#ozai nuance hours

[comradekatara]

the question “does ozai actually love azula?” is really interesting because there really isn’t a right answer. it’s clear that ozai likes azula, much in the way that i like the pen i keep in my bag, but will also not hesitate to discard it once it runs out of ink. and if you consider love to be something that is unconditional (or at the very least, far less conditional than ozai’s standards for his children), then the obvious answer is no, he doesn’t. but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel a strong affection for azula, a pride for the way in which her successes reflect well on his nation, his crown, his ego (all one & the same to him anyway).

does he think he loves her? i mean, yeah. sure. he probably also thinks of himself as loving the people of the fire nation—after all, everything he does is in the best interest of his country.

he learned the values taught to him by his father, whose “love” for ozai is clearly also very tenuous. iroh was clearly the favorite, and ozai the the discarded one. so ozai simply expresses the behaviors that he’s learned. he superficially replicates azulon’s relationship with iroh in his relationship with azula while treating zuko like a punching bag, offloading his insecurities onto someone he can only seem to see as the personification of all of his own father issues and neuroses.

obviously ozai sees his wife and children as his property – that’s not even a particularly unique viewpoint for any man (in a patriarchal society) to hold regardless of their social status – but as reflections of himself, anything they do that reflects poorly on him requires extreme consequences to mitigate, seeing as he is in a position of extreme power that he is also well aware wasn’t entirely “deserved.” both ozai and azula banish people when they feel threatened, because to the crown, a threat to the state (ursa and zuko both proving that they are capable of treason) is a threat to their ego (azula's extreme paranoia during her breakdown) and vice versa.

but i find it especially ironic that the only person it's clear ozai genuinely has any kind of real appreciation for is zhao, because zhao's defining qualities of hotheaded impulsiveness and ego at the expense of logic are the exact qualities that ozai would find utterly repulsive in his children – despite, of course, possessing these qualities himself. ozai punishes zuko's impulsive behavior (a quality he himself was likely punished for by azulon) while appreciating azula's tact, patience, rationality, strategy, and ability to sublimate her own ego for the sake of loyalty to her father/nation (all traits that were also admired in iroh, mind you).

when ozai sees his own worst qualities mirrored in his son, he banishes him, wants him dead. he all but writes off azula after he learns that she lied to him, and seems disgusted by her after her outburst. but seeing this egomaniacal, violent drive reflected in zhao is somehow different, and it leads to his constant promotion. in fact, he only thinks to utilize azula to capture the avatar/neutralize zuko once zhao has finally perished at the hand of his own hubris, even though azula is the far more competent, efficient asset, not only in intellect and skill, but also because her loyalty far exceeds her ego.

the irony of it all, that ozai rewards zhao for relecting the worst parts of himself whereas his children have absolutely no leeway, is likely due to the paternal instinct to view his children as his legacy, his property, his burdens, potential threats to his throne/life (the way he was to his father), whereas zhao is just a buddy, not blood.

but back to the original question: does ozai love azula? what is love, anyway? it's pretty clear ozai would kill any of his family members without hesitation if he thinks it would allow him to seize/maintain power. but azula never gives her father a reason to believe that her goals are not aligned with, defined by, his except for when she brings zuko home and secures his position as heir by lying to his face, so she's obviously his favorite family member. but she's his child, and she's a girl, so as much pride and affection as he feels for her, it's clear he also views her as his property, as a weapon. then again, i doubt ozai thinks of himself as some mustache-twirling child-manipulator. i doubt he considers himself evil; he's a powerful man who does what needs to be done. and all told, he's a pretty normal byproduct of his environment.

so no, I don’t think ozai truly loves azula. but he thinks he does. after all, he treats her far better than his father ever treated him.

[supremechancellorrex]

I've been hearing a lot of people say that Ozai in the Avatar: the Last Airbender cartoon isn't supposed to be "developed" because he's a "symbol". My problem with this is that a character can both be well-developed and a symbol at the same time, so why choose otherwise? "It makes sense because he's supposed to represent" doesn't justify leaving the writing a little loose.

In the cartoon, Ozai is hardly a character to sink your teeth into. You can surmise and speculate things about him, but ultimately every discussion was more about Zuko or another character overcoming him and how satisfying that was than any character depth of Ozai himself. On the Day of Black Sun, Zuko and Ozai's confrontation is less an argument and ideological battle with layers between two human beings and more an extremely developed character yelling at an evil cardboard cutout.

The Problem With Ozai

Zuko: "It was cruel and it was wrong."

Ozai: "Lol."

Zuko: "We need to replace this era with an era of peace and kindness."

Ozai: "Lame." (*scowls in annoyance, tries to leave*)

Zuko: "Stay or I'll cut you." (*waves swords*)

Ozai: "Fine. Whatever. Go on" (*proceeds to sit back down and wonder if he's having spiced fire rice cakes for dinner*)

The way the cartoon presents it, Ozai just was a bit too a moustache-twirling villain and that's even considering his actions. It's not even him being morally bankrupt or sadistic, but that his entire character only exists on the surface level. Him being "superficial" and "ruthless" isn't even a character trait because he has no real character beyond "I'm arrogant, selfish and evil". Even some of the worst dictators in human history from Hitler and Stalin to Mussolini and Mao have more complex 'psychological depth' than Ozai, despite committing the most evil and awful acts against other human beings.

I got they want to reflect the toxicity of the Fire Nation with him as a symbol, "fear" and "ruthlessness", but these are symptoms and the result of an ideology, and Ozai and this ideology need a bit more than "The Fire Nation's ideology is that they're superior, share the greatness and just kill people". We never see Ozai really talk about this ideology, how he is *civilising* the other nations (well, besides, setting them on fire). Why does he think Fire is superior? Why does the Fire Nation? We can speculate it's the unity of the Fire Nation and its industrialisation, that maybe the Fire Nation thinks they have better tea ceremonies and cleaner cities, but none of the Fire Nation characters really talk about this. Sharing their 'greatness', how?

And, of course, we know and the show know their 'greatness' is a lie and farce really, but for their citizens to buy into this farce realistically for 100 years, sending sons and even daughters to die for it, presumably working in factories endless hours to keep up war production like that giant drill, one would think the smokescreen would be a little more convincing than a couple lines. Yes, in the Headband, they show the kids are taught a warped version history with the Air Nomad army, but what is the unifying ideology of the Fire Nation exactly? And how does this reflect Ozai? Beyond ruthlessness and being a smarmy jerk?

