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liv-of-the-earthkingdom · 4 years

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azula

from early childhood, azula was already seemingly shaped for royalty, she was her fathers favourite and a fire bending “prodigy.” while no one is born “evil,” azula is a perfect example that a child can be corrupted and became evil through pressure and responsibility. it certainly seems that azula was always supposed to be fire lord and that zuko never stood a chance of becoming fire lord. more evidence backing this up, is the fact that she, not zuko, was named after the current fire lord. while she was in favour of her father, it seemed very clear that zuko was her mother’s favourite and this began to form jealous rifts between the family, which would become a plot point as sibling rivalry between azula and zuko. “my father says she was born lucky, he says i was lucky to be born.”

when we are first introduced to azula, she is a cunning, witty and ambitious leader who goes to great lengths to succeed, yet even as scary as she seems, she still seems like she is trying to constantly impress her father. our first introductory scene of her, is the scene of her practicing on the ship and even one hair our of place is enough to discredit her impressive fire bending she had just displayed as it was not “good enough.” in season two we see her join up with friends mai and ty lee, ty lee who she “uses fear to control” and to convince her to come with her and leave the circus. throughout the entirety of season two, we see her play a steady cat and mouse game with team avatar, while also going after zuko and iroh and turning the dai li against their leader. she takes down aang, proving that she is calm, level headed and extremely smart as no one else made a move to while he was going into the avatar state.

season three, we begin to see the start of azula’s downfall, especially in the boiling rock episodes. this is a huge turning point for azula, as she loses both mai and ty lee, but it is more the way she loses them that leaves a larger impact. when sokka and the rest are escaping mai betrays azula and helps them escape, or as she puts it, “saving the jerk that dumped her.” this angers azula and she asks why. mai says “i guess you just don’t know people as well as you think you do. you miscalculated.” for azula, who likes to seem calculated and self-assured a lot, finding out that she was wrong can be very harmful. it is also a parallel from earlier in the boiling rock episodes where she states: “i’m a people person.” mai continues to say: “i love zuko more than i fear you.” which many people have speculated may have been something her mother said to as a child, or may have replicated feelings that her mother displayed to her as a child. it is no wonder that this sparks a tempered, and for the first time, out burst of emotion from azula. “No! YOU miscalculated. You should have feared me more!” which is the first time we see azula lose her unnerving calm. when the girls are preparing to fight ty lee steps in and chi blocks azula. this is very different from mai’s betrayal, because mai was not chosing between azula and ty lee, she was choosing zuko (much like azula’s mother). ty lee was choosing mai. whether or not you ship ty lee and azula or not, you can agree that ty lee plaid an important role in azula’s life, as did mai and their betrayal hurt azula.

now we move on to the final episodes of the series. most importantly the scene between azula and her father. when her father declares that he is leaving alone, azula once again loses her cool. the most fascinating line is: “you can’t treat me like this! you can’t treat me like zuko!” when fire lord ozai yells “AZULA!” the fear on her face is very real and it has been confirmed that she was worried she would face the same fate as zuko, regardless of smiling when he got the punishment. when discovering that she is the new fire lord she seems happier, but not like she would have acted the season prior, almost duller. not the kind of voice that has seem to won and got everything they wanted.

in the scene where she fires the dai li, she mentions that “sooner or later they all would have betrayed her like mai and ty lee.” is this maybe a sign that she is not as nonchalant and uncaring about their betrayal then she is letting on? this scene is another scene in the same episode where azula is angry, which like afore stated wasn’t at all until boiling rock, because she is cool and unnervingly calm. even the way she’s sitting does not look like she has got what she wants, she looks defeated and empty.

now we move on to the mirror scenes. at first she “prepares her hair to meet its doom” by cutting it off with scissors, this is very far from the girl who wouldn’t have a hair out of place at her debut, considering this is her coronation.

when her mother appears, azula is very hostile.her mother says she is there to see her coronation and azula says “don’t pretend to act proud, i know what you really think of me. you think i’m a monster.” considering this is azula’s imagination, could this be reflecting how she feels about herself? when her mother points out that azula uses fear to control people, azula says “well what choice do i have? trust is for fools, fear is the only reliable way.” this could be from the fact that the two people she trusted most had betrayed her, or azula has never trusted anyone in her life at all. therefore, confirming she feels she needs to use fear to control people. “even you fear me.” “no. i love you azula, i do.” and despite seeming to want her mother’s love all her life, she smashes the mirror where her mother is standing and falls to the floor crying. which we’ve never seen her do before, and we’ve never seen her this unhinged.

