I've seen people scoff at the idea that Zuko became the most mature member of the gaang when he joined and I gotta wonder if they haven't watched the show for a while or just aren't using their analytical skills, because he absolutely was, and its not just his age because Katara was second most mature compared to him and she's younger than Sokka.
No, it's cause he's a prince who has led people before, who has been shown even in the first season as a villain to have boundaries he will not cross and to put the lives and safety of those under his command before anything else.
He's also the only one of them to have had an actual adult imposing wisdom and guidance on him that he is basing his behavior on, the rest of them are pretty much self-taught. Toph was coddled and suffocated by her parents, Katara and Sokka had an absent father and were raised by their grandmother who did her best but they also raised themselves and each other, Aang had Gyatso and the other monks but he was also only 12 and was very immature (non-derogatory). By the time Zuko joins the gaang he has fully embraced Iroh's lessons, he's abandoned any attempt at being the son his father wanted and is choosing to live by the lessons Iroh taught him. He's emulating a strong adult role model that the rest of them didn't have the same access to.
Immediately upon joining them he's taking initiative and taking care of the other kids, we see him being the one trying to keep everyone on track, the one putting his body on the line to protect everyone else, he's being very observant of the other kids' thoughts and feelings and anticipating their next moves or their needs. He's staying awake to catch Sokka before he can do something stupid like flying Appa to Fire Nation Alcatraz alone. He's staying up all night outside Katara's tent just cause he wants to help her get closure for her grief.
He's babysitting them like Katara would except he's got official leadership skills and has commanded actual soldiers whereas Katara, bless her, was parentified and self-taught in her leadership skills, which is also one of the reasons that Zuko joining gave Katara a reprieve from being the one holding everyone together, and brought out her angst and unaddressed grief, not just because she was holding onto her anger at Zuko's betrayal but also because him becoming the responsible one took a burden off her shoulders. Even though she was still mad at him, having him there and taking charge meant that she had more time to look inward and stew in her darker emotions, because she no longer needed to put everyone else first for the sake of the group.
He's the one they all turn to when they're not sure how to proceed. He asks "Why are you all looking at me?" after Aang disappears and they say something about how he's basically the expert on tracking down Aang (lol) but it's more than that. Since joining he's become the guy who comes up with all the major schemes. He helped them accomplish things they wouldn't have been able to do without his help, he is a good planner and a good leader because unlike the rest of them he has actual official leadership skills, he knows how to be authoritative and boss them around, in a good way. They trust him to lead them.
He's acting like Aang's drill sergeant, picking him up by the scruff of his tunic like an unruly kitten and dragging him back to training.
He's crashing out big time over the fact he's sending an underprepared pacifistic child to face his (Zuko's) abuser, the guy who melted half of his own son's face off. Even when on his way to face Azula, it's not himself he's worried about, it's Aang. When he sees the chance to face Azula alone without having to endanger Katara, he takes it.
The moment Zuko joins them, he puts the others first, prioritizes their needs over his own, goes out of his way to help and protect them at the cost of his own safety and wellbeing. He literally almost dies for Katara and is still only concerned with protecting her while he's on the ground convulsing and clinging to life after being electrocuted.
Zuko is without question the most mature member of the gaang when he joins them. He is the older brother. When he joined them he became a teen dad to three adopted kids, got divorced to Katara and started co-parenting them all with her until they made up and became friends again, which again was a conflict that he took the initiative to solve without expecting anything from her.
I saw a post talking abt how Zuko fought as the blue spirit in silence bc he couldn’t risk his voice being recognised, and how difficult it would’ve been for him to fight without yelling, which is very funny and also I agree, but I do have other thoughts on it!!!
I think this is a VERY VERY interesting theme to explore. Fire bending, as we know canonically, is all in the breath. Zuko, when bending, forces power into his breaths vocally. Azula and Iroh in comparison are very quiet when bending, exhibiting extreme breath control, and when Azula does start to lose control of both herself and her bending she becomes vocal. Screaming, grunting, yelling while bending.
Zuko fighting as the blue spirit both in silence and without his bending IMO is such a good way of highlighting where his strengths lie. He’s a good bender, of course, especially by the end of the show where he’s found a new source of strength, but he’s never been as proficient as other fire benders.
I think the blue spirit was such an easy role for him to slip into because while fighting, for once, he didn’t have to force his strength. He took time training with swords, hand to hand, etc because he knew he lacked in bending ability.
I like to think he found it easy to not yell while fighting as the blue spirit, because he felt confident. In his ability to fight, in the hidden identity aspect removing him from the role of the banished prince and the expectations that came with it. Putting a space between himself and the burn that has been used to identify and humiliate him many times.
I just think Zukos bending and fighting evolution is so neat….
Over the years, much of the fandom has totally flanderized the characters in a lot of the common headcanons and creative depictions. I know this happens in a lot of fandoms (especially big, older, ongoing ones), but I see it pretty commonly here, across the board in all ship spaces. This isn't to try to police how anyone makes content by any means, but pointing out how things can devolve into ridiculousness because of how audiences anticipate tropes to play out, and they then home in on them and whittle a character down to it in a way that's at odds with the depth of their actual portrayal.
Below the cut, I discuss how I believe the fandom has done this to each member of the gaang after floating around the fandom the past 15ish years:
Sokka
I think Sokka's fandom flanderization is the most commonly seen, and it was the most doomed to happen because part of the nature of his character: comic relief. The show actually does an excellent job making Sokka both comic relief and someone with serious depth, personality, struggle, and heart. The fandom remembers this at times, and I totally get memeing Sokka's silliness, but in many portrayals he's often completely overlooked as a buffoon, as is the case for comic relief characters typically.
But Sokka is not a buffoon. He has buffoonish behaviors from time-to-time, sure, he's a 15/16-year-old boy and he's funny. But, he's actually one of the most intelligent members of Team Avatar, if not the most intelligent member of Team Avatar. He's often the brains of the operations, a man of common sense, and very innovative and brave. To see him constantly depicted as fumbling over himself, shouting gaffes, and just being an idiot doesn't align with his actual character. He's very multifaceted.
This goes so far that even [spoiler warnings for The Legend of Aang ahead] in the movie where the Gaang are adults, Sokka is pretty much a walking buffoon. He basically just mumbles one-liners for comic relief and is running from danger and downplaying the danger and risks throughout the movie in ways even teenage Sokka wouldn't. So, for Sokka, I would say this goes beyond the fandom. Bryke has even done this, I think, as a form of fanservice to a degree, and also because they have consistently struggled to depict their main cast with the same depth and complexity that the original writing team did as a collaborative whole.
So this is likely to just further cement the fandom's treatment of Sokka in fics, fanart depictions, TikToks discussions, headcanons, and memes. It's unfortunate because Sokka is done so well and is given a really compelling arc in his original story. It's not super common to see a character who's written as comic relief get such multitudes. I think Bryke tried, and failed, to replicate this in Bolin, but he just was not nearly as well done.
Zuko
I would argue that Zuko is actually the second biggest victim of flanderization within the fandom. Zuko, is also, a very complex and well-written character and people do remember this about his redemption arc, but not so much about his personality and depth as a character. He is very often whittled down and mislabeled as, conflictingly, aloof and socially inept/unable to read between the lines.
Zuko is not aloof, he's shy and emotionally reserved from child abuse. Aloofness is someone who is distant and detached usually from nonchalance in a social setting. This is not the case for Zuko, he is shy and lacks confidence because of growing up isolated in a palace until he was thirteen, and then living among a group of old men the next three years. He is seen consistently craving to be a part of something and yearning for approval.
When Zuko is comfortable, we seem him wearing his heart on his sleeve and yearning for connection. As soon as he joins the gaang, he's very eager to not just make amends with them, but forge genuine connections with them. He is warm with Sokka during their interactions in the Boiling Rock, gives him advice, and opens up to him. He is also warm with Aang the further along they get in The Firebending Masters, and makes jokes with him. He is highly attuned to Katara's emotions in The Southern Raiders and almost desperate to connect to her. Even Toph, Zuko opens up to and shares an earnest heart-to-heart with in The Ember Island Players.
Suffering child abuse that makes someone stunted and afraid doesn't equate to aloofness as a personality trait.
Now for the "socially inept" or "Zuko can't read between the lines" types of portrayals.
This is also glaringly false and overdone, like Sokka's flanderization, for humor. Zuko can be awkward, especially in new social groups or with new people. He was raised in a palace and seemingly did not even go to a real school, like Azula got to. Presumably, he was privately tutored or something. So, growing up he literally had no peers to interact with his own age. The closest thing he had to that was presumably Mai and Ty Lee, who were more so under Azula's thumb. So of course, he's going to be awkward and stumble over his words.
He also, is traumatized, so his confidence in himself and who he is is not very strong. When people are self-conscious, they are awkward as well, and struggle to believe good things about themselves. This is not the same thing as being unable to read people, their feelings, or social situations at large.
We consistently see that Zuko is very empathetically attuned to people's feelings and is actually very good at connecting the dots, or reading between the lines. He is clearly very aware of his uncle's feelings and how he thinks of him as his own, even before Iroh has ever said it. He knows well that Sokka will go off to try to rescue his father to "restore his honor" and why he's doing it in advance to crash his trip.
He pieces together Katara's anger towards him is connected to her mother's murder and intuitively understands her feelings of anger, resentment, and desire to avenge her mother. He anticipates her needs by staying up all night for her, encouraging her to rest, and listening patiently is she opens up about her grief.
When he does believe things foolishly, it's often a symptom of his abuse as well. He is in denial about his father banishing him because he doesn't love him as a coping mechanism, not because he's so "socially inept" he doesn't see the truth. That's why he so eagerly believes Azula is inviting him home and why he so fervently chases after the avatar despite no evidence.
Zuko also is not stupid, as the fandom likes to play for laughs because of the gaang calling him this and Azula's teasing. He is often shown being very cunning in his plans and ideas. He strategizes leagues ahead of his years and bests adults at their own games consistently. He's impulsive and rash, yes, but not stupid. If he was supposed to be seen as a stupid character, they would not write him to be fire lord and restore balance to a nation 100 years into imperialist warmongering. He wouldn't be the other person alongside Katara keeping the gaang in check. Throughout the finale, he's the one staying on track and reining the gaang in to keep focus. He's the one who comes up with the game plan for their Plan B to defeat his father when Aang disappears without a word. He executes that plan too, takes charge and takes everyone to find his uncle and get things in order. Stupid people don't do that!
They like to overplay the awkwardness and morph it into social ineptitude or inability to read between the lines for people, too. Zuko's awkwardness in The Western Air Temple makes sense and awkwardness is not the same thing as social ineptitude. He reads people very well, he just lacks the confidence and life experience to behave anything but awkwardly around his peers. A lot of it's social anxiety as well.
Azula is the same way among peers she isn't dictating, as seen in The Beach. She's almost just like Zuko, but instead of resorting to shyness, she resorts to assertiveness because that's what she knows. And Azula, of course, has no trouble reading people. But unlike Zuko, she does struggle to connect to them emotionally.
Speaking of Azula, this idea that Zuko isn't an extremely talented firebender is also false. He may not be on the prodigal levels of Azula, Katara, and Toph (let's go girlsssss), but he is an excellent firebender. It takes effort, practice, and time -- but Zuko is a very skilled fighter in his element. He consistently defeats his opponents in firebending and holds his own.
Toph
Toph is victim to fandom flanderization to the point that she is made out to be emotionally rigid, cool, and uncaring. The fandom portrays Toph as someone who could not be bothered to listen to someone's pain, is too tough to care about anything, and is kinda always just looking out for A#1.
That's how Toph presents herself as a coping mechanism, sure, but as the show consistently depicts, this is not truly the case. Her parents had her propped up like a delicate flower and fragile doll, pushing her into a box for their expectations and limitations they imposed on her because of her disability. In defense of this, Toph has created a tough exterior shell to counter her parents' beliefs.