And this brings me to a scene I have quite a problem with. The War Meeting flashback in Sozin's Comet Part 1, essentially Ozai just goes from 'How do we quell rebellion?' to 'We will destroy their hope by killing them all with fire'. Hehe, well, I mean, why even talk about "destroying hope" when they'll be too dead to despair? Of course, Sokka says after hearing that literally "I always knew the Fire Lord was a bad guy, but his plan is just pure evil". Then they throw in an Ozai baby picture to pretend they have some nuance, and then blah, blah, Energybending turtle appears out of near nowhere.

A Better Ozai

(I want it noted how hard it was to get a decent gif of cartoon Ozai, especially in his Pheonix King regalia. That is how little people care about or are interested in him. There is more Daniel Dae Kim gifs from the live-action than the cartoon version)

The funny thing is Ozai burning the Earth Kingdom could have worked if they actually gave him character arc in the cartoon. Have Ozai start out believing he can civilise the Earth Kingdom, who he views as inferior and needing to be kept in check. We see in the show Earthbending is banned in Fire Nation colonies and annexed territory, but they should also show him introducing policies to ban certain styles of Earth Kingdom dress, specifically their green national colour dress, and customs, forcibly *civilising* these territory with authoritarian laws. Earth Kingdom children have to go to Fire Nation school to be indoctrinated in how their cultures and homes are inferior, and told to report on their parents.

However, as time goes on, Ozai becomes increasingly disenfranchised with the war, as colonised Earth Kingdom citizens continue to resist, Earthbend and continue banned cultural practices in secret. He feels rising disgust at these people's Earthbender stubbornness and 'backwards' practices, resisting engaging in and conforming to Fire Nation's 'superior' cultural practices, science, and education. How dirty they are, so unFire-Nation, he thinks more and more. He begins to unravel in his hate and think to himself things like how "You just can't take the root edge out of people, so I should burn the root to the ground. Make the world clean, pure and Fire Nation".

If they showed Ozai in the cartoon shifting from the standard position of his father Azulon to an even more extreme and horrifying position over time, reacting in all the worst ways to whatever the world throws at him increasingly and increasingly, his turn as the Pheonix King could have been far more chilling. Azula isn't the only one who has to go "crazy" due to the Fire Nation's twisted teachings. It would have further emphasised the cycle of toxicity in the Fire Nation that Sozin set in motion.

Imperialism and fascism is often driven by a number of things in conjunction, commonly economics, but also vain pride, fear and discomfort; pride of your own nation at the expense of others, as well as fear and discomfort of others, how 'different' they are, their 'weird illogical customs' diluting the 'pure culture of yours' that you understand, their 'strange appearances' changing the face of the culture you know, that you like and think is the greatest and should be eternal. They could be spies, enemy agents of chaos and degeneration. They need to be 'civilised' or 'exterminated' to silence conflict and bring order, this 'dark horde' of backwards people who just can't ever be allowed to be 'in charge'. I think a weakness here is that Ozai is never shown to show any discomfort, he's just so confident and evil about everything, but if he were to reflect the dark face of the Fire Nation, a people they say aren't wholly evil demons, he does a bad job showing the twisted human face of evil and it makes him irrelevant in a way as a character with the themes other than "Defeat evil guy".

Lessons Taught Improperly

Now some would try to defend Ozai in that Avatar: The Last Airbender is a kid's cartoon, but I would say that makes it more important when discussing real-life issues. What is the point of lesson if it is taught improperly? Sometimes that can do more harm than good.

Avatar includes a number of mature themes, including the genocide of Aang's entire people and Gyatso's skeleton. Judging by the Tibetan influences in Air Nomad culture, a real-life people who have also been genocided, I think it is necessary and good practice for even kid's shows to make sure the lessons on real-life evils like the concepts and systems of imperialism, colonialism and nationalism are taught well. Because otherwise you get an inaccurate picture of what it is and how it actually works, and what is the point of that?

Stories want to impart lessons on things being "bad" as a message, but often I think they fall short in getting to the point of why they happen. I wonder if that makes them a little pointless in a way, because the reasons why characters/people and nations do things is both important to good writing and real life. If you aren't taught it properly, how well can you recognise it in your own country? And if you can't, then hasn't the lesson failed to be imparted?

[zukosdualdao]

6, 7, 8, and 16 for the fandom asks!

6. My favorite character:

*nearly buzzing* hey have you guys heard of my good buddy zuko?

okay this is gonna be long and then i'll try to be normal shshhsghjh it's funny because the answer definitely used to be katara (and don't get me wrong, i still adore her and she is absolutely is a close second, she deserves everything tbh), but something about zuko on my last rewatch (before my current rewatch) (i am ridiculous) just... really stuck with me. i hadn't seen the show in years at that point, and while i'd always liked his story, this time around, i couldn't help but appreciate the nuance in it, as someone who is both a victim of abuse and a villain in the narrative, and how the show goes out of its way to show you why he's acting the way he is and doing the things he's doing in a way that allows you to sympathize with him (and that helps to sew the seeds of his redemption because his abuse cannot be disentangled from the fact that he was once a kid who valued kindness and things like not unnecessarily sacrificing new recruits on the front lines, and that he is now performing his father's ideals of cruelty to try to both conform and cope.)

but i also feel the show does a good job at showing this without ever falling into the trap of justifying what he's doing. and his story is really cathartic, as it's one of not just redemption but healing, and the idea that those two things go hand in hand? that the narrative didn't demand zuko hate himself to be redeemed (and, in fact, discouraged it, "pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source", after all) but instead, the actions he took toward changing his life and helping people made him a healthier, happier person??? it's just. it's so good. i could talk about zuko for hours, and i won't do that but. yeah i love this character a normal amount.

7. My least favorite character: (*i decided to interpret this as characters i don't like as people rather than characters i don't like the arcs of. that's a different, more complicated answer i don't feel like delving into at the moment.)

ozai is the boring answer, but i mean. c'mon. (he's not a BAD character, he's just the literal worst.) i don't feel like this one requires that much explanation.

also, though, i don't hear enough hate for my guy zhao. (again, good character! he does what he's supposed to in the narrative, which is overshadow zuko as a threat/villain and showcase viewing oneself as inherently superior as something that will ultimately lead to downfall, which foreshadows the defeat of both ozai and azula.) like.... i don't totally know why, but zhao actually really gets under my skin as a villain lmao. maybe it's because he's more tangible than ozai? like, ozai spends so long as this shadowy, untouchable figure, and so much about him is implied, but zhao is just right there throughout book one, being the worst. and i don't know how to explain it, because there are honestly a lot of similarities between them, but i feel like not everyone has met someone like ozai, but most people know someone like zhao. he has less power than ozai (not none, but less) but just as much ego and will rub whatever power he does have in your face and i just. yeah i hate him.

