Zuko was banished by his father from the Fire Nation and given an impossible condition for him to return.
Prince Zuko was sent away from the Fire Nation and spent three years out at sea before finally finding the Avatar.
He is desperate to catch Aang so that he can return to his home and take his place as the heir to the throne of the Fire Nation.
Fire Lord Ozai’s brother, General Iroh accompanies Zuko and is a calm and experienced presence by the young prince’s side.
Zuko holds in a lot of pain when thinking about going home, and that pain drives his pursuit of the Avatar.
Compassion is weakness
When Zuko attended his first war council, they were discussing plans to assault the Earth Kingdom.
Ozai catches him off-guard by asking him for his ideas on how to approach. Zuko isn’t able to provide suitable options and Ozai gets frustrated.
When a General suggests sacrificing one of their divisions as a distraction, Zuko speaks up against it.
He calls the General’s plan stupid and Ozai orders that Zuko and the General have an Agni Kai to settle the issue.
The next day, however, Zuko faces off against Ozai. The Fire Lord claims that by disrespecting the General’s plans, he is disrespecting his father and the Fire Nation.
Zuko doesn’t want to fight his father but has no other choice. He momentarily gains the upper hand but hesitates for a moment and is brutally punished by Ozai who scars him for life.
Zuko is recovering when Ozai visits him. He says that Zuko is to make a full recovery which proves he is strong in body.
However, Zuko still insists that the weak can prove themselves when given a chance and Ozai decides that Zuko is better served by venturing out in the world.
He tells his son not to return until he has captured the one threat to their rule, the Avatar, who hasn’t been seen in 100 years.
Ozai also tells him that since he stood up for the 41st Division, recruits who were going to be sacrificed, he will take them as his crew.
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