Here we go

In order to properly explain why I personally like the ship, it’s important to first understand that

1. This is contained in a fictional setting.

2. It does not reflect my morals in real life.

3. This is not a dynamic I want to see in the real world.

4. I know platonic love is a thing that exists and that applies in a canon context. I do not believe we should be constrained by what is and isn't canon. Otherwise no one would ever have fun here.

These two are characters and characters are used to tell stories, they are not an extension of fanartists or writers.

That aside,

I. TRUE LOVE

I am personally a big fan of fairytales, and these two have a ton of fairytale tropes attached to them! The main one that drives me crazy being the true love trope.

Lilia's love broke Silver's blessing. Silver's love brought Lilia back from the dead.

As said by Lilia in book 7, " You've been sleeping in this cradle since your kingdom's fall, awaiting someone who would truly love you. " Silver slept for centuries, all alone in an abandoned castle, almost lost to history until the fateful day Lilia found him, as if it was destiny, and the blessing placed upon him recognized that Lilia would love Silver properly. Even if Lilia himself was unsure if he could truly love a human child.

II. UNYIELDING DEVOTION

Silver, mainly, being the one who champions this trope. He loves Lilia dearly and his entire life is dedicated to him. Everything Silver is and will be is because of Lilia. He wants to follow in his footsteps because he admires him so much. Everything he does is for Lilia.

Fun drinking game (Not really, don't do this): Take a shot every time Silver mentions his father in an event unprompted.

The make a wish event is the cutest instance for me. Silver wishes for his father to live a long life, even though he knows fae live longer than humans. It's such a selfless thing, Silver is so utterly devoted to Lilia that he wishes he could live EVEN LONGER.

Silver's own words:

He's in TEARS talking about he wishes he could spend his entire life dedicated to Lilia. It drives me crazy.

III. STAR CROSSED

Lilia was THE general of the right, his entire life was spent brewing hatred for the humans that invaded his kingdom and stole things that weren't theirs to take. Silver was the heir to that kingdom. The son of Lilia's most hated enemy. Lilia's hands are covered in the blood of hundreds of human soldiers, but he dropped his sword and picked up a rattle after he took in Silver.

In another timeline, where Silver wasn't put to sleep, they would have been sworn enemies, but in this one? They are each other's most beloved person.

The same hands that exterminated hundreds of humans made sure to tuck in Silver every night.

IV. EGO

Lilia has been historically treated poorly by most everyone in his life. I feel like his adoptive family treated him as a means to an end. He’s always been cleaning up after the royal family and for what? For the senate to constantly berate him? For him to be sent off to battle unknowing if he would survive?

Lilia’s past has made him believe he’s expendable and unimportant, he thinks so little of himself, and yet Silver thinks of him as the greatest person to grace twisted wonderland.

I think it’s great for Lilia to have someone who thinks he’s the best and admire him with such devotion, because he’s never had that before, you know? After years of being exploited, he deserves someone who can look after him like Silver does.

V. YING & YANG

I like how their aesthetics look together. Silver's light color scheme against Lilia's dark make such a pretty combo. Black and Silver hair, intense pink and soft blue and pink and purple eyes, tall vs short. Silver being the moonlight to Lilia's midnight. The bats and the songbirds. Such good contrast ugh.

VI. IMMORTALS VS. LOVE

I am a big fan of the immortal x mortal trope. Even though Lilia is not technically immortal but simply longed-lived, to Silver there's not much of a difference, it might as well be the same thing.

Lilia is doomed to lose the person he loves the most in a mere century, and live with his memory for the rest of his life.

Silver will die wishing he knew Lilia for longer, wishing he could protect him and take care of him for the remainder of Lilia's life.

VII. SUBVERSION

I like their subverted personalities! You'd expect a father figure to be stoic and serious, and yet Lilia is a silly creature who likes to scare people for funsies, stay up late playing videogames, and look as cute as possible. Silver on the other hand, is the responsible one of the duo, he has a very serious facade and looks scary without actually meaning to.

BUT they also have this gap moe about them, even if Lilia looks completely inoffensive, he could kill you if he wanted to, and even though Silver looks scary as shit sometimes, he's literally the sweetest ever.

Those complimenting personalities are such a good combo!!

TL;DR

On Zuko's Left, is Iroh. Begging him, somewhat threatening him, to run away from this dream of his, where he sits as a Firelord, notably missing his scar. This entire dream is a representation of Zuko's internal desires to live up to his fathers demands, its the inner picture of himself he sees as the rightful ruler of the Fire Nation and with none of the shame or weakness that exists in reality. Of course this version of Zuko would see Iroh as a threat, this is the source of all his cruelty towards his uncle that he had shown earlier in the series. This is the Zuko which is Ozai's son.

