Urzai

Pairing
Pairing:	Ursa/Ozai
Alternative name(s):	Ursa/Ozai, Ozai/Ursa
Gender category:	het
Fandom:	Avatar: The Last Airbender
Canonical?:	Yes
Prevalence:	moderate
Archives:
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Urzai is the pairing of Ursa and Ozai from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Canon

The original cartoon did not show much of their relationship. They were married, Ursa did not approve of Ozai's treatment of their children, particularly Zuko. After the death of Lu Ten and Ozai's play for the throne, Ursa agreed to assassinate Firelord Azulon in return for Ozai sparing Zuko's life, and after the task was done, Ursa disappeared. Ozai went on to rule as Firelord alone.

The comics (particularly The Search) elaborated on the backstory of their relationship. Ursa, the granddaughter of Avatar Roku, grew up a commoner in the small village of Hira'a. Firelord Azulon discovered her family and forced her to marry his son Ozai to fullfil a prophecy about joining the lines of Sozin and Roku. Ursa was already engaged to her true love Ikem, but felt she had no choice but to agree to the Firelord's command. Their marriage was unhappy. Ozai forced Ursa to fully cut ties with her old life, including having a servant steal any letters Ursa tried to send home. When news of Lu Ten's death lead to Ozai's challenge for the place of heir, Ursa herself proposed the plan to assassinate Azulon and spare Zuko's life. After this, she fled the capital, went back to Hira'a, change her face and memories, and lived with Ikem (who had also adopted a new identity). Zuko, Azula, and Team Avatar eventually found her and brought her back to the capital, but she never reconciled with Ozai and remained married to Ikem.

Fandom

In fanfiction, the pairing is somewhat popular (nearly 400 works on AO3 as of June 2022), but is most frequently seen as a background pairing in stories that focus on Zuko or Azula.

For stories and fanworks that focus on the pairing, opinions are divided. The story presented in the The Search and other comics spinoffs is broadly unpopular in the fandom, so many fans come up with their own interpretations of the Ursa/Ozai relationship, including re-working Ursa's backstory and how she related to her children. The fandom is basically unanimous in agreeing that "Ozai is a terrible parent" (as the ao3 tag puts it) but there is significant variance in opinion whether Ursa was a bad parent, particularly whether she treated Azula unfairly or was doing the best she could. Some fans think Ozai was abusive towards Ursa, or that Ursa was abusive to Azula or both children, while other fans strongly reject one or both of these interpretations.

Many works focus on the problems of the relationship and its bad effects on their children, each other, and the fire nation. Some also imagine fix-it AUs where they actually love each other, or where Ursa or especially Ozai are better parents. Modern AUs typically depict them as separated if both are still alive.

Fan works

Fan art

• Ursa and Ozai, ^{Archived version} by biorn21, 2021
• Regal, ^{Archived version} by maripolifan, 2021

Fan fic

• First Born, ^{Archived version} by JiggleWigs, 2015-2020
• Broken Bird, ^{Archived version} by courierhawk
• The firelily burns. - Ursa and Ozai’s story rewrite., ^{Archived version} by moonwritingsunrise
• Caldera is Burning by ButterflyGirl006, 2022

Meta

• The Two Ursas, ^{Archived version} by loop777, 2014 -- meta essay about Ursa's differing presentation between the show and the comics (which also discusses the implications for her relationship with Ozai in both).
• Do you think perhaps if Ozai had not seen Ursa's letter where she implies Zuko was Ikem's son..., ^{Archived version} by royaltealovingkookiness, 2019 -- one fan's analysis of Ursa & Ozai's motivations in The Search, with a lot of discussion of that fan's dissatisfaction with the comic storyline and how they view it as separate from the show canon.
• What is your opinion on Ursa?, ^{Archived version} by royaltealovingkookiness, 2020 -- Although Ursa-focused, discusses both Ursa and Ozai's influence on their children.
• But doesn’t Ozai abuse his kids?, ^{Archived version}, by proxissima, 2022 -- about whether Ozai canonically abused Ursa and various fanon interpretations of their relationship.

Collections

• Urzai Week 2021 on Tumblr

Resources

• Ozai/Ursa works on AO3
• #urzai tag on tumblr

• Ursa page on the Avatar fandom wiki discusses the canon details of Ursa/Ozai as presented in the TV show, The Search, and other spinoff comics.