Avatar: The Last Airbender

The same guy who knows her poisoning techniques, and probably studied them in order to not fall victim to it as well. If you want to know where Azula got her scheming from, check out her daddy.

I maintain that her decision was inconsistent with her characterization up to that point, sparse as it was.

That's the point; we knew almost nothing of her besides the little we saw from Zuko's point of view. When we see more of her, surprise surprise, she's actually a normal person who makes questionable decisions in terrible situtions instead of the perfect mother. I do not see what's supposed to be particularly jarring or surprising about that.

edited 28th May '17 3:31:25 PM by LSBK

Second that.

I went back and checked through the comics and Ozai makes it clear that if she showed her face in the capital again he'd murder Zuko and Azula, unlike literally the rest of the named cast fighting the fire nation she has no allies, friends, or resources to fight back, and she's in the middle of the Fire Nation going against it's leader and all it's spies (including the ones who had been following her every move for months before Azulon came to her village).

So I don't get what they expected Ursa to do. She was completely isolated, knows that Ozai has the resources to keep track of her and is likely to kill both of their children at the first sign of any trouble. Her situation is not at all comparable to someone like Iroh who has firebending, connections, influence, and allies.

I also want to see Ikemi's reaction to how deep Ozai's abuse of Zuko and even Azula was. I think seeing the full story behind the scar, and how Ozai denounced him as his son just to get back at him to really make him have even more sympathy for his stepson. I think he would feel some guilt because he would feel that his connection with Ursa is what caused Zuko so much unneeded abuse from his own father.

Zuko currently is now a Firelord with a long career ahead of him, but at heart he is still a teenager who has a damaged past. I also wonder if his father's abuse still is an influence even in his old age, because abuse doesn't go away when you get older. I do know that Zuko when he actually becomes a parent probably wouldn't do what his father did, and act more like his Uncle Iroh of course. I also think that Zuko having a long career as a Firelord and then retiring would be another finger to his father who actually had a short reign compared to his predecessors and successor.

You want to check out "Zuko's Story," a short graphic novel that starts right after Zuko's duel with Ozai and ends right as he sees the light from Aang's awakening.

Technically, it was meant to tie into the atrocious movie, but don't let that discourage you. It reads as cannon to the show, just that Zuko and Iroh look different and they keep the stupid "can only bend existing fire" the movie established for firebenders.

While it is a bit surreal to see Movie!Zuko interact with TV!Azula, it's still a good read that I highly recommend.

Yeah, Iroh was probably the best light in Zuko's life, and it's great that the creators didn't make him evil as they originally planned. That would be giving poor Zuko even more baggage to have an Evil Uncle who was a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.

Holy. Crap.

yfw Sokka, Suki, and Toph do exactly that with airships.

The Sokka/Suki/Toph/Azula communal romance shall now be known as DrownAtSeaShipping

I was always a bit dissapointed how Katara is the one who ultimately defeats Azula instead of Zuko

Well to be fair, Zuko taking the lightning for Katara was a pretty powerful moment for his character.

Shame the ending really highlights the writer civil war.

I didn't know there was a writer civil war.

Also, the show kinda did highlight that it probably wouldn't be ideal to just have one sibling finish off another. Also... even with his improvement, and with Azula off her game a little, she's still a far better firebender than Zuko. Though I would have liked if there were a bit more teamwork, the way Katara neutralized Azula was effective.

I mean, she wasn't; they were pretty even with him slowly getting the upper hand. The way things were going he definitely would have won. But I get why they didn't just want to end things like that.

Haven't watched the fight in forever, but I remember being under the impression that Zuko could have legitimately won the 1v1. Azula just decided to play dirty.

Azula was clearly crazy and the cheap shot was basically the last calculated thing she did before starting to foam at the mouth. Without Katara around providing a nice target, the fight would have likely end with Azula trying to use lightningbending and Zuko gladly returning it.

edited 19th Aug '17 11:47:27 AM by Blueace

Azula forfeited the duel by attacking a bystander so Zuko techically did "win" the Agni-Kai.

I think that it came down to the writers REALLY liking Katara. Like they seem particularly interested in pushing her.

And yeah even as someone who likes her character, that bugged me a lot even when it first watched the episode when it aired. It was like "you spent all that time building up the rivalry/dynamic between brother and sister, and showing Zuko maturing and getting stronger while Azula was unraveling. And here's the perfect time to pay it off, and instead you have Katara beat her? No show, no."

