Avatar:Wars of Secrets and Daggers

<infobox> <image source="image" /> <title source="name"><default>Wars of Secrets and Daggers</default></title> <group> <header>General information</header> <label>Previous</label> <label>Concurrent</label> <label>Next</label> <label>Conflict</label> <label>Date</label> <label>Place</label> <label>Outcome</label> <label>Participants</label> </group> <group> <header>Appearances</header> <label>First appearance</label> <label>Last appearance</label> </group> <header></header> </infobox> The Wars of Secrets and Daggers in Ba Sing Se took place during the 4th and 3rd century BG, as the royal princes of the Earth Kingdom battled each other in a series of ruthless and conspiratorial conflicts. While the members of the royal family outwardly maintained friendly relationships with each other, their secret feuds were pursued with extreme brutality involving skilled assassins.

History

The Earth Kingdom had a large royal family, and many of its members desired to achieve ultimate power as Earth Monarch. It was not unusual for early Earth Monarchs to violently eliminate their siblings due to them being potential rivals. Unlike the Fire Nation, where succession conflicts were often carried out publicly, the Earth Kingdom princes preferred to maintain a good-natured demeanor in the public. They attended feasts together, socializing and seemingly supporting each other. At the same time, however, they attempted to remove potential rivals at all cost, hiring assassins and waging de facto wars against each other in the "dark corridors" of Ba Sing Se. As the princes silently battled, many of the monarchy's duties were neglected and the common people suffered. For instance, the Yellow Neck Uprising went unchecked for years, as the Earth Kingdom government remained focused on the succession conflicts instead of the brutal insurgency.

Around 306 BG, the waterbending master Amak began working for one of the lesser princes. He consequently murdered seven prominent royal family members, allowing his employer to jump to fourth place in the line of succession for the Earth Monarch. Amak consequently used the skills he had learned in Ba Sing Se to train the presumed Avatar, Yun, in assassination techniques, ranging from the use of poison to the knife.

The wars had mostly ended by 296 BG.

Aftermath

The memory of these bloody conflicts lived fresh within Earth Kingdom ministries for years, and people in power tended to use an abundance of caution when it came to personal safety. Policitians were invested in protecting themselves rather than their people, and local enforcement went unchecked by their political supervisors. The Earth Kingdom people's trust in their monarch fell to an all-time low.

Appearances

Chronicles of the Avatar

• The Rise of Kyoshi (mentioned only)
• The Shadow of Kyoshi (mentioned only)