8. Is there anything I wish people would write more about in fics? (A dynamic, an exploration of an arc, just a character that doesn’t get much screentime, etc): honestly more of toph's dynamics with like, everyone in the gaang, because at a certain point, i do feel like toph gets shoved to the side a bit. (you're telling me TOPH BEIFONG of all people wouldn't have an opinion in the southern raiders?) the friendship moments we do get in the show are cute!!! she's never had friends before and now she does, let her have friends, let it be cute!

i do think some corners of the fandom try to remedy this but i just. i'm having a moment about toph pour one out for my my girl <33

16. Favorite inside joke the fandom has:

zuko, a man who cannot be killed!

[juniperhillpatient]

Hello @juniperhillpatient how are you doing?

So I just thought of a “role reversal” Azutara au question.

To provide context: Many (but not all) Azutara story start of (or gradually show) Azula and Katara on opposite sides. Either in morals or faction in both canon and au. Until they both do an ooopsie and fall in love with their mortal enemy (each other) and eventually join the good side. To both serve the good and be together. Or at least what they believe to be the good. That’s a simplification but it (hopefully) gets my point across.

It is often in these scenarios that Katara starts off on the more morally just side and Azula less so. Considering canon and all. Through of course everything is more nuanced than that simplification, it does serve the purpose of my ask.

Question: can you think of any AU ideas where Azula stars of on the more “morally righteous” (if such a thing even exist in actuality) side? Though really Azula is only on the “just” side by chance. And Katara on the more villainous side? And Katara has to overcome her own hurdles to join the “good guys”. Their personalities are in tact, Katara is just very misguided or just loyal to the wrong people.

An example could be found in the Districted Reality au. Where we had a “good” Azula and an “evil Katara (though no Ty still kept their canon personalities intact). Again though, such terms are oversimplifications.

Oh yes I’m so onboard 🤩 You know, I don’t always read enough fic much as I’d like to read more tbh because - well - you know not enough hours in the day haha - so I’ll be honest I haven’t read anything like what you’re describing although I’m sure it’s out there!

But I do like the idea as long as it ultimately stays true to the characters. I could certainly see Katara getting pushed to the “dark side” under the right circumstances. Say she loses more people - if Aang died & the war was lost -or in literally any AU if Sokka dies - I could see Katara getting pulled into a dark rebel side by someone like Jet or Hama. Or if we wanna go full AU what if the water family were vampires or werewolves or something & she’s loyal to her family & species even though they’re technically evil to humans? Ooh what if Azula’s family demon hunters in an AU like that? (Okay waaait yeah that’s totally something I might write someday actually…)

And Azula’s whole thing is loyalty. She was indoctrinated to the wrong side. What if she was born on a more righteous side? That could certainly be interesting. For me, Ozai has to be a manipulative toxic fucker in every AU or Azula’s character changes too much fundamentally for me. Just a preference thing. But Ozai could totally be on the right side of a conflict & still suck on an interpersonal level in an AU & I’d be down for exploring that.

Oh! Or what about a Descendants type AU? You know how the “heroes” realize they’re kinda wrong to banish the “villains” families & shun them by the end of the series & neither side is perfect? Something like that could also be cool although IDK Descendants is already basically Disney movie fanfic so maybe an AU of it couldn’t work for anything else 😂

Anyway yes! My thoughts are rambly I got nothing specific right now but I like your concept 😊

[highfantasy-soul]

NATLA - Episode 3: Omashu (1/3)

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

An explanation of what I'm doing here and my history with ATLA.

Of course, full spoilers ahead.

<previous/next>

Here is where we start to see the trajectory the writers decided to go in for this series. In the animated, the Gaang pretty much always stays together - they all face the same plot in each episode. This gives them a lot of space to create their bond and each get to interact in depth with the same problems - and we see how each character handles it differently though there is usually one primary character the focus is on. When compressing the story into 8 episodes, doing that would mean about 2 and a half episodes need to be crammed into a single episode and happen back-to-back. That would make the structure feel very stilted and uneven as we hop from issue to issue (and setting to setting) without any real connective tissue - it would feel a bit more like a travel show than a cohesive narrative. By finding several plotlines that share common themes but focus on individual characters that came to the forefront of each plotline, the story can be condensed and cohesive for the hour long episodes. Here is also where we start our two-episode arc structure which gives more space to breathe and include smaller plotlines into the story to enhance the themes being focused on.

These two episodes are focused on how people who have suffered in this war handle their trauma - and how they fight back against oppression. I love love love how they include a new plotline that enhances the themes they're going for in this episode, too, with the small rebellion in the Fire Nation. In the animated series, by virtue of it being a kid's show, they make it pretty cut and dry the first two seasons: anyone wearing red is an enemy and bad. Here, we see a more realistic view of how the people of the Fire Nation actually view the war and their role in it - well, how some view it. In every authoritarian, imperialistic empire, there are citizens who disagree with their government - ESPECIALLY if their people have been at war for 100 years! America is an imperialist empire and there are plenty of citizens who vehemently disagree with the government. There were Germans who disagreed and fought back against the Third Reich. There have been people throughout history standing up against their own oppressive governments. It's great to see that echoed here, too - and then we see Ozai's view of his rule.

First, Azula's cunning and cold-heartedness is shown as she's the infiltrator spinning a sob story about lost family that's designed to lure the revolutionaries to their deaths. While it's sinister and shows just how cut-throat she's willing to be, there's also the obvious evidence that she's A CHILD. In the animated version, Azula is drawn like a 30 year old woman with a full chest, hips, and slender face with sharp cheekbones - in short, she's massively villain coded, not child coded (not to mention she's voiced by an adult). Casting an actual young actress shows the viewer that this really is a child. Her round face implies purity and innocence - a sharp contrast to her father's striking cheekbones and jawline. While the revolutionaries had their spirit, they were misguided in their methods - there was no way they'd have succeeded in killing Ozai, there's just no way.

When Osric Chau (who I could swear they put in that scene to distract the audience from noticing that the 'spy' was the actress cast for Azula - keep your eyes on this guy as you say 'wait, is that Osric Chau? No way, can't be - no, that's totally him! I know him! Where all do I know him from?' while Azula's actress just quietly sneaks around in the side-frame) gives his whole speech about ending Ozai's tyranny, we see the justifications authoritarian rulers so often make - while in the animated show, Ozai's justification is 'we're the best and everyone should bow to us - it's natural', here he's a bit more nuanced - at least he claims he is. "Tyranny? Don't you mean 'unity'? Prosperity?" Atrocities can be justified when you claim 'law and order'. He keeps his cool, his commanding presence until Osric mentions how much people have lost - we see his lip twitch and he insinuates he, too, has experienced loss, then his cool composure returns. Finally, Osric speaks on the massive pressure point of the Fire Nation - the one person that's bringing hope to people and sparking up that flame of resistance - that flame even Ozai won't be able to control - the Avatar. That's when Ozai loses his cool and burns them all alive. Even in the Fire Nation, news of the Avatar inspires people to stand up and fight back.

