Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s mythos is as complex as it can get, thanks to its fantasy theme. The world of the animated television series involves four nations, each with their own unique bending abilities: the Fire Nation, Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, and Air Nomads.
Based on Aang, the last surviving Avatar capable of saving the Avatar world with his powers of bending all four elements, the story also focuses on Zuko. The exiled prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko shares a great bond with Aang. But surprisingly, as the mythos goes, the two characters are not just friends but actually great-grandfather and great-grandson.
Avatar Aang Might Be Zuko’s Great-Grandfather
Set in an Asiatic setting involving several fictional elements, Avatar: The Last Airbender also involves elements like spirits and forms of spiritual magic. Even Aang becoming an Avatar and the savior of the world has more to do with spirits than lineage.
By the end of the Nickelodeon series, Aang and Zuko become great friends and allies. Yet, their relationship might have evolved centuries before they assumed their present situation. In the episode The Avatar and the Fire Lord of season 3, it is made known that the future Fire Nation lord is the great-grandson of Avatar Roku, and the son of Roku’s granddaughter, Ursa.
He is also the great-grandson of Firelord Sozin, aka the one who is responsible for the death of Avatar Roku. After Sozin conspires to have Roku killed, the Avatar spirit within him passes on to Aang, who is just a newborn then. And so, that makes Aang Zuko’s great-grandfather. Since Aang ends up being frozen for over 100 years, this explains why he is almost the same age as the exiled Fire Nation Prince.
Avatar Aang is Not Genetically Related to Zuko
In the Avatar: The Last Airbender world, all the Avatars are spiritually related and different reincarnations of Wan. While Roku was Aang’s past life, the two are totally different people with different personalities and varied experiences.
Once an Avatar passes, the spirit moves on to the next body, essentially starting a whole new life with a whole new life. So, spiritually speaking, Aang is Zuko’s great-grandfather. Yet the two are not genetically related as per the above-mentioned facts.
Not sharing blood, the two are only spiritually related, making them sort of a pseudo-family. This revelation helps Zuko and Aang to bond anew, making their relationship even stronger and more significant. And since Firelord Sozin was the one who betrayed Roku, their renewed friendship is even more special, signifying the correction of past shortcomings.
Avatar: The Last Airbender can be streamed on Netflix.
