History ComicBook / AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise

* ContinuityDrift: The comic introduces complexity to the Fire Nation's rule, where some of the colonies developed under more peaceful circumstances between the natives and the settlers, closer to what Fire Lord Sozin originally intended. This is never indicated in the cartoon; despite civilians of all ethnicities being depicted favorably and unfavorably, the Fire Nation's colonial project is never shown to be anything but a sham with the goal of ethnic supremacy through genocide.

* ActionGirl: Kori is quote skilled in melee, defeating Fire Nation with little trouble. Borders on being a DarkActionGirl, since she's a WellIntentionedExtremist who was probably loyal to Ozai.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Kuei being willing to go to war to recover the Fire Nation colonies, telling Aang he was either with him or against him, coupled with Aang's decision to have the matter of the colonies dealt with by a council (which will clearly end up leading to the creation of Republic City) points ahead to the Earth Queen being so resentful of said city and being willing to do anything (including [[spoiler:conscripting the new airbenders as an army]] and turning Korra over to the Red Lotus) to get the land back.

* GrayAndGrayMorality: The themes regarding the dangers of nationalism and ethnocentrism not withstanding, the fact remains that the Fire Nation seized land from the Earth Kingdom during a war ''they'' instigated, suppressed the people they subjugated, and all the while committed numerous war crimes. It's not surprising that the Earth Kingdom's citizens would be outraged over Zuko going back on a peace treaty by allowing Fire Nation citizens to remain in the colonies despite them never having any legal basis to live there. This is even acknowledged ''in-universe''; simply returning the stolen territory wouldn't work because numerous multi-ethnic families have formed during the war, so it would either break up those families or expel people from homes they ''did'' have a hereditary right to (the war lasted one hundred years, after all). On top of ''that'', in many cases the territory in question was a lot less valuable (to the point that the Earth Kingdom didn't ''care'' about "losing" it a hundred years ago) prior to the Fire Nation industrializing it, so "returning" the territory wouldn't be fair either. In the end, [[spoiler:the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdoms ''both'' surrender the territory in favor of building an independent fifth Nation.]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Seventy years later]], [[spoiler:season 4 BigBad Kuvira justifies the '''biggest battle in recorded history''' over reclaiming that territory.]]

* RashPromise: Aang is overjoyed by having save the world in the series finale of [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender the source material]] that he casually agrees to do any favor for his friend Zuko. Then Zuko makes him promise to kill him if he ends up turning evil, and the rest of the comic is all about Aang juggling his pacifism, Zuko's increasing resemblance to his evil father, and the promise he wished he never made.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The long-term consequences of a century-long war of conquest and genocide will not simply go away because one of your friends has replaced the EvilOverlord in charge of the aggressor nation and is perfectly willing to make any reparations requested. Even if both sides have well-intentioned individuals in charge, there is still the potential for conflict simply because some things ''can't'' be fixed, and instead have to be ''lived with.''

** [[spoiler:He may be evil, but Ozai is a good judge of character. He accurately predicts that King Kuei, after years of his kingdom being the whipping boy of the Fire Nation and his own ineptitude concerning [[PuppetKing Long Feng's manipulation of him]], will resort to military force to remove the colonies.]]
** Also [[spoiler:Ozai's]] advice to Zuko about believing in the rightness of his decisions. Everything he says sounds downright psychotic the way Ozai says it, but the point behind it is that a good leader ''can't'' have doubts regarding his actions, which is something a lot of people and even books on the topic will vouch to. Much like Alec Baldwin's iconic speech to the closers in ''Theatre/GlengarryGlenRoss'', everything he says can only make Zuko a more effective force, if he gets past the deliberate antagonistic delivery.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Like every Fire Lord, Zuko personally leads combat and is more effective than his soldiers.

A trilogy of GraphicNovel digests published by Creator/DarkHorseComics in the ''[[Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar]]'' franchise, acting as an {{Interquel}} between ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' and its SequelSeries, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. The story is written by Creator/GeneLuenYang (''ComicBook/AmericanBornChinese'') with input from series' creators Creator/MichaelDanteDiMartino and Creator/BryanKonietzko, with illustrations by Japanese art duo Creator/{{Gurihiru}}.

