#it's true this is how they are after smoke and shadow ty lee even told me

[firelordteo]

a post comics maiko doodle/shitpost feat. ty lee (before i resume working on my belated maiko week drawings)

[dynadratina]

Hello, Azula finally got announced her own comic what are your thoughts and how excited are you?

Hi, thanks for the ask! (And sorry it took a bit long.) I’ve seen so many interesting analyses about this on my dash, but I haven’t had time to really delve into them yet. So I’m not sure if I’m repeating something that’s already been said (better) by someone else. But here’s what’s been on my mind anyway.

To start, the previous comics (The Search, Smoke and Shadow) were a big let-down for me in regards to how they handled Azula. I’ll go into more detail below, but basically I was turned off by how she was made into a one-dimensional bad egg, much like Ozai was. The comics portrayed Azula as a heartless schemer since early chlidhood, implied that her friendship with Mai and Ty-Lee had zero genuineness, and chose to make a show of the effects of her breakdown rather than stepping back and examining the cause of it. Given that the character traits and relational dynamics those two comics established about her are part of official lore now, I don’t think this comic can really undo them. But still, I think there might be hope, namely if this comic really is 100% an Azula comic. That means there’s no Zuko involved in the plot, no Gaang, no Ikem, no Kiyi, and no Ursa. That way, the comic can do something that I think really needs to be done, which is finally give Azula's perspective on her pain. Just her memories, or musings, or the like, with no other main characters’ arcs distracting from it. This might not lead to her getting a redemption arc or closure from her previous friend/family relations in the comics timeline, but at the very least it can inject some glimmer of light and hope into her path. (More beneath the cut)

In my eyes, the main problem with Azula’s treatment after Sozin’s Comet is that her trauma was put on the backseat, while her evilness/craziness/machinations, etc. were given center stage. Personally, this isn’t entertaining for me, but as a more concrete problem, it’s an abrupt departure from where the show left her off.

Sozin’s Comet broke down Azula’s villainous persona and brought her pain into the forefront -- namely by showing that when everything else was stripped away, she was really just a hurt girl who felt like no one loved her, not even her mother. So in defense, she chose to prefer the role of someone who doesn’t care about love and only wants to be feared. This is a really deep and painful issue to have (one that I could personally relate to at one point), and I think it’s something that’s very important to explore.

But The Search doesn’t do that. It just puts Azula right back into the villain role she started out in, only this time she’s just more erratic. Every time her visions were showcased, there was a lot of spotlight on how crazy she looked, how villainous she was acting, or how exasperated Zuko and the rest of the Gaang were due to her.

But there was no introspection, no deeper dive into Azula’s emotions before and after Sozin's Comet. The best glimpse we get into her mind is vision!Ursa telling Azula that she needs to "remove her mask", i.e. drop the front she's been holding up her entire life, which is that of someone who rules by fear.

(Dialogue transcription) Azula: I should probably be grateful! After all, you’ve saved me the trouble of finding you. Ursa: All your life, you’ve hidden behind a mask of intimidation and fear. Azula: Prepare to meet your doom! Ursa: Take off your mask. Only then will you see the beauty of your true destiny.

If we go by the theory that this Ursa is nothing more than a figment of Azula's mind, then this is essentially Azula's subconscious telling her that this "feared evil princess" facade is unnatural and unhealthy to her. So, on some level, Azula knows she's on the wrong path and needs to change it.

But we already knew that -- Sozin’s Comet told us so. And we already saw Azula confronting her subconscious this way, namely in the mirror scene. Why are we seeing it again? And why is Azula now under the impression that all of her problems in life stem from Ursa, and that Ursa is the direct instigator of everyone’s hate for her?

From a storytelling standpoint, there’s technically no problem with having Azula face the true sorce of her pain a second time after the dramatic mirror scene. But the second time should build upon it somehow, or introduce a further aspect to the situation that details Azula's character development between those two events.

To be honest, I really can imagine Azula “relapsing” from her realization in Sozin’s Comet (namely, that her problems are the fault of her trauma-informed choices) into a bleaker, more fatalistic viewpoint that destiny itself somehow ordained for her to suffer in life. It’s honestly extremely relatable to read about someone who realizes that they had been living by a wrong choice for a good chunk of time, and instead of peppily fist-bumping the sky and going “I’ll just do better from now on!”, they fall even deeper into despair and go “Why me? Why did I have to suffer from this for so long?”

Maybe Azula had a moment like that too post-Sozin’s Comet, where she felt that she had somehow been doomed from the beginning to never be loved by anyone. And since Ursa’s face was attached to the words that she was a monster, it would make sense that Azula would come to associate Ursa as the “perpetrator” of this fate of hers.

But all of this would have to be embedded in the narrative. At some point, there would have to be a scene in the comics (from Azula’s POV or otherwise) where she stops, takes a melancholy break from whatever devious goal she’s following at the moment, and puts this mental journey into words. Say something like: “What choice did I ever even have? You, Mother, treated me like a monster, so that’s how everyone else in my life came to view me. What option did I have other than to use fear?” That would have given Azula’s obsession with Ursa some emotional continuity, and maybe even some relatability.

But instead, Azula is reduced to repeating the same bland phrases like “Prepare to meet your doom!” at Ursa, or vague variations of “How did Ursa manage to turn you against me?!” at various characters. All the while we’re given no reason as to why Azula thinks this way or what her personal takeaway is from the events of Sozin’s Comet. We’re just expected to sit back and watch what she’s become.

