#Ursa and Lu Ten and their memories

[demaparbat-hp]

Zuko was awoken by the ghost of a caress on his left cheek and the echo of a voice that told stories of dragons and spirits and love. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.

Zuko's childhood, as told in For the Spirits Chapter V: There Was Sun.

When did Zuko start seeing the spirits of the dead? How did loss become the norm for a child?

(Maybe it was after Lu Ten, or after Mother. Maybe it was because of the burn or the fire or the dreams sent to him by Agni. Maybe such was the way of things since the very beginning of time.)

[peony-pearl]

But Ursa, is Azula encouraging Zion or is it the other way around?

[zuko-always-lies]

Azula is the family member Zuko cares the least about, by far [and no, it's not because she's mean to him and no, this is not a post about Zuko's morality or anything like that]

So the entire premise of Zuko's arc is he spends years and years trying to regain his father's love and appreciation, that he spent three years trying to capture the Avatar so that his father would like him again. We even see in a flashback that exiled Zuko misses his father badly.

And when Zuko decides to completely break off his relationship with his father, he decides that this merits a dramatic confrontation, since his relationship with Ozai is so important to him. Even after that, the second to last scene of the series is Zuko visiting Ozai.

Zuko often takes Iroh and his support for granted, but even in Books 1 and 2 there are plenty of moments which act to reaffirm how much Zuko values and appreciates his uncle. He goes out of his way to protect his uncle on a couple occasions. And in Book 3, after Zuko has screwed up his relationship with Iroh, one of Zuko's core motivations becomes fixing his relationship with his uncle and regaining Iroh's love, trust, and appreciation.

Ursa is someone who Zuko talks about far less, yet the series makes it very clear how much Zuko misses her, with "Zuko Alone" and "The Earth King" and "The Day of Black Sun: The Eclipse." And the second to last scene in the series is Zuko trying to find her.

That leaves Azula. Zuko never seems to miss Azula the least, even though he hasn't seen her for years when the series begins. In fact, when she unexpectedly shows up and greets him, instead of being happy to see her, he's angry and suspicious (to be fair to Zuko, she did turn out to have ulterior motives due to Ozai's orders, but if he really deeply missed her, he'd probably be at least a little happy to see her regardless. Mai and Ty Lee reacted with joy the first time they saw Azula again). And in Books 2 and 3, there is essentially nothing to suggest that Zuko misses the better relationship he had with Azula when they were younger.

For instance, in "The Beach," Zuko angsts over an old photograph of his family.

His eyes focus on Ozai

and he remembers a happy memory associated with Ozai:

and then Zuko's eyes focus on Ursa

and he remembers a happy memory associated with her

Yet Zuko never looks at younger Azula in that picture, nor does he think of her at all. The "Happy Family" that Zuko misses includes Ozai, Ursa, and even Iroh and Lu Ten (shown in a separate memory sequence at little earlier), but not little Azula.

Ultimately, what we see in the first half of Book 3 is that Zuko is willing to take advantage of Azula's kindness, when she shows it to him, but he never acknowledges it, thanks her for it, or reciprocates in the slightest.

In the end, in the DoBS Zuko leaves Azula behind without a regret or even a thought. Ozai gets a big confrontation; Azula gets nothing. And after that, we see that Zuko misses Mai, and still feels complex feelings for Ozai ("Fatherlord," anyone?), but there's nothing to suggest he misses Azula at all or feels a deep attachment to her. The penultimate scene of the show even features Zuko visiting Ozai, not Azula.

Some people might point out that Azula is a bad sister to Zuko. That's definitely true. She says and does plenty of awful things to him over the series.

Yet that doesn't explain things. Ozai is far, far worse to Zuko than Azula ever is, yet Zuko cares deeply about Ozai to the degree that Zuko's entire arc is about it. Merely talking about "look how mean Azula is" explains almost nothing. Is possible to explain why

This does bring me to my main point. The ATLA fandom tends to believe that Zuko cares about Azula a lot and that he places a lot of value in having a good relationship with her, tends to believe that Zuko is obsessed with Azula.

However, the reality is that Zuko by far cares about Azula the least of any member of his family and that he places almost no value on having a good relationship with her. She is never a priority for him and is at most only an obstacle. All of Zuko's other family members loam far higher in Zuko's priorities and headspace than Azula. And if he is obsessed with her, it's not in a loving way. Maybe "Azula the enemy" and "Azula my advisor and emotional caretaker" are significant to him, but "Azula my sister" never seems to be.

Again, this isn't a moral judgement, merely a fact.

[ghanjrho]

How A:tLA should have ended, Pt. 2

Part 1 is here

I promised you Fire Family and Steambabies, have your Fire Family and Steambabies. We'll start with oldest and move down in age, as of roughly AG 115. For timeline purposes, the royal wedding was in AG 105, when Zuko was 21 and Katara 19.

Uncle Iroh: Iroh retires from his role as Regent the day Zuko and Katara have their Fire Nation wedding. Now he moves back to Ba Sing Se and his tea shop, though he still makes it back to Caldera for a couple weeks a year. It's a good system, obviously removing the Dragon of the West from the levers of power, while also putting enough physical separation between him and Zuko that a coup is unlikely to target both at once. The Steambabies call him Grampa Iroh.

Ozai: Is dead. Handed over to the Earth Kingdom a year or so after the war ended, an international tribunal called for his execution. In desperation, he offered up all the information he had on Ursa. All it bought him was being executed like a member of the Fire Lord's family, as opposed to a peasant. Aang refuses to vote for death on principle, but has grown enough to understand that not everyone can live by his personal code of ethics.

Ursa: Was found. The basic arc of The Search is maintained, with the exception that Ursa didn't lose her memories. Why didn't she go back? She was going to. But Ursa was Noriko now, and Noriko was going to have to work hard to convince her son that she was his mother; at the time she didn't know that the Mother of Faces could undo a gift and make her Ursa again. Not to mention that at the time of The Search, the family simply didn't have the money to travel to the Capitol and stay there for the amount of time it would take for her to get access to Zuko without running afoul of her banishment.

Zuko: Is the Fire Lord, and a devoted father. He thinks the second is more important. Had some serious nerves about parenthood, but bowed to the reality of needing an heir and a spare. Winds up having more than that.

Katara: Is the Fire Lady, and a handful of other titles besides. Her travels through the Fire Nation hinterlands give her a surprising wealth of connections to the Fire Nation's peasantry, which she freely uses to keep abreast of what's going on in her adopted land. She and Zuko are that married couple that can't keep there hands off each other.

Azula: Instead of letting Azula be a crutch villain, Azula gets better. Ursa's return and Zuko's persistent attention helped her unwind a lot of the emotional abuse that Ozai inflicted on her. Not all the way better, she has a medicated tea that she takes daily, and her moral compass is still worryingly external. That said, Zuko is her frame of reference instead of Ozai, so everyone is willing to call it good enough. On her 18th birthday, Zuko (and Iroh) named her the Hand of Fire, making her the Fire Lord's go-to problem solver.

Kiyi: is adorable. Yes, Mommy looks different now, but Kiyi has cool older siblings now! Azula had very complicated feelings about "her replacement" for a while. A lot of talks with Ursa helped; finding out Zuzu would fold in the face of Kiyi's pout did too. Early morning Fire Sibling meditation is essential bonding time. For Kiyi's age, I'm putting her 10 years younger than Azula, or 12 years younger than Zuko; in AG 115 she's 19 and a skilled firebender.

Izumi: Steambaby the first. Izumi was born on her parents' first anniversary, almost to the hour. Like her aunt, she's an extremely talented firebender, using blue fire and learning lightning generation. Unlike her aunt, her mother isn't trying to protect a more vulnerable sibling, and her father isn't emotionally abusing her to turn her into a living weapon/vessel for his will.

Kya: Steambaby the second. Followed her older sister by a year and a half, being born in mid-winter. Like her mother, she's a waterbender with the healing gift.

