Yon Rha

"I'm afraid I'm not taking prisoners today."

- Yon Rha before he kills Kya

Yon Rha was leader of the Southern Raiders at the time of Kya's death. He retired from the position four years prior to the episode "The Southern Raiders".

History
Nothing is known of Yon Rha's life prior to the incident with Kya.

The incident with Kya occurred during a raid on the Southern Water Tribe, when he was aiming to find and dispose of the last remaining waterbender in the tribe. He interrogated Kya to find the last bender's location. She lied to him, saying that she herself was the bender after safely seeing that the real waterbender, her daughter Katara, was away. Yon Rha killed Kya, explaining that he did not intend to take any prisoners.

Less than ten years after this incident, Yon Rha retired with honor, going home to live quietly with his ill-tempered mother.



Four years after his retirement, in "The Southern Raiders", Zuko and Katara went to confront him, seeking vengeance for Kya. They found him in the center of his peaceful Fire Nation village buying food and vegetables for his mother. They ambushed him on the road back to his mother's house, declaring that they want justice and, after hearing his story, that Katara was the true last waterbender of the Southern Tribe. Katara began an elaborate sequence of attacks which would end his life, but stopped in the last instant. After hearing Yon Rha begging for his life, Katara made clear that she did not intend to attack him, saying that she could not bring herself to kill such a miserable target, as much as she might want revenge. They left him crying and cowering in the dirt of the road with the knowledge that though he could still live, he would never be forgiven.