z + k

I think this ask is in two parts so I pasted the second half here ^ (I hope I’m right lol)

I think there’s a lot to unpack in this lil scene and I think it could be read as romantic or not.

So there’s the surface-level interpretation of this scene.

Zuko likes Katara and wanted to sit next to her. Katara didn’t object because she likes him too.

I think that this is a little bit too simplistic. Zuko is both too awkward and not shallow enough to insist he sit next to a girl because he’s into her.

Plus, we see later on in this episode that Katara is conflicted about romance as a whole right now because they’re in a war.

The way I look at this scene is this:

Zuko chooses to sit next to Katara because he’s stressed. They’re out and about in the Fire Nation where he’s a wanted man for a lot of reasons. And they’re at the playhouse where he used to go as a child with his mother when he was happy.

He chooses to sit next to Katara because he needs comfort and support. He’s asking for it in his angsty Zuko way by sitting down in a huff and arguing with Aang, but Katara still catches on. She knows why he would be upset to be here in particular, and she would know he was sitting next to her because she would get it .

I think that’s why Katara doesn’t intervene: she can tell Zuko needs her to get through the evening. She reads his needs like the empath she is and spends the play trying to tease him and lighten his mood.

Thank you so much!! Zutara also lives in my head rent free. 

Regardless of my personal shipping preferences, I don’t back the notion that Katara is a stand-in sister for Zuko. Here’s why. 

First and foremost, I think framing Katara as a ‘good sister’ for Zuko detracts from the symmetry between the two most powerful, well-written women on the show. Azula and Katara’s parallels are so cool because they’re prodigal benders with something to prove, and reducing them to ‘good sister/bad sister’ for Zuko detracts from those parallels (imo). 

As for Zutara as a sibling relationship...I don’t see it. I’m sure there are already really eloquent metas on this matter so I’m going to keep it brief. 

When June suggests that these two are dating, they blush and deny it. 

If anyone had suggested that Katara and Sokka were dating, do you think this is how they’d react? 

Nah, they’d both turn green and start gagging. (I have brothers, I know)

Zutara - This is me Trying by Taylor Swift

I’m SO glad I’m not the only one who has noticed this! I’ve always wondered about it. So there’s kind of two ways I look at the way this scene plays out.

1. For the sake of the storyline, it doesn’t make sense to have Katara get the spirit water out. If she had already gotten the water out when Aang and Iroh showed up it would have been mad awkward for her to put it back in the vial without using it. And she was going to need it later. They would have had to be some sort of scene where Katara puts the water back away without healing Zuko, and probably have to explain it to Aang. Essentially, it was smoother for the storyline to do it this way.

2. This is my headcanon of why she didn’t get the water out. So set the stage: Zuko is standing face to face with Katara, his enemy (?), and she just offered to heal his scar. Up until this point, no physical contact between them has ever been gentle. They’ve always fought each other relentlessly. And yet Zuko just...closes his eyes. He trusts in Katara completely and totally submits.

I mean, that would probably be pretty startling. The Fire Prince who chased you all over the world and attacked you at every turn somehow trusts you enough to close his eyes and let you touch his scar after one conversation. I feel like Katara’s the type of person who would just be overcome with tenderness at something like that. At someone as temperamental and volatile as Zuko being so vulnerable and trusting in her so implicitly. And she’d forget about actually healing him for a second and just be...gentle with Zuko. Because evidently no one else has, for him to have this scar and be thrown down here too and seem so sad and so angry

This is such a great observation. I went back and rewatched this scene a few times, and I can hear it both ways. It kind of all just rambles out as a run-on sentence to my ears. It’s reminiscent of the way Zuko says his apology to Iroh, all the words just spilling out. You could put commas just about anywhere.

So I sat on this ask for a few days. And I kept rereading it. And thinking.

And tonight something clicked. It actually wouldn’t matter which way he says it, because it means the same thing. (I’m sorry I’m about to answer your question in a really roundabout way)

I’m fairly certain that Katara never mentions to anyone in the Gaang exactly what happened between her and Zuko in the catacombs. (someone correct me if I’m wrong)

But after their confrontation in TSR, Zuko knows for certain that that betrayal is the reason Katara seems to hate him and be the most distrustful of him. (he was the most nervous about her accepting him to begin with, so I think he was pretty sure that was why)

Zuko also would have noticed that the others were oblivious to why Katara was particularly cold towards Zuko (when Katara storms away from the fire I think it’s Sokka who says “what’s her problem?”)

Back to your question, whether Zuko says:

“Your sister. She hates me, and I don’t know why. But I do care what she thinks of me.”

or

“Your sister. She hates me. And I don’t know why, but I do care what she thinks of me.”

he’s lying to Sokka. Because he realized that Sokka doesn’t know about the lil heart to heart in the catacombs because Katara hadn’t talked about it.

