There's one anti-Zutara argument I've seen come up a lot that has really been bugging me lately. Granted, there are a number of anti-Zutara arguments that bug me, but this one has just been on my mind the most recently.
It's the argument that Zutara would've cheapened Zuko's redemption. That a romance between Zuko and Katara would've meant Zuko only turned "good" for a girl.
But, like, isn't that basically what M@iko is? Mai never worked for redemption. She just loved Zuko and that was enough to justify her being a "good guy" at the end when there was no indication that she ever regretted any of her previous actions. She didn't even save Zuko at the prison out of remorse or compassion. It was solely because she had feelings for him. She was able to jump on the "good guy" bandwagon only because she's Zuko's love interest. She betrayed the Fire Nation just because she liked a boy.
Zuko, on the other hand, went through an entire journey of self-discovery and had his eyes opened to the evils his country was doing. Even if he did fall in love with Katara, that wouldn't have been the only reason for him to turn against the Fire Nation. He's spent months with minimal to no contact with Katara or anyone else from Team Avatar, but he still put in the effort all on his own to reform himself. Zuko isn't the kind of person who heel-turns out of romantic feelings. His near conversion to the good guys was based on his lived experiences; and, if I'm honest, Katara was also very close to breaking through to him when they were in the catacombs due to their shared trauma and the fact that she was willing to speak to him as a person rather than an enemy. The reason for his betrayal at Ba Sing Se was because he was still very susceptible to Azula's manipulation and deeply insecure about whether he'd be accepted on either side. It had nothing to do with romance and everything to do with his internal conflict, his lifelong struggle between what he knew to be right and what he knew was expected of him.
Zutara does not cheapen Zuko's redemption in any way. If anything, it demonstrates his shift in worldview and dedication to fixing both his own mistakes and those of the Fire Nation.















