#king of ba sing se

[hive-n-jivin]

nsft ahead lmao. ↴

tbhhhhhh,,, I would,,, do unspeakable things to this man,,,

[lalionnalunna]

sometimes im a ty lee, sometimes im a mai. but all i want to be is to be eart king kuie hanging out with bosco. please give me that bear.

bosco just looks like my fave childhood teddy bear that's full of stitches and got loss on a bus. he's a survivor

mai and ty lee

[die-auster]

The gilded cage for the king.

I wish the golden pen to look more, well, gold.

If you feel like it you can support me on my Ko-fi.

[bestepisode]

Vote on the second half of the season here!

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[sokkastyles]

How much do you feel Zuko is to blame for his part in Ba Sing Se? I've seen people saying what he did there was never meaningfully brought up or addressed, so I'd love to know what you think.

Never meaningfully brought up or addressed?

It's a major plot point that heavily affects the narrative on multiple sides. It's also something that is telegraphed as something Zuko instantly regrets and will regret. It's a pretty classic pyrrhic victory, and part of the reason it's not continuously brought up like some of the other things Zuko did is because Zuko never gets to realize the benefits of it.

Even when he's being pampered back in the palace, even while his father is praising him, even while he's standing in front of a cheering crowd, it's pretty clear that he's not happy, that his victory in Ba Sing Se is based on a lie and something he knows he should not have done.

Ba Sing Se marks a turning point in Zuko's narrative that pretty clearly primes him for redemption, not just because he flirted with switching sides but failed, but because from the moment he chooses the wrong side, he knows, and everyone in the audience knows, that he chose wrong.

That's why it's not continually brought up or reminded to us that Zuko did a bad thing. Because he's already paid the price for it.

I've also talked a lot about how Zuko is manipulated by Azula, which doesn't negate the harm he does by choosing her side, but it does mitigate the gaang's understanding of why he did what he did and their ability to forgive him. Particularly with Katara, who is the person who does continually confront Zuko with what he did in Ba Sing Se. She gets the last word the first time Zuko tries to join the gaang and is rejected, and then specifically brings up Ba Sing Se to the others, and they agree with her, all except Toph.

Katara brings it up again twice after he's accepted into the gaang. But the reason she brings it up is not because Zuko needs to like, do reparations or something, or be continually punished for something that he felt bad about the instant he did it. It's because she can't trust him again after having her trust betrayed before.

Which is why the focus is more on Zuko earning back Katara's trust, and Katara coming to understand that Zuko has genuinely changed.

Katara also comes to understand that Zuko was manipulated and that if he didn't side with Azula in Ba Sing Se, he would have been brought back as her prisoner. This is important for Katara as it relates to her arc with Azula and how that relates to her arc with Zuko. I'll never get over talking about how these three characters are intertwined. Katara goes from having to fight Zuko and Azula together in Ba Sing Se, after feeling betrayed by Zuko and not understanding why he sided with her, to protecting Zuko from Azula when she comes back for him at the Western Air Temple, and finally joining him against Azula, warning Zuko when she realizes Azula is trying to manipulate him again, and finally saving him from her.

Same with Zuko's arc with Iroh and how his betrayal at Ba Sing Se is about accepting Iroh's forgiveness, not about the specific actions he did. It's about Zuko needing to accept that he could be forgiven for his choices just as much as it is about atoning for them, so continually bringing it up as a mark against him would be pointless.

As far as him atoning for the specific actions, I think saving the world should be enough.

There's also the (neglected) parallel of Zuko and King Kuei as leaders that is established in "The Earth King" episode, with Zuko dreaming of being on the throne while being manipulated by a dragon with Azula's voice and not being able to make a decision, while King Kuei's inaction leads to the fall of his city and Azula using the Dai Li to take control. Zuko becoming the leader of his nation and ambassador of peace to the nation he helped to conquer definitely has a symmetry to it, and I think both of them work together and learn from each other post-series.

I've said this repeatedly, but what a character did in the past matters less than whether they've stopped doing bad things and are not motivated to continue doing those things. Once Zuko has proven himself as on the side of good, and once the characters who were personally wronged have already forgiven him, why would it need to be continually brought up?

As Toph points out, there's a difference between holding someone accountable and letting hurt feelings get in the way of making progress towards a greater good.