Lu Ten/Noriko: Twins that followed Kya by 3 years and a bit; spring birth. Neither has shown signs of bending yet, but there's still time.

Rei/Kallik: Boys, newborn.

Bonus:

Sokka/Suki: The brother-in-law and co-sister-in-law of the Fire Lord. Have 3 of their own and are working on a fourth. Suki and Azula are in a low-key competition to be the favorite aunt. Their work mainly keeps them in the new United Republic's territory,

[cienie-isengardu]

What if Lu Ten wasn't a firebender?

Lu Ten’s death is the turning point in history of Iroh, his relationship with Zuko and Ozai’s rise to power while we barely knows anything about him as a character. Including whether he was firebender or not and I admit, it bugs me a lot, because Lu Ten being a non-bender could add a lot to the conflict between brothers but also explain Iroh’s fondness for his nephew.

We know that as a son of Iroh, Lu Ten was the second-in-line to the throne and that he fought at war in Ba Sing Sai. His death broke Iroh and saddened Ursa and little Zuko, however Azulon himself never said anything suggesting he loved his grandson (and heir) in any special way. When Ozai asked to be named the Crown Prince, Azulon only talked about Iroh - his first-born (beloved) son and Iroh’s pain, never saying how he personally, if ever, was affected by Lu Ten’s death.

Azulon: Say what it is you want! Ozai: Father, revoke Iroh's birthright. I am your humble servant, here to serve you and our nation. Use me. Azulon: You dare suggest I betray Iroh? My first born? Directly after the demise of his only beloved son? I think Iroh has suffered enough! But you ... your punishment has scarcely begun!

What Ozai did was not only foolish for pragmatic reasons - especially if Azulon always favored Iroh, but also very tactless, showing how little he cared for Lu Ten, his nephew or Iroh, his older brother. Through Zuko’s memories we could see that Azula already thought their “dad would make a much better Fire Lord than His Royal Tea-Loving Kookiness [Zuko Alone]”. Considering how Ursa and Zuko are fond of Iroh and Lu Ten, it is logical to think Azula’s opinion is rooted in Ozai’s ambitions and disdain for Iroh.

Additionally, Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Search comics provided us some insight into Zuko’s childhood: Ozai wanted to get rid of his son because he thought the baby “lacked a spark” and having a non-bender for a first born was embarrassing for Prince of Fire Nation.

When you were born, we weren't sure if you were bender at all. You didn't have that spark in your eyes. I planned to cast you from the palace. How embrassing for a prince of the Fire Nation to have a nonbender as his firstborn! [The Search, part II]

As the story explained, Ozai on purpose emotionally abused and humiliated Zuko, as a revenge against Ursa, so we should ask if what he said was a widely accepted truth or just him taking another chance to make his son (and wife)’s life a living hell. However if Ozai’s words are true, then if Lu Ten was born as non-bender he would be considered an embarrassment to Iroh’s bloodline. Yet since Azulon accepted him as his grandson and thus put in line of succession, especially if Azulon did it solely out for love for his firstborn, then it makes sense for Ozai to resent Iroh (the favored son) and Lu Ten (the non-bender nephew Ozai would be forced to serve in future).

Interestingly, child Azula provided another detail to ponder more about the idea of non-bender Lu Ten:

Young Azula: If Uncle doesn't make it back from war, then Dad will be next in line for Fire Lord, wouldn't he? Ursa: Azula, we don't speak that way. It would be awful if Uncle Iroh didn't return. And besides, Fire Lord Azulon is a picture of health. Young Zuko: How would you like it if cousin Lu Ten wanted Dad to die? Young Azula: I still think our dad would make a much better Fire Lord than His Royal Tea-Loving Kookiness.

If Iroh didn’t make it back from war, logically thinking the title of next Fire Lord should be bestowed on his son. However Azula wholly ignored her cousin’s existence and this scene took place before news of Lu Ten’s death. Surprisingly, Ursa does not correct Azula about the line of succession and like her daughter, she omits Lu Ten. Understandably, Ursa was taken aback by such a question, but still no one from the Royal Family presented here seems to consider Iroh’s son to be next in line.  

Zuko is literally the only one person who remembers about Lu Ten’s existence but like the rest of his family, not in the context of the succession line. Which I admit, confuse me a lot, because in the same episode Ozai specifically ask for Iroh’s birthright arguing his older brother lost his heir, while Ozai’s children are alive (and Azula presented as amazing firebender at such young age).

Ozai: Father, you must have realized as I have, that with Lu Ten gone, Iroh's bloodline has ended. After his son's death, my brother abandoned the siege at Ba Sing Se, and who knows when he will return home. But I am here, Father, and my children are alive. 

To my knowledge, here is little solid data about Lu Ten but… if Lu Ten was born as non-bender - the shame to Royal Family - but was still put by Azulon before Ozai in the line of succession, it adds a lot to Ozai’s frustration and resentment for Iroh, the clearly favored son, and fuels the competition between brothers for Azulon’s favor. To the point Ozai will push hard his own children to their limits and beyond, because of the need to prove his heirs are better than Iroh’s. And with Azula, the second child being the prodigy firebender, while Iroh’s own can’t bend a fire for sure comes a great deal of satisfaction and most likely Ozai’s arrogance rubbed on little Azula toward her cousin. Which could meant Ozai didn’t pit his own kids against each other, but also pit Azula against Lu Ten.

On the other hand, Zuko and Lu Ten were implied to have a good relationship. We saw Iroh, baby Zuko and little Lu Ten playing together on the beach or that Zuko was genuinely sad about his cousin’s death and fact Iroh lost his only kid. We also know Zuko struggled a lot with firebending and father’s high exceptions (though we have no idea how good a firebender he was compared to other children his age. We only know he was bad compared to firebending prodigal Azula). If Lu Ten was the “embarrassment” for being non-bender and Zuko the “failure” compared to younger sister, their bond could be based on similar hardship they were forced to endure. Beside Iroh, from all family members, within the context of presented flashbacks and little bits here and there, Zuko seemed to have the closest relationship with his older cousin. The moment Lu Ten is dead, Ozai is already trying to get the throne.  Azula barely cared for Lu Ten and mocked Iroh for being broken by son’s death (no doubt Ozai’s influences). Ursa was upset about the news of Lu Ten’s death, but she barely mentions him beside that one moment. Azulon has never openly said he is upset by his grandson's death or that it is a great loss to Fire Nation - he only cared for Iroh’s pain. 

So if Zuko and Lu Ten (non-bender) had any resemblance of normal family relationship, I think it would naturally make Iroh like the boy despite the bitter brotherhood with Ozai, especially if his nephew did not look down on Lu Ten’s lack of firebending. What most likely would just add another reason for Ozai to resent Zuko (and maybe for Iroh to not be fond his niece?)

Which is why I like the idea of Lu Ten being non-bender - it mess even more already messed up Royal Family relationship. 

[worstoftimesbestofcrimes]

im THINKING about this again. so here we go:

as stated in my tags: zuko is henry and sokka is alex.

we open with lu ten is getting married, and this is when sokka drops the cake on him and zuko. the big difference here is that lu ten is not a dick to zuko, hes actually looking out for him. the family dynamic is much more similar to what we see in atla than in rwrb, but some key differences

biggest difference is that azula is post redemption here. in atla canon she was only 14, and in this au she was still kinda a bitch at 14, but shes grown since then. she went off the rails after ursa and ozai got divorced, starting with following ozai’s rules ruthlessly, then cracking and sneaking out (#powderprincess) and then getting radicalized the other way by her new friends (let just call them “the freedom fighters”), and eventually coming back when zuko says he needs his sister. yes, he has his uncle and cousin and his mom is still alive (alas still in “africa”) but some things you just need a sibling for. and as much as azula hates to admit it, for every ounce that zuko needs her, she needs him too. so yeah, azula is bea, and she is her big brothers attack dog through and though. its been a rocky road but she loves her brother so so much and she is very defensive of him against sokka at first.

speaking of sokka!!! his white house trio: he and katara are the first children of Prez Hakota (yes, kya is still dead. sorry but i have to fridge her 😔), and yue is the granddaughter of the VP. sokka and yue dated a few years ago, but eventually called it. however!! sokka respects her too much to use her to play with the media so instead we have *drum roll* suki!!

suki is sokka’s one (1) friend from college—both were political affairs majors but sokka is trying to go to law school and suki wanted to be a journalist and freelance photographer. obviously this complicates things, but suki is ever so respectful and acts as an Inside Source, as well as being a mentor to katara, who also wants to be a journalist.

in this au zuko doesnt just want to be a writer, he wants to be a playwright/screenwriter. hes truly insufferable the way he can quote shakespeare sonnets from memory, and has way too many opinions about 20th century rom coms, but luckily it also means that he recites poetry to sokka in a cheesy romantic way.

also! two of zuko’s closest friends are aang and toph. he met toph in a boarding school they both went to (tophs parents let her study abroad growing up bc she was a wild child who wanted freedom and it was the only way to appease her). aang is the son of a diplomat that zuko met on the equivalent of henry’s gap year in mongolia.

i have more Thinkin Thoughts but thats for another day

zukka rwrb au. think about it.

[demaparbat-hp]

For the Spirits— Chapter V: There Was Sun

I wish I could dream like I used to dream

I wish I could be all the things that I used to be

When there was sun

—There Was Sun by Nothing But Thieves

.

Zuko was a child when he first met Agni. He couldn’t remember the dream, not really. He woke up with ragged breaths and eyes older than his years on earth. Whenever he tried to drag the memories to the surface all that could be found was a blank space where the night’s visions should be. Zuko knew he had met Agni in the dream because that’s when the whispers started. The next day, a six-year-old Fire Prince burned for the first time.

[peony-pearl]

I needed to doodle him; idk what he's upset about. Maybe he just got back home for the first time since BSS and Ozai as Fire Lord, Ursa's disappearance, memories of Lu Ten and the absolute shame of failing at BSS while also feeling ashamed for the whole siege after his spirit-journey has him all in a big mental scuffle as he ponders his new place in the Fire Nation

[krastbannert]

📂

Lu Ten taught Azula how to play Pai Sho; they'd spend hours together, just playing the game. Sometimes Ursa would join them, or if she couldn't, would sneak them mochi.

(These are some of Azula's only truly good memories of her mother, too - Ursa bringing her her favorite mochi, giving her a kiss on the head, telling her to kick her cousin's butt. It's hard to remember them, but when she does...they're some of her favorites.)

[prying-pandora666]

Your back peddle continues to miss the point of what we were discussing.

Yes, Iroh did show signs of helping child Zuko. Actually.

We see Iroh send Zuko a special gift with historical significance, while giving Azula thoughtless stereotypically “girly” gift that Azula doesn’t like and which isn’t nearly as respected in their militarized culture.

We see flashbacks of Iroh on the beach with Lu Ten and baby Zuko. Azula is nowhere to be seen.

And expanded materials only make this more clear, with Legacy of the Fire Nation telling us that Iroh and Zuko had a lovely relationship when Zuko was younger. Iroh would bring Zuko other gifts and teach him Pai Sho tricks. They’d play music together. All the things Iroh tries to get Zuko to engage in during the series! Showing us that Iroh is trying to reconnect with his nephew through their past bonds.

Iroh never even tries to talk to Azula to help her. Not once. We see no memories of Iroh and Azula on the beach. No special games or gifts or music night for her.

How do you KNOW it wouldn’t help her to have Iroh apologize and offering her support? How can you KNOW it would be detrimental?

The vision of Azula’s ideal world in her comic shows us that she still considers Iroh family and still wants his love!

Look at this next panel too, where she explicitly selects for three people: Zuko, Ursa, and Iroh.

So on what do you base this idea that Iroh offering to help Azula could only be detrimental? Especially when you continue to couch it on “Azula doesn’t respect him”.

Yeah because Zuko is being really respectful here, right?

“The laziest man in the Fire Nation!” Isn’t better than “his tea loving kookiness”. And this only is the beginning of his banishment. Zuko treats Iroh far worse than this!

You want Azula to go with Ty Lee? The person trying to arrest her!? Why would she??? Zuko put Azula in an abusive asylum. She got sicker than ever in there. Why in the world would she willingly turn herself over to Ty Lee who is openly working for Zuko and willing to throw Azula right back in that asylum?

Hear me out here. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to admit Iroh is flawed too and played favorites. Maybe it isn’t the fault of the literal abused CHILD and we shouldn’t expect her to shoulder the burden of reconciling alone. Maybe, just maaaaybe, the onus should be on the adult.

And maybe making excuses for why he hasn’t yet, pretending it would somehow be HARMFUL for him to do so, is an incredibly craven excuse.

As for Azula not helping Zuko as a child? She literally saved his life.

But even that aside, what has Zuko ever done for Azula? EVER?

Why is help for Azula reliant on how many pro-Zuko deeds she can wrack up, but Zuko is already worthy of love and redemption just by existing?

Nah. All kids deserve help. Period.

uncle iroh is treated very much like a paragon of virtue in the series. yes we know he has had a violent past, that he has done terrible things, committed atrocities in the service of the fire nation— but we don’t really feel it because all of that had happened off screen and prior to the series. instead, he comes to us as a more perfect being and one deified with secret good deeds revealed throughout the story: uncle iroh is the keeper of the dragons and an important member of the white lotus, he is just that awesome.

uncle iroh is so divorced from his immediate past that we don’t see him haunted by any of it unless it’s by lu ten— which begs the question: did he really turn his back on the fire nation due to a moral awakening or was it only/mostly for his own good? he certainly doesn’t behave in a manner you’d expect from a repentant ex-imperialist: he’s not too worried about walking the streets of ba singe se, let alone actually staying there after the war ended. (the same war he participated in on the side of the aggressors, mind you.) he is shameless enough to be living there while hiding away and was unscrupulous in accepting hospitality from earth kingdom folks who were made refugees by the fire nation, i.e., song’s family. does he not feel guilty or at least uncomfortable with his circumstances, especially since it has only been 5 or so years since the siege at ba sing se and thus still very fresh in the grand scheme of things? is iroh just that Enlightened and At Peace with his past that it doesn’t color his every movement? or is his lack of a moral hangover just a writing oversight? were they scared to make their most lovable character in a rated TV-Y7 cartoon a tad more polarizing?

while uncle iroh does his job well for the story— that is, to act as zuko’s guiding light— i do wish he were knocked off his pedestal a bit more. uncle iroh is, after all, the proto-zuko to ozai’s proto-azula. i wish to see him at least slightly paranoid about people recognizing him from his military days and vice versa. i wish to see him uneasy about being in the earth kingdom (out of guilt? as opposed to zuko’s superiority complex and anger). i wish to see him meet another person who also has visible burn scars, one that has nothing to do with zuko/his family, and still look away in shame or disgust by the implications. et cetera et cetera. anything to indicate he feels something more about himself and other people that isn’t just Wise Old Man.

[ur-frndly-neighborhood-memer1]

A THEORY ABOUT OZAI-

Why was Ozai so cruel?

Fire Lord Ozai is the absolutely malicious and tyrannical main antagonist of the Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the series, he comes across as a cruel, ruthless, and a megalomaniac dictator. Which is why he is often considered as a 2 dimensional cartoon villian with no rich background compared to the other villains like Azula, Zuko (formerly), Hama; Amon, Zaheer...

We never really see his inner struggles or anything complex about his character at all. His only motivation is like "Evil for sake of being evil". That's why some fans complain about his character being too shallow and too cartoonishly evil. And this really stands out when we compare him to rest of the characters, and arguably, they're all more complex characters than Ozai.

But... is this really true?

Could there be something more interesting and tragic about Fire Lord Ozai's character? Do we only see the only a small part of the iceberg? Well, let's find out!