Zuko knows why Katara is mad at him and he knows why he cares what Katara thinks about him because they’re the same thing: What happened between them in the catacombs and what happened after.

You guys read my mind sometimes! This is one of my #1 parallels in the entirety of AtLA.

I have so much to say about these two scenes. It does give us tons of insight into how far these two have come, to answer your first question. And when Katara reassures Zuko she’s speaking from experience. 

It’s so beautiful that this hothead has learned to have this much damn patience. I think this is the first time Katara cracked and saw the Zuko from the catacombs again and felt for him. 

(It’s also horrendously ugly that Zuko’s immediate action when seeking forgiveness is still to bow and wait) 

But anyway. 

Katara sees Zuko waiting once again outside of Iroh’s tent, seeking to atone for making the wrong choice. It’s deja vu for Katara, that’s why she goes to help Zuko. I really think Katara’s whole opinion of Zuko shifted the moment she saw him outside her tent the morning after she yelled at him. 

She’s used to being the one apologizing, not being apologized to. So when she sees Zuko preparing to wait it out for another entire night out of respect, their relationship has reached the point where she can tell him confidently that:

I was trying to wash my hair and my brain said:

Monk Gyatso was surrounded by the bodies of Fire Nation soldiers when they found his body. But how? Like how did that happen? Weren’t they all hyped up on the comet?

His clothes aren’t burned either!

If the firebenders killed Gyatso on sight...wouldn’t they be alive? If they just killed him...there wouldn’t have been any soldier casualties, right?

Well!

Y’all.

Gyatso said “I’m going out on my terms and I’m taking you with me” and sucked all the air out of the room, killing himself and a bunch of comet-overpowered firebenders in the process.

Fire can’t live without air; they’d be powerless.

but would Azula have targeted any other member?

i actually don’t think so.

Azula is calculating, manipulative, and an expert on how to upset her brother. She reads and analyzes each and every thing that he does. 

When Zuko shows up in the Catacombs Azula doesn’t know whose side Zuko is going to choose. Her face says that she’s calculating his next move. 

And then Zuko decides to attack Aang. 

Azula’s satisfied smirk says she’s pleased, but not that she was necessarily expecting it. But look at Katara, she’s actually kind of surprised that Zuko went after Aang. And then the fight ensues. 

I’ve said it before, but Zuko doesn’t attack Katara until Azula is in serious danger. She sincerely thinks that Katara is about to smash her into the ground. Why is that? Very little manages to unsettle Azula; this is probably the most frightened we see her up to this point. Being at Katara’s mercy scares the crap out of Azula, even after Zuko seems to have chosen Azula’s side against the Avatar. 

Maybe she doubts Zuko’s abilities, maybe she understands Katara’s power. 

Or, maybe she doesn’t think Zuko will try to stop Katara. 

But then Zuko does step in to break Katara’s hold on Azula. He doesn’t strike Katara, even though he has a clear shot at her and it would be the more strategic move. He only breaks her grip on Azula. 

Another calculating look from Azula. Yes, her brother came to her aid against the waterbender. But did he attack her? Not quite. Attacking Katara directly would have accomplished the same goal as severing her water tentacles, but Zuko chose the option that wouldn’t harm Katara. He had just gone after Aang relentlessly, but he hesitated to use such violence against Katara. Azula wouldn’t fail to take note of this. 

And Azula hears Katara angry with Zuko. Thinking he had made a change, become a better person (by Katara’s standards). Azula would be able to gather that something had taken place in the Catacombs when they were together. Azula’s the one who put them in there. 

The next time Azula sees her brother he’s joined up with the Gaang. During this fight she’s only really gunning for Zuko. She could go after Sokka or Suki in an attempt to upset Zuko, but she doesn’t. Azula doesn’t see the value in sending either of them careening into the boiling lake. 

The next time Azula sees Zuko, she sees this. They’re both falling to their deaths and it’s the waterbender who is up in the saddle, reaching out to Zuko. The same girl who had thought Zuko had changed before he chose Azula’s side in Ba Sing Se. The same girl that Zuko had been trying not to harm last time they fought. 

She’s the one who isn’t clinging to the saddle for safety, but risking toppling off the bison to save Zuko. 

And Azula says interesting indeed. 

Azula doesn’t witness this ^^ particular tenderness, but she sees a flicker of it when these two turn up for the Agni Kai. 

That’s why we see the “I know more than you do” smirk when Azula takes aim at Katara. She has spent her whole life finding ways to hurt Zuko. She knows that Katara in particular is a weakness for Zuko. She saw it when they were in the Catacombs. 

