After the death of Earth Queen Hou-Ting and with Avatar Korra incapacitated following her mercury poisoning at the hands of the Red Lotus, the Earth Kingdom descended into anarchy. Tenzin and President Raiko asked Suyin Beifong to stabilize the nation, though she objected the use of military force to spread her ideology and rejected the request. Having learned from the Zaofu matriarch that the hereditary succession of leadership was archaic, Kuvira became disillusioned with Suyin, believing her to be abandoning her nation. Knowing the pain to have been abandoned, Kuvira was unwilling to see the entire nation endure the same fate and shouldered the responsibility of reuniting the Kingdom herself. She departed the city, taking a sizable amount of supplies, a part of the security force, and s