#and I was just reminded of my suffering guy Agni

[thesillyexpresser]

Honestly Queen Battlewinner (from the hit book series, Wings of Fire) and Agni (from the hit acid trip, Fire Punch) have mechanic that are similar yet parallel to each other in a way I can’t explain.

Like a character who has to constantly be in fire to counter an ice in the throat that freezing forever?? And they’re in fucking misery?? A character who constantly has to regenerate to counter being on fire 24/7?? And they’re in fucking misery?? What’s next?? A character who has to constantly be frozen to counter a cancerous growth?? And they’re in fucking misery??

[whentheynameyoujoy]

Yup, Sure Was a Finale

I had an epiphany. The reason why I never re-watched the final two parts of Sozin’s Comet even though I’ve popped in episodes at random many times over the years isn’t that I can’t bear the sadness of seeing one of the best, most engaging narratives out there come to an end.

It’s simply that the finale isn’t all that good.

Some honorable mentions of what was enjoyable.

(+) This

Just this.

(+) The Church of Zutara has another convert

“Are you sure they don’t get together?” Hubster, 2020

(+) The tragedy of Azula

And the fact that it’s acknowledged as such. I hope Zuko will do his best to get her help and have a relationship with her…

(+) Sokka being a big bro

And the whole airship sequence in general. It’s wonderfully paced and plotted, with moments of humor, real stakes, Toph being both badass and a scared crying kid, Sokka strategizing and protecting, Suki saving the day, and non-benders being instrumental in thwarting the bad guy firebender’s plans. Would be shame if Bryke never portrayed them this capable ever again…

And now for the main course.

(-) Blink and its over

The wrap-up feels too quick (hashtag Needs More ROtK-style False Endings). A part of this is due to how fast the story goes from the thick of the action to hastily tying up a bunch of loose ends, but the larger issue is how Book 3’s uneven pacing comes home to roost. After spending half a season on filler episodes that at best subtly flesh out established characters while dancing around a huge lionturtle-shaped hole, and at worst contradict the theme of “no one is born bad” with “you’re a hot mess because your great-grandfathers didn’t get along too well”, the frantic “go go go” rush of the second half screeches to a halt with “they won and everyone was happy because now the right people have power and it will be all good from now on yup nothing more to deal with baiiiii”.

Yes, I know, it’s a kids’ show. But goddamn, this particular kids’ show has proven so many times it can do better than the expected tropiness. Showing the characters in their roles as builders of a new world was the least that could have been done.

Oh well!

(-) Ursa

We’ll never know. There will never be a story that delves into this. Yup. Shall forever remain but an intriguing mystery. Is good, though. Mystery is better than a story where Ursa shares her son’s penchant for forgetfulness. Imagine how embarrassing that would be. Speaking of which…

(-) What does Mai see in this jerkbender?

Look, I like to harp a lot on the mess of inconsistent writing that’s Mai but let’s unpack this scene from her perspective, shall we?

Zuko forgot about her! It totally slipped his mind that the one person who prioritized the safety of his dumb ass was rotting in the worst prison in the Fire Nation—because of him! And she was rotting there long enough after the final Agni Kai for the news of Zuko’s upcoming coronation to spread and her uncle to feel sufficiently secure to release her. But then the coronation scene is attended by every single member of Gaang & Friends that was imprisoned?

So what this tells me is that either a) the invasion force had the ability to break themselves out the whole time and for some reason decided not to exercise it until after the war was over, b) Zuko forgot about them as well and no one thought to remind him there were prisons full of POWs until Mai arrived, or, and that’s even better, c) Zuko took care to free every single resistance fighter while making sure Mai would be the one to stay behind bars.

Never thought I’d say this but Mai? Honey? You deserve so much better.

(-) “What does Katara want?”

Asked no one in the writers’ room ever, apparently.

This is not so much anti Cataang as anti romance stories that pay attention to the needs, opinions, and wants of only one partner in general. Over the previous 60 episodes, Katara actively expressed romantic interest in Aang exactly, wait for it,

Once.

And it got retconned out of relevance by the following two interactions where the possibility of a romantic relationship came up, making the Headband dance pretty easy to reclassify as just one of those examples where Aang “teaches” Katara to have fun (as if one of the main obstacles to her having fun wasn’t him constantly fooling around and offloading his duties). And because the writers not only didn’t succeed in portraying Katara’s internal state of mind, but also failed to root her reluctance to pursue a relationship in outside circumstances that could change, her sudden state of unconfused once Aang steps into the spotlight has a single canonical explanation that as much as approaches coherency.

The fact is, though, that trying to interpret canon Cataang from a Watsonian perspective is an exercise in foolishness. Because there is no Watsonian justification for the ship and never has been. Bryke simply conceived of Katara as nothing but a tropey prize for Aang, never saw her as anything beyond that, and were perfectly happy to go on and immortalize her as a passive broodmare for the rest of her life.

And I fully intend to die mad about it.

(-) Iroh dips

OK, it’s been long apparent that the show doesn’t intend to do anything about Iroh’s complicity in AzulOzai’s regime in any meaningful way, and that his sole motivation for doing anything whatsoever is Zuko whom he views as a replacement son which is supposed to be good for some reason. But the finale has him abandon even that, and instead turns him full-on YOLO, idgaf anymore. It really throws Iroh’s supposed love for Zuko into doubt when his last act in the entire show is to take a half-educated 16-year old with no political savvy or an heir to secure a dynastic continuity and plomp him on the throne of a war-mongering imperialist regime where the entirety of the militarist and ruling class is guaranteed to fight him tooth and nail for power.

(I sure hope Mai’s ready to start popping out babies by tea-time otherwise the whole country is fukd in about a week)

Christ, how hard would it be to have Iroh keep the throne warm for a few years while Zuko is getting ready to succeed him? Not only would it make the whole FN reformation bit quite likelier to occur, it would require Iroh’s hedonistic ass to actually sacrifice something for once. And not having Zuko ascend to power, instead spending some time bettering and educating himself first, would be a wonderful message that no matter what you endured and overcame, you never stop growing. A kids’ show, remember?

(-) The conquering of Ba Sing Se

Gee, I feel so blessed to have my attention diverted from battlefields which actually matter to an old dude vanity project I would have been perfectly happy to assume resolved itself off-screen.

The White Lotus in general just bugs me. I was fine with the individual characters and their overall passivity when they were portrayed as lone dissenters living under circumstances where it wasn’t really possible for any single person to mount a meaningful resistance. But as members of a far-reaching shadowy organization that’s left the real fight to a bunch of kids for 59 episodes straight and didn’t turn up until a perfect opportunity presented itself to take control of the largest city in the world and bask in the spotlight?

Yeah, no.

Similarly to the lionturtle-ex-machina, the White Lotus represents a huge missed opportunity for a season-long storytelling. Here’s just a brief list of what they could have been doing throughout Book 3:

orchestrating a Fire Nation uprising;

gathering those directly persecuted by AzulOzai’s regime to help Zuko keep his hold on power once he’s crowned;

establishing themselves as a viable alternative to Ozai;

sabotaging Fire Nation’s war efforts from the inside;

countering Fire Nation propaganda (Asha Greyjoy’s pinecones, anyone?);

running a supply network to alleviate the suffering of Earth Kingdom citizens.

Instead, they sit on their asses until the time comes to claim personal glory.

You know what, good on Bryke for making me conclude that in comparison, the Freedom Fighters were perfectly unproblematic, actually.

(-) Fire Lord Dead-by-Dawn

Yes, a kids’ show, I know! But ffs, this is the same kids’ show that came up with Long Feng and portrayed courtly intrigue, kingly puppets, secret police, spy networks, and information wars. Was it really too much of me to expect something other than “enlightened despot solves everything”? Especially if said enlightened despot has persisting anger issues, no personal support system, no base of followers, and no political experience whatsoever?

If Zuko’s actually serious about regaining the Fire Nation’s honor (i.e. by dismantling the country’s military machine, decolonizing the Earth Kingdom, paying reparations to everyone and their lemur, and funding any and all cultural restoration projects Aang and the SWT come up with), then there is no way, no way in the universe that he doesn’t face a civil war, deposing, and execution within a month.

One reason why his future as a Fire Lord seems rather bleak is that little’s been shown about the actual subjects of AzulOzai’s regime. While we get a vague reassurance that “no Toph, they’re not born bad” (le shockings), they largely remain a voiceless uniform mass of brainwashed clapping seals. What is their view on the Fire Nation’s crimes? Do they associate their condition with their country’s war-mongering? How will they react when Zuko starts dismantling the country piece by piece to rebuild it, bringing it to economic ruin? What will they do when noble Ozai loyalists come out of the woodwork and begin rounding them up under the banner of “Make the Fire Nation Great Again?”

I have no idea, and Zuko doesn’t either because he’s unironically more qualified to rule the Earth Kingdom than his own people.

You know what would have been better? Fire Lord Iroh, White Lotus pulling the strings to maintain the regime, and Crown Prince/People’s Champion Zuko travelling the Fire Nation with Aang and an army of tutors to promote the new boss, only to realize that absolute monarchy is kinda crap for the people he’s one day supposed to rule and gaining their support by ceding some power to them.

I’d laser holes into my TV due to how much I’d enjoy watching that.

(-) All hail Avatar Rock

Literally and metaphorically. Aang doesn’t sacrifice anything, gets everything, and the clever solution of going about getting said everything is handed to him on a silver platter, requiring no active participation on his part whatsoever.

He doesn’t work to unblock his chakras, spiritually or physically.

He only speaks to his past lives to get a pat on the back and a bow-tied solution he could mindlessly follow.

Energy-bending doesn’t require any sacrifice from him, leaves no lasting marks, and only serves for the narrative to praise him as the rare individual that’s unbendable and thus so very very special.

The most infuriating thing is, however, that Aang is clearly shown as being able to beat Ozai without either the Avatar state, or energy-bending.

And he chooses not to. From this moment on, Aang no longer fights to save the world. He fights to preserve his beliefs, going directly against the instructions of his past lives and effectively reneging on his duties as the Avatar.

Again.

It’s not like you can’t portray Aang’s faithfulness to his spiritual beliefs as the key to beating Ozai and saving the world. But that’s not what the show did. There is no link between Aang sparing Ozai and securing a better future, quite to the contrary—Ozai’s survival ends up being a massive problem for the continuation of Zuko’s rule, and consequently a threat to the world at large. His survival benefits Aang and no one else.

Aang’s spiritual purity and his status as a savior of the world are allowed to coexist only due to a deliberate stroke of a writer’s pen.

And I hate it.

Welp, nothing to do about it now except to bury myself up to my tits in fix-it fics I guess.

[cablesscutie]

Oh could you do 3 or 17 for the zutara fluff prompt please?☺️

I love both of these- thank you! I'm going to save #17 for a little later, so here's #3: “You’re everything I could’ve wanted and more.”

PART 1 // PART 2 // PART 3

Zuko flips down the visor in his car to fuss with his hair one last time. Mai and Ty Lee had insisted that he pull part of it up to keep him from hiding behind his hair like he was wont to do when he got nervous. In this particular situation, Zuko found that it made him extra nervous to know that he didn’t have that security blanket, scar on full display. This was why he didn’t do blind dates. This poor girl was already suffering through the awkwardness of an ex’s wedding, and now she was going to have to do it while pretending to be vaguely attracted to him.

Her text the previous night had included a reminder of the time and address, as well as an apologetic note that, hey I’m sorry to heap more awkward on this, but apparently this ex is friends with another of my ex’s and it ended Badly...and I might’ve implied that you were a little more significant to me than a blind date? Really I’m so so sorry and I can tell them you have food poisoning or something if this is too awkward, but really all you have to do is not mention that we’re strangers. Sorry!! He’d had absolutely zero clue how to appropriately respond to that message. His first impulse had been to think that of course he didn’t want to pretend to be her boyfriend in front of not one, but two of her ex’s. But Mai probably wouldn’t see this as too much for the favor he owed her. Then his brain had flitted unwillingly to the Instagram account Ty Lee had showed him, and before he could stop himself, his fingers were tapping out That’s fine - see you then.

“Okay,” Zuko sighs, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles go white. He closes his eyes and pulls in a deep breath, holds it, and on the exhale unclenches his hands and forces himself out of the car. The temple rises up before him in a series of spires and exterior staircases, terraced gardens overflowing with practical plants rising up around all of it. He follows the trickle of people who seem like they know where they’re going, glancing about idly for a familiar face.

She finds him first, which he probably should’ve expected given that his face stands out pretty clearly. She’s also more petite than he’d expected. If she weren’t wearing heels, the top of her head would probably tuck easily under his chin. Zuko shakes his head quickly to erase the thought before it can take hold properly, which unfortunately comes at the same instant that she asks, “Zuko?” and leaves her blinking at him in utter confusion. “Oh. I, uh.”

“I mean yes!” he rushes to correct, reaching out to grab her elbow as she starts to turn away. “Zuko. Me. I mean.” Fuck, he’s such a moron. He clears his throat and holds out his hand to shake. “Hi, Zuko here.” There’s a familiar and terrible heat in his cheeks and spilling down his neck, and he wishes to Agni not for the first time that he could be anyone but Zuko right now.

Katara laughs at him, as she should, but it is a kind laughter, all dimpled cheeks and sparkling eyes. The pictures hadn’t done her justice. “Hi Zuko,” she says, taking his hand and shaking it. “Katara here.” He can’t help but return her smile, goofy as it probably comes across. “Thank you again so much for coming to this shitshow,” she tells him as she drops his hand. “We should probably head inside - it’s starting soon.”

Zuko offers her his arm to be escorted up the stairs of the temple. It’s an old-fashioned gesture that has always gotten mixed reception, but Uncle has drilled manners into him so relentlessly that he always falls back on them reflexively when in a panic. Luckily, she slips her hand into the crook of his elbow with a smile, and his shoulders settle as he guides them both. Along the way, she catches him focusing on the planters, and asks, “do you like gardening?”

“My mother did,” he says reflexively, and he turns to her in time to catch the very moment she registers the past tense. He wants to kick himself for setting up pity or prying questions, but she just gives his arm a slight squeeze and says,

“So did mine. The flowers blooming every summer was her favorite part of the year.”

Usually, he is precious with his memories, but hearing the echo of his own grief in her wistful tone makes him actually want to share his mother with her. “She came from a family of traditional healers, and wanted to keep up the knowledge, so she grew all kinds of herbs and wildflowers that were used in old cures.”

She hums, and they walk along in silence for another moment before she says, “Did she teach you anything?”

“She started to.” It’s bittersweet, his mother’s unfinished legacy. “I have her books though, so maybe someday I’ll finish studying them.” Katara smiles at him, part sympathy, part understanding. Zuko’s heart pounds. When her eyes meet his, he almost wants to hide because it feels like she can see too much.

“Did you learn any cures for nerves?” Katara asks, the sardonic dip of her voice a gift to lighten the mood. Zuko smiles back, starting to laugh off the heavy conversation, but a flash of something catches his attention.

Katara’s eyes go wide as he lets go of her to crouch down and carefully pick a purple blossom. He does it just the way his mother had shown him, finding the right joint in the stem to make sure it will grow back, and with a gentle bend and twist, it breaks between his fingers. The fragrance follows him as he rises and offers the sprig of lavender to Katara. In trying to indicate that she should smell it, he almost shoves it up her nose when she leans towards it, but she giggles and wrinkles her nose adorably. Her fingers fold around his as she slips the stem out of his grasp.

“Thank you.

“Mom used to put a little vase of lavender in me and my sister’s rooms to help us sleep,” Zuko explained.

“I feel better already.” She sniffs the flower again as she slips her arm through his again to properly enter the ceremony space, her eyes fluttering closed for a fraction of a second that steals his breath away. This is actually going well, he thinks in utter astonishment. I keep tripping over my tongue like a moron, but for some reason she seems to like it. A voice in the back of his head that sounds uncomfortably like his teenage self sneers, Wow, she must be really desperate not to look single. Must be some impressive ex’s. Zuko’s heart stutters and slows back to normal. Right. This is a favor. He needs to focus.

