Avatar: The Last Airbender/WMG/Fire Nation Characters

The real reason Zhao let himself die
Two theories, actually.
 * He knew that Zuko would have gotten pulled in with him, and he wanted Zuko to get pulled in with him at first. He reconsidered at the last minute because he wanted to do at least one good deed before he died.
 * He was so ashamed of his defeat, it made him suicidal.
 * I'd like to think it's the first idea.
 * I wouldn't.
 * Alternately, we could take what we know of Zhao (prideful, rage-filled, petty, vengeful, and merciless) and conclude that he refused to take Zuko's hand for the simple reason that he could not fathom why Zuko would save him for any reason other than to prolong his suffering. However terrible drowning might be, he assumed what Zuko had in store for him would be worse.
 * Forget Zuko, think about what the Fire Lord or AZULA would do to him!
 * I always thought Zhoa didn't take Zuko's hand because he knew his fate was sealed and trying to fight it was pointless.

Zuko already knew that he was the descendant of Avatar Roku.
And he hates to be reminded of this fact since he grew up learning that the Avatar was his nation's greatest threat. If you watch the scene in which this is revealed to the audience, when Iroh tells Zuko this, he dose not seem surprised in the least, just really, really pissed off. I don't know about any of you, but if I saw a certain figure as the enemy of the nation I would someday rule, searched for and chased him all over the world for about three years only to encounter failure after failure at the hands of him and his friends, and had a more-of-less antagonistic relationship with him on a personal level, I would be shocked to discover that this person is essentially my own ancestor.

It is entirely possible that Ursa or Iroh could have told Zuko this in his childhood. When Ursa left, she told Zuko to never forget who he was. By this, she may have meant the descendant of an Avatar.
 * He doesn't seem surprised in the least? What show were you watching?
 * I kinda agree. He seemed more angry about being reminded of his ancestry than he was surprised. But maybe it was just the animation.

Zuko blamed Iroh for his banishment.
This is the main reason for Zuko's harsh treatment of his uncle who is nothing but kind and supportive of him. Zuko blamed Iroh because it was he who ultimately allowed Zuko into the war-room in the first place. Zuko appears to convince himself of a lot of things, such as his father allowing him home and everything going back to the way they were before, and even has a dream in which having his honor back somehow gets rid of his scar.

It's not to far out there to think that Zuko would cling to Iroh's role in the incident and ignore his own wrongdoings, to relieve himself of that responsibility and deny the reality that what happened to him was his own fault.
 * I think Iroh blames himself more for Zuko's banishment then Zuko blames him.

Ursa, Azula and Zuko's mother, is in the Spirit Realm
Ozai says he 'banished' her. Considering the only trace we have of her is Azula's 'hallucination' in front of a mirror, and that Zuko while searching for the Avatar apparently never heard any mention of her, it would seem that she's probably not in the physical world. Being related to a former Avatar, she may have known about the spirit world and some way to access it.
 * It is a big world he certainly isnt going to hear about many women named Ursa and she wouldn't be stupid, she would change her name and appearance.
 * Except that Zuko was traveling all around the world asking about the Avatar, clearly making no effort to hide his identity, and undoubtedly the story of his "dishonor" and his search would have spread to the Earth Kingdom colonies, and from there to the Earth Kingdom citizens, and eventually Ursa would have found out and tried to seek him out. And really, following the trail of a scar faced Fire Nation prince? Not that hard.

Ursa is imprisoned in Sozin's comet
As stated above, Zuko never heard even a rumor of her in all his travels, and the Gaangs travels, over nearly every known patch and corner of the world map, some places twice, others discovered by them. If Aang can preserve himself in a ball of ice, Ursa may well be exerting all her possible bending ability in surviving in outer space. As to how Ozai got her up there, well, war advances technology like nothing else.
 * Their tech isn't that advanced.
 * And a wise warlord should have their enemies presume exactly that.
 * Powerful firebenders can propel themselves even when there is no comet. Maybe a firebender is powerful enough to actually fly to the tip of the atmosphere (it doesn't seem like the comet was in outer space) and plant her there.
 * Where else would a Comet be? Also, this was its first return since Sozin's time.

Azula's hallucination of her mother was no hallucination at all.
There may have been a legitimate reason that Azula's confrontation with her mother was not directly anchored to her line of sight. When confronting Ursa, Azula violently turns away from the mirror when Ursa mentions Mai and Ty Lee, but Ursa's reflection still remains in the mirror, and continues to do so until Azula destroys the piece her mother's reflection appears in. If what Azula saw was real, this has two major ramifications for the series: Azula's sanity was shattered completely not by a mere hallucination, but by her inability to comprehend that the real Ursa loved her despite Azula's sociopathic behavior, and was telling her so to her face. This goes a long way toward explaining why Zuko seemed so happy at the tail end of the series: In addition to Ursa's current location, Ozai may have known that Ursa invited herself to Azula's coronation.

Chit Sang is Combustion Man's Brother
They used to work together until Chit Sang got caught. How else do you explain the both being so freaking huge.
 * By the fact that, oh I don't know, they work out?
 * Working out doesn't make you seven feet tall.
 * For added craziness, Chit Sang and/or Combustion Man are descendants of Avatar Kyoshi, who was also like seven feet tall.
 * Chit Sang and Combustion Man are both Fire Nation. Kyoshi was born in the Earth Kingdom. It's not impossible though.

Iroh is Zuko's real father.
Ozai named his daughter, not his first-born son, after his father. In "The Avatar State," Iroh ominously tells Zuko, "In our family, things are not always what they seem," and in "Siege of the North," "I think of you as my own."
 * Alternate Theory: Fire Lord Azulon named Zuko Iroh's heir. This is what he meant when he said Ozai "must know the pain of losing a first-born son by sacrificing your own." This would have put Zuko next in line for the throne and motivate Ozai to silence the Fire Lord before it could become common knowledge (see the theory about him and Azula lying to Ursa to get her to kill Azulon). Azula delibrately "left out" Zuko's heir status when relating the story in order to frighten Zuko (and later, Ursa.)
 * Alternate alternate theory: Iroh is Zuko's father, and Ozai didn't know until recently. When Ozai found out, he was so upset that he became evil enough to engineer the exits of Iroh, Zuko and Ursa.
 * Way alternate theory: Zuko was named after Ursa's father as is customary in the Fire Nation. Note that Iroh (first-born) was not only not named after his father (Azulon) or his grandfather (Sozin) but their names are phonetically dissimilar. Ozai (second-born) is much closer phonetically. This might be because the Fire Nation is matriarchal in their naming practices.
 * This theory has some interesting implications for Aang's Fire Nation friend Kuzon...
 * Worth noting: Iroh is somewhat similar to Ilah, his mother's name. Piece that into the theory however you will.
 * Alternating alternate explanation: Zuko is Iroh's father. Just look how childish Iroh acts at times (so-called "wisdom") in comparison to the relatively level headed Zuko. Zuko simply imagines Iroh as a father figure in order to escape his dark past and align his own moral compass. Additionally, Iroh's bald/balding head further presses home the image of a young, naive boy (see Aang) tagging along with his stern, emotional father.
 * ...There's one crucial flaw in that theory.
 * In support of this idea, it could be that "Iroh" is in fact the royal family's last name, and "Uncle" is Iroh's first name. Zuko, being Iroh's father, is used to calling his son by his first name, even if it happens to be the quirky name "Uncle." Other people, however, find it a little awkward addressing him that way, so they call him by his last name instead. (Everyone else in the royal family goes by a title or by their first name, so there's no confusion when a single member of the family is frequently addressed by the last name.)

Azula wants Zuko in the worst way.
It's practically Word of God: the creators included a slide in their panel at Comic Con 2006 Shipping Azula with Zuko's Secret Identity, the Blue Spirit -- Getting Crap Past the Radar. It's already been established that Azula's evil, sick, and crazy; nothing, no matter how sick and wrong, would be out of the question for this character. But she's also no fool, certainly not Genre Blind enough to keep her rival alive and mess with his head when she could just kill him... unless she has some ulterior motive. She becomes the proverbial Temptress when she lures Zuko back to her side in "Crossroads of Destiny." Face it -- Azula gets off on being deceptive and manipulative in general, and Zuko's an easy target. She's throughly enjoying his budding romance with Mai, which she instigated, as if using Mai as her proxy. She calls him by a loathed, embarrassing nickname. And then there's that scene in her bedroom... This sort of thing isn't exactly unusual among royalty. Also, considering Zuko is the only person besides her who could assume the throne, it makes sense that she would see it as an opportunity to guarantee her ascension to power. That doesn't make it any less gross though...
 * Evidence in the finale: she, like half of the fandom, thought that Katara had replaced Mai in Zuko's affections - they arrived together and fought together. Now that even her proxy relationship through Mai has failed, she takes it out by aiming at Katara - she wins whomever she hits. However, Katara then defeats her and runs to Zuko's side. Azula has not stopped them, and hence her final collapse. (She never saw the Kataang potential, after all.)
 * Alternatively, Azula is a Psycho Lesbian. Mai and Ty Lee are both in abusive relationship with her and cope with the trauma through their respective personalities. And let's not even consider what this could mean for Suki, Azula's "favorite prisoner."
 * That might also explain why Ty Lee ran away to join the circus. And why Azula's reaction was to endanger said circus goers until Ty Lee returned.
 * Alternatively, Azula is just a Psycho-uberdom who wants everyone in the worst way, so long as she's on top.
 * There's a trope for that.
 * Alternatively, Azula seduced Zuko just to control him. Actually, seeing the Comic Con and the infamous bed scene, the creators would probably have implied that if the show was for an older audience. But Azula would probably never sleep with Zuko, rather teasing him and never offering herself, just to drive him mad of desire.

Zuko betrayed Azula first.
At least that's how Azula feels about it. After Zuko joined Azula and helped in the fight against the Avatar, as far as she was concerned, they had declared a truce. There wasn't any conflict between them anymore. And they were fairly friendly with one another after that.

And then Zuko lied to her. He told her that the Avatar was certainly dead when he knew there was a chance he could have been saved. That's not a small thing; she had already reported the Avatar's death. So it was her ass on the line. All Zuko had to do was tell the truth; let her know about the Spirit Water. And then the two of them could have come up with a plan to resolve the whole thing.

But no. He lied to her. He betrayed her. And, because she's not stupid, she saw through his lie. So she gave him his just rewards.
 * I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. Furthermore, I think Zuko joining the Avatar was devastating to her, and that's when she started to slip into insanity. Hint: watch the boiling rock episode. Notice how Azula is already making some fairly psychotic faces. Furthermore, she doesn't talk to him at all, except to evilly say "Goodbye Zuko" and leave him to die. Normally, they have at least some spicy dialogue. Add to that the fact that I detect a hint of anger at betrayal when she says goodbye to him. I think it's evident he meant quite a bit to her, and his leaving her was the start of her fall...

Ozai did love Zuko deep down
Much like the relationship between Tidus and Jecht, he didn't know how to show it.
 * Or he had a twisted way of showing it due to his psychotic nature, and believed that he was motivating his son by acting aloof and abusing him.

Similar to the theory above...
Ozai exiled Ursa because he didn't want her to get executed.

Zuko was exiled for a completely different reason.
Ozai's whole bit about the 'cowardice' was just a cover up: the real reason he forced his son to leave is that Zuko is gay. Most of the people on his ship are male, he seems suspiciously over zealous in his attempts to catch Aang, and the date with Jin was extremely awkward. (The Maikout doesn't count, because there are No Bisexuals.)
 * No, Mai is a man, and only Ty Lee, Azula and Zuko know.
 * And her parents forced her to pretend to be a girl, because girls are more socially favoured in the Fire Nation, which would also explain Ozai favouring Azula over Zuko.
 * Alternately, Mai is The Beard, and she may or may not be well aware of this and totally okay with it.
 * Or, Zuko is gay and Mai is female, but it's a case of If It's You, It's Okay.

Jeong Jeong is the guy who Zuko spoke out against.
They look alike, except for the scar on Jeong Jeong which could have been sustained after Zuko's fateful duel with his father. Given the change in lifestyle, it could account for the minor differences in appearance. When Jeong Jeong meets up with the group, it could cause Zuko to lose it for a few minutes and revelation for the Gaang about his past and see how it has affected members of the Fire Nation.
 * Give credence by the fact that this could very well be why Jeong Jeong is a deserter. He refused to follow a man who would attack his own son. Also explains why he ONLY faced his father, never the person he spoke out against.
 * Except that Zuko meets Jeong Jeong in 'The Old Masters', and they exchange respectful bows with no hint of animosity. Of course it's possible they met and reconciled any differences sometime during Zuko's exile before the start of the series.

The true reason for Combustion Man's fall? Brain damage.
For goodness sake, his only real weakness is a head injury. And besides, shooting lasers out of one's head can't be too good for the brain cells. Hence, by the time he caught up with the gang one last time, he was too stupid to realize the hit had been called off or that firing immedietly after getting hit in the head by a boomerang was a bad idea.
 * This also explans why he nevers talks. The damage had destoried his ability to speak, and possibly even understand what others were saying seeing as how he didn't stop attacking when Zuko ordered him to.
 * That's a bit...dark for a kid's show, even this one.

Ursa is not Azula's mother
If Zuko's constant internal conflict is because of Avatar Roku being his maternal great-grandfather, then it only makes sense that Azula's utter lack of morality and internal conflict means she has a different mother.
 * Take a look at Iroh. Despite lacking the Avatar bloodline, he turned out to be quite a decent fella. Certainly nothing like his brother or niece. So it was perfectly possible for Azula to become an evil bastard despite being related to Roku.
 * This troper was always under the Impression that Azula did have the conflict, somewhere, but turned the conflict inwards and repressed it, feeding her insanity by mommy issues.
 * Let's take it a step further: Azula is really the daughter of The Joker and Harley Quinn, who was kidnapped from BTAS and universe-hopped into ATLA. It would explain her maniacal tendencies, her social awkwardness, her evil laugh, her slow descent into madness, her Xanatos Gambit, just about everything. BTAS-Joker has black hair, Harley has golden eyes, they're both psychotic. I rest my case.
 * But... The Joker has green hair and Harley's eyes are green/blue, depending on the canon. Um, no.
 * But if green hair is genetic at all, then it's a recessive trait, so Azula wouldn't have inherited it. Also, shouldn't you be poking holes in the logical ramifications of Batman characters with universe-hopping powers, rather than the questionable genetics?
 * This troper figures that Azula is Ursa's daughter... with Iroh. Take That to the "good people have good children" theory!
 * This troper likes the idea that Azula is Ursa's kid with Iroh, but rather thinks it fits rather nicely with the "good people have good children" theory, as good people don't cheat on their husbands/brothers.
 * I think the poor guys deserve a break - it would take a veritable saint to not cheat on a horrible, most likely abusive husband and terrible father.
 * This was the plot of a fanfic long ago.
 * Or Ozai did have an affair that resulted in Azula which caused Ursa to seek comfort from Iroh which in turn resulted in her pregnancy with Zuko.
 * This troper thought that Zuko was older than Azula by at least three years, though... Unless Ozai's affair ended in a miscarriage, but Ursa found out (or something like that).
 * He is only one year older.
 * It could be that Ozai had an ongoing affair that eventually resulted in Azula - Ursa found out about it years before Azula was born, but didn't have enough sociopolitical power in her own right to have any real recourse besides the aforementioned seeking comfort from Iroh.
 * Azula was a result of an affair between Ozai and another woman. This is why she favoured Zuko, and caused her originally loving relationship between Ozai and her to become meaningless and loveless.

Combustion Man is Zhao's brother
This would explain why he refused to stop attacking the Gaang - he was never in it for the money, rather revenge on the people he believes to be responsible for his brother's death.
 * Alternatively, he IS Zhao, with l33t firebending powers caused by his return from the brink of death because the Ocean spirit spat him out again.
 * Alternately, Combustion Man is future Aang. You can tell that they're the same person because they're both bald.
 * Sokka winds up killing Aang? That's actually pretty compelling. Also, this gives us the interesting idea that Aang effectively prevents another Avatar from being born, since Future Aang comes to the present and dies while Present Aang is still alive. That'd be a cool consequence.
 * Alternatively, he refused to stop attacking the Gaang because he was pissed they found out his weakness (or discovered a weakness he didn't know about), and either wanted to silence them or just wanted to kill them for revenge.

There's another secret society besides the White Lotus.
And they were behind combustion man. The symbol on his forehead looked suspiciously formal; it may be the focus for his weird powers, but if so, there must be some tradition that taught it to him. And he didn't seem the type of man to live a luxurious or sociable lifestyle, so why does he need the lucrative income of assassination work, if not to help finance something big? That's also why he doesn't speak; he can't! As the relatively public face of a secret organisation, some mojo that prevents him talking too much makes sense. And the possibilities for a secret war between them and the White Lotus makes for tempting imagery.
 * While I'm not disagreeing with the wild mass guess itself, I do take issue at one point; Combustion Man obviously isn't an assassin because he needs/wants the money, but because he likes it.
 * If there's a group, they probably spread across the world and Combustion Man was the only one who stayed behind in the Fire Nation, or else we definitely would have seen them during Sozin's Comet. They were probably using their tremendous skills to conquer parts of the world during the comet; they're just doing this in places very distant from the Fire Nation, so Zuko & pals don't find out about this until shortly after the series is over.

Mai is a smoker.
Her voice is so scratchy, and it wouldn't exactly be an unlikely thing for her to do.

Azula is a shipper.
Of course, her favorite ships (Zuko/Mai, Sokka/Suki) are the ones that she can manipulate. Also, she shot Aang in the Crossroads Of Destiny because she was angry about the apparent Ship Sinking of Aang/Katara.

Azula isn't actually a prodigy.
She just pushes herself harder than anyone else in order to look like she does everything effortlessly. When she is shown practicing early on, she performs the whole routine flawlessly, except for one strand of hair out of place. She insists on doing it again.

When giving Long Feng a Reason You Suck Speech, she mocks him for being born with nothing and clawing his way up the heap and claims that The divine right to rule is something one is born with, even though her own father actually usurped the throne, and her brother would have been in line for it before her. Azula likes the idea of being inherently superior to other people, so she works extra hard to make herself appear that way.

She's so dedicated to the idea of appearing to be perfect that when the Dai Li abduct her at a late hour, she's even wearing her makeup (which she would have had to reapply after removing the Kyoshi Warrior face paint) when they take her to Long Feng in prison. It makes me laugh to think of Azula making herself up and then pretending to sleep so that she has a flawless face when the Dai Li "kidnap" her.

All prodigies also work incredibly hard. Mozart for example put in just about the exact same amount of hours of practice and training as an adult master musician/composer, he just started earlier and packed it all in before he was 13. The myth of the natural genius who excels on whim without trying is just that, a myth.

Iroh has a grandson/daughter
To be honest, Lu Ten was the son of soon-to-be Firelord, he would have had to have a wife or fiancee... and judging by his picture in Tales of Ba Sing Se, and how.. old Iroh is, he was maybe, what, twenty? twenty-five, maybe? It's not impossible. And what happened to Iroh's wife?
 * This troper has a slight idea; Lu Ten's death was mourned by Iroh very deeply. However, in the real world, a person who has lost a spouse and a child even at different times mourns both. Now, the reason Lu Ten is even mentioned is because of Zuko. Iroh would probably mention a wife had he met a significant other, but still why would he never mention a deceased wife along with a deceased son? Chances are, Iroh's wife probably left when Lu Ten was a kid, leaving Iroh to raise Lu Ten all by himself. This could also explain the close relationship between Lu Ten and Iroh.
 * Or Iroh's marriage could have been an arranged marriage like Word of God says Ozai and Ursa's was, and they had Lu Ten early in the marriage and she died soon after, before Iroh really had a chance to get to know her... Also, Iroh mentions Lu Ten with a certain amount of infrequency. It makes sense he wouldn't mention his other losses frequently either.

Ty Lee had access to proto-spirit bending.
She was able to take away people's bending (albeit temporarily). Aang's version is pretty much what she did on steroids. Alternatively, what she does is like the technological equivalent (so, you can create massive fans to blow away someone, or set something on fire).
 * Nah, she just did the same thing physically what Aang did spiritually. Her way was like pulling the plug out of a computer, while his was like formatting its hard drive. Or something.
 * In order to use bending, you have to be able to move. Even Bumi, the champion of bending minimalism, at least needs to move his face. So if you get punched in a pressure point that physically paralyzes you, you temporarily lose your bending ability for reasons entirely unrelated to spiritbending.
 * But Ty Lee was able to block Katara's bending without incapacitating her ability to move. It's probably her hitting some pressure points that block chi. Kind of like Neji in Naruto.
 * Every other time Ty Lee hits someone, they fall over paralyzed or their limb turns completely limp. I think that one time with Katara was a fluke, especially since it was the first time.

Fire Lord Zuko is still on the Marriage Market.
Yes, we know whatever deal concerning the bethroal of Prince Zuko and his sister's Lady in Waiting was almost certainly reenstated upon his return from exile his mission. Problem is that said engagement would have been certainly made void when said prince comitted blatant High Treason and ran away to help overthrow Ozai. Now in all the reconstruction/Truth&Reconciliation-Commission/Loyalist-hunting/rewriting-law-codes and all, getting a new engagement/marriage contract written up and announced may be low on both Zuko's and Mai's priority list at first. Taking that as given how many provincial grandees operating under partial information, or even people around court thinking "he cannot be attached to that dour stick," will start throwing buxom doe-eyed daughters of their houses at him at the first opportunity?
 * The real question is if Mai twists Zuko's arm to make things official after the few women tried to corner the guy or watch him run away from debutants for entertainment.
 * Its instructive to note that unlike Ty Lee, Mai's social status is actually quite high -- her father is a provincial governor. So she'd be on the marriage market right alongside the rest of them anyway, and since that she obviously already has the favor of (as well as the virginity of) the Fire Lord, it would take a seriously over-optimistic challenger to think they actually had a chance.
 * Wait, where was it said/implied that Mai/Zuko lost their virginity? To each other?
 * Trying to read Mai is like trying to read a stone wall most of the time and Zuko hardly seems the suave, experienced type.
 * Think it through from the POV of someone outside of Court. Mai was Azula's lady in waiting (the whole Boiling Rock thing was kept rather quiet), her family was in close with Ozai's expansionist party (the "province" they held was the one Bumi retook, and it was the first one they had), and once they come to the capital Mai could be seen at first glace as more of a bodyguard as anything (it is not like he would not need a few, or that she would not be more capable than most). The more superficial will also hold the whole scrawny and hatchet-faced thing against her, expecting the young monarch to toss her aside for a better model even if he is opportunistic enough to bed her.
 * Really kinda irrelevant... people from outside of Court circles aren't getting anywhere near this marriage market. Also, Zuko & Mai's relationship is the worst-kept secret in town -- its not like every servant in the palace doesn't know that he's regularly been visiting her quarters and vice versa. Good Lord, her last scene in the finale was her helping Zuko dress. They act like they're already married. And finally... 'scrawny' and 'hatchet-faced'? Um, no. Just no.
 * There is going to be an unavoidable bit of shuffing between who is In Good With The Throne (and spending most of their free time at the Palace) and who is Not So Much (staying out of sight at the country estates if they know what is good for them). The observent will pick things up quickly if not blinded by hope/avarice/lust, however there will the unobservant and the ones leaping at the chance of a royal grandkid. As to the last point, compare this to the one on the right ^_-
 * This troper sees an outgoingly beautiful girl in a picture specifically selected to show her at her best (you picked one with Bishie Sparkle for heaven's sake!) and a girl who is also attractive in a more unique, proud, hard to define way. Katara and Ty Lee are cute; Azula is a Fetish Fuel Station Attendant; but Mai looks like a queen. And definitely not scrawny. She's not large breasted, but neither is Katara, and I wouldn't call Mai flat chested.
 * Wait, where did this idea that Ty Lee has a low social status come from? Azula flat out states that Ty Lee's the daughter of a nobleman, and Ty Lee was clearly high-ranking enough to go to school with Azula and Mai, and to become part of Azula's small personal entourage of friends. (not that this has anything to do with Mai, Zuko, and whether or not Zuko's still technically available)
 * As an aside, once it becomes undeniable who the Fire Lord favors expect nasty rumors about him and/or her to circulate. He was on that boat with nothing but men for much of his adolescence after all...
 * So was the Dragon of the West, and nobody's going to say that about him. * g*
 * He has not robbed anyone of a consortship....
 * Most of the points above are moot if someone gets the idea of sealing one of the upcoming treaties with a state wedding to the Fire Lord, problem is that just about such match would be a loveless sham even under the best situations. Zuko is not likely to touch the new consort more than needed to get the heir&spare out (if there is a means of artificial insemenation he may not even do that much), and Mai is almost certain end up with a position (and quarters) in or near the Palace as a fig leaf to avoid embarassing everyone with official concubinage. Zuko is a decent enough sort to make things as tolerable as possible (up to and including actively covering for her own lovers), but life as a Queen under such circumstances would have to blow chunks.
 * Before anyone asks Katara is certain to not be on the list. She would pitch a fit, the Avatar may express reluctance, Zuko would be even more loathe to subject two of his best friends to this than he would a hopefully unattached stranger, and it is doubtful that Hakoda would be willing to strongarm her into such a match (assuming he could) even if he were not on good terms with the new Fire Lord despite all the SWT had suffered. The most likely choice would be a Earth Kingdom noblewoman, preferably one with a claim to the oldest Fire Nation Colonies.
 * Do keep in mind though, that despite what Zuko has always called her, Katara is not a "water peasant". Her father Hakoda is chief of the Southern Water Tribe. While the tribe is ostensibly patriarchal, that still leaves her as one day being the sister of the Southern Water Chief (which could probably giver her some serious pull), with extremely strong ties to the powerful Northern Water Tribe, the Avatar, the Kyoshi warriors...basically every hero/warrior/scientist/ruler on the planet, the freaking MOON, and all the sane, decent, peace-loving citizens of the Fire Nation and the other nations of the world who were sucked into a century-long war that Katara helped to end. She is also a supremely powerful bender, and a marriage between a Firebender and a Waterbender would be massively symbolic of the reunification of the world. Less significantly, the two of them are clearly in lurve.
 * The last bit is actually extremely significant, as they are both in love with third parties and even if Mai can be shoved aside in the interest of State one Simply Does Not oblige the Avatar to break up with his squeeze. The fact that they are all but adoptive siblings at this point would make this both harder to force then to swallow and less needed on the whole political tie bit.
 * I very much doubt that anyone has the balls to try and tell Zuko who to marry considering that he and his friends have just beaten down the previous rulers, and his friends and allies are among the most powerful people in the world one way or another, and his existing love interest is no pushover either.
 * Screw that; I doubt anyone has the balls to stand up to a woman who, without any bending whatsoever, stood up to Princess Azula and dared to defy her. Zuko, even shared rulership of the Fire Nation, isn't worth pissing a woman like that off for.
 * Though I'd be willing to bet there was at least one young hopeful who arrived into the capital to try anyway and woke up the next morning with throwing knives lovingly braided into her hair.

