Ursa

"fire"

- Zuko, please, my love, listen to me. Everything I've done, I've done to protect you. Remember this Zuko. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.

Princess Ursa was the wife of Ozai, mother of Prince Zuko and Princess Azula, and granddaughter of Avatar Roku and Ta Min. She was a kind and gentle mother to her children, though Azula believed she favored Zuko.

Upon learning Ozai was ordered to kill Zuko by his father, she made a plan to ensure her son's life was spared. This resulted in the death of Azulon and her husband assuming the title of Fire Lord. Ursa was banished from the Fire Nation for treason.

History


Shown in "Zuko Alone" to be very protective of her son Zuko, Ursa may be one of the only members of the Fire Nation royal family (along with Uncle Iroh and possibly Lu Ten) who loves him. Her life is dedicated to protecting him. Her relationship with her daughter Azula was strained by the fact that Azula was emotionally abusive towards everyone else in the family, especially Zuko. She was forced to discipline Azula on a regular basis, but it was apparent to her that Azula's cruelty was beyond the normal level. Azula thought that Ursa thought of her as a monster, knowing it was true, but hurt.

Shortly after the death of Iroh's son, Lu Ten, Ursa's husband Ozai asked his father, the Fire Lord Azulon, to pass Iroh's birthright of the throne to him. Ozai considered Iroh an unworthy quitter who let the death of his son get in his way of conquering Ba Sing Se. This dishonorable request only infuriated Azulon, who declared that Ozai would be fittingly punished for venturing to betray his own brother in his time of sadness. It was not told in "Zuko Alone" what exactly this punishment was or if it was even carried out, though Azula (who had hidden behind curtains in the throne room to listen) told Zuko that it was to have him killed so that Ozai knew how it felt to lose his own first-born son. By the next morning, Ursa had disappeared, Azulon was proclaimed dead, and Ozai was announced as his willed successor. In Ursa's final appearance in the flashbacks, she wakes Zuko before her departure to remind him of her love and to tell him to always remember who he was, no matter how things seemed to change, just before pulling her hood over her head, and walking away into the shadows.



In "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse", her mysterious departure is semi-revealed. Azulon did indeed order Ozai to kill Zuko, and Ozai was going to do it. Ursa learned of this, and wanting nothing but to protect Zuko, she proposed a plan to Ozai. The specific details of the plan are not spelled out, but it resulted in the death of Azulon and Ozai's ascension to Fire Lord instead of Iroh. She was then banished from the Fire Nation for doing "vicious, treasonous things" (with the implication that she either assassinated Azulon herself, or else caused it to be done).



Zuko sees this story as hope that his mother is still alive. During the final episode series of "Sozin's Comet", Ursa returns as a hallucination in Azula's mirror. In a short but very sad conversation, she claims to love her, but this only serves to further Azula's descent into madness. After being crowned Fire Lord and with his father helplessly imprisoned, Fire Lord Zuko confronts Ozai about the whereabouts of his mother, Ursa. It is still unknown either where Ursa was sent or whether Zuko ever found his mother.

Relatives
See Fire Nation Royal Family Tree
 * Ozai (former husband)
 * Zuko (elder son)
 * Azula (younger daughter)
 * Roku (grandfather)
 * Ta Min (grandmother)
 * Azulon (father-in-law)
 * Iroh (brother-in-law)
 * Lu Ten (nephew)
 * Ilah (mother-in-law)
 * Aang (spiritually, as he is a reincarnation of Roku)

Appearances'''

Bold text
''' Zuko Alone (in flashbacks)

The Earth King (in Zuko's nightmare)

The Crossroads of Destiny (indirect mention)

The Beach (Cameo in Family Portrait)

The Avatar and the Fire Lord (mentioned only)

The Day of Black Sun Part 1: The Invasion (Cameo in painting)

The Western Air Temple (mentioned only)

Sozin's Comet Part 3: Into the Inferno (Azula's hallucination in the mirror)

Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang (mentioned only)

Trivia

 * "Ursa" is the feminine form of Latin for "bear", which is likely a reference to how protective she is of Zuko, and it may have some insight on her role in the events.
 * Avatar Roku is Ursa's grandfather, making two of Zuko and Azula's great-grandfathers Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku.
 * Because she was banished before Ozai was crowned Fire Lord, she never acquired the title Fire Lady.
 * Ursa's hand in the death of Fire lord Azulon resembles that of the murder of King Duncan by Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's play Macbeth.
 * During the San Diego Comic-con, it was announced that a reunion between Ursa and Zuko had been arranged, made into a storyboard then dropped just before the finale was finished, it was a request by show co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino.