#Bryke really like the visual of women helplessly writing in chains I guess

[korranguyen]

Let’s talk about Azula & Ozai’s psychological abuse for a second. (Part 2)

Now, about Azula.

(Part 1 is here)

I want to start off with the last scene from the previous post, along with the assertion that Ozai’s love praise is based on the condition of doing exactly what he says, acting exactly how he wants her to act, and embodying what he wants accomplished.

“Don’t you want to know what happened to your mother?”

This scene occurs simultaneously with another scene, where Azula employs the exact same kind of emotional blackmail to get Sokka and the rest of the Gang where she wants them to be. (Ironically, away from her father to protect him)

“Where. Is. Suki?!” *

*(not written verbatim to the script, I didn’t copy this part down)

To me, the purpose of this sequencing is to tell us that Azula is 100% parroting her father’s behavior.

Has she seen him do this before? Has he done this to her? We’re not quite sure, but we definitely see where she gets this mentality from:

AZULA: Well, what choice do I have?! Trust is for fools. Fear is the only reliable way.

In the past, I have hypothesized that Azula’s behavior could be the result of a genetic personality disorder (likely conduct disorder/CD) that was ignored in light of the success her resulting voracity brought her. (Sidenote: I strongly disagree with any schizophrenia diagnosis because of the age of onset & a distinct lack of any characteristic schizophrenia symptoms outside of her psychosis—but that’s not what this post is about). But between this post and what’s in the scripts, I’m inclined to avoid pathologizing her behavior because she is acting exactly how she has been conditioned to act.

First of all, she obeys her social norms she has been taught to a tee (at least the social norms of the Royal Palace, lol) and doesn’t have a problem handling authority or impulse: both things she would likely have a problem with if she did have CD. If anything, it’s Zuko who struggles to do these things (which is another topic for another time).

Yes—she has a marked lack of empathy, shows a disregard for others’ well being, and is extremely threatening and manipulative for anyone her age. But her father encourages thinking of others in this way, encourages treating others this way, and provides a bounty of direct examples on how to manipulate others.

Yes—she treats her brother and uncle like shit, but you know who inundates her with commentary about them as though they are shit? Her father.

Yes—she is an active colonizer and conqueror (unlike her brother), and seems to find satisfaction in these exploits. She single-handedly strategized how to overtake Ba Sing Se on her own, and she spearheaded the Omashu resistance, usurped control over the loosening stronghold from Mai’s father, and renamed the city in her father’s honor. But does she take joy from conquering land because she enjoys it, or because she knows it’s news she can report back to her father and win a helping of praise?

Both are possibilities that are not mutually exclusive, but we know for a fact Ozai praises over this kind of thing. He mentions it in his reunion with Zuko:

FIRELORD OZAI: I am proud of you, Prince Zuko. I am proud because you and your sister conquered Ba Sing Se.

Zuko beams with happiness.

This expression is different from what we see onscreen at this moment, which is restraint mixed with fear (and I’m personally glad it was changed because that reaction would've been OOC at this point), but I wanted to share the WGAW script here. Because in order for the writers—in this case, Aaron Ehasz—to envision Zuko beaming with happiness when his father praises him for conquering Ba Sing Se, that signifies that that kind of pride and reward must mean a hell of a lot to the kids. And we see how this could quickly turn into anticipatory satisfaction every time Azula finds a new region to dominate. Like a Pavlovian dog.

Also... Azula literally named Omashu “New Ozai” to honor her father. If you really needed to hear her need to impress her father ooze at the seams of her accomplishments.

On a sidenote, the perfectionism that dominates Azula’s personality right up to her downfall? Also 100% a trauma response.

I’m not saying that all of the malevolent things she has done throughout the series must have been either an attempt to please her father or a result of his bad parenting. But we should acknowledge the possibility that these could be workable reasons for a huge chunk of her role as an antagonist.

So, if the Azula we know for most of the show is the one who’s desperately trying to pretty herself up to her father just as much as Zuko was in Season 1, then who is the Azula beneath all this?

While I’m generally critical of The Beach and the quality of its writing (it is the only episode written by the WA—and I’m happy that she was able to shoot her shot at an entire episode regardless), I appreciate that it gives us an opportunity to see how Azula treats Zuko when their father’s approval isn’t on the line.

The siblings are sent off from the Fire Nation palace so their father can plan his nefarious bullshit on his own. Now that they’re both shut away from their father’s shadow, they have a brief chance to (unsuccessfully) integrate into a normal teenage society, and behave as normal teenage siblings would to each other. And although the way she perceives Zuko as “pathetic” doesn’t go magically away, Azula is genuinely sympathetic towards Zuko—perhaps even moreso than Mai when he shared similar concerns about change with her only four episodes before. For all their time apart, Azula knows exactly where to find Zuko, and even shares a moment of mutual recognition with him on how much their environment has been poisoned.

AZULA: Come on. Come down to the beach with me. This place is depressing.

To add onto this, the WGAW script for The Beach indicates that Azula was sincerely mystified to hear that Zuko was angrier than ever. Not prodding, not malicious... just curious.

AZULA: (sincerely mystified) Why?

So... How much is Azula being Evil, or Mentally Ill (which needs to stop being conflated with violent) —and how much of it is a fourteen year old kid simply trying to keep up an image to her father and fearing the slandered fate of her older brother like the Plague?

We never know, because Bryke doesn’t give a shit about these questions.

Just to clarify, I’m not writing all this to absolve Azula of her actions. She has hurt a lot of people, and the fact she was an abuse victim or conditioned to behave this way doesn’t change the impact it had on others—just like Zuko only being interested in the Avatar didn’t change the fact he burned Suki’s village. I just want to point out why writing in a fourteen-year-old, troubled, abused child like this

AZULA: (SPINE-TINGLING, MADWOMAN’S LAUGH)

and this

As Katara and Zuko watch with pained faces, Azula finally snaps, going from feral animal to bumbling crazy person.

(again, emphasis is mine)

is absolutely fucking unacceptable and a disservice to her character. And honestly speaks a lot for Bryke’s misogyny throughout and beyond the Avatar world.