Zuko Alone – The Best Episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Many Nickelodeon fans who grew up in the mid-2000s will know about Avatar: The Last Airbender. (Not the lame James Camron film).

Over the years since the show has wrapped, Avatar: The Last Airbender has gained a massive following as one of the greatest young adult shows of all time. Perhaps the most important element to it was its characters and world-building. One episode that summarized this show brilliantly was the season 2 episode: “Zuko Alone”. This was considered by many fans (including myself) to be the best single episode of the series, so much so that YouTubers still make videos to this day.

Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world where each nation controls an element, Avatar: The Last Airbender focuses on a group of teenagers each capable of bending an element protecting the Avatar, whos the only person capable of bending all four. At the same time, they are pursued by the banished fire prince Zuko. Zuko’s quest to hunt down the Avatar was his only way to restore his father’s favor (his honor) and return home.

Episode Synopsis

In the second season, Zuko has not only been banished but is now a fugitive from his country for his military failures. He is a character with effectively nothing in life seeking a new purpose. In this episode, Zuko alone briefly finds something resembling … when he enters a village that’s being occupied by abusive Earth Kingdom soldiers. Zuko would befriend a child and his family and even helps around the farm as a simple laborer. Eventually, when the soldiers kidnap the child, Zuko gives into his inner compassion to save him.

Throughout season 2, Zuko has been traveling through the earth kingdom and sees firsthand the devastation of the wars his father and grandfather have brought on the world. Despite realizing the damage done still clings to his identity as the prince of the fire nation. The conflict with Zuko is he does not know how to reconcile his idea of honor and his personal moral compass. What Zuko believes is honor is really prestige and status and being with his family. Zuko’s banishment for resisting to duel his father shattered his worldview.

Zuko’s Origin / Flashbacks

One crucial element of this episode is Zuko’s flashbacks to when he had a family. Here we see his dynamic with his sister, Azula, whos the clear favorite of his father, Fire Lord Ozai. Ozai is the embodiment of abusive patriarchs – highly authoritative and hungry for power, and that’s only if you are counting his actions depicted in the show. As such Ozai plays favorites amongst his kids, favoring his talented but cruel daughter over his struggling empathetic son.

In this flashback, the Fire Nation was ruled by Ozai’s father Azulan who also picked favorites, in his case Ozai’s older brother Iroh was next in line. There is a clear dysfunctionality within the royal family, but the family drama really escalates when Zuko’s cousin was killed in battle and as a result, Iroh’s line has suddenly ended. Ozai, whose children remained among the living, pressed his father to name him his successor – much to Azulan’s fury.

This entire flashback could easily warrant its own episode, but what makes it work is that they come during moments where Zuko is in a dilemma in the present. When the child was kidnapped by the soldiers it coincides with the flashback where Zuko’s cousin dies. Despite Zuko’s hunt in the past, he does display sympathy for those that lose family and that’s what causes him to face the soldiers and rescue the kid.

However, the most important character in this Zuko’s entire story was his mother Ursa. With his father’s and sisters’ abuse, the only light that prevented Zuko from following the same path was the love and compassion of his mother. Ursa despite living was the loving side of his family Zuko kept hidden for years and once he became a fugitive started to emerge again.

However, this was the stable part of Zuko’s childhood was not to last. After hearing Azula taunting Zuko that their father was going to banish him, Zuko’s mother, Ursa, took it upon herself to protect her son at any cost. It was later implied in the show and later the comics that Ursa made a deal with her husband to Poison Azulan and forge his testament that would assure her husband’s ascension but at the price of her being banished. With Ursa’s disappearance, Zuko’s only positive person in his life is his uncle Iroh.

This episode is an example of flashbacks done properly as they serve a purpose in the story and are used in key moments rather than come out of nowhere like other shows.

The flashbacks were what fleshes out Zuko as cause they presented an innocent side to the troubled young man.

The Confrontation

One clever bit of writing is the bad guys Zuko faces are not other fire benders but earth Soldiers the were oppressing Village. The past episode depicted the fire nation as the villains in the same vein as storm troopers and Cylons, but like any real war, there are bad people on both sides of a conflict. For a show that’s marketed to a young audience to depict bad soldiers from the good side is a bold choice to make, but necessary.

Hiding his bending, Zuko was able to defeat the non-bending soldiers using his swords but was knocked by an earth bender using hammers in combination with his bending. Zuko did everything he can to hide his bending but when push came to shove he evened the odds by finally revealing his abilities much to the shock of the town.

Despite defeating the town bullies, Zuko was swiftly rejected by the town. Even the boy he saved rejects his help showing how much harsh but understandable prejudice against fire-benders especially royalty throughout the Earth Kingdom.

This entire story is reminiscent of an old western complete with Zuko wandering off into the sunset. Only this time with no heartfelt goodbyes, subverting usual western tropes. It’s clear that despite knowing the crimes of his family, Zuko still embraces his title when most people would give it up.

Conclusion

Throughout Season 2 Zuko was never portrayed as a hero but as a lost soul with no purpose. Up until this point in the series, Zuko’s mission was to return home with the avatar. With his purpose lost he had to find his own way in the world. Zuko was channeling the moments from those times in his life that pushed him to keep going – it’s not about following your destiny or even following your heart, but following your inner conscience that Zuko suppressed for years.

“Zuko Alone” demonstrates the kind of man Zuko could still be under better circumstances. This foreshadows his redemption arc that would come in the final season as he joins his former foes and The Avatar to defeat his father and become the new Fire Lord – ending 100 years of war.

Zuko’s story is perhaps one of the best redemption arcs in media because we understand his motivations in a way that is grounded from the start. Zuko was never motivated by power or revenge like other antagonists – just a lost man with no way to go home.