There's literally nothing we know about his childhood or his early ages. All we know is that he was married Ursa when he was 30 and Ursa was 21, Ursa was specifically chosen because she happens to be the granddaughter of Avatar Roku. So, they could have powerful heirs for the Fire Nation. And it actually happened because Zuko and Azula really are exceptionally powerful firebenders.

Another thing we know about him is this panel,

They actually look like a normal, ordinary family here and it hurts. They're on a vocation; Ozai and Ursa just sitting calmly, baby Azula playing with sand, little Zuko running to save a turtle-crab... And when when the wave washed over Zuko, Ozai ran to save him.

Could the whole thing be true or Ozai was lying? I personally don't think it was a lie, because Zuko seems to remember some rare memories of his family being happy once and coming to Ember Island all together. Yes, you can say that Zuko could be an unreliable narrator here since he kinda romanticized those memories... But again, it's what happens with memories. Don't we all remember our childhood as purely innocent and happy? Because we like to remember those happy times and often forget about the bad ones. But the bad times don't erase the good memories! Also, in the "Beach", when Azula came to comfort Zuko, she also seemed a bit depressed. It means she was also missing those happy and innocent times of their life. So no, Zuko's memory was correct and Ozai probably wasn't lying either. Their family had some good times once.

Could it possibly be a redeeming quality for Ozai? Perhaps. However, we all know that it didn't last long. And we also know that Ozai was always sort of like that and Iroh comfirms it in "The Legacy of The Fire Nation" novel

And something interesting here... Iroh admits he sort of blames himself for not being a better guide for his brother. Which makes me think... Did Ozai really ever have a positive influence on his life?

You can arguably say Iroh, but i'd disagree. First of all, there's a huge age gap between Iroh and Ozai. And Iroh was a general who was busy with fighting in battle, such as the siege of Ba Sing Se. So I imagine they didn't really have a chance to spend time together and bond as brothers.

Also, Iroh wasn't exactly a positive influence before the death of Lu Ten. He used to be more ruthless and hungry for glory. Yes, he still was a caring guy towards his family, but he only realized the terrible side of violence and terror after losing his dear son... This is when he finally developed empathy towards everyone, not only for his family. So I don't think he would be able to be a better influence for Ozai when they were younger...

And if not Iroh, who could possibly be a good guidance for Ozai? Azulon? Pfft, yeah right! He definitely favored Iroh over Ozai, and was seen to be cold and harsh towards his son. So nope, he was an abusive father and far from being a good guidance.

But... What about his mother? What happened to her?

The only thing we know about Iroh and Ozai's mother is her name, Ilah. And she was married to Fire Lord Azulon. There's literally nothing else we know about her. So, we don't know what kind of a relationship she had with Ozai either.

And that's why I have this theory in my mind! Could it be that Ilah died when she was giving birth to Ozai? And maybe that's why Azulon was cold and cruel to Ozai?

The death on childbirth was a common incident during middle age and in the earlier ages too. Unfortunately, it still can happen in modern world too... But thankfully, it's a rare incident now due the modern advantages.

So yes, it's very possible that Lady Ilah to die on the childbirth. Because we never see her in the series nor in the comics. If she was alive at the moment, she would totally show up on Ozai and Ursa's wedding. But she didn't, which means she was long gone, at least for like 20 years. But since neither Iroh or Ozai mentions her for once, we can assume that she died very long ago.

Could this be why Iroh turned out to be a caring and compassionate person towards his own family? Because he had maternal love and support? Well, he obviously didn't get that from Azulon (even though Azulon seemed to care for Iroh and Lu Ten in a certain level). And that might be why Ozai became a cold and cruel jerk, because he never had this kind of love and support in his life.

And it also explains Azulon's bad treatment towards Ozai, reminds me of how Tywin Lannister despised his son Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. Tywin hated his son Tyrion because he was a dwarf and also because he "killed" his mother in childbirth

So maybe Azulon was going full Tywin on Ozai and blamed him for "killing" his own mother.

If that's the case, it makes a ton of sense for Ozai's character! Because he never really had a chance to redeem himself and grow up in a healthy environment. He was being told that he was a killer since he was born and accused with killing his own mother. I can totally imagine Azulon telling him that he is "An ill-made, spiteful creature. Full of lust and low cunning" (Quote from Tywin Lannister), or maybe even calling him a "monster"?

If this theory is true, then it makes sense for Ozai's character and why he became a brutal, ruthless and narcissistic person.

And let's not forget, narcissism isn't only a personality disorder but also a coping mechanism. Narcissists actually have fragile egos and low self-esteems. That's why they fake confidence and a false sense of grandiosity as a self-defense mechanism. The exact reasons of narcissism is not known, but researchers show that both genetic and environmental factors are in it. And it's very possible to occur because of a trauma or abuse too.

So maybe Ozai was crushed under the abuse and pressure of being "guilty" for killing his mother in childbirth, and he found comfort in creating a false sense of superiority.

And this also might be why Iroh and Ozai became distant towards each other. Ozai was probably jealous of Azulon's nicer treatment towards Iroh. So he didn't want to be around him and see how their father treats him better, because it would remind him of the fact that he was the unfavorite child. And from Iroh's aspect, maybe he was devastated after the death of his mother and wanted to distance himself from Ozai for it? Yes, it doesn't really sound like something that the Iroh we know would do. But again, we really don't know the Iroh before Lu Ten's death, but he surely cared about his family so much. And maybe that's why he distanced himself from Ozai because he took away a part of his family? And because of Azulon, Iroh probably didn't have a chance to accept Ozai a part of his family at this point. And when he did, it was probably too late. The damage was done. Ozai already became a narcissistic jerk and a potential tyrant.

So, that's my headcanon about Ozai's evilness. You can agree or disagree with it. If you have different thoughts, please feel free to share them with me

[juniperhillpatient]

“🎶dad’s going to kill you🎶”

I feel like this scene gets twisted & mixed up a lot & part of that is weird ret cons in the comics that I’d prefer not to get into but in the context of the show, let’s remember this is a 7(?) year old. Now as an adult sometimes I’ll laugh at uncomfortable moments (everyone who’s ever been to a Halloween haunted attraction with me knows I giggle maniacally when I’m scared lol) & as a kid it was even worse, laughing when people cried etc. The fact that Azula was only - what? - 5 or 6? 7? idk young - during this scene is easy to overlook because she’s just illustrated her immense intelligence. There’s a reason “gifted kids” are stereotypically socially awkward.

Kids have to learn emotional & social skills at a young age & that gets messed up when intellectual pursuits beyond their developmental stage are pushed. Also, Azula & Zuko’s positions are unique as royals in an imperialistic family. Ursa scolds Azula for violent or cruel behavior & thinks there’s something wrong with her, even though Azula is only acting the way her father encourages her to act. I’ve seen some speculation that Azula maybe didn’t think there was a real possibility that Zuko was in real danger or she’d be more scared. I disagree. She answered Azulon’s questions about the Fire Nation military flawlessly in the scene before this. She’s demonstrated that she understands the royal court with her comments about how Ozai could become Firelord. She’s also shown that she can be casual about death with her lack of reaction to Lu Ten’s death. These aren’t moral condemnations, they’re observations about her behavior.

“Azula didn’t understand that Zuko might really die” is a fine theory but I think Azula is too smart for that. I also think we have to remember what a master she is of hiding her true emotions behind a mask. She’s so good at it she can even lie to Toph, who can feel when people lie. Azula doesn’t always lie but Azula always keeps her emotions close to her chest, she’s been conditioned to believe she has to. That’s why the breakdown hurts so bad. Years of repressed hurt & fear are spilling out over her broken edges.

Azula understands the questions Azulon asks her, she’s being taught about the Fire Nation & it’s values, she knows what Azulon is capable of doing. I interpret Azula as fully understanding what’s happening. I think that’s why she tries to tease & goad Zuko into running away. It’s often ignored that regardless of how she goes about it, Azula ultimately saves Zuko’s life by talking about what she overheard. I also think she fully understood the potential repercussions. She wasn’t supposed to spy on that conversation & she knew it. She knew she was committing treason by sharing private plans made by the Firelord, let’s give her credit for her intelligence & understanding of politics.

