atla sideblog!

Eternally, Lu Ten's hair is perfect. And so was he: the perfect prince; the perfect heir. The patriot and the soldier, off to fight on the front lines alongside his Uncle. Dying a perfect warrior's death. The shadow of war looms over the entire series, of course, but I argue that the world of a:tla is haunted first and foremost by the death of Lu Ten - without Iroh's loss, grief, and spiritual journey, the war may have been won by the Fire Nation long before Aang was broken free of the ice. His sideburns are juuust starting to grow into something similar to Iroh's, representing how perhaps Lu Ten had just begun to morph into a younger version of Iroh himself. A perfect grandchild for Azulon and his empire.

Ursa's hair isn't much to write home about, except in the looseness of her topknot. It's soft and layered, but still very neat... Except in the loose back ends, which are jagged and uneven. Very fitting for someone who projects perfection and tries to lead with compassion when it comes to her children, but is hiding her true strength and willingness to commit dangerous acts underneath it all. Layers!

Everyone talks about Zuko's hair evolution, but Azula's is honestly more interesting to me. Hair is a symbol of pride and perfection in the Fire Nation. Loose hairs are flaws; topknots are sacred symbols of nobility and honour. Azula's hair is perfect - Azula is in control. Except... Azula isn't perfect. She's a 14 year old girl reared to be a killing machine. Flawless from the front, but always hiding jagged edges close to the back of her scalp.

"Almost perfect." "One hair out of place." "Almost isn't good enough."

It's interesting that this point ^ was made in regards to her lightning. It's what separates her; makes her royal and powerful. But it is also her downfall in the final Agni Kai, and these lines foreshadow that. In that fight, 'almost' was what enabled Zuko to sacrifice himself for a blow that Katara could not survive - ending with Katara restraining Azula, before saving him in turn. Nobody was there for Azula.

Another point of foreshadowing was the fight at the Western Air Temple. When Zuko and Azula's power was shown to be clearly matched for the first time, their stalemate blasts them both off the airship. But while Zuko was saved by the Gaang (specifically Katara, again, the person he first opens up to!!), Azula was left alone in freefall. And how does she survive that fall? Brute force. Ripping the symbol of her nobility out of her hair and letting her topknot fall free of control. This parallels the final Agni Kai, in which she attacked a spectator in order to get at what she perceived to be Zuko's weakness, uncaring that she threw away her claim to the throne just to win. To be perfect.

Her willingness to emulate Ozai isolated her from Ursa. But deep down, Azula knew that her mother loved her. She didn't fear her, or think her a monster. It's just that those are the only ways that Azula has left to connect to people. And that is the actual hair out of place; Azula's true weakness. Fear is not the only thing that controls people, and many things can overcome it - most essentially in a:tla, love. It was love for Zuko that lead Mai to betray her, it was Ty Lee's love for Mai that lead her to betray Azula in turn. It was love that Kya sacrificed herself for, love that sent Lu Ten to the frontlines. Love that Zuko spent years struggling for, that Iroh stayed with him all along for. And for Azula, when all that fear fails, and Ozai abandons her, she has nothing. Not even control. So she cuts her hair in an attempt to punish it. The hairs at her nape are now overgrown and bedraggled. She can no longer put her own hair in the noble topknot (that, or she never learnt how... Getting waited on by now-banished servants her entire life). That is the downfall of Sozin's empire.

In contrast to Azula and Lu Ten, Zuko's always had loose strands of hair. It's most obvious in the war meeting and his first Agni Kai against Ozai: he is directly challenging the Fire Nation's prerogatives as the less-talented child. Despite trying to learn and be a good heir (as the rest of his hair is tied perfectly into his ponytail, the only time we see those side-pieces tamed) there is still one hair so clearly out of place. His weakness, at least in this moment, is the compassion that was instilled into him by Ursa. Compassion that made him bow and surrender.

Everyone already knows about the bald ponytail thing so I'll skip ahead. I appreciate how even when Zuko returns to the Fire Nation that he can't keep his hair as symmetrical as Azula's. His hair cannot match how it was when he was a child: his hair is literally too short; his experiences outside of the palace have changed him too much. His scar - his first and most eminent trauma - in and of itself prevents a 'clean' hairline. It may be long enough to be pulled back into a noble topknot, but it's bursting at the seams. A burden waiting to be undone once more, for the love of his Uncle and in pursuit of true peace for himself and the world.

It's only when he's crowned Fire Lord that the flyaways become symmetrical once again. Hairs out of place, intentionally. A new era of love and peace.

I don't have much to say about Iroh, but I find it interesting in his character design how much his topknot sticks out of his head. He's very round in general, so it accentuates even further. I think the reasoning for that is twofold: the love Azulon showed for his favoured firstborn (however the hell it was conveyed, who knows) enabled Iroh to show love to Lu Ten where Ozai had none. Even while laying siege to Ba Sing Se, he loves his son and gives thoughtful gifts to his niece and nephew. Secondly, his journey through the Spirit World and through grief itself has unfettered him from his attachment to nobility in general. His 'station' - and thus his topknot - is conspicuously mismatched with his appearance, demeanor, and philosophies. Getting rid of it doesn't even phase him.