the official zutara dissertation (p.5)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4Â
So far, we have discussed why Zutara works both canonically and narratively, and talked about why Kat.aang fails as a ship in-universe. I will now also explore Kataang from a narrative perspective and prove that the show 1) failed to build up their romance and 2) created a relationship that was a disservice to both their characters, particularly Katara. Â
Disclaimer: This will be very long.Â
BOOK 5: THE NARRATIVE DISASTER OF KATAANG (OR, HOW NOT TO WRITE YOUR ENDGAME ROMANCE)Â
1. Katara and Aangâs relationship has little to no sustained development.Â
The common argument for Kataang is that they had âthree seasons of developmentâ, to which I say: bitch, where? Katara and Aang share more screen time than Katara and Zuko, sure, but more screen time does not automatically translate into more development.Â
Katara and Aang share only four explicitly romantic scenes in the show before their big finale kiss. Weâll leave that scene aside because itâs a resolution, not part of the build-up, and look at each of the other scenes:
The Cave of Two Lovers kiss. This one is genuinely cute. Katara initiates, Aang is awkward, theyâre both blushing. This is an example of good build-up. Unfortunately, it never gets brought up ever again. Katara treats Aang exactly the same after this episode as before. Â
The cave dance in The Headband. Katara and Aang dance together. Aang initiates. Katara has come-hither eyes. I get profoundly uncomfortable because why is this fourteen-year-old girl looking at this twelve-year-old boy like Nala in The Lion King. Katara treats Aang exactly the same after this episode as before.
The Day of Black Sun kiss. Katara and Aang kiss. Aang initiates without asking, or looking for, consent. Katara looks some combination of embarrassed, shocked, confused, and unhappy. Katara never brings it up again and seems to have forgotten all about it until Aang pushes the matter. Katara treats Aang exactly the same after this episode as before.
The Ember Island Players kiss. Aang kisses Katara, without consent, when she is clearly communicating that she is uncomfortable and does not want to discuss their relationship. Katara is unquestionably displeased, pulls away, and runs off. Katara treats Aang exactly the same after this episode as before.
Whatâs the common thread here? Kataangâs relationship never moves forward from any of these scenes.Â
Development means going from point A to point B to point C, but Katara and Aang reset after every romantic scene to exactly where they were before, so much so that you could mix up the four scenes in any order and wouldnât know the difference (and you might actually improve their romantic development if you did). Kataang has three seasons of screen time, yes, but the progression of their romantic relationship is completely stagnant from start to finish.Â
2. Kataang is framed entirely from Aangâs perspective, which makes the relationship feel one sided and imbalanced.Â
There is no question of how much Aang likes Katara. He frequently blushes at the sight of her, gives her gifts, dreams of winning her affections, and tells everyone how much he loves her. By contrast, Katara rarely, if ever, does the same. Aang is never presented in a romantic light from her point of view, nor does she ever instigate conversations about their relationship. She is not seen talking to others of her relationship with Aang or her desire to be with Aang, certainly not in the way Aang does repeatedly with multiple different characters.Â
Kataraâs feelings are intentionally downplayed because Aangâs desire to win Kataraâs love is one of the major factors that makes him relatable to the audience. This is why Kataraâs feelings for Aang are left so ambiguous throughout the series, and why their relationship is not allowed to develop - because the instant that there is any meaningful positive change in Kataraâs treatment of Aang following a romantic interaction, it signals to the audience that Katara is willing to reciprocate, and that removes one of the most relatable and compelling reasons to root for Aang.Â
Communicating Kat.aang to the audience entirely through Aangâs wishes and desires is meant to make the audience side with Aang, to hope that he does win Katara. This makes the narrative of Kat.aang deeply misogynistic, reducing Katara to a goal for Aang and turning her affections into a reward (which we will discuss further later on). Â
The choice to frame Kat.aang through Aangâs eyes and hold back on their relationship development for the sake of making Aang a relatable character further added to the imbalance in their relationship, making Aang seem far more invested in and committed to the relationship than Katara ever was.Â