For example, here’s one of the “crazy” lines from The Search that sort of-kind of hints at Azula’s mental journey after Sozin’s Comet:

(Dialogue transcription) Katara: What are you talking about? Azula: None of you had even met me yet! How did she (Ursa) convince you to help her ruin my life?!

Once again Azula reveals her delusion that Ursa has been manipulating her life from the beginning. This would have been a good time for the other characters to ask why Azula thinks this way, or even to try to get through to her that such a manipulation is impossible.

But the moment is brushed aside, and it’s painted as little more than crazy Azula being crazy. And the most The Search tells us about the reason she’s being crazy is that she’s ignoring her true destiny. Which, according to S&S, is... to turn Zuko into a Fire Lord who rules through fear? Okay, but what does that have to do with Azula`s pain? Setting aside the fact that this can’t even be the destiny she wants (because as her visions show, she doesn’t want to rule through fear), the fact that Azula was unaware of this “destiny” before is not the reason she started crying when vision!Ursa told her she loved her. The reason she started crying, which was carefully built up by the show, is that the fact (imagined or otherwise) of Ursa not loving her caused Azula pain, and that the facade of the perfect, feared girl that Azula put up later on was just a defense mechanism.

This is what The Search and S&S should have explored. In the wake of the show showing us that Azula was in pain, the comics should have told us in more explicit terms -- how, why, since when, etc. They should have emphasized that Azula had trauma from her chlidhood just like Zuko had, and put Azula on a journey that was somehow relevant to that pain (healing it, or exploring it, or otherwise). Not swept all that buildup aside and sent her on another itinerary of evil plans and grand ambitions that seem to have no relation to it.

The only vague seeds of acknowledgment of Azula’s pain come from the part in The Search where the Gaang visits Noren/Ikem’s and Noriko/Ursa’s home. We see a picture of Azula, Zuko, Katara, Noriko, and Aang sitting together, Katara and Aang marveling about the lovely home they have, Zuko also smiling (his head turned towards half-hidden Kiyi), while Azula sits with her arms crossed, looking unhappy and distant from everyone else.

Also Azula acting generally cold, in stark contrast to Zuko, who happily interacts with the innocent Kiyi:

(Dialogue transcription) Kiyi: Wanna meet my doll? Azula: No. Zuko: Of course.

(Dialogue transcription) Azula: That’s right. Only I didn’t give my dolls haircuts, I gave them headcuts! Would you like me to show you? Kiyi: No! Zuko: Azula! Stop it!

Though even these scenes serve more to make Azula out to be a “monster” than underline the fact that she’s experiencing a severe lack of something; that she has a genuine need and desire that isn’t being addressed.

Then towards the end of the comic, we get the "real" Ursa (Noriko) making a supposedly-accurate observation that Azula's mother didn't love her enough, and apologizing for it.

(Dialogue transcription) Ursa/Noriko: If what you say is true... if I really am your mother... Then I’m sorry I didn’t love you enough.

But this apology doesn't come from the person Azula needs it from, which is Ursa with Ursa's memories. It could be a start (although I didn’t like this scene personally), but the topic is never brought up again once Ursa regains her memories. What did she mean by “not enough”? What is Noriko (who is seeing Azula for the first time) seeing in Azula that no one else is? The Search could have given us that, at the very least. But once Ursa regains her memories, the comic just ends with her and Zuko taking a happy walk into the bright Hira’a morning.

In Smoke and Shadow, Azula plays the role of the villain, with a great plot and scheming and cool firebending. But again, nothing about Azula’s pain. And hardly anything from the person who’s the most tied to it. The only thing we get from Ursa is this:

(Dialogue transcription) Ursa: I was actually thinking about my other daughter... Zuko: ... Azula.

Ursa doesn't even refer to Azula by name -- just as "her other daughter". Which again solidifies the narrative's portrayal of Azula as being the problematic one, the one who for whatever reason just can't be normal like Kiyi and Zuko. Yes, one could make the argument that Ursa's overprotectiveness of Kiyi in S&S is a result of her overcompensating for not having done enough for Azula, but until this is somehow made more explicit (like by being articulated by Ursa), it’ll still be up in the air, and it won’t be doing anything to acknowledge side of Azula that hurts just like the other Royal Family members hurt.

Yes, Azula's behavior in the comics is erratic, and it probably precipitated from her breakdown and her subsequent stay at the asylum. Yes, she’s still a dangerous individual, and it wouldn’t make sense for the Gaang to immediately start trusting her to the point of having deep personal conversations with her. And it also wouldn’t make sense for for her to do a complete 180 after Sozin’s Comet and not hold any antagonistic feelings for them or her family whatsoever. But the point is that all of those things resulted from Azula lacking the love she needed from her mother. Whether this lack was real or imagined, it's still a foundational influence on Azula’s character, and it’s an issue that deserves to be explored rather than pushed aside for more “interesting” things like her craziness, cool firebending fights, or evil machinations. Azula deserves a better post-breakdown development than that.

There was actually a really good moment in The Search that I’m sad wasn’t bulit upon. It happens once the Gaang leaves Ikem’s house:

(Dialogue transcription) Azula: Ugh. More than once tonight I was tempted to burn that whole place down! But I resisted for you, Zuzu. I hope you appreciate it. Katara: How could you even think that about such a lovely family?

(Dialogue transcription) Azula: Oh, please. Their charade disgusted me. Nobody’s that happy!

