- This article is about the conquering of Omashu by the Fire Nation. For other similar uses, see Omashu (disambiguation).
| "The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city ... to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered." |
| — Captain Yung to Aang.[1] |
The Surrender 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. This loss was a huge blow to the Earth Kingdom, leaving Ba Sing Se as the last great stronghold standing. Despite the Fire Nation victory, however, a group of Omashu citizens formed a resistance group, led by Captain Yung.
The surrender resulted in Mai's father being appointed governor of the newly conquered city. A few weeks later, Princess Azula came seeking her old friend, Mai, to help her capture her brother and uncle. She renamed the city of Omashu "New Ozai" in honor of her father. Avatar Aang and his friends also returned 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 they were forced to flee the city without Bumi.[1]
History
After one hundred 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, which no enemies could cross. However, the Fire Nation developed long, metal, extending bridges in order to cross the gorge and bring their army into the city.[2]
Surrender
King Bumi and Captain Yung watched as the city came under attack.
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, and agreed to be taken prisoner. The Fire Nation forces soon occupied the city and claimed it in the name of Fire Lord Ozai, with Mai's father appointed as governor. Many citizens and soldiers formed a resistance group.[1]
Aftermath
Immediate
The citizens of Omashu escaped the city with the help of a "pentapox" plague.
Despite the victory, the rebellions formed in the city still posed a threat to the Fire Nation. Regardless, 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. At the same time, Princess Azula arrived to enlist the help of her friend, Mai. 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 two-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 would carry out the hostage exchange with the help of her and Ty Lee. Azula promptly renamed Omashu "New Ozai" in honor of her father and left. Team Avatar met Azula and her friends on top of the city's construction site to exchange hostages. Azula, however, brought up the fact that it would be foolish to trade a powerful earthbending king for a boy. Mai agreed and announced that the deal was off. As Aang took off after Bumi, his scarf accidentally fell off from his head, thus revealing his identity to Azula.
Azula attacked Aang and Bumi in an attempt to prevent their escape.
A fight ensued. After Aang managed to brake the chain from Bumi's metal coffin, the two slid down the mail chute, with Azula in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Katara battled Ty Lee and Mai while Sokka brought Tom-Tom to safety. Ty Lee soon blocked Katara's chi, preventing her from bending. Right when Mai was about to attack Katara, however, Sokka threw his boomerang at her, knocking the dagger out of her hand. Appa soon blew her and Ty Lee off the building. Katara and Sokka attempted to rescue Aang and Bumi. Azula, however, thwarted the two by shooting blue flames in between them. Bumi used his head to create a large boulder, destroying the cart Azula used to pursue them.
Now brought to safety, Aang questioned Bumi on why he surrendered. Bumi told him that he was waiting for the right moment to strike back, which was why he could not leave. He told Aang that he needed to find an earthbending teacher who waited and listened before striking, and that it could not be him. He bid Aang farewell and left. After the engagement, Azula, while leaving Omashu with her friends, decided that she was going to add the Avatar to her list of targets. Meanwhile, Aang returned Tom-Tom back to the governor and his wife.[1]
Later
Aang, heeding Bumi's advice, decided to have Toph Beifong, a blind earthbending master, become his earthbending teacher, thus adding a new member to Team Avatar.[3] After the engagement with Azula and her team, the Avatar and his friends earned a long term, deadly set of enemies, causing them major problems on their journey.[4] 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 the Fire Nation soldiers' loss of firebending.[5]
Appearances
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Book Two: Earth (土)
- 202. "The Cave of Two Lovers"
- 203. "Return to Omashu"
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch (writer) & Spaulding, Ethan (director). (April 7, 2006). "Return to Omashu". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 2. Episode 3. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ From older Avatar: The Last Airbender official site, originally on Nick.com. Encyclopedia now broken, archived at The Lost Lore of Avatar Aang - Location: The Battle of Omashu.
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante (writer) & Spaulding, Ethan (director). (May 5, 2006). "The Blind Bandit". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 2. Episode 6. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ Hamilton, Joshua (writer) & Volpe, Giancarlo (director). (May 26, 2006). "The Chase". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 2. Episode 8. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ Ehasz, Aaron (writer) & Volpe, Giancarlo (director). (July 19, 2008). "Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 3. Episode 19. Nickelodeon.