This article is about the character in the film. For the character in the actual series, see Zhao.

"Do not worry about the moon's power, General Iroh. Because your brother, Fire Lord Ozai, and I have decided it is in our best interests to kill the Moon Spirit." — Zhao to Iroh in The Last Airbender.

Zhao
Biographical information
Nationality Fire Nation
Ethnicity Fire Nation
Age 48 (deceased)
Physical description
Gender Male
Hair color Brown
Personal information
Allies Ozai, Fire Navy
Enemies Zuko, Aang, Iroh
Weapon of choice Fire
Fighting style(s) Firebending
Chronological and political information
Position Commander
Played by Aasif Mandvi
Image gallery (28)

Zhao was a commander of the Fire Nation, and the right-hand-man of Fire Lord Ozai. His goal was to capture the Avatar before Prince Zuko. He led an attack on the Northern Water Tribe and attempted to kill the Moon Spirit, which had guided the waterbenders. The animated Zhao from the original series was decomposed into separate two characters: the main antagonist aspect (Admiral Zhao) was combined with film Ozai, while this film Zhao personifies the younger Zhao who served as a junior Lieutenant under General Shu (and then found the hidden library). The film Zhao retained some roles of the animated Zhao, in some cases, jointly shared with the film Ozai, particularly the plan to eliminate the Ocean and Moon Spirits in the Siege of the North.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Encounter with the Blue Spirit 1.2 Siege of the North 1.3 A death to be remembered 2 Personality 3 Film 4 Trivia 5 References 6 Comments

History Edit

Commander Zhao spotted Zuko on his ship out in the sea and offered him lunch on his own flagship. When Zuko and Iroh sat with Zhao on the main table, he made a toast that seemingly mocked Zuko in front of his soldiers in the mess hall. Zhao reminded them how Ozai banished his son Zuko and the prince cannot return until he finds the Avatar. Zuko confronted Zhao and told him once his father takes him back, Zhao will bow before him. Zuko then stormed off the mess hall and Iroh followed him.

Later, at the Fire Nation palace, Zhao met with Fire Lord Ozai and informed the good news regarding the recent raid of 'The Great Library', which most people believed did not exist. Scrolls were found in the library, which was being deciphered as it may contain information about the location of the Moon and Ocean spirits. This information can be used bring down the city of the Northern Water Tribe. Regarding the rumors of the Avatar's return, spies reported a boy claiming to be the Avatar. Zhao suggested they set a trap for the Avatar, using the Earth Kingdom people under their control and soldiers hidden in certain location. Fire Lord Ozai noted to Zhao that if Zuko captured the Avatar first, Zuko would effectively become Zhao's superior.

Encounter with the Blue Spirit Edit

When Aang went to Northern Air Temple to contact the Dragon Spirit, he was caught by Fire Nation soldiers that Zhao had hidden in the temple. Aang was hung with chains in a prayer room where he managed to meditate into Spirit World. Aang was then pulled from the Spirit World, being woken up by Zhao. Zhao introduced himself and revealed that he set the trap for Aang. Zhao assured Aang that he will not kill him as he will just be reborn again and the search will continue. Zhao noted that when Aang freed the towns, he only used airbending.

Later that night, Zhao was addressing his assembly of soldiers at the temple courtyard, when a blue-masked figure slipped pass his soldiers and freed Aang. Zhao was heading back to the prayer room when he discovered downed soldiers. The soldier who accompanied him quickly ran back to alert the others that Avatar has escaped and to close the inner gates. Aang entered the temple courtyard with the blue-masked figure, referred by the soldiers as the Blue Spirit. They were fought many Fire Nation soldiers. When Zhao ordered his soldiers not to kill the Avatar (as he will just be reborn again), the Blue Spirit quickly grabbed Aang and threateningly held his sword at Aang's throat. Zhao had no choice but to let them go. The soldiers remained at the courtyard while the Blue Spirit led Aang across the bridge. At the end of the bridge, Zhao's archer shot down the Blue Spirit with single arrow. The soldiers rushed across the bridge to capture but Aang used his airbending to pull in the fog and mask their getaway.