Toph pretends she doesn't care, but deep down she really cares. This is why Toph breaks down when talking to Sokka about how Katara cares about her — the real her — more than her actual mother ever did. (Which also reminds me how crazy it is that certain parts of the fandom are trying to say Katara was not motherly and that Sokka was more parentified than she was…)
And Toph might have a rough exterior, but she's a very caring and loving person. She's always the first to stand up against situations of injustices and very passionate about stopping the fire lord, despite growing up in wealth and privilege herself. Her tough edges when teaching Aang is her own personal approach to earthbending — taking this bluntly and head on, like a rock. It doesn't mean she doesn't care.
She shows in the Tales of Ba Sing Se that she also is a regular girl in that she is insecure about things, including her appearance, even if she can't see it. She cries when talking to Katara, confiding in her about it, and is touched when Katara warmly tells her that she is pretty while sending the girls (literally) down the river.
She also shows vulnerability in how hurt and upset she was in having to let the benders who abducted Appa get away. She feels tremendous guilt in having to hold up the tower to keep the gaang from dying at the expense of Appa's safety. She is offers Zuko very sage and compassionate advice in The Ember Island Players too, knowing that he, too, struggles to be vulnerable with people and taking his trust to confide in her seriously.
Just because Toph wears a tough mask does not mean she's an unfeeling person who doesn't have just as much love in her heart as the rest of the gaang. The way the fandom paints her, again, leaning into the comedic side of things, as bluntly unfeeling is really whittling down the depth of Toph's character and everything at play here about her.
Katara and Aang…
Now, for Katara and Aang, I honestly do not see a ton of flanderization. I see mischaracterization, but not so much flanderization. They're connected, but not one and the same.
Katara is presented as someone simply, whiny, annoying, and preachy. Talking about Katara as "whiny" or "annoying" is likely some misogyny. If you think Katara is "whiny", but Zuko is "deep" and "suffering" about his trauma, then you're probably just sexist. But this is common in the fandom from the early days on.
Again, if Katara is "preachy", but Iroh and Aang are "wise", then again, it's time to look inward and start asking yourself the big questions.
Katara is also strangely portrayed in fandom as hating Zuko's living guts post canon, which is just… not accurate. I see many fandom comments, such as "she really haes that man fr" and stuff, as if they never watched the rest of the show following The Southern Raiders and skipped their connecting moments, such as Crossroads of Destiny, or The Chase. But, I figure this goes back to hating Zutara, which also is, a majority of the time, misogyny.
Katara also gets this strange rap for being absolutely cruel and cutthroat. She has moments where she lashes out in anger, yes, she has a temper. But overall, Katara is the most compassionate, loving, and empathetic person in the entire gaang. Her biting remarks in the heat of the moment to Toph, Sokka, and Zuko are not indicative of her overall personality. Of course, portraying the multifaceted sides of her is great, but this whittling down of her to portray her as a "bitch" almost is absolutely bizarre to me.
Now, for Aang, this is a doozy. There is so much idoloization of Aang's character as a perfect hero from people's childhood and also some over-the-top critiques of his character that makes it hard to pinpoint what's going on. Aang's character is also kind of all over the place and there are moments that don't add up from the writers' side of things, so it makes nailing this one down tough.
But Aang is not a happy-go-lucky character all the time. He leans into his juvenile traits as a literal 12/13-year-old, but also he has a serious streak, especially Book 2 onwards. He gets livid angry, lashes out to the point of going into an Avatar State rage, and has tantrums that are unfair to people.
He behaves selfishly at times, like taking away Katara and Sokka's chance to see their father out of a fear of abandonment. He's not this perfect, does-no-wrong character. He also runs away from his problems as a common theme throughout the whole show up until the finale, which is weirdly never addressed as a hurdle to overcome for him by the narrative.
But, Aang is also a very loving, earnest character. He genuinely loves people. He's a people person and wants to befriend everyone. The writers, imo, didn't flesh him out to his full potential in the cartoon. I wish that he had gotten more time to explore his grief, showcase his grief, and experience it. Instead, they seemed to be too afraid to break the portrayal of him as a happy kid, and just didn't go there too much. There was far much more angst from Aang about being the avatar and the weight of those expectations than grief he would be feeling as a lone genocide survivor. And I really wish we got to see more of him grappling with that. His character deserved that, imo.
