#“siblings don't do that genuinely they only do it to mock therefore it was obviously a ship thing 🤓”

[just-another-product-of-today]

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[juniperhillpatient]

This is a great question!

I would like to give my insight as someone who really loves both characters & thinks that Azula does in fact show Zuko more compassion (onscreen through actions & words) than Zuko extends to her in canon. Quick note/disclaimer - the comics are not canon to me, & I'm heavily biased to believe in a fire siblings reconciliation arc. Alright, here we go -

As a quick point of reference for a couple times when Azula showed Zuko compassion: She brings him home as a war hero (with NO knowledge that Aang is still alive until Zuko gives it away), & she is kind & comforting to him in "The Beach" when he goes off alone. My two fave examples, because one shows through actions that she wants to help, & the other shows a soft moment of comfort between the siblings.

Why Zuko has trouble showing his sister empathy: Zuko tends to view Azula as competition & although I DON'T think he hates her genuinely (I think it's more complicated than that) he does falsely attribute his father's abuse to her because she is favored. He flat out talks about how Azula has had everything come easy to her & everyone loves her to an unconscious Aang in "The Siege of the North." This pretty much explains why Zuko might have trouble showing Azula compassion, IMO. He's built up resentment toward her for years due to her superior fire-bending abilities & Ozai's favor. It's hard for him to see her as a person, not this larger-than-life figure on Ozai's pedestal, contributing to his abuse & eventual banishment. Basically - Zuko has an inferiority complex & he dumps it on Azula. It's NOT fair to Azula but it IS understandable considering Zuko's dad blatantly encourages him to see himself as worthless & Azula as amazing ("Azula was born lucky, I was lucky to be born")

Now - as for WHY I think AZULA might extend compassion to Zuko whether or not it's reciprocated -

A big part of it can be attributed to personality, in my opinion. This is about to get me uber hashtag cancelled by Azula antis who think we (Azula fans) all love woobifying her, but I feel like Azula is a lot more level-headed & less emotional than Zuko & therefore able to extend more forgiveness on an interpersonal level. Azula's grown up with Ozai who is hotheaded enough to burn off half his own son's face. I think she knows how to deal with hot-headedness & we see it in the way she avoids fatal blows every time she fights with a furious Zuko, & in the way she interacts with him after the Coup of Ba Sing Se, always bit condescending & teasing but never shouting like he does. To be clear - Azula is mean-spirited at times, manipulative, & occasionally even cruel (obviously the childhood pranks, mocking Zuko's scar, etc). I get that, I'm NOT denying that. BUT I think that she's got a personality that's not gonna get into hot-headed screaming matches so easily. She's diplomatic, & it shows in all of her interactions with everyone throughout the show for better or for worse.

Also, in terms of their background: Azula simply doesn't have as much reason to dislike Zuko as Zuko has to dislike her. Sure, she's grown up probably hearing that he's "pathetic" & possibly thinking it. But thinking someone is pathetic isn't cause for HATE. Vague annoyance? Teasing? Yeah. But Zuko has bottled up all this resentment & trauma & decided that's on Azula. She hasn't done that to him. She's ambivalent toward Zuko, I think. Maybe she even kind of missed him while he was gone. Possibly partially because he's a fall guy for her, & gets the brunt of Ozai's punishments. But I do not believe that's the only reason.

It's me so y'all know it's time to go on my "the fire siblings love each other & it wasn't ALL bad" propaganda tangent xD I think that Azula & Zuko were incredibly isolated kids. Azula clearly has a warped view of relationships. Duh. There's a huge power imbalance between her & her two best friends because she's the princess. Azula & Zuko both had basically no one growing up. So even if the relationship between Azula & Zuko was pretty contentious a lot of the time as kids??? It was a relationship with someone almost like a peer. Someone who could understand what it's like to be a young royal.

SO. What must those years alone have been like for Azula while Zuko was in banishment?

I think she must have felt incredibly isolated. And I think part of her missed her brother. I think Zuko latched onto Iroh & let his resentment for Azula grow during that time. And we really don't know much about what Azula latched onto, but I can guess that she was very lonely. And even if she didn't latch onto Zuko, maybe she could've AT LEAST admitted to herself that she missed having him around, while she could never admit as much about her feelings toward her mother due to her resentment (but that's another post).

So, those are some of the contributing factors as to why I think Azula might extend more compassion to Zuko than vice versa.

There has been (for good reason) so much emphasis on demonstrating that Azula is more willing to show compassion to Zuko than vice-versa that unfortunately there’s been little character analysis of why this is the case.