A few days later, Zhao arrived at the Fire Nation palace was summoned into the throne room. Ozai demanded to know how the Avatar escaped. Zhao blamed for Zuko for the incident, accusing him of being incompetent and a traitor, although Zhao had no proof. Skeptical, Ozai asked if Zhao thought Zuko was the person the soldiers were calling the Blue Spirit. After a long pause, Zhao gave an affirmative yes. However, Ozai instructed Zuko not to be harmed and left in his isolation. Despite of this, Zhao covertly had Zuko's ship booby-trapped. As for the Avatar, Zhao confirmed he was traveling north to master waterbending from the Northern Water Tribe, as he was believed to only have mastery of his birth element, air.

Siege of the North Edit

Weeks passed and Aang had arrived at the North with the others and had been training with the master. At Fire Nation palace, Ozai asked Zhao for any news of Zuko's whereabouts but Zhao had none to offer. Ozai noted that the Northern Water Tribe was given their strength by the Moon and Ocean Spirit. In order to defeat them, the spirits must not be involved. Zhao informed Ozai that the location of the spirits has been deciphered from the scrolls stolen from the Great Library. Ozai ordered Zhao to eliminate the spirits, take the city, and destroy the Avatar at the same time.

On the Fire Nation flagship that was leading the rest of fleet, Iroh met with Zhao on the upper deck. Zhao thanked him for accepting his invitation to join him on the historic event. Zhao acknowledged Iroh as a gifted military strategist, though noted his failure of at the 100-day siege of Ba Sing Se, where Iroh's son also died. Iroh thanked Zhao for expressing his condolence for Zuko's death in that terrible "accident". Later, Iron met Zhao in the flagship's war room and advised Zhao that waterbenders get their power from the Moon, so they will get stronger as the day get to the end. Zhao revealed that during the raid of The Great Library, they found a scroll that revealed location of the Moon and Ocean spirits. Iroh said he would be honored to meet them, to which Zhao hoped he can provide the honor.

The Fire Nation soldiers were then able to penetrate into the courtyard. Back on the flagship, Iroh advised Zhao to pull his men back; they will be trapped in the city once the Moon empowers and strengthens the waterbenders. Zhao assured Iroh not to worry as he and Ozai have decided to kill the Moon spirit before that happens, much to Iroh's horror. Zhao and Iroh later entered the Water Tribe stronghold through a breach, flanked by Fire Nation soldiers. Zhao used the scroll from the Great Library to lead his men and Iroh to where they needed to go.

Zhao and Iroh ended up at a spiritual place (the Spirit Oasis). Zhao introduced to Iroh the Moon and Ocean spirits, the two glowing fish swimming together in the pond. Zhao scooped the white fish (the Moon Spirit) into his pouch, about to kill its vulnerable form. Iroh pleaded with Zhao not to tamper with the Spirit World. Just then, Katara, Sokka, and Yue burst into the spiritual place. Iroh warned Zhao to stop as the world would go out of balance with the Moon spirit dead. Declaring Fire Nation as gods, Zhao overcame his hesitation and stabbed the fish with his dagger. Princess Yue collapsed onto the grass, as if she was the one who was struck. Outside, the moon slowly turned red, casting a sickly crimson glow over the Northern city. The waterbenders also lost the Moon enhanced powers. In rage, Iroh created large fires from his hands out of nothing, which terrified Zhao and his men away.

A death to be remembered Edit

Yue had sacrified her lifeforce to revive the Moon. Zhao was on a bridge, as he witnessed the Moon reverted to its natural glow. He was seemingly in despair of his failure of killing the Moon, when Zuko stepped out from the mist, walking toward him. Zhao said he had him killed. Zuko prepared to duel Zhao when Iroh appeared and told him to walk away. The Fire Nation soldiers had overrun the city - there was no way Zuko could take the Avatar now. Iroh pointed out that fighting Zhao will lead to him being captured instead, presumably so Zhao will have someone to blame should the siege fail. As Zuko turned away, the enraged Zhao bended a large double-spiral fire attack to them. Iroh redirected the flames to sides, shielding him and Zuko. They left Zhao standing alone on the bridge.

