History YMMV / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch

* JerkassWoobie:
** Azula naturally continues to be this, with her pain and insanity even worse than before.
** Also, [[spoiler: Koh the Face Stealer]], who doesn't even appear here, becomes one due to his revealed backstory and FreudianExcuse.

* NeverLiveItDown: Ursa's [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic portrayal in this comic]]. A lot of fans seem to exaggerate Ursa's faults and downplay either her good qualities or Ozai's own actions. Despite what many say, Ursa's decisions in the story are not portrayed as completely in the right, with even Ursa expressing regret for what she did and apologizing for not loving Azula enough before choosing to regain her memories and face. Yet, she is known best here for unintentionally causing Zuko to be treated worse by Ozai (Even though that doesn't excuse how Ozai reacted and in fact, makes the abuse all the more despicable.) and getting a new face at the cost of the memories of her children (regardless of the fact that Ozai's blackmail and leverage didn't give her much of a choice in the matter.)
* ReplacementScrappy: The Mother of Faces to Koh.

* FanficFuel: Zuko [[spoiler:when he believes Ikem is his father briefly suggests that he could stay with him, Noriko and Kiyi and try to have a normal family life, giving up his Firelord claim. Try to imagine that plotline.]]

* ContestedSequel: Just like its [[Comicbook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise predecessor]]; fans either love this story for providing some closure to plot elements that weren't properly developed in the animated show or feel these books feel like a fanfiction and would prefer to think of it as non-canon. Bringing it up risks starting a fan war over its quality.
* FanDislikedExplanation: The arc exploring the reason why Ozai treated Zuko as TheUnfavourite manages to give two of these.
** Many dislike the twist that [[spoiler:Zuko isn't Ozai's son]], mainly because many fans feel it renders pointless a lot of [[spoiler:Zuko's]] character development from the animated series and [[BrokenAesop undermines]] its original aesop: "[[spoiler:You are not your bloodline, your family does not define who you have to be.]]" Eventually it's revealed that this first twist was a lie [[spoiler:and Ozai really is Zuko's father after all]], but the reason ''why'' it's untrue, [[spoiler:along with what actually happened to Ursa]], has become an entirely new FanDislikedExplanation: [[spoiler:Ursa wrote that Zuko was not Ozai's son in a deliberate attempt to 1) see if Ozai was reading her letters (which worked) and 2) piss him off if he was (which very much worked). But Ozai, being Ozai, was more pissed that she dared play an obvious lie that he would punish Ursa by treating Zuko like he wasn't his son for the rest of his life.]] NiceJobBreakingItHero.
*** It's not uncommon to find fans who were disappointed with the explanation of how Ursa disappeared.
*** Some fans were unhappy with the Mother of Faces being Koh's mother as well as the face that he steals faces to spite her. Many felt that this made Koh, an EnsembleDarkhorse, out to be a petty mama's boy and ruined his wise, ancient, powerful demeanor.
*** Many Azula fans dislike [[WordOfGod Gene Yang's statement]] about "Azula's SplitPersonality" in the comic. Fans believe Gene Yang failed to handle Azula's character well and the "SplitPersonality" is a super weak excuse for how poor his writing on Azula's character is and how her "mental illness" in the comic is very unrealistic.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Ursa. People either sympathize with her due to her being forced into an abusive marriage with Ozai or find her [[spoielr:decision to abandon Zuko and Azula and willingly erase all her memories of them]] to be unforgivable.

* ContestedSequel: Just like its [[Comicbook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise predecessor]]; some fans even feel these books almost as a fanfiction and would prefer to think of it as non-canon, and bringing it up risks starting a fan war.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: '''Ursa'''. See AlternativeCharacterInterpretation above: either people sympathize with her or find her unforgivable.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Ozai.
*** Was he ''always'' a heartless, power-hungry EvilPrince and abusive parent and husband or, just like Ursa, was he a victim of his father's eugenic schemes? In some point, did he really try to be a good father and husband? There is the fact that when he tells Ursa it's true that Azulon ordered him to murder Zuko, he's not cruel or forceful about it; just honest and resigned to it. Of course, then he gets manipulative when he says that she'll have to go into exile, and he won't let her take the children because he wants them as bargaining chips in case she ever decides to poison ''him''.
*** Exactly what his relationship with Azula is. Did he legitimately believe she would be a better Fire Lord than Zuko or was his telling Azula about the letter, something he knew was fake, just prove that she is just another tool for revenge he is trying to use against Zuko and Ursa. Or, given Azula's mental state, was it all just a ploy to gain back the throne. Given how politically perceptive Ozai is and how good he is at reading people or situations, he could've taken one look at the state his daughter was in, and willingly told Azula in the hopes that Azula would've gone and killed Ursa just to spite his son for dethroning him.
*** The true reason behind Ozai and Ursa's ArrangedMarriage. Was it, as Azulon proclaims, due to the Fire Sages' advice to breed a better, more powerful royal heir with the blood of Avatar Roku and the Fire Nation Royal Family? Or was it a calculated political strategy to avoid the rise of a potential threat to the Fire Nation Royal Family's position and power from Roku's lineage by merging the two bloodlines? Perhaps a bit of both?
** Does Zuko [[spoiler: completely forgive Ursa for wiping her memories of him at the end? Or is he being a StepfordSmiler and just trying to be a good son to her?]]
** Iroh. One could ask to what extent he knew about or even if he was involved in Fire Lord Azulon's eugenic scheme to create the perfect Fire Nation heir and how much he knew about Ursa's disappearance.