Iroh is constantly high on weed.
Think about it. How can one person be so chill all the time?
 * He doesn't care about anything since his son has died.
 * Weed tea?
 * Note: Weed tea does, in fact, exist. No seriously.
 * So does pot soda
 * What?! No!!
 * Well, he's never short of a lighter... (makes one wonder what other substances people abuse in Avatar-land)
 * Cactus Juice, for sure.

Ty Lee and Azula are a couple.
...this one is practically canon.
 * The last time they were seen together, Ty Lee had physically disabled Azula because she was about to murder her (other) best friend. Azula then vindictively had them both tossed in jail and showed no remorse over it whatsoever. If there ever was a chance of this, it's long since over.
 * Nobody claimed they were a healthy couple....
 * I think Ty Lee and pretty much everyone is a couple.
 * That's not true! She only had a crush on Sokka! Well...and Aang, and the King, and everyone at the beach, and the Kyoshi warriors, and Mai. Then she flirted with a bear. You' know what? You're probably right on this.

Iroh has a stomach prproblem that require him to drink a lot a specific sort of tea, or his insides will melt. Or something less drastic, but still fatal.
However, since it tastes awful, he has to mix it with other teas, and if he can find tea weed (an easier-to-steep version of a plant that exists in our world, which he usually keeps on his person if an above guess which I'm completely in support of and thought of already as a half-joke years ago is correct) or the incredibly rare white dragon plant (which perfectly cancels out the taste of the tea he drinks for his stomach, and makes it taste wonderful... or does it cause an allergic reaction which could easily kill any human in only a few minutes? no harm in a quick taste test in case it's not the poisonous white jade bush...), he uses it just to get out of having to taste that disgusting stuff, since it can ruin even the best tea with its obtrusive flavor and "mlacky" texture. Thus, he became even more of a connoisseur of teas than he was in his youth (unless he had the problem his whole life), to the point where he would bend fire in the middle of an unoccupied Earth Kingdom city just to heat up a cheap cup of all-day-brew tea.
 * It'd probably make sense, as some herbs that are supposed to help to soothe gastritis make rather bitter teas.

Zuko's cockblocking in S3 is caused by his being away from Mai
If he's not gettin nookie, then no one else is either!
 * I'm sorry, what's WILD about this?

Zuko is the reincarnation of Sozin.
After re-watching the series, I couldn't help but notice how much the world has it out for Zuko. Perhaps Zuko was being punished for his actions in a previous life? What if Sozin was not in fact a Karma Houdini? What if his actions were so evil that Sozin had to receive his "karmic backlash" in the next life? This would explain all the unpleasantness Zuko had to put up with and it would also make his eventual friendship with the Avatar that much more touching. Where once Sozin and the Avatar began the war as enemies, they end the war as friends.

Iroh was adopted
That would certainly explain why he doesn't look like anybody else in his family, or why his temperament seems to be so wildly different.
 * Or maybe he got traits from his mother, who wasn't mentioned on-screen.

Tom-Tom isn't Mai's brother
There is a thirteen year age gap between Mai and Tom-Tom, in a world without fertility treatments. Zuko and Mai have been sweet on each other since childhood and when their relationship picks up in season 3 it is very physical. Tom-Tom is two in 'Return to Omashu' and two episodes earlier Zuko mentioned it had been three years since he was banished. Mai and Zuko were between Aang and Katara's ages (both of whom are shown with sexual feelings and desires) when Zuko was banished and had been messing around with each other. Mai's parents are horrified by their daughter being knocked up with the bastard child of the exiled (underage) prince and claim the baby to protect their own social position, never allowing Mai to interact with her son. This leads to Mai repressing even more and being apathetic towards Tom-Tom.
 * That is a very fine specimen of a Poison Oak Epileptic Tree. Now, we shall never speak of this again.
 * Then you'll appreciate this more Truth in Television interpretation: Mai and Tom-Tom are half-siblings, because Mai's father is very likely to take a second wife that could produce a male heir especially in this traditional Chinese-inspired environment. Mai's mother becomes The Unperson while Mai gets a break as merely The Unfavourite.

Connected to the above, Mai has almost complete faith in Azula's Magnificent Bastard skills during the Tom-Tom for King Bumi exchange.
Its not Mai that is heartless or merciless, she is capable of loving Zuko and makes the effort to only pin Firenation prison guards instead of simply killing them where they stood, so its possible she actually does value her little brother at least a little.
 * Having grown up with Azula, Mai probably knows (or even was rehearsed beforehand) Azula's ploys to pull when the opportunity to turn a simple hostage exchange into a rescue and capture mission and her role in it.
 * Given that she likely has schooling similar to a Fire Nation Princess it seems very probably that the offer to exchange Tom-Tom for King Bumi was far too ridiculous (by cut-throat Fire Nation Politics standards to be believed), and the best bet for a happy outcome was NOT to follow whatever trap the kidnappers were trying to lure them into by Take a Third Option.

