History Recap / AvatarTheLastAirbenderZukoAlone

* AmbiguousSituation:
** At the time of the original airing. ''[[ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch The Search]]'' has since added some more context.

* DirtyCoward: Gow proves himself to be a fairly skilled earthbender, but completely loses it when Zuko resorts to firebending. It almost makes you wonder how he would've reacted if the Fire Nation came to the village to conquer/destroy it.

* BaitTheDog: Azulon's initial reaction to Ozai's suggestion to pass the throne succession from Iroh to him seems to show the old Fire Lord as [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold stern but caring father authority]] who loathes Ozai's naked attempt to seize the throne in the midst of the family grieving for the loss of Lu-Ten. But then [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Auzlon reveals himself to be just as bad as Ozai]] when Azula told Zuko that Ozai's punishment is to ''murder'' his own son to feel the loss of losing a firstborn.

* DropTheHammer: Gow uses a pair of hammers to fight Zuko.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Ursa wakes up her son and tries to pass on important advice to him. Zuko's half-asleep for the entire conversation, passes out again as soon as she leaves, and barely remembers what she told him.
** In the present time, sixteen-year-old Zuko leaves his MUCH more experienced uncle's side and barely lasts a few days before nearly passing out from hunger and dehydration because he didn't plan properly.
** Zuko is an excellent fighter, but when battling an earthbender without his bending, he's sorely outmatched.
** Zuko revealing his identity as a firebender and furthermore the prince of the royal family does not go over well. Even though he defeats an honestly despicable thug and saves Lee, the latter is fearful and claims he hates Zuko, while the rest of the townspeople are no more friendly. It turns out that saving one kid from freeloading small-time criminals [[BittersweetEnding doesn't make an ingrained fear brought on by a hundred years of terror and subjugation go away]].

Zuko's DayInTheLimelight -- "Zuko Alone" focuses completely on the story of the show's resident anti-hero; although he usually serves as the B-Plot, here he is the main focus, with the Gaang not appearing at all. After parting way with Iroh in the previous episode, Zuko finds life on his own more difficult than he thought. He befriends a local family in a small Earth Kingdom village, and his experiences with a young boy Lee brings back memories of his own childhood in the Fire Nation palace.

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Zuko's actions towards the end are framed as this. It's implied that when Ursa told Zuko to "never forget who [he is]", she meant for him to never forget the kind and compassionate son she raised. Cut to the present day, and the memory inspires Zuko to indeed remember who he is. ...by using his firebending to defeat Gow, then acting like the menacing, choleric antagonist we've seen throughout the series, all the while proudly declaring his Fire Nation heritage. One gets the feeling this goes against ''everything'' Ursa meant by "never forget who you are". If anything, it's a sobering indication of Zuko's misguided belief that [[BeYourself remembering himself]] means being the angry, arrogant Fire Nation Prince twisted by his father, instead of the [[UsedToBeASweetKid kindly, good-hearted boy]] he previously was.

** Played with, in that the concept is there, what's off is the framing; this would be played straight if we were watching through the village's POV rather than Zuko's. A rogue firebender - the prince, to boot - shows much more humility and honor than the 'solders', is not unnecessarily violent, and is genuinely disgusted with their antics.
** The tropes is misapplied by the villagers due to their [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity inability to see any good in any Fire Nation member]]; one states he's heard of Zuko and knows that he was exiled. He assumes that [[EvilerThanThou Zuko was so terrible, his tyrannical father exiled him]] (when it was really [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished Ozai punishing Zuko for opposing a tyrannical plan]]).

** There is a legitimate reason for the villagers to turn on Zuko so fast out of their FantasticRacism and BlackAndWhiteInsanity at the end of the episode because of [[TragicBigot how lastingly deep and painful the wounds the Fire Nation has left on them; while they seem initially ungrateful, you then remember that these thugs are only here because the men of the village were off to the war, the war Zuko's own family started. And the family Zuko just saved? Likely lost their firstborn son to the war, and their father to follow. Zuko might have saved their lives this day, but it doesn't come anywhere close to making up for the lost lives and pain the war has caused them]]. It doesn't help that Zuko picked ''this'' moment to reaffirm his birthright as the fire nation prince; to the villagers this stranger is downright ''proud'' of the genocidal heritage he has (even though we know, from the flashbacks, that he has different reasons for reaffirming it).