[theduckeminence]

Earth King Kuei but he becomes scarier. Still friendly and polite but in a way that’s unsettling and cold. Has compassion and quite rational really, and often acts as goofy and oblivious to cover the fact that he may be a lot more calculating, perspective, and most of all — lethal.

And what makes it harder to uncover such darker parts of the Earth King is the fact that you can never tell the difference whether his polite, goofy nature is genuine or not.

Sometimes it is, but other times it could all just be a trap to lure you right into the maw of it.

I also feel like he deserves a hidden knife somewhere in his robes too-

[fantasticpirateninja]

Everybody be asking questions like "how do I find fulfillment in life?" and "what is the purpose of life?"

But nobody be asking the real questions like what in the actual fuck is the political system in Omashu? Like....isn't it referred to as a city? Why is there a king of a city? Wasn't there already an Earth King in Ba Sing Se? Did Bumi just decide he was gonna be king one day and everyone in Omashu just rolled with it? Somebody help

[aero-sense]

The EK military feels so disconnected and unsociable towards their own people, despite coming from relatively warm and unorthodox communities (ie. Haru's village, Omashu) so I had an little theory that Ba Sing Se is a cause for this, and that they've been instilling their values ie. nationalism, xenophobia, classism and authoritarianism by spreading their influence throughout the EK military and governments.

There's no denying the sort of influence BSS has over other city-states and villages. The mail is under military control and was shown being taken advantage of, as important letters to the Gaang were intercepted by Long Feng. We also see in the show a map of Ba Sing Se's military forces sent to every major fortress in the EK.

These fortresses also double as training camps, and it's established by the games that it's common to send EK children to these camps once they're old enough. The only training camp we see in show is the fortress under General Fong's command and we all know how he is:

In the games, the Consul's background is unknown but his character was written like a precursor to Long Feng, with similarities such as "maintaining" EK traditions as an excuse for discrimination, manipulating the king as an advisor, secretly controlling the guards of the city, and ultimately selling their kingdom out over their obsession for power. My first impression of the Consul was that he was an envoy sent from Ba Sing Se, as a method to control other governments, and he's just a particular case that went off the rails. While General Fong and the Consul have unknown origins and are unconfirmed to be associated with Ba Sing Se, their values and actions align with Long Feng's policies.

Because of the way the EK governments and military are set up during the war, the result is EK children being indoctrinated by Ba Sing Se's styled nationalism, xenophobia, classism, etc, and them returning to their hometowns only to become detached and persecuting towards the people they were supposed to protect.

[wilcze-kudly]

Thinking about the dumb little kinda AU where Su's kids (including Kuvira) meet prince Wu as kids. And they all go on a big adventure in Ba Sing Se. They're all sheltered little rich kids, except for Kuvira, who immediately becomes the leader of the pack. Little Wu getting his first friends and first taste of freedom! They raid a Zoo and free all the Badgermoles!

Meanwhile Su is being a distraught mother and the court are losing their minds over losing the crown prince.

At some point Opal just bites the Earth Queen. She latches onto her hand with her teeth and won't let go. This is more feral Opal propaganda.

[waterfire1848]

Avatar AU - During the final battle at Ba Sing Se, Toph and Sokka decide to take Mai and Ty Lee hostage. (A reformed villain story where Mai and Ty Lee join the Gaang before Zuko and Azula)

[twilight-skies]

Okay so we agree making Toph a cop in her future was a bad decision.

But then, many ask, what should she do instead?

………………………Well.

It would only make sense if the rulership of Omashu was elected/otherwise non-inherited.

And that place already has a background of batshit kings who couldn’t really give a fuck about the law if it’s in their way.

IN THIS ESSAY I WILL-

[aboutiroh]

Inconsistent i capitalization gang!

Whether you write I or i, it’s always clear you’re talking about the pronoun, so I think we should be free to choose for a while, and then, when everyone’s ready to accept that I is unnecessary, we can all start using i.

[paishodragon]

Has it ever been mentioned, either canonically or fandom consensus, how old the Earth King is?

[retropakko]

These two movies are equally artistically bankrupt, but one got a pass due to 25 year gap nostalgia

Just saying...

[kj-ursa]

building your FBI fortress underneath the place mentioned in your sleeper agent trigger phrase is beyond a rookie mistake tbqh.

whoever approved that construction project and/or the trigger phrase gotta be a fire nation double agent.

[odomarius]