I think it's a great move to show more of Azula and Ozai in this season - we get to see Azula's actual character when she's figuring things out rather than just her on a mission. She's dismissive of the Avatar - she thinks there's no way they're right, no way the Avatar has returned. That's when Ozai informs her that yes, it is verified that he's back and that it was Zuko who'd found him - he'd done the impossible, just like Ozai asked. Starting from the jump showing how he pits his children against each other to see which will rise to the top.

The animated episodes that they combine here are really interesting in that they actually show up much later in the animated show, however, when you look at the character development aspects of those plot lines, it makes sense to put it here at the beginning. The Waterbending Scroll, Jet, The Northern Air Temple, and The Great Divide (yes, even that one) all create a nice foundation for core character elements - especially for Katara and Sokka - while the Omashu episode is big for Aang's foundational development. I like how the characters in the live-action grow more organically from a weaker starting position than they do in the animated version.

Katara doesn't start out as a naturally inspiring leader like she shows in episode 6 of the animated show in the Imprisoned storyline - she needs to see different kinds of leadership in order to formulate her own. Yes, she stands her ground and thinks her way is right, but to translate that to inspiring a whole group of people? That takes experience and practice - experience she gets to see first-hand with Jet and Bumi (sometimes learning what NOT to do is just as important as learning what TO do).

Sokka is insecure with his role as a leader as he's so convinced that the only thing he has to offer is being a martial warrior - he needs to learn from experience that his ingenuity can be just as useful to the team as his muscle. While in the animated show, Sokka starts out knowing this - always coming up with clever plans to get the job done, in the live-action, he needs to grow into it and learn that that side of him is good too, and can help his friends. This episode, like The Northern Air Temple from the animated series, gives Sokka that foundation to build off of.

All these animated episodes also help the characters learn how to work together and resolve issues with how to go about saving the world - and show just how dangerous trusting the wrong person can be. All the animated episodes this live action episode (plus the next one) combines circle back to Katara and Sokka's bickering and lessons on how to resolve their differing view points. Getting this lesson in early is a great way to solidify the foundation for the team and make them - well, a team. All this is just taken for granted in the animated show - they're traveling together, therefore they're a team and because of its episodic nature, the same issues can crop up again and again and not feel like they're being rehashed as most probably didn't watch all the episodes back to back and in order the first time they saw it.

So there are tons and tons of reasons I think it was a really smart move to combine the storylines they did in this episode and put them all in the beginning of the season and setting them in Omashu.

[fire-lady-ilah]

Random Lu Ten Centric Headcanons

Because I love looking at the Fire Nation Royal Family in general, but Lu Ten holds a specific soft spot in my heart.

He’s ten years older than Zuko and was the fourth person to hold his new cousin, after Zuko’s parents and the Fire Lord but before his own father (who had fallen asleep before the baby was born). He does not feel an immediate love for him, but he does feel immediate curiosity at the way Zuko’s little face scrunches up.

He adores Zuko as he grows. To Lu Ten, Zuko is like the younger sibling he never got without the jealousy that stems from a little sibling getting more attention. After all, Iroh still has plenty of time for his actual son, and Zuko has his own parents. He tries to teach the baby firebending before realizing that won’t work (he’s just a baby after all) and resorting to simple games.

When Azula is born, Lu Ten already has experience as a doting older cousin and adores her just as much as he adores Zuko. He tries to help Zuko deal with the lack of attention from his parents by giving him attention— it only partially works.

Lu Ten has a complicated relationship with Ozai. The easiest way to picture it is to think of Simba and Scar before Mufasa’s death. Ozai resents Lu Ten for taking his place in the line of succession, though he tolerates the little prince. Lu Ten, for his part, can’t imagine someone hating him as a child and views Ozai as just a grumpy person in general. It is only when he gets older that he starts to realize that Ozai might hate him, but by that point he can’t avoid him because it would mean avoiding his cousins.

Lu Ten is also quite close to his grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon. While it may seem a surprise, Lu Ten is expected to inherit the throne one day. Azulon’s love of tea passes down to Iroh, which then passes down to Lu Ten. Grandfather and grandson spend long hours talking on night the full moon every month, starting when Lu Ten is only seven. When he’s young, it’s about topics like what he’s learned in school and how his hobbies are going. As he gets older, the topics become more serious and nuanced. This is another source of envy from Ozai— Lu Ten has a closer relationship to his father than he ever did.

All in all, he has a happy childhood and is viewed as the perfect prince. A prodigy firebender (Azula breaks all his records, but that’s okay. It makes him proud and he teaches her the next move in the set before her tutors will), knowledgeable in Fire Nation culture and history, an expert tactician. Everyone looks at him and knows he’ll be the greatest Fire Lord the Nation has ever seen.

When he is seventeen, he takes a season long break from his typical studies and duties to study under Master Piandao. He takes Zuko with him. He mentions the name to his grandfather, who sneers but does not forbid him from going. Under Piandao he discovers a love of painting. He also discovers the first thing he doesn’t immediately excel at. While Zuko’s dual swords flow as if they are an extension of his body, Lu Ten works from sundown to sunset to accomplish only half of what Zuko does while barely trying. He’s happy that Zuko has something he’s good at. It’s the only thing that keeps him from quitting swordsmanship. He knows that he’s the only reason Zuko is able to learn under Master Piandao. So Lu Ten persists so Zuko can flourish.

Lu Ten is a flirt, and in this he takes after his father. He’s also bisexual, although he keeps that fact carefully hidden from his family. He’s well aware of his Nation’s laws after all. Despite all his flirting, there’s very few people that he actually develops relationships with.

Lu Ten enlists at eighteen and insists on being trained with the other soldiers and treated the same. He regrets this soon after under two tutelage of Master Jeong Jeong, who he swears treats him worse because he’s a prince. It gets worse when he heards that Jeong Jeong is an old friend of his father’s and an old “friend” of Master Piandao— so he has no qualms about pushing him to his limits and forcing him to incorporate weaponry into his firebending. Yet despite it all, he’s still not Jeong Jeong’s star student.