* HandOnWomb: Just so you know that the girl Zuko sees early on really is pregnant, her partner puts his hand gently on her belly.
* HeroicSecondWind: When Zuko is defeated by the bully leader, he lies on the ground unconscious and has a flashback to his mother. This gives him new strength and he gets up and kicks the bully's ass.
* IHaveAFamily: An indirect example. Zuko prepares to rob a couple, but stops when he notices the wife is pregnant.

* MirrorCharacter: Ozai was TheUnfavorite to his father, presumably because his brother Iroh [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter was a much more talented fire bender.]] A direct parallel to the relationship Ozai has with his kids.

* MyNewGiftIsLame: Young Azula was clearly not fond of the Earth Kingdom doll Iroh sent her, showing disapproval upon receiving it and later [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior burning it with firebending.]]

** Zuko revealing his identity as a firebender and furthermore the prince of the royal family does not go over well. Even though he defeats an honestly despicable thug and saves Lee, the latter is fearful and claims he hates Zuko, while the rest of the townspeople are no more friendly. It turns out that saving one kid from freeloading small-time criminals [[BittersweetEnding doesn't make an ingrained fear brought on by a hundred years of terror and subjugation go away.]]

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: One of the Earth Kingdom soldiers cracks up at Zuko's sarcastic remarks to their interrogation.

** The town quickly turns on Zuko the moment they learn of his identity, even after he rescued a kidnapped Lee. Because of the Fire Nation's infamy, seeing an exiled prince help them is not enough to forgive the nation in general for 100 years of subjugation.

** Although Azula having NoSympathy for Iroh after quitting the siege of Ba Sing Se and calling him a "quitter and a loser" is framed as her being an apathic jerkass, she is strictly speaking not entirely wrong, even if not [[RightForTheWrongReasons for the right reasons]] : During the long-enduring siege ''many'' soldiers on both ends likely lost their lives, but it was only after his own son perished that Iroh decided the war wasn't worth the losses.

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Zuko's actions towards the end are framed as this. It's implied that when Ursa told Zuko to "never forget who [he is]", she meant for him to never forget the kind and compassionate son she raised. Cut to the present day, and the memory inspires Zuko to indeed remember who he is. ...by using his firebending to defeat Gow, then acting like the menacing, choleric antagonist we've seen throughout the series. Put aside that he [[TooDumbToLive needlessly exposed]] his identity to Earth Kingdom villagers [[InnocentlyInsensitive who don't appreciate firebenders]], one gets the feeling this goes against ''everything'' Ursa meant by "never forget who you are". If anything, it's a sobering indication of Zuko's misguided belief that [[BeYourself remembering himself]] means being the angry, arrogant Fire Nation Prince twisted by his father, instead of the [[UsedToBeASweetKid kindly, good-hearted boy]] he previously was.

* IHaveAFamily: Zuko prepares to rob a couple, but stops when he notices the wife is pregnant.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Zuko goes back to the village to save Lee, but when he's forced to use his firebending to do so the rest of the village runs him out of town.

* GodzillaThreshold: The villagers appeared content to simply endure the soldiers harassing them but a prince of the Fire Nation being in their midst causes them to take up arms and run him out of town.

** Played with, in that the concept is there, what's off is the framing; this would be played straight if we were watching through the villages POV rather than Zuko's. A rogue firebender - the prince, to boot - shows much more humility and honor than the 'solders', is not unnecessarily violent and is genuinely disgusted with their antics.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The leader of the group of bullies is the best fighter among them and the only one with earthbending powers. They're relatively minor compared to, say, Bumi or Toph, but still good enough to land some solid hits on Zuko.

* AntiHero: Zuko himself is a NominalHero. Despite being technically a villain, Zuko fight against Earth Kingdom soldiers that are much worse because after how Azula and Ozai treated him, he can't stand bullies.

* CoverBlowingSuperpower: Zuko's firebending, which gets him run out of the town he just saved with it. (Though it probably doesn't help that he proceeds to reveal ''exactly'' who he is -- he's not just ''any'' firebender, he's the ''son of the Fire Lord'').

* CreepyChild: Azula in the flashbacks.

* TheDrifter: Zuko.

* DisproportionateRetribution[=/=]MisplacedRetribution: Azulon apparently decides that Zuko has to die to give a lesson to Ozai when Ozai presses too hard about replacing Iroh in the line of succession.