* AscendedFan: [[spoiler: The Yu Dao and Ba Sing Se chapters of the Avatar Aang fan club becomes the first official Air Acolyte community in one hundred years and is recognized as such as by the last living Air Nomad.]]

* ShelteredAristocrat: Kuei admits to never so much as setting foot in the outer ring of Ba Sing Se before, let alone actually visiting the Fire Nation colonies he wants to decolonize. [[spoiler: It's Katara bringing him down into Yu Dao to see it for himself that convinces him to change his mind.]]

* SuicideByCop: [[spoiler:Zuko admits to Aang that the promise was an "escape hatch" if he couldn't handle the pressure of being Fire Lord.]].

* KarmaHoudini: Kori never faces any punishment for attempting to assassinate Zuko (the Fire Lord). Granted, she had her reasons, but she never even tried to talk to him first. She continues to act like this for the rest of the series, picking fights with anybody who didn't agree with her side on a very complicated issue (which nobody ever calls her out on).

* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:Zuko asks Azula for help finding their mother.]]

* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Sokka, when taking an underground slide. He blames the scream on Suki.

** Yes, it's Kataang.

** Sokka and Suki aren't much better, at least in Toph's opinion.

* UniversalDriversLicense: At this point we really need to ask if there's a vehicle Suki ''can't'' drive. Let's see -- Airships, check. Hot air balloons, check. ''A freaking Fire Nation tank''? Yup, ''check''.

* ImmediateSequel: When Gene Yang said ''The Promise'' would begin '''exactly''' where the TV series left off, [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luolcnpQy31r27wz9.png this is what he meant.]]

* IgnoreTheDisability: Averted. Earth King Kuei compares the Fire Nation colonies to an old scar on the Earth Kingdom... in front of [[MarkOfShame Zuko]]. He immediately apologizes, though Zuko doesn't take offense.

* MalignedMixedMarriage: Averted; one of main reasons the characters are gradually swayed to Yu Dao retaining independence is that the Fire Nation colonials and Earth Kingdom natives have been intermarrying, resulting in several inhabitants of mixed heritage and wholly unique culture.

** Katara's can be summed up in eight words: [[PunctuatedPounding "STOP... TRYING... TO... SET... MY... BOYFRIEND... ON... FIRE!"]]

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Yu Dao itself is based on Hong Kong (A Chinese city colonized by a foreign power, whose people have over time developed into their own unique culture that is now under threat by the "decolonizing" forces), with a name that references the uninhabited Senkaku Islands (or, as they're known in china, the Diao ''Yu Dao'' islands governed by Japan and contested by China).
* FightingForAHomeland: Entire motive of Yu-Dao Resistance since a large majority of its members are Firebenders and Earthbenders who wish to preserve their city against Harmony Restoration Movement's attempt to "decolonize" them without concerns over mixed populace.

'''Toph:''' Well, you could come with me. \\

* GrayAndGrayMorality: The themes regarding the dangers of nationalism and ethnocentrism not withstanding, the fact remains that the Fire Nation seized land from the Earth Kingdom during a war ''they'' instigated, suppressed the people they subjugated, and all the while committed numerous war crimes. It's not surprising that the Earth Kingdom's citizens would be outraged over Zuko going back on a peace treaty by allowing Fire Nation citizens to remain in the colonies despite them never having any legal basis to live there. This is even acknowledged ''in-universe''; simply returning the stolen territory wouldn't work because numerous multi-ethnic families have formed during the war, so it would either break up those families or expel people from homes they ''did'' have a hereditary right to (the war lasted one hundred years, after all). On top of ''that'', in many cases the territory in question was a lot less valuable (to the point that the Earth Kingdoms didn't ''care'' about "losing" it a hundred years ago) prior to the Fire Nation industrializing it, so "returning" the territory wouldn't be fair either. In the end, [[spoiler:the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdoms ''both'' surrender the territory in favor of building an independent fifth Nation.]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Seventy years later]], [[spoiler:season 4 BigBad Kuvira justifies the '''biggest battle in recorded history''' over reclaiming that territory.]]

