Avatar: The Last Airbender: 8 Things The Comics Added To The Canon

Avatar: The Last Airbender may have ended back in 2008 but the adventures of team Avatar are far from over. Despite the original series having ended more than a decade ago, Aang and the rest of Team Avatar having been continuing their journeys on the pages of the comic books that tell even more of their stories. So whether you're wondering whatever happened to Zuko and Azula’s mother or you’re curious as to just what kind of man could land Toph’s heart and father her daughter, Suyin, then you’ve come to the right place. At least until you decide to pick up the comics for yourself.

8 8. Toph’s Baby Daddy/ Suyin’s Father (?)

There are plenty of things that were left a mystery in the space between ATLAB and Avatar: The Legend Of Korra, but one of the biggest mysteries of all is just who manages to charm Toph enough to the point that they had a child together? Well, while the comics haven’t given an official answer as to the mystery surrounding Suyin’s father, they have introduced a man name Satoru, who works in a fire nation colony that Toph and the gang visit during the events of the comics. While the comics have to explicitly state the possibility of a relationship with Satoru, he does have strikingly similar features to Toph’s youngest daughter.

7 7. Toph’s Metalbending School

The Legend Of Korra teaches us that Toph eventually sets up the Beifong Metalbending Academy and later creates a police force of metal benders to help govern republic city. The comics give us a better look at the beginning of Toph’s journey as a teacher. It may be a little difficult to imagine Toph willing surrounding herself with people who are all looking up to her, especially after what we see of where she ends up in Legend Of Korra, but it’s a great aspect of her character that gets a well-deserved closer look in the comics.

6 6. Where Was Zuko’s Mom?

Throughout the course of the original ATLAB series, Zuko spends a significant portion of the series wondering just what exactly happened to his mother. It’s something that significantly affects both Zuko and Azula, and it’s a question that finally gets answered in the comics.

It turns out that when Ozai asked his father Azulon give him the throne rather than his brother Iroh, Fire Lord Azulon ordered that Ozai kill Zuko. When Ursa found out about this, she agreed to do anything Ozai wanted if it meant that her son would be spared. After Ursa helps Ozai, he demands that she leave the castle and never return to see their children again.

5 5. Why Ursa Was Banished From The Fire Nation

One of the biggest mysteries that was left unanswered after the conclusion of the series was just what exactly happened to Zuko’s mother; not simply where she ended up, but what caused her to leave in the first place. When Ozai’s greed and hunger for power lead him to request from Fire Lord Azulon that he be given the throne rather than his grieving brother, Iroh, Azulon demands that Ozai shares in his brother’s pain by killing his own son. When Ursa gets word of this, she decides to create an undetectable poison that will end the life of Azulon after making a deal with Ozai for Zuko’s life. As part of this same deal, Ursa is required to leave the fire nation behind and her children with it.

4 4. The Mother Of Faces

While the original series introduced fans to the nightmare-inducing Koh the Stealer of Faces, fans that followed the series through to the comics were introduced the benevolent Mother of Faces -- and Koh. After Ursa left the fire nation she was reunited with the man Fire Lord Azulan had taken her from before giving her to his son, Ozai. The man, Ikem, had been given a new face and identity by the Mother of Faces, and after narrowly escaping the Fire Nation with her life, Usra decides to do the same. The Mother of Faces offers to remove her memories of her life with Ozai and the fire nation before giving her a new face and new identity. An offer that Ursa gratefully accepts, forgetting the painful memories of her life in the fire nation, and her children.

3 3. Yu Dao

So what happens when an invading force has occupied an enemy nation for over a hundred years? Well, for starters, after a while people forget about how life was before that invading force arrived. That’s exactly what happened in the Fire nation- occupied Earth kingdom territory of Yu Dao.

When the hundred-year war finally ended and Aang and Zuko set out to remove the fire nation from the occupied areas, what they found was that many of the occupied areas, like Yu Dao, had found a way to live in harmony with one another. In fact, Yu Dao was even ruled over by a couple from the fire nation and a couple from the Earth Kingdom. A representative formula that would be repeated when Republic City is built.

2 2. Republic City Origins

Now that Earth and Fire nation territories had the ability to work together without the influence of a hot-headed dictator breathing down their necks, industry begins to spread swiftly from Yu Dao. Nearby, in a place called Cranefish town, earth and fire benders work together in the first earthen fire refinery. Not only is Cranefish town one of the first places to show the true potential of what firebenders and earthbenders can achieve when working together, but it’s also the place where Republic city will eventually be built. All of that sprouted from a few simple shops built to support and a refinery and the workers inside it.

1 1. Azula’s Schizophrenia

Something that the original series merely hints at is the massive trauma and mental health issues that Azula deals with after being abandoned by her mother and left to the care of her father. In the comics, however, we see just how far Azula’s mental state has declined. We see an Azula even more unhinged than at the end of the original series. Azula is obsessed with the idea that not only did Ursa not love her, but she’s been actively working against Azula to prevent her from living up to her destiny. We see Azula have full-blown conversations with the visage of a woman she hasn’t in years and this leads her to do some crazy stuff you’ll have to read the comics to find out about.