Avatar: The Last Airbender ended with several questions going unanswered, but it’s evident by the series premiere of The Legend of Korra that the shows’ creators knew what people were still wondering about Aang’s journey. Originally envisioned having four seasons, Avatar: The Last Airbender concluded its story after season 3, with Aang’s defeat of Fire Lord Ozai. It was a neat finish to a narrative that began with Aang’s mission to take down the Fire Nation, at least combat their rule of the world.
Everything that came after Ozai’s defeat has been revealed either through references to past events (like what happens in Legend of Korra) or told in expanded materials, such as the Avatar comics. While much of this has been in relation to Team Avatar – including what happened to Aang and Sokka after the original series ended – various materials have discussed how Azula escaped prison, Toph’s adventures, and more. Of course, one of the biggest questions that plagued Avatar’s ending was finding out what happened to Zuko’s mom.
In The Legend of Korra‘s series premiere, Tenzin’s daughter (and Aang and Katara’s grandaughter), Jinora, says to Katara, “Gran-Gran, I’ve been reading all about your old adventures. I’ve been dying to ask you, what happened to Zuko’s mom?” It was a meta-acknowledgment by series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko that they had heard the fans. While they didn’t immediately provide any information about what happened to Zuko’s mother, Ursa, that story was told later on… a year later.
Given that 70 years had passed between the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, DiMartino and Konietzko partnered with Dark Horse Comics to bridge the gap between the two shows with several graphic novels. One of them, The Search, literally detailed Zuko’s search for his mom. After she was banished, Ursa returned to her village, made a deal with the Mother of Faces to forget her previous life, and ended up remarrying and having a daughter with a man named Noren (originally Ikem).
Zuko and Azula eventually found their mother and reconciled with her – to an extent, that is – and she later returned to the Fire Nation to attain some form of closure by confronting her ex-husband, Ozai, whose Firebending powers had been stripped from him by Aang. While this story adequately resolved the mystery behind Ursa’s disappearance, it was only one of many questions people had after Avatar: The Last Airbender ended, which is why so many comics and novels, including the recently-released The Shadow of Kyoshi, have come out over the years, providing new details about Team Avatar, the history of the Avatar’s world, and more.