finally, the final agni kai. the final agni kai, “the showdown that was always meant to be,” one azula had been anticipating her whole life. azula’s fighting type is usually calm and cool and pre-meditated. though, throughout the fight she is brash and not thinking moves through, rather just shooting fire. she is also laughing and seems to be tainting not only zuko, but herself. not to mention that going to strike katara with lightning did seem like a smart and sneaky move, but not really azula’s style, because she knew she was losing.

in the final moments of the battle, is the final time where we see the complete unhinging and downfall of azula. could this be pent up emotion from trying to be perfect her entire life? we cannot be sure, but it seems highly likely. also to be beat by a mirrored version of herself, both same age and holding considerable power, one having grown up with love, and one grown up with coldness.

azula’s story is truly devastating. but does she deserve a redemption arc? she truly seems at times to enjoy being evil, and she was born and raised with evil and the desire to rule and conquer. she can still be defeated and not need a redemption arc. she is not zuko, she is azula. in the show she grew as a charatcer differently, becoming more powerful, than redeeming. but many people support that mental instabilities reached her to this point, comapring the symptons to paranoid schizophrenia. needless to say, she was a truly broken villian.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #azula #avatar

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liv-of-the-earthkingdom · 4 years

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love this :’)

Character Talk: Korra - Choices and Identity

Hi all! Been such a long time since I’ve done this. I had a absolutely wonderful conversation with a friend yesterday about Korra and I wanted to put it into writing. (Warnings, depression)

It’s difficult for me to express the impact Korra had on me as a character. How much I could relate to her journey and her spirit. We both fell upon dark times together, and watching her overcome, helped me to do the same. It’s that journey into darkness I want to shine a light on. Because in my opinion, Korra’s journey is one of the best written arch’s for a protaginist I’ve ever experienced.

Korra was raised in unique circumstances. Understandably so given the recent history with the avatar. But being raised on a compound, prevented her from experiencing the world beyond the horizon, being taught about the role you are expected to fill, the power and expectation in your legacy and the weight of the world that you will be expected to carry is going to have an effect on who you grow into.

For Korra, that shaped her into a fiery, headstrong, reckless, and even sometimes arrogant young woman. She chose to embrace that legacy with both arms. I’m the avatar, you got to deal with it. She didn’t shy away from her destiny, instead her destiny became who she was. The brightest point in life to look forward to.There was no other option, no other dream and no other option only a desire to measure up to that legacy and to prove she was worthy to carry it.

Being the avatar, was her identity.

So it only makes sense that the series tests that resolve and that identity over and over again.

She expects to change the world for the better. She expects to bring balance to the world because that is what she is told she is meant to do, and thousands have done it before her. Anything that falls short of that idea, that legend, any grey area is going to be considered failure in the eyes of someone who being the Avatar is all they ever wanted. The expectations others put on her, don’t hold a candle to the expectations she put on herself. To measure up. To be what the legends told her she should be. In both books 1 and 2, that identity is put to the test. What can the avatar do for the non benders and their oppressors? What can she do when a civil war divides her loyalties? What choices will she make when the world stands poised to be changed forever? She faces these questions, with mixed results. In both the eyes of the world, and herself. She’s ridiculed and even despised. When you alone stand to make the choice to reunite the spirit and human worlds, you’re going to have second thoughts, you’re going to question if you made the right call. Headstrong as she is, Korra asks herself that question constantly. Is she fulfilling her destiny? Is she doing a good job, or is she making things worse? Could someone else have done better? Could Aang have done better? She was raised to think that she would make a difference. That she was the only one who could.

It’s easy to buckle under that weight when the world is at stake.

Book 3 begins, and Korra is left to question if she made the right decision, opening the spirit portal. It hasn’t made life better for everyone. Human or spirit, none of whom were asked if this is something they wanted. She made the choice for them, because she was the only one that could. Right? She was the avatar, this was her responsibility, no one else. To bring harmony between human and spirit was the point right? Wasn’t that balance? Korra is left to ponder this, racked with so many doubts as to her place and her ability to make the right choices. To question herself more deeply than she had before, and she had before, so many times. Every challenge she faced shook her resolve. Losing her bending, Unalaq’s manipulation. Nothing was as simple as she expected.