The first time he kills someone, he throws up. He wants to quit. He wants to run away. He wants to go back to the palace and pull his little cousins into his arms and tell them to never, ever go to battle. He keeps fighting and kills again a moment later because it’s an active fight and the sky is grey and he doesn’t have anything left in his stomach but he’s still dry heaving again when his friends find him and the battle is done. He never quite gains the stomach for killing, preferring to make a killing strike and move away without ensuring they die. That way there is doubt in his mind.

Lu Ten takes his issued leave a few months before he dies, travelling to the Fire Nation and spending some time with his cousins. They are a balm to his soul and he finds years of battle induced ache begin to ease. He spoils them both, sparring with Zuko with swords (the boy beats him soundly) and Azula with firebending (she doesn’t quite beat him, but he knows he’s one of the few people she’s okay with being stronger than her... for now). He gives them their favourite treats until their stomachs ache. He gives them both paintings he’s done of the three of them together, even though Azula complains about Zuko being in the painting and Zuko complains about Azula. He meets with his grandfather on the full moon and talks through the whole night. He returns to the front happy and relaxed.

The next time he sees battle, he falls. He knows he will be mourned. He will be mourned by a Nation, by a father, a grandfather, and two little cousins. One will yell and cry. The other will hide behind her cold masks and clutch a painting so tightly it creases the paper.

Lu Ten sees his father from a distance in the spirit world. It might be a close distance, it might be a far one, the spirit world is tricky. He sees the way he hurts, but he also knows that his father is learning things he wished he learned before he died. He turns and walks away, hoping his father will forgive him when they eventually do meet again.

[wingsfreedom]

Since it's roasting comic hours, I had to get this off my mind.

Both Zuko and Azula made to be throne-entitled in the comics. I don't find fighting over the one who holds power to be out of character for either of them in post-war conflict storyline, but their motivations for wanting to sit their ass on the throne is different. Zuko literally doesn't shut up how he is the Fire Lord, his mindset is so entitled and childish than responsible; he's more hyper focused on how the throne is his destiny than him bringing love and peace again to the world. An example from The Search, this is a point when Zuko misled to be believe he's not Ozai's son via Ursa's letter, that he's low-class bastard of Ikem, therefore he has no legal right to the throne and yet...

Then in Smoke&Shadow, look at how smug he is:

I didn't count The Promise but it's filled of such moments. The storytelling goes as far as to outright suggest that this redeemed Zuko would turn to be just like his father too!

Azula is no different, I believe she might try to take the throne back, but not because she's madly in love with the idea of being Fire Lord but because perfectionist Azula wants to redeem herself from her failures. Being Fire Lord to Azula means responsibility, a job entrusted to her by her father "he thinks I can't handle the responsibility of being Fire Lord" it was also about leading her nation to greatness "I'll be the greatest leader in the Fire Nation history", and yes I'm aware she was having a nervous/mental breakdown at that point but even at her worst Azula wasn't talking about power for power sake, there was nuance to her (I'd like to add that she also stopped the Sage from placing the crown on her head after Zuko declared his challenge, "stop" she told him with a signal of her hand which is not a choice of someone who indulged into becoming Fire Lord at all costs). And for Zuko, being Fire Lord means bring honor and change to the Fire Nation and the world, just like he indicates in his crowing speech.

Then the comics butchered them both to give the cheesiest take possible on an idea of conflict.

[chaosprince-apollo]

I find it poetic that in some ways Iroh's greatest defeat is ultimately his greatest triumph.

Like I'm not talking directly obviously. We know he was considered to be a great general and after his defeat he was ridiculed and broken because of the death of his son, he had no real place in his own nation due to his failure and outside of his nation he is a war criminal which he is undeniably aware of and he regrets because he knows he wasn't the good guy and his son died in vain. He may act like a buffoon at times but we know and the people in the avatar kingdoms know he is extremely capable and an expert stratergiest (a testament to this fact is people are wary of him and he STILL manages the convince them he's harmless even when the KNOW he's a dangerous man.)

Now to get to my point about why it becomes a triumph. Simple. It's his big turning point or his first big turning point. This failure and subsequent ridicule breaks him away from the expectation of being a great general. Breaks him away from being a model of what a fire nation soldier should be. Iroh is shown to always be a caring father and I truly believe he knew he was doing wrong but that he also loved his nation and the firelord (his brother) and wanted to bring glory/honour not just for himself but for his son. Failing at Ba Sing Se was a blow sure but if he'd succeeded a) more people than had already died would have and being enslaved by the fire nation. b) he'd have never become the man who became one of the cities protectors c) he'd possibly not have been the one to be with Zuko during exile and d) certainly wouldn't have been someone helping protect the Avatar.

Now I say this is one of his turning points because it's also extremely obvious his relationship with Zuko is his other important factor as to WHY Iroh is such a nuanced and well fleshed out character. There's no way Iroh WOULDN'T love Zuko, but his failure and death of his son drives Iroh not only to adopt Zuko as his own but also to understand that Zuko's mission is wrong and is the road to ruin.

Iroh has first hand knowledge what being on the wrong side gets you. He's also one of the only people around Zuko that acknowledges he is literally a 13 year old child (when exiled, 16 during the show) the gaang also make acknowledgement of this but considering they themselves are like 12-15 approximately this acknowledgement doesn't have the same impact as GROWN ASS ADULTS thinking it's okay for the firelord (a powerful force) to fight agni kai against a 13 year old and then exile him for having....an opinion? Like honestly do these people actually know what the agni kai was about and just accept that or are they told Zuko did something terrible...which like even so pretty poor form here y'all (anyway I digress clearly from my point but I have FEELINGS and probably there are other people with in the fire nation that have enough empathy and critical thinking to know that what happened to Zuko was wrong but my point remains) Uncle Iroh is one of if not the only ADULT character that seems to actually be shown as thinking Zuko is a child with feelings instead of that he's dishonoured his family or that he's evil.

(Side note, I know he calls Azula crazy but I also don't think he thinks she's actually evil either but he has no way to help her and even if he tried there's no way in her current mind set she'd ever listen. She wants to be strong and powerful and whilst she's incredibly smart she can't tell she's being manipulated because she's only ever gotten by on manipulation herself and being rewarded for that so it's difficult for her to see her father doing it to her. It's really enforced into her that her brother is weak and worthless because he doesn't have it in him to be like her. In her mind Iroh isn't just a failure as a soldier, he's a failure because he stood by Zuko. Why would she listen to someone so weak and stupid.)