Iroh's trip to the spirit world was a failed suicide attempt
As the bridge between worlds or whatever it makes sense that Aang can aome and go from the spirit world as he pleases. Iroh, Badass that he is, does not have that luxury. Furthermore, it is established that he did so shortly after his son died.
 * Maybe Iroh decided to Take a Third Option and enter the Spirit World to give his last goodbyes to his deceased son, as it is hinted that mortals may go to the spirit world when they die. That or Iroh thought he could convince a Spirit entity to bring forth his son's spirit so he could have a final talk with him..

Zuko's ponytail/shaved head combo is a mark of disgrace.
Before his banishment and after he returns to the Fire Nation, he has a full head of hair in addition to his ponytail. In his flashback in "The Western Air Temple," we see that his head is shaved just a week after he is banished, and he keeps it that way until he and Iroh defect from the Fire Nation.
 * Makes sense. Shaving part or all of the hair is usually done for humiliation. Would also explain why Zuko kept it up for three years (he still felt guilty and wanted to reclaim his honor).
 * Notice that Sokka, a member of one of the Water tribes, has a ponytail/shaved head combo. This hairstyle is probably associated with the Water people. For someone of the Fire Nation, who believe themselves to be superior to the Water people, this may be why it is so humiliating for them.

Combustion Man is mute.
He never speaks, and Zuko chooses him as an assassin partially because "he's good at keeping secrets. Who would be better at keeping secrets than someone who can't speak?
 * Combustion Man grunts a couple of times, so I'm pretty sure this is Jossed.
 * Um, what? Mute just means he can't talk, not that he can't make noise. If his muteness was caused by a psychological issue or by trauma to the mouth (for instance, a severely damaged or missing tongue), his vocal chords could well be functional enough to produce unintelligible sounds.

Azula is paranoid schizophrenic.
The combined trauma of her mother's (implied) death and the betrayal of her friends has left her destitute and with paranoid delusions, manifested in the banishment of the Dai Li and all of her servants.
 * ...How is this WMG? Isn't this blatantly obvious in the last couple episodes?
 * It's only blatantly obvious that she has paranoid delusions and hallucinations. The schizophrenic part's up for debate. There are other kinds of psychosis. Also, as an organically caused disorder, in which the brain deteriorates, schizophrenia can't be triggered by life tragedies (though psychotic breaks associated with schizophrenia can be) and doesn't usually come on that fast.
 * She's probably not schizophrenic. Plenty of non-chemical causes can make one see hallucinations and become paranoid. Azula doesn't need to have a chemical problem to be unbalanced, she just needs to grow up in an abusive household like the Fire Lord's palace and have way too much forced on her at a young age. Remember, in the show she's about fourteen to fifteen years old (Zuko is sixteen, she's younger than he is). There is no possible way that conquering nations can be in any way conducive to her mental health, not to mention living with Fire Lord Ozai.

Zuko's mom actually did die in childbirth.
That is, Ursa is actually his stepmom, but he doesn't know this for whatever reason. Ursa loved him as if he was her own son, but Ozai hates Zuko because it's Zuko's "fault" that his first wife died. This is also why Azula didn't have the good versus evil inner conflict that came from being descended from both Sozin and Roku, because she isn't descended from Roku.
 * The possibility is there, however, it does not explain Azula's lack of conflict. Given as Zuko, at least, believed that Ursa was his true mother, he still would have looked up his great grandfather on her side-which is Avatar Roku. If Urza is only Azula's mother, and not Zuko's, this means that Azula is the only one descended from avatar Roku.

Ursa had problems in childbirth with Zuko.
He says he luckly to be born. In a world of simple medicine childbirth would be difficult for those who had a problem in birth.
 * This could be why she favours him - after he only just survived childbirth, she feels overprotective of her son. This resulted in Azula being shut out and spending more time with her psycho-daddy than her mother...

Going to Ember Island was a double date
Or it turned into one. Mai with Zuko and Ty Lee with Azula.

Iroh and Ozai are only a few years apart in age.
Even though Iroh looks like he's seriously about thirty years older than his brother, they're both old. Ozai just uses Sexyfine to retain his youth and good looks.
 * Alternatively, fighting in so many wars and battles to be promoted to General has aged Iroh considerably.

Ursa was in...
The Water Nation, it is the only place the Fire Nation doesn't have colonies, going to the Earth Nation would basically be suicide what with all the Fire Nation colonies and the Northern tribe doesn't seem like it is attacked much. It also has powerful benders so it is one of the least likely to be conquered, the Fire Nation doesn't have that much surveillance near the poles, if any. This seems one of the most likely places she would be "Ursa: I was once a princess you know. Sokka: Sure you were, sure you were."
 * Makes sense as far as it goes, but even if she had an alias One would think that someone would mention the immigrant/refugee/defector that looked like someone from the Fire Nation upper classes would have at least been mentioned during a full-blown invasion of the NWT.
 * The SWT had broken up into villages by this point, so she may have lived incognito at one.
 * 1) The Air Temples: The Air Temples are hardly ever raided, but she probably does not know how to live alone (and by alone I mean make her own clothes, food, etc.) However since no one knew the Mechanist was working with the Fire Nation, she may have thought it was safe to live there.
 * Might work, but the only occupied one is even smaller than the NWT and run by someone living in real fear of the Fire Nation. Still, it would have been amusing if Aang, Sokka, and Katara found her living as a hermit in the SAT in episode 1.03.


 * 1) The Spirit World very unlikely, but the Fire Nation can't conquer it.
 * 2) The Fire Nation and Earth Kingdoms are the least likely places she would hide, with the presence of the Fire Nation Armies.
 * Actually, these seem the most likely.
 * The Earth Kingdom is huge and has a lot of refugees moving from place to place. Using her own indentity is a good way to get lynched unless she went the high-end defector route (in which case she would have been in a position to track down Iroh and Zuko). However if she has to explain her eyes a story about being some half-breed would suffice, and she may even get away with admitting that she fled the Fire Nation ahead of a noose after killing an important man to save her son.
 * As for the Fire Nation, there is the Siberian Option. Imprisonment at the Boiling Rock or anywhere near the Capital is too high profile; but there are any number of cells, fortresses, remote islands, and even manors suitable for those of noble rank where someone officially nameless can be stored away.
 * The Si Wong Desert would be an excellent place to hide as only a couple of Sandtribes and traders live there. She could be with the Fung, the member of the White Lotus group or with the Sandbenders.

The most likely place Ursa was in is: The Water Nation, maybe she knew a certain moon or maybe she knew a certain last Southern waterbender and that guy.
 * My rebuttal is noted above.

