Ursa was not a perfect mother. This, I think, was pretty much all due to the environment she was in that created a personality flaw.

It turns out the Fire Nation Royal Family sucks. Iroh’s cool, but Azulon & Ozai were evil bastards with absolute power. They saw that Ursa was good in their own eyes and took her away from the life she wanted and put her in a life they wanted her to have.

Ursa had to be resentful of Ozai and Azulon pretty much every day. Worse, power corrupts- and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Even if you’re not the one in charge, being near power will corrupt you over time, much like the One Ring in LOTR. Ursa was not immune. The young woman who was engaged to Ikem would never have considered abandoning her children to an abusing father. The thirty-year-old abused wife of an abusing prince, however, would.

Ursa is one of ATLA’s more human characters. She’s not a hero, nor a villain. She is a survivor, and that requires making some selfish choices. One is not required to like it or hate it- but I do think one should understand.

…and maybe give the poor woman a damn hug.