I interpret Azula as having fully understood the situation. However, I don’t think she’s a soulless monster for laughing & teasing Zuko about it, even if it’s completely understandable that Zuko wouldn’t know how to interpret this behavior & in the aftermath, probably considers it a traumatic memory. Even years later, he chants “Azula always lies,” the mantra he said to himself that night, even though Azula wasn’t lying then. I want to be clear that I’m not discounting how traumatic this was for Zuko to hear, or for him to lose his mother & watch Azula act blasé about it afterward (even if we later see that losing Ursa affected Azula too. the emotional distance between the siblings is a tragedy. they could have been there for each other, but their situation prevented it.) Still - back to my original point - Azula isn’t emotionally mature at this point in the story. We learn in “The Beach” that even as a teen she still hasn’t learned how to behave in social settings. Why would she understand as a small child how to convey horrifying information to her brother in a proper way when she wasn’t even equipped to emotionally process what she heard herself?

The tragedy is that after Ursa leaves, the distance between Azula & Zuko grows. I can just picture them both laying in their separate rooms, thinking about that night. Azula knows that Zuko could have died, & it feels like Mom blamed her, & Mom never said goodbye to her & she doesn’t know why. The last interaction they had was Mom scolding her, & Mom always thought she was a monster…. She could become disposable to Dad too, it could happen if she doesn’t keep outdoing Zuko…. She has to always be the best, or she could be treated like Zuko….

And Zuko just keeps hearing that sing song voice in the back of his mind. Azula would have laughed if he died. Azula always hated him, & only cares about outdoing him & Mom is gone & he’s left with Dad, who only ever looks at him with disappointment & disdain… Azula keeps saying “you’ll never catch up” & the mocking hurts so bad… it’s not fair how Azula is so adored & loved & he’s all alone, he has no one… Uncle Iroh is around again, but he’s different after Lu Ten’s passing. quiet. Distant… Zuko just wants to make his father proud but the task feels more impossible every day. Then one day he begs to go into a war meeting, he wants to show that he understands the Fire Nation military. He wants to make his father proud. But what the men are saying is horrible & he just has to speak up….

[linnoya-writes]

Zutara “Childhood Friends and First Kisses” No-War Canon Divergent AU

Katara and Sokka spend six weeks of every summer at the Fire Nation palace after their father becomes the newly appointed head chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe.  The trip is mainly for a summit -- for the worlds’ leaders to meet and discuss civics and trade and foreign policies... but it was also Fire Lord Iroh’s idea to invite the children of these heads of state, so they could all go to school and interact together... children who would one day be expected to set a strong example of peace along with the young prince Lu Ten.  Hakoda agreed , as he believed it wise for his children learn about another part of the world.

When they begin these travels, Katara is 10 and Sokka is 11, and the harsh waters on the journey to the Fire Nation capital make the siblings unpleasantly seasick.  When the open sky and the sun compels them to remove their thick parkas, and they notice the first peak of a volcano in the distance... Katara gets apprehensive about this new place they must call home for six weeks.  She becomes particularly uneased by the pristine the open space of the Fire Nation Palace in general, as she is so used to the comforting, cool, very lived-in quarters of her huts in the South Pole.  Nevertheless, she is polite and smiles courteously to every kid she meets -- especially the 8-year-old boy from the Southern Air Temple, with glimmering silver eyes and the joyous smile that paints his entire face... the one her father points out “is to be the next Avatar.”

It only takes a week into settling into their summer trip for Sokka to start getting chased from girls from various parts of the world, it seems -- Yue, from their Northern WaterTribe... Suki from Kyoshi Island... Toph from the Earthkingdom city of GaoLing... Ty Lee from the Fire Nation’s capital of Caldera.  Katara rolls her eyes at this kind of attention, but cannot help but admit it’s tough not having her brother around to talk to between tutoring lessons.  She manages to talk to the boy with the silver eyes, the future Avatar, only on the handful of moments when he too is not being bombarded by the attention of so many other kids, and adults, and councilmen about the cool air bending tricks he can do.

One particular afternoon, at lunchtime, Katara watches the Fire Nation princess Azula pinch Sokka’s ear affectionately and chase him around the courtyard with her fire-bending.  Katara ignores the yelping of her brother (knowing full well he’s eating up this attention like fire-flakes) and decides to pack up her lunch to eat somewhere else around the Palance.  She wanders into the Fire Princess Ursa’s private garden... seeing a set of willows draped over a turtle-duck pond.

Water.

Katara had never been more happy to find a pool of water, with the bonus of little turtle ducklings bobbing and quacking on the surface.

She makes her way to the edge of the pond, drops her lunch basket... bends a knee forward, pulls up the sleeves of her robe just past the wrist, closes her eyes... breathes deeply... and through joyous muscle memory makes the same tai-chi movements taught the moment she’d been able to walk.

The little waves of push and pull soon appear at the edge of the pond, and Katara smiles with her eyes closed, hearing the little ducks quacking in reaction.    She imagines them having fun with these unexpected waves in their---

“HEY!”

The unfamiliar voice of a boy promptly opens Katara’s eyes.

She locates that voice immediately to a young boy with a pony tail, jumping out of the willow tree shade, golden eyes frowning appallingly at her.

Katara freezes in movement.  The boy is probably Sokka’s age, but wearing Fire Nation royal garb.

“What are you doing!?” is the second thing he says, his breath panting as his face turns over to the ducks.  “They’re ducklings!  They’re not strong enough to swim against currents like that!”

Despite his royal garb, the boy crouches down to the level of the quacking turtle-ducks, one of his hands held out-- as if to lure the ducklings back to shore and assure them that they are safe.  The little waves fade on their own, and the turtle-ducks quiet down.  All Katara can do is watch.

When the boy stands back up and faces her, his frown is not there, but his stern face remains.

It’s as if Sokka were giving her that look-- the ‘I can’t believe you did something stupid’ look, and Katara returns a frown back to this boy, despite the royal garb.

“I’m sorry!” she retorts, arms crossed in defiance. “But I wasn’t going to hurt them. It was just ripple movements.”

The boy stares at her, then at the pond with his unharmed little friends, then back at her.  He sighs.

“Fine. Whatever.”  He then heads back towards the shade of the willow tree, and it’s then that Katara notices his basket of lunch-- the same food served to all the children in the royal palace.  

Except lunch is always served in the dining hall with all the kids, and the boy is eating his here, in the royal gardens. Alone.

Now she needs to ask.

“What are you doing here?”  She doesn’t say it accusingly, but rather, curiously.

“What’s it to you?” he snaps back while he picks up a dim sum with chopsticks.

Katara is once again taken aback by this kid’s manners, despite the royal garb.

She pictures Sokka, getting chased by so many girls... and Katara cocks an eyebrow. 

“Are you... hiding from someone?”

All it takes was the boy’s golden eyes to blink fiercely at her, his cheeks blushing mid-bite.  Katara laughs.  She can’t remember the last time she has laughed so hard.

“Who is it?” she snorts in laughter, forgetting herself.  “One of the pretty Earth Kingdom girls?”

“No...ugh..” the boy sinks his head into his shoulders. “Could you please not be so loud?  I don’t want her to know I’m here!”

“Okay-- I promise, your Majesty.” Katara manages in her last giggle. 

“That’s not my name.”

“What is it then?”

“Zuko.”

Katara’s voice quickly gets quiet.  She knows that name-- the name of the other Fire Nation prince-- the one Fire Lord Iroh had sadly mentioned was occupied training in complex fire-bending techniques this summer, so much so that he might not have time to interact with the other children in the palace.  This whole time, Katara had imagined Prince Zuko to be an older, mature-looking teenager, like Prince Lu Ten.

But no; Zuko was a kid, too.

Katara didn’t know what to say next, but nervously, she smiled.

“Um...” Zuko swallowed under the shade.  “What’s your name?”

And that’s when her smile widened, and she approached the tree.

