Conspiracy of Ba Sing Se

"earth"

- In silencing talk of conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful, orderly utopia. The last one on Earth.

The Conspiracy of Ba Sing Se was a cabal orchestrated by Long Feng and the Dai Li to control the Earth Kingdom capital, Ba Sing Se, by appropriating sovereignty from the Earth King, Kuei. Long Feng executed this by covering up the concurrent war and slowly establishing jurisdiction over the affairs of the city.

The conspiracy was eventually exposed by Avatar Aang, and Long Feng was imprisoned. The conspiracy directly caused the Coup of Ba Sing Se when Long Feng attempted to regain control of the stronghold by negotiating with the Fire Nation's Crown Princess, Azula.

History
Historically, the Earth Kings ruled Ba Sing Se and the rest of the Earth Kingdom directly. However, over time, a bureaucratic administration was created around the Earth King to help run the kingdom. One position, the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se, was created to serve as an adviser to the Earth King about matters in the city.

The creation of the bureaucracy had the unintended effect of weakening the Earth Kings' grip on power. Thus, the opportunity for such a conspiracy became a possibility. This possibility became a reality when the 51st Earth King died with only a four-year-old child to succeed him.

Establishment
After the death of the 51st Earth King, the Grand Secretariat, Long Feng, used his powers and advantageous position to mold four-year-old King Kuei into his puppet. This would give him the power to control the city of Ba Sing Se. He accomplished this with the aid of the corrupt secret police force, the Dai Li, an organization created by Avatar Kyoshi after a peasant uprising.

Long Feng and his Dai Li agents silenced their opponents and forbade free speech. The Council of Five, the highest authority in the Earth Kingdom military, were unable to resist the conspiracy and followed Long Feng's orders. Long Feng and the Dai Li also forbade citizens from talking about the Hundred Year War inside the walls, under pain of imprisonment or brainwashing. This ensured that the city would not erupt into chaos.

With control of the city, Long Feng had complete control over the Earth King and effectively ruled Ba Sing Se and the rest of the Earth Kingdom in the name of the Earth King. This state of events continued for many years, until the arrival of Avatar Aang.

The arrival of the Avatar


In 100 ASC, late into the conspiracy, Avatar Aang and his friends decided to go to the city to find their lost bison, Appa, and to inform the king of an opportunity to invade the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun. After the group destroyed a Fire Nation drill in battle, they ventured into the city as honored guests. Team Avatar, however, immediately became suspicious due to the behavior of Joo Dee and many of the citizens of Ba Sing Se.

The arrival of the Avatar was a major threat to Long Feng's hold over the city. Knowing of the bison's importance to the team, Long Feng used a bison whistle to lure the beast toward him. Once in the right position, he captured Appa and hid him at the Dai Li's base under Lake Laogai. This would serve as blackmail to prevent the Avatar from exposing his conspiracy.

Team Avatar soon became frustrated at the lack of urgency displayed by the city to their plans for the Invasion of the Fire Nation. Team Avatar attempted to use an upcoming party for Bosco that the Earth King would attend as their chance to speak with him. The team decided the best way to do this was for Katara and Toph Beifong to disguise themselves as fancy ladies so they could enter inconspicuously; Sokka and Aang, would stay and wait.



At the party, the guard would not let the girls enter at first, but Long Feng arrived, and with him as their escort, they were allowed to enter. Katara and Toph, however, were unable to lose Long Feng. At the house where Team Avatar was staying, Sokka and Aang began to worry, so they disguised themselves as waiters and snuck into the party. They eventually stumbled upon the girls.

Aang accidentally revealed himself as the Avatar and awed the crowd with his bending tricks. The king then arrived in a palanquin, and Aang rushed to see him. Aang was stopped by Long Feng, who greeted him as the rest of Team Avatar was captured by the Dai Li. In his office, Long Feng informed them of the conspiracy and also blackmailed them.

Capture of Jet
At the same time, the leader of the Freedom Fighters, Jet, had entered the city. Before, on a ferry trip there, he had met a disguised Prince Zuko and "liberated" some food with him. After disembarking from the ferry, he saw Iroh with warm tea that was previously very cold, and marked them as firebenders.

Jet spied on the two with his fellow fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot. Smellerbee and Longshot questioned his latest decisions and left him. Jet, after attempting discretely to force Iroh into firebending, became tired of waiting, and resolved to face them personally and expose them.

Duel in the tea shop


Storming into a local tea shop the two were working at, Jet exclaimed that the two hailed from the Fire Nation. Iroh attempted to convince him they were just tea workers, but Jet did not believe it. Zuko defensively grabbed a pair of dao swords from a nearby customer, and began dueling with Jet.

The two fought around the tea shop, Zuko eventually slicing at Jet, who jumped into the air to dodge it. The two eventually moved outside, more and more people crowding around to chatter and watch. The duel was stopped by the Dai Li, who arrested Jet and took him away.

Jet was taken to Lake Laogai and bound where a Dai Li agent proceeded to brainwash him, telling him, "There is no war within the walls..." Jet attempted to resist, but the brainwashing proved to be successful.

Team Avatar and Jet meet


Team Avatar continued to stay in the city. A month after entering Ba Sing Se, Team Avatar hung up fliers for Appa, ignoring instructions to do otherwise. They encountered Jet, who had been living quietly in the city since his brainwashing. They were distrustful of him at first, but Jet eventually gained their trust to the extent where he was permitted to aid in the search for Appa. He told them he had overheard people speaking of his whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Long Feng, disappointed in Joo Dee for failing again at keeping Team Avatar quiet, used a brainwashing code to send her to Lake Laogai for further orders.