He also didn't get the full chance to overcome a lot of character flaws. The show sort of decided he suffered enough (without showing him grapple with that fully) and that he kinda didn't have to overcome other things that were set up as if he would. I think that Aang's character sometimes gets over demonized as well for things that are writing flaws that aren't adding up, and making him seem like multiple characters rather than one, consistent MC.
But, Aang is a complex case for fandom dissection because there seems to be two prevailing trains of thought for him, and a lot of mistakes in the writers' room pertaining to his character that bleed into this fandom dichotomy.
Overall, it's frustrating when fandoms bastardize characters and reduce them to either entirely mischaracterized traits or memeified tropes. Of course, memes are fun, but like how show writers do this in late seasons, fandoms do it late into fandom (sometimes early too). They whittle the character down to a trope that either has some basis, or something they anticipate will happen because of the trope's common themes, even though it did not occur with this specific character.
So many fandoms do this, and the Avatar one is no exception, in fact, I would argue that it's a huge culprit of it. These characters, for the most part, are so well fleshed out and deep, that it's exhausting and disappointing to see the fandom flanderize and mischaracterize them, even if it seems inevitable. And of course, these flanderizations speak the loudest, even if the majority in the "real" (not casual) fandom, don't do it.
The ATLA characters are why this show has had such an indelible mark in TV storytelling and animation. The plot is good, the world is exciting, and the creatures are creative, but above all, it is these characters that keep people coming back. They connect with people because of their complexities and depth. When that's the crux of a show, watching the characters get flanderized and mischaracterized is even more disappointing.
So I wanted to write about what I'm seeing and open the discussion further for fans here. Thanks for sticking with me in this long post and meta! We'll see how many edits I make later as I think of things.
One thing I've never seen really used in fanfics or talked about at all in fandom circles is that "Zuko's parents conspired together to murder the long-reigning legitimate Firelord and seize the throne" is something that could cause massive political problems for Firelord Zuko if it ever got out, especially if people were already looking for reasons to hate him.
Hey could you spread some zuko positivity please? Sorry for asking at all but I've been seeing what seemed (thanks to tumbles algorithm) like everyone shitting on him, for like six whole months. (Got tags muted too)
Like I'm a zuko fan and I love people acknowledging his flaws, but every time that I've encountered some post talking about that, it's always like, in a not very nuanced way or recognizing how the writing itself could've failed his character and arc. (For example, one of the most common critiques I've seen to be about how he's a terrible friend, boyfriend, nephew, hypocritical, misogynistic for some reason, selfish and how his entire redemption arc wasn't driven by a desire to be better but to gain Iroh's favor back as a parental figure, how he's barely apologized enough for all the damage he's done, how he's overrated, writer's pet, colonialist, how he disregards everyone and never does anything for anyone despite a ton of characters doing noble acts for his sake, the lack of remorse when it came to how Aang supposedly died, how some ships will never make sense because he would never commit for a stable relationship that isn't one sided or where he doesn't out any work into, etc)
Like, sorry for the super depressing ask, but I wanted to see some positivity after having seen him being bashed on every post. Actually getting into the fandom has actually made me feel bad and ashamed for enjoying zuko, or just engaging in any content regarding his character. I tend to try and be positive and think that the message the character delivered still went through, but that the writing didn't fully commit to it beyond a sadly flawed or rushed level, but I don't actually know if there's anything good about his character anymore, or if the fandom's ruined it for me. I know I've referenced a ton of stuff, but you obviously like, don't have to address any of it, I just put some examples of things I've heard.
Hope you're doing awesome btw, thanks for reading this whole thing <3
Hello Zuko positivity anon! :3 of course I can share some Zuko positivity that's kinda why I made this blog lol. I wasn't really aware of the Zuko hate?? like I've seen some but I do think generally his arc and character is considered kind of like a pretty good standard for villain to hero arcs.
And definitely! There are flaws to be noticed. But I think it's okay for characters to have flaws I mean, I think they SHOULD have flaws. I think his entire character is based around him navigating his flaws yknow?
