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** In the Fire Nation, it is well-known to everyone that if someone is leaving the palace to "visit sick relatives", what they're actually doing is fleeing the country because they've angered the Fire Lord and are in danger of summary execution. However, no one has ever explained this to Zuko, who thinks that all of the people fleeing the palace are genuinely visiting relatives and wishes them well. This means that when he decides to [[spoiler:publicly call out Iroh before he goes to visit Azula in her asylum]], he refers to the situation as "visiting sick relatives". He's being literal, but everyone else thinks he's in danger, [[spoiler:and the fact that Iroh is supposedly threatening his beloved nephew destroys the last shred of trust anyone had in him and kicks off a civil war]].

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** In the Fire Nation, it is well-known to everyone that if someone is leaving the palace to "visit sick relatives", what they're actually doing is fleeing the country because they've angered the Fire Lord and are in danger of summary execution. However, no one has ever explained this to Zuko, who thinks that all of the people fleeing the palace are genuinely visiting relatives and wishes them well. This means that when he decides to [[spoiler:publicly call out Iroh before he goes to visit Azula in her asylum]], he refers to the situation as "visiting sick relatives". He's being literal, but everyone else thinks he's in danger, [[spoiler:and the fact that Iroh is supposedly threatening his beloved nephew destroys the last shred of horribly shreds any trust anyone had in him him, and kicks is threatening to kick off a civil war]].



* PsychologicalProjection: Katara deeply loves her father and wants his safe return. Thus, she is repulsed that Zuko doesn't want [[AbusiveParents his father back]] and [[YouCanKeepHer would let the Earth Kingdom continue to imprison Ozai]] to prevent a power struggle. Katara uses this to justify her already negative view of him. She later takes Zuko's refusal to release enemy leaders (of which her father is one) as a personal slight rather than the national security concern it actually is.

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* PsychologicalProjection: Katara deeply loves her father and wants his safe return. Thus, she is repulsed that Zuko doesn't want [[AbusiveParents his father back]] and [[YouCanKeepHer would let the Earth Kingdom continue to imprison Ozai]] to prevent a power struggle. Katara uses this to justify her already negative view of him. She later takes Zuko's refusal to release enemy leaders (of which her father is one) one, and she refuses to mention her dad is in said prison) as a personal slight rather than the national security concern it actually is.

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* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When the Fire Lord's servants go from being genuinely nice to clearly faking being nice after [[spoiler:Iroh comes into power]], Sokka realizes that something has gone horribly wrong.



* PoorCommunicationKills: Everyone seems to suffer from this to varying degrees.

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* PoorCommunicationKills: Everyone seems to suffer from this to varying degrees. Most of the conflict of the story comes from people doing things according to their own worldview and culture without trying to explain their reasonings because they assume their way is common knowledge.


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** In the Fire Nation, it is well-known to everyone that if someone is leaving the palace to "visit sick relatives", what they're actually doing is fleeing the country because they've angered the Fire Lord and are in danger of summary execution. However, no one has ever explained this to Zuko, who thinks that all of the people fleeing the palace are genuinely visiting relatives and wishes them well. This means that when he decides to [[spoiler:publicly call out Iroh before he goes to visit Azula in her asylum]], he refers to the situation as "visiting sick relatives". He's being literal, but everyone else thinks he's in danger, [[spoiler:and the fact that Iroh is supposedly threatening his beloved nephew destroys the last shred of trust anyone had in him and kicks off a civil war]].
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* PsychosomaticSuperpowerOutage: With Zuko being captured before he could join the Gaang in his post-eclipse HeelFaceTurn, Zuko is barely able to bend due to losing his anger that fueled it and spending months in prison cut off from the sun. [[spoiler:Then Iroh challenges Zuko to an Agni Kai to dethrone him. Faced with his beloved uncle betraying him and forcing to relive the worst memory of his life causes Zuko to lose his firebending completely.]]

