#lwpr

Katara: okay she's the one I've been thinking of a lot because Katara's characterization is so delicious. Sure, people remember that in s3 after Zuko turned, she held onto the grudge for the longest. But people seem to forget in the crossroads s2, Katara was the first person in the Gaang to extend a helping hand! (Twice actually if you count her offering to heal Uncle iirc in the Chase). The difference in LWPR is that (1) Katara has never been given an opportunity to extend a hand at all because Zuko hasn't and won't open up to her about his mother at any point and (2) the emotional connection of losing a parent young is in some ways taken up by Azula. BUT, Katara is the type of person who would very begrudgingly help him if it came down to it, complaining the entire time. She's gonna hold a grudge about it too, for a very long time -- he is, after all, a stark reminder of what the Fire Nation is capable of, in some ways the personification of the event that killed her mother. I've been trying to keep a running tally in my head of Katara scenes where she loses a "safe place" as she did in childhood, and how Zuko is the cause for all of them. So: she hates him and will help him and hearing about the scar doesn't change that beyond some extra sympathy points. I think an important difference is that she will offer to heal his scar if it ever came around to it.

Aang: okay this one's a little complicated. Aang is easily the most forgiving of the group and hearing about Zuko's scar absolutely makes him want to "save" Zuko, or let Azula "save" him. Zuko's just a kid too! I think the main thing about Aang is that he has one monster -- Ozai -- and killing him should end this war. And until he kills Ozai, until this war ends, he's literally avoiding every big emotion he might think or feel about anyone, including Zuko. But I also think, somewhere deep down -- and I think this to be true for the main show too, but especially now -- Aang has a bit of dislike (?) for Zuko (at least initially). As in, this is still the kid that chased him down for a long time. And in this book especially, this is the guy who nearly killed him. But it's Aang! Aang is fine! Aang is forgiving! Aang is fully avoiding forming any opinion or processing his feelings.

Toph: easily, hers is the least complicated. Zuko burned her feet, injured her in a way that nearly made her what she feared to be the most -- "helpless". Toph hates Zuko. No sob story changes that. Toph's got a sob story too, even if it's not as brutal. BUT, on the flip side? If/when Zuko proves himself an ally, and apologizes for burning her feet, she's not going to hold a grudge. The scar story is part of him, just as his backstory is, but Toph is the type of person who cares about the now.

Sokka: Ooooh boy Sokka. I have been so, so careful about Sokka. He is the only one of the gang that hasn't been effected by Zuko's actions directly. He hasn't been burned, nor targeted by lightning, or hurt in anyway. Sokka is having MANY emotions about Zuko ALL the time (and not cause he's bi). (1) Sokka is very good at compartmentalizing. Scar story? Sad box. Zuko coming after them? Bad box. He, like Aang, is not processing emotions (thought for different reasons, Sokka does it like a warrior, Aang does it like a kid thrown into war). (2) Sokka is an older brother and at least in LWPR, this is a big part of his identity. He's trying to look out for the group. So on one hand, Zuko is not the group. On another, he can read past the story for what it is -- at some point in his life, Zuko was an older brother too. And right now, Azula sees him as her older brother. The fact that Ozai did that to Zuko is actually so important, because Sokka is a man of evidence-based narratives, and he needs to gather all the evidence he can get to truly understand Zuko, whether as his enemy or as Azula's brother. But, coming back to it -- Sokka is the one with the least interactions with Zuko, but the person most in the mindset of "those who hurt my own is an enemy". It's soooo complicated.

Mai, Ty Lee, Suki: okay I know they're not Gaang but I just wanted to add a short bit. Mai and Ty Lee know the best and worst of Zuko from the outside perspective. Though they don't know the scar story, they can figure it out. Deep down, I think they want Azula to reconnect with Zuko, no matter what Mai has said in the past.

As for Suki, though she hasn't heard the story -- I actually think she functions in a Katara-s3-esque role, in that she offered a helping hand to Zuko and was burned for it. Will she hold a grudge? Yes.

TLDR basically, the gaang is still processing the story of Zuko's scar, and are so far removed from it all that they don't fully understand it, and it therefore doesn't play into their mental characterization of Zuko. (By far removed, I mean they don't know Ozai and didn't know Zuko before this + they've only interacted with Zuko a handful of times very negatively)