Not least because his distraction causes him to walk right into the man who appears in front of Katara. “Sorry,” he says reflexively, stumbling back. Katara’s grip on his arm has tightened, keeping him from dragging both of them off balance. Despite her small stature, she is rooted firmly, anchoring them both. He realizes why as soon as the guy pretends to dust off his sport coat (which is not particularly neat to begin with) and purrs, “So Kat, this is the new guy?” as though Zuko isn’t even there. So this is the other ex.

“Zuko,” he and Katara say at the same time, in the same steely tone.

The ex looks briefly startled, but recovers enough to shake Zuko’s hand. “The name’s Jet.”

Zuko has never met Jet before, and yet he knows from the curl of his smile that he has made out with several Jets at various parties in college. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Jet squeezes Zuko’s hand a little harder, just to the edge of macho discomfort. “Pleasure’s all mine.”

Katara scoffs - almost inaudibly, but it’s there - and Zuko can’t help but look to her and say, “It would be, wouldn’t it?” It’s the kind of snarky remark he and Mai used to share under their breath at their parents’ insufferable dinner parties back in high school. The two women are nothing alike, but there is something similar to the ease he feels with his best friend as he stands beside her. She bites her lip, and her eyes glitter with silent laughter, and Zuko feels a much gentler heat kindling under his skin. Jet manages to look confused and dismissive in one twitch of his ridiculous eyebrows, but returns his attention to Katara undeterred. His eyes linger as they trace obviously over the v of her dress’s neckline and admittedly tempting curves draped in navy satin before he flashes her a pair of puppy dog eyes and asks, “Save me a dance?” When she doesn’t immediately respond, he tilts his head and entreats, “For old times’ sake?”

Zuko is irritated to once again be entirely ignored, and the possessive part of him wants to snap at Jet that all of Katara’s dances are already reserved for him. Hard-earned self control wins out though, and Zuko manages to remind himself that despite his attraction and the ruse he is meant to be perpetuating, he is not actually Katara’s boyfriend. There is no real reason for him to be upset if she chooses to dance with Jet. There are several reasons for the flutter in his chest when her expressive face hardens to stone.

There is no excuse or cutting joke, just one word, a complete sentence: “No.” She gives him nothing to play off of, no buttons to push or entreaties to make, and he backs down quickly.

“Oh. Uh. Okay, I guess I’ll just...see you at the reception?”

“Yeah, you’ll see us there,” Zuko cuts in, mouth stumbling ahead without him. He puts too much significance on the word us, but seems to bother Jet, and Katara leans into his side, so he figures it’s okay. Jet lifts his chin in a parting nod to him. Zuko just meets his eyes evenly as the other man turns away to find his seat. Shaking his head as he watches the guy go, Zuko says, “Pft. If your friend invited that guy, I think you need better friends,” because he has no filter. And then he remembers yet again that he doesn’t know Katara, much less her friends, and he is overstepping all over this situation. His free hand comes up to smack himself in the face. “Shit. Sorry I’m probably screwing this up so bad; I’m the worst blind date in history.”

A small, warm hand closes around his wrist and tugs his hand away. Katara shifts to stand in front of him, blocking the rest of the wedding full of strangers from his view as his attention narrows only to the bounce of her hair and the crescent of her smile.

“You’re everything I could’ve wanted and more.”

Here's the prompt list!

[storydays]

Season 1, ep3, p2

"Your best friend is a.....polar bear dog." Mako started wearily, before smiling fondly at Neo, who grunted. "Somehow that makes perfect sense, considering." "I'll take that as a compliment, city boy." A few minutes later, they arrived to town square, looking around and didn't see a sign of you or Bolin. Neo stopped near Firelord Zuko's statue from his early days, looked up and barked. "Well, this is Bo's normal hang out spot, and Neo seems to have missed (Y/-" Mako was cut off by Neo running over to the kids playing nearby, licking one of the boys. 

Laughing, the kids crowded around him and Naga, who followed her brother, ignoring the two approaching figures behind the two animals. "You guys seen my brother around here today?" Mako called, as the oldest turned towards them. "Perhaps. My memory's a little...foggy. Maybe you can help clear it up." The child sniffed, before holding his hand out. "You're good, Skoochy. A real pro." Mako chuckled, before handing the child a few coins. "Yeah, I've seen him." "When?" demanded the firebender. "About noon." "What was he doing?" A frown came onto Skoochy's face, as he recalled the earlier event. "He was performing some kind of monkey-rat circus, and then..." Turning, the kid held his hand out for more. 

Skoochy yelped as a giant water hand picked him up, and brought him face to face with an unimpressed you. Chuckling sheepishly, he grinned at your raised eyebrow. "H-Hey, (Y/F/N)! How you doing?" "Skoochy, take the kids back to the Rosario, and do not come out without Mika." You said sternly, placing the child down and watching them run off. "Hey, come back here!" Mako called, before glaring up at a casual you, Korra laughing at you shrugging carelessly. 

"I got a lead on where Bolin is," you jumped down in front of the two, sliding your glider into your holster on your back. "The Triple Threats, the Red Monsoons, the Agni Kais..all the triads are muscling up for something big..." "Meaning there's a turf war brewing, and Bolin's about to get caught right in the middle of it." Mako frowned, rubbing his forehead. "Yup, follow me. I managed to track him down, but it wouldn't hurt to have some backup; let's go."

Hopping onto Neo, you told him to go to the Triad's hideout, waited for Mako to get on, and the three of you take off on the Water Tribe animals, and cross the river, when Naga stopped and starting chasing a small animal. "Wait, Naga!" "That's Pabu!" Korra and Mako said at the same time. "No, Naga, Pabu is a friend, not food." Korra said sternly, as the two bumped noses and Pabu crawled onto Mako's shoulder. "We gotta hurry." reminded the firebender. 

*At the  hideout*

"Something's not right..there are usually thugs posted out front. We need to be--" Mako trailed off as Korra kicked the door in. Mako deadpanned as you strolled in, hands behind your head,  looking around curiously at the trashed hideout. "Bolin? You here?" Mako called, looking around. You sensed Bolin's presence outside, and hurried outside, with water skin arms forming around your arms. You called out to the other two. "I've got visual on them! Let's go!" You realized that following them in plain view wasn't the best idea. "Neo, help Korra and Mako! I'm going solo!" 

You veered right heading towards the rooftops, keeping an eye on the van and your surroundings. Mako fired a blast of fire towards the bikes, Korra used her earthbending but the kidnapper jumped over the earth, and another fired two ball traps toward the polar bear dogs, making the animals trip and send the Avatar and firebender to the ground. "Oh man." You stopped chasing Bolin and jumped down to protect Korra and Mako from the incoming enemy. 

It was three on one with Korra getting neutralized early in the fight followed by Mako getting knocked down. You stood in front of them protectively, before using your waterbending to make a ice barrier, making the enemies send out canisters of gas and got back on their bikes zooming off. 

Korra groaned, Naga helping her stand up, before trying to firebend. "Ugh! I can't bend! I can't bend!" She panicked. "Calm down, Korra." You stated, helping Mako up before Neo cuddled into your back. "It'll wear off. Those guys were chi blockers. They're Amon's henchmen." continued Mako stretched his arm out, as Korra did the same. "Amon? That anti-bending guy with the mask?"

You sat down on Neo's back cross-legged, closed your eyes and began searching for Bolin's spirit. "Yeah, he's the leader of the Equalists." "But what do they want with the Triple Threats?" wondered the Water Tribe girl.  "Whatever it is..it can't be good. I can't believe Bolin got himself into this mess. " Mako pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed in annoyed concern. "Mako, we're going to save your brother, I promise you that."  Korra and Mako stared into each other's eyes.

Neither noticed (e/c) eyes staring at them, before their owner smirked. You grabbed Neo's reigns, and coughed. They turned to him. "If you two are done with your romantic stare down.."They sputtered at him as he continued breezily. "I've found Bo again, but we need to go." Mako cleared his throat and hopped onto Neo's back. "Neo, let's go." You urge, heading towards the other side of town. 

*timeskip*

You let Neo, Naga and Pabu rest near the warehouse, and threw clothes at Korra and Mako. "Hey, what are these for (Y/N)?" Korra asked, just as Mako asked, "How'd you get our measurements?" You scoff, tying your hair back, and pulling a headband on to hide your arrow. "Please, have you guys met hyper active airbenders? Instead of chasing them,  I learned how to take measurements discretely. Anyway, we need those to get in to where they're keeping Bolin." They shrugged and went to go get change. 

"You guys go first, and wait for me near the entrance. I'll enter after you guys." You watched as Korra wrapped her arm around Mako. You starred at them, looked at Neo, before laughing at the scene in front of you, your polar bear dog laughing aside you. "O-Okay," you snickered before sobering up. "Wait here for me boy, we'll be back." Neo nudged you, as you adjusted your coat, and heading towards the entrance. 

"This is a private event, no one gets in without a invitation." The guard crossed his arm before you showed him a flyer you grabbed from the man in the park. "The revelation is upon us my brother. Enjoy." He stepped aside and let you in. You walked towards Korra and Mako and gasped at the insane of amount of people gathered. 

"I knew a lot of people hated benders but I've never seen so many in one place." Mako mumbled. "Okay, Korra, you know what to do. Mako and I will go into the crowd and watch for Bolin. Stay safe." You all nodded, before splitting up.  "And now, please welcome your hero, your savior, Amon!" an announcer called out, as said figure rose up from below the stage. You felt tremors running down your back seeing the masked man again. 

'I'm not afraid of him. I'm prepared for him this time.'  "My quest for equality began many many years ago. When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich, and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the firebender who extorted my father. One day, my father confronted this man, but when he did, that firebender took my family from me, then he took my face." 

Amon turned towards the crowd in front of him. "I've been forced to hide behind a mask, ever since. As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City." Suddenly everyone began booing and jeering at the mention of Korra. "And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world, but she is wrong. The only thing bending has brought to the world is suffering." 

You clenched your fists at this accusation. "It has been the cause of every war in every era, but that is about to change.I know you've been wondering what this whole 'revelation?' You are about to get your answer." You and Mako looked at each other in concern, before turning back to the stage. "Since the beginning of time, the spirits have acted as guardians of our world, and they haven spoken to me." 'Pfft, what a load of bison crap.' You snickered to yourself. 

"They say the Avatar has failed humanity, that's why the spirits have chosen me to usher a new era of balance. They have granted me a power that will make equality a reality--The power to take away a person's bending away.....permanently." You couldn't help but gasp along with the crowd. "T-That's imp-possible. T-This guy is insane!" Mako raised an eyebrow at your stuttering, and wrapped an arm around your shoulders in comfort, like he does with Bolin. 

"Now for a demonstration. Please welcome, "Lightning Bolt" Zolt leader of the Triple Triad, and one of the most notorious criminals in Republic City." You watch as said criminal scowled at the crowd. The normals began booing him which resulted him saying back, "Ah, boo yourself!" You laugh at his sarcastic attitude. You watched as other members of the Triple Triad and Bolin be forced to kneel. "There's Bolin." You muttered to Mako. "What's taking Korra so long?" Mako muttered. 

"Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing non-benders but his reign of terror is about to come to an end. However, in the interest of fairness, I will give Zolt the chance to fight to keep his bending." The two backed up to give each other space, for a proper battle. "You're going to regret doing that, pal." Zolt smirked before they began fighting back and forth with Zolt getting more and more frustrated and finally began shooting lighting at Amon who moved quickly. 

Amon grabbed Zolt by the back of his neck, and began doing something to him, you started shivering under Mako's arm. The lightning died down, and a burst of flame came from Zolt's hand, before he collapsed. ' W-what  was that?' you thought as Zolt staggered to his feet. "What did you do to me?" he demanded. "Your firebending is gone...forever." Amon turned to the crowd and said strongly: "The era of bending is over. A new era of equality has begun." He raised his fist as the crowd around you begun shifting uncomfortably. "Not yet, (Y/N). We need to wait for Korra." Mako whispered, grabbing your hand stopping you from exposing yourselves. "B-But I can't just sit here and watch these other benders lose--" "I know, but unfortunately we have no choice,"  he hissed, mentally cursing your need to help others at this moment. 

It was at that moment that steam entered the room, causing people to freak out. "Let's go." whispered Mako before you took to the stage, making icicles pop up entrapping Amon and his guards in place. Mako grabbed Bolin while Amon called to you, "You can try and resist all you want (Y/N) but I assure you, you will see things my way." You didn't reply but bended the steam to hide your escape. 

You all run into the alleyway, discarding your clothes. But then heard Neo howling in pain and growling aggravation at the Equalists trying to tame him. You were torn between helping your friends, and helping your animal buddy. Then an Equalist slashed Neo with a knife and that was when you made your decision. You used nearby water to push yourself into the air and used the momentum to kick the enemies away and encased them into ice before sending them into the empty building nearby, effectively knocking him out. You exhaled sharply before turning to Neo's whimpering form, and your friends approaching you, from atop of Naga. You pulled water from you emergency pouch and began moving it across the wound. 

Neo whinned in annoyance and you hummed in acknowledgement. "Sorry boy, I'm almost done. Are you guys okay?" You asked, not allowing yourself to stop healing. "Yes, we're fine. These two are a little fried but otherwise we're good." Neo licked you and stood up, stretching his leg carefully. Naga nudged him with snout before the two were ready to go. "Bo, you can ride with me." You offered a hand to the weary Earthbender. "Thanks for finding me (Y/N)." he mumbled sleepily, as you all escaped. 

*Timeskip*

You walked wearily behind Korra, shaken from what you witnessed. "Thank goodness, I was just about to send out a search party. Are you two all right?" He placed a hand on both of your shoulders. "Mm-mm." "N-No Uncle." You looked over the ledge before jumping down, using the water to soften your fall, and running off to your mother's tree, exhaling heavily. You didn't blink when you felt the air move behind you. 

"Uncle, when Amon took away the other's bendings, I felt their pain, surprise, and their sorrow, like nothing I've felt before." You turned around and sunk to your knees, feeling small. He sat next to you, draping his cloak over you. "That is because you are an empath, like your mother. She was connected with the spirits in a similar manner. Perhaps it's best if you talk to your gran-gran about this, try and get your mind back in the right place." You peek at him from under your bangs as Nevermore landed near you, and tilted her head curiously.

"Yeah, maybe."

[flameo-hotman]

Zuko snapped his fingers like a zippo lighter and holds it for sokka while he blazes

Blaze It Hotman

It was Sokka’s idea for Zuko to try pot. The Water Tribe Warrior Zuko seemed more stressed than usual and needed to chill out for once in his unbelievably stressed-out existence. So here they were, sitting in the royal gardens with Sokka rolling the plant inside of a piece of brown paper, while his guards Kenzo and Lee stood watch.

His great grandfather Sozin had tried and failed to eradicate the plant from the Fire Nation. One of his less noted failures.

Sokka held the joint up with a smile and said one of the most baffling things that Zuko had ever heard come out of a mouth that wasn’t Aang or his uncle, “Blaze it!”

“What?” If Sokka hadn’t been the one to say it, Zuko would have been sure that Aang was once again making up more prewar Fire Nation speak. Flameo and hotman were most assuredly not things anyone other than the air bender had ever said. He refused to ask his uncle if he was correct in his assumptions.

“Something I picked up from Aang” Zuko was right. “Use your jerk bending to light the joint.”

“Oh.” And Zuko complied, snapping his right thumb and middle finger together to create a single small flame. Sokka proceeded to happily light the joint with before bringing it to his lips and taking a drag off of it, with a happy sigh. The scent reminded Zuko of Jet, which brought up some mixed and mostly negative emotions. He felt like it was his fault the guy had possibly died. 

When the joint was handed to Zuko, he took in a lungful of the stuff and promptly suffered a small coughing fit. His boyfriend proceeded to laugh his ass off at this.

“I thought you said this was relaxing?” He coughed out. “This doesn’t feel very relaxing.”

“You’ve really never gotten high before? Have you?” Sokka laughed as he wiped tears of joy from his eyes. Zuko glared, despite finding the sight endearing.

Sokka was still giggling to himself when he took the joint back and said, “Okay, new plan. When I breathe out my next hit, you breathe it in. Got it?” Zuko gave a single silent nod before Sokka took another drag off of the joint and pulled Zuko into his lap suddenly. The fire bender hadn’t been expecting. The hand that rested itself on his hip calmed him, however. And when Sokka let out a cloud of the smoke, Zuko breathed it in slowly.

