Ugh.
Just need to rant.
I recently read an incredible Zutara fic. Truly beautifully written, sweet, slow burn, full of tension and care.
I was completely invested. And then, in the last chapter(s), Zuko marries Mai. It was heartbreaking for everyone involved and it honestly left me feeling annoyed and upset. Part of that is the whiplash. The tone shifted abruptly, and there was no clear tagging or warning that this was where the story was headed. I went in expecting a Zutara story and ended up reading something closer to a tragedy dressed up as realism.
And that sent me down a spiral of why this bothered me so much. On the surface, I understand the argument.
A realistic political landscape after the war. A Fire Lord bound by duty. Nobility, expectations, alliances. I get it. I respect that some writers want to explore that angle.
But that is not why I am here. I am not reading Zutara fic for political realism. I am here for Zutara emotional payoff, mutual growth, and the idea that choosing love is part of building a better world.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized the real issue was not just that Zutara did not end up together. It was how Zuko’s character was handled, in this fanfiction and in canon.
Zuko is constantly held up as one of the best redemption arcs in fiction, and for good reason. Entire YouTube essays dissect his growth, his unlearning of abuse, his rejection of toxic expectations, his choice to be better than the Fire Nation that raised him. His arc is sometimes argued to be stronger and more emotionally complex than even Aang’s (which I believe it is).
So why, at the end of so many stories both in canon adjacent fic and in the show itself does that growth get quietly undone? That's when it clicked for me. What upsets me is not just the ship. It is that Zuko’s growth is often reverted in order to make a bad ship sail.
Mai as a character is not entirely at fault here. In fact, I don't think the writers gave her much thought at all beyond girl Zuko dates + Azula talented accomplice. What we are shown of her is someone who is emotionally closed off, disengaged, and largely indifferent to the suffering around her. She does not care about the war, does not care about politics, does not care about people, and often does not even seem to care much about Zuko unless you squint.
This is complete contradiction to EVERYTHING we've been shown over 3 seasons, that Zuko cares deeply for.
People often point to Mai saving Zuko at the Boiling Rock as proof of deep love. And yes, she saves the person she loves, even after he hurt her. But that moment alone is doing a lot of heavy lifting for a relationship that otherwise lacks shared growth. What’s missing for me is any indication that this choice reflects a broader shift in her values. The Boiling Rock presented a clear opportunity to show that. Her uncle was the prison warden, a direct embodiment of Fire Nation cruelty and unquestioned authority. We could have seen Mai forced to confront that system through him. A parallel could have been drawn between her relationship with her uncle and Zuko’s relationship with Iroh, showing her beginning to question Fire Nation ideology rather than simply rebelling for one person.
Even a small moment would have mattered. Watching her see the cruelty of the prison, having Zuko call it out, and allowing that to spark an uncomfortable realization would have gone a long way toward demonstrating real character growth. It would not have needed to be dramatic. Fandom has proven that sometimes all it takes is a single line, a shared moment of recognition, to build an entire emotional arc.
*Cough* That's something we have in common *cough*
Zuko’s entire arc is about learning empathy, compassion, and accountability. It is about choosing people who challenge him to be better and who reflect the values he has grown into.
Mai saving Zuko does not erase the fact that she shows little care for the wider consequences of his choices, his trauma, or the world he is now responsible for leading in. And crucially, she does not share his growth. That's why this pairing and endings like this feel so wrong to me.
They do not just deny Zutara. They deny Zuko the natural conclusion of his arc.
They lock him back into the very structure he fought so hard to change. Obligation without joy, duty without healing, power without partnership.
And honestly as a Zutara shipper I would rather Zuko end up with anyone EXCEPT Mai. Because ending up with Mai is not neutral. It actively undermines the story the show spent three seasons telling us about who Zuko became.
Which now that I think about it, all those video essays about Zuko's growth rarely mention Mai/Maiko, because it's not really relevant to Zuko as a character.
What is mentioned and what is relevant, is Zuko doing everything he can to earn other's forgiveness and trust. Especially Katara after he hurt her.
Endings that sacrifice Zutara because it's unrealistic have ignored everything the show has presented up until the last 10 minutes. It's harder to read in fics exclusively tagged Zuko/Katara, spend thousands of words bringing these two characters together, and then give them the same treatment as canon.
Zuko is a person who doesn't give up even with all the odds stacked against him. Katara is somebody who is willing to do anything it takes to achieve her goals, be it finding a waterbending master or ending a war that seems all but lost. A Zuko who grows, heals and then willingly steps back into emotional emptiness for the sake of optics is the part I cannot accept.
