Ba Sing Se after the Empire (Headcanons)
Despite her complicated legacy in certain parts of the Earth Kingdom, Kuvira remains a popular figure with the citizens of Ba Sing Se and there were even mass protests demanding her release while she was imprisoned in Republic City.
Some of the Great Uniter’s earliest executive actions in the city included permanently eliminating the rings and the passport system that limited the movement and prospects of low-income citizens.
She also abolished the Dai Li and replaced it with a security force similar to the one in Zaofu and converted the royal palace into the “Earth Nation Heritage Center,” which functions as a museum, public archive, and community center (senior citizens can even play pai sho out in the palace gardens).
Because of these social changes that were viewed as positive by most of the city’s populace, Ba Sing Se remains under the control of Kuvira’s allies—many of whom were part of the original crew that left Zaofu to stabilize the capital—even after the fall of the Earth Empire.
When King Wu establishes democracy across the nation, the Zaofu technocrats come together under the banner of Ba Sing Se’s new Progressive Party. For a few years their candidates were basically unopposed and they continued to run on a platform of modernization, public welfare, and social reform.
But then everything changed when the aristocracy attacked...
The nobles of Ba Sing Se, many of whom fled the city after the Earth Queen’s assassination, return after the Empire falls and expect the status quo to be restored. These former denizens of the upper ring—now known as Central Ba Sing Se—saw the Red Lotus and the Earth Empire and everything in between as one big peasant uprising that needs to be put down.
They form an opposition party, called the Restoration Party, that positions itself as the protectors of Ba Sing Se’s history and cultural heritage. They want to bring back the rings and the rights of the nobles.
Despite its antipathy towards most working people, the Restoration Party grows in popularity among older residents (people like Mako and Bolin’s grandmother Yin who love the monarchy and revere the nobility even when it is not in their interest to do so)
And then, in a very tough election year, the incumbent Progressive governor does the one thing he knows will energize the electorate—he brings Kuvira back to Ba Sing Se.
