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Ask pretty much any fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender who their favorite character is, and there’s a good chance they will say Zuko. His arc has been touted for years as one of the best examples of character development in cartoon media and a perfect example of how to redeem villainous characters properly. Throughout his journey, Zuko learns more about himself and what he values to become a better person and discovers things about his destiny and lineage along the way. That lineage is put at the forefront of the season 3 episode The Avatar and the Fire Lord, in which Zuko learns that he has more than one great-grandfather.
While his father, Ozai’s, grandfather was Firelord Sozin, his mother, Ursa’s, grandfather was Avatar Roku, the Avatar before Aang. From a narrative perspective, this is a surprising but well-executed twist that is a significant tipping point in Zuko’s character arc. However, when put against what we have learned about Zuko’s lineage in outside media, it becomes more evident that, while certainly important to Zuko’s character, this twist is almost impossible.
To fully understand why, we need to look at how time and history work in the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise and assess the logic behind this twist.
[Updated August 23, 2024 – Updated links and formatting]
Avatar The Last Airbender and The Trouble with Zuko’s Lineage
While there is no official Avatar calendar due to the somewhat vague timeframes given in the series, the Avatar fan wiki chooses to divide the events of the franchise into one of two time periods: the era before the Genocide of the Air Nomads (BG) and the time after (AG). We will use this measurement for this article’s context because it is the most straightforward.
Using this metric, the lineage of Zuko is pretty simple for the most part. Sozin is Zuko’s great-grandfather, and he was born around 82 BG, the same time as Avatar Roku. Sozin’s son and Zuko’s grandfather, Azluon, was born around the same time the Air Nomad Genocide happened in 0 AG. Zuko’s father, Ozai, was born around 55 AG. This would make him about 45 years old during the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which makes enough sense since he looks to be around middle-aged.
Finally, Zuko was born in 83 AG, which ties in with him being around 16-17 years old throughout the show. Aside from the one oddity of Sozin not having a child until the age of 82, Zuko’s lineage on his father’s side is pretty simple and easy to follow. Ozai seemed to have been the only one who had children at a normal age, around 28, but that is neither here nor there.
By contrast, however, his lineage on his mother’s side is a lot more complicated. While one would assume that it would be similar to his father’s lineage, that cannot be the case when one looks at the information provided in the series. Ursa is Zuko’s mother, and her mother is a woman only named in the official comics, Rina. This would make Rina Roku’s daughter, so it would make sense for her to have been born around the same time as Azulon, right?
Unfortunately, the audience is never given an official birthdate for Rina., and it would be impossible for her to have been born in 0 AG because Roku died in 12 BG at the age of 70. This means she had to have been beforehand, and gave birth to Ursa much later in her life. Much later.
See, we are never given an official birthdate for Ursa, either. The information provided in the comics explains that she married Ozai at the age of 21, around the year 80 AG, giving birth to Zuko a few years later. If we simply take 80 and subtract 21, we get 59, so Ursa was likely born around 59-60 AG. But remember: Roku died in 12 BG, a mere 71 years before Ursa was apparently born. And she is supposed to be his granddaughter, not his great-granddaughter.
So when was Rina born? The only time that makes enough sense is somewhere around 12 BG or later. It is shown in the comics (and further explained in the omnibus release for The Search) that Rina was present during Ozai and Ursa’s wedding, which again occurred around 80 AG.
The release further explains that Rina was about 92 during this. If we take all of this into account, assuming she was born in 12 BG, Rina gave birth to Ursa at the age of 71. Now, while there are some real-world examples of elderly women who are still capable of giving birth, it should be noted that this sort of thing is very, very rare. We have not even talked about Roku’s wife, Ta Min, either.
Her age and birthdate are never provided at all. However, we can assume she is either around the same age as Roku or a year younger at most. Since Roku died when he was 70, this would mean she was around the same age as him during the volcanic eruption on Roku’s Island, which also would have occurred the same year Rina was born. Despite this, no child is present in Roku and Ta Min’s house at the time of the eruption. Ta Min is never implied to be pregnant at any point during the disaster, either.
On the other hand, the story could get away with selling the idea that Sozin had a child at 82 years old because the immediate assumption of the audience would be that his wife was much younger than him. A little creepy, but still entirely plausible. On the other hand, however, to presume that both Ta Min and her daughter gave birth to their first (or at least only known) child while they were in their 70s is a bit ridiculous. Yes, it is technically possible from a purely scientific perspective, but a narrative perspective is a little ridiculous.
Why Does Zuko’s Lineage Matter?
Once again, the impact of Zuko’s relationship with Avatar Roku in Avatar: The Last Airbender has much more narrative significance than anything else. The reveal is intended to invoke shock in the audience and serve as a significant stepping stone in the progression of Zuko’s character. That is clearly all it was ever meant for, and it served its purpose well.
However, with the details that have been provided since and the information we have access to, the history of the Fire Nation Royal Family can be scrutinized and seen from a very different lens. While technically not impossible, it forces the audience to assume it is the result of a rare, almost miraculous coincidence: a mother and her daughter both giving birth at an elderly age.
We will likely never get an official answer to why Sozin waited so long to have children, but we can likely chalk it up to royal or political shenanigans. On the other hand, Roku seemed to live the life of a relatively normal Fire Nation citizen despite his status as the Avatar. And even with what little we have seen of his relationship with Ta Min, it is clear they both loved each other very much.
It is a bit much to presume their family waited some 50+ years to have children just to “technically” line them up with Sozin’s lineage on two separate occasions. Also, it is possible their adoption could have been involved somewhere, but come on. Something as simple as a family having children shouldn’t have this speculation and guessing surrounding it. If it is ever addressed or brought up again as the series continues to grow, hopefully, the writers can take another crack at the topic of Zuko’s lineage to prevent their audiences from needing to become mathematicians to understand it.
