Surrender of Omashu

The Capture of Omashu was an event in which Fire Nation armies invaded the city of Omashu, the Earth Kingdom's second greatest stronghold. It ended in a decisive victory for the Fire Nation, as King Bumi surrendered the minute Omashu was attacked. The capture was a huge blow to the Earth Kingdom, leaving Ba Sing Se as the last great stronghold standing. Despite the victory, however, a group of Omashu citizens formed a resistance group, led by Captain Yung.

The capture resulted in Mai's father being appointed governor of the newly conquered city. A few weeks later, Princess Azula would come seeking her old friends, Mai and Ty Lee, to help her capture her brother and uncle. Avatar Aang and his friends would also return to begin Aang's training with Bumi.

The Avatar and his friends successfully freed the citizens of Omashu during their arrival. They were not successful, however, in gaining Aang an Earthbending teacher, and were forced to flee the city without Bumi.

History
After 100 years of war, the Fire Nation was able to successfully conquer many Earth Kingdom cities and provinces. Eventually only Ba Sing Se and Omashu remained as the last great Earth Kingdom strongholds. Omashu was protected by the large gorge around it. No enemies could cross it. But the Fire Nation developed long, metal, extending bridges in order to cross the gorge and bring their army into the city.

Capture
Sometime during the late winter season, Omashu was besieged by Fire Nation forces. According to Captain Yung, the soldiers of Omashu were ready to fight for Omashu's freedom. However, when Yung asked Bumi what they should do, Bumi looked him in the eyes and said, "I'm going to do...nothing!".

With that, Bumi surrendered Omashu to the Fire Nation, preventing any fatal casualties, yet getting himself captured. Many citizens and soldiers were able to escape, and formed a resistance group. The Fire Nation forces soon occupied the city, and claimed the city in the name of Fire Lord Ozai.

With Omashu captured, Ozai appointed Mai's father to govern the city.

Immediate
Despite the victory, the rebellions formed in the city still posed a threat to the Fire Nation. Despite this, the city was in firm control, and fighting back seemed to be a lost cause. Things changed, however, with the arrival of Team Avatar, who was searching for Bumi. Princess Azula also arrived to enlist the help of her friends, Mai and Ty Lee. While in Omashu, the Avatar and his friends devised a plan to free the citizens of Omashu by pretending that they were all plagued with a contagious and deadly sickness. The Governor fell for the scheme, and allowed the citizens to leave. His 2 year old son, Tom-Tom, however, ended up following the citizens out of Omashu.

Thinking the resistance kidnapped his son, the Governor offered King Bumi for the return of his son. After hearing of this, Azula angrily deemed the Governor a poor ruler, and decided that Mai will carry out the hostage exchange with the help of her and Ty Lee. Azula then renames Omashu New Ozai in honor of her father, and leaves.Team Avatar and Azula and her friends then meet on top of the city's construction site to exchange hostages. Azula then brings up the fact that it would be foolish to trade a powerful Earthbending king for a boy. Mai agrees, and announces that the deal is off. As Aang takes off after Bumi, his scarf accidentally falls off from his head, thus reveling his identity to Azula.

A fight then ensues. After Aang manages to break the chain from Bumi's coffin, the two slide down the mail chute, with Azula in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Katara battles Ty Lee and Mai while Sokka brings Tom-Tom to safety. Ty Lee soon blocks Katara's chi, preventing her from bending. Right when Mai is about to kill Katara, however, Appa smacks her and Ty Lee off the building.Katara and Sokka then attempted to rescue Aang and Bumi. Azula, however, thwarts the two by shooting blue flames in between them. The fight continues until Bumi uses his head to create a large boulder, destroying the cart Azula used to pursue them in.

Now brought to safety, Aang questions Bumi on why he surrendered, and Bumi tells him that he is waiting for the right moment to strike back, which is why he can't leave. He then tells Aang that he needs to find an Earthbender who waits and listens before striking, and that it can not be him. He then bids Aang farewell, and leaves. After the engagement, Azula, while leaving Omashu with her friends, decides that she is going to add the Avatar to her list of targets. Meanwhile, Aang returns Tom-Tom back to the Governor and his wife.

Later
Aang, heeding Bumi's advice, decided to have Toph Bei Fong, a blind Earthbending master, become his Earthbending teacher, giving Team Avatar a new member. After the engagement with Azula and her team, the Avatar and his friends earned a long term and deadly set of enemies, causing them major problems on their journey. Omashu would not see freedom again until The Day of Black Sun, which occurred many months later. During that day, Bumi single-handedly liberated all of Omashu, taking advantage of Fire Nation soldiers' loss of Firebending.

Appearances and References

 * The Cave of Two Lovers
 * Return to Omashu
 * Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters