Rescue in Pohuai Stronghold


 * This article is about the rescue mission. For the location, see Pohuai Stronghold.

The Rescue in Pohuai Stronghold was a rescue mission devised by the exiled Prince Zuko in order to rescue Avatar Aang from Admiral Zhao. Zuko was motivated by the necessity to be the one to capture Aang in order to regain his honor, and was willing to engage in combat with his own people to do so.

This rescue mission became very important to the outcome of the War. If it had not occurred, Aang would possibly have been imprisoned in the Fire Nation and kept barely alive as a tractable avatar, so as not to restart the Avatar Cycle. This would put him in no condition to be a threat against the Fire Lord. The War would have concluded with a decisive victory for the Fire Nation, rather than the defeat that it was dealt from the Battle at Wulong Forest.

History
Prince Zuko had spoken out against a general's tactics during a war meeting. Because of this, his father had reasoned that speaking out of turn during a war meeting was a grave insult, and forced his son to fight an Agni Kai. When the Agni Kai started, Zuko refused to fight and begged his father to cease the duel, as he didn't expect his opponent to be his father. Ozai was not merciful, and, in a single blast of fire, he severely burned his son's face, leaving a permanent and prominent scar. Zuko was then banished and forced to hunt for the Avatar, a job that was considered to be impossible to accomplish, in order to regain his honor.

Avatar Aang was awakened from his iceberg months prior to the rescue, and the banished Prince Zuko finally saw his chance to redeem himself. However, Aang, journeying with his friends, Katara and Sokka, consistently evaded his attempts at capture.

Zuko and Commander Zhao had been bitter rivals ever since their Agni Kai. Soon, the hunt for the Avatar became a brutal competition between the pair. Zhao had more resources at his disposal and thus had a clear strategic advantage over the banished prince.

Prelude


Zhao had arrived at Pohuai Stronghold to discuss using the Yu Yan Archers for capturing Avatar Aang with Colonel Shinu. Shinu refused to grant him the use of his archers as they were needed for security, not "a wild goose chase". However, at that moment, Fire Lord Ozai's messenger hawk arrived to deliver a message promoting Zhao to the rank of Admiral. Shinu was forced to accept his request, as it had now become an order.

Meanwhile, Avatar Aang and his friends were forced to stop in an abandoned city, as Sokka and Katara were both ill from a recent storm. Aang decided to search for medicine for his friends. Aang would eventually find a herbalist in an old house. She advised Aang to find some frozen frogs in a nearby pond, and to have his friends suck on them, as the frog excretes a substance that can cure his friends.

While trying to find the frogs, Aang was ambushed by the Yu Yan Archers. Despite his expertise in airbending and basic knowledge of waterbending, he was soon captured. He was then put in a prison of Pohuai Stronghold, where he was harassed by Admiral Zhao. Zhao told him that the situation was hopeless, and that no one was coming to rescue him. Aang dared Zhao to fight him, but Zhao refused and left.

Infiltration


Zuko had decided to rescue Aang in order for him to be the one to capture him and thus regain his honor. He decided to incorporate a blue opera mask he had found at a theater into his disguise to execute the rescue. Donning the persona that eventually became known as the "Blue Spirit", he infiltrated the stronghold by hiding under a cart of goods. While the guards were distracted by Admiral Zhao's speech, he crept through the sewers and into the center of the fortress.

Zuko soon reached the hall in front of Aang's cell, and created a disturbance by rolling a Fire Nation helmet down the hall while hiding around the corner. This lured one of the guards down the hall, who was chained to the ceiling. More cautious than before, two more guards steadily approached the hallway, stopping when they saw their fellow soldier chained and gagged. Zuko used their moment of surprise to his advantage, jumping down behind them and quickly chaining and gagging both up in the same fashion. The final guard began to call for help with his horn, but Zuko quickly threw a knife, knocking the horn out of the soldier's hand. The soldier then began to firebend, which Zuko counter-attacked with a bucket of water, before he tripped him.