He didn’t feel any different, but Sokka did seem somewhat more loose and relaxed. So he took a few more hits this way until finally, he felt something happen. It didn’t happen all at once, but when Sokka let him take a few more hits from the joint itself, this time Zuko didn’t cough quite as much, he felt himself beginning to relax as his worries faded away from his mind.

“My dad would be angry if he knew I was doing this,” Zuko said plainly.

“Yeah, and the guy would be angry about you doing a ton of other perfectly normal things. Trash Lord Ozai is not really the best judge of right and wrong.” Sokka pointed out with a smile.

“I never said he was,” Zuko said with a smirk. “Only that knowing would upset him.”

“Well, he is your dad and has a right to know if you’re smoking pot.” Sokka agreed in an exaggerated voice of the utmost seriousness. “But let’s enjoy this first.”

Sokka’s petting of his silk-clad hip felt nice, as did the rest of the silk that covered him. Everything felt soft and wonderful, as he began to slip into a dreamlike haze. Sokka made no move to take the blunt back from Zuko, as he threaded his free hand into Zuko’s hair and verbally marveled at its softness.

“I mean seriously.” The Water Tribe Warrior groaned. “Have you ever felt your hair? I need to know what hair products the royal hair washers use on it because it feels amazing.”

“I mean it’s my hair, Sokka. Of course, I’ve felt it.” Zuko rolled his eyes. “And uh… I think its coconut? I’m not sure. I just had a hair treatment yesterday, so maybe if you asked Shi Lin, she might be able to-” 

But whatever he was about to say was lost forever, when he full-on moaned at the tug Sokka gave his hair.

He hadn’t thought something like that could feel good, let alone as amazing as it had.

Sokka let go of his hair to take away the joint, eyes going wide, and grinding it into the ground.

“Spirits…”, Sokka swallowed before growling, “Zuko, honey, I want to try something, but I need to know if you want me to…”

“Yes, Sokka. Anything you want.” Zuko was pretty sure he knew what his boyfriend had in mind, and while normally he wouldn’t be open to doing that kind of thing somewhere so public, he was the Fire Lord and these were his royal gardens.

Zuko undid the sash of his robes, but Sokka took it from him and shook his head.

“Your clothes are staying on Fire Lord.” But the twinkle of desire was still in his eyes as he ordered, “Put your hands behind you back, darling.” And Zuko did.

Sokka had Zuko twist around to give him a clear view of his wrist so he could tie them together behind his back with the sash before he ran his hands down Zuko’s sides dragging the silk of his robes against them, and Zuko shuddered at the feeling. He was beginning to understand what was happening.

“You make the most beautiful sounds, Zuko.” Sokka rasped, his mouth suddenly sounding dry to Zuko. “I want to hear every single one of those gorgeous sounds.”

Lee and Kenzo, his guards, shifted awkwardly where they were keeping watch. Zuko had forgotten them, until now. Suddenly he thought about everything the guards that stood watch outside his bedroom must hear at night and he flushed. He had never even thought about that until right now. What did they think of their Fire Lord’s bedroom activities?

But those thoughts were cut short when Sokka gave his hair another tug.

The sound that he made was filthy, and he could see the way that the two guards tensed at it.

“Don’t look at them,” Sokka snarled. “I want you to look at me. They can look at you and listen to you, but only I get to touch you. Am I understood?”

“Agni, yes, Sokka, yes.” Zuko loved it when Sokka was possessive.

“Good.” And then Sokka bit him. It wasn’t hard enough to break the skin, but it was hard enough that Zuko shouted and bucked his hips. It hurt but just like when Sokka pulled his hair, it felt good. Later Zuko might be horrified by how much he enjoyed it, but right now he was shamelessly begging for more.

A thumb rubbed the silk of his robes against a nipple and he pressed himself into the touch, gasping at the feeling.

“That’s a good Fire Lord.” Sokka praised. “Keep making those pretty little sounds, beautiful.”

Zuko’s wrists strained against their silk bindings, as he rutted against Sokka’s lap. It was rapidly becoming too much, and Sokka had only just started. Zuko was going to demand that they do this again.

Sokka rolled his hips against Zuko’s own finally, as he licked a stripe up the fire benders throat. 

The hot breath against the rapidly cooling damp was what set Zuko off.

He came crying out Sokka’s name.

Sokka didn’t stop, however, now chasing his own completion. He jerked his hips against Zuko mashing his lips against Zuko’s own. Once more, twice more, and finally on the third jerk, he followed the fire bender into completion.

They were both gasping for breath, as they slowly came down from not one but two highs.

“I don’t think we should tell your dad about this part.”

Zuko wanted to smack his boyfriend, groaning, “Way to ruin the moment.”

“So… You want to do this again?”

“Yeah, I do, you idiot.”

“I love you to, Babe.”

“Love you to, Sokka.”, Zuko sighed back. “Now could you please untie my arms?”

Sokka laughed, as he maneuvered Zuko off of his lap and obeyed.

Zuko rewarded Sokka with a kiss.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22462120/chapters/54193087

[miss-nerd-alert]

Why Does Zuko’s Character Arc Work So Well?

I’ve recently been getting my Dad to watch Avatar: the Last Airbender with me, and I’ve really been focusing on Zuko this time around. The quality of Avatar’s writing is legendary by now, but so many characters in other works are getting redemption arcs-successfully done or otherwise-and I think I’ve finally gotten a solid answer as to why they all pale in comparison to Zuko’s: they laid the foundations for his path from antagonist to hero right from the start, and they built on those foundations throughout the series. Just focusing on Season 1 here, Season 2 will probably get it’s own post.

Right off the bat, Zuko is clearly established as an antagonist; we’ve just gotten past Katara’s opening exposition, and Zuko is very clearly Fire Nation. As the audience has just been told, Fire Nation = Bad Guys. Zuko is Fire Nation, therefore Zuko = Bad Guy. However, also from the get go, it’s established that Zuko’s motives are entirely personal. “Their honor didn’t hinge on the Avatar’s capture; mine does.”

This immediately tells the audience that Zuko personally will suffer consequences if he fails. We don’t know what those consequences are, and Zuko’s backstory hasn’t been established yet, but it’s made clear that something happened to this character to make him hunt the Avatar so zealously, and something worse will happen if he fails. Continuing in Episode 2, the audience is told that Zuko is in fact still a minor.

Zuko has just mentioned that he’s spent years training for this moment, which informs the audience that Zuko has likely had his views on the Avatar drilled into him by others, rather than coming to such a conclusion on his own. Aang’s response builds on that by informing us that Zuko may be older than the trio, but he is still just as much a child as Aang, Katara, and Sokka. This small exchange tells viewers that Zuko has been trained to hate and fight since he was a small child, and that his views have been shaped by those with power over him.

Episode 3 is when the audience is convinced to root for Zuko, at least in his own storyline. We get to see how he interacts with others in the Fire Nation, and how unwelcome he is among his own people. Sure he’s banished, but Zuko and Iroh are still members of the Royal Family, that should earn them some kind of respect, right? Wrong.

From the moment he’s introduced, Zhao is set up as both the season’s main villain and a rival for Zuko. He goes behind Zuko’s back to get information (which Zuko’s own men willingly give, which denotes their lack of respect for him), and as soon as he learns about Aang, Zhao decides to capture him himself. Immediately, many viewers come to the decision that if anyone is going to capture Aang, they DON’T want it to be this guy. The audience is HAPPY for Zuko when he beats Zhao in their agni kai, and pleased when Iroh chides Zhao for lashing out after he loses.

From then on, Zuko becomes a secondary antagonist. Sure, he still causes trouble for the Gaang more often, but Zhao is clearly painted as the bigger threat. Zuko continues to win people over in Episode 7, when he puts tracking Aang on hold to find and rescue his uncle Iroh, who has up to this point been the only person from the Fire Nation that seems nice. Their interactions this episode show that Zuko does reciprocate Iroh’s genuine affection for him (which on its own makes the audience think “the nice old man like this kid, so there must be something good about him”).

Episode 8 ramps up the rivalry between Zuko and Zhao again, with Zhao deciding to capture Zuko, his own countryman, as well as Aang. We also learn that Zuko isn’t even allowed in Fire Nation waters, which reminds the audience that this is a young man who isn’t allowed to go home.