Gee, I wonder where Azula could have gotten that idea from? Maybe it's because she never got a glimpse of a happy family life? Maybe because, even in the days that Zuko refers to his family as being "actually happy", Azula never really felt that because she always felt like her mother's love was missing? I want a comic that explores Azula that way, instead of having the other characters scold her like a misbehaving toddler for not having the correct joyful response upon seeing an example of the happy loving family she never had, and just leaving it at that.

So to summarize, Azula needs to be given time to take a step back and examine her pain. It would be great if she got another character’s help (like a mentor who genuinely cares about her), but she could just as well start that journey alone. She needs to process her pain, lucidly reflect on where she went wrong, what things were out of her control, and what she truly wants her future to look like now. Maybe she can even retell some of her scenes in the previous comics from her point of view and use those as a springboard for her reflections. If this new comic does something like that, then I’ll be happy.

If not... well, then there are still No Comics in Ba Sing Se xD

[zuko-always-lies]

Why Azula Staying a Villain Will Only Lead To Bad Stories[anon submission by justanotherthrowaway1950]

People say that Azula should stay a villain usually do to some combo of the following: she was born evil; her mental illnesses are untreatable (especially in her time); it would cheapen the redemption arcs we have already seen; she exists only to be a foil to Zuko; she needs to remain a villain to show what would have happened if Zuko had everything he wanted at the start of the show (and why what Zuko wanted at start was ultimately bad); and that she is better as a villain. But regardless of all that, I think the best reason against keeping Azula a villain is that we have already seen what Bryke will do if they keep Azula a villain.

Illogical power buffs despite spending two years in captivity to the point one could make a credible argument that she is the strongest non-Avatar, non-bloodbender, and non-sprit fused character in the franchise.

Shoddily relying on vaguely alluded to asylum abuse (and a word of god statement) to justify one of the smartest and cunning characters in the franchise engaging in several half-baked plots that don't really seem to further any of her goals or help her satisfy any of her desires.

Giving her Gaang-tier asylum inmates to serve as her new hench-women, either because they are scared of her and/or being manipulated, which doesn't make sense since she no longer has any political power and thus they can ignore her once she breaks them out. Not to mention she doesn't seem to have regained all of her mental faculties (ex. her Mochi rant during Smoke and Shadow and how her eyes bulge out like crazy!Azula in The Search at the end of the rant). 

Or because she became non-ironic friends with them, which doesn't make sense since Azula during her time in the asylum was clearly not in the mental state to take care of herself, let alone make friends not relying on her status or fear-mongering. Especially when The Search has Azula blame "Ursa" for making Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee stop fearing her, heavily implying Azula still thinks fear is a good way to maintain relationships. Not to mention two of them almost killing Aang after incapacitating him if it wasn't for his plot shield granted by LoK (he needs to die as a 66 year old man so he can reincarnate into Korra).

But most galling, how everyone starts acting stupid and incompetent (and thus denigrating them and their arcs/character growth) whenever Azula is involved so Azula can remain a credible threat despite The Gaang all being masters in their respective fields and having the resources of several nation-states at their beck and call plus a PMC (The White Lotus).

Like when Azula burned all those letters, how come Zuko didn't order his guards to pat her down?

When Azula escaped into The Forgetful Forest and Zuko said he tried, does that mean Azula managed to evaded an Avatar State power seismic sense? Or that she evaded June's shushu? Did Zuko call Toph or The White Lotus to help him capture one of the biggest threats to his throne and world peace? And so, what does it say about them that a mentally broken Azula still managed to evade them?

How was she able to break out six girls from her old asylum without Zuko finding out? Moreover, how come Zuko, or anyone for that matter, never asked any of the asylum workers what Azula was hallucinating about? For if they did, maybe Zuko wouldn't have taken Azula to find her literal trigger warning and put his beloved mother (and her family) in danger. In addition, how come no one asked Azula who "she" was?

But I admit all of the above this assumes Azula was getting relatively modern treatment and that anyone cared about her mental health, which doesn't seem to be the case. I don't blame them (I don't believe abuse victims have to help their abusers and nor do I believe that the oppressed have to help their oppressors) but still, are they world leaders who have been proven to be highly competent in the past when dealing with sensitive issues? So what changed? 

How come Ukano was willing to work with Azula to restore Ozai for the sake of his nation and family when not only is Fire Lord Zuko indebted to him for life due to Mai saving him at The Boiling Rock (not to mention Zuko offering him a job when his governorship disappeared after Bumi retook Omashu), but also when one of the first things Ozai would do after taking back power is killing Mai for her treason (imo, it is clear that after Zuko's defection, the only punishment for treason was death, with no chance for life in prison like Iroh had)?

How come The Gaang plus Zuko don't spend every waking moment after Smoke and Shadow hunting down Azula when she has made it clear with her actions (engaging in mass kidnapping with her own terrorist group and manipulating other terrorists groups to serve her ends) that she would do anything to turn Zuko into a tyrant? Especially considering this the same person who conquered Ba Sing Se as a 14 year old with just two childhood friends and her brother and thus her threat to Zuko at the end of Smoke and Shadow is anything but hollow?

For doesn't The Gaang have a responsibility to ensure that the fragile peace they have built remains? Especially when it is mostly their fault that Azula got free and that it is their general incompetence that allows Azula to remain free and a threat?

But on a more serious note, the biggest issue with Azula's character, or the comics in general, is LoK. For thanks to LoK, we know everything ends up being ok and that Zuko has a long and prosperous reign.