Team Avatar and Jet looked for Appa at the place Jet heard of, but did not find him. Instead, they were told to go to Whaletail Island; as they were preparing to exit the city, they stumbled into Smellerbee and Longshot, who had been looking for Jet everywhere. They brought up the duel and Jet's arrest, but he did not remember. After many tests, they realized that Jet had been brainwashed, and tried to revive his memory.

After they succeeded in doing so, Jet remembered that he was brainwashed under Lake Laogai. The group ventured to the lake, discovering a hidden base beneath its surface where the Dai Li carried out activities in secret. While searching around, they entered a room where Long Feng and several Dai Li agents were present.

Battle in the chamber


The Dai Li attacked the group, but the latter fought them off. Long Feng attempted to escape in the midst of the chaos; Jet and Aang chased after him, however, the earthbender used a brainwashing code to turn Jet against Aang. A duel ensued between Aang and Jet, the Avatar pleading with him to break free of Long Feng's grasp. After succeeding by telling him he was a Freedom Fighter, Jet attacked Long Feng, who struck him with an earth pillar, mortally wounding him.

Long Feng then disappeared as the others gathered around Jet. Katara attempted to heal him, and realized that he had severe internal injuries. The Freedom Fighters told Aang and his friends to go, saying that he would be alright. As they left, Toph sadly said, "He's lying." Jet soon died of his wounds.

Zuko frees Appa
Meanwhile, Zuko, wearing his Blue Spirit outfit, went to the base as well, in an attempt to steal Appa. Before he could finish, his uncle came in, stating, "I wonder who could be under that mask?" Zuko removed his mask, and Iroh explained that he needed to start shaping his own destiny and choose his own path. After much consideration, Zuko gave in and freed Appa.

Reunion and new hope
Team Avatar was interrupted by Dai Li agents as they attempted to leave Lake Laogai. After holding them off for a while, the Dai Li were surprised by the newly freed Appa. Appa single-handedly defeated the Dai Li, even biting Long Feng's leg and throwing him into the lake. The group reunited with Appa.

With Appa reunited with Team Avatar, Sokka suggested that, being on a "roll", they go ahead and storm into the palace to see the King. After some discussion, the group agreed.

Assault on the Royal Palace


The team flew to the palace, but were met with opposition from the Royal Earthbender Guards. The guards were quickly defeated, being unable to defend against the combined bending power of Aang, Katara, Toph, and Appa. Storming through the palace, Sokka eventually discovered the "fancy door" that led to the throne room.

Breaking into the throne room, Aang and his friends were met by Dai Li agents and Long Feng. The King, beside Long Feng, expressed his outrage at the intrusion. The Dai Li locked Team Avatar's hands with rock gloves.

The king did, however, give Team Avatar a chance to speak. Aang attempted to prove to the King that the conspiracy and War were real and that Long Feng had evil intentions. Long Feng attempted to convince King Kuei otherwise and nearly succeeded, but made a major error of judgment when he said that he had not known sky bison still existed. This was immediately refuted by the bite marks on Long Feng's leg, which matched Appa's teeth. With this in mind, King Kuei decided to let Aang and his friends show him evidence.

Arrest of Long Feng


The first attempt Team Avatar used to convince the King was to have him see the Dai Li base at Lake Laogai. They discovered, however, that the Dai Li had destroyed the entrance beforehand, leaving only rubble there. The King almost left, but Team Avatar realized there was another piece of evidence.

Team Avatar led the Earth King to the wall. The drill from the battle a month ago was still there, convincing the Earth King that the conspiracy and the Hundred Year War were real. Long Feng attempted to tell the King that it was a construction project, and stated the Fire Nation insignia was there because it was imported. The King did not believe this, and Long Feng was arrested for crimes against the Earth Kingdom, thus ending the conspiracy, true power having been restored to the Earth King.

Aftermath


Despite this relatively good sequence of events for Team Avatar and Ba Sing Se, things once more took a negative turn, as the Dai Li revealed to Long Feng that they remained loyal to him and only him; meanwhile, the Earth King unsuspectingly allowed the disguised Princess Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee to enter the palace grounds as honored guests. While in the city, Azula immediately began to plan a coup to overthrow the government. Mai and Ty Lee set up a staged act where they revealed that they were Fire Nation and allies of Azula and that they planned to overthrow the Earth King. As Azula predicted, she was taken to Long Feng to form a plot. Azula used her skills in acting to trick Long Feng into thinking she was helpless, making him believe she could lead the Dai Li without any trouble until he was released.

The Avatar and his friends soon arrived to save Katara, who had been taken prisoner by Azula when she first entered the city. Despite their arrival, Azula's plot went just as planned. She used her new allies to capture Zuko, though Iroh was able to escape. Azula threw Zuko in prison with Katara, and then her coup commenced. She arrested the entire Council of Five, along with Kuei, Sokka, and Toph. Long Feng, free from prison and seeing the princess' actions, ordered the Dai Li to arrest Azula. After the Dai Li refused to move, a smug Azula told a bewildered Long Feng that they did not know who to follow, as they were impressed by Azula's leadership. She then told him that the one that was born royalty is the one that was born to rule. Long Feng, realizing his fatal mistake, had no choice but to submit to the princess.



After a furious battle in the Crystal Catacombs between Aang, Katara, Zuko, who had just defected to the Fire Nation, and Azula, and the intervention of the Dai Li, it became clear Azula would win if immediate action was not taken. Aang knew this, and tried to enter the Avatar State, but was quickly shot down by a fatal lightning bolt generated by Azula. Iroh held Azula and Zuko off, letting Katara escape with a near-dead Aang. When they left, Iroh surrendered. Azula then ordered his arrest, putting her in firm control of Ba Sing Se.