Do y'all ever think about how Katara shared the details of the most traumatic event of her life with Zuko? Like, she’s always talking about how her mom died because of the war, but she’s never actually shared the specifics of what happened that day. And then she decides to tell Zuko? I mean, she doesn’t consider him as her friend, but she goes ahead and shares this incredible moment of vulnerability with him???
And then. And then????? Zuko’s reaction????
Katara: But we were too late. When we got there, the man was gone. [Voice begins breaking.] And so was she.
Zuko: Your mother was a brave woman.
Zuko called Kya brave. Brave. Katara views her mom as a role model and Zuko called her brave. Remember that scene from “Bato and the Water Tribe” after the ice-dodging scene? Remember which mark Katara received? Yeah, it was the Mark of the BRAVE.
Bato: For Katara, the Mark of the Brave. Your courage inspires us.
Zuko said the perfect thing at the perfect time and this never happens to him. This is the same guy who, 2 episodes ago, said “That’s rough buddy” in response to “my first girlfriend turned into the moon” and started talking about a “silver sandwich” as a pep talk to Sokka after they couldn’t find Hakoda at the Boiling Rock. Zuko has a habit of tripping over his words, yet when Katara shares the details of her mother’s death, he says the most perfect thing he could ever say.
And I don’t think this was a fluke.
Zuko understands Katara on a level that nobody else really can. They both lost their mothers to the Fire Nation because their mothers were trying to protect them. Ursa made a sacrifice to save Zuko’s life. Kya made a sacrifice to save Katara’s life. And it’s because of this shared trauma that Zuko knows exactly what to say to Katara.
The subtleties in Elizabeth Welch’s writing is so underappreciated in fandom.
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