It isn’t until Episode 12 that we get Zuko’s backstory, but it retroactively explains his behavior up to this point. A 13 year old boy-shown to actually care about the wellbeing of his country and its people-is brutalized and exiled by his own father (who we earlier learned was the series main villain) for speaking out against a plan to pointlessly sacrifice their own men.

Furthermore, the only person who seems distressed by this is Iroh, while everyone else seems to relish the sight of a child being abused by their parent. Immediately, we can deduce that Zuko was raised in a highly toxic environment, with only his uncle as an example of a positive role model. We also get a glimpse of not only the kind of person Zuko used to be, but who he could be again, as the episode ends with him unlearning some of what Ozai’s abuse taught him as he saves a crewman from death and lets Aang go for the sake of protecting his men.

Episode 13 introduces the Blue Spirit, and shows that not only will Zuko go against his own countrymen to get to Aang first, but also how good of a team they would actually make if they fought together. Zuko is shown to be a bigger threat to Aang’s enemies than to Aang himself, because if the Avatar dies, they’ll just be reincarnated and he’d have to start his search all over again.

This episode is also the first time the writers blatantly signal that Zuko could become a good guy. When Aang offers his friendship, it means he’s actually thinking about befriending an enemy; that he hasn’t bought into the ‘Fire Nation bad’ idea that nearly everyone else in the world has, that Zuko could actually become a hero. And even though Zuko rejects it for now, that idea has already taken root in the minds of viewers.

By Episode 16, Iroh and Jeong Jeong are the only real “good guy” firebenders we see; Zuko’s edging towards it, but he’s not there yet. As a character, Jeong Jeong actually serves a lot of purposes. He’s a foil for his former student Zhao, he and Iroh are the only firebenders we’ve seen who have become disillusioned by the war, and he also reminds viewers that Aang will have to learn how to firebend. His very existence points out that Aang will have to find a firebender who will agree to help him take down the Fire Lord.

Jeong Jeong also serves as a glimpse into Zuko’s future (even if the audience doesn’t realize that yet) as both a Fire Nation citizen who knows their war is wrong, and as Aang’s firebending teacher. Some people watching for the first time might realize this, but many didn’t.

When Zhao hires the pirates to kill Zuko later, we actually worry about him, and are glad to see him alive on Zhao’s ship. When Iroh worries over Zuko going off alone to sneak into the Water Tribe, we’re delighted to see that at least one person actually cares about Zuko and his wellbeing.

We continue to develop sympathy for him during the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe, when Zuko talks to an unconscious Aang about his father’s abusive treatment and blatant favoritism for Zuko’s sister. When the Ocean Spirit grabs Zhao to punish him for killing the Moon Spirit, Zuko actually pulls a hero move by attempting to save his rival, who had long since passed from Total Dick to Irredeemable Asshole.

By the end of Season 1, Zuko and Iroh are on their own, with few supplies, no real plan besides ‘leave enemy territory’, and with an unknown threat about to be unleashed on them, as viewers watch Ozai call Iroh a traitor and Zuko a failure to the newly established villain of Season 2: Zuko’s sister Azula. All of this clues the audience in to the reality that while Zuko was undoubtedly a villain for this season, that may well change in the next one.

[batknightofshadows]

Okay you guys, so I’m awful at making questions, really. 

So I was tagged to that 11 questions meme two times, so what I’m gonna do is answer to the questions asked to me but I won’t make any of my own and tag other people since I literally cannot come up with something I consider “good”.

Onto @meiyanaalexia ‘s questions! (Thank you so much for the tag and I’m sorry again that I literally cannot come up with anything.)

1 – Do you cry easily?

-Well, I cry quite allot. The thing is, I don’t let other people see it. Anything that is slightly emotional can get me in tears though, so, yeah.

2 – Are you easily influenced by other people?

-Not really. I like to gather my facts myself and then I decide whatever I want to do. In fact, when people press me to do something I tend to want to do the opposite just to go against them. xD I’m a rebel at heart.

3 – What did you do of you summer?

-What did I do this summer? The usual stuff. I cussed at how hot it is. I cussed at the fucking mosquitos. I don’t do anything useful with my life, I just seat here... xD I did nothing!

4 – What’s your favorite weather?

-Cold and rainy! It’s so relaxing and inspiring. 

5 – What’s your favorite instrument?

Probably the piano. 

6 – Who’s your closest in real life (or internet) friend?

-I don’t have any close friends. I’m an hermit. I swear... xD

7 – What does it takes to make you angry?

-Not much. I’ve got a quick temper, and whenever I see/hear something annoying I lose my shit. I don’t get too agressive though, I just get grumpy. 

8 – Have any song you hate?

-SO MANY. Some because of the way they sound but others because of the awful message. I can’t remember of any right now though.

9 – What’s your favorite pun?

-I do like puns, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t really have a favourite? I guess I just don’t make a great deal out of them.

10 – Are you an artistic person?

-I did study arts so I think so. xD I’m also a writter and I do consider myself to be at least a bit creative so, yeah. I am also those kind of people that just stare at a view, a sunset or a night sky filled with stars and just contemplate, you know? Our existance, the meaning of everything, etc... I basically think allot about the damned existential crisis. xD Is that artistic or just emo? I cannot tell.

11 – Favorite OST of all time? (or an OST that you can’t stop listening to currently)

-OST is like a soundtrack right? Of movies and tv shows?

Correct me if I’m wrong but I’ve got a few:

Light of the seven - Game of thrones;

House Stark Theme (Or “The North Remembers”) - Game of thrones;

Forbidden Friendship - How to Train Your Dragon;

The Last Agni Kai - Avatar The Last Airbender;

Agni Kai - Avatar The Last Airbender;

Now onto @mikulek04 ‘s questions! (Thanks for the tag as well!)

 1.       do you have any pets? show. me. the. pics. (◕◡◕✿) 

- I do. I have a dog, a black lab, and I’ve already showed you a pic. xD

2.       what is your favourite, most frequently used emoji/emoticon?

- Does “xD” count? As you can see I use it ALLOT. I don’t like those yellow emojis though, I find them annoying as hell.

3.       what food you could never be bored of?

- Hum. Hum... I do get bored of things often. If I keep eating it on a daily basis or something I will for sure get bored of it. However, my mom’s roasts are pretty good, I have one every Sunday.

4.       what’s your fav type of music? convince me with one song how cool it is.

- Ehh. I like almost everything. xD Here’s one of the style of music I’ve been listening to currently: Starset - Monster. (I’d say Let It Die but you’ve already looked it up due to the other question meme.)

5.       do you like tag games? would you like to be tagged in the future?

- YAS BUT I’M AWFUL AT COMING UP WITH QUESTION OF MY OWN I’M SO SORRY.

6.       how many plushies do you have? is any of them really special to you?

- I have some from my childhood but they’re not really that important to me? I guess my favourite is one that my godfather (and uncle, he’s also my uncle) gave me when I was a child. It’s a husky. Reminds me of my old dog, who meant quite allot to me. 

7.       at what subject you were the best in school?

- Arts and Science.

8.       what do you treasure?

- Kindness, good morals. It’s what I treasure. It’s the most valuable thing in the world: Good people with good morals and beliefs. We lack of that, sadly.

9.       if you could arrange your room however you want, how would it look like? in other words, what is your dream room?

- WELL. *cracks my hands*. I love modern styled rooms. I also love the city, so it would have to be in an apartment. I’d like to have nice big window panels, that go from the ceiling to the floor. Then A bed, a morden one, maybe a regular wooden headboard? And black bed covers. A black rug on the side. White walls, wood floor, some plants to give some life to it. Basically an atmospheric place so I can brood. xD

10.   what is your biggest dream?

- Oh man, I don’t have much dreams. They’ve all been crushed by the sad, cruel reality. xD  I do have a huge one but I’d rather not talk about it here since it’s kinda private?

11.   what could you talk about all day?

V O L T R O N. Also about K/ance. (I don’t want this post to be on the ship’s tag though, that’s why I used the / xD) Someone save me from this show and this damned amazing ship that is my current biggest OTP of all time. I suffer because of it every day. xD

Thanks again! And also sorry!