I think a lot of the stuff about him being a bad friend/partner/nephew comes from pre redemption, so I think talking about how bad he is in any kind of relationship kind of feels like it misses the point to me. He IS a bad friend, that's the point! He doesn't do well with relationships, and he learns over time to get over his bitterness and heal his relationships. He goes with the gaang to gain their trust time and time again because he wants them to know that he has changed. He goes straight into a fire nation PRISON and is subjected to kinda what I imagine a firbender's torture is to prove to Sokka that he aligns with them. He goes with Katara to help her find the man and supports her REGARDLESS of how she decides to deal with him because he wants her to know that he is on HER side and doesn't want to meddle with what she feels is right. He learns from the dragons, a species that was thought to be near extinct from what I remember? and trusts Aang and himself because this is BIGGER than him.
And when it comes to Iroh specifically, I can definitely agree that, yes, Zuko was pretty terrible to him. But none of that was against what Iroh wanted. Iroh loved him unconditionally, and WANTED to be there for him regardless of how he acted. There were certainly moments where he was hurt by him, but he loved him SO much. Zuko is definitely driven by Iroh to become a better person, but I don't think that means he's selfishly becoming better just for his own gain. He recognizes how much Iroh's support and guidance meant to him, and he wants to have him back so he can apologize and do his best to make up for all of the time he spent being aggressive towards him. No one HAS to be the one to be there for someone who is extremely struggling, it's not an obligation, but a lot of the time it is so important that there at least IS someone. Zuko needed that steady person in his life, and Iroh CHOSE to be that person. Iroh isn't a victim just because Zuko was rude and aggressive, because he wanted to be there and help him, and all of his teachings and guidance did ultimately help him grows as a person.
My first thought for colonialist was "...what?" The Fire Nation is, obviously, very colonialist, but I wasn't sure where the idea of ZUKO being colonialist would come from, but after thinking for a second I think I know? This comes from the comics, though, so bear with me it's been several years since I've read them
In The Promise, Zuko and Aang are on opposing beliefs about what to do with the Fire Nation people who have settled in the Earth Kingdom. The Earth Kingdom people, for the most part, want the Fire Nation people out of their land because they feel they've been ruled by them. The Fire Nation people, however, argue that they have built their lives for generations now. Many of them are no longer soldiers. They have married and had kids with people native in the Earth Kingdom. They have traditions and cultures that have been built to coexist with them. So the big question is.... what do they do about it? I don't remember exactly how everything happened, or really how it ended, but the whole point of that entire comic series is that Zuko is struggling to be a political figure. He is the fire lord, so he needs to make decisions that are the best for his people, but he also wants to right the wrongs that have been committed for a century. He isn't sure what he should do. I don't remember what the solution ended up being, I'm sure it was some kind of compromise, but he is not trying to erase the culture of the Earth Kingdom. He was trying to preserve the culture that had been built within the Earth Kingdom in certain areas after Fire Nation soldiers were stationed. There is, obviously, something to be said about the initial reason the soldiers were there was colonization and possibly genocide. That should absolutely not be ignored. But, in this fictional world, at least, the removal of the head of the country has changed the minds of the vast majority of the people in it, and they no longer WANT that war. They aren't interested in colonizing, they just want to keep the blended culture they have. (please note I haven't read the promise in a long time and I don't remember exactly how this was handled and if it was done well. this is just how i remember it)
Anyway, I think Zuko is generally done really well. He is definitely a flawed character, but the whole point is that he grows and changes because of the influences of the people around him, you know? You definitely shouldn't feel ashamed for liking his character, he's a great one! There's a reason he's regarded as a good standard for a redemption arc. His arc recognizes the immense struggle it is to change your mindset and beliefs, and undo what is essentially brainwashing. It's toned down for a kids show, but I still think him becoming PHYSICALLY ILL for doing a good act is extremely representative of the struggle. Like we all clown on it but it is REALLY hard. When you've thought a certain way and hated a certain person or group for so long, it feels impossible to do anything different.