And this isnât helped by the fact thatâŚ
3. Kataraâs love for Aang is often framed as maternal or familial, rather than romantic.Â
There are too many instances of Katara treating Aang like her son for me to list, but the frequency is evident just from the fact that the show itself makes a joke out of it. Katara tells Aang to âsit up clearly and stop rubbing your eye when you speak!â right after an argument about how motherly she is, with the implication being that she does undeniably act that way towards him (Book 3: The Runaway).Â
The way that Katara talks to Aang, takes care of Aang or holds Aang, only add to this framing. She kisses him on the cheek or head, cups him to her shoulder or chest, and puts her arms around his shoulders and leans down to speak to him (you can see evidence of this in Bitter Work, The Awakening, The Crossroads of Destiny, The Runaway and The Desert, just to name a few).Â
The moment where Katara holds Aang after he is killed by Azula is even framed like the Pieta (a famous religious sculpture of Mother Mary holding her son, Jesus Christ, after his death):Â
This type of physical framing is commonly used to indicate parent-child dynamics, so why the show used them for their endgame pairing is truly mind-boggling, especially since they clearly did know how to do romantic framing because they got it right with Zutara.Â
4. Katara and Aang officially get together at the exact time that they have never been more emotionally distant from one another, making their relationship seem forced and out of place.Â
What happens to Katara and Aangâs relationship in the episodes leading up to its culmination?Â
The Southern Raiders: Katara and Aang fight. Katara is unhappy with Aang, tells him unequivocally that she rejected his solution of forgiveness, and turns to hug Zuko with an affectionate smile. Their fight is never brought up again or resolved.
The Ember Island Players: Katara and Aang fight. Katara is unhappy with Aang, unclear about her feelings for him, and doesnât want to be with him. She runs away. The fight, Aangâs violation of Kataraâs agency, and her feelings, are never brought up again or resolved.
Sozinâs Comet Part 1 (The Phoenix King): Katara and Aang fight. Katara is unhappy with Aang and asks him to come back. She lets it go when Zuko gently suggests that he needs space. This is the last interaction these characters share before the finale. The fight is never brought up again or resolved.
In their next and last scene together, Katara goes out to meet Aang and theyâŚmake out? *record scratch, freeze frame*
Kat.aang finally happens at the exact moment that Katara and Aang have never been more distant from one another, coming on the heels of multiple serious, unresolved arguments. Kataraâs feelings change off-screen, with no insight as to what triggered their development. The show finally gets them together at the moment they have never been further apart, both narratively and character-wise, and in doing so makes their relationship seem forced and unnatural, and therefore unsatisfying. Â
But guess which ship did actually have a satisfying relationship leading up to the finale, resolving all their conflicts, fighting together, comforting each other, having each otherâs backs, growing closer until one literally sacrifices themselves for the other?
5. Kataang does not develop either Aangâs or Kataraâs characters, and actually impedes Aangâs character development.Â
A good fictional relationship should ideally tie into character arcs, developing or challenging characters in some way. What does Kat.aang do for Kataraâs character arc?Â
Letâs remove the four romantic Kat.aang scenes (the scenes that, in principle at least, try to push forward their development as a ship) from Kataraâs storyline. There is no change whatsoever in Kataraâs arc. Kat.aang does not affect Kataraâs development throughout the show at all â she would have the exact same arc whether the romantic scenes happened or not. Her romance with Aang does not advance Kataraâs narrative in any way.Â
Now, try removing the most intimate Zutara scenes (the scenes that push forward their development as a ship) from Kataraâs storyline, or Zukoâs. Their arcs are fundamentally changed, and the story cannot continue as it did before. Iâve already discussed this in Part 2, but the most Zutara-heavy scenes are inextricably intertwined with both Zuko and Kataraâs arcs, while the most Kataang-heavy scenes have no bearing at all on Kataraâs arc and only weaken Aangâs. Zuko and Katara are woven into each otherâs character arcs and the overall narrative in a way Kat.aang is not.