[mab-hatter]

Little Soldier Boy - Part 1

I have been writing this for AGES, (both due to procrastination, and just general life being a pain in the butt and getting in the way), but I've finally finished it and can share it with you guys. 

This is a meta that in its simplest form is comparing the two fictional worlds of Star Wars, specifically the Sequel Trilogy and Avatar The Last Airbender. And Yes, there is a reason it is first and foremost tagged as 'reylo'. So, obviously, there are going to be MAJOR spoilers for the entirety of Avatar The Last Airbender (Atla), as well as a few spoilers for its sequel The Legend of Korra (LoK), and I recommend you go watch both if you haven't already, especially the former. There are also obvious spoilers for Star Wars episode VII - The Force Awakens, (though I don't know why you'd be on this tag if you haven't watched it) as well as some potential spoilers for Star Wars episode VIII - The Last Jedi, and even some Clone Wars call backs. Anyways this is going to be extremely long, so you have been pre-warned. Also have fun.

There is no way I could completely sum up Avatar the Last Airbender or Atla in just a short overview. It's got too many variables and complexities for that. It would truly be a dishonour to try without showing you the actual show or telling you to go watch it yourselves. Simply put, Atla is a hero and heroines story wrapped up with redemption arcs and great villains. The main hero is a boy called Aang who was trapped in a ball of ice for 100 years and in those 100 years a war was going on, and still is when the story starts. It's set in a fantasy world with four nations representing the four elements (Air, Water, Earth and Fire). In this Universe there are people called Benders who can control their respective element, bending being that universes form of "magic" (it has a lot to do with the Asian concepts of balance, chi/ki and flow of energy - bending styles being inspired by different martial art forms and variants of tai-chi). The Avatar (Aang) is meant to represent balance by controlling all four elements. The story is about Aang and his friends going on a journey, set in a time of war with the Fire Nation (against the Fire Lord - whose voiced by Mark Hamill) who are trying to conquer "the world" - Its most definitely a morality tale, and in many ways a Fairy Tale too, and has essential themes about growing up, forgiveness, hope, love, following ones destiny and most importantly finding balance in a world tipped towards chaos and destruction. (I SERIOUSLY recommend you  go watch it, no NOT the horrible movie...ugh I wouldn't put you guys through that on purpose, no I'm talking about the miracle Nickelodeon Cartoon series If you haven't seen it already).

Now what does this have to do with Star Wars, Kylo Ren, redemption and reylo? Well when I first went into the movie theatre and watched The Force Awakens I was also taken aback at the serious hints towards Kylo Ren (the marketed villain) getting a redemption arc. I know there are so many wonderful and intelligently beautiful meta pieces about the in-movie and literary reasons etc for Kylo to be redeemed. Though for me initially, from the very start of the movie when Kylo spared Finn, to his behaviours and seemingly complex history, right to the jaw dropping 'holy shit' moment I had when he took off that helmet (I literally said in cinema - "whoa, was not expecting that" to the raised eyebrow of my Dad (an eternal star wars fan since 1977)) and just how the story ran his character - it reminded me quite nostalgically and strongly of one of my favourite fictional characters. This character, in my opinion, has one of THE BEST redemption arcs in all of fiction and I don't say that lightly, I've read quite a few (there might be better, but this one is certainly my favourite). I introduce you to Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation...

and I'll explain why me comparing Kylo to Zuko was the initial reason I thought Kylo was going to get a seriously awesome redemption arc.

Redemption.

First off, I'm going to compare their characters, backgrounds and personalities as well as their character relationships; going off of their character-portraits in their respective first acts. Whilst also taking some developed-traits and differences that Zuko displays later in the series that also link to Kylo. This is NOT me saying that Kylo is Zuko 2.0 or something like that, they're their own characters and I wouldn't have it any other way, this is me saying why the ways in which Zuko and in general Atla paralleling TFA and SW have lead me to believe that there are going to be some truly amazing things coming out of this trilogy of movies (that hasn't already been noted from TFA).

Zuko and Kylo are BOTH born of royalty, they're both Princes.

Zuko is the son of the Fire Lord, a prince of the Fire Nation and connected to the royal family through powerful bloodlines (Sozin's bloodline from his father Ozai, - Sozin being the Fire Lord one who originally started the 100 year war, and Roku through his mother Ursa - Roku being the previous Avatar).

Then there's Kylo, and although Han may have been a scoundrel and an orphan whose bloodline had no significance and wasn't force sensitive at all, his mother Leia is force sensitive, a Skywalker... so powerful blood from Anakin, as well as Leia being a Princess of (a destroyed) Alderaan. Furthermore Kylo being the Grandson of Padme Amidala a Queen of Naboo, as well as J.J's commentary of Star Wars being a Fairy Tale and him saying 'this' about Kylo, which also tie the hypothetical 'princely' bow nicely on the Skywalker present...

"But when his mask comes off, you see Adam Driver, and he just looks like a sort of prince. And it makes no sense. Why would he need to wear a mask?" - J.J Abrams (TFA commentary)

They both hail from families who have a history of good and evil, light and dark. Through them, Zuko and Kylo were both born into luxury and comfort due to their blood and high standing in their in-universe societies. Zuko and Kylo were also both born into dysfunctional families, Kylo actually more than Zuko in some respects and Zuko more than Kylo in others.    

When Zuko was born, his father despised him and thought him a 'blight/shame', because he didn't think he was a Firebender (even though he was) and even threatened to kill him by throwing him over the walls of the palace (what the fackity fuck Ozai?). Which is a direct contrast to Han who was weary of Ben/Kylo BECAUSE he was so force sensitive and Han wasn't and didn't feel he could connect with Ben due to this (as indicated in one of the Aftermath books I believe). Though don't worry I'm not saying Han's like the Fire Lord - god no. I love Han, it's just a bit ironic - a reversed mirror. Anyway, when Zuko was very young the only person who truly LOVED Zuko (apart from his Uncle) was his mother Ursa, who disappeared for "reasons" (it's in the series, though let's just say it was Ozai's fault), leaving Zuko alone with his powerful and cruel father and his evilly manipulative and snake like sister Azula. This turned Zuko, a youthfully innocent and kind boy, to become emotionally broken and incredibly angry due to the mental and physical abuse he received at the hands of his family. (Ozai and Azula were both hugely cruel dickheads to Zuko when he was young, leaving him mocked and alienated without his mother). Zuko is a very passionate and emotional character, and at 13 years old in a meeting he spoke out against his father  and a fire nation General. They were talking about strategically sacrificing innocent lives as a diversion in an attack against one of the nations. Zuko was called to have a fire bending duel (Agni Kai), to fight for his honour at having outspoken against his father's Generals and also having an opposing opinion of compassion compared to cold calculation, but instead of the General it was his father Ozai who came to fight him... and when Zuko refused, his father called him a coward, BURNED HALF HIS FACE and then proceeded to banish him. Yes, ZUKO has a burn scar on one side of his face... A scar (now I'm going to get to that later). You could also parallel that to Kylo seemingly not wanting to become a Jedi, if you take into account that Leia had to 'SEND' him away instead of him wanting to go - and how in the end, this led to Ben going down a dark path to become Kylo Ren and left him potentially feeling more abandoned than ever.

Although Kylo having those 'special powers' and being a force sensitive prodigy in a sense is actually more akin to Azula who was a fire bending prodigy, whereas Zuko had to work to become good at the in-verse "magic", and due to his lack of natural talent in bending, he actually became a master swordsmen at a young age and could be considered a prodigy of the sword (whereas I believe because Kylo focused so much on using his power in the force, his skills with a Lightsaber suffered a bit - as he uses only Form 1, the most basic Lightsaber fighting form - even though he is a good fighter, though I believe his 'lack' of training has a lot to do with that too).

I think that says more about the difference in the in-verse magic though. I've always thought that the difference between Benders is a person is simply born as a bender or a non-bender, and if you are a bender you could be more naturally akin to learning something and picking it up with practise than say another bender, even though technically they could become just as powerful as each other. Whereas in the Force there are people who are just born with more power when it comes to the manipulation of the force and mastery of its many nuances. That on some level everyone is force-sensitive, but depending on who you are that sensitivity varies, whether that's due to their bloodline or the will of the Force itself.

Now not much is known about specific events or what Ben/Kylo was like as a child (yet), but from this quote given by Adam Driver you can deduce quite a lot.

