*rubs chin* Very interesting...It explains the hatred Ozai has shown towards his son, why he 'banished' him...hmm...

Except...Zuko was a weak firebender. He failed to show Azulon he was as good as his sister. No doubt Azulan and Ozai were disappointed with him. So why would Azulon want Zuko to inherit next in line? I understand that he may have thought Ozai was too ambitious or destructive or something, but the fact is even Azulon was an oppressive ruler. I mean, cmon, they were in a war, and he was part of the campaign to dominate the avatar world. Not too many sentimental feelings there. As much as he may have liked Zuko, I don't think the Fire Lord would be willing to hand the crown down to someone who may not prove strong enough(in their eyes) to continue on with the war and who is a 'weak' firebender. Naming Zuko an inheritor is risky business. That's a bit too generous for the Azulon I've seen.

Intriguing thought though.

I've thought about this point, too. True, Zuko was not as adept a Bender as his sister, but we know, and Azulan likely knew, that Zuko was a child, a fledgling student of the art and that childhood clumsiness does not translate into adult incompetance. Add in the fact that Iroh was still the main heir...

Assuming that none of that crazy Ozai-killing-his-pa-and-adding-to-the-will-with-magic-marker stuff ever happened... Iroh takes Zuko off with him to live wherever Crown Prince's live, trains him up to the best of his skill, and then Azulan eventually chokes on a peanut. Iroh becomes Fire Lord, and only after Iroh kicks the bucket quite a few years in the future, does Zuko become Fire Lord as an adult. Obviously that's not what happened, but seen through the thought processes of Azulan, would you be happy with that future?

Isn't it nice that season three is coming so that we don't have to wait forever to see which crazy plot twists come up, whatever they are? ;D

I like this theory a lot, and as stated would explain quite a bit of the hatred Ozai has for Zuko. It could also explain what happened to his mother, in that Ozai had her kill Azulon, for if she didn't, he would kill Zuko and eliminate him as a rival. They then wait for Azulon to summon the scribes in order to change the line of succession, and then kill him before it can be clarified that the order was for Zuko to be Iroh's heir, not for Ozai to be named next in line. In order to protect himself, Ozai then had Ursa executed (rule #1 in hiring assassinations is to kill the assassins once the deed is done) or banished (Given that Ozai is not a touchy-feely kind of guy I don't know that he would do this, but one can hope) cut to Zuko wondering where his mother is. Ozai (again not being a touchy-feely kind of guy) is still bitter towards Zuko and possibly fearful that he will learn the truth and so looks for any chance to get rid of him.

In response to Azulon not wanting Zuko due to him being weaker in the demonstration, keep in mind that Azulon had the same expression for Azula's performance as he did for Zuko and was probably thinking that both were a waste of his time. Time will only tell what the truth is, but again I think this makes sense.

Copper for your thoughts.

Hmm... I think that this is actually quite possible. I've thought about waht Azulon really meant when he said those words, and why Ozai didn't respond to Zuko when Zuko asked him where his mother was. Having Zuko be Iroh's heir would have pissed Ozai off, which would have very well explained why he banished him so quickly for something so stupid... After all, a harsh reprimend or something would have done well, but banishment? Maybe he felt sad after he ordered Ursa's execution, if that's indeed how things went, so that's why he didn't respond to Zuko. All in all, I like this theory, too.