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* PsychosomaticSuperpowerOutage: With Zuko being captured before he could join the Gaang in his post-eclipse HeelFaceTurn, Zuko is barely able to bend due to losing his anger that fueled it and spending months in prison cut off from the sun. [[spoiler:Then Iroh challenges Zuko to an Agni Kai to dethrone him. Faced with his beloved uncle betraying him and forcing to relive the worst memory of his life causes Zuko to lose his firebending completely.]] When the dragons try to show him the truth and let him firebend again like in canon, Zuko is unreceptive -- the way he sees it, fire is not a source of energy and life, because he ''literally'' had to make the choice between his fire and his life while he was in the airtight prison with limited oxygen]].

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trope split


* HundredPercentAdorationRating: The palace staff ''adore'' Zuko and are extremely protective of him. He doesn't seem to realize their coddling and very hands on and relaxed attitudes isn't insubordination but a sign of real love and respect rather than the fear induced loyalty his father and sister got.





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* UniversallyBelovedLeader: The palace staff ''adore'' Zuko and are extremely protective of him. He doesn't seem to realize their coddling and very hands on and relaxed attitudes isn't insubordination but a sign of real love and respect rather than the fear induced loyalty his father and sister got.
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Misuse. An Averted Thou Shall Not Kill example means having not moral code about killing.


* ThouShallNotKill: {{Averted}}. Despite what Aang likes to think, the Gaang have been killing a ''lot'' of people from the Fire Nation military.

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* ThouShallNotKill: {{Averted}}.[[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. Despite what Aang likes to think, the Gaang have been killing a ''lot'' of people from the Fire Nation military.
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* DecapitatedArmy: {{Averted}}. An entire war isn't won simply because you beat the enemy's leader. It takes Zuko all but literally spelling it out for Aang to understand that the Fire Nation only started withdrawing troops and ending the war because ''Zuko'' declared a ceasefire and ordered them back, not because he beat Ozai.


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* ThouShallNotKill: {{Averted}}. Despite what Aang likes to think, the Gaang have been killing a ''lot'' of people from the Fire Nation military.
** Those Fire Nation ships Aang took out while channeling the Ocean Spirit in Season 1? This story confirms that he killed over a thousand soldiers doing so.
--->'''Aang:''' I know I kind of... broke a few of your ships. At the North Pole.\\
'''Zuko:''' ''[thinking]'' Sent over a thousand people into graves of steel and salt, yes.
** All those people on Ozai’s war blimps under Sozin’s Comet were killed as well. In addition, Toph finds what she had to do very distressing, and is upset that Aang refuses to acknowledge what happened.
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Ill Girl has been cut per TRS decision. Examples are moved to Delicate And Sickly when appropriate.


* IllGirl: Zuko's poor health from his imprisonment, stress, and Azula's constant lightning attacks literally endangers his rule and shapes the course of the politics.
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This or these examples of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome seem to violate at least one of these rules, which disqualifies them: No character reactions (characters get angry, don't forgive, don't change their personality instantly, etc.); Too fantastical (depends on the properties of magic, powers, sci-fi tech, monsters, etc.); Not surprising (a character was warned about the outcome, it's used to provide Karma or An Aesop, or it simply follows normal conventions for this genre or medium); Plot happens (the example only describes an event, but not why audiences would expect a different, unrealistic outcome); Not an outcome (a character just explains why something wouldn't work as expected, or something is just an innate aspect of the setting or character that has a logical reason for being present); More of a Deconstruction (the event has major, lasting effects on the plot, make something more realistic, but not completely realistic, or a parody/fanwork applies realistic consequences to the events of a different work); or fits better under a different trope. See the trope's definition for more details. If you believe a removal was a mistake, please bring it up in the cleanup thread.


* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** The only reason that Azula was able to take her position as Fire Lord was due to Ozai changing the law to make 14 the minimum age to become Fire Lord. Neither Azula nor Zuko would be considered legal adults in the rest of the Fire Nation. They are both considered too young to be ruling without a regent. In fact, the Fire Sages try to make a deal with Iroh to become Zuko's regent or take the throne so an actual adult is ruling the country instead of a child working himself to death.
*** The Fire Sages still want Zuko to rule though, just not too soon, and for him to get some rest. Sage Fujio outright says to Iroh's face that Zuko is a better candidate than either Ozai or Iroh himself.
** Despite what Aang likes to think, the Gaang have been killing a ''lot'' of people from the Fire Nation military.
*** Those Fire Nation ships Aang took out while channeling the Ocean Spirit in Season 1? This story confirms that he killed over a thousand soldiers doing so.
---->'''Aang:''' I know I kind of... broke a few of your ships. At the North Pole.\\
'''Zuko:''' ''[thinking]'' Sent over a thousand people into graves of steel and salt, yes.
*** All those people on Ozai’s war blimps under Sozin’s Comet were killed as well. In addition, Toph finds what she had to do very distressing, and is upset that Aang refuses to acknowledge what happened.
---->'''Toph's POV:''' Because she and Katara and Sokka, they hadn't been expecting Aang to come back from his part of the comet fight with Ozai still breathing. And yeah, killing people was terrible, and no one should force kids like them to do things like that—but what did Aang think ''they'd'' been doing, up in the airship fleet? Why did ''he'' get to stay all clean but they had to— \\
And ''Ozai''. Why did he get to live, when all those low-level soldiers, the guys just steering the ships or working in the engine rooms, the ones whose heartbeats had been so scared and their shouts had sounded so ''young, '' why'd they have to ''die?'' Was it only ''royalty'' that got special no-kill attention from the Avatar? She loved Twinkletoes, he was like the flighty loveable annoying awful amazing brother she'd never wanted but suddenly had, but—but he could be such an ''airbender'', and ''[[NominalImportance knowing someone's name]],'' being able to put a face and a history to them, didn't make them more worthy of living. A lot less worthy, in Ozai's case.
** An entire war isn't won simply because you beat the enemy's leader. It takes Zuko all but literally spelling it out for Aang to understand that the Fire Nation only started withdrawing troops and ending the war because ''Zuko'' declared a ceasefire and ordered them back, not because he beat Ozai.
*** So far as anyone is concerned, the Fire Nation won the war. The Water Tribes are a non-factor, the Air Nomads are functionally extinct, and the Fire Nation controls more of the Earth Kingdom than the Earth Kingdom does. And no, Zuko isn't going to give up the Fire Nation colonies simply because Aang asked.
*** While the Gaang won an important battle under Sozin's Comet, they still lost the war.
** While Ozai was stopped from burning down all of the Earth Kingdom, he still wiped out a considerable amount of farmland. As it was just before the harvest, the nation is now facing a serious famine.
** While the rest of the Gaang (barring Iroh) have a year's worth of resentment towards Zuko for hunting them down all over the world, Toph only had one brief encounter with Zuko and stories from the others. Thus her view of him is the least biased and she forms a genuine sympathy and friendship with the exhausted monarch. He in turn, while confused by her position in the Gaang, finds her BrutalHonesty and lack of ulterior motive refreshing, even offering her a position in his court for her LivingLieDetector abilities.
** With Earth King Kuei going missing and not telling anyone where he went as he went WalkingTheEarth, many people believed that he [[EatenAlive was eaten by his bear]] once his bear got hungry. A ShelteredAristocrat that never had to fend for himself set lose to wander a war-torn countryside full of bandits and wild beasts isn't likely to live very long... and that's ''without'' TemptingFate by traveling with a large, poorly-trained, apex predator big enough to kill and eat him when it goes hungry. This also means that all the surviving generals are basically running the show.
** A bunch of politically inexperienced teens have to draw a peace treaty on behalf of their nations during a peace conference with the Fire Nation. A lack of communication and understanding on both sides leads said politically inexperienced teens to completely botch any peace in the short and long term.
** Zuko is the first Fire Lord in a century who wasn't an insane warmonger ruling through terror. He treats his staff like people and genuinely wants the best for his nation, agonizes over hard decisions that come from changing a war economy to a peaceful one. His staff and his people adore him, and are genuinely upset [[spoiler:when he is deposed by Iroh]].
** [[spoiler:During Zuko's Agni Kai against Iroh, many of the palace staff notice that he didn't firebend at all and wonder if the Avatar {{Depower}}ed him. While Aang didn't, the lack of public knowledge of how energybending works makes the unpopular Avatar a convenient scapegoat and boogeyman.]]
** Not everyone at the Boiling Rock are as bad as they seem. Suki and Hakoda quickly learn that there's political dissenters and soldiers who fought back against the war, and several guards keep an eye out to protect the teenaged Suki.
*** This also makes said political prisoners much less useful in a jail break as many of them have little to no fighting ability.
** [[spoiler:Iroh's usurption against Zuko has done a lot of damage to his reputation, to the point that in Chapter 23, when Suki and Hakoda have the chance to escape the prison to be the new Fire Lord's 'honoured guests,' they adamantly refuse. They know that Iroh is working with the Avatar, but they are both so mistrustful of him they think they would be worse off with him. By comparison, Azula's offer of helping cause a civil war sounds much better. Even after Sokka tries to reassure them, Hakoda still prefers the civil war route and refuses to help capture Zuko and Azula to ensure it, while Suki actually chooses to go with the siblings, saying she'll only meet with Iroh after he proves his sincerity.]]
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''Towards the Sun'' by [[https://muffinlance.tumblr.com/ MuffinLance]] is an ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' {{Fanfic}} exploring a ForWantOfANail Season Four "Zuko never joined the Gaang, and he's really bad at being good" AU. It can be primarily be read [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19252807 here]] on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn. The story can also be found [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13287350/1/Towards-the-Sun here]] on Website/FanFictionDotNet, though that version has been discontinued as of June 14, 2021 due to the author's preference for posting on [=AO3=].