* HypocriticalHumor: Throughout Part 2, Sokka gripes about Aang and Katara being all "oogie", only for Katara to point out he and Suki act the same way. Indeed [[spoiler:when she shows up in Part 3, they act just as affectionate to Toph's displeasure.]]

* InternalReveal: Zuko and the audience have known since "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheAvatarAndTheFireLord "The Avatar and the Fire Lord]]" that Zuko is Roku's great-grandson (Iroh and Roku himself have presumably known for quite a bit longer), but this is the first time that Aang finds out.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Yu Dao itself is based on Hong Kong (A Chinese city colonized by a foreign power, whose people have over time developed into their own unique culture that is now under threat by the "decolonizing" forces), with a name that references the uninhabited Senkaku Islands (or, as they're known in china, the Diao ''Yu Dao'' islands governed my Japan and contested by China.

* BlatantLies: The firebending teacher, on seeing that he can't get rid of the spear wrapped around his head, claims he's keeping it as a convenient way of carrying flags around and that he can remove it anytime he wants.

* BookEnds: Near the beginning, Zuko is asking Ozai about his mother. In the last scene, Zuko, having realized Ozai will not help him, turns to [[spoiler:his sister Azula]].

** All remaining Freedom Fighters, including the long-vanished Sneers who makes his first appearance since "Jet," return with Smellerbee as their new boss.

--> ''An army with no leader is a dragon with no head''
* {{Deconstruction}}: The series ended on a note of hope for the future, with the new Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko as the vanguard of peace among the four nations. However, the idea of leaving a group of [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic teenagers]] in charge of a world that's been festering in complicated political problems for more than a hundred years is quickly shown to be an unrealistic solution. Their initial solution--simply deport all Fire Nationals in the colonies back to the Fire Nation--is quickly shown to be extremely naive and causes problems for one simple reason: the oldest Fire Nation Colonies, such as Yu Dao, are over a century old. This means that all the original settlers are long dead and the current inhabitants know no other way of life. The colonies also have a unique, amalgamated culture that's neither purely Fire Nation nor Earth Kingdom anymore, plus plenty of interracial marriages and citizenry of mixed ethnic descent [[note]] this last part is personified by Kori, who claims Fire Nation citizenship through her father, but is an Earthbender like her mother [[/note]].
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Read this as a 21st-century Westerner, familiar with the concept of dual-citizenship and naturalization, and it'll seem like the characters are holding the IdiotBall. But, if you remember that people in the Avatar-verse have been raised with strong senses of ethnocentrism, and consider that such views have been popular throughout human history, and still are in some parts of the world (Japanese-born Koreans still can't vote), you begin to realize why the characters are facing this dilemma. Even [[WhoopiEpiphanySpeech Katara]] - ''who is devoutly and joyously '''practicing''' that lifestyle'' - only realizes this during a EurekaMoment of [[Awesome/AvatarTheLastAirbenderComics Awesome]].
** Doubly so [[FantasyCounterpartCulture given what the Earth Kingdom is based off of]]. China does ''not'' recognize the concept of dual citizenship, and still believes heavily in Ethnic Nationalism, that is to say, you are who you are born, and [[ImmigrantPatriotism any feelings otherwise]] are [[CategoryTraitor traitorous]] and [[NoTrueScotsman false]].
* DesignatedVillain: Zuko is this InUniverse to many of the Earth Kingdom people and the Freedom Fighters, and even some of the Gaang like Sokka and Toph. Yes, he's being an idiot, but everyone's treating him like he's already as bad a dictator as his father. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] considering that they just wrapped up a century-long world war where the Fire Lord was the face of their enemy.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Yes Kori, the best way to solve your problems is to assassinate the Fire Lord. Because it's not like assassination of the Fire Lord will cause a civil war, leaving the Earth King free to claim the land, right? [[CallForward Like what happens at the end of season three of Korra when the Earth Queen is bumped off?]]
* DrillSergeantNasty: Toph to her students. A typical communication goes like this, "Stop slacking off, lily livers!"

