had intermingled with the Earth Nation citizens and considered them nationals of both nations. The people had inter-married, with one child being a Firebender while the other being an Earth Bender.
Zuko faced more than 6 assassination attempts in his first year as Firelord, and the final attempt was from the daughter of the Mayor of an old Fire Nation colony called Yu Dao. He then visited the colony, understood the population dynamics, and called off the movement unilaterally.
This act was taken as aggression, leading to a war between Earth King Kuei and Zuko. Aang separated them both and saved Zuko from dying. He then made Kuei meet with the nationals of the colony, at which the king also understood the complexity and allowed the colony to exist. This colony later developed in the United Republic of Nations.
Finding His Mother
Zuko was led to believe that he was not the son of Firelord Ozai, so his claim to the throne in The Last Airbender was false. He went on to search for his mother. It was later discovered that Zuko was Ozai’s child, but the Late Firelord Azulon ordered Ozai to kill his firstborn. Zuko’s mother led Ozai to believe he was not his child to save him. She also offered Ozai to give him the throne by poisoning Azulon with a colorless and odorless poison.
His mother was then banished for her crime out of fear that Ursula won’t poison Ozai the same way. After meeting his mother and finding out the truth, his internal conflict with Zuko was resolved.
Defeating The Red Lotus
During the later years of his reign, he teamed up with Sokka, Tonraq, and Tenzin to defeat the Red Lotus. Zaheer, Ghazan, Ming-Hua, and P’Li wanted to kidnap a young Korra. However, their plan was foiled, and all of them were captured. Zuko oversaw the construction of specialized jail compartments for these members of the Red Lotus to counter their bending powers.
After this, he abdicated the throne in favor of his daughter Izumi and became an ambassador of the Fire Nation to the world. He also offered counsel to anybody who sought it.
Zuko in The Legend of Korra
Zuko appeared in The Legend of Korra after the harmonic convergence when he learned about Zaheer’s escape. He became particularly worried when he found out that Zaheer had now become an Airbender. After learning that Zaheer had also broken out Ghazan and Ming-Hua, he notified Lin Beifong and went to the Northern Water Tribe with Chief Tonraq to meet Eska and Desna to check on P’Li.
While going down the lift to the prison, he revealed that P’Li is a combustion bender, and he himself employed a combustion bender once to beat the Avatar but failed.
He started scouting the area amidst a snowstorm, but on a closer inspection, he learned that the storm was Zaheer’s doing. He fought with the group but was outnumbered and thus could not prevent P’Li’s escape.
Meeting Korra
Sometime later, he went to the Misty Palms Oasis to meet Lin Beifong and warn Tenzin. There he met Korra and told her he had met her once when she was very young. After this, they departed for Zaofu to use the transmitter and let Tenzin know about an impending attack on the Air Temple. However, before he could fly on Druk, he was approached by Korra for advice.
After the advice, Korra thanked him and told him that Uncle Iroh was right about asking Zuko for help. Zuko was surprised to learn that his Uncle is still alive, albeit in the spirit world.
Zuko also witnessed the anointment of Jinora as an Airbending master. He was also present at Prince Wu’s coronation, where Kuvira declared a war on the other nations if they did not leave the Earth Nation territory.
Conclusion
Zuko made several appearances in The Legend of Korra but still played an important role in giving sound advice to the Avatar. If you like this article, visit our website for more articles on the Avatar Universe.