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''Towards the Sun'' by [[https://muffinlance.tumblr.com/ MuffinLance]] Creator/{{MuffinLance}} is an ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' {{Fanfic}} exploring a ForWantOfANail Season Four "Zuko never joined the Gaang, and he's really bad at being good" AU. It can be primarily be read [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19252807 here]] on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn. The story can also be found [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13287350/1/Towards-the-Sun here]] on Website/FanFictionDotNet, though that version has been discontinued as of June 14, 2021 due to the author's preference for posting on [=AO3=].
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* HeroWithAnFInGood: Canon Zuko famously expressed this frustration with himself, but in Chapter 32 this is spelled out in painstaking detail. Zuko literally ''does not know how'' to do the right thing, whether from a moral standpoint or a practical one, and whether he's working inside or outside of imperialist Fire Nation dogma. He has seen no model of behavior that he can reconcile with his own experiences of trying to be good and being punished for it, and the only people still close to him are just as bad. As the only relatively well-adjusted person in his orbit, it grudgingly falls on [[spoiler:Suki]] to offer firm but constructive feedback on how he could be a better person.

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* KnifeNut: Mai has created an impressive number of improvised knives while in prison, and yes, she can throw them all with deliberate precision.


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* SinisterShiv: Mai has created an impressive number of improvised knives while in prison, and yes, she can throw them all with deliberate precision.
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* GrammarNazi: Chit Sang is really particular about people's diction and proofreading. It's what got him thrown in the Boiling Rock in fact -- some university students were handing out pamplets with treasonous ideas, but also a really annoying spelling error. After begging them on multiple occasions to fix it, one day he got drunk, broke in, and modified their printing press himself... just in time for the authorities to raid the place and him to take the blame for writing the things.
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* HonorBeforeReason: There are rules about what you can and cannot do to the Fire Lord. So when Iroh is faced with [[spoiler:his nephew having a literal heart attack in front of him and refusing treatment, instead of just say, holding him down and forcing Katara to heal him, Iroh instead ''challenges Zuko to an Agni Kai'' so he has the political power to order him to rest. Which leaves him with a living nephew who now cannot trust him and an entire palace of people who resent him.]]

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* HonorBeforeReason: There are rules about what you can and cannot do to the Fire Lord. So when Iroh is faced with [[spoiler:his nephew having a literal heart attack in front of him and refusing treatment, instead of just say, holding him down and forcing Katara to heal him, Iroh instead ''challenges Zuko to an Agni Kai'' so he has the political power to order him to rest. Which leaves him with a living nephew who now cannot trust him and an entire palace of people who resent him.]]
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* BotheringByTheBook: Under Zuko, all of his servants rush to help him with everything regardless of his attempts to do things for himself. [[spoiler:Under Firelord Iroh, the servants don't help Iroh until they're forced to, such as not opening doors until he's already waiting in front of them.]]