“I’m Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe.”

The boy grins, then shifts his seat a little to make room for Katara to sit under the tree, too.  She obliges sweetly, picking up her lunch basket before meeting him there.

“I liked your bending,” he mutters awkwardly as she opens her lunch basket for some fruit.

“Thanks,” Katara says simply and sweetly.  No hard feelings, indeed.

And the secret little turtle-duck pond becomes their refuge at lunchtime, always ending the hour with crumbs on their palms to the ducklings.

It’s only two years later... in that same turtle-duck pond... that Katara asks Zuko if he’s ever kissed anyone.  She already had to hear the dramatic retellings of Sokka’s first kisses all summer-- from two girls, nonetheless.  Considering that her brother was the same age as Zuko, well, Katara could only be curious.

“Um… yes.” 

Katara blinks under the tree. “What!!?!? Who? When!?”

“It doesn’t matter!”

“Tell me!” her face inches closer to his while he’s chewing on rice.

“Why? So you won’t shut up about it?”

“No, because I’m your friend, you idiot. I just wanna know!”

The boy grunts, looking away.  “Promise you won’t make fun of me?"

“Promise.” Katara takes a bite of her chicken skewer.

After a short pause, the name softly comes out of him.

“...Mai.”

Katara blinks, staring at him for a long second.  Mai?  The gloomy girl he’d been trying to hide from, that day?  ...Did something happen when she wasn’t here?  Did Zuko actually come around, and start to notice Mai... differently?  

She can feel her eyes glimmering, so she looks away, towards the pond.  As if indifferent. 

“I see,” Katara smiles, swallowing her chicken quietly. “When?”

“Two months ago.  She snuck up behind me from a pillar, in the Great Hall.”

She bravely turns to him again. “Was it nice?”

Zuko’s looking at the pond, his shoulders shrugging. 

“I guess.  It was pretty quick. I don’t know.”

“Hmm. She must really like you to have thrown herself at you like that.”

“She needs to get a life.”

The girl can’t help but laugh, and when Zuko grins at that, Katara takes another bite of her chicken to ease tingling sensation behind her ears.  

She looks down at her food,  when she bravely and nervously but casually speaks again.

“Would you… um… would you ever kiss me?”

“…What?”

Zuko speaks with rice in his mouth.  Katara feels the blood draining from her face, and she speaks again, quickly.  Urgently.  Defensively.

“I’m just curious!  I’ve never been kissed before. I’d like to know how it feels.” 

“…oh. Probably not.”

There’s a frown on his face when he looks at his food, and Katara’s lips thin.

“Oh-- Never mind, then!” She snaps, getting up. “Sorry I asked.”

Zuko doesn’t waste a moment as Katara takes her stance in front of the pond.

"Excuse me that I wouldn’t want to kiss anyone just to know how it feels!”

"Good to know!” she closes her eyes, takes small breaths and proceeds to move her gracefully. “Kissing you would probably be gross anyway.” 

“Forget it.” Zuko mutters from the tree. “Good luck with that first kiss.”

She fights the urge to say anything else to him while she concentrates... breathing in and out... hearing the little quacks of turtlenecks in the afternoon.

It takes another four years for Katara to finally know how it feels to kiss Zuko, under that tree, near the turtle-duck pond, in the middle of a quiet lunch.

It wasn’t her first kiss, but still... it was theirs.

[phoenix-king-ozai]

Canonically, both Azula and Ozai especially give Zuko a pat on the shoulder to symbolize their pride in Zuko. We see this in Zuko’s flashbacks of his memories of Ozai and him on Ember Island. The Fire Nation Royal might not be autistic but very introverted. Iroh get his outrovertism from Sozin and Ilah. Whereas, Azulon was introverted. Both Lu Ten and Ursa would be outroverts as well. Fanart is not mine.

Couldn’t stop thinking about @kibutsulove post about autistic Ozai and Ursa so I made this headcanon. Someone please, please, please, please tell me if this is bad.

Headcanon - The entire family hates touch. They tolerate shaking hands with people and friendly hugs but it makes their skin crawl and they’ll switch out during galas and stuff to give one family member a break. Aang only learns about Zuko and Azula’s aversion to touch two months after the war ends. He’s always so upset and constantly apologizes because he feels like he violated their boundaries.

[sokkastyles]

Girl, I love your metas and analyses, they are so well-thought and beautifully written. Hence, I want to share with you a particular problem that has been bugging me for quite a long time: Ursa’s role in forming her children’s moral compasses, particularly Azula’s.

I chanced upon a meta on Ursa, claiming that if she laughed at the idea of burning down a city, then she certainly didn’t try to correct Azula’s cruel behaviours. Instead, Azula was capable of figuring out the rights and wrongs on her own.

I disagree with this opinion. There were, of course, debates among fans on Ursa’s stance on war effort. It’s revealed in the comic that she was forced into a marriage with Ozai. While the purpose was said to yield a bloodline of great power, I think another reason is to lend authenticity to the raging war, which can explain why Ursa, being a Roku’s descendant, wasn’t at least aloof of Fire Nation policy, if not protesting against it. During the flashback in Zuko Alone, we see Ursa crying when she found out about Lu Ten’s death. She also seemed to have a pretty soft spot for Iroh. This combined with her committing treason to save Zuko implies that she’s the kind of character who values family above everything else, who only supported the war because people she knew personally were involved in the conflict. Moreover, during the scene in the turtleduck pond, we see her sleeve dipping into the water when she gave pieces of bread to a turtleduck, which shows that Ursa was likely the one who enjoys the simplicity of life rather than the “goody two shoes” who even cares about the life of Ba Sing Se’s civilians, that brings the shade of grey to her character (I’d hoped that the Search would explore more on this side of Ursa but you can’t have everything)

Back to the main problem, we know that Ursa encouraged behaviours and social skills based on love, trust and empathy. Notice the phrase “behaviours and social skills”. A family is a unit of society, the way you interact with outsiders stems from your bonding with family members as well as your people. Azula, meanwhile, had already drawn a fine line between weaklings and strong beings (Eg: her relationship with Zuko, the way she fed the turtleducks or in a more “subtle” way: burning off the ugly flowers), punished people for excelling at things she couldn’t, showing emotions and paying attention to other people rather than her, manipulated others into doing what she wanted, openly wished for a family member’s death, etc. Ursa was deeply concerned about Azula’s growing propensity towards cruelty. We only see she scolded Azula (in the flashback in The Search and Zuko’s memories) after these internal toxic behaviours were shown.

Zuko altered the course of the ship for the sake of his crew, Iroh and Lu Ten showed genuine father-son bonding moments (their bow in Legacy of the Fire Nation) during the height of the war or in formal situations, and they hadn’t changed side yet. We, however, have stopped seeing them as cut-and-dried antagonists at these points. Ursa, within her ability, only planted the seed, it’s up to the individuals to nurture it no matter how things may seem to change. That’s why Zuko’s first step toward redemption is unfolding the lies his family has laid upon the Fire Nation people (starting with the 41st to his confrontation with Ozai), and Azula’s breakdown started with her realisation of what she’d done wrong to her so-called best friends. 

It’s also doubtful whether Ursa could have differentiated Zuko and Azula’s views on the war tho. Like, it’s obvious that Ozai was the more powerful one in their relationship, and this attempt would clash aggressively with what they’d been taught and grown up with, so yeah, there’s nothing much Ursa could do anyway.