Thus, LoK hamstrings' Bryke's story choices; for example, if I told you that at one point Azula would escape after being cruelly locked in an asylum for two years due to being a madwomen and that she had become the GOAT fire-bender (her lighting manipulation and smoke generation put her in a different tier from everyone else imo) and H2H fighter in ATLA, you would assume that Azula would be leading a plot to overthrow Zuko and eliminate everyone in her way along with everyone who betrayed her en route to restoring the old regime. But instead we get Joker!Azula whose "true destiny" is to make Zuko have one day bad so he'll turn out like her even though the audience knows thanks to LoK she'll never succeed, making the whole thing a waste of time for the reader. And now Bryke wants to write more stories for Aang's time?!

IMO, unless they retcon LoK and/or the comics, it appears the stories they can tell will be lackluster for the reasons I already articulated. But who knows, I might be completely wrong (and boy do I hope so).

-Submitted by justanotherthrowaway1950

I think you raise some excellent points. The comics do no character any favors. Joker villains tend to be incredibly stupid and boring, and turning Azula into one of them while ignoring all of her canon motivations was beyond stupid. And you're right, if Azula is still trying to involve herself in politics in order to further Fire imperialism, she should be remaking the world in the process and continuing to be an active threat. She has the power to single-handily destroy the entire post-war order, and the Gaang should be acting like she does, not fucking off to their own lives and ignoring the problem.

Ironically enough, there's an argument to be made based on LoK that Zuko largely turns into the same sort of tyrant his father was, just acting for a different cause. But apparently Bryke see nothing wrong with extrajudicially locking people up forever in torture prisons designed to just barely keep people alive.

The one point I would like to make is that I haven't heard any evidence that Bryke are actually interested in doing more stories in Aang's time. Avatar Studios has said nothing to that effect. Ironically, their involvement with the comics might prevent them from doing more damage there, because they would almost certainly have to retcon the comics in order to tell a story post-war and they might be reluctant to do so. The other thing is that they had an opportunity to do a story in this time period in the past, and instead chose to do LoK.

[loopy777]

‘Team Avatar Tales‘ Hoedown

This isn’t a review. I’m not sophisticated to do Reviews with a number score at the end and some kind of pronouncement about whether or not every single person, regardless of their personal tastes/circumstances/finances, should buy this book. So, instead, I’ll be dancing through the each of the short stories in this book.

(It was on sale at NYCC at the Dark Horse booth. So I guess this is super-exclusive NYCC coverage! Woo! I am sophisticate and journalism!)

1. “Rebound” (Script: Gene Luen Yang / Art: Ryan Hill) Yes, this is the same comic that came out for Free Comic Book Day six years ago, still serving as an epilogue for The Promise and a prologue for Smoke & Shadow even though it isn’t collected with any version of either of those stories. Mai is still awesome, we still don’t have that ‘Lone Wolf & Cub’-inspired anime about her and Tom-Tom, and this story is one of TWO in this collection using a main Fire Nation character and the other one is ALSO a FCBD-reprint and also doesn’t feature Zuko despite him being on the cover. Sorry, Zuko fans!

2. “The Substitute” (Script: Dave Scheidt / Art: Little Corvus) Hey, remember the comic ‘Private Fire’ about Sokka going out while wearing fake facial-hair and getting hauled into a comedic misadventure due to mistaken identity? Apparently, Dave Scheidt does, and he loved it so much he used the exact same idea -- substituting a preschool for a military camp -- and compressed it down to 8 pages filled with standard “kids are monsters” jokes. It also has a framing that makes no sense because the gAang is already in their Fire Nation outfits but they still need to stay out of sight or wear disguises and also Toph is missing for some reason. Maybe the artist didn’t get the note and this is supposed to take place in Book Water in the colonies.

3. “Shells” (Script: Gene Luen Yang / Art: Faith Erin Hicks) Another FCBD reprint, this is the story of how Suki hates stock misogynists who promote the Fake Geek Girls thing and also reveals that Kyoshi started the Kyoshi Warriors in order to give women the means to defend themselves. This comic is still heavy-handed and still perfectly adequate and still the second-best thing Gene Yang has ever written after Rebound.

4. “Sokka’s Poem” (Script: Ron Koertge / Art: Gene Luen Yang) This is a two-page little love-letter to Sokka’s character that is exactly like all those “We need to talk about Sokka...” tumblr posts that I like and reblog except this one is illustrated by Gene Yang for some reason. Also, both pages were in the official previews, so you can just read it there. This story features Zuko’s only appearance (outside of Mai’s memories) in the collection, showing him sleeping in a sleeping bag with the rest of the gAang. (I mean they’re all sleeping in sleeping bags, not all in his sleeping bag. Missed opportunities.)

5.Toph & The Boulder (Sara Goetter) One of two pieces in this collection to be written and drawn by the same person, and so it turns out to be the only comedy thing in here that completely nails it. This story was previewed last year at NYCC, and is about Toph helping the Boulder with his cat. It’s silly and funny and ridiculous and impossible to take seriously and full of energy. Like I said: nails it. I think Sara Goetter should take over the main Avatar comic line and turn the post-cartoon series into a sitcom. I’m being completely serious.