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* BotheringByTheBook: Under Zuko, all of his servants rush to help him with everything regardless of his attempts to do things for himself. [[spoiler:Under Firelord Fire Lord Iroh, the servants don't help Iroh until they're forced to, such as not opening doors until he's already waiting in front of them.]]
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** [[spoiler:In Chapter 38, Song flatly refuses to treat Zuko for his fever since she is still bitter over how he took advantage of her kindness and stole her ostrich horse.]]

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** [[spoiler:In Chapter 38, Song flatly refuses to treat Zuko for his fever since she is still bitter over how he took advantage of her kindness and stole her ostrich horse.horse back when he and Iroh were fugitives on the run from Azula.]]

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* LaserGuidedKarma: Zuko experiences this in chapter 38. [[spoiler:After catching a fever that steadily worsens, he is brought to a nearby Earth Kingdom village in search of a healer. Unfortunately for him, the only available healer is Song, the same girl whose ostrich horse he stole back when he and Iroh were fugitives on the run from Azula. Since Zuko had previously taken advantage of her kindness to rob her, Song flat out refuses to treat him despite Suki's pleas and Azula's threats.]]



** [[spoiler:In Chapter 38, Song flatly refuses to treat Zuko for his fever since she is still bitter over having her ostrich horse stolen.]]

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** [[spoiler:In Chapter 38, Song flatly refuses to treat Zuko for his fever since she is still bitter over having how he took advantage of her kindness and stole her ostrich horse stolen.horse.]]
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* BlackmailBackfire: One of the inmates at the Boiling Rock is a former logistics officer who tried blackmailing her colony's governor after she discovered that he was heading a conspiracy to embezzle military funds. She instead ended up getting framed for the whole thing and tossed into the Boiling Rock with a life sentence.

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* BlackmailBackfire: One of the inmates at the Boiling Rock is a former logistics officer who tried blackmailing her colony's governor after she discovered that he was heading part of a conspiracy to embezzle military funds. She instead ended up getting framed for the whole thing and tossed into the Boiling Rock with a life sentence.
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* BlackmailBackfire: One of the inmates at the Boiling Rock is a former logistics officer who tried blackmailing her colony's governor after she discovered that he was heading a conspiracy to embezzle military funds. She ended up getting framed for the whole scheme and tossed into the Boiling Rock with a life sentence.

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* BlackmailBackfire: One of the inmates at the Boiling Rock is a former logistics officer who tried blackmailing her colony's governor after she discovered that he was heading a conspiracy to embezzle military funds. She instead ended up getting framed for the whole scheme thing and tossed into the Boiling Rock with a life sentence.
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* BlackmailBackfire: One of the inmates at the Boiling Rock is a former logistics officer who tried blackmailing her colony's governor after she discovered that he was heading a conspiracy to embezzle military funds. She ended up getting framed for the whole scheme and tossed into the Boiling Rock with a life sentence.
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* HideYourOtherness: Governor Shohei of the Fire Nation's Shinchiheisen colony is secretly an earthbender, which he hides from his peers and the public.
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* TechnicolorFlame: [[spoiler:In addition to her usual blue flames, Azula is given the ability to create ''dragon fire'' by Ran and Shaw after she performs her own lightning variation of the firebending dance for them.]]

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* TechnicolorFlame: TechnicolorFire: [[spoiler:In addition to her usual blue flames, Azula is given the ability to create ''dragon fire'' dragon fire by Ran and Shaw after she performs her own lightning performing a variation of the firebending dance with lightning for them.]]
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* TechnicolorFlames: [[spoiler:In addition to her usual blue flames, Azula is given the ability to create ''dragon fire'' by Ran and Shaw after she performs her own lightning variation of the firebending dance for them.]]

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* TechnicolorFlames: TechnicolorFlame: [[spoiler:In addition to her usual blue flames, Azula is given the ability to create ''dragon fire'' by Ran and Shaw after she performs her own lightning variation of the firebending dance for them.]]

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