Zuko is grounded and confident today when they’re fighting. Katara is by his side and apparently she was right about Zuko changing. And Azula sees that Katara has helped make Zuko strong. She’s been there for him. Saved him. Supported him. Encouraged him. Katara was the one who already believed in Zuko back in Ba Sing Se, betrayal aside. 

That’s why Azula wants to kill her. 

I’m going to circle back to something else to prove this point. In The Chase, we see the first time that everyone else unites against Azula. 

Azula realizes then, too, that she is outmatched. And she pulls the same tactic in The Chase as she does during the Agni Kai. 

She goes after someone who loves Zuko, who believes in him and supports him. Someone who believes that Zuko’s strength lies in his goodness. 

Azula goes after Iroh because she knows how much damage it will do to Zuko. More damage than could be done by killing him. It will break him enough for Azula to defeat him. 

Prior to his return, Azula sees Zuko hesitate about taking her side in the presence of two people: Iroh and Katara. Azula has exclusively seen these two as a threat to Zuko siding with her. Azula has seen firsthand that, for some reason, Katara makes Zuko hesitate. 

Azula thinks that she’s going to kill Katara. She doesn’t think for one second that Zuko is going to move faster than lightning to save Katara

But he does. And he has the same horrified look on his face as he did when Azula nearly killed Iroh. Because Azula was right, as usual. 

Azula comes completely unhinged after she hits Zuko because she absolutely intended to kill Katara, not Zuko. (Despite it all, she cares about him) She had calculated that Katara would matter enough to Zuko for her death to change the tides and for Azula to win the Agni Kai. But she micalculated. Again. She hadn’t anticipated that Katara dying would scare Zuko so much that he would die in her place. 

Azula isn’t stupid. Even crazed, she’s calculating. She’s seen evidence that Katara will make Zuko hesitate. Like she knew attacking Iroh would completely distract Zuko. 

There is only one member of the Gaang who Azula has this impression of, and it’s Katara. If any other member of the Gaang had been waiting in the wings I don’t think Azula would have broken the rules of the Agni Kai. She wouldn’t have been able to bank on it being enough for her to take Zuko down. 

But Azula knew that, with Katara, it would be. 

Katara had no female teenage friends. She was on good terms with Yue but no friendship was developed, she never had a single spoken interaction with Suki or the Kyoshi warriors, Mai, Ty Lee and Azula were on the opposite side of the war and she never met Jin or Song.

For male teenagers; she was friends with Haru but it was only one episode and when they reunited the crew gave him a horrendous goatee and only one interaction with Katara. She had a crush on Jet, he betrayed her, then when he changed, they quickly killed him off.

Zuko was basically Katara's only close and deep teenage friend. Then after the show was over, Bryke tried to keep Zuko away from her as much as possible (The Comics and LOK). It's kinda like being in an abusive relationship where you get isolated from your friends, except Aang isn't the one doing it, Bryke are.

One of the reasons I prefer Zutara, is because I feel Katara gets to act more like a teenager around Zuko than around Aang. Just imagine how it would have played out if Katara went to that party in The Beach episode trying to make friends with other teens, but with Aang as her date.

Something tells me that if Katara was shown bonding and actually enjoying herself with more kids her and Sokka's ages (especially seeing that high-school-aged kids are the only kids she doesn't mother, except Sokka) more frequently, her choice to end up with Aang in the finale would've looked even more contrived and unrealistic than it already did.

#1. take care of the luggage.

#2. keep tabs on her needs.

(after admiring her for a sec)

#3. give her coordinates.

#4. keep a weather eye on the horizon.

#5. never cease to be amazed by her power.

(alternative title: surprised pikachu)

#6. hip check a bitch who threatens to get in her way.

#7. introduce her as the bad bitch in charge.

#8. never cease to be amazed by her power. and do not doubt her.

#9. get her the information she needs.

#10. be a back-up sneaky ninja.

#11. offer an intimidating pose. 

#12. hold the position until the boss arrives.

#13. never, ever, ever cease to be amazed by her power.

#14. let her make her own decisions.

#15. but mad dog the asshole who hurt her.

#16. don’t panic.

#17. let her make her own decisions. and when she decides to forgive you,

hold on tight

after letting it brew for a while, discussing a bit with others and reading other people's opinions on it, i feel like i have fully solidified what my thoughts are on it (spoiler, theyre not good)

im focusing more on the characters here, since everyone has already done a wonderful job dissecting the plot of the movie (and how it serves no purpose + the holes it has)

long post ahead so beware, everything is under the cut to prevent spoilers + to not have a whole wall of yapping out there. im gonna be sectioning this in specific points i want to talk about (both what i liked and what i didnt like in the movie)

disclaimer: i am NOT gonna be arguing about zutara here. i am a shipper and im not gonna stop liking them, and they are tagged because frankly its relevant to the topic

everything below the cut, NOT spoiler free !!! movie screenshots added aswell !!!