Battle at Wulong Forest

"air"

- When the comet last came, my grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, used it to wipe out the Air Nomads. Now, I will use its power to end the Earth Kingdom. Permanently. From our airships, we will rain fire over their lands. A fire that will destroy everything. And out of the ashes, a new World will be born. A World in which all the lands are Fire Nation and I am the supreme ruler of everything!

The Battle in the Wulong Forest was the final battle of the century long War, and coincided with the Battle of Ba Sing Se and the Final Agni Kai. An airship armada of the Fire Nation led by self-proclaimed Phoenix King Ozai attempted to use the Firebending-enhancing power of Sozin's Comet to destroy the Earth Kingdom. The operation was opposed by select members of Team Avatar.

As a result of this battle, Fire Lord Ozai was stripped of his firebending, and Avatar Aang became fully realized and regained his ability to use the Avatar State. The entire Fire Nation armada of Airships were destroyed. Surrounding areas were severely damaged.

The Avatar's victory in this battle effectively decided the outcome of The War, with the strategic defeat of the Fire Nation.

History
The day before the Day of Black Sun, it was brought to Fire Lord Ozai's attention that the Fire Nation Armies were failing to secure total victory over the Earth Kingdom due to numerous rebellions across the continent. Several of these rebellions were resulting in the losses of secondary territories. Prince Zuko advised that it was unlikely that the rebellions would stop while the Earth Kingdom people had hope in defeating the Fire Nation. Princess Azula suggested that they burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground to destroy their hope. Ozai consented, devising a plan to use his newly-commissioned fleet of Airships to incinerate the Earth Kingdom in hopes of silencing his enemies.

Weeks later, when Zuko became aware of Aang's plan to face the Fire Lord after Sozin's Comet, he warned the Avatar of Ozai's intentions. Two days before the Comet's arrival, Aang ended up on a mysterious island in the sea. This island, revealed to be a Lion Turtle, moved Aang to the site where Ozai intended to begin his attack on the Earth Kingdom, the Wulong Forest. Meanwhile, the remaining members of Team Avatar met with the Order of the White Lotus. While Zuko and Katara went to the Fire Nation to defeat Azula, Sokka, Toph and Suki would intercept the Airship fleet at their base at an island near the Earth Kingdom coast.

Battle
Sokka, Toph and Suki were able to board an airship, hijack the control room and disable the ship's entire crew. However, they were unable to catch up to the Fire Lord's flagship, which was further ahead, leaving Fire Lord Ozai unopposed when he began burning down the forest. Aang however was waiting for Ozai, and proceeded to destroy Ozai's lead airship with Earthbending and Firebending, forcing Ozai to propel himself off the ship to challenge him. Ozai gleefully stated that the universe has delivered the Avatar to him while his father and grandfather failed to find him, as an "act of providence". Aang asked Ozai to halt his assault on the Earth Kingdom, but Ozai had no intentions of backing down and engaged the Avatar in battle.



Watching the beginning of this duel, Sokka decides that the Fire Lord was for Aang to fight alone, and suggests they destroy the Airship Fleet as planned. Sokka maneuvers the hijacked airship around and crashes it into the other airships; however, they fail to damage all of them. Sokka and Toph are separated from Suki as their ship begins to break up, and they are forced to continue to attempt to destroy the others without her.

Meanwhile, Aang and Ozai seem equally matched in skill. Though Aang now has all four elements at his disposal, Ozai's Comet-enhanced Firebending forces Aang onto the defensive. Ozai eventually resorts to a powerful barrage of lightning generation. Aang evades the deadly lightning, but is forced to catch the last bolt, and to Ozai's horror, is about to redirect it back at him. However, still unwilling to kill Ozai to stop the battle, Aang chooses instead to redirect the lightning into the sky. Ozai takes advantage of Aang's mercy and attack, sending him falling into a shallow lake below. Aang saves himself from a fatal fall with Waterbending, and looks up to see Ozai flying down, eager to resume their battle. Overwhelmed and frightened, Aang encases himself in an earthen shield. Ozai laughs and taunts him for his peaceful nature, proclaiming the Air Nomad unworthy to live in his world, before attacking.



Sokka and Toph continue to destroy the airship fleet. Toph uses Metalbending to cause the other ships to crash into each other. However, Fire Nation soldiers notice them and attack, attempting to make the pair fall off the airship. Suddenly, they are saved by an airship that crashes into the one they are on. They land on it and discover that Suki was driving it. It later becomes clear that this airship was the last operable one, the other fifteen having been disabled.

Ozai slowly destroys Aang's stone shield. Unable to withstand the increasing heat, the shield breaks and Aang hits his back on jagged rock, inadvertently causing his locked seventh chakra to open, activating the self-defensive power of the Avatar State. Ozai, unaware of what has happened, taunts and approaches Aang to finish him. However, Aang's glowing hand reaches out of the rubble and seizes Ozai by the beard. Startled, Ozai tries to attack, but his Firebending is effortlessly deflected by Aang. He releases a powerful gust of air at Ozai, sending him flying and tumbling into a stone pillar.



Aang gathers the four elements around himself attacks Ozai. By using Firebending to propel himself at great speeds, he tries to escape as Aang chases after him. Aang Earthbends small fragments of rock to shoot at him like bullets, but Ozai manages to evade them all and continues fleeing. Ozai attempt to counterattack, but his attacks are deflected effortlessly. Eventually, Aang catches him with Waterbending and subdues him with by Earthbending shackles onto his arms and legs. Aang states with the voices of all previous Avatars that the Fire Nation has devastated the balance of the world, and that he must now pay the "ultimate price". Aang proceeds to deliver the final blow, a combination of all four elements into one attack, but refuses to finish, coming out of the Avatar State.

Aang releases Ozai. Ozai mocks Aang, telling him that despite being the most powerful being in the world, he is still weak. As Aang's back is turned he attempts to strike him with Firebending, but Aang senses his movement through Earthbending and quickly disables him with earthen stackles. Aang remembers what the Lion Turtle taught him, and uses a new type of bending, Energybending. Aang is nearly consumed by Ozai's energy, but manages to overcome it. A pillar of blue light shoots into the sky, similar to the light when Aang was freed from the iceberg.



Exhausted from the ordeal, Ozai attempts to attack, but finds he cannot Firebend. Aang explains that he had removed his bending abilities. Demonstrating his newfound control over the Avatar State, Aang Waterbends the tide to rise and douse the burning land.

Sokka, Suki, and Toph meet with Aang as Sozin's Comet departs. They congratulate Aang and wonder if Ozai, collapsed on the ground, is dead. Ozai snarls he is still alive, and Aang tells them he took away his Firebending. Sokka seizes the opportunity to taunt Ozai and calls him "The Loser Lord." Ozai weakly tries to defend his title as the Phoenix King but passes out again from exhaustion, causing Toph to insult his title by calling him the "Phoenix King of Getting His Butt Whooped." Suki tries to make fun of him too, but does a poor job, and Toph recommends she leave the name-calling to them.

Aftermath


Ozai was subsequently stripped of his title as Fire Lord, and was jailed. He was succeeded by his son Zuko, who managed to reclaim his birthright after defeating Azula in the Fire Nation. The short-lived title of Phoenix King was also abolished. With Ozai's defeat and Zuko's ascension to the throne, Zuko declared the War over and the start to an era of recovery in the world.

Appearances

 * Winter Solstice Part 2: Avatar Roku
 * Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into The Inferno
 * Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang