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The heroes of Avatar: The Last Airbender are memorable in their own right, but when it comes to villains, there’s none more iconic than Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. Younger sister to Zuko, Azula is manipulative, diabolical, and just someone you love to hate. A firebending prodigy and recognisable due to her blue flames, she was probably Team Avatar’s biggest problem, as she kept quashing them in combat time and again.
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Although she was defeated alongside her father, Fire Lord Ozai, Azula’s story continues in the graphic novels The Search and Smoke and Shadow. We’ll detail what exactly befell Azula in these comics, and based on past interactions with her in the show, Team Avatar is in for a world of trouble.
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Azula’s Story In 2013’s The Search
The last time we saw Azula in the show, she was a far cry from the cold and composed firebending prodigy she was, having a mental breakdown after losing to Zuko and Katara. Even before facing them, Azula’s mental state had been slowly disintegrating, her paranoia growing as she was plagued by hallucinations of her mother, Ursa. It comes as no surprise when it was revealed that Zuko, now the Fire Lord, had Azula basically committed to an insane asylum.
By the time the events of The Search comic roll around, Azula has stabilised slightly, but she is still wracked with delusions of Ursa, which is a theme we see throughout the entire story.
Although she initially acts as though she doesn’t care about her mother’s perceived ill-treatment of her, this is proven untrue. She is just as determined to find Ursa as Zuko is, but for entirely different reasons. Convinced that Ursa has set everyone against her, Azula thinks killing Ursa will resolve the issue and repeatedly denies the truth that her mother loves her.
After being tipped off by Ozai about a secret chamber, Azula finds an incriminating letter penned by Ursa, claiming that Zuko is the son of her lover, Ikem. However, it’s later discovered that this is a lie that Ozai fully knows, but did not tell Azula on purpose, likely to manipulate her into overthrowing Zuko.
Azula Confronts Ursa
As the story progresses, it’s eventually discovered that Ursa has approached a powerful, ancient spirit known as the Mother of Faces, who is also the mother of Koh, the Face Stealer. The Mother of Faces changes Ursa’s face and also takes her memories of her old life and her children from her. As a result, Ursa is reborn as Noriko, marrying Ikem (who was also changed into Noren) and having a daughter, Kiyi.
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Azula is further incensed at Kiyi’s existence, believing Ursa had another daughter to replace her ‘monstrous’ one. Despite not having the memories, Ursa apologises to Azula for not loving her enough and this causes Azula to cry. Zuko does butt in and the two siblings proceed to duke it out, with Zuko acknowledging their dysfunctional sibling relationship but stating he doesn’t ever want to hurt Azula since she will always be his sister.
Azula’s last appearance in the comic sees her flee into the night, still denying both her mother and brother’s genuine care for her.
Azula Makes A Comeback In Smoke And Shadow
In Smoke and Shadow, Azula comes back with a vengeance, and we see a return of the cunning and ruthless Azula we knew from the earlier seasons of the show. This Azula is starkly different from the one in The Search, as she is no longer being tortured by visions of her mother. And it seems Azula’s time at the asylum was fruitful, as she’s able to leverage the connections made during her time as a patient for what she plans to do.
Azula manipulates Ukano, Mai’s father, who had started the New Ozai Society with the intention of restoring Ozai to the throne, by pretending to be in support of his plans. Posing as a spirit known as the Kemurikage, Azula begins stealing some of the nation’s children as a ploy to sow discord among the people against Zuko.
When Zuko finally confronts Azula, she reveals that everything has gone according to her plans. As a result of the intensifying uprisings against Zuko’s rule, he had inadvertently turned into a tyrannical authoritarian without realising it. According to Azula, she has accepted that her true destiny was not to be the Fire Lord but to shape Zuko into a ruthless and efficient Fire Lord that fits her worldview.
While Zuko apologises to his subjects about his conduct, Azula disappears. There is no mention of her after this, not even in the Legend of Korra do we get a clue about what might’ve befallen her after the entire Kemurikage plot.
It remains to be seen if any further information about Azula will be revealed, but the life she lived after Smoke and Shadow and how she died continues to be a mystery.
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