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Problems with "The Search" Comic
The Implausible Secrecy of Ursa's Backstory
I found this little gem from the commentary of the Search Comic (Part One). (Long rant ahead!)
Mike - We added this detail of Ozai forbidding Ursa from speaking of her old life again as a way to explain why Ursa's hometown and relation to Avatar Roku was not common knowledge. (In "The Avatar and the Fire Lord," Iroh tells Zuko that Avatar Roku was his great-grandfather on his mother's side.) It also parallels the present story in a cool way: When Ursa married Ozai, she had to forget her past. Later, she makes a similar choice.
Essentially, the scene of Ozai telling Ursa to bid her parents farewell mainly/somewhat serves to narratively establish that "Ursa's hometown and relation to Avatar Roku was not common knowledge" despite her marrying into royalty.
This comic suggests that the general population of the Fire Nation never knew Ursa's backstory even though she and Ozai were together for 10+ years. And somehow, no new information about her came out during her time in the Capital. Even if the royal family bothered to concoct a backstory for her, anyone could have realised it didn't add up and/or gotten information from at least one of the 100+ royal servants. Heck, her parents attended the wedding and sat a few feet away from her, surely they would have interacted with someone (I mean how else does Iroh have Roku's headpiece).
Then there's "the fire nation town of Hira'a", described as a "small town - on the outskirts of the Fire Nation." The townsfolk know her, aren't supposed to talk about her, but can't help but speculate. Apparently, the town’s (official yet laughable) story is that "she was - taken to - Capital City on some sort of official business" accompanied by "rumours" of her "supposedly" marrying into the royal family. And "rumours" of her returning to town, and entering Forgetful Valley.
I can't believe I haven't seen any posts addressing how absurd and farfetched this is. This isn't even mentioning how the Search retconned Ursa's noble upbringing, which is evident on her Avatar Lore page (I could make another post for that).
Here are some more photos and info:
"No one's seen or heard from Ursa since she was taken to - Capital City!" said almost two years after Zuko's coronation.
Gee, no wonder Azula was tempted to burn the place down. Somehow a Fire Nation town (seemingly) doesn't know that Ursa married Ozai. Though I’m certain that wasn’t what the writers intended, and am certain that Azula mostly acts out-of-character throughout the comics (I could make another post for that).
Please note that in the Avatar Lore Pages, "royalty" is (seemingly) sometimes used synonymously with "nobility" (see Mai and Onji).
Mai didn't break up with Zuko because their personality differences and their different wants and needs drove them apart. She didn't break up with him because she was so heartbroken by his visit with Ozai that she couldn't stand to be with him anymore. She broke up with him because Gene Yang wrote her out the story. She only appears twice in the entire trilogy, Zuko doesn't seem to remember she exists unless she's in the room, and Yang doesn't even let us hear her reasoning for the break up from her perspective. Yang admitted to being a Zutara shipper, and the only reason he didn't break up Kataang is because he wasn't allowed to. The writing did both of Zuko and Mai a huge disservice.
Maybe it's just me, but I really feel like Mai should have heard Zuko out in this scene:
Like I get being mad at him for not confiding in her about what was going on with him, but going as far as to break up with him over it? The Mai from the show would have at least asked him why he was going to visit Ozai in secret and listened to his reasons. Maybe even give him some advice of her own on the matter. Not...whatever the fuck this is.
And it's even more stupid when you have this scene from part 1 of The Promise:
Yang made Mai go from caring about Zuko's well-being (not to say that she still doesn't care, she quite obviously does since she doesn't want Zuko visiting Ozai, which comes from a place of love and care because she knows that Ozai can hurt him) to breaking up with him because he didn't tell her that he was going to see his father for advice on how to be the Firelord. I swear this man really loved including pointless drama into these comics.
Side note, I remember hearing that Yang is apparently a Zutara shipper. Is that true? Because if it is then it definitely explains how he wrote Mai and Maiko.
Gene Yang treated Ursa in The Search the same way House of the Dragon treated Alicent in Season 2. Once you see the similarities, it's easier to see the problem.