man I just saw these two screenshots and....what the hell. the detail that Zuko doesn't cry out of his scarred eye in front of Ozai, but he does in front of Iroh. What the hell.
It just adds to the parallels of these two scenes, two of the culminations of Zuko's arc, finally breaking away from the control of his abusive father and reuniting with his true, adoptive father.
I'm thinking about tears as a sign of vulnerability, how scientists think they're deeply connected to our inherent nature as social beings. How they're meant to strengthen bonds and bring pity and compassion from other people.
Zuko confronting Ozai during the eclipse is exciting because it's him finally having the strength to stand up for himself, to recognize just how much pain Ozai inflicted on him and say no more. It's exciting but it's also a little heartbreaking to me since he still can't show any sign of "weakness", just as Ozai wanted. The tears, the only crack in this defiance that comes, is when Ozai taunts him with the knowledge of what happened to Ursa. And even then, tears do not fall from Zuko's scar, the site of his greatest pain, because that part will forever be guarded from Ozai.
But with Iroh, tears flow freely from both eyes, because Zuko knows he can be vulnerable with his uncle. He knows that, unlike Ozai, Iroh doesn't take this as weakness and will not turn it against him. Zuko always guards his scar from everyone except the people most important to him, and he lets it weep openly in front of Iroh.
I'm thinking about how scientists have shown that tears release stress and boost positive hormones. I'm thinking about how humans have always known this, in a way, how in folklore tears often have magical transformative and curative properties. They heal.
Maybe by letting tears run over his scar, Zuko heals too.
I also think a little about water as a healing symbol in the Avatar world in general and the only person Zuko ever let touch his scar, the person who approached with a teardrop vial.
