Avatar: What Happened To Zuko After The Last Airbender Ended

Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s brooding Prince Zuko becomes the Fire Lord at the end of the series, but he lived a long life after that and returned in sequel series The Legend of Korra as an old man (with his own dragon mount). A series of comics that pick up after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s series finale, “Sozin’s Comet,” detail the early days of Zuko’s rule as Fire Lord, his search for his mother, and his continued conflict with his sister, Azula.

Though Aang is the protagonist of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Zuko’s character arc has been the most highly-praised among fans and critics. The son of the cruel warmonger Fire Lord Ozai, Zuko was left permanently scarred after his father punished his refusal to take part in an agni kai (firebender duel) by burning his face. Zuko was then further punished by being exiled from the Fire Nation until he returned with the Avatar – a seemingly impossible task, since the Avatar had been missing for a century by that point.

At the start of the series, Zuko is an antagonist who is fixated on capturing the Avatar at any cost. However, over the course of Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s three seasons he goes through a painful redemption arc that ultimately leaves him fighting against his father on Team Avatar. In the four-part series finale, Zuko’s sister is defeated in battle and he takes her place as the new Fire Lord – leaving him with the difficult task of figuring out how to lead the Fire Nation in the wake of the Hundred Year War. Here’s what happened to Zuko after Avatar: The Last Airbender ended.

Zuko And Aang Nearly Go To War (Again)

Not long after Zuko and Aang reconciled their differences and became allies in the final season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, they almost became enemies all over again. The first trilogy of comics, “The Promise,” deals with the aftermath of the end of the war, which turns out to be more complicated than Aang anticipated. At Earth King Kuei’s recoronation ceremony, Aang proposes a plan called the Harmony Restoration Movement, which will involve the removal of all Fire Nation colonies from Earth Kingdom territory. However, some of these colonies were established a century ago, with generations of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens now freely intermingling as neighbors, friends and families. This multicultural society is the root of what is later seen in The Legend of Korra, where people from all nations live together in the United Republic of Nations.

The “promise” of the comic story’s title refers to a plea made by Zuko to Aang. Fearful of turning out just like his father, Zuko asks Aang to destroy him if he sees him becoming evil again. Aang makes the promise, thinking he will never have to fulfil it, but doubts enter his mind after Zuko backs the Fire Nation colony of Yu Dao in their refusal to leave their home and be repatriated to the Fire Nation. Despite Aang’s attempts to calm the situation, things escalate until the Earth Kingdom’s army is at the gates of Yu Dao and Zuko’s forces occupy the city on the side of the resistance.

A battle breaks out, and Aang enters the Avatar state. Zuko attempts to explain himself, but then gives up and accepts that Aang is going to fulfil his promise and kill him. Aang creates an enormous crack in the earth to separate the two armies, and Zuko falls into it – only to be saved by Aang. Earth King Kuei, who had been hiding from the battle in a blimp, is then forced to come down to the ground and see that he is fighting Earth Kingdom citizens as well as Fire Nation soldiers. The battle ends, and Yu Dao is allowed to survive as a united city of Earth and Fire. Meanwhile, Zuko tells Aang that he was wrong to ask him for the promise, because he was simply using his friend as a safety net. As Fire Lord, he realizes, it is his own responsibility to keep himself in check.

Zuko’s Search For His Mother

Zuko’s story continues in the Avatar: The Last Airbender comic trilogy “The Search,” in which he enlists Azula’s help in finding their mother, Ursa. Azula was driven mad by her brief stint as Fire Lord, and experiences visions of their mother, believing that Ursa has been secretly plotting against her. While Zuko hopes to reconnect with his mother, Azula only wants to kill her. During this arc, Zuko is led to believe that Fire Lord Ozai is not actually his biological father – which, if true, would mean that Zuko has no claim to the throne. Ultimately it’s revealed that Ozai was indeed his father, but was misled to think that he wasn’t, which is why he showed Azula preferential treatment and acted so harshly towards Zuko.