Aangâs love for Katara is tied into his character arc, but it is done so in 1) a negative way, as a problem for him to resolve and 2) is then never resolved.
In The Guru, Aang is explicitly told that he must let go of his attachment to Katara. We know that the Avatar can have romantic relationships, a partner, a family. Roku and Kyoshi and Kuruk all did. Why, then, is Aangâs attachment to Katara problematic? Well, the only answer is: because it is unhealthy.Â
We need to extrapolate a bit because the show never expounds on this, but an unhealthy attachment can mean either:
1. Aang is clinging on to Katara because he has transposed the love of the Air Nomads onto her. Guru Pathik tells Aang that âThe Air Nomadsâ love for you has not left the world. It is reborn in the form of new love.â Upon this statement, the scene then shifts to Kataraâs face. The implication here seems to be that Aangâs love for Katara is born from his trauma, because he has not actually dealt with his grief over the genocide of his people, and has latched onto her as a coping mechanism.Â
2. Aang is unfairly imposing his own feelings on Katara, expecting her to reciprocate his affections instead of respecting her agency. This entitlement is making his love possessive and toxic, tying him to her instead of letting him love her freely and purely.Â
Weâll never know which of the two (or both) was intended, because the show didnât go into detail, but itâs clear that the conflict was a set-up for Aang to unlock the seventh chakra by letting go of Katara, regardless of what form that took. However, instead of having Aang confront his grief over losing the Air Nomads, or his entitlement to Kataraâs feelings, the book 2 finale has him magically âlet go of herâ and the issue shifts to his chakra getting blocked by Azulaâs lightning.
Narratively, this makes no sense.
It is simply illogical to set up an unnecessary arc about Aang needing to let go of Katara if this plot thread was going to be completely resolved one episode later. We never see the moment Aang actually lets go of Katara, or the way in which he does it. How is he suddenly able to accomplish this in mere minutes when one episode before he was told that his chakra would be blocked for good if he left? Furthermore, if he was truly letting go of her, then why did he say âIâm sorry, Katara,â when his actions are going to save her (and the world)? Aangâs apology implies that he regrets letting go of his attachment to Katara and doesnât actually want to do it, which seems to indicate that he doesnât understand why his attachment is bad â and thus is not really letting go at all.
Moreover, nothing about Aangâs behaviour towards Katara in Book 3 supports the idea that he did let go of her. Aang is more attached to Katara than ever: kissing her multiple times without her consent, demanding reciprocation from her, and becoming worryingly possessive over her. This regression wouldâve been acceptable (Rome wasnât built in a day and all that) if the finale had Aang acknowledge this, work through his attachment, and genuinely let go of it.Â
Instead, we get magic pointy chiropractic rock â which had nothing whatsoever to do with anything set up beforehand â as our solution for the final battle. Our protagonist finally gets the Avatar State, the literal embodiment of being the Avatar, because he was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Moment of silence for Aangâs character development.
The showâs insistence on having Kataang as the endgame ship (which looks more and more like a last-minute decision, given the utter butchering of the shipâs development) destroys Aangâs character arc and development, forcing the narrative to bend over backwards and give him a deus ex-machina lion turtle and magic rock to defeat the Fire Lord.Â
6. Kat.aang is founded on deeply misogynistic writing that undervalues Katara as a character and strips her of her agency and development.Â
Due to the decision to frame the romance entirely through Aang, Katara inevitably has little to no say in Kat.aang.Â
Three of Kat.aangâs four romantic scenes are initiated by Aang. The only time Katara initiates is when they are in a situation of life-and-death, and it is left unclear whether she would have suggested the kiss otherwise (Book 2: The Cave of Two Lovers). Aang initiates their dance in the Fire Nation. Aang kisses Katara twice without asking permission. Aang pushes conversations about their relationship. Aang confesses to Katara. The kiss in the Ember Island Players is particularly reprehensible, because even when Kataraâs boundaries have just been violated and her agency disrespected, the aftermath of the kiss focuses on Aangâs self-deprecation.
