#canon canonicity and canonical aren't really interchangeable in terms of what part of speech they are

[perfectlypanda]

Zutara and the (un)Importance of Canonicity

(This has been languishing in my drafts for ages, but I want to use a quote from it for an edit I’ll be posting for Zutara Week so it’s finally getting yeeted into the void.)

A lot of emphasis in fandom shipping is placed on the canonicity of a romantic pairing within its source text, with canonicity often being used as a marker of superiority. However, the term “canon” is not an indication of the value or the quality of something. All it refers to is if something is explicitly present in a text or not.

For example, if someone said that it’s canonical that Aang and Katara kissed in the AtLA Book 2 episode “The Cave of Two Lovers”, they would be incorrect, because a kiss is not explicitly present in the text. Aang and Katara lean in like they are about to kiss and then the screen goes black. The audience does not see a kiss, nor is one ever discussed later. There are valid arguments that could be made to support if someone interprets a kiss as having happened or not happened, but because there is not confirmation in the text, a kiss at that moment is not canonical. 

With Avatar, what’s “canon” gets a little tricky because there are multiple “canon” texts - Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: Legend of Korra, and the Avatar graphic novels. While officially they are all part of the Avatar world “canon”, there are elements within LoK and the graphic novels that are inconsistent with the world as presented in AtLA (so many in the graphic novels my god). This means that for certain things the canon includes elements that are mutually exclusive, creating a paradox. To examine Avatar canon you either have to engage with doublethink, or play “pick your own canon” and decide which text’s canon takes precedent (personally, AtLA takes priority when there is a discrepancy because it came first but ymmv). It gets even messier if you want to take into consideration commentary by creators. Although it should be noted that just because a creator says something about their work, that doesn’t necessarily make it canonical if it isn’t also explicit in the text.

If you’re looking at a text from an analysis standpoint, then something being “canon” or not is important, because an argument that can be backed up with evidence from the text will be stronger than an argument that can’t be backed up with evidence from the text. Otherwise... something being canonical is only as important as you make it.

Creators are not infallible, so sometimes they make bad choices. There are so many times when creators did not, objectively, make the strongest choice in something they included in their text. Think about every time that a book, tv show, or movie franchise continued on past its shelf life. It’s especially obvious in cases where a main actor/ actress left the series, but the creators decided to continue the story anyway. Or when a book/ movie/ mini series had a tightly written plot, but does so well that the creators decide to write unnecessary sequels to cash in on the popularity. A creator can make a truly terrible decision within their story, and it will be just as canonical as good choices they make solely by virtue of being included in the “official” text.

All of which is to say that a ship being canonical or not canonical has no bearing on if a ship is the best romantic pairing for characters based on the traits or dynamic explored within the canon text. All it indicates is if the creators decided to involve those two characters in a romantic relationship within the text.

I’ve been shipping Zutara since 2006, and I spent a long time bitter about them not ending up “canon” in the show (OG shipping wars anyone?). But now? Well, it would have been nice if that was the direction the show had gone, but canon or not, it doesn’t change the fact that a Zuko/ Katara pairing would have been an objectively stronger narrative choice. Or that for all Bryke’s bullying and insistence that I will “forever have doomed relationships”, I still like Zutara better than the canonical relationships they decided to go with on the show.  

So if someone asks me if a romantic Zutara relationship is “canon” within the context of AtLA, then no it isn’t. But for me, that’s literally the only place where Zuko and Katara aren’t deeply in love and living their best lives together. AtLA is a work of fiction, and fictional characters are just as fictional when a fan thinks about them as when the character’s creator thinks about them. A story is only as real as you make it. And for me? Zutara is real.