| "[Sozin] started the tradition of hunting dragons for glory. They were the ultimate firebenders. And if you could conquer one, your firebending talents would become legendary and you'd earn the honorary title, Dragon. The last great dragon was conquered long before I was born, by my uncle." |
| — Zuko to Aang.[1] |
The Dragon Hunts were a large-scale hunting of dragons, first practiced in the Fire Nation under Fire Lord Sozin.[1][2][3] Seeking glory, the prestige of honorary titles, and rumored legendary firebending abilities, the nation's nobility embraced the hunts with a voracious appetite. While only a few dragons were killed at first, the hunts continued for decades and eventually drove the dragons to near-extinction. The Dragon Hunts only ended when it was believed that the dragons were fully extinct, and although some survived, the dragon population depleted to the point that there were only two (later three) known dragons.[4]
Prelude[]
Dragons were the first firebenders and very powerful beings. As a result, they were highly respected across the Fire Islands. However, this would change under the reign of Fire Lord Sozin.[1] Although the military power of the noble clans had been largely dismantled by Sozin's early reign, his popularity among the nobility was still highly important to the success of his government. While he had already implemented reforms that made him well-liked among the lower classes, many nobles did not approve of Sozin seizing the Fire & Air Center of Learning from the control of its noble patrons after an Air Nomad sect known as the Guiding Wind allegedly began to sabotage construction. Organizing the first of the Dragon Hunts thus provided an opportunity for Sozin to win back the support of the nobility.[2]
Sozin also wished to prove himself as more fearsome than his father, who had also ruled during a time of great peace, progress, and innovation in the Fire Nation.[2][5] Despite having learned from Wan Shi Tong's Library that killing a dragon only caused spiritual as well as environmental harm and did not enhance firebending,[6] Sozin decided to use faulty legends to fuel the new hunts.[2]
The Dragon Hunts[]
When the first of the Dragon Hunts began, it was announced that anyone who managed to slay a dragon would gain the honorary title of "Dragon". Many nobles were eager for the prestige, as well as the chance to one-up their competitors. It was also rumored that slaying a dragon would increase one's firebending abilities thousand-fold. At first, only a few dragons were slain, yet the nobility gradually began to embrace the blood sport with a voracious appetite.[2]
The killing of the original firebenders led to strange hauntings and spiritual activity occurring around sites where dragons had been slain. Fire Lord Sozin responded by quickly organizing an elite taskforce to deal with this and keep the events under wraps from the local population. However, the Water Tribes noticed the harm that the Dragon Hunts were causing. With both the North and the South facing attacks from dark spirits, many spiritually-inclined tribespeople theorized that the Dragon Hunts were a partial factor, as well as the exploitation of resources in the wake of industrialization, and claims to sacred land. Both Water Tribes sent a joint envoy to the Fire Nation to investigate the death sites, but the locals saw them as nuisances and trouble-makers. Most disturbingly, the government began a propaganda campaign that blamed the Water Tribe for the strange spiritual activity, rather than the other way round.[2][3]
Poachers tried to steal the egg of a green dragon before being stopped by Aang and Kuzon.
The Dragon Hunts appeared to remain relatively small in scale during the life of Avatar Roku and in the early years after his death. Avatar Aang recalled that there were many dragons in his youth, and seemed unaware that they were at risk of becoming endangered.[1] However, he and his friend Kuzon encountered a group of poachers when he traveled to the Fire Nation only a short time before the beginning of the Air Nomad Genocide.[7]
The Dragon Hunts became very intense after the beginning of the Hundred Year War. They continued into the reign of Sozin's son and heir, Fire Lord Azulon. The Dragon Hunts eventually drove the dragons to near-extinction, and they only came to an end because it was believed that Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation had slain the last dragon, thus rendering them truly extinct. However, Iroh in fact had spared the last dragons when he found them living among the Sun Warriors, who had gone into complete isolation and had protected the dragons.[1]
Aftermath[]
The Sun Warriors are known to have gone into complete isolation around the time of the Dragon Hunts, as well as the sharp decline of spirituality around the world in the wake of industrialization. This allowed them to save the few remaining dragons from near-extinction.[1][8]
The intervention of the Water Tribes in the earliest Dragon Hunts and the propaganda campaign that targeted them for any strange spiritual activity contributed to the increasing xenophobic sentiment within the Fire Nation that greatly increased before the Hundred Year War.[3]
Although spiritual authorities raised ethical objections to the Dragon Hunts, especially as they were the original firebenders, these fears were largely ignored. This contributed to the ongoing decline of spirituality in the Fire Nation under Sozin and his successors. Firebending became increasingly violent and aggressive, with the Fire Nation forgetting its life-giving and creative aspects.[1]
By 100 AG, Ran and Shaw were believed to be the last dragons.
The truth that the dragons still lived was discovered by Avatar Aang and Prince Zuko when they came to the Sun Warriors' ancient city, and learned firebending from the original source, though they promised to keep the civilization a secret from the world.[1] However, after Zuko became Fire Lord, it became publicly known that he had found a dragon named Druk, a descendant of Ran and Shaw, and one of only three known living dragons. With the Fire Nation wanting to repair the damage it had done to the world, some conservationists hoped to find other undocumented dragons that might lead to a renaissance for the species. On the other side, some poachers who targeted rare creatures also hoped to find dragons, seeing them as especially valuable, rare, and potentially profitable.[4]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 O'Bryan, John (writer) & Volpe, Giancarlo (director). (July 15, 2008). "The Firebending Masters". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 3. Episode 13. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Core Book, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 47.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Core Book, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 49.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Core Book, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 89.
- ↑ Avatar: The Last Airbender: Legacy of the Fire Nation, page 14.
- ↑ Ribay, Randy (author). (July 23, 2024). Chapter Twenty-Three, "All For Nothing". The Reckoning of Roku. Amulet Books.
- ↑ Wilgus, Benjamin (writer), Matte, Johane; McWeeney, Tom (artist), Dzioba, Wes (colorist), Comicraft (letterer). "Dragon Days" (2009), Nickelodeon Comics Club.
- ↑ Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Core Book, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 25.