Katara can never act; she can only react, and her reactions always stop short of explicit reciprocation. At best, she smiles and blushes. At worst, she looks confused, sad, or is straight-up pissed off. (Katara literally has a more emphatic reaction to being called Zukoâs girlfriend than kissing her canonical love interest, if that doesnât tell you enough.)
Katara does not get to initiate a romantic interaction of her own free will until the finale, because now the hero has to get the girl.
This is particularly weird because Kataraâs other canon romantic partnership does give her agency. Katara looks at Jet the way Aang looks at her, blushes when teased about liking him, denies that she likes him (hey where do we see that again?) and overall acts like a teenage girl with a crush would act. Yet, we are not shown anything close to the same behaviour (beyond maybe one scene) with the character who would be her future husband.Â
Kataraâs romantic interest in Aang is also presented as something he will be inevitably entitled to just because heâs the Avatar, playing into the misogyny of the Hero Gets the Girl trope.Â
The first moment that Katara sees Aang in a possible romantic light is when Sokka explicitly calls him a âpowerful benderâ, in a very unsubtle reference to Kataraâs destiny (Book 1: The Fortune-Teller). Aang first becomes viable as a romantic interest only because heâs a powerful bender, which is, frankly, pretty sad for him. But on a narrative level, using this to âforeshadowâ Kat.aang doesnât make any sense because it runs contrary to the fundamental message of the episode: that everyone has the power to shape their own destiny. Both Aang and Sokka learn this lesson, so why is Katara the only one unable to change her fate and forever tied to her fortune?Â
(Itâs also hilarious when people like to use this as evidence for Kat.aang, because almost every main character in this show is a powerful bender. That prophecy can apply to anyone from Toph to Azula to Zuko to fucking Iroh.)
The narrative has Aang be reassured multiple times that of course, Katara will come around in the end, because heâs the Avatar (Book 2: Avatar Day). Avatar Roku explicitly tells Aang that he was âpersistentâ in pursuing his crush, and that âbeing the Avatar doesnât hurt your chances with the ladiesâ (Book 3: The Avatar and the Fire Lord).Â
Kataraâs magical epiphany of her true feelings seems to happen immediately after Aang has saved the world, at the moment that Zuko says âthe real hero is the Avatar!â (I suppose Sokka, Suki, Toph, Katara and Zuko just sat by and did their nails while poor Aang had to save the world all on his lonesome). The impression this creates is that Katara is finally reciprocating Aangâs affections because he is the hero who saved the world, presenting her affections as his reward for his hard work.Â
The Misogyny of Canon Kat.aang: Katara in the Legend of Korra
To see just how sexist the writing of Kat.aang is, we need look no further than what happens to Kataraâs character post-ATLA, when Kat.aang officially becomes canon. It is absolutely clear from LOK (and the truly atrocious comics, which I will not discuss) that Katara, master waterbender, hero of the Hundred Year War, is reduced to nothing more than a trophy wife.Â
Katara lacks any relevance or impact in the world of LOK, or in the show itself. She is the only member of the core Team Avatar who doesnât get a statue, even though she contributed just as much â if not more â to the war effort, and has absolutely no achievements of her own besides outlawing bloodbending. (Thereâs something to be said about why Katara is the only one whose bending sub-form is portrayed as irredeemably evil, and the wasted potential of bloodbending in general, but we wonât get into that now.)Â
Additionally, if Katara really is the one who outlawed bloodbending, why is she not even at the trial of a known bloodbender? Sokka, Toph and Aang all show up but the only other bloodbender in the entire world is nowhere to be found, even though she apparently wrote the law and probably stands the best chance at fighting or subduing Yakone if needed. Sheâs just too busy at home with the kids!Â
