So Did Season 3 Zuko Genuinely Believe Ozai Loved Azula? Is That Why He Was Okay With Ratting Her Out

So did season 3 Zuko genuinely believe Ozai loved Azula? Is that why he was okay with ratting her out to him with no fear of what he might do to her?

Zuko is a 16-year-old boy that was a victim of abuse pretty much his entire life. It took him THREE WHOLE YEARS to realize that their father disfiguring and banishing him for speaking out of turn/against a cruel plan, and refusing to fight him, was, in fact, a deeply horrible thing for Ozai to do and it was all Ozai's fault.

Is it fair or realistic to expect him to understand that, even though Azula managed to live up to Ozai's insane expectations for his children, it was still unfair of him to put so much pressure on her and that it was only a matter of time before she cracked under it? Can we really blame him for not realizing Azula is being psychologically abused when she's in denial about it herself and actively trying to convince everyone around her that everything she does is effortless? And when the adults he actually trusts, aka his mother and uncle, are ALSO not aware of what's going on right in front of their faces?

Can we blame a child who is desperate to get even the slightest bit of approval and affection from his parent, and never achieving it, for thinking their sibling has an easier, enviable life because they ocasionally get some conditional love?

Can we expect someone who just heard their parent say the words "Your sister was born lucky, you were lucky to be born" to just casually ignore that very clear "I wish you were dead, you don't deserve to exist" and focus only on the implications of "Wait, is he dismissing my sibling's life-long attempts, and success, of living up to his expectations as sheer dumb luck, not hard work and genuine talent?"

I've said once, I'll say it again: Zuko's attempts to survive all the trauma he endured are basically the same as someone who is panicking while drowning and trying to pull under the person that is trying to rescue them because they cannot think clearly in such a dire situation.

It's no coincidence that the two main moments in which we see him having compassion for Azula (in The Southern Raiders and then in the finale post Agni Kai) take place AFTER he has turned his back on Ozai and found a group of people who love and support him. He is now watching the situation from the outside, from a safe distance, not while in the middle of all the chaos, unsure if he's gonna make it.

And for the first time, Zuko can actually see his sister. A prodigy, but still someone that is trying to meet impossible standards. A brave, fierce, DANGEROUS warrior, but also a deeply traumatized child.

There's a reason Aaron Ehasz, the head-writter and executive producer of the show, has repeatedly said that, if Avatar had gotten a fourth season, he would have liked Zuko to essentially be Azula's Iroh and help her heal and redeem herself. He is literally the only other person in the world that knows what being Ozai's child is like, even if he was the scapegoat while she was the golden child.

More Posts from Ihatehomework and Others

ihatehomework

1 year ago

(SUPER ROUGH WIP) Korra leave the grandpas alone!!

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ihatehomework

1 year ago

Also, I made something…

Figured that since Ozai looked so young in his portrait, that must mean it was made shortly after his coronation, or thereabouts, so applying that logic here, ZuZu stills looks young and handsome. The dragons, I know, that event was meant to be kept secret, but counter argument, this painting doesn’t necessarily say, “Hey, Dragons are still alive—here’s a map!” It’s just a bit of artsy-fartsy majestic embellishment. Also, I feel like Zuko might want to rebrand the Fire Nation, just a little, you know, after the 100 year war. So instead of just pure fire iconography, he brings things back to their roots, aka, the dragon. More dragon iconography!!! In this portrait, Zuko isn’t the one firebending, it’s the dragons, the first Firebenders. And in the meantime, he’s holding out a White Lotus. Now, I tried to use my Google Fu to find out if there was ever any symbol in Japan or Korea or China that meant “peace,” but my search results came up empty, so I figured that perhaps the lotus could become their version of, say, the olive branch. A discreet and tasteful way to include such a major part of the final battle while having a double meaning. Also, take note of the fact that he’s holding it with BOTH hands. In Japan, when one offers a gift, you always do so with both hands. And while I know it may look a little strange, Zuko towering over his friends—bro—this was always going to be Zuko’s Firelord portrait. He was always going to be the main focus. He just wanted to also include his friends and commemorate the day the war finally ended/his coronation. Anyway, that’s all for now… hope that wasn’t too much… and if anyone has any ideas for how to make it even better, pls let me know.

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ihatehomework

9 months ago

ok yapping in ur inbox again but I LOVE THE PERCABETH JILY PARALLELS !!! def my fave jily variant, along with peraltiago from b99 and pipravi from agggtm.

i don't even necessarily think the characters have parallels. like sure, both lily and annabeth are smart and caring and have a need to impress people (their families, their friends, etc.), and sure, both james and percy are clever, funny, and deeply loyal, but i think the parallels come in more with their actual relationship.

jily and percabeth are so devoted, and yes they have flaws, but they care about each other. for both ships to work, there has to be a slowburn + individual character arcs, and GAH the mutual pining and obliviousness ?! they're also js very similar in the way they interact and joke around lmao

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YESSSSSSS!!! okay i love you i literally posted a video on my tt abt jily variants today so i think i manifested this ^_^ i wholeheartedly agree with everything you said i think we are practically the same person atp

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ihatehomework

1 year ago

sokka is a general yapper zuko is a 'dont get me started on this topic' yapper

yes sokka is generally a yapper, but zuko is the ultimate complainer which makes him a yapper too

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ihatehomework

10 months ago

i think (my memorys shitty so i could be hallucinating) that regulus used to be less broken and more just dark, which i really appreciated cause it shows you that characters can have so much nuance. in a way he reminded me of luke castellan from pjo (if youve read it). more recently hes begin to just be another 'sarcastic bookworm' character, honestly becoming way too similar to fandom perceptions of remus and lily. i think that people use his background for angst and not character development which is really disappointing for me. and in my head, regulus would NEVER be sarcastic, purey because of the household he was raised in (its the same with sirius but hes the complete opposite). regulus' trauma isnt so much overlooked as it is just made better, as if they had to tweak his personality to match james' (anotber reason why i prefer jily) idk i think a lot of people recently just completely disregard canon and give him a new personality that they explain througj headcanons

pls no one come for me on this but i feel like james is just so white boy coded. like he exudes british white boy energy. he just. i respect all those who hc him as poc but hes like (in my brain) the definition of a white boy. like in my head him and lily are the most annoyingly cute white straight couple that everyone still loves. anyways thanks for coming to my ted talk.

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ihatehomework

1 year ago

Forget about canon, I want Kyoshi Warrior Ursa.

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ihatehomework

8 months ago

Erik: I take no pleasure in this Charles: You’ve got me pinned to a wall and a knife to my throat, I think there is some pleasure in this for both of us

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ihatehomework

1 year ago

they can never make me hate you

(collage made by me)

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ihatehomework

1 year ago

Love this new trend of gay princes <3<3

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ihatehomework

1 year ago

via ruyiskandar & ryanjmah

Tags

the adults lol the /boys gaang/ NO WAIT the ///mens gaang/// gordon aint here cause hes a lil boy FIRE CREW!!!!! + sokka as the HONORary member hes dating zuko so hes basically family

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