I hate it when people say that Ursa’s love is conditional, and she made Azula think that she is a monster. If Ursa’s mindset had really worked that way, that she had raised the bar, deemed her irredeemable, and decided not to love Azula as she wasn’t as sympathetic and gentle as Zuko, she wouldn’t have tried to steer Azula’s behaviours and relationships towards a healthier path, because monsters don’t know right from wrong and are hopeless. However, I do believe that Ursa also had her own doubts about whether her love was enough (I know she said this while not knowing what was going on around her but still), whether Ozai’s ideology had been too deep-rooted in Azula’s mind that even her wouldn’t be able to reach out to (Hence the “I don’t fear you”). Furthermore, as I mentioned above, Ursa enjoyed the simplicity of life, and with her humble background, Azula’s extreme behaviours surely went against her norms; thus, creating a rift between the mother and the daughter no matter how the former tried to deny its existence. That’s why the quote “My own mother thought I was a monster” is so powerful, because it spoke out of a relationship, though louder on Azula’s part. I’m gonna say something that might seem to be totally out of context, but I appreciate ATLA for its smoothness of dialogue. Azula’s “sob story” in “The Beach”: “I could sit here and complain how our mom liked Zuko more than me, but I don't really care. My own mother thought I was a monster. She was right, of course, but it’s still hurt”. Of all people, Azula must be the one who thought that her mother’s love is conditional since she was raised to believe that everything around her is a game in which she is always the winner. Admitting Ursa loved Zuko more means admitting her defeat, her mourning for the lack of a love, which is something she’s never resigned to, so she leant on apathy, convinced herself not yearning for that love since she had accomplished a greater thing: her mother feared her. Embracing the monster status, apart from being Azula's coping mechanism against conflicted feelings, I think, was her attempt to invalidate both Ursa’s opinion and Zuko’s “victory”, so she’d always be the controller of the game because again, monsters don’t know right from wrong.             

This got much longer than I expected 😅 . TL;DR: Ursa deserves better. 

P/s: I hope I’ve phrased my opinion clearly. I’m looking forward to yours!

Thank you for the compliment. You also raise a lot of really good points and all this is really well said, and I'll try to address it all.

If she laughed at the idea of burning down a city, then she certainly didn't try to correct Azula's cruel behaviors. Azula was capable of figuring out the rights and wrongs on her own.

As you've pointed out already, we know this is wrong because we've SEEN Ursa correct Azula's cruel behavior. We also saw her correct Zuko when he was cruel to a turtleduck. Zuko also laughs at the joke about burning Ba Sing Se but then tries to appeal to Azula's empathy when she says Iroh should die so Ozai can be Fire Lord, saying how would she like it if Lu Ten wanted their father to die. Iroh MAKES the joke himself yet still we see him encourage Zuko to be empathetic in the series' present timeline and is horrified by Ozai burning him.

First of all, I want to point out how Ursa gets disproportionately criticized for not being a good enough mother or not teaching her children right from wrong, even though she clearly did. We put disproportionate pressure on mothers to be moral bastions and endlessly sacrificing saints, while I've read so many metas "explaining" Ozai's completely amoral treatment of his children as "just the way the Fire Nation is." Even by Fire Nation standards, Ozai clearly crossed a line.

Also on Azula being capable of figuring it out on her own, there is some truth to that to some extent which I will get to, but as a generalization it's just completely counter to child psychology. Children need to be taught social skills, they need to be taught right and wrong, they need boundaries. We know that children actually crave rules and rituals and boundaries and need them in order to grow up to be well-adjusted adults. Children who grow up in chaotic environments with little discipline tend to have trouble interacting with the world because they haven't been taught how to distinguish boundaries, they grow up unsafe and anxious and unable to make sense of things because they haven't been taught how to. I actually think that Ozai letting Azula run rampant contributed to her poor development in this area, and Ozai letting her do whatever she wants and then being surprised when she doesn't do exactly what he wants in "The Phoenix King" is pretty typical bad parenting. Children act the way you teach them to act.

I'd also point to Zuko's moment of "Oh, wait, we don't hit the turtleducks" as another example. Zuko does have natural empathy but didn't realize that his actions would hurt the turtleduck and cause the turtleduck to hurt him back, because children haven't developed that cognitive skill yet, and need guidance to develop it.

With Azula, I believe that she does know right from wrong to an extent, but a lot of her behavior that we see in the flashbacks reads like deliberate choices she makes. She knows both what Ozai expects from her and what she can get away with. And maybe resents her mother a little for trying to discipline her because she knows that Ursa is the less powerful parent. Azula is extremely perceptive even as a child and likely picked up on the friction between Ursa and Ozai and Zuko, and I think that's part of why she acts out around Ursa. I see a lot of Ursa criticism that treats Azula like she genuinely didn't understand why her actions were wrong, and didn't understand why Ursa was scolding her, but would say that her reactions show that she does understand. She knows enough to hide it from her mother when she's tormenting Zuko, and she also explains to her mother WHY she thinks Azulon or Iroh should die. Her actions are pretty distinct from Zuko's pretty innocent one at the turtleduck pond, and show much more deliberate intent. That's why Ursa treats them differently.

I think you raise a really interesting point about marrying Ozai to Roku's descendent being a way to bring authenticity to the war effort. The Avatar is the biggest threat to the legitimacy of Fire Nation expansion and the fact that the last Avatar was Fire Nation and still opposed the war is a constant wrinkle. And since nobody can find the current Avatar, aligning Roku's bloodline with Sozin's does seem to make sense as a political move. And it's the best reason I can think of for that particular plot point.

On Ursa as a gray character, I absolutely agree that I wish we had gotten more about how she feels about the war. It is not out of character for her to be ambivalent about the war and still be an empathetic person elsewhere. The war is a long way off, and you are right that the thing she cares most about is her family. And, like Iroh, she can compartmentalize her empathy to where it does not extend to these people that are seen as the enemy. The Fire Nation has been at war with the rest of the world for one hundred years, and in that time there has been loads of propaganda about how it was the Fire Nation's divine right, as the superior element, to invade. Like Iroh, I don't think Ursa would say she wants Ba Sing Se to be burnt to the ground, but would probably rationalize it as these savages who are so ignorant they resist what is good for them. That's the joke. It's a way to justify colonization and even people who consider themselves otherwise good are not immune to it.

Azula and Zuko, of course, laugh because the adults are laughing, because that's what kids do. But that also has its psychological affects, and both Azula and Zuko suffer from this cognitive dissonance. Azula does her best to repress it but it's still there, otherwise she wouldn't say her mother thought she was a monster. Zuko does, too, he's just not as successful at it as Azula is, but even Zuko, when he's a villain, is able to distinguish right from wrong, and has his limts, for example agreeing to leave Katara and Sokka's village alone once he has Aang. He just has a warped sense of what he is able to justify as right.

I think Ursa justified a lot in her mind in order to keep the family together, and I do headcanon that once she is exiled, she is able to finally start breaking down those walls, similar to what Zuko did. Because her exile brings the wrongs Ozai did to their family personally into the political realm. Just as Ozai's abuse of Zuko was inherently political and his understanding that he was abused was concurrent with his understanding that the Fire Nation itself was rotten, I headcanon that Ursa also came to the conclusion that the war itself was unjust, but she can't come to that conclusion until she's out of the midst of everything and can see it more clearly, just as Zuko did. I've actually been writing a fic that has an alternate take on Ursa after her exile and in it, she comes to hate the Fire Nation and everything it represents, not least because it turned her own children into little war machines. She knew that was what was happening to Azula and it's not a stretch to believe it would happen to Zuko once she was no longer able to influence him. It's likely that they would end up either hating her or dead like Lu Ten.

About Ursa apologizing to Azula for "not loving her enough" in The Search, I agree with you that she did not have enough context for that to be taken as true, and any mother under that circumstance would say that upon being forced to abandon their child that way and then feeling guilty about forgetting them. Ursa doesn't remember her own actions, she is reacting based on Azula, who is there because she clearly is missing something and needs that love, and that is what Ursa is responding to. For Ursa to do that even while Azula is threatening her life also defies the idea that Ursa was afraid of or thought Azula was a monster as a small child. Azula here is much older and is play-acting the monster but Ursa sees the girl who needs her mother.

I also think people forget or ignore that Ursa said the same thing and made the same apology to Zuko. Because, again, she doesn't remember what happened, she isn't reacting to her children based on what they have done, she is reacting to the fact that she is their mother and they needed her when she wasn't there. The fact that Zuko is standing there at all, with that scar on his face, means he needs something from her, and it's not a physical need because he's practically an adult now, he's the Fire Lord, he doesn't need his mommy to tuck him in at night. But he needs her on an emotional level, because she wasn't there, and even though it wasn't her fault, she can still recognize that.