The flames had attracted the attention of four waterbenders, now blocking Zhao's path off the bridge. Outnumbered, Zhao had no way of escaping and no chance of defeating them, especially with the return of the Moon's power. Refusing to surrender, Zhao provoked the waterbenders by bending a fire shot that barely hit any of the waterbenders. He then took off his cloak and waited to be finished off. Four large stream of water bended from the river below engulfed Zhao into a water sphere, drowning him.

Personality Edit

The characterization for the animated Zhao is more closely depicted with the film Ozai than with this film Zhao, e.g., cocky and ambitious, rather than sinister and devious. The film contains many scenes between him and Fire Lord Ozai, a relationship not illustrated in the cartoon. Most notably, Ozai and Zhao both decided it was in their best interest to kill the Ocean and Moon Spirits, rather than forming the plan independently. While the animated Zhao relished his supposed destiny to kill spirits, Ozai acknowledged their shared destiny to have found the information on the Ocean and Moon, then ordered Zhao to eliminate them. Zhao also showed more hesitation and conflict when he was about to kill the Moon, making him a slightly more sympathetic character while transferring his more villainous characteristics to Ozai.

Film Edit

The film Zhao is played by Aasif Mandvi in The Last Airbender. When Mandvi was cast as Zhao, he referred to Shyamalan saying, "I don't want Zhao to just be this sort of caricature of an evil villain that [you see] in a lot of movies. I want the guy to have a real intelligence and a real point of view, that you may fundamentally disagree with."^[1], especially since the casting received lots of flak because Mandvi is more of a comedic actor.

Trivia Edit

• Unlike the animated Zhao, the film Zhao has no sideburns. However, the film Ozai had more prominent sideburns, which animated Ozai also do not have. The film Zhao also does not have a topknot like any Fire Nation member in the movie.
• In the animated show, the library was found by the animated Zhao years before the siege, when he was a junior Lieutenant serving under General Shu in the Earth Kingdom. In the movie, it was found months before the siege by this younger film Zhao, who presented his findings to the film Ozai. The animated Zhao also was never shown to speak to Fire Lord Ozai on any matter, though Fire Lord Ozai did in fact personally send a letter to Zhao to promote him to Admiral in the animated series.
• While the animated Zhao considered the elimination of the Ocean and Moon Spirits as his destiny, the film Ozai considered it as a shared destiny with this film Zhao: "It is destiny that we have found this information, Zhao".
• During the Siege of the North in the film, Zhao told Iroh not to worry about the Moon Spirit's power because "Your brother, Fire Lord Ozai, and I have decided it's in our best interest to kill the Moon Spirit." This may be a nod to the animated Zhao character being split, as it may be more accurate to say "Fire Lord Ozai ordered me to kill the Moon Spirit."
• Zhao did not possess the sinister and power-hungry personality like in the animated series, but his intentions of capturing the Avatar before Zuko and killing the Moon Spirit remains the same. With the film Ozai already personifying a "menacing" villain aspect of animated Admiral Zhao, to have this film Zhao with a similar personification just "young and cocky" may be result in a "Zhao-clone" or a Mini-Me. As such, turning this film Zhao into an "irritating" villain may serve to contrast (or foil) the two characters.
• Although he was a master firebender in the cartoon, the movie version only displays his firebending only right before his eventual demise.
• Zhao is part of Wave 2 in Avatar: The Last Airbender Toyline. Zhao's title seen on toy boxes is General Zhao even though he is a Commander (he was not promoted to Admiral in the movie).
• Zhao was never promoted to Admiral like in the animated series, as his Commander rank in the movie is the highest he could possibly attain in the navy. The film Ozai was very much involved in military affairs, with Naval Commanders and Army Generals reporting directly to him, bypassing the need for Naval Admirals or Army Marshals.
• Aasif Mandvi made arrangements with Jon Stewart to be a villain in this film, while maintaining his role as a comedian and regular correspondent to The Daily Show^[2].
• Zhao was apparently an illegitimate son of Zhao-Ozai composite, turning the relationship dynamics between "Zhao Jr". and similar to Edmund and Edgar in King Lear^[1], hence why the film contains many scenes between him and Fire Lord Ozai, a relationship not illustrated in the cartoon.

References Edit