On Zuko's Right, is Azula. Strangely, she is perceived with a... seductive voice? (Go look up the "Zuko and Azula at a panel" animatic if you are wondering if this was intended from the Azula's VA) Zuko perceives his sister with a seductive voice, asking him to retire for the night, to "give in to it". Of course, she means to give in to the fight he has within himself, to let his fathers influence overtake him. But it's interesting that its Azula, right? This character that up until now has been shown to have an outright hostile relationship with her brother, outright attempting to kill or jail him, is shown to have the same position as Iroh in his mind. And while this inner Zuko views Iroh as a threat, he views Azula as a seductress which is a hell of a way to view your own sister.

Ultimately, this dream of Zukos crumbles into a nightmare, with Azula's parting words as "Sleep, just like MOTHER!" as the dragon which represents her attacks him.

A bit of foreshadowing, he "wakes up" from his dream staring at his right hand. Funny that. What's this about his mom though? We learn earlier on in the season the story of his mom's disappearance, during Book 2: Episode 7 "Zuko Alone" which is honestly one of my favorite episodes in this book besides the stunning three episode finale.

During this episode we get a flashback to days with his mother and his family together in one piece, before Ozai became Firelord and before Zuko was scarred and banished. Zuko, a child, wants to show off to his mother how his sister feeds turtle ducks by abusing them with a loaf of bread. He clearly doesn't hate Azula, in some ways this shows that as a child, he looked up to her. After a gentle discouragement from his mom about the needless cruelty his sister was teaching him, Zuko appears to be combative and frustrated at his sister when walking past. Most people who watch picked up on this being a display of Zuko and Azula's antagonistic relationship, but remember these are kids. Zuko just got in trouble with his mom for something Azula encouraged him to do, of course he's going to be mad at her. Later on we see them getting along more, laughing together about Iroh's letter, and even playing with eachother happily in the foreground while Ursa reads of Lu Ten's passing.

Its only later that we see a growing divide between them as a result of this news, Azula taking the side of her father and his darwinistic sadism, and Zuko taking side of his mother and notably Iroh, applying Ursa's kindness and compassion to his own growing worldviews. But even then, Zuko still somewhat envies and looks up to Azula as a child, wanting to show off to his father and live up to the same standards as his sister. And his sister still clearly wants to engage him in her schemes and antics, she even warns/taunts him of Ozai planning to murder him.

All in all, this doesn't paint a picture of siblings who hate eachother, but rather that they were pitted against eachother by their respective parents. Why bring any of this up though? Because people seem to miss just how much Azula, and more importantly, a time when him and Azula weren't fighting, means to Zuko.

In Book 1: Episode 12 "The Storm", we learn of Zuko's backstory and how he was brutally abused and burned by his father. But more importantly, we get some incredible foreshadowing. After Zukos head of command grills him about the lack of respect he shows to his uncle or towards his crew, Zuko retires and meditates within his study, a practice he does often over the course of Book One, but what he meditates and fixates on is extremely telling.

Zuko fixates on an image in his mind, so distant, ideal and perfect that its depicted as a painting. Two children playing along a hill while an older adult watches over them. I believe this is a memory of Azula and Zuko with their mother, though the visual is hazy and open to interpretation. When meditating on what he cares about, to ground him from his rage, he recites pictures of a vacation he and his sister took with their mother, and not images of himself as Firelord, or of his father (GOD WHAT GOOD FORESHADOWING)

Zuko's dream is to return to the days before Ozai was Firelord, to return to his mother, to reconnect with his sister. Before he was abused, before they were set against eachother. Once again, I think people miss just how much Zuko values and loves Azula, deep down.

Snap back to the finale of Book 2: "The Crossroads of Destiny". Zuko is placed at a crossroads between choosing to side with Azula, or to listen to Iroh. His previous nightmare made reality. And while Azula is absolutely manipulating him here, its interesting how she does it. "You can still redeem yourself... I need you... the only way we win, is together... you will have father's love, you will have everything you want." Aside from the promises of his fathers unreachable love, Azula's bargaining hits the true center of Zuko's motivation, the core of his drive to find the Avatar and restore his honor in Book One. His family reunited, his sister and him together and friends, and possibly a means to find his mother. And interestingly, rather than pressing a choice onto him, she leaves him to make his own decision. Zuko is once again his fathers son, and the Avatar is right through that pathway, its time to achieve his "destiny".

Book 2 ends with a scene of Azula and Zuko as Azula celebrates their conquest of the Earth Kingdom:

"We've done it, Zuko... when you return home, father will welcome you as a war hero."

"What if father doesnt restore my honor?"

"He doesnt need to, Zuko. Today, you restored your own honor."

While its certainly a headcanon, isnt it a hell of a good one that Zuko might have some repressed, confusing feelings for his sister beneath that scar? That Azula might feel something different, opposite than hate for her brother? I only barely touched on Azula as her character is mostly static for the whole of Book 2, but theres going to be a LOT to say on where her head is once I look at Book 3, and eventually the comics. Don't think I'll forget to reread the comics, I love them!