* EpicFlail: Kori wields a meteor hammer. Because the 'ball' is made of stone, she can manipulate it with her earthbending for easy retrieval and trick moves.

* GrayAndGrayMorality: The themes regarding the dangers of nationalism and ethnocentrism not withstanding, the fact remains that the Fire Nation seized land from the Earth Kingdom during a war THEY instigated, suppressed the people they subjugated, and all the while committed numerous war crimes. It's not surprising that the Earth Kingdom's citizens would be outraged over Zuko going back on a peace treaty by allowing Fire Nation citizens to remain in the colonies despite them never having any legal basis to live there.
** This is even acknowledged ''in-universe''; simply returning the stolen territory wouldn't work because numerous multi-ethnic families have formed during the war, so it would either break up those families or expel people from homes they ''did'' have a hereditary right to (the war lasted one hundred years, after all). On top of ''that'', in many cases the territory in question was a lot less valuable (to the point that the Earth Kingdoms didn't ''care'' about "losing" it a hundred years ago) prior to the Fire Nation industrializing it, so "returning" the territory wouldn't be fair either. In the end, [[spoiler:the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdoms ''both'' surrender the territory in favor of building an independent fifth Nation.]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Seventy years later]], [[spoiler:season 4 BigBad Kuvira justifies the '''biggest battle in recorded history''' over reclaiming that territory.]]

** Zuko's guards try to assure him that he is safe from assassins after he wakes up in the middle of the night believing that a new attack is coming. After one guard tells him that they moved him into a secure part of the palace to keep him safe Kori knocks him and his partner out and tries to assassinate Zuko. After that particularly impressive failure Mai decides to fire Zuko's old guards and replace them with the far more competent Kyoshi Warriors.

* InternalReveal: Zuko and the audience have known since [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheAvatarAndTheFireLord "The Avatar and The Fire Lord"]] that Zuko is Roku's great-grandson (Iroh and Roku himself have presumably known for quite a bit longer), but this is the first time that Aang finds out.

* LadyLooksLikeADude: Sokka confuses Smellerbee for a "he." Katara quickly corrects him.

* MomentKiller: The cartoon series ended with TheBigDamnKiss—the comic starts with Sokka walking in on it.

* NeverSayDie: Toph's student Ho-Tun is constantly worried about everything being 'doomed.' [[http://www.avatarspiritmedia.net/interviews.php?id=24 According to Gene Yang]], Ho-Tun was originally worried about ''death''. Nick nixed that as being inappropriate for the comic's younger demographic. The titular promise also uses "end" instead of "kill". That said, the direct words are used as often as the euphemisms.

** Zuko's turnaround on the colonial issue comes across as inexplicable to the Gaang and makes Aang seriously consider invoking his promise to Zuko. When Aang and Katara go to meet him, the hostile reception Yu Dao's soldiers give to Aang and Katara provokes a fight that only stops when Aang starts to go into the Avatar State. It's only after that close call—and Katara pulling him out of it for the nth time—that Zuko is finally able to explain his position.

* PowerBornOfMadness: Played for laughs. Toph finds candidates for metalbender training when they demonstrate extreme emotion, which can ever-so-slightly affect nearby metal....But the only people who get extremely emotional in public are, in Sokka and Toph's words, "crazy people."

* UnintentionalBackupPlan: General How initially tries to get Aang to kill Zuko and force the Fire Nation army to surrender - but when Toph [[spoiler:partially dismantles every single Fire Nation tank]], How immediately orders his men to attack.
* UniversalDriversLicense: At this point we really need to ask if there's a vehicle Suki ''can't'' drive. Let's see - Airships, check. Hot air balloons, check. ''A freaking Fire Nation tank''? Yup, ''check''.

* ManipulativeBastard: Ex-Fire Lord Ozai shows that he's definitely where his daughter got it from by attempting to mold the new fire lord, the very one who deposed him.