There's also no evidence that Ursa loved Azula conditionally. We have a few scenes of her scolding Azula in the flashbacks and no scenes of them bonding but that doesn't mean those things didn't happen. Most of what we get in "Zuko Alone" is meant to tell us about Zuko's past, so Zuko is the focus, which is why we only see Azula interacting with Ursa when Zuko is present. We don't see scenes of Ursa and Azula alone because they aren't part of the story being told, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen. We don't see Ursa disproportionately criticize Azula (the way we do see Ozai do to Zuko), we see Ursa scold Azula for specific behaviors that are harmful to people around her. Ironically, we do see Azula be disproportionately criticized by an adult who focuses on the negative instead of her positive accomplishments, but that's Lo and Li criticizing her for having a hair out of place while perfectly performing lightning bending.

I DO think the show could have benefitted from more female characters interacting without a male character present, and that's a symptom of sexist writing, but to attribute that to malice on the part of the characters is just silly, and is misogynistic itself when it focuses on disproportionately criticizing a mother for not having enough loving scenes with her children, and coming to the conclusion that she must be a bad mother instead of the conclusion that mothers need more narrative focus, not just as mothers but as people. Ursa is barely a character as it is and she's fridged by the narrative as part of Zuko's story. Maybe the Netflix show will try to give her more of a life of her own and maybe that will also include exploring her relationship with Azula more, but don't tell me she's a bad mother and Azula's badness is all her fault.

And yes, you hit the nail on the head about Azula saying Ursa thought she was a monster as being about control, about being the "winner." Even in the moment when she reveals this, it's about controlling the narrative. I also agree with you about the dialogue there being excellent. The way Azula says it tells us so much. She simultaneously denies that she has a "sob story," while dismissing her friends' and brother's stories as weakness. A part of her does want to reveal that weakness and be vulnerable, which is why she says it, and the voice acting makes it clear that she's surprised at her own vulnerability, but she quickly denies that she even cares. Being a "monster" allows Azula to feel like a victim in a way that's also a power fantasy, because if Azula really is a monster, then she doesn't have to care or worry about how she could have been different, how her choices could have been different. It's a deliberate contrast to Zuko in the same scene agonizing over not knowing the difference between right and wrong, which, ironically, proves that he does, because a monster who doesn't know the difference wouldn't care the way he does. Azula resents him for caring because they aren't supposed to care, they are supposed to be the monsters.

I also agree that it's a victory over her mother and Zuko, because remember that Ozai raised them with the all-or-nothing mindset that Azula was the golden child and Zuko is the scapegoat. Zuko and Azula are a dichotomy. One deserves love and the other doesn't, one is always better than the other, and that's the way it has to be. In that system, Azula defines her existence as "not Zuko." She's better, she's the one worthy of being loved and adored. When you are used to an imbalanced dynamic, equal treatment looks like unfair treatment. "You can't treat me like Zuko," remember? Therefore if Ursa loves Zuko, who does nothing to prove his worthiness of being loved, it must be because Ursa loved Azula less. Or at least, that's how Azula sees it.

Her declaring that her mother thought she was a monster is a way to dismiss Ursa's love of Zuko because it doesn't compute with her worldview. It doesn't mean Zuko is worthy of love, it just means Ursa unfairly hated Azula. Because if it means Zuko IS worthy of love, it means that her father is wrong, and that the way he treated HER as if she had to be perfect to deserve love, is wrong, too. That's why she can't let go of this belief and why it is so tied to her seeing herself as better than Zuko.

[attackfish]

Anon asks are in, so I'm going for one that's kind of out there: what if Ozai wasn't a power hungry monster, but was still an antagonist. Like, instead of being so egotistic, he's the opposite and devotes himself into being a dutiful son, of the both his father and his nation.

His relations with his children is still stunted, but in a "young man who has no idea on what's he doing trying to be a 'cold/distant but loving' father". with the same being true with his relationship with Ursa. Instead of killing Lu Ten and aiming for the throne, the former and Azulon die naturally and Ozai is elevated to being FL in all but name as Iroh is too depressed for his duties. It'd just be interesting seeing Zuko dealing with a father who he needs to stop but isn't necessarily evil, who's relationship isn't great, but in a way that's awkward and confusing.

For a little bit of context, I got this ask right after talking about how Zuko being able to realize his father was abusive toward him and also that his father's imperialism was wrong, and to draw parallels between the two, was very convenient and allowed for good thematic cohesion.

So of course somebody has to ask what does the story look like without that.

This is something that I'm already exploring in my Avatar Sozin, Firelord Ursa verse, my Regent Ursa verse, and in the verses where Iroh becomes Firelord without going through his realization that the war is wrong. In both cases, Zuko ultimately has to come to the painful, and in some ways much more difficult, realization that these people he loves and who have always loved and supported him, have done and are continuing to do horrible harm to other people and to the world. This could be even more fraught if Ozai and Zuko's relationship is distant even strained, in spite of being genuinely loving.

Now, aside from this emotional/thematic difference, there are going to be some fundamental practical characterization differences in any universe where Ozai isn't an abusive scumbag. Zuko and Azula were both clearly developed as characters with their history of abuse and favoritism baked in. This shaped their personalities and characterizations heavily. Having them act the way they do in the show without that history would not work. In any universe where Ozai isn't a horrifically abusive parent, his children are going to be completely different people, with different ways of seeing and reacting to the world.

Likewise, if he isn't an abusive father and husband, his relationship with Ursa is going to be radically different. How couldn't it be? Even if it starts the same way, with Azulon coercing Ursa (and I think it's safe to say, Ozai as well) into marriage for his little eugenics experiment, which is of course a horrible start, it will evolve completely differently from that point on. It's safe to say that their relationship might begin with mutual resentment and deep unhappiness. They are only human, after all. But without Ozai being actively cruel, and with children they each love and care for, I don't think it's unreasonable that they might grow to be friends and partners. Romantic love might not grow out of such a friendship, but it also might, in which case, Ikem would become no more than a happy memory for Ursa.

Speaking of resentment and people being human, there is Ozai's relationship with his father and brother. A loving, loyal son and brother Ozai might be, but Azulon is still Azulon, and he is heavily implied to be a... Shitty abusive father who plays favorites. Hmmm. And Ozai, much like Zuko (in canon) is the unfavorite. In canon of course, Ozai reacts to the unwinnable misery of life with a father like that, by becoming arrogant, selfish, and cruel to compensate. And even if he doesn't do that here, he will naturally feel resentment toward his father and brother, for his father's treatment, and his brother's seemingly effortless success and favor. He's human. Just look at canon Zuko's resentment toward Azula!

That resentment might even be stronger toward his brother, who is not actively mistreating him than it is toward their father who is, perversely for that very reason. The fear of an abuser's displeasure and the psychological stress that induces, as well as the need to create a semblance of control for a victim, often redirect their anger toward their abusers onto less intimidating people in their lives.

And this resentment might become all the greater after Azulon and Lu Ten's deaths, if Iroh, deep in his grief, shoves the responsibility of ruling onto Ozai's shoulders. Ozai could easily feel as if he's cleaning up his brother's mess, especially since he has a loss of his own to mourn. And as a loving father and brother who knows Iroh just lost a son, he might feel incredibly guilty about that resentment, but that doesn't make that resentment go away. And how much might that resentment worsen if Iroh takes back the reins of power, with the newfound conviction that the war their father taught them to fight, is wrong. A conviction Ozai doesn't share, one he sees as disloyal to their father's memory.

And how much might this tangle of emotions unravel with Ozai as heir presumptive to his elderly, widowed, childless brother? Especially if Iroh has an easier and less complicated relationship with Ozai's children than with Ozai himself. Especially if Zuko, and possibly even Azula begin to share Iroh's convictions about the war.