So it must come as a huge moment of shock and relief, when she discovers her actions had side effects. That air benders are returning, and that was entirely due to the choices she made. For Korra, this is something of a revelation. The equalist conflict wasn’t clean. The water tribe civil war left its marks. Could things have been handled better? Did she do the right thing? Those are the thoughts gnawing away at her, and yet this? The return of a people? Of her predecessors people? That is an absolute good right? No grey, no complicated motivations, no villains with justified causes. Just something good, that she caused. She did the right thing. Finally she brought unquestionably positive change, like an avatar is supposed to.

But then it has consequences you never imagined.

No one. Could have predicted the air nomads return. What’s more, no one could have predicted what that would lead to. The damage it could cause. What happened next, what Zaheer and the red lotus did, is Korra’s fault. She’s sure of it. Intention doesn’t matter to her, nor how unexpected the results. All that matters is these consequences came as a result of a choice she made. You think you’re doing the right thing, but the world always becomes more complicated than you expect. It would be unfair to blame yourself for that, but that’s exactly what Korra does, and the the world changes. All she can do is try to catch up.

For a brief moment, she felt like the avatar’s of legend. Felt like she was living up to the legacy she so tied her identity to. For once in her life, she was worthy to carry on Aang’s story. The Avatar’s story. Bringing back the air nomads was her proudest moment. The best thing she’d ever done.

To have it turn on her so violently…

What is Korra left with? She faced her most challenging battle. She survived, after the most suffering she’d ever experienced. Suffering no one should have ever had to endure. But the balance is broken, and the earth kingdom is in chaos. Once again, the resolution of one conflict gave birth to another. Something worse, around each corner, and for the first time, she’s in no state to fight it.

And this time, she doesn’t have to. Watching Jinora’s ceremony, and seeing her come into her own. One can’t help but see a glimpse of Avatar Aang in Jinora’s shaved head. The legacy Korra is trying to carry. The shadow she’s lived under the whole of her life.

And that’s when Tenzin, her guide, the living legacy of Aang, comforts her with the best, and worst thing she can hear right now.

They’ll take up the cause. They’ll take up the legacy of balance until she can return. She can rest.

The Avatar isn’t needed.

I don’t think it’s by accident that moment of Korra’s reaction is one of the most talked about and praised moment of the series. Is she happy for Jinora? Of course. Is it a relief to know the world will have someone to protect it? That things won’t fall apart because she’s gone? Yes.

But they shouldn’t have to.

Every conflict in the series, is a direct attack on the Avatar. On it’s role. The world has changed since the hundred year war. Leaving one to wonder if heroes even have a place anymore. Amon attacked her abilities. What was she without them? Unalaq presented her with a dark reflection. What lines could she cross before she goes too far? Zaheer meanwhile struck at something deeper. Her cause. Her legacy. The avatar imposes balance. One person, decides the fate of millions, and now, those people she tried to protect, are beginning to protect themselves.

Of course Zaheer was wrong, but the issues he proposed didn’t slink back into the shadows. They’re present for all to see the flaws in the system.

Her whole life, Korra was told she was needed. That the avatar was needed. They are one and the same in her mind. Now she’s faced with a sobering truth. She’s not needed. The world will move on without her. It’ll survive without her.

If she isn’t needed, if someone else can bring balance, then why should she? Why should she suffer again and again when she doesn’t have to? When no one needs her to? Why should this responsibility be solely hers to carry?

What is Korra to do, when all she’s left with is time to ask herself those very questions?

When she’s alone?

A long time ago, I loved the finale of book 1. Because I asked myself, what Korra’s lowest point could be? When someone so physical, so tied to her own ability to affect change, lost that ability? I thought losing her bending, losing the chance at the avatar state was the lowest point. I bet if we could have asked her that, if we could have peered into her fears in book one, she would have had the same answer. And that made me worried. Where could they go from there?

Thankfully, I was wrong. Losing her abilities, wasn’t her lowest point. Even powerless, an Avatar can still do great things. Still promote the balance of the world.