I certainly hope fandom people don't ruin him for you for good! I've definitely had that happen to me for fandoms or characters I love. But I think as long as you stay within the sphere of people who get you, fandom can be really fun. I think he's a great character, and there's plenty of things to enjoy about him! From his silly awkwardness to his growth of deep emotional care, I think he's a really fun character.
Just have fun! If you like a character, like a character! I made a whole blog for it lol
Zuko is the OG relatable character. He's imperfect and his writing is questionable but he's. scarily accurate.
Tfw your sibling resented you for being your mother's favourite and you feel guilty but also not because she was the only one you ever had and your dad was a narcissist.
Tfw you do everything you can to earn your father's approval and nothing is good enough. Everything you've ever done, even if successful, feels like a shameful attempt.
Tfw you feel guilty for being important but angry that you feel your sibling didn't have to work to be important like you did.
Tfw you watch your sister's mind fall apart, slip and shatter after years of enduring the emotional abuse they thought of as love and you turned out fine and you've never felt more guilty.
Tfw you're grateful you have a destiny and being the firstborn is the only worth you've ever had, but you don't know what any of it means yet and you have to embark on this journey of self-discovery and humility where you learn that your actions have consequences and your words have value. You may or may not acquire 3 younger siblings in the process.
Tfw you're "supposed to be the older one", supposed to be the important one who is smarter and stronger and a good beginning to the family legacy, yet sometimes you easily lose the fight with your stupid mistakes, you underwhelm people sometimes, you see yourself as weak so you think everyone sees you as weak and unworthy.
Tfw you finally come to terms with your life and have succeeded in what you wanted, but you will never forget the things that aren't supposed to matter anymore, you will never stop feeling guilty. You couldn't save your sister or give her the life she deserved. Your rise was her downfall. She was your best friend but your first opponent. She suffers silently and tells people she's fine.
So you have to own the victory you've earned and say you're fine, too.
Ofc he's not a perfect character and an annoying bastard sometimes. He's still a favourite.
After reading your posts about Ozai, do you think Zuko really loved his father after everything he did?
Ozai is alive post-war, and Zuko does go seek out advice from him. But here is where the parent child relationship gets a little dicey.
As children (most of us), we idolize our parents. So, it makes perfect sense that Zuko would have unconditional love for Ozai. He does, but it's one-sided. Does he love Ozai post-war? Probably, but it's not the idolization of when he was a child. It's more of a 'you're my father and we are blood so I love you because of that' and that would be it. I also think Zuko hates his father at the same time because of what Ozai did to him. It's complicated, but there it is. And there are lots of people in the world who do feel this way about their parents.
I don't have the best relationship with my father, but that's because he's a narcissistic asshole. I love him, but I don't like him. It's complicated, and it's hard to mend things with him when he is obsessed with right-wing politics. Drives me crazy.
So in short, I don't think there is any love gained, but definitely lost because Ozai is a horrible person.
As I was revisiting the Fire Nation royals’ relationship, I noticed something. What if, and I might be wrong, Zuko feels guilt toward Azula? As someone who has experience with abusive homes and mental illness issues, I know that guilt is a strong feeling and a primarily one in abuse victims.
My father doesn’t love me because I’m not enough. It is my fault.
My mother left because I couldn’t save her. It is my fault.
Azula has lost it because I couldn’t help her. It is my fault.
While looking at the relationship between Azula and Zuko, we see competitors, fighters and Ozai’s little minions. But when I look at them as someone who’s been abused I sense a guilty Zuko just absolutely beating himself up because of what’s been happening to Azula. It might’ve hurt him even more when he saw the relationship between Katara and Sokka. How Sokka helps and supports Katara and is generally a good big brother, seeing Katara and Aang as his responsibility. Maybe Zuko also saw Mai, Ty Lee and Azula as his responsibility (because they were all younger) but was not able to act on it because he was so so so hurt himself. And this act of neglence reminds him of Ozai. The fear of becoming like Ozai is very strong in Zuko as it is also explored in the comics. So I just think when we discuss Azula and Zuko’s relationship we forget how everything would feel for both of them, as abuse victims and neglected children instead of competitors for the crown/Ozai’s “love”.
