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Avatar: The Last Airbender "The Avatar and The Fire Lord"

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  • Broken Aesop: Aang concludes that Roku and Sozin's story is proof that anyone is capable of great good or great evil. However, Roku, specifically did nothing evil in the story, his only action being to try and stop Sozin from carrying out his plans. Though the moral may be more applicable to Sozin and his actions, Aang did not hear the story from his perspective at all, only Zuko does, leaving Aang's conclusion rather unsupported by what he was shown. Aang also asserts that Roku was "just as much Fire Nation" as Sozin to enforce his point that anyone be good or evil regardless of their nation, but this point is undermined by the fact Roku was also an Avatar and so his duty was to protect the world. Even when Sozin cites the fact Roku is still a citizen of the Fire Nations, Roku overrides this due to his status as the Avatar, a role he was given at birth, not by his own choice.
  • Heartwarming in Hindsight:
    • Toph asks Aang if he really thought friendships can last more than one lifetime, to which he responds by taking her hand and saying he does. Many years later, his reincarnation Korra would meet her all over again. Even in this very episode, Roku's airbending best friend? Gyatso himself, who would then be best of friends and a mentor to Aang himself.
    • Aang and Zuko's relationship becomes an inverse of Roku and Sozin's; though they started as enemies, they go on to become the best of friends. Like Toph, Zuko also gets to meet and befriend Aang's reincarnation, Korra.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • Roku's line "Being the Avatar doesn't hurt your chances with the ladies either" may have been an attempt at jocularity, but it gains a new meaning after the series finale of The Legend of Korra when Korra heads off to the Spirit World with Asami.
    • Roku mentions that, as a native Firebender, Water was the hardest element for him to master, as the two elements are opposite. The Water Tribe Avatar after Aang would not have this problem; in fact, Fire ended up implicitly being Korra's preferred element, the one she had trouble with being Air.
  • Ho Yay: Many fans view Roku and Sozin's relationship this way, with some even saying Sozin abandoning Roku was the act of a scorned lover. They also joke that Sozin's homophobic polices as revealed in the Korra sequel comics, were a bitter reaction to not having Roku to himself.

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