6. Origami (Kiku Hughes) The other of two pieces in this collection to be written and drawn by the same person, and also the other of two pieces in this collection about a member of Team Avatar giving a confidence boost to a girl with self-esteem issues. Instead of being about Fake Geek Girls, this is about a girl who can’t fight and feels like she’s not special compared to warriors. It’s a cute little tale that shows some insight into the fact that being the Hope Girl of the group can’t be easy for Katara, but unfortunately it just leaves this revelation as a pep-talk in some dialogue rather than actually doing anything with it. Still, it’s a nice little tale and gets Katara’s character and almost manages to be pleasant enough to numb the pain coming with the next story in the collection.

7. Sisters (Script: Gene Luen Yang / Art: Carla Speed McNeil) Yes, another FCBD reprint. And I figured it out! Ty Lee’s sisters are all gaslighting her, and none of what they say about her or their childhood is true. One of the reasons Ty Lee ran away is because she couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t anymore back at home, and Mai told her to get the flameo out of Dodge. This is still the absolute worst thing to ever come from the Avatar franchise, and Ty Lee still needs help to beat a random thug working for a random guy running a random extortion racket against random circuses. I still think Sara Goetter should take over the entire Avatar comic line and do it all as  a sitcom.

8. Scarecrow (Script: Dave Scheidt / Art: Coni Yovaniniz) For some reason, Dave Scheidt got to do two stories in this collection about abusing Sokka. This one is the more ridiculous of the two, and doesn’t bother trying to be nice with its treatment of Sokka, and so this one is actually funny. It’s probably because the art is much more cartoony, so it makes physical abuse look fun and amusing. It’s like the Chibi Shorts in that respect, but this one actually has a sense of style that wasn’t stolen from anime and so is inherently superior.

[woeismyhoe]

Azula’s behavior as a child

There’s so much misunderstanding about Azula’s behavior as a child. Often they’re exaggerated to the point that a simple making fun of a sibling will turn into ‘emotional abuse’. This post will go into every action that Azula has ever done that majority of the fandom deems apparently monstrous, and will explain why it’s actually illogical to call her a monster and an abuser for it. These points that I will counter are usually used by the majority that I’ve encountered on Tumblr/Instagram/YouTube/Reddit, in case some of you are doubtful that such arguments even exist.

1. Azula asking about the throne’s line of succession

People refer to Azula’s question here as cruel and monstrous because she was essentially wishing for Iroh’s death, but that’s not true. She was asking IF Ozai would be next in line to throne if Iroh were to fall in battle, and that’s actually comepletely normal for a child.

She wasn’t wishing for Iroh’s death. She was just asking out of curiosity if her father would be Fire Lord next. It was an insensitive question I admit, but children normally are insensitive. Every one of us have thought or maybe even asked about someone’s death whether as a child or as an adult. Just because it’s not a family member’s death that you thought of doesn’t mean you’re excused from being called insensitive or as the fandom generally calls it, a ‘monster’.

Here’s an example: Have you ever thought of who would be next in line to the throne if Queen Elizabeth II were to pass?

If you have wondered about this question or something similar to it, does this mean you want the Queen to die? No. You’re just curious about who will succeed her.

Or how about a more realistic thought that involves your family: Why hasn’t your father/mother gotten lung cancer even if they’ve been smoking for decades?

We’re taught in school that smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer, yet why hasn’t that person gotten that yet? Does that mean we want them to die? No. We just want to know WHY it’s that way even though they should’ve had it by now.

Questions regarding someone’s eventual death whom we personally know is actually normal, but not accepted and generally frowned upon in society. Children usually ask these questions and they’re forgiven because they have yet to understand how society works yet.

Point is, curiosity makes us ask questions. Children ask a lot of questions, especially when they’re curious about a lot of things. Azula was curious, and that’s why she asked. She didn’t realize it was actually insensitive until Zuko used their father as an example. Yes, Azula was perceptive and intelligent even as a child, but smart children are also known to be way more curious than other children. Also, Azula wouldn’t be asking this question if she actually knew the answer to it.

If Iroh were to fall in battle, it wouldn’t be Ozai who would be next in line but actually Lu Ten (who was still alive at that moment). The fact that she did not mention Lu Ten at all during this only means that she wasn’t completely aware about the line of succession. Ursa failed to answer her daughter’s question properly and to address this to which I have no idea why. It was either the Fire Nation was under Agnatic seniority... but that can’t be it since Azula was going to become Fire Lord and Zuko’s daughter, Izumi, has also become Fire Lord in the future or that Azula was simply not aware of the line of succession since she was just a kid after all.

2. Azula’s indifference to Lu Ten’s death.

We don’t know much or basically anything at all about Lu Ten, his personality or his relationships with the rest of his family but one thing’s for sure is that Azula wasn’t exactly indifferent towards his death. Before the letter of Lu Ten’s death had arrived, Azula and Zuko were chasing each other and laughing, enjoying themselves (sigh such a precious scene). Then Ursa reads the letter, Zuko approaches her out of concern and he’s shocked by the news of his cousin’s death.

Now look at Azula behind him. What is she doing? She’s holding her hands in front of her. I’ve read up about body language, trying to understand what Azula’s was saying and this was what I found. This is a position called ‘The Fig Leaf’. People generally clasp their hands in front of them when they feel vulnerable, uncomfortable at that moment and this position can normally be seen in funerals as well.

Azula was uncomfortable by the news of her cousin’s death. This can be seen from her body language. Now think, if Azula was cruel and didn’t care for anyone’s life, then don’t you think that she would’ve made a really rude and insensitive remark at that moment? If the creators wanted to portray her that negatively, she would have, but she didn’t.

