Avatar:Sung
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- This article is about the Earth Kingdom general. For the Fire Nation constable, see Sung (constable).
"I admit I haven't been the most... dutiful in my post, but my loyalty still lies with the Earth Kingdom. I will never betray the Earth King for a foreign country."
— Sung about the Coup of Ba Sing Se.[1]
Sung was an Earth Kingdom military general and a member of the Council of Five. He thus served as one of the Earth King's most trusted generals who dictated military policy.[3] He was in charge of defending the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom capital city.[4][5]
He had achieved his high rank despite being regarded as a fairly incompetent military officer. His poor commanding skills were countered by his eloquence, allowing General Sung to talk his way out of most problems, and leaving the real work to those who "knew what they were doing".[2]
History
Rise in the ranks and battle of the drill
At one point, Sung had two daughters[1] and took up residence in Ba Sing Se's Upper Ring.[6] He was promoted to general in the last years of the Hundred Year War.[2] By 95 AG, he was regarded as one of the most aggressive members of the Council of Five.[6] Once he had become one of the Earth Kingdom's top commanders, he was informed of the Dai Li's many secret activities to control Ba Sing Se. In particular, he learned of the Cultural Ambassadors program which involved the brainwashing of young women so that they could serve as Dai Li agents under the guise of "Joo Dee". He considered the Dai Li's secretive dictatorship acceptable as long as it safeguarded order in Ba Sing Se.[1]
In spring 100 AG, Sung was present on the Outer Wall when the Fire Nation arrived with a massive drill to penetrate it. He immediately took over the coordination of the defense, sending in the Terra Team to put a stop to the enemy's advance. Concurrently, Team Avatar also arrived at the combat zone and Avatar Aang promptly offered their help. Sung turned them down, however, believing that he had the situation under control. He explained that, with the exception of General Iroh, no one had ever managed to break through the Outer Wall successfully, noting that even Iroh's forces were quickly expunged. The general even attempted to make a joke about the name Ba Sing Se, meaning "impenetrable city", but swiftly grew serious again after noticing that nobody laughed. Sung kept on eye on the progress of his elite team of earthbenders from atop the wall. However, much to his horror, they were quickly defeated by Mai and Ty Lee, causing him to panic and scream that they were "doomed". After excusing his unprofessional reaction, the general humbly requested Aang's assistance.[4]
The general remained atop the wall and started to panic once again when the drill began to bore through the wall. He commanded his soldiers to continually launch giant boulders down at the drill, despite the futility of this action and Aang's request that they stop. Nevertheless, the Avatar eventually succeeded in piercing through the drill's metal shell, and the machine exploded, sending thick slurry all over the place, reaching as high as the top of the wall, where it completely covered the general.[4]
Sung was genuinely thankful for Team Avatar's assistance during this battle, and came to view Avatar Aang quite positively.[5][1]
Coup and imprisonment
After Long Feng's arrest, Sung was present at the meetings of the Council of Five and was involved in planning the invasion of the Fire Nation for the upcoming Day of Black Sun.[7] The general and the other council members were eventually captured by the Dai Li on the orders of Princess Azula to complete her coup against Earth King Kuei.[3] The various high-ranking prisoners of the coup were split up, and Sung was sent to the dungeons of the Dai Li's secret base under Lake Laogai.[1] There, he was informed of Aang's alleged death at the hands of Azula, saddening him.[5][1]
A few days after the coup, the Lake Laogai base was infiltrated by a group of rebels consisting of Jin, Xuan, and Smellerbee. The three found Sung held captive in his cell, and began questioning him.[5] Sung delivered them the news regarding Aang's alleged demise by Azula's lightning strike, and tried to goad them into freeing him in return for more information. Once they had done so, he admitted how he knew the Dai Li were brainwashing people and where the Joo Dees were held in the base.[1]
Sung led the group to a nearby cell, where they discovered several Joo Dees-in-training. Yet the one brainwashed person Jin was looking for, her friend Susu, was not amongst them. In response, the general explained that active Cultural Ambassadors lived at the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, meaning that Susu was likely there. The group decided to take the Joo Dees-in-training with them before noticing that guards were sounding an alarm. As they thought about ways to escape, Jin demanded that they should also destroy the local base to disrupt the brainwashing program. After taking off his metal cuffs, Sung agreed to assist in this plan and explained the structural foundation of the base. He reasoned that his earthbending and the blasting jelly from the base's storage rooms could shatter the entire structure's foundation.[1]
Sung subsequently helped shift key pillars holding the base, with the blasting jelly used at those points to finish the job. The base was flooded, its operational capacity permanently destroyed, and the Joo Dees found also freed. As he watched the base crumble, Sung informed Jin and her companions that the upcoming solar eclipse would render firebending temporarily useless, potentially providing them with some kind of opportunity. As Jin asked why he told her about this, the general argued that he wanted to help them because the Avatar had given him hope for the future. He wished them good luck,[1] before deliberately attracting the attention of approaching Dai Li forces. He sped away with his earthbending, leading the Dai Li agents away from Jin's retreating group.[8]
Personality
Sung was an eloquent, career-minded and often selfish man who used the achievements of others to increase his own standing.[5][1][2] This extended to him expressing few qualms about working for a regime which used mass manipulation, deceptive propaganda, and brainwashing to maintain power.[1] Yet his selfish nature did not make him amoral. He was willing to share successes and cared for his subordinates as well as allies.[2][1] In his capacity as a general, he was considered to be a rather wrathful individual,[6] and truly loyal to the Earth Kingdom. Sung categorically refused to collaborate with the Fire Nation during the Coup of Ba Sing Se despite the Dai Li's threats.[1] He also yearned to be reunited with his daughters, and was willing to risk his life in helping Jin's group to escape.[1][8]
Sung also had a dramatic side, easily panicking once he witnessed the Terra Team's defeat[4] and excessively whining over his situation to Jin and her friends.[1] He also showcased an odd sense of humor, for instance making inappropriate jokes regarding the possibility of Fire Nation attacks on the Outer Wall,[4] and wanting to use blasting jelly to destroy the Lake Laogai base because "sometimes explosions are just fun".[1]
Abilities
Though deemed a very poor military commander in the tactical and strategic sense, Sung was fairly good at recognizing the talents of others and then allowing them to work where they were effective.[2] He was also a quite powerful earthbender.[1]
Relatives
- Two daughters[1]
Appearances
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Book Two: Earth (土)
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game
Avatar Legends novels
City of Echoes
Trivia
- The book The Tale of Aang from The Earth Kingdom Chronicles series shows an additional moment with General Sung in the episode "The Earth King" during the scene in which Long Feng is arrested. The book shows General Sung vouching for Team Avatar's efforts, telling the Earth King that, without them, the city would have certainly fallen, which ultimately helps convince Kuei of Long Feng's treachery. This, however, contradicts the episode, as Sung does not appear in this scene.
- Jin thought that Sung's mustache made him look like an elephant koi when he slept.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 Template:Cite Legends Novels
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Nick.com (archived)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 1, Episode 220
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 1, Episode 213
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Template:Cite Legends Novels
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Core Book, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 62.
- ↑ Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 1, Episode 219
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Template:Cite Legends Novels
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