Sparkydice

Avatar Kyoshi

Watercolor, Papercut

8.5″x11″

Aang: I recall yes

Sokka: can I have it

Aang: …what?

Sokka: can I have his firebending. just for like ten minutes

Aang: what no

Sokka: why not I wanna prank zuko

Aang:

Aang:

Katara: you thought the avatar’s brother was a non-bender?

Zuko: … excuse me?

I confess, I have a love-hate relationship with TSR. It’s a gorgeous episode. I love the animation, the fight scenes, the mood.  It also has a lot of my favourite story-beats, like Zuko finally confronting Katara and digging to the bottom of her anger, understanding Katara’s backstory (and why it’s so hard for her to process it - because of the guilt aspect; Kya died for HER), Katara’s bending, which is a perfect visual of those feelings of anger, and of course the Katara / Zuko reconciliation which felt like a really well built and earned moment of their relationship. 

But there are some really “off” moments as well, and I above all, hate what it does with the Zuko - Aang friendship (maybe my favourite relationship in the entire show, next to Zuko and Iroh), which was developed absolutely beautifully until the Firebending Masters, and then it felt like they kind of dropped it, in favour of pushing an implied (never explicitly admitted) love triangle (and I hate hate hate love triangles, they are hardly ever done well).

It’s difficult to have rational discussions about that episode, because - even shipping aside - it is such an emotionally charged one, with a story of unspeakable loss, grief, anger, rage on all sides. And it’s difficult to insert well a discussion of absolute morals into such an emotional maelstrom (you can’t calm people by rationalizing their feelings, first you need to show you understand them).  If anything, I said that while I don’t think it makes sense to compare traumas (all these kids suffered and lost so much, albeit in different way), but to me it’s significant that Katara’s loss of her mother parallels very closely Zuko’s loss of Ursa (down to the point of guilt; their mothers were protecting them), and because of that, it was easier for him to tap into Katara’s emotions and it was somehow fitting for them to take that road together. He had her back and listened, and in that moment that was the most important thing he could do for her.

I think in the end they piled too much into this episode; the entire Katara-Zuko baggage, Katara’s own grief and anger, the moral arguments of non-violence (and as far as the actual moral argument is concerned, I actually lean towards Aang - I don’t believe in vigilante justice either, though I also don’t believe it’s black and white). And certainly it doesn’t help that there is this shipping layer which just makes the emotions flare up. 

But anyway, at the end of the day I feel this episode was about Katara. She didn’t need Aang or Zuko to tell her how to behave; she had to work through her grief and rage and guilt in her own way. I feel if she had chosen to kill Yon Rha, she wouldn’t have regretted it. But the fact she doesn’t is also the thing I would expect from her, so I’m happy with how that all played out.

Zuko is a redemption arc done right–perfectly balanced and with loads of nuance that makes it stand the test of time. There are so many things going for his character path that it’s hard to list them, but here are a few reasons for Zuko’s success as an inspiration.

- Zuko’s problems have a recognizable cause that is treated seriously and has long-term repercussions on his behavior.

- Counterweight: Zuko’s wrongdoing is not swept under the rug even though he was abused; he must alter his behavior and not only apologize, but make restitution for his misdeeds.

- Zuko has an anger problem and expresses it in ways typical for a sixteen-year-old boy.

- Counterweight: Zuko also expresses the full range of human emotions such as grief, hope, shame, and love, not just anger and depression. Also, Zuko gets to work through these emotions organically on-screen; if he doesn’t know where they come from, he struggles until we see him understand himself better.

- Zuko repeatedly falls into bad habits even when a better path is shown for him.

- Counterweight: Zuko learns and grows from his mistakes, and the pitfalls he experiences are usually different each time. This makes the audience aware that, even though he feels “stuck” a lot, he actually is moving forward on his path, whether he realizes it or not.

- Zuko has a lot of help during his redemption arc, from his uncle and from his friends.

- Counterweight: Zuko ultimately is the one who saves himself. He comes to the decision to tear himself away from his father and everything Ozai stands for when Zuko is alone and under intense pressure to be the perfect son. 

That, sadly, was probably the entire point. Zuko getting in between Katara and Aαng was intended to instill a sense of insecurity in the latter that continued with his actor in “Ember Island Players” (a woman instead of a boy), as well as Katara’s portrayal (acting flirtatious with actor!Jet, seducing actor!Zuko), all of which built up to that damaging confrontation he had with Katara on the balcony. 

Like many of Bryke’s attempts at a romance, what was intended as fuel for the “will-they-won’t-they” tension ended up sinking the Kαtααng ship before it even left the harbor. Because you know what would have been better for Kαtααng than showcasing Aαng’s anxieties over Katara not being “his” girl?

Engaging in friendly banter.

Zuko: They make me sound totally stiff and humorless. Katara: Actually, I think that actor’s pretty spot on. Zuko: How could you say that? Actor Uncle: Let’s forget about the Avatar and get massages. Actor Zuko: How could you say that?!

Mirroring each other’s body language.

Or one party showing concern for the other’s emotional wellbeing.

Katara: You didn’t really say that, did you? Zuko: (turns his head away) I might as well have.