Avatar The Last Airbender - The Search

Which is why Ozai's actions were never justified. Ozai has a weak core in his character, one easily dominated by extreme emotions and absolute control. He let his own cruelty and madness consume him rather than try to be a better husband because it was easier to do. He blames on others for his own faults, rather than admitting it was his. One can understand his feelings, yet also believe that he took them way too far. It is what separates him from people like Zuko and Iroh, who both managed to learn to live with themselves and accept the faults they have within themselves. So long as Ozai has someone to blame, so long as people play into his cards, he will never learn of his faults like his daughter Azula's currently learning to accept.

As for the Part III wrap up, I believe that the Mother of Faces would cure Azula's madness with a new face to have stable life, and revealed that Noren and Noriko are Ikem and Ursa. Zuko's hope that Ikem would be his real father would squashed when it turns out he is still Ozai's son, but then he realized it doesn't matter at all because his heart wanted to make a better world, and running away from the stress of being the Firelord isn't going to make that happen.

edited 4th Aug '13 8:20:19 PM by Shadao

Oh, fuck this shit.

Are we honestly arguing here that the least character development, the least well rounded character and the least human character in a show that tries to be as morally complex as it can on an american kid-oriented network is the best answer? Really?

Ozai was without doubt a horrible human being, but the show tries to make some effort to make it's antagonists at least understandable, from Azula's fucked up childhood to Long Feng's ambition based backstory to latter Amon's and Tarrlok's both fucked up backstories/childhoods and well intentioned insanity. Ozai never got a backstory within the show that showcases any sort of justification, but it's made clear that, if not a good father, he at least was decent to his children. You can argue that he was always satanic spawn all you like, but Occam'sRazor here dictates that, if most characters have understandable backstories, so does he.

The Search cannot be compared to The Last Airbender - especially because the latter has so little character on both sides that anyone, villain or hero, is a walking cardboard -, but comes dangerously close to How I Became Yours in the morality department.

Ozai is like the alcoholic stepfather you see children struggling to deal with in today's world.

"I don't give a rat's ass about going to hell. I guess it's because I feel like I'm already there." -Mugen

Well, that's comics for ya - for every Chris Claremont going about and making, say, Magneto into a well rounded (post)human being, there's a Grant Morrison, happily turning him into a Card-Carrying Villain. Troubles of the territory, is all.

To be honest, even the show derailed the whole Fire Nation's motivation for war from Sozin's Visionary Villainy to Ozai's Omnicidal Mania. By the series' end, Ming the freakin Merciless seemed more rounded... and a better parent.

But that's just what some Tropers here, myself included, find difficult to accept. Much how I like to vouch even for Obviously Evil guys like Sauron or Palpatine, someone like Ozai is just more interesting if he isn't made out to be a Complete Monster.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's on the writers' agenda. Both TV shows had any serious physical and moral challenges simply melt away when the final episode came around, so I'm not holding my breath now. If anything, seeing how Azula's attempt for a Freudian Excuse has basically turned her into a self-propelled bundle of Mommy Issues, I think that having Ozai as just a Card-Carrying Villain might actually be an improvement.

edited 6th Aug '13 6:15:01 AM by indiana404

And now, here's a review of the Search Part III: http://www.fandompost.com/2013/09/19/avatar-the-last-airbender-the-search-part-3-graphic-novel-review/

And Zuko is indeed Ozai's son. It turns out that Ursa wrote that letter to make Ozai angry enough to reveal his letter intervention. I have to say it has worked better than expected as Ozai shall heed his wife's wishes by the letter and not see Zuko as his son. Ursa had her memories erased by the Mother of Faces, forgetting everything even her children. Azula ran off, and no one knows where she went. The Mother of Faces is the mother of Koh the Face Stealer, and the Northern Water Tribe brother apparently got his face stolen by him. All in all, based on this review, I can safely say that the everyone in the Royal Family shared some blame for the family's downfall, and that Ursa is no angel in the matter of family business, as much of her actions contributed to Ozai's abusive treatment to Zuko and, indirectly, Azula's descent to insanity. Quite refreshing, if you asked me.

edited 21st Sep '13 12:14:58 AM by Shadao

Perhaps we're talking a bit too much about Ozai. Let's discuss the rest of the cast.

This comic is okay for entertainment, but it never reaches the show's level of rich characterization. Let's look at the Gaang and Azula. The Gaang, simply put, are the good guys. They're selfless through and through, with Zuko willing to put aside his quest for his mom to help two vagrants. And seriously, at one point Katara gets mad at Azula for not appreciating how sickeningly sweet Noren and Noriko's home is. Now let's look at Azula. She's a total bitch through and through. She burns down forests, terrifies a little girl, and is always conspiring to betray the team despite what they've done for her. Hell, none of the flashbacks to their childhood even show a more positive side! Zuko is shown being afraid of her as a toddler, implying she was always like this. All she needed was a little encouragement from her dad.

And this brings me to my main problem. The morality has far less shades of gray, with distinct lines being put between who's "good or bad."

One of the main reasons I was looking forward to this series was that it would redeem Azula's character. It doesn't. She's still insane, still hates Zuko, and now probably hates him and their mom even more for what she did(which is another very big problem with this story). On the other end of the spectrum, her brother is such a good guy that he can't even stay mad at his mom for the awful mistake she made involving the letter to Ozai.

"I am the lord of Purity, who tolerates no deviation." My first online story

Necroing, kind of, because I come late to everything.

Is the morality really that much more black-and-white than A:TLA? Azula's clearly mending; she drops the letter for Zuko, and at the very least, has been faced with the fact that her brother and her mother lover her no matter how she treats them. It's a lot to deal with for a character who spent her whole life with no real notion of love; she thought her mother hated her, Azula's Angels only followed her out of fear, and Ozai never really shows his love, just pride or disappointment. The Search is the beginning of a redemption that may continue in The Rift, which I haven't started yet.

The Mother of Faces is a pretty gray character, with honorable intentions but definite violent tendencies. Also, Zuko isn't necessarily "such a good guy he can't even stay mad at his mother." He asks to know the entire story, so he hasn't forgiven her yet. We don't know his feelings, they'll probably be expanded on in The Rift. The ending of the flashback arc shows that no member of the Royal Family is without blame for Zuko and Azula's situations. It's part of a continuum, and it does indeed introduce many shades of moral gray.