Re: Kiyi is Azula’s “replacement”
NO - Kiyi is not Azula’s replacement from the perspective of her family. Ursa’s decision to have another child was not dictated by her want to “replace” her other children, much like how your younger siblings (if you have ones) are probably not meant to replace you. Add to this that she was literally memory-wiped when she conceived Kiyi and was completely incapable of choosing whether to have a daughter or son. Zuko and Ursa do mention similarities and differences between the two, but in no way do they treat her like she’s the “Azula 2.0 that we actually wanted.” But also…
YES - Kiyi is Azula’s replacement…somewhat. And only from her perspective. She does feel resentment that her mother could not get through to her, and she likely does feel very much “replaced” by Kiyi. It’s especially brutal now that Kiyi is being treated as an official princess and living in the palace. We haven’t gotten a huge amount of Azula’s perspective on it, but we can assume from what we have that she does feel a certain way about the whole scenario.
What is an incorrect interpretation here is that Ursa is intentionally antagonizing Azula by having another child. This, and the idea that the creatives behind the franchise are somehow at fault for throwing a bit of conflict within the story. As much as you want to throw around whatever massively sexist and victim-blame-y take on Ursa, she doesn’t want to not love her children. And the writers creating that sweet, sweet family drama that makes you actually react to the media you consume is not inherently bad.
I think Kiyi, while not incredibly compelling on her own, is such an interesting character within the narrative, and I think treating her as a “mistake” or “problem” in the narrative is short-sighted and smooth brained of a take.