Now when she critizes Iroh for abandoning the siege, it makes sense. From Azula’s perspective, Iroh’s action was an act of someone weak. He was Fire Nation’s greatest asset, a renowned General who’s taken thousands of lives, yet when his son dies, its somehow only then that he realizes that his killings actually have an effect on families. What? That was also what the families of those fallen soldiers were thinking when they had suddenly retreated. There’s also that possibility that Azula could’ve thought that Iroh was dishonoring Lu Ten by abandoning the siege. Iroh retreating from Ba Sing Se would’ve just meant that Lu Ten died for nothing. And that’s true. As a leader, you’re expected to put everyone else before you, no matter what happens. Iroh didn’t do that.

“A real general would stay and burn Ba Sing Se to the ground, not come home crying.”

- Again, true. Yes it was a tragedy that his only son had fallen in battle, but Iroh still had a duty to fulfill which was to lead his nation to victory. He abandoned that duty of his instead. If anything his son’s death should’ve made Iroh want to avenge his son’s death. It wasn’t as if he fought again after his son’s death and he retreated because they were losing, no. They were actually winning. He just retreated. Think about those soldiers who had fallen in battle. They went to war, knowing that they would die. They had accepted that fate because they knew they were giving their service to their nation. Their families knew that as well. But Iroh’s sudden retreat had only meant that those soldiers had died in vain.

“He (Iroh) didn’t take the Earthbenders’ defenses and their resolve seriously enough, and it cost him dearly.”

- Azula, Tale of Azula

Azula wasn’t taking pleasure in Lu Ten’s death or making fun of it. She even admitted that Lu Ten’s death was a great loss. No, she was just criticizing Iroh for abandoning his duties.

3. Azula’s mistreatment of animals/plants

Her abuse of the turtle ducks

I’ve addressed the turtle duck scene in another post but long story short— we’ve never actually seen or even heard from Zuko that Azula had directly thrown the bread at the ducks. His reaction towards mimicking Azula even contradicts the assumption that Azula actually harmed those ducks.

Mistreatment of flowers

Ok honestly, I find it ridiculous and just really desperate that people use this as one of their reasons to prove that Azula was cruel and a monster. Burning flowers, really? She was a firebender, a kid who was bored and being neglected by her mother who was happily chatting away with her son. What else could she have done to get Ursa’s attention? Take into consideration that Azula genuinely didn’t know why it was bad to burn those flowers, and Ursa didn’t help her understand this. Children don’t naturally just appreciate beauty. They learn to appreciate beauty. Ursa didn’t even try to get her daughter to understand that.

4. Azula’s abuse of her brother and friends

Let’s first discuss what abuse is. It’s when a person does something SEVERE to intentionally harm someone repeatedly, especially even though they’ve already been told not to.

I did some research and asked people I know who have siblings about their relationship with their older siblings. All of them said that they had made fun of each other, said hurtful things to one another when they were younger, ages typically from 2-10 and it would always lead to petty arguments and fights that would eventually needed to be settled by their parents.

What Azula and Zuko had was like every other ordinary petty sibling squabble. Azula would play pranks on her brother, Zuko would refuse to play with his sister of his own accord and apparently they’d even get into physical fights where Zuko would usually be the physical aggressor (as apparently he would even try to kick her). You could say lighting his bum on fire for ratting her out to their mom was severe, but you can also argue that they were both firebenders, which would mean that it wouldn’t have actually harmed Zuko that much. That move was like a shove for ordinary kids.

Her treatment of Ty Lee

Even as a child, Azula was competitive. This could be seen when she and Ty Lee were practicing some stunts and she failed to be better than Ty Lee at something. All children are petty, and so Azula’s response to this was to shove her and laugh. Children have this mentality of ‘You made me feel bad so I’m going to make you feel bad too!’ -which is what Azula did. It’s completely normal for children to respond like that whenever they’re upset. It’s either they say something hurtful, or they push that child, and then the other child would start to cry. That’s usually when an adult steps in to reprimand the child and explain to them why they shouldn’t do that. In this case, Ty Lee didn’t seem to mind it. After all, it was just fun and games for them.

Her treatment of Mai

So in Smoke and Shadow it was revealed that they used to have sleepovers together. There was particularly this one time when they had a sleepover at Mai’s and apparently Azula had made her steal her grandmother’s mochi and then ate it while the other two looked uncomfortable (probably because they knew they were going to get in trouble). Child Azula was like that one friend who was a bad influence, but we’d still be friends with them because they were fun to be with. In their case they were friends with Azula because she was the princess. Being associated with the royal family would’ve definitely had some benefits for their families.

Azula was the princess. She literally could’ve asked for anything and she would’ve been presented with it. We don’t know if this was before or after Ursa’s banishment but if it was after, then no one would’ve corrected Azula’s thinking of ‘I want this so I’ll take it’ as a child.

Mai had said that Azula made her steal that mochi as a child, but how? How exactly did Azula make her steal something that her own mother told them not to touch? Mai could’ve said, no, yet she did it anyway. By blackmail? That’s a possibility, but we’d never even seen her blackmailing even in the present timeline. Azula said that she had merely suggested stealing it, but Mai was the one who insisted on following through so this is what I think actually happened.

Azula suggested stealing the mochi. Mai said no in fear of getting in trouble, so Azula just said that she’ll take the blame if they get in trouble (she was the princess after all, what could’ve Mai’s mother and Mai herself done if the Princess wanted it?) Mai followed along until she chickened out at the last minute. Azula called her out for it so Mai insisted on following through to prove her wrong. But then Mai felt guilty after that and Ty Lee was nervous about getting in trouble so Azula was the only one eating it at the end.