So in conclusion after several tangents. Iroh's failure to take Ba Sing Se ultimately leads to his role in it's liberation and the defeat of the fire nation under firelord Ozai. His defeat helps put him on the side of the people and the avatar and gives him chances to make amends for his true failures (besieging the city in the first place leading to deaths including his own son and the failure to bring a stop to his younger brother's ambition and cruelty)

Another tangent fuck sorry, it's being a little while since I've watched and I'm thinking of things as I type and I am totally aware I might be missing stuff or misremembering things or that maybe I just have a different interpretation of certain events or characterisations. ANYWAY Iroh as the older brother was the one in line for the throne and Ozai tried to convince Azulon that Iroh was weak using Ba Sing Se as the reason (Azulon's reaction to this is entirely unfair, and it's hard to feel empathy for his fate at the time of his death even if, like other people of fire nation royalty, he has potential not to be a FUCKING COLOSSAL WANKER.) [Also a pause here to say there's a solid 11 to 12 hours between my thoughts here cause my friend called for me to pick her up from somewhere cause she finished waaaaay earlier than we were expecting so coherency who knows her lol]

I think the point I was making essentially comes down to Iroh's defeat leads Ozai to confront/try to reason with Azulon that Ozai would make a better firelord than Iroh (whether Ozai was wrong or right is a matter of perception ultimately) Azulon didn't like this and demanded Ozai kill Zuko, which I actually don't remember clearly but I looked at the wiki to jog my memory and it says that's what happened. Which was my point earlier about being a wanker, and sure maybe it was actually going to be some kind of test a la abraham and isaac etc but of course he got murked and also like firelords tend to have this follow through of becoming batshit at some point. Or at least the last few the precede our boy Zuko certainly have questionable levels of empathy for anyone outside of their immediate family and even then ... anyway who remembers Zuko's scar? Anyone, anyone at all. Yeah....

So Iroh defeat = Ozai trying to usurp the throne = Azulon's piece of shit death to Zuko demand = Azulon gets murdered, sorry assassinated = Ozai usurping the throne anyway (although I'm not sure Iroh really fought him on that at all? Someone please clarify) = Ozai being firelord when Zuko spoke up = the whole agni kai business = Zuko having his face burnt by his own father and told he's weak and is given a frankly impossible task = Iroh watching on and feeling shame, disgust, guilt, and honestly I ultimately think he felt fear for Zuko and fear of having to acknowledge more than ever before that his younger brother and even the nation he loves are on the wrong path and that power isn't worth the amount of pain and suffering caused, like I'm sure previous to this he knew, he had to have known because we know how incredibly intelligent Iroh is, and we also know he is part of white lotus (which again someone might have to tell me a timeline on that because the white lotus thing seems to have being going on a while so was he white lotus during the ba sing se seige? The first one I mean? OH THOUGHTS BUT I'LL COME BACK = Iroh and Zuko's pirate adventures uh, I mean Zuko tries to capture the avatar and Iroh drinks tea = Iroh having to watch Zuko struggle at an impossible task to regain honour he never actually lost = Iroh being a scheming old man to achieve the goal of giving Zuko a loving father = Iroh going on the journey with Zuko to befriend the gaang = Iroh participating with other white lotus members to liberate ba sing se = leading to help the downfall of an oppressive regime = Zuko taking the throne in a state of empathy and acceptance.

Like let's be real. Even though Iroh probably would have made a formidable firelord he possibly wouldn't have become the Iroh we know even though that man would have been in there and whilst he'd have remained a role model to Zuko it may not have had the same impact as the journey they DO share.

Okay I know I had more thoughts regarding white lotus things but this is so long and it's midnight and exactly 0 people will read this

Anyway I love Iroh thanks for coming to my Ted Talk

(Any mistakes are because my brain just dumped a bunch of thoughts and proofread absolutely nothing)

[fire-lady-ilah]

More good dad! Ozai AU? Even if you didn’t ask for it, you’re getting it and I’m picking up right where I left off. This is my reminder that, while Ozai is a good and non-abusive dad and husband in this, he is still very much an imperialist and a cruel person in general.

Parts [1] and [2] if you’d like. This is part 3. Here’s part [4]

The siblings venture into the capital, although they make it known that no one should inform their parents that they are nearby. The moment they step off the ship, Captain Jee sends a letter to the Fire Lady. He was loyal to the Prince and Princess above all, but he did not feel like being executed or exiled that day when Lady Ursa inevitably finds out.

In a large house just outside Caldera City, Lord Ukano lives with his wife, Michi, his daughter and heir, Mai, and his newborn son Tom-Tom. The Dragon Emperor and the Blue Spirit sneak into the bedroom of the heiress and steal her away.

In that I mean, Mai leaps at the opportunity to escape her home with her best friends, who she’s seen wearing the same theatre masks dozens of times, and follows willingly. It takes an hour longer than the siblings had expected, if only because Mai has far more knives than they had truly expected and they get caught up in the palace kitchens stealing Azula’s favourite mochi and some bags of fire flakes.

Then they are caught by Fire Lady Ursa, who is gathering a late night cup of cocoa after a nice night with her husband, not that her children need to know that part. Her children, who are wearing her theatre masks that had very recently gone missing from her collection, stare at her innocently. Her daughter carries two entire boxes she knows are full of mochi. Her son carries the fire flake bag they use for festivals. Her one day daughter-in-law is making a cup of cocoa and the Fire Lady calmly requests one for herself from the girl.

That night, the fire Prince and Princess sleep in their own rooms, with Lady Mai in one of the many available. In the morning, they take breakfast with the Fire Lord and Lady, discussing trivial matters of politics and domestic affairs.

Mai leaves on the request of the Fire Lord, bringing everything they took from her home and the palace (along with what Ursa and Ozai insisted they take) to the ship with the help of some soldiers.

Azula and Zuko sit with their parents. Ursa gives them each two potent bottles of poison. Ozai’s voice has a worry that only his family knows how to detect through the facade of boredom as he inquires how their firebending and blades practice has been, as to the state of their weaponry. They try to soothe their parents worries with assurances: their practice has been going well in both bending and blades, Azula has achieved perfection in lightningbending and Zuko has achieved lightning, their blades are sharp and well maintained, they weren’t harmed when the temple blew up—

It slips through Zuko’s lips. He was never the actor like his mother and sister. For their part, his parents do not react overly beyond a flickering of the flame and a long sip of tea.

“Your mission has changed.”

Ozai is smart. Everything he does is to serve his goals the best they can. In canon, the premier of those goals is to gain more power for himself. In this world, that goal is to secure the ideal outcome for his family. (Of course, his second goal is as much power as possible. But it is only considered after his first goal).