Combustion Man was an Airbender
We never actually saw him bend fire. My theory is what he was doing was hyper-compressing air, possibly taking in pure oxygen or other flammable gas which exploded on impact. He didn't realize he was an airbender because he was an orphan and airbenders that survived the massacre kept a low profile. If this is true, it was a sad day when the only other airbender died because of a misunderstanding of the source of his powers.
 * Yes. It was truly tragic when the hitman targetting children who were the world's best hope, and continuing to target them after his employer offered to pay him twice as much to stop, died. If only they had known he was an airbender.
 * I'm sorry. What I meant was how tragic that the last vestiges of the airbenders (besides Aang) survived in a sociopathic hitman who didn't understand his powers and was unknowingly working for the murderous regime responsible for the genocide of his people and culture. Considering how Ax Crazy he was near the end, I doubt he would have cared. Again, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to sound like a Draco in Leather Pants fangirl. Which actually made me develop another theory...

Combustion Man is descended from a group of traitorous Airbenders
More specifically, airbenders who rejected the pacifist and spiritual ideals of their culture. They desired a more militaristic path for their people and either left the temples or were banished. Like the Dai Li after them, they allied with the Fire Nation and give them crucial information about airbending society in exchange for placing them as leaders of airbending society. While working for the Fire Nation, they developed aggressive, lethal techniques that normal airbenders would never touch (which includes the Made of Explodium technique of Combustion Man). When the massacres were carried out, the Fire Nation turned on the traitors and exterminated them too. Their children and grandchildren were raised believing themselves to be Firebenders and were taught the "combustion attack". This worked because their airbending philosophy was as ruthless as the current Fire Nation firebending philosophy. Over time, the fact that they were airbenders was forgotten and instead they were viewed as "special firebenders." In the future, Aang will discover the truth about these "special firebenders" and be faced with the reality that even his own people were not exempt from corruption and tyranny.

Combustion Man is the spirit of the sun
I only noticed this while rewatching book 2: the fire nation royal guard has a third eye on their helmets. And the boiling rock guards as well. It seems that the third eye is an elite status (royal guard, guard of the most famous prison in the world). The combustion Man seems to be unique, yet he has the same symbol that the elite guards do and even has associated powers. Now what would be the highest ceremonial symbol a firebender could get? A dragon would seem obvious at first, but those were already used for a special, now unobtainable rank. The next logical thing would be the sun itself, which fits with the power of combustion man: He projects small suns. Zuko is the only one who knows of him because his uncle met the sun spirit on his travels through the spirit world.
 * That would make some degree of sense if it weren't for one thing: remember when the moon spirit was taken out of the pond, and waterbenders immediately lost their power? Even if you prefer to assume Combustion Man was merely incapacitated, his being the sun spirit at that time would still cause firebenders to lose their power, which they quite clearly didn't (Zuko's Heel Face Turn issues notwithstanding).
 * What about this: The third eye symbol is a symbol in the Avatar-verse that represents the sun. this could be why several people of elite status have that symbol. Instead of CM being a/the sun spirit, he was raised in a temple (or something), and so got a tattoo of the sun symbol signifying his elite status. (Did that make any sense...?)
 * So Combustion Man is a Warrior Monk, and while most bending is powered by faith and controlled by mindset, he has attained the ability to use one of the few truly Holy Hand Grenades? Cool. And the moon spirit was in a different situation, person two levels above, so the original theory could still hold. It was half of its component self and lived in a mystical spring, but the sun spirit could not Walk The Earth if it was unable to move beyond a small physical pattern of space.

Aang's old friend Kuzon was Roku's son/Ursa's father.
There's no real evidence to the contrary, and we all know the creators have an intimate relationship with the Rule Of Irony (which isn't a trope, but should be).

Ozai was The Unfavorite because...

 * Iroh was Azulon's only son for a long time before Ozai came along, giving them many years to form a close bond. (Iroh definitely looks at least twenty years older. This may also explain his significantly superior fathering skills.)
 * Ozai's mother died giving birth to him. (Yes, the idea was sparked by one of the Fanfic Recs, but it sure seems to fit nicely here.)
 * Ozai was a Creepy Child. We've seen itty-bitty Azula, and most of her personality clearly comes from daddy. (And depending on what the heck Ursa's deal was, there could be some interesting parallels to explore.)
 * Ozai was an illegitimate son whom Azulon felt no affection or connection for. He was just something that happened. In this case, the Firelord's wife Ilah would be Iroh's mother but not Ozai's.
 * Alternatively, Ilah was unfaithful and Ozai is hers, but not Azulon's. Hence the lack of paternal affection. To take it a step further, he may even resent Ozai for being the product of his wife's affair. Either way, though, it was all kept under wraps from the country, and only Azulon and Ilah knew that Ozai wasn't legitimate. (Otherwise there would have been a huge scandal, which would most likely result in a) Ozai not being accepted as Fire Lord due to not being of royal blood and b) Ilah being banished or worse, in which case she probably wouldn't have been mentioned at Azulon's funeral.)

Zuko was the The Unfavorite because...

 * Ozai decided to project his daddy issues and brother issues on his own kids. He treated his first born Zuko harshly because Iroh was Azulon's favorite. He downright prized Azula because he wanted the second born to come out on top.
 * Zuko looked just like Iroh did as a child, and Ozai resented that.

Read at your own risk!
Zucest is canon. However, it ain't pretty. Zuko was a victim of sexual abuse by his sister Azula, and her Villainous Breakdown is the result of an accidental pregnancy.

Jeong Jeong and Piandao Served Under Iroh In The War
They are 3 great Fire Nation officers who all left the military and became members of The Order of the White Lotus. Iroh was the crowned prince so the other two knew of him and he had great respect prior to leaving the Siege at Ba Sing Se. When Ozai usurped Iroh's rightful place as heir, they left in protest.

Mai was born a boy.
There's a vocal minority of the fanbase that gripe about Mai's supposed 'man-face.' But what if Mai really does have the good old XY chromosomes and all that comes with them, i.e. she's a transgirl. Her family grudgingly acquiesced to her desire to live her life as a girl, but ever after they were restrictive and emotionally closed-off. When she started hitting puberty and remained steadfastly a girl, they gave up hope of a 'respectable' male heir and had Tom-Tom. The reason she was told always to remain a silent wallflower was a misguided attempt to protect their family's reputation, and to protect her. Her mother was especially concerned that she not 'speak unless spoken to' for fear that a cracking voice might give her away. Ty Lee is aware of the situation because she has no sense of personal boundaries - Ty Lee being Ty Lee, she's perfectly happy to accept whatever, making her one of Mai's closest confidantes from a very young age. Zuko, judging by the, uh, fruit tarts evident in Book Three, is also aware... but given his liaisons with Jet and his bromance with the Avatar, he doesn't really see a reason to complain about his girlfriend being flat-chested and curveless and having a penis. As for an heir... well, they're royalty. What the public doesn't know about the il/legitimacy of Zuko's children won't hurt them.
 * Never mind that you can clearly see her curves in The Beach...