** Azula's [[spoiler: apparent HeelFaceTurn is this in-story, as Aang and Katara are willing to believe it, but Sokka isn't and thinks she just slipped up in her craziness and will still be a threat when she next turns up.]]

** Ozai, again. Was he ''always'' a heartless, power-hungry EvilPrince and abusive parent and husband or, just like Ursa, was he a victim of his father's eugenic schemes? In some point, did he really try to be a good father and husband? There is the fact that when he tells Ursa it's true that Azulon ordered him to murder Zuko, he's not cruel or forceful about it; just honest and resigned to it. Of course, then he gets manipulative when he says that she'll have to go into exile, and he won't let her take the children because he wants them as bargaining chips in case she ever decides to posion ''him''.

** The true reason behind Ozai and Ursa's ArrangedMarriage. Was it, as Azulon proclaims, due to the Fire Sages' advice to breed a better, more powerful royal heir with the blood of Avatar Roku and the Fire Nation Royal Family? Or was it a calculated political strategy to avoid the rise of a potential threat to the Fire Nation Royal Family's position and power from Roku's lineage by merging the two bloodlines? Perhaps a bit of both?

** Ursa is probably the biggest example: is she a sympathetic and loving mother who [[BrokenBird was broken by all the pain in her life]], or [[spoiler: a weak, cowardly, selfish woman who cared more for herself and her old boyfriend than for her own children?]] Ursa even derides herself for her choice; doubly so when she learned exactly how bad her ploy went.
*** On that note, her depiction in the comic: is it a contradiction of her depiction in the original series, or a more nuanced portrayal that goes beyond Zuko's fond memories of her?

** After Yu Dao blew up in his face, Aang changed. He's willing to compromise on his goals to achieve partial victories. He's become far more practical in his solutions to problems, like punting Yu Dao's reformation to an international conference and advising Zuko to burn a letter that could undermine his claim to the throne, rather than relying on good intentions, friendship, and lucky breaks. He's also being more political in how he treats Zuko, recognizing that his friend is also a somewhat shaky ally who needs propping up after an ambiguously suicidal fall.

* NeverLiveItDown: Ursa's portrayal here as an UnintentionallyUnsympathetic person. People seems to exaggerate Ursa's faults and downplay either her good qualities or Ozai's own actions. Despite what people act like, Ursa's decisions in the story are not portrayed as completely in the right, with even Ursa outright regretting what she did and apologizing for not loving Azula enough before choosing to regain her memories and face. Yet, she is known best here for unintentionally causing Zuko to be treated worse by Ozai (Even though that doesn't excuse how Ozai reacted and in fact, makes the abuse all the more despicable.) and getting a new face at the cost of the memories of her children (regardless of the fact that Ozai's blackmail and leverage didn't give her much of a choice in the matter.)

* MoralEventHorizon: Ozai crossed it ''long'' before he burned Zuko, when he told off Ursa for claiming [[spoiler:Zuko wasn't his son in a letter to Ikem, and said he would hurt Zuko as a proxy. Especially since he knew from the beginning that it was a lie.]]

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Azula. Granted, she's still very unpleasant and dangerous but she's still a 15-16 year old clearly suffering from severe mental illness and desperation to find a purpose in life. Zuko and Aang try to make nice with her; but Azula's just too barbed when lucid and unreasonable when she isn't. Sokka outright distrusts her with good reason while Katara keeps neutral about the whole affair. As ties into SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome, it's difficult for anybody to make progress with her when they can't talk to her without risking a fight; but she's no better to try when she's either focused on her own agenda or lost in insanity otherwise. It also doesn't help that Azula thinks her mother hates her, and [[spoiler:with the reason for Ursa's disappearance, she might now have a very good reason to resent her mother.]]