Allying themselves with the Avatar, at least in appearances, will secure the best outcome for his children. And he has no doubt that his brother (so weak after the death of his son. And yet, Ozai cannot find it within him to scorn him overly. He knows that were he to be left childless, he would break. It is merely that Ozai would break in an explosion, whereas Iroh’s flame fizzled into embers.) would eagerly help his children betray him. Even if it was just in appearances.

His children are loyal and dutiful. They protest, but only out of a desire to maintain that loyalty. He wishes the Avatar had remained hidden, at least until they were both adults. They are prodigal, yes, but they are just siblings.

“You have our permission to reveal your mother’s ancestry. Use it wisely.”

The children know their lineage for at least five generations on each side. That, of course, is in addition to their knowledge of every Fire Lord that has reigned since the unification of the Fire Nation. They are well aware that their Grandmother Rina (who feeds them chocolate and tells them stories whenever she visits) ‘s father was Avatar Roku. Just as they knew of the friendship between Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku.

It is necessary for the people of their nation to hear pretty lies. It is not their responsibility to worry about the nuance and complexity of life. It is one of their responsibilities as Angi’s heirs in the mortal world. To worry of such things is a burden they should not have to bear. It is necessary for the people to believe the Avatar hated the Fire Lord.

The siblings don’t know everything, of course. They are just children after all. But they understand the nuance, the conflicting beliefs. They were told the truth (and carefully kept from necessary propaganda before then) when they were old enough to look critically at the situation. It was their duty to bring the Fire Nation’s good to the other nations, to liberate their populations, the siblings decided.

The Avatar is just a child, but he seemed able to connect with his past lives. And he had pointedly not hurt them, at least as Avatar Roku.

If nothing else, they have the Dragon Emperor and Blue Spirit on their side.

“Zhao has asked for permission to launch an invasion on the Northern Water Tribe. He is a fool, but he claims he has knowledge that will ensure his victory. Tomorrow, I will send him a letter approving his asinine idea. You will stop him— kill him, if you must— and use that act of perceived treason to ally yourselves with the Avatar.”

Ozai wants power, but he is no fool. The invasion is risky at best. He cannot find it within himself to care for the tens of thousands that would doubtlessly die in it, the Northern Water Tribe had the advantage in multiple ways. It would serve its purpose to get his children at the Avatar’s side.

The tone lightens after his orders and Ozai steps back from his role as Father Lord into just being a father. He teases his son on his interactions with his betrothed. He teases his daughter and asks if she would be visiting the circus soon, taking note of how she had learned to prevent a blush but not the squeak in her voice. They are not infallible, they are children.

As they see their children for the last time in the foreseeable future, the Fire Lord and Lady both think as to how much they will miss them. Ursa blinks back tears as she hugs them both, smiling as they react identically, burying their faces into her chest to hide them and breathing in the scent of fire lily perfume.

Ozai is not usually physically affectionate with his children. He had never received it from his father and was much more competent in other ways. That being said, no one commented on the kiss he pressed to the top of Zuko’s head (still shorter than him by quite a bit. Sometimes he acted so adult, but he was so clearly still a child) before repeating the action with Azula.

“I am so proud of you. Both of you.”

I’m just now realizing Blue Spirit is supposed to be after the whole Roku thing. Oh well.

For appearances’ sake, the siblings and Mai continue to chase the Avatar. Zhao attacks the Avatar while he trains under the Deserter. Princess Azula ensures the forest doesn’t burn while Prince Zuko uses all the bottled up anger at both Zhao himself and Azulon (really, what is with grown men trying to kill 11/12 year olds?) to yell at Zhao for acting so recklessly.

And if, perhaps, he manages to endear himself to others by knocking Zhao’s feet out from under him, all the better.

The Avatar and his friends escape and the siblings celebrate another success as Zhao nurses his bruised ass and ego.

(“Hey, did the Deserter look like that dude in Master Piandao’s painting in his main hall to you?”

“Admiral Jeong Jeong and Master Piandao were married, Zuko. Obviously that was him.”)

Zhao attempts to order their crew away from them, citing his rank as admiral as above prince and princess.

Azula’s sharp tongue reminds Admiral Zhao that Zuko is not only a prince, but the Crown Prince, and thus he is equal in rank to Zhao. As was their uncle a general, retired or not.

Behind the royalty of the ship stands Captain Jee, his eyes locked with Zhao’s. His eyes promise mutiny even if he were to somehow take them. His eyes swear loyalty to the Crown Prince, to his sister, above all else.

Zhao turns to leave.

“Of course, that is not to say we will not join your invasion.” Zuko sounds like his father sometimes, and never more than when his voice holds a hint of smug satisfaction. “Merely, do not presume to think you can order us in any way. We out rank you, and our crew is the best our Nation has to offer.”

Their ship joins, at least in appearance, Zhao’s fleet. That being said, they obey no orders from the Admiral and only allow his “inspections” of the ship and their crew once. For all intents and purposes, they are just there to observe.

And observe they do. The siblings watch the way Zhao treats his subordinates and twin righteous flames burns in their chests. The truth of being raised by a loving father means that Zuko and Azula are both rather sheltered in comparison to their canon selves. They are raised on ideals of honour and the divine responsibility of a monarch, rather than on the truths of war and practicality of rule. It only results in a hotter fire and more questions as to if Sozin’s way was truly the one to follow.

They still have absolute faith in their father. After all, he is the one that raised them, that taught them of honour and the ideals of a monarch. He is the one that sheltered them. He is the one that suggested they befriend the Avatar to keep them safe.

On the ship, only three people know the entire plan. The first two are the siblings, of course. The third is Captain Jee. He is the one that will keep their ship away from the invasion itself so there is no risk of their crew being harmed in the doomed attack. He is the one that will direct the ship to the colonies once the siblings are with the Avatar. Captain Jee has no qualms about technically commuting treason.

Mai knows some of the plan. In that, Mai knows exactly what Zuko and Azula tell her and then what she observes. She sees the way they stick together, now more than ever. Sees the way that Azula trains her non-lethal lightning (because even she, a nonbender, knows it’s far harder to bend lightning that doesn’t kill than that that does). She hears the way they drop the title of Fire Lord when speaking of their royal great grandfather. She catches whispers about Fire Lord Roku. About the Avatar.

Mai, in a way, knows more than the siblings themselves. She knows that they are genuinely sympathetic toward the Avatar in a way that they don’t yet realize. She begins to keep all her knives on her person, along with an easily grab-able bag for travelling in her room. There was no way she’d be letting her best friends turn traitor without her. This is the most exciting thing she’s done in years.