Is it fair to call her a monster or abusive for that? No.

Was it bad and wrong? Yes.

Her treatment of Zuko

This is the part where I truly believe Zuko extremists take things way out of proportion (this and in the present when she usually makes fun of him). What was her intention behind telling him about this? To warn him. Azula herself had told him that it was for his own good. If Azula did want her brother to be out of the way, then she wouldn’t have come all the way to his room just to mock him about it. She wouldn’t have told Ursa this either. She would’ve just kept it to herself. If Azula was cruel, she wouldn’t have told anyone.

The only reason why she was behaving that way was because she didn’t know how to feel about it. Would her father really kill his own son? Was he actually really going to do it? She was a 9 yr old kid who loved her father. She wouldn’t have wanted to believe that he was capable of such murder, but she didn’t want to risk it either- and so she tried to play if off as joke, while still making sure that Zuko would be aware of what she’d heard.

Also I’ve seen people call her a monster or crazy just from Zuko’s mantra ‘Azula always lies’.

Do I really have to explain why it’s illogical to call a 9 yr old a monster for lying...? Studies have shown that children usually lie between the ages of 2-10. Lying typically peaks between the ages of 6-10. So Azula lying at that age? Perfectly normal.

Azula was mean as a child, but she was never a monster, or even abusive. Future Azula though, that’s a different discussion for another day.

All I can say is this. It’s fine to call Azula an abuser in the present timeline. That’s your opinion and it actually makes sense too since she showed some of the signs. (Although it’s still questionable since we didn’t actually see it as a repetitive occurrence and how severe it was to be called abuse and the fact that Azula didn’t actually show the other signs of an abuser... if anything, Ozai is the literal prime example of an abuser, and the only thing Azula and Ozai actually shared was their manipulation and use of fear against people except Ozai wasn’t remorseful about that at all. Also I realized after reading up articles about abuse that Zuko in early Book 3 hit most of the signs when it comes to abusive partners which is why I find Azula being considered abusive, questionable because in this fandom, the term abusive doesn’t apply to Zuko but mostly on Mai instead...?)

However, it is NOT fine to call a child a monster or to call them abusive.

[captain-azoren]

Something Different

As Soren lays dying, Azula angrily asks him “How could anyone be so stupid?! Were you trying to act the hero who saves the princess?! Were you expecting me to thank you, to kiss you, to fall in love with you?!” Azula starts to choke up, and her anger rises. “You know I’m a monster! You’ve killed yourself for nothing! It doesn’t make sense!”

“You said no one could love a monster,” Soren replies weakly, eyes closed. “I love you, so, I guess that means you’re not a monster,” Soren manages to open his eyes and gives Azula a smile. “That makes sense, doesn’t it? You...do the math. And you’re not nothing neither...nope.......nada..............~” 

Felt like doing something...heavy. A little analysis on Soren and why I think a relationship with Azula (or someone like her) is fun and interesting to write about;

I’ve been thinking about why Soren chose to stay with his father Viren when his parents split. The most obvious answer would be that Soren, at that age, wanted Viren’s approval, so staying with his father would make sense, even if going with his mother might have made him happier. From the way Soren and Claudia interact, perhaps they get their childish sense of humor from their mom, since they definitely don’t get it from their dad.

However, I do have another theory as to why Soren chose his father instead; Soren might have known that Claudia would go wherever he did. He might have thought that his mother didn’t need him since she was the one leaving. Most importantly though, maybe Soren didn’t want his father to end up alone. Alone like Azula.

((Some spoilers under the cut for TDP S2.))

Soren knows his dad is intense and serious, but also that he’s a very troubled person deep down, even if Soren doesn’t fully understand everything. I think Soren chose to stay with Viren because he thought that if his dad was alone, he would keep getting worse. Soren and Claudia have so far helped keep Viren from completely falling to darkness, but as we’ve seen, even they can’t make him a good person, and he’s still willing to sacrifice Soren to reach his goals.

How does this relate to Azula? Well here goes; I would love to believe that, if Soren “befriended” Azula, and learned how lonely and messed up she really is, he would still stay with her, even if she ended up hurting him because on some level he would want to try and make her happy, in a similar manner to trying to make Viren happy. 

Soren’s flaw though is that his lack of a strong moral conviction means he wouldn’t necessarily try to stand against Viren (or Azula) when they start doing bad things. He’ll be hesitant to carry out their wishes, but might still do them because making someone else happy is worth losing his integrity, though he still tries to find the most “honorable” way to technically do what he’s told. He jumps at the chance to be a leader, but easily becomes of a follower of someone with a strong will of their own; he wants to play the part, but doesn’t really have a real goal of his own, for now.

The Dragon Prince hasn’t had a lot of episodes yet, and as of now Soren is the least developed main character, so I’m really kind of reaching here. Still, I like to think that Soren does have some depth. He tends to look for an easy out to a tough moral dilemma; he’d rather fight Rayla and potentially lose than guarantee a win by killing her in her sleep. He’d rather set up an accident and leave it to fate than just kill the princes. He’s glad he’s paralyzed because it gives him an excuse to never have to make these kinds of decisions.

I think going forward, Soren’s development is probably going to have him gaining more conviction in his decisions, rather than trying to eat his cake and have it too. Someone like Azula is just the opposite, someone who is totally practical and does not hesitate to get things done. 