Eventually Zuko learns that his mother made a deal after the previous Fire Lord, Azulon, ordered Ozai to kill Zuko. Ursa offered to concoct an odorless, colorless poison that would kill Azulon and put Ozai on the throne, sparing Zuko’s life. Ozai accepted, but also banished her to ensure that she would never use the poison on him. Ursa went back to her home village and reconnected with the true love of her life, a man called Ikem. After Ozai came to believe that Ikem was Zuko’s real father, Ikem asked a spirit called the Mother of Faces to give him a new appearance and identity to secure his safety from Ozai’s wrath. Upon learning this, Ursa asked for the same, and the Mother of Faces also erased all her memories of her marriage to Ozai – including her memories of her children.

At the end of “The Search,” Zuko reunites with his mother and gets to meet his half-sister, Kiyi, for the first time. In finally having his questions answered and reconnecting with the side of himself that is not Ozai, Zuko soothes some of the internal trouble that he felt after the events of “The Promise.” Unfortunately, Azula manages to escape and later returns to cause more trouble for her brother.

Zuko’s Relationship With Mai and Azula’s Return

The fight for Yu Dao was only the beginning of Zuko’s troubles as the new Fire Lord. Resenting the role their crown prince had played in ending the Fire Nation’s conquest, a rebel group called the New Ozai Society emerged, with plans to assassinate Zuko and put Ozai back on the throne. In the comic trilogy “Smoke and Shadow,” Zuko deals with the dual threats of the New Ozai Society and the return of Azula, who disguises herself and her followers as dark spirits called Kemurikage. They begin stealing children from the Fire Nation Capital in order to rile up the people and coerce Zuko into taking harsh police action.

When Zuko finally confronts Azula she appears to have regained her sanity, and tells him that her new ambition is to mold him into the Fire Lord he should be: cruel, totalitarian and ruthless. Zuko realizes that he has gone too far, and after driving Azula away and rescuing the children he apologizes publicly to his citizens for failing them, and pledges to do better in the future.

During “Smoke and Shadow” Zuko is also reunited with his ex-girlfriend Mai. The two broke up in “The Promise” after Mai discovered Zuko had been secretly meeting with his father, and she has since gotten a new boyfriend called Kei Lo. Though he struggles with jealousy (not to mention a lot of awkwardness), Zuko eventually comes to accept that Mai has moved on and is happy – even rescuing her new boyfriend from Azula. Mai breaks up with Kei Lo at the end of the comic, but it’s never revealed if she and Zuko ended up together.

Zuko’s Later Life and The Legend of Korra

Zuko later had a daughter, Izumi, who succeeded him to the throne of Fire Lord. Through Izumi he also had a granddaughter and a grandson, Iroh, who became general of the Fire Nation army (in The Legend of Korra, the young General Iroh is actually voiced by Dante Basco, who also voiced Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender).

The Legend of Korra primarily focuses on the new generation of characters, so Zuko’s appearances in the series are limited. By the time of the sequel series he is a wise old master who rides a dragon mount. According to show creator Michael Dante DiMartino, Zuko’s dragon, Druk, is a descendant of the firebending master dragons who taught Zuko and Aang firebending in season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Zuko remained lifelong friends with Aang, Sokka and Katara, and offers advice to Korra, Aang’s successor to the mantle of Avatar. During their most memorable interaction, Korra reveals to Zuko that she met his beloved Uncle Iroh in the spirit world, where he now lives peacefully among the spirits and acts as a guide to lost wanderers. Zuko is surprised and moved to learn that his uncle is still around, albeit in spirit form.

Despite his difficult beginnings, Zuko became a great Fire Lord who helped to reform not only the Fire Nation, but the rest of the world as well. And thanks to The Legend of Korra, we know that he lived a long life after his adventures in Avatar: The Last Airbender ended.

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Hannah Shaw-Williams
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Hannah has been with Screen Rant since 2013, covering news, features, movie premieres, Comic-Con and more! You can follow her on Twitter @HSW3K

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