Thereâs some lip service paid to her being âthe greatest healer in the worldâ but this is never shown. Katara doesnât heal a single person in the entire damn show. The only time her healing is brought up is when she cannot heal something, just so you know how serious it is because the bEsT hEaLeR iN tHe wOrLd canât do a thing about it.Â
Katara becoming a healer also runs entirely contrary to everything we know and are told of Katara. In The Waterbending Master, Katara shows no interest at all in learning to heal, looks despondent in her healing classes, and explicitly tells Pakku, âI donât want to heal, I want to fight!â She enjoys beating her opponents in combat (Book 1: The Siege of the North), appears excited to learn new fighting techniques (Book 3: The Puppetmaster) and frequently practices combat waterbending (though never healing).Â
The common defense I see for this is as follows: âPeople change over time. Katara is old and the world was at peace so she didnât have to fight anymore.âÂ
Itâs certainly true that people change over time. But Katara is not a person, she is a fictional character, and if sudden changes are made in her goals and personality, they must be shown to the audience. Character development that happens offscreen is not development.Â
Furthermore, no other member of Team Avatar stopped fighting when necessary so why would Katara, who was canonically shown to love combat waterbending, be the only one to quit fighting entirely and become a healer?Â
Zuko was riding a dragon in his nineties fighting the Red Lotus. Toph fought Kuvira in her eighties. The White Lotus were a gang of old men when they liberated Ba Sing Se, and Bumi was thirty years older than Katara at the time. The ridiculous âKatara was too old and leaving it to the kids!â excuse makes no sense when age has never been an impediment in the world of ATLA, and when every other member of Team Avatar is allowed to fight and kick ass, even if only in flashbacks.
Apart from making her a healer, LOK also strips Katara of her entire personality and leaves her as nothing more than a lonely, sad old widow.Â
When the Northern and Southern Water Tribe (her home) are straight up about to go to war, Katara doesnât intervene in any way, or even seem bothered by the prospect. When her husband explicitly favoured their airbending child to the extent that her other two children still have lingering resentment over it in their fifties, Katara apparently stood by and let it happen. Both Zuko and Toph get to fight to protect their families but when Kataraâs family is nearly wiped out multiple times, Katara just sits at home without helping (or even knowing, somehow). Hell, she doesnât even go to her own granddaughterâs Air Master ceremony. They were really too cowardly to have Zuko and Katara be in one scene together huh
Does that sound like the girl who once inspired an entire prison to fight for their freedom, who blew up a factory to help an enemy village, who singlehandedly challenged the sexism of an entire nation? Does that sound like the Katara whose defining line was âI will never, ever turn my back on the people who need meâ?Â
Kataraâs only other identities in LOK beyond being a healer (a role she fought toothâandânail to break out of in ATLA) are being Korraâs waterbending master, Aangâs wife and Tenzinâs mother. Her entire significance revolves around other characters, and mainly male characters.
Of course, thereâs nothing inherently wrong with taking on feminine-coded work, or being a wife and mother, but 1) thatâs not all there is to womenâs identities and 2) Katara isnât real. Her choices are made for her, so when two male writers take a female lead who broke multiple gender norms, and choose to push her right back into them, Iâm going to side-eye that real hard.
In conclusion, Kat.aang does not work as a ship because it is entirely about Aang. Narratively, it is framed through Aangâs eyes, part of Aangâs motivations, and tied into Aangâs character arc. In-universe, it benefits Aang far more and reduces Katara to a reward and eventually a trophy wife, making her nothing more than a footnote in her own relationship.Â
Kataang is imbalanced, underdeveloped, one-sided and reeks of some serious misogyny, and both Aang and Katara deserved so much better.
