I think there are some very deep flaws in the writing of ATLA.
(Okay - just kind of a no-brainer statement)
But I think the biggest mistake is to suggest that Aang "lets go" of Katara out of love for her. It is an internally incoherent concept. And, from a shipping standpoint, I think it highlights toxic elements of Aang's nature which would make it difficult for Katara to be happy with him, and that another main character inhabits these traits better and this indicates he would be a better match for Katara.
Guru Pathik states directly that to access the Avatar State while retaining control, Aang must give up his worldly attachments such that his cosmic energy may flow through him. Now, I think that's a load of horse shit - but that doesn't matter. This is what the show is telling and showing us that Aang must do.
And so, later we see Aang on the ropes at the hands of the Dai Li, Azula, and Zuko during Crossroads of Destiny. He is desperate, and his desperation is framed in and around the fact that Katara is in danger. He cocoons himself, and he meditates. And he "lets go" of Katara in order to save her. But the problem is that his motivation is specifically Katara. He doesn't have a moment of revelation where he sees through his feelings for Katara's plight the plight of the world at-large and lets go of his specific feeling and fears for Katara and emerge as someone truly dedicated to the broad-spectrum mission of the Avatar. Instead, we see him effectively double-down on his attachment to Katara. He never actually lets go. He gets the Avatar state for free (well, in so far as the show has articulated it ethically)
This should be contrasted with Zuko.
During Zuko's prodigal-son return, we see him look upon these things that he for so-long coveted. His role of prince, his prestige, his place at his father's side, the noble girlfriend, impunity, power. All of it. And we see him unfulfilled by these worldly attachments. And at the height of the Day of Black Sun he forsakes all these things. He leaves Mai a letter telling her that he is giving up what they share; he throws away all the trappings, privilege, safety, and power of his princely title; he forever ruins any chance of earning his fathers "love". He then proceeds immediately to find and to help the Avatar.
In this way, Zuko is better exemplifying the very trait that Guru Pathik is urging Aang to embrace to become a fully realized Avatar. The show lies and pretends that Aang does this thing. But he never does.
I think this is especially important. If we take the show at its word, then this is who Aang is supposed to be, and that person is the sort of person that Katara would fall in love with. That is the story that the show believes it is telling. But if we take the text we actually see that Zuko much better embodies these traits than Aang. In this way the show is kind of damning Kataang out of its own mouth.
But, more deeply, we see Zuko take the kinds of steps which the avatar is routinely portrayed as taking. He lives in the Earth Kingdom as a commoner; he lives in the Fire Nation as a commoner and as a prince; while he cannot live among the air nomads, much of his life is lived in a nomadic manner due to his exile and he moves from place to place to eventually settles in with the Gaang at an air-temple.
He and Aang share the fact that they never wear Water-Nation attire or spend significant time in a water-nation cultural context - though it is worth noting that Zuko spent the better part of three years at sea, and that one of the vital moments of his training is learning a technique derived from waterbending which actively unifies water and fire bending in a single action in contrast to Aang who merely accesses those disciplines separately from each other. He even received tutelage from Iroh in the four elements and their inherent connection to each other.
And that brings me back to the concept of "letting go" - in order to become a hero, Zuko had to abandon step by step his own cultural baggage. He had to abandon the idea of fire-supremacy; to abandon the idea of his cultural supremacy; to abandon the view that the water tribe was weak by learning from their element; to abandon his inner rage; to abandon his arrogance; to abandon one by one the things that defined him in the first episode. And this contrasts with Aang, who even in the third-to-last story (Southern Raiders) of the series is trying to use his specific and limited view of ethics and morals to constrain Katara's agency. Who allows Katara to steal the water scroll in season one, Sokka to abuse the trust of the librarian in season 2, and is an active accomplice in Toph's scams and crimes in season 3 despite each one of those actions precipitating a dangerous encounter. He cannot let go of his carelessness, or his possessiveness around Katara, or his inclination to skirt his duties. He is only pushed - forced - to face Ozai by the arrival of Zuko and the pressure of the "Phoenix Kings" plans for a new genocide. Aang cannot let go, where as Zuko let go of everything except himself. And that is a damning contrast.
[I've mostly tagged this as Zutara because it dives into Aang and Zuko in a context which I think it important as a reflection of one-half of the Zutara ship.]
baratheonpilled
dededos
pixelskylines
jacobvanloon