Entering Aang's cell, Zuko freed him. Aang could not recognize his rescuer, and was therefore surprised and confused. The two left the cell. Meanwhile, Admiral Zhao had a scribe write a speech to Fire Lord Ozai about his accomplishment. Zhao then came across the defeated guards, and upon seeing Aang not in his cell, ordered the gates to be closed. Zuko and Aang were soon confronted by guards.

Hasty escape


As Aang and Zuko tried to climb down a rope to get off a wall and quietly escape, the guards spotted them and cut the rope. Aang prevented him and Zuko from falling to their deaths by creating a cushion of air. Zuko and Aang then engaged in a skirmish with all of the guards. As the gates closed, Aang tried to run through them. Zuko, however, was not quick enough, and Aang returned to Zuko's side to help him.

Soon, guards began to use ladders to climb up the wall Zuko and Aang were on. Aang blasted many guards off with airbending, but soon more guards made their way onto the wall, and Zuko and Aang were forced to flee. Zuko then climbed onto Aang's back, and they hopped on from one ladder to the next. The last ladder they were on was then set on fire, however, forcing them to jump off.

Battle through the gates


Now on the floor and at the gates, Zuko and Aang were surrounded by guards. The guards fired furiously at Aang, who could do nothing but create an air shield to protect him and Zuko from the flames. Zhao ordered the guards to stop, however, due to the fact that Aang must be captured alive.

Using this to his advantage, Zuko put each of his swords across Aang's neck, threatening to kill him. Zhao ordered the guards to open the gate, much to Shinu's dismay. Zhao then, however, ordered a Yu Yan Archer to fire an arrow at Zuko so he could recover Aang. Zuko was hit, and Zhao sent his soldiers to retrieve the Avatar.

As the soldiers made their way to Aang and Zuko, Aang removed Zuko's blue spirit mask hiding his identity. Bewildered to see who had just saved him, Aang nearly left Zuko behind to be captured or even killed. Instead, however, he fled with Zuko, leaving an angry Zhao to sulk over his loss.

Aftermath


After escaping, Aang took himself and Zuko to safety in the forest, where he laid Zuko down to rest. When he slipped back into consciousness, Aang told him about his life before he was frozen, and about his Fire Nation friend Kuzon. After asking him if they could ever be friends like him and Kuzon, Zuko attacked Aang, who dodged out of the way. Aang ran off through the trees, and Zuko walked out of the forest.

Both were quiet and affected when they returned to their designated places. In their mountain hideout, Aang gave Sokka and Katara the frozen frogs and cured them, though Sokka later swore they gave him a wart on his "throat-hole-flap", and Zuko returned to his ship, requesting "no disturbances".



Prior to the Siege of the North, Zhao, after gathering a large invasion force including Zuko's own crew, entered Zuko's ship, and saw his broadswords, immediately confirming his long-held suspicions of the spirit's true identity. He hired pirates to kill Zuko after this, but Zuko faked his death and survived.

A few months later, after the Invasion of the Fire Nation, Team Avatar discussed a redeemed Zuko joining their group at the Western Air Temple. In Zuko's defense, Aang mentioned the rescue from Pohuai Stronghold to his group, which he had previously kept quiet. This did not satisfy the concerns of the group, as Sokka pointed out that Zuko only did so so he could have Aang for himself.

During the late summer of 100 ASC, the Ember Island Players produced a play entitled The Boy in the Iceberg, chronicling the adventures of Team Avatar. Due to the research behind the production comprising word of mouth and unclear sources from witnesses, the play was largely inaccurate. A scene involved the rescue, but the Blue Spirit was portrayed as a man with an immensely large mask that covered most of his body, and Zhao was replaced by Zuko as Aang's captor.

A larger result of the rescue was realized much later. Without the rescue mission, Aang would have been successfully captured and killed by the Fire Lord, and without him, the War would have ended in a victory for the Fire Nation instead of the defeat they were dealt several months later in the Battle at Wulong Forest.

Book Three: Fire (火)
(In play)