Zuko and Mai are an official couple due to Azula.
Zutarians are probably going to disagree with me when I say this, but what the Hell: based simply on their psychological state Zuko and Mai are only compatible to each other. Why? Well, this is where Azula comes in: Azula had psychological control over quite a few characters, but the people who took the greatest impact from it were Zuko and Mai (due to their home lives sucking royally and their proximity to her). Those who have read the Fridge Brilliance page under literature may remember reading about a tropers revelation that Miss Havisham psychologically messed up both Pip and Estella to the point that the main thing that keeps them together is their mutual understanding of their past. Now imagine Miss Havisham in Azula's body, Estella in Mai's and Pip in Zuko's. This turns every romantic encounter with each other into a massive tearjerker for those who believe this guess. However, this means almost certainly that their relationship didn't end, if that's any consolation.

Zuko is blind in his burned eye.
More because I don't think there's anything to contradict it. A lot of people have pointed out how to have a burn that bad on his left eye, it would likely have rendered him blind. Well why not? Maybe his father even did it deliberately. 'If thine right eye offend me' and all that, (I know they don't have the bible in Avatar world but I'm sure the sentiment exists in some way)

Most of the world thinks Zuko is a Magnificent Bastard
From the outside, it looks like Zuko, after having found the Avatar and helped his sister take over Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom and finding out that the Avatar he thought he killed was alive, jumped ship before his daddy could find out and punish him for the deception, and then joined up with the Avatar because he figured it was a better bet. And he was right. He became Firelord a few months later, didn't he the slimy usurping bastard.
 * Technically he didn't usurp the throne, he restored the succession, since Ozai already usurped it (Iroh would have been the legitimate successor) and Iroh sort of adopts Zuko (and to make this legal is just a formality).
 * Zuko was already the legitimate heir. Iroh's only son, Lu Ten, died childless. So, even if Iroh had taken the throne, his successor would then be either his brother, Ozai, or his nephew, Zuko, depending on timeline. After neutralizing Ozai the usurper, Iroh abdicated his claim to the throne, and so next in line for the throne is Zuko.
 * First his father banishes him. Then he scours the globe for the one person powerful enough to stop his father. He finds the Avatar and just a few months later they overthrow his father together and Zuko ends up on the throne. Clearly he's been planning his rise to power since he was 13. He even got his father to finance the search for his own doom! The boy is a master tactician I tell you, watch out.

If given the time, Zuko would have bonded with Hakoda.
Zuko is in desperate need of a father figure that doesn't want to burn half his face. During the time he would have been with Hakoda, Iroh wasn't there. As such, Zuko would have sought comfort with the only adult man there. Hakoda would have sensed Zuko needed a father and have excepted him, because he's a nice guy.
 * Given the contrasts between their two families, sons and fathers, it would have been appropriate and nice to see some interaction between the two.
 * "Zuko would have sought comfort" Annnnnnnd my inner shipper immediately latched onto that.

Zuko is a ninja.
Hell, between the Blue Spirit and "The Southern Raiders", this is pretty much cannon.

All Fire Nation heirs are trained in the ancient art of Cock Blocking.

 * Azula: Cock Blocks Zuko and Mai.
 * Zuko: Cock Blocks
 * And we all know Zuko's The Unfavourite because
 * Who do Ozai and Iroh Cock Block?

Sozin was Yandere for Roku
He didn't just kill off the Air Nomads because they'd produce the next Avatar and because a bunch of people who can manipulate oxygen could, in theory, be a real impediment to efforts to take over the world by setting things on fire. He was also jealous of Roku's (real or imagined) fling with Gyatso during his airbending training.
 * Except when Roku returned after this training there wasn't a trace of jealousy about their travels, there's no evidence that Sozin ever knew of Gyatso's particular existence, their falling-out was completely initiated by Roku's refusal to accept Sozin's world domination plans, and Sozin abandoned Roku to die in favor of his vision.

Jeong Jeong is fully aware that his Firebending is corrupted, he just refuses to learn the true Firebending.
He's part of the Order of the White Lotus, and they have to know what happened to Firebending and the location of the Sun Warriors. And Jeong Jeong clearly hates his bending, even wishing he could be a waterbender. So why not go the Dragons and learn from them? Because Jeong feels he is unworthy to even step foot in their city, and this is his self-imposed punishment for helping the Fire Nation war effort. This is also part of the reason he didn't want to teach Aang: why teach The Chosen One something you know is bad?
 * The dragons are a secret. Iroh swore to them that he wouldn't tell anyone. Jeong Jeong doesn't know about them.

Iroh x June will become a canon couple.
Because weirder couples have happened.

Ozai was a coffee addict.
It would explain his contempt and rivalry with tea-loving Iroh. In my mind, at least.

Kuzon was descended from Sun Warriors.
Well... Doesn't anyone else think he kinda looks like one of them? My guess is that as a baby, he found himself in the care of a modern middle-class Fire Nation family who decided to raise him as their own.

Mai could make a fortune playing Poker
So could have pre-break down Azula.

== Part of the reason Azula lost her Agni Kai against Zuko during the finale and ended up chained was because like Zuko before her, she felt that she "Won", and thus paradoxically, lost her focus, which led to her defeat despite being such an Unbeatable Opponent before. == Evidenced by what happened to Zuko's firebending when he joined the Avatar. For so long, capturing the Avatar was driving his driving ambition and once he didn't need to catch the Avatar any more, he lost much of his Firebending.
 * Azula's goal (possibly since Childhood) was likely the Top Spot in the Fire Nation. Once she had that....
 * The fact that "minor" irritants were dealt harshly was probably her way of lashing out at the emptiness of her life.
 * Not even her brother charging in dramatically to challenge her was enough, after all, it was just Zuzu and some water peasant.
 * Azula might not have noticed her Fire Bending diminished because of Sozin's Comet enhancing what little was left, and thus, her anticipated "easy" fight ended anti-climatically in her capture. Had she known what she was in for, she would probably have retreated, took the time needed to regain her focus, and crush all who stood against her once and for all!