No, the worst thing that could truly happen for her, the darkest hour would be the revelation that she didn’t have to. That the world would balance itself. That she’d failed more profoundly than being beaten down. Than a villain achieving their goal.

That maybe the world didn’t need an avatar anymore.

Her destiny, that legacy, that responsibility wasn’t needed. Someone else could do her job, and they could do it better than she ever could, cause all she’d done is make mistake after mistake. (This is what she tells herself)

What she’d so wrapped up her own identity with was unraveling. If Korra wasn’t going to be the avatar? What would she be?

The scariest answer of all is the only one she’s left with. Nobody.

Korra never had another dream. Her want, her need, was to be a good Avatar. To live up to that calling. Her childhood on that compound had prepared her for nothing else, no other door was presented to her, no other choice. Her life was decided for her the moment she was born. She was going to be the avatar and that was it. So what is one to do when that’s not enough?

Korra had nothing else to fall back on. Nothing to replace that yearning, that drive in her that burned like fire. All she was left with was a hollow where that fire used to be. With nothing else, she begins a downward spiral. A self perpetuating sense of directionless. A depression that began to eat her up from inside, and that grew worse for three years, until she turned away from her legacy, from her friends, and from her family, because all of them were better off without her.

Those are the things we tell ourselves when we struggle with depression. Achievements? The good we do doesn’t seem to break through that fog. The love and support from those we care about, doesn’t seem earned. Leaving us only with the worst doubts our minds can conjure.

There are times it feels like no one can hurt us the way we can hurt ourselves

Depression is something I’ve battled myself, and to this day, I have never connected with a character’s struggle as much as I have Korra’s.

Nor has a triumph ever felt so cathartic.

“If you look for the light, you can often find it.But if you look for the dark that is all you will ever see.” -Iroh

Watching Korra find that light again, helped me to find my own.

Korra defined herself as the Avatar for most of her life. When she at last overcomes that struggle, the avatar is still a part of her identity, but that’s just it. Only a part. Moving forward, she learned that her identity could be more. Was already more. That there were so many wonderful things in this world. Friends, family, and all of it leaves a piece of itself to carry on. Even the antagonistic forces in our lives, present us with a chance to learn. To overcome. Every experience builds up who we are, and what we become, more than titles ever could.

She learned the weight of the worlds didn’t have to rest solely on her shoulders, but that even so, she could still do the right thing. She could still make a difference. Maybe it was more complicated than the world needing an avatar or not. Regardless of title, it needed her. It needed Korra.

Korra began as a character forged by expectations. Both in universe and out. If you’re reading this I doubt have to tell you what she had to overcome along her journey and in the eyes of the fandom itself. The bar she had to clear, was immeasurably high. Expectations of whether she could live up to it all hung over her head, as much as it hung over the series itself.

When that was always the wrong question.

For so long she wanted to be the perfect Avatar, to live up to the heroes that came before. She was trying to forge the legend of the avatar, rather than the Legend of Korra.

Her journey, works so well, because it’s tied to the legacy of the series. The question of how to followup something so brilliant as avatar is the question Korra faced every day. How do you follow up a legend?

Instead of allowing herself to be crushed by the legacies of the past, Korra learned a far more valuable lesson. That the choices we make shape us, not the expectations of legends long gone. That we can forge our own identities, and our own futures. That to be something, isn’t the end all be all. We can define ourselves by more than our responsibilities.

That we will make mistakes, and that those mistakes will have consequences. That we will make choices and sometimes things will go dangerously wrong. That sometimes we will break, shatter into pieces and wonder how we can ever be put back together.

Those are the sorts of things destiny doesn’t prepare you for. Things that get left out of the retelling. A legend, doesn’t have blemishes.

So why would we ever compare ourselves to them? Why would we hold ourselves to those mythic ideals no one could ever match? Why run ourselves bloody and ragged trying to be something we’re not? Something no one ever really was?

A person’s story, isn’t beautiful because it’s flawless. Life, is messier than legend. Failures define us just as much as successes. Those flaws help us to build, to reflect on who we really are and the things we really want.

She never had to be the perfect Avatar, because there’s no such thing.

All she had to be was Korra, and being Korra, was enough.

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