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 that Azulon had ordered Ozai to kill Zuko, she made a plan to ensure her son's life was spared. This resulted in the death of her father-in-law as well as her husband assuming the title of Fire Lord. Ursa was banished from the Fire Nation for treason.

History


Little is known about Ursa's childhood, though she was born into a noble family and one of her parents was a child of Avatar Roku. At some point she was forced into an arranged marriage with then-prince Ozai, and the couple had two children: Prince Zuko and Princess Azula. Her relationship with her husband was never explored, and it is unknown what their feelings for each other were.

One of Ursa's defining features was her protectiveness of her son; Ursa may have been one of the only members of the Fire Nation Royal Family, along with Iroh and possibly his son Lu Ten, who loved him. Her life was 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 a normal level. Azula believed that Ursa thought of her as a monster, which scarred the Princess for the rest of her life and may have influenced some of her later behaviour.

Shortly after the death of Lu Ten, Ozai asked his father, Fire Lord Azulon, to pass Iroh's birthright of the throne to him, since he 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 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 firstborn son. By the next morning, Ursa had disappeared, Azulon was proclaimed dead, and Ozai was announced as his willed successor. Before her departure, Ursa woke Zuko before 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.



On the Day of Black Sun, her mysterious departure Ozai revealed some things to Zuko. Azulon did indeed order Ozai to kill Zuko. Ursa learned of this, and wanting nothing but to protect Zuko, she proposed a plan to Ozai, fully aware consequences which she accepted. The specific details of the plan were not spelled out, but it resulted in the death of Azulon and Ozai's ascension to the Fire Nation throne in Iroh's place. 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 saw this story as hope that his mother was still alive. Before the final fight against Zuko during the Sozin's Comet, Ursa returned as a hallucination in Azula's mirror. In a short but very sad conversation, she claimed to love her, but this only served to further Azula's descent into madness. After being crowned Fire Lord and with his father helplessly imprisoned, Zuko confronted Ozai about the whereabouts of his mother.

It is still unknown either where Ursa was sent or whether Zuko ever found his mother, though the possibility exists.

Relatives

 * Ozai (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 (spiritual reincarnation of Roku)

Trivia

 * "Ursa" is the feminine form of Latin for "bear", which is likely a reference to how protective she is of Zuko.
 * She appeared in one of Zuko's nightmares, calling to her son for help.
 * While imprisoned together in the crystal catacombs of old Ba Sing Se, Zuko disclosed information about his mother to Katara which eventually won him her trust.
 * It was also revealed that Azula may have harbored some resentment towards her mother for favoring Zuko.
 * It was said Ursa was a big fan of the Ember Island Players and used to take the family to see them every year acting a play called 'Love Amongst the Dragons', although Zuko claims the actors 'butchered' it.
 * Avatar Roku was Ursa's grandfather, making two of Zuko and Azula's great-grandfathers Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku. Similarly, Ta Min, her grandmother, looked similar in appearance to her. Her relation to Avatar Roku also means that she and Aang were related spiritually.
 * Because she was banished before Ozai was crowned Fire Lord, she never acquired the title Fire Lady.
 * Ursa never appeared in the present time of the TV series. Her story was told in flashbacks.
 * During the 2008 San Diego Comic-con, it was announced that a reunion between Ursa and Zuko had been arranged, made into a storyboard by director Joaquim Dos Santos, but then dropped just before the finale was finished, as requested by show co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino for reasons unknown.
 * In the 2010 roundtable discussion with M. Night Shyamalan, one change he may make in the sequels of his film adaptation is to reveal Ursa's fate. When the original series finished, he called up Mike DiMartino and was like, "Are you crazy!?! Tell me what happened to his mom!"
 * In The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra March 2011 interview, Christopher John Farley of Wall Street Journal asked the creators on Ursa's fate. Michael Dante DiMartino replied "That question will be answered in some way, but not necessarily in the show. That’s all I’ll say."
 * A recent interview with Dark Horse comic artist Gene Yang states that the remainder of Zuko's conversation with Ozai regarding Ursa's fate will be shown in full in the upcoming comic series, scheduled for release in early 2012.