WanderingGuy

Making Azula look like a tired teenager again—and once more, just to show how much she really resembles Zuko.

When did Ursa lose Azula? The answer isn’t when Ozai started molding her or when she went to the academy.

It’s right here.

It’s when Azula in her father’s arms leans away from him to be closer to her mother. To look at her mother with hope that she will be happy or proud of her. That Ursa would close the gap Azula is extending herself to shrink. But Ursa shuts her down, can’t stand to put up more than a fledging performance of congratulations. To push her own child away with her words and towards someone she hates and knows she can’t trust.

Nobody took Azula away from her mother. Ursa never cared to embrace her. Even when Azula extends herself out to Ursa.

Really hoping that this scene is of Azula standing up to a bully and not her being a bully. Her facial expression indicates that it might be the former, since she looks angry, but only time will tell. It'd be a great comparison though if it's the former, since it seems like Kiyi also stands up to a bully in this comic:

Burn This City, Burn This City Down Title Page

Months after the search took place, Azula shows up in the Fire Nation royal court surprisingly sane, with a surprise announcement: she's engaged. Zuko has to grapple with the sudden reappearance of his sister, her fake engagement to a family of his political rivals, and determining whose side she's really on. An Azula redemptoin story, and Azulaang and Zutara fanfic!

Interesting is that Zuko is kneeling here as if he’s submitting himself to Ozai, meanwhile Azula bends the knee which represents her swearing her loyalty to her father.

Iroh feels guilty for Lu Ten’s death specifically because he put his son in that position. It’s a huge driving force behind why Iroh now wants to discourage Zuko from throwing his life away the same way.

Now we are expected to believe General Iroh, the Dragon of the West, always worried about his son going to war and tried to discourage him?

Turning Iroh into someone who was never wrong makes him worse. Not better. It doesn’t make him seem more compassionate. It makes him seem cruel. Iroh works when he has a quiet redemption arc. Where he is undertaking the same journey Zuko is. Only wiser and much more willing to change.