And by zuko having something to gain by switching sides (romantic love in this case) his redemption arc isnt as impactful, he had EVERYTHING to loose and nothing to gain when he joined the gaang which is why it was so effective.
this type of argument from antis is so annoying because it doesn't even make sense. katara isn't zuko's "something to gain" and it feels like a poor attempt to give zutara a similar level of "trophy" as the "hero gets the girl" trope. zuko switched sides because of his own change in heart. this is a quote from the day of Black sun:
No, I've learned everything! And I've had to learn it on my own! Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. People around the world are terrified of the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it! We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness.
this is not "i'm joining team avatar because i think katara is attractive and i want to be with her."
zuko and katara's relationship (canonically friends) is not predicated on obligation, so this anti argument doesn't make sense. in TSR, he asks what he can do to make it up to her and she gives him an IMPOSSIBLE task -- effectively saying that she will never forgive him. He isn't "gaining" anything because he had to earn her friendship/respect; it's why he was so shocked when she hugged him at the end of TSR. although, there is a ship that does have obligation written into it canonically - (nodding at "avatar's girl for example), but we never hear y'all antis bring ts up.
a potential romantic!zutara relationship would come after his redemption arc; and it doesn't make sense to retroactively trivialize the growth that he went through to get to that place.
also these arguments always feel disingenious because you would never catch these antis saying that zukka would erase zuko's redemption arc. like, we can't even keep consistency.
I feel like people say these things because there is a perception that Zuko has to earn things because he was once the bad guy, whereas Aang doesn't because he's inherently good, but that's exactly WHY Aang's relationship with Katara feels misogynistic and Zuko's feels like it gives Katara more autonomy. Instead of saying that Zuko should not "gain" Katara as a girlfriend, maybe these people should be questioning the idea that a relationship with a girl is a reward in the first place, and question the way that trope plays out in kataang.
Also, I feel the need to point out that Zuko does get things in exchange for joining the gaang. And that's another thing that I think people need to come to grips with, the idea that redemption equals suffering. Zuko actually becomes a much happier and healthier person once he joins the gaang, and that is a good thing. He gains friends and people who care about him instead of people who want to hurt and manipulate him.
When Zuko says that he had to learn things on his own, yes, that's true, and it proves Zuko's strength that he did do it on his own, but it's also a specific indictment of Ozai, Zuko's father who should have been teaching him and guiding him, who abandoned him instead of acting the way a father should. Zuko never should have been on his own. When he switches sides, he learns that there are people that he can rely on, that he doesn't have to be on his own, and that's a big part of his redemption, too, and why working to mend those relationships is a big part of it.
Zuko very well could have, after the gaang rejected him the first time, decided to stay on his own, and to do good on his own, helping the gaang from the sidelines. He could have decided to live with Katara hating him. He could have come to grips with the fact that he ruined his relationship with Iroh and still decided to do good anyway, but part of his redemption is about learning not just to be forgiven, but to forgive himself and allow other people to forgive him, instead of reacting defensively. It's not just about switching sides, it's about becoming a whole person, which is why those relationships are important. And that would not change if one of those relationships happened to be a romantic one.
