Anyone ever think about how the first conversation Zuko has after betraying his uncle and siding with Azula, stepping backwards from his redemption, is with Mai. And then his last conversation before reconciling with his uncle and, through this, completing his redemption, is with Katara.
Both of these characters come over to him when he is by himself and ask after his wellbeing:
And Zuko responds to this probing in both situations by giving some variation of "not in good headspace right now"
Zuko: I've got alot on my mind.
He then lays out the external situation.
Zuko: It's been so long. Over three years since I was home. I wonder what's changed.
Zuko: My uncle hates me I know it. He loved and supported me in every way he could and I still turned against him.
In the first scene he's contemplating his step back. In the second he's contemplating his step forward. He goes on to pose a question to each, wondering if this is a step he'll even be able to take.
Zuko: I wonder how I've changed.
Zuko: How can I even face him?
This is where the scenes diverge. Mai reacts by yawning and voicing her disinterest, effectively shutting him down.
Mai: I just asked if you were cold I didn't ask for your whole life story. Stop worrying.
Her advice is to ignore this conflict that he's facing, just as she's doing. Notably, Zuko doesn't speak again in this scene after this. Mai also kisses him, meaning to distract him from his problems completely.
Katara has a very different approach:
Katara: Zuko, you're sorry for what you did, right?
She presses him to actually answer his question. He asked how he can face his uncle. He can face him if he wants to be better, if he's truly sorry for the things he's done. So she asks him, is he?
Zuko: More Sorry then I've been about anything in my entire life.
Katara: Then he'll forgive you. He will.
After their conversations, Mai walks away, leaving Zuko alone; Katara stays and watches Zuko enter Iroh's tent.
These conversations symbolise the difference between Zuko's old life and his new one. Mai's words mean forgetting, ignoring your mistakes and staying where you are. Katara's mean confronting your mistakes and moving on.
And if we needed any more parallels that show this, take note of the almost identical framing, specifically what each girl is seeing when they are looking at him:
Mai is on his right. She's seeing the unscathed side of his face. The Zuko she's seeing is the same one she knew in the Fire Nation. She figuratively and literally cannot see the hurt, scarred part of Zuko. The part of him that came as a result of standing up to the Fire Nation in the first place. Mai is talking to the side of him that is on the Fire Nation's side.
Katara is on his left, facing the scar, the scar which he told her himself represents him being seperate from the Fire Nation, seperate from what they are doing and "free to determine his own destiny".
Here, Mai represents stepping backwards. Katara represents stepping forwards.
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