#with how eager Bryke and Co. are to make Ozai as twisted as they can

[seyaryminamoto]

Little Lu Ten really admired his uncle, itseems 😅 Is there a possibility that Ozai would have orchestrated Lu Ten's death? 😳

... I know that's a relatively popular theory in the fandom, but that's absolutely not the case in Gladiator and, I'd dare say, absolutely unlikely in canon too.

Not only do I enjoy writing a far more complex Ozai than canon's, not only do I very much want him to feel like Zuko's dark counterpart, the kind of person Zuko 100% could have become without the support of the people who guided him down a better path, but...

... did you ever watch LOK? Book 2, in particular?

There are a lot of things in Book 2 of LOK that made me realize I was on a ride I didn't really want to be on anymore, and I stuck it out basically because I was in the fandom, too active and in-too-deep to just stop watching. But I would say the first moment that made me go "... oh shit, this writing is really bad" would be when Unalaq's grand, contrived plan to frame Tonraq for having "unleashed spirits on the Northern Water Tribe with his irresponsible behavior," was revealed. Not only was Korra's behavior disturbing for me in that scene, the explanations were so ridiculous and embarrassing that I wanted to scream. Basically: Unalaq hired a bunch of criminals to cause trouble so that they'd get their asses kicked by Tonraq in a VERY specific spiritual location, all because he 100% knew that would result in a bunch of dark spirits attacking the Northern Water Tribe! And when that happened, he swept in as the hero to save the day through a bending technique that goes 100% against everything we knew about bending in ATLA, while Tonraq looked like the worst person ever, got banished, and Unalaq became heir to the throne!

... Wouldn't it have made perfect sense for Tonraq to ACTUALLY be a flawed hero? Wouldn't it have been a more INTERESTING story if Tonraq learned from his arrogance, while Unalaq, instead, grew INCREASINGLY arrogant? So, you know, parallel character development, in inverse directions? It would've been a far more interesting writing choice :'D even if the whole situation is as weird and wonky as it is, at least this actually means character growth could be had, right?

But no. We had the weirdest con in the history of the Water Tribe instead. How wasn't Unalaq suspicious from the start due to the CONVENIENCE of him revealing this power to purify spirits that nobody's ever heard of before? Why would the criminals take money from one prince to get killed/attacked by another?? Were they criminals, really, or were they the Northern Water Tribe's BDSM club who had the hots for Tonraq and wanted him to beat them up? So much about the "logic" of this scenario was so absolutely ridiculous... add to this that the seemingly random judge happens to know ALL about it, and he's ready to give Korra all the explanations that straightforwardly say "YES. YOUR UNCLE IS A BAD MAN. GO PUNCH HIM." Put it all together, and it's so contrived, so exaggerated, it steals all agency from characters, the plans don't even make sense: why wouldn't Unalaq just... have Tonraq killed? if he wanted the throne?? oldest tale in the book?? there's literally no character-driven reason that justifies him doing all the BS he did just to have Tonraq conveniently banished instead of killed. So, yeah, this whole thing is just one hell of A Writing Choice. :')

... And with all this being said, I suppose you may see where I'm going with this.

Ozai doesn't need to orchestrate the murder of his nephew from halfway across the world for Lu Ten to die. In fact, considering Ozai's track record, be it in Gladiator or in canon? I'd dare say that any attempts of his to get Lu Ten killed would backfire so badly that Azulon would've somehow ended up abdicating, and Iroh too, so that Lu Ten could be Fire Lord, if Ozai had been targeting his nephew deliberately. Yes, I'm making fun of him again, but... think about canon Ozai for a minute, if you may indulge me: he planned to ruin Zuko's life by sending him to hunt down the Avatar, and Zuko ended up not only finding the Avatar but taking Ozai's throne. You know. The throne Ozai connived and plotted to get all his life. And he held it for a grand total of 5 years before losing it to his 16yo son. Damn. A top-tier strategist, isn't he?

My point, boiled down to simplicity is... simplicity, in itself.

Lu Ten is in a war front. An active, violent one. He's in a fierce battle against the best earthbending forces of the Earth Kingdom, who are tasked with defending Ba Sing Se, a city that's supposed to be impenetrable.

These earthbenders do not need dirty money from a Fire Lord's son to decide to kill an enemy soldier. Unless we think that Lu Ten is lazy and cowardly, and that he would not get his hands dirty and would not be involved in the fighting, he would've been in constant danger while serving on the battlefield. The situation, once Ba Sing Se's Outer Wall broke, absolutely REQUIRES for the battle to grow fiercer, as the stakes have never been higher for the Earth Kingdom's defenses. So, with this scenario in mind? Even the most grotesque version of Ozai has no need to hire any murderers to kill Lu Ten. He's in enough danger as it is, and along with Lu Ten, hundreds of other Fire Nation soldiers are bound to have died. He just happened to be one of them.

Ah, and if the working theory is that Lu Ten died because of a firebender? There's no way the show wouldn't have brought this up. If he had been stabbed in the back with a Fire Nation sword/dagger/spear? Same thing. At no point is there any indication that Lu Ten died because he got attacked from behind by his fellow soldiers, it would have been too important an element in his death for the story to not bring it up.

Along with this, I'd wager that any version of Ozai who HAD hired someone to kill Lu Ten would not have been quite so chill, taking over the throne while Iroh just drinks tea and plays the fool. If Lu Ten died by foul play? Provable foul play? (Ozai would leave a pretty damn obvious trail if he was behind this, let's not give Loser Lord more credit than he's due, please) Iroh would not have been so stupid as to not realize it. And, upon going home? The first, most obvious potential culprit for Lu Ten's death is the guy who benefits from it all: Ozai. And I know, yes, Iroh got redeemed and realized violence was not the answer... but Iroh, too, talked about Ozai with a carelessness and a casual demeanor in canon that is completely incompatible with that of a father who at LEAST suspects his son may have been murdered by his piece of shit of a brother :'D

SO!

... in conclusion, no. Ozai didn't have Lu Ten killed. Categorically untrue in Gladiator, and in my opinion, laughable and unlikely in canon as well due to how contrived and unncessary it is, not to mention how badly this reflects on Iroh's inaction and passivity if his son was actually killed by his own brother (imagine being harsher towards your 14yo niece than towards your brother-who-killed-your-son, ffs...). Ozai's bad enough as he is: blaming him for every awful thing that happens in his family feels like an unnecessary way to make him the source of all evil when we all know, already, that he's very, very bad. People die on battlefields. It doesn't have to be because of mercenaries specifically hired to find one specific person amid hundreds or thousands of soldiers and making sure THAT ONE (1) DUDE dies.

I suspect you'll be quite surprised, once we get to the flashbacks that deal with the subject, to discover that Ozai was in fact interpreting Lu Ten as an ally to himself. He thought Lu Ten would wind up actively supporting Ozai's bid as Fire Lord :') he believed he could be helpful for his schemes. And when he dies? It's a blow to Ozai's plans, at first. He tries to work with it later... doesn't go super well, of course. You'll see when we get there :'D