YMMV / Avatar: The Last Airbender - Smoke and Shadow

• Abandon Shipping:
  • While the canonical Mai/Zuko was already far from the most popular Zuko ship, in part thanks to the popular Zutara (Zuko/Katara) ship — as well as the Zukka (Zuko/Sokka) ship that emerged in the wake of the franchise's 2010s Newbie Boom — and because the character herself is somewhat divisive, it still had a big fanbase. However, some that were fond of it began to ditch it following this graphic novel. Continuing on from the series and previous comics, the duo's relationship remained incredibly unstable, with the two failing to communicate, having endless fights, and constantly breaking up, turning them into a truly toxic relationship. Mai even delivers a "The Reason You Suck" Speech at one point, telling Zuko how miserable he makes her feel, something that some fans saw as Mai being a hypocrite who contributed just as much, if not more, to the failure of their relationship. While it still has fans, it lost a lot of them due to the comics.
  • Tyzula (Ty Lee/Azula) is still sinking like a snitch with cement shoes as Ty Lee is still terrified that Azula is on the loose; waiting to strike her back.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Azula's Hazy-Feel Turn as the "Kemurikage" leader, and the question of whether her Motive Rant was sincere or a reverse psychology ploy. Also, is she still a threat to Zuko and the balance of the World, or is she getting better...but still badly in the need of proper guidance to avoid her being a Hero with an F in Good?
    • Her last line before disappearing (How touching) after hearing Zuko's speech. Was she being sarcastic or sincere?
    • Also, does Azula deserve forgiveness or does she belong in a cell next to her father? Or, to Take a Third Option, does she deserve forgiveness and to be placed back in the mental hospital she was in before at the same time?
    • Is Azula actually getting better mentally or is she just regressing? Azula, as seen in the Search only functioned (albeit barely) when she had a conspiracy theory going on about her mother. Now, it's focused on this self-appointed adviser role to her brother by manipulating him to becoming a tyrant like previous Fire Lords. A lot of her speech and some of her mannerisms is pre-breakdown Azula when she only knew of fear and isolation to work; but when angered like when Kei Lo attacked her; the lunatic half came out and shot him with lightning (note similar features from the search from the Lunatic half of Azula flare up when she's sufficiently angered). Azula also doesn't seem to realize that the reason she broke is because of the very same philosophies she's trying to teach her brother. Which also begs the question of if Zuko were to somehow snap under the pressure and step down, would she be able to take up the mantle of Fire Lord again despite claiming she doesn't have a desire for the throne anymore? The only curveball to that question though is the end events of The Search in which Zuko got through to Azula. Azula couldn't possibly be planning usurping the throne if she didn't really feel anything about Zuko's words at the end; but she's also known for her jealousy, so who knows?
  • Does Mai truly care for Kei Lo? It's never made clear if her feelings grew to be genuine, if she was still pretending, or if he really did affect her but not as much she claimed. Likewise, was her playing Kei Lo how she did unfair? Or was it just considering he was part of the same society that was going to overthrow Zuko?
• Base-Breaking Character: Being a continuation of The Search, many of the Base-Breaking Characters continue to be this in the new storyline:
  • Ursa: Sympathetic parent trying to make amends or just another terrible parent?
  • Zuko: A partial in-universe example. Is he beleaguered ruler trying to bring about peace, or a tyrant jailer who still sees his own people as the enemy? This is addressed at the end where Zuko gives a speech about his poor reaction to the crisis and asks for his people's forgiveness. A lot of fans, however, thought Zuko's actions were understandable and him taking the blame was all just a cheap way to let Mai off the hook.
• Broken Base:
  • Bryke said the first Fire Lord was a Fire Sage, a group of people from the Burma-esque Bhanti tribe, but this comic completely contradicts this by having a Yayoi-looking man serve as the first Fire Lord. The comics present the Fire Nation as more Japan-esque — a contrast to the original series's depiction of it as being a mix of Chinese and Southeast Asian with only minor Japanese influence. Even the Avatar art book states that a Chinese design was chosen specifically over a Japanese one for the Fire Nation. Some people are happy to get more info about the history of the Avatar world while others hate the constant revisionism of the franchise.
  • The Ship Tease between Zuko and Suki. Is it nice and cute, or totally random and out-of-character?
  • Azula's Hazy-Feel Turn as the "Kemurikage" leader, and the question of whether her Motive Rant was sincere or a reverse psychology ploy. Also, she STILL has not had a reunion with her mother.
  • On that note, Azula's new recovery status. A return to form and a stronger Azula in line with the original series, or a cop-out so the writers don't have to think or navigate the admittedly difficult subject of mental illness. The way they depict Azula acting like her breakdown never happened is a bit off-putting.
  • Some fans didn't like Azula's portrayal in the original book; so Gene tried something else. She's now partly being an adviser of sorts to Zuko; but she also wants to drive Zuko to a point and possibly break him to which he'll have to resort to overt violence like she and Ozai would have in order to prove... that he's no different from the rest of the family. Sound familiar? It's a comparison that some fans have drawn and don't like that a character as complex and interesting as Azula got turned into a similar Joker clone; even if it came about by sheer accident. Tying into this is Azula's new mentality. A return to form, or a disregard and discarding of one of the more interesting elements of the character.
• Catharsis Factor: Ursa's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Ozai at the end of the story is one very satisfying, considering all the emotional (and maybe physical) abuse and manipulation that Ozai infringed her.
• Moment of Awesome: During the Ozai Society ambush, Zuko wipes the floor with them using far superior firebending. Not only that, but various colors are seen in the pillar of fire he creates to defend his family. Zuko just became the first known human to bend dragonfire.
• Salvaged Story:
  • Smoke and Shadow goes a long way to address the problem present in previous comics: Ursa's character was more fleshed out making her more sympathetic, Zuko and Aang's relationship seemed more friendly and less political, Azula's characterisation is improved, and overall the comic is much more well-paced and action-oriented than before.
  • How Azula is being currently handled can be this. According to Word of God, fans have sent lots of mail to Gene about Azula; with a fair amount of people wanting her to switch sides and part of her to remain a villain. Because of the arguments presented by both sides of the fandom; he has Zuko lampshade that (because of those mails) by saying "he doesn't quite know what would make Azula happy." However, for the sake of the book; he manages a good unity of the Azula we see in the show and the one we see in The Search; here the manipulative half is in control; but if you remember certain visual clues from The Search, she also has parts of her lunatic half.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Mai. She is treated as one of the main heroes of the story, but many fans feel that most of her actions through the development of the story are at least morally questionable or directly she is a Hypocrite and a Jerkass, especially towards Zuko. The irony here is that this is something fans of Mai and those who dislike her both agree upon; she is either acting woefully out of character if you like her, or just being the jerk you always knew she was if you don't.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The central theme of the story is how far a ruler should go to protect his people without stepping into authoritarianism. Zuko tries to avoid becoming a tyrant like his father, but his hands-off approach makes it easy for the Kemurikage to kidnap children and, by extension, the New Ozai Society to gain a foothold by offering the protection that the Firelord is not willing to give.

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