Surrender of Omashu

:This article is about the conquering of Omashu by the Fire Nation. For other similar uses, see Omashu (disambiguation).
The Surrender of Omashu, also known as the Battle of Omashu, was an event in which Fire Nation armies invaded the city of Omashu, the Earth Kingdom's second greatest stronghold. It ended in a decisive victory for the Fire Nation, as King Bumi surrendered the minute Omashu was attacked. This loss was a huge blow to the Earth Kingdom, leaving Ba Sing Se as the last great stronghold standing. Despite the Fire Nation victory, however, a group of Omashu citizens formed a resistance group, led by Captain Yung.
The surrender resulted in Mai's father Ukano being appointed governor of the newly conquered city. A few weeks later, Princess Azula came seeking her old friend, Mai, to help her capture her brother and uncle. She renamed the city of Omashu "New Ozai" in honor of her father. Avatar Aang and his friends also returned to begin Aang's training with Bumi.
The Avatar and his friends successfully freed the citizens of Omashu during their arrival. They were not successful, however, in gaining Aang an earthbending teacher, and they were forced to flee the city without Bumi.
== Prelude ==
After one hundred years of war, the Fire Nation was able to successfully conquer many Earth Kingdom cities and provinces. Eventually, only Ba Sing Se and Omashu remained as the last great Earth Kingdom strongholds. Omashu was protected by the large gorge around it, which no enemies could cross. Under the rule of King Bumi, Omashu was transformed from a powerful yet isolated stronghold into the main supplier of Earth Kingdom resistance groups. However, the city was unable to provide enough weapons and other resources to truly hinder the Fire Nation advances across the continent. The Fire Nation also conquered much of the surrounding territories, meaning that it became increasingly difficult for Omashu to supply its allies.Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Core Book, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 62.
After ascending the throne, Fire Lord Ozai made the conquest of Omashu one of his main priorities. One Fire Army general, Onomu, openly criticized this decision. She viewed Omashu as no longer significant to the wider war effort, believing that the massive resources needed for its capture were better used elsewhere. However, Ozai did not take criticsm lightly, and Onomu ultimately defected to the Earth Kingdom in order to avoid execution.Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Wan Shi Tong's Adventure Guide, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 124. Therefore, the Fire Nation military followed Ozai's orders and began to plan Omashu's takeover. By winter 99 AG, Fire Nation forces were engaged in an offensive to capture the remaining Earth Kingdom-held areas on the way to Omashu, besieging and capturing the important fortress town of Shen Guan.
Eventually, the Fire Nation reached Omashu's outskirts and developed long, metal, extending bridges in order to cross the gorge and bring their army into the city.
== Surrender ==
Sometime between the winter and spring seasons of 100 AG, Fire Nation forces began to besiege Omashu. They launched a bombardement of the city, and began to extend their metal bridges to invade. According to Captain Yung, the soldiers of Omashu were ready to fight for Omashu's freedom. However, when Yung asked Bumi what they should do, Bumi looked him in the eyes and said, "I'm going to do ... nothing!"
With that, Bumi surrendered Omashu to the Fire Nation, preventing any fatal casualties, and agreed to be taken prisoner. The Fire Nation forces soon occupied the city and claimed it in the name of Fire Lord Ozai, with Mai's father Ukano appointed as governor. Most of Omashu's soldiers were also imprisoned, but several escaped. Led by Yung, the military remnants and several civilians formed a resistance group.
== Aftermath ==
=== Immediate ===
Despite the victory, the rebellions formed in the city still posed a threat to the Fire Nation. Regardless, the city was in firm control and fighting back seemed to be a lost cause. Things changed, however, with the arrival of Team Avatar, who was searching for Bumi. At the same time, Princess Azula arrived to enlist the help of her friend, Mai. While in Omashu, the Avatar and his friends devised a plan to free the citizens of Omashu by pretending that they were all plagued with a contagious and deadly sickness. Governor Ukano fell for the scheme and allowed the citizens to leave. His two-year-old son, Tom-Tom, however, ended up following the citizens out of Omashu.
Thinking the resistance kidnapped his son, the governor offered King Bumi for the return of his son. After hearing of this, Azula angrily deemed Ukano a poor ruler and decided that Mai would carry out the hostage exchange with the help of her and Ty Lee. Azula promptly renamed Omashu "New Ozai" in honor of her father and left. Team Avatar met Azula and her friends on top of the city's construction site to exchange hostages. Azula, however, brought up the fact that it would be foolish to trade a powerful earthbending king for a boy. Mai agreed and announced that the deal was off. As Aang took off after Bumi, his scarf accidentally fell off from his head, thus revealing his identity to Azula.
A fight ensued. After Aang managed to brake the chain from Bumi's metal coffin, the two slid down the mail chute, with Azula in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Katara battled Ty Lee and Mai while Sokka brought Tom-Tom to safety. Ty Lee soon blocked Katara's chi, preventing her from bending. Right when Mai was about to attack Katara, however, Sokka threw his boomerang at her, knocking the dagger out of her hand. Appa soon blew her and Ty Lee off the building. Katara and Sokka attempted to rescue Aang and Bumi. Azula, however, thwarted the two by shooting blue flames in between them. Bumi used his head to create a large boulder, destroying the cart Azula used to pursue them.
Now brought to safety, Aang questioned Bumi on why he surrendered. Bumi told him that he was waiting for the right moment to strike back, which was why he could not leave. He told Aang that he needed to find an earthbending teacher who waited and listened before striking, and that it could not be him. He bid Aang farewell and left. After the engagement, Azula, while leaving Omashu with her friends, decided that she was going to add the Avatar to her list of targets. Meanwhile, Aang returned Tom-Tom back to Ukano and his wife.
=== Later ===
In the time after the evacuation of Yung's rebels and Team Avatar's escape, Azula tried to suppress any remaining opposition in Omashu. Besides strengthening the garrison with Royal Procession troops, her draconian policies actually infuriated the local population so much that unrest erupted that escalated in an armed rebellion. Just like Yung's insurgency, this rebel movement also failed.
Aang, heeding Bumi's advice, eventually decided to have Toph Beifong, a blind earthbending master, become his earthbending teacher, thus adding a new member to Team Avatar. After the engagement with Azula and her team, the Avatar and his friends earned a long term, deadly set of enemies, causing them major problems on their journey. Omashu would not see freedom again until the Day of Black Sun, which occurred many months later. During that day, Bumi single-handedly liberated all of Omashu, taking advantage of the Fire Nation soldiers' loss of firebending.
== Appearances ==
=== Avatar: The Last Airbender ===
==== Book Two: Earth (土) ====
== References ==
== See also ==
* Earthbender rebellions
* Omashu
es:Conquista de Omashu
fr:Capitulation d'Omashu
nl:Beleg van Omashu
pl:Kapitulacja Omashu
ru:Оккупация Омашу
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Category:Battles in the Earth Kingdom
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Category:Hundred Year War