I’m of the belief that a good partner is someone who balances you out, someone whose strengths help you with what you’re lacking. People can be broken, but sometimes those broken pieces can create a better whole. It’s very easy for Azula to corrupt someone like Soren and make him follow her, but I think it’s possible if they had a real relationship not necessarily based on fear that she would push him to be less wishy-washy and more decisive. 

I don’t know how well Soren could balance out Azula though, she’s a much tougher nut to crack. I feel like Ty Lee could have been the one to help Azula with her problems, and Zuko certainly tries to in the comics, but I feel like Azula’s relationships to everyone she’s known is too troubled and soured for them to really do much to get her to listen to them.

Again, I’m reaching and inferring a lot about Soren, but after being raised by Viren and also having his mother leave, he might feel enough sympathy towards Azula to put up with whatever abuse she throws at him to keep her from losing it. Azula’s tragedy is that, in order for her to heal, she needs someone to love her unconditionally, but Ozai has warped her into a monster that scares and pushes everyone else away, including the people who were once her friends. Zuko in the comics is trying, but there’s so much bad blood between them that it is very difficult.

Azula having someone show her true, genuine loyalty born not out of fear but from, in her eyes, something as stupid as friendship, risking their lives for her benefit with no ulterior motives or strings attached, might be the thing that finally puts her on the path to finding balance. 

Azula believes she’s a monster, she can’t imagine anyone could ever really love her, she hates that her brother has people who love him and she can’t, she can’t understand that she needs to change if she wants to be loved. Azula was raised to believe that love and trust are foolish lies by her father, but she desperately craves them and she breaksdown when confronted with the truth that her worldview is wrong, that she needs love as much as anyone and she can’t be as cruel and ruthless as Ozai unless she stops caring about having relationships with others. Fear is not a substitute for love, and it won’t make her happy.

Only a fool would stay with someone as emotionally messed up and abusive as Azula, believing they could help save her somehow, but I think Soren (or someone like him) might be that kind of fool. If he has at least one genuine virtue, it is loyalty. While blind loyalty is a flaw, like his loyalty to Viren, it can also be his strength as it means he won’t chicken out when someone he cares about really needs him, as painful as it might be.  “I know you’re a bad person, I know that if I stay with you, I’m going to get hurt, but I care about you, you need someone, and if I don’t try to help you, no one else will. I can’t stand the thought of you suffering alone.”

I realize that this does sound like a really toxic relationship, and it is. Any relationship with Azula as she is would be, but she can’t get better on her own. Azula needed guidance the same way Zuko did, but all she had was Ozai after Ursa left her. Even with what I described, changing Azula would be the hardest struggle. As of Smoke and Shadows I think she’s in the same sort of denial phase that Zuko was in Book 1, she’s clinging to the idea that she can make things go back to the way they were and is working toward turning Zuko’s rule into what Ozai’s was, she just has to work hard and be patient, but cant see that things will never be the same. LOK proved as much.

What I imagine is that the thing that finally reaches Azula’s heart is someone just flat out sacrificing their life for her, something so far far from being logical in her mind that it finally convinces her of the truth; real, true, unconditional love does exist, it motivates others to do great things. The world isn’t always run on lies and deception. Not everyone is out for themselves, and even a so called monster like you deserves to be loved, even if you don’t think you deserve it. 

Soren (supposedly) gives up his life and Azula can’t come up with a practical reason why. Up until now she always assumed every action was just a way to gain something, that anyone who tried courting her was out to gain status or to use her power. But Soren gives up everything for her, without even expecting so much as a thank you from her, because as much as a fool as he is, as much doubt as he’s had, he’s still holding onto the ideals he had as a kid, to grow to to be a crownguard, a warrior who protects others, especially the people he cares for.

Azula isn’t witnessing Zuko put himself in harms way to save Katara, a result of Azula exploiting his “foolish” sense of honor and comradery. She isn’t seeing someone just putting on a fake show of bravado or passion to win her over so he can use her later. She’s seeing someone be heroic and courageous and making the ultimate sacrifice for her, a MONSTER, something her brother or mother have yet to do.

The only motive Soren could have in this speculative scenario would be to prove, once and for all to Azula, that he is the real deal, that his feelings for her are real. When weighing the cost and benefits, Soren decides that his life without Azula in it, despite ALL that she has done to him and others, is worse than death.

As Soren lays dying, Azula angrily asks him “How could anyone be so stupid?! Were you trying to act the hero who saves the princess?! Were you expecting me to thank you, to kiss you, to fall in love with you?!” Azula starts to choke up, and her anger rises. “You know I’m a monster! You’ve killed yourself for nothing! It doesn’t make sense!”

“You said no one could love a monster,” Soren replies weakly, eyes closed. “I love you, so, I guess that means you’re not a monster,” Soren manages to open his eyes and gives Azula a small smile. “That makes sense, doesn’t it? You...do the math. And you’re not nothing neither...nope.......nada..............~” 

This destroys the last big lie Azula still believed, that no one could love her. It finally convinces her she’s wrong, and she had to lose a loved one to learn the truth. Double irony if she caused his death. But I like happy endings, so let’s have Katara heal Soren for extra warm feels. It’ll give a reason for Azula to finally open up to the Gaang.

I’m fully prepared to admit that all this might be terribly cliche fanfic garbage and I might just be an Azula apologist, that I’m giving Soren far too much credit and making him wildly out of character especially if TDP takes him in a very different direction. Still, this was rather enjoyable for me, and I hope you got a kick out of it.