Iroh knows less than he believes. Oh, he gets the dropped title just as well as Mai, but he does not know the intricacies of Zuko and Azula the way Mai does. He sees Azula’s practice and writes it off as her ever-present search for perfection. He catches the tail end of a conversation between siblings and does not stop to consider who exactly “great grandfather” may be referring to. It would be unthinkable for his brother to tell the children of their heritage.

Despite this, Iroh also knows more than most. He knows from conversation exactly what Zhao intends to do in the Northern Water Tribe and it turns his blood to boil.

They reach the Northern Water Tribe. The siblings sneak off the ship in an emergency boat. Mai enters at the last moment and neither send her away.

Iroh has already left the ship, though he is currently in one last meeting with Zhao in an attempt to convince him not to continue with his plan. He will not check back with his niece and nephew, believing them to be safe on the ship.

In the Northern Water Tribe, the three Fire Nation teens remain tucked into the shadows. They, unfortunately, have no idea where the Avatar is and wander through the city. However, they reach the Avatar’s friends before Zhao does.

(“Is he... alive?”

“He’s just meditating.”)

It goes far better than they could have expected. The siblings’ act of releasing Sokka and Katara from Zhao’s bindings results in a part of water tribe siblings being quite willing to hear them out. Princess Yue gives them an odd look but remains quiet.

Zhao shows up. Iroh shows up. Azula and Zuko denounce him (though they cannot bring themselves to denounce their father, even though they know they should). Zhao declares them all traitors, a koi fish in a bag in his hand.

A bolt of lightning hits Zhao straight in the back. Both he and the koi fish fall into the pool of water. He does not emerge.

Azula’s face is carefully blank, even as she watches the water. She cannot stop to consider whether it is her or the water that just killed the admiral, or if he was even dead at all. She could not even see his body in its depths. She used non-lethal strength.

Despite Princess Yue’s backing, the Northern Water Tribe wants to take the siblings prisoner (hostage, everyone knows). After all, everyone knows of the devotion they show to the Fire Lord and vice versa. If nothing else, they would be excellent bargaining pieces in a more formal treaty.

They had not factored this into their plan. Admittedly, they had not factored the Northern Water Tribe into their plan at all.

The three Fire Nation teens are thrown into a prison cell. A rather comfortable prison cell, but still a prison cell. Iroh is taken somewhere else.

Within five hours, they sit on the back of a flying bison, Sokka handing them food he had smuggled out of the meal as Katara was smuggling them out of prison.

(“We tried to get your Uncle too,” the Avatar says in a remorseful tone, “but we couldn’t find him.”

“Uncle will be fine.” Azula declares, her mind set only on the future as she tries not to think about the way Zhao sunk beneath the still surface of the pond.

Zuko nods in agreement and clutches her hand in a comforting way.)

The Gaang now consists of six people:

Aang, a twelve year old Avatar with a mastery in air and a decent proficiency in water. He looks at the Fire Nation teens and sees his friend Kuzon, sees a time from before the war when an Air Nomad could wander freely through the Fire Nation. He attempts to use Fire Nation slang with them but it’s a century old and results in only laughter.

Katara, a master waterbender and healer (a concept that intrigues Azula to no end, although she tries to keep her questions polite). She tends to have a short temper when it comes to matters of the Fire Nation, but even she can be coaxed into trying a few sweets that Zuko has stored in his bag.

Sokka, a hunter and warrior who may or may not be engaged to the NWT princess (Zuko says he is, Azula says he isn’t). Azula laments that her jokes are even worse than Zuko’s, to which Mai agrees. It is that comment that leads Sokka and Zuko to start bonding, having nothing better to do on the bison’s back than exchange bad jokes.

Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, who Sokka would insist is walking Fire Nation propaganda as he goes on at least one rant about Fire Nation culture and technology a day. Who surprisingly helps Katara with the cooking because it was one of the things Fire Lady Ursa carried over from before she was Fire Lady and taught to her children.

Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, who has a sharp tongue and a sharper pair of twin daggers that she seems to enjoy threatening her brother with for any inconvenience, even though they both just laugh at it. (Katara and Sokka have to be assured by them both that they truly love each other and that threatening each other with weapons carried over from the theatre scrolls they used to act out as children).

Lady Mai talks the least, seemingly content just to talk to Zuko and Azula. Aang makes it his mission to get her to warm up to him and spends a good portion of his time trying to talk to her. He succeeds when he brings up air ball, of all things. Mai’s parents had discouraged her from sport, believing it to be unfitting of a young lady just as they had discouraged her interest in knives until Zuko and Azula had ganged up on them. Partially for that reason, Mai enjoyed sports quite a bit, a shock to even Zuko (though Azula knew). After that, she talks mainly to Zuko, Azula, and Aang.

Captain Jee guides his ship to the Fire Nation colonies, unable to confirm that his Prince and Princess were okay. He hadn’t expected the worry he feels now, but he knows he will be awaiting a letter at Yu Dao if they are safe.

Prince Iroh is startled to discover that, while meeting with Master Pakku, the Avatar, his friends, his nephew and niece, and Mai had all disappeared.

As had his ship.

[wingsfreedom]

In The Search, there were very few moments of nuance to Azula. Yes, the comic was garbage and these moments wouldn't salvage it shape or form because of how much the cons outweigh the pros in the list. But let's address the two moments:

-First, in Part 1, in Ozai's cell, neither father and daughter met each other over a year yet Azula kept silent for half or an entire hour. Ozai kept silent, too. There were overseers on them. Neither of them said a word to each other not even "hello" or "how are you?" for purposes; to shake off that supervision and has a chance to talk freely. What I like is that there was a silent language -- there's only ONE chance they got to make a move and they should use it wisely. It's kinda interesting when you think about it as this silent language can be played in many tough situations, it added subtext to their relationship. I believe most the job of reading the situation and what the other wants would be on Azula because of how perceptive she is and how she plays the supportive role, how she's the one who can get the job done for the king.

-Second, in Part 2, where Azula and Zuko fought over the letter on the cliff. Zuko made his acrobatic circle move on the ground; note that this move is what made Azula disgracefully fall in the Last Agni Kai, rolling feets away onto the ground then stands with her hair down. What I note when Zuko repeated that move in The Search again is that Azula knows this and jumped in time to traps him beneath her this time around, even Zuko looked surprised. If anything, this directly indicates that Azula was constantly replaying her failures in her head, analyzing her mistakes and how to correct them. It's direct indicator to her perfectionist nature and drive for excellence. Azula was castigating herself for her performance during Sozin's Comet.

But that's it. That's all the nuance and depth there were, that led to something.