Katara being there, and helping out, that's fine. No issue with that. But Katara subduing Azula while Zuko is rolling around on the ground in pain, that didn't work for me.

Saying the writers "pushed" Katara more than the other characters always just came off to me as more people dislike for her than anything on the actual writers part.

The ironic thing being it seems like fans were always much more like that about Toph. And while Toph was definitely cool, that got annoying fast.

It works if you're actually going to do something with the relationship between Katara and Zuko. Bryke didn't, we got Korra, so fail all around.

What didn't work for me is the method by which she's subdued. Katara ambushes her with a water spray and flash freezes them, treating us to the lovely imagery of Azula's lightning fingers less than an inch from Katara's face. It's a fantastic visual, but I don't feel it really works because it raises the question of why?

What made Azula decide not to fire it? It's not like the ice would block the lightning. There's a distinct chance it would probably fry them both, but can you honestly tell me that in the state of mind she's in at this point, Azula would not be perfectly willing to go for the double kill? This is not cool, calculating Azula. This is blood-rage murderfury Azula.

It doesn't quite feel in-character that an Azula who is frothing at the mouth and desperate for blood wouldn't pull that trigger without even sparing a conscious thought about it and fry them both. That she, in this state, would blink at the challenge just doesn't make sense.

edited 20th Aug '17 2:45:48 PM by TobiasDrake

What does Korra have to do with anything?

'Tis a good point. I think what they were going for is that she was incapable of actually moving, and maybe that extended to bending. She was basically helpless in that bubble.

Man, if anything LOK shows that the writers were very much willing to go with the fandom's wishes and push Toph till the cows come home.

On the subject of the writers "pushing" Katara, Mike and Bryan have stated that they felt that Katara was just as important to the show as Aang.

I actually don't disagree with this statement, since one could argue that Katara is the Protagonist from a certain POV. So if anyone is gonna defeat the secondary main villain, it's going to be her...or Zuko. I think the way the fight turned out was fine, honestly.

edited 20th Aug '17 4:07:46 PM by deuteragonist

I think part of the issue with Katara beating Azula is that it doesn't feel like a proper resolution to Azula's arc. She's Zuko's archnemesis, not Katara's. There's no personal connection between Katara and Azula, so it feels less climactic. She's just one of the protagonists, with her fighting Azula being no more meaningful than Sokka or Toph doing it.

Zuko's been the Deuteragonist since the show began. Even though he was on the antagonist side for much of it, half of the show was dedicated to his journey. Even when he had nothing to do with Aang, time was still taken to show where he was, what he was doing, and how he was growing. Just as the showdown with Firelord Ozai was the climax to Aang's half of the story, the showdown with Azula was the climax to Zuko's. Punking him out of it and having Katara fix everything instead just comes off like a really weak finish.

And yet, at the same time, it also makes sense for much the same reason that Aang's pacifist takedown of Ozai seems like a cheap cop-out and yet works. Because for as much as the show is about badasses throwing explosions at each other in a warzone, it's very heavily rooted in spirituality and philosophy.

I've talked before about how Aang's refusal to kill Ozai is a philosophical victory; that if he had killed Ozai, then he would be embracing Ozai's philosophy that Might Makes Right, and that it was important to not only defeat Ozai but to prove him wrong. The final battle between Aang and Ozai isn't a fight. It's a philosophical debate carried out through explosions.

In the same way, Zuko's fight with Azula is another debate. If it had ended with Zuko beating Azula's shit and then standing triumphantly over her broken and beaten body, would that really have been satisfying? I mean, there would certainly be some emotional catharsis, but is that the kind of ending that would stand the test of time? Zuko won 'cause he's awesome, the end?

Like her father, Azula is a firm believer in the principle of Might Makes Right. She follows a path of violence and considers herself justified because she's the ultimate deliverer of violence. That is her opening statement of the debate: I deserve to rule, because I am better at violence than you.

When Zuko takes the lightning for Katara, that is his counterargument. He is replying with a statement: I deserve to rule, because I am better at mercy than you.

And ultimately, it's Zuko's mercy that defeats Azula. Because he saved Katara, she is able to not only defeat Azula, but to neutralize her in such a way that Azula too can be saved. Zuko gives selflessly for his people and as a result, a solution is found that both saves his allies and spares his enemies. That is the merit of a king.

edited 20th Aug '17 4:27:57 PM by TobiasDrake