“If you really imagine the stakes of him, in his youth, having all these special powers and having your parents kind of be absent during that process on their own agendas, [being] equally as selfish,” said the Girls star. “He’s lost in the world that he was raised in, and feels that he was kind of abandoned by the people that he’s closest with. He’s angry because of that, I think, and he has a huge grudge on his shoulders.”  

Which says a lot. Both Zuko and Kylo felt 'abandoned' by their respective families, they both felt 'pressure' to be the best because of the bloodlines they were born from and the responsibilities they were born into. Therefore, because of this in Act 1 for both they share this arrogance and feeling of superiority over others (Kylo playing cat and mouse with Finn, mocking Hux, "You know I can take whatever I want" etc/Zuko calling people a peasant, pronouncing his need to reclaim his honour above all else and being just a general bully to those he deemed beneath him).

I believe they both have a grudge on their shoulders for both their families, for the same reasons. Their feelings of abandonment - making them feel lost, alone and unloved. At the start of their stories (and for a lot of Zuko's character arc) they are both angry, EXTREMELY SO.  Angry at the unjustness and unfairness of the world they've been born into, angry at the people they're supposed to be closest too for making them feel so alone and unwanted, and angry at themselves. I think that's something a lot of people misunderstood initially about Zuko, and some still do not understand about Kylo. They may lash out verbally and physically at the people and world around them, but really (though there are exceptions) they're not usually angry at what's around them or the people they meet, they're angry and frustrated at themselves. I saw that in Kylo, because I saw the exact same thing in Zuko.

They both actually use this anger to fuel their own power. Kylo uses his rage to fuel his power over the dark-side, and Zuko uses his anger and fury to make his bending more powerful and to produce fire more potent and additionally dangerous.

Both are desperate to belong somewhere, after feeling so lost for so long; making them extremely impatient and short tempered. Kylo wants to find that in the darkness, where he believes his Grandfather found belonging and a purpose, found strength. 'Supreme Leader is wise' he said, though I think he's trying to convince himself more than anything; a mantra that comes out of his lips that aren't actually his words, but someone else's falsities and fabrications, a fraying rope he's desperately clinging to even though his feet are literally inches away from the truth. He thought that being with Snoke and the First Order was the best place to be, that Snoke offered him a place at his side when everyone else left him behind...even Luke most likely (waiting for TLJ to give more details on their past and relationship, though I have a feeling what happened may have been Luke creating his own self-fulfilling prophecy). In the Aftermath books and Bloodline there are hints that Snoke has been targeting, grooming and manipulating Ben to come and be his puppet  before he was even born; which is extremely unsettling.

Excerpt 1: Luke. She reaches for him but doesn’t find him. The dark, now lit with stars. One by one, like eyes opening. Comforting at first, then sinister as she worries. Who is out there, who is watching us? Hands reach for her, hands of shadow, lifting her up, reaching for her throat, her wrists, her stomach - Inside, the child kicks. She feels her baby turning inside, right-side, up and down, struggling to find his bearings, trying so hard to find his way free of her. It’s not time, she thinks. Just a little longer. Leia.

Luke, she wants to cry out. But her words don’t come. Her mouth is sealed, a hand pressed over it. One by one, stars go dark again, winking out of existence as if by a hand slowly closing over them -

Leia! She gasps and wakes. Han. It’s just Han. He’s by her side of the bed, rousing her, gently shaking her shoulder. The dream recedes like a wave going back to sea. Hi, she says, her mouth tacky, her eyes full of sleep. Her middle twists too - it’s not the baby. It’s some unseen fear uncoiling. The remnants of the dream haunt her - but they break apart like a sand castle as she sits up and clears her head, doing as Luke taught her to do. Breathe in breathe out. Be mindful of the world, the galaxy, your place within it. Everything will be OK. The Force will be your guide. Excerpt 2: He is less a human shaped thing and more a pulsing, living band of light. Light that sometimes dims, that sometimes is thrust with a vein of darkness. She tells herself that it’s normal - Luke said to her, Leia, we all have that. He explained that the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. Right now, her son is upset, tumbling inside her as if he can’t get comfortable. His light, flickering with dark. She centres herself and concentrates. The walls of the room fall away. Everything is white and then it’s black. Then she’s in the calm, airless void. As Leia finds her peace, so does her son. He stops turning… Then he gets the hiccups. Hic.Hic.Hic. She sighs and it brings her out of it. But she laughs, too. Because the hiccups tickle her. They are like bubbles inside - a curious effervescence like nothing Leia ever felt before. My son is alive. The future is bright. … The baby turns inside her again, troubled by something she cannot feel and cannot yet understand.

Star Wars and Atla both have their "Big Bads"...

Obviously we don't have all three sequel movies yet, so I'm only going off of information said/shown and given in TFA and the canon TFA books about Snoke. To me the surface level of Snoke is him being, at least aesthetically, an Emperor 2.0 for the general audience. He's the giant hologram, the deformed baddie sitting above everyone on his 'throne' of command. It's to get them to think and recognise 'oh this guy's the Big Bad that's got to be defeated like the Emperor or the Fire Lord', and I think it was intentionally done to have this ancient evil giant hologram 'supreme leader' so the audience can essentially feel like it's Star Wars - to get them familiar with the franchise again. Although if you look a bit deeper, it's actually pretty weird... Why would they reveal the big bad in the first act? Both the Fire Lord and the Emperor were only physically introduced (not through hologram) to the audience in the third Act, like their character hype was seriously built up for the audience before the big reveal. With the Emperor having his giant Hologram moment during the 2nd Act/movie, and only once. Snoke is revealed in his 'giant hologram form' multiple times throughout the FIRST ACT of the story (no shadowy cloak or cleverly using camera angles to partially hide him - only lighting choices, and even then beams of light are mostly illuminating him from the back), and from rumours that there's going to be a physical life-size puppet of Snoke in TLJ it seems we're going to physically meet his character in the 2nd Act. Also although just like Palpatine and Ozai, Snoke is similar to them in terms of his snake like manipulation, grooming somebody whose very powerful into becoming their own personal puppet and wish to conquer and dominate their respective world/galaxy - Snoke is quite different. His personality, as one dimensional as it is in TFA, is not the fun and powerfully evil emperor of the original or prequel trilogy, or the cruelly brutal and mocking presence of the Fire Lord. Snoke is presented as this almost omniscient, crookedly "wise" and creepy father figure, who uses no physical violence as of yet, only his words and his use of a 'dark power' and the influence they have over others - especially to Kylo and even Hux (obviously this could change, but I have a feeling they wouldn't destroy a foundation they've already started and will instead build on the characteristics I mentioned).

^Snoke's full speech taken from the audio book of TFA to Hux and Kylo and reveals a lot about his character, ideals and motives as well as The First Orders and even Kylo's own knowledge and denial towards his inner conflict (his compassion).

Also, unlike the Emperor or Vader, Snoke isn't actually a Sith - as said by J.J and Pablo there are no Sith in TFA as all the Sith are supposed to be dead (thanks Anakin), which leads me to believe Snoke may be something far more ancient and far worse than a Sith (because why would they introduce a big bad that's less scary/powerful than previous villains?). This could lead into the theories that he's from the unknown regions, but its yet to be seen what his history is, apart from 'ancient evil'... (I'm not going to go into the 'Who is Snoke, potentially, theories' because I don't want to give myself more of a headache about it than I already have).

"No it was Snoke, he seduced our son to the dark side", is an interesting quote from Leia in TFA. Snoke has been manipulating and seducing Ben against his will to become his puppet for longer than the Emperor ever did with Anakin, and he succeeded because like the Emperor, Snoke was clever and wickedly patient. He exploited Ben's vulnerabilities (like a true child groomer), and used them to control him even though Ben at that time might not have been fully and or consciously aware of it.

Also the implied personal connotation of Leia knowing who Snoke is, most likely as a fellow political power since in Bloodline she has a huge role to play in galactic politics as a populist, and this means that Snoke parallels the Emperor in that way as a true puppet-master who has immense wealth (especially going off the TLJ Lego leaks that Snoke has a golden dressing gown - which is extremely humorous). As well as the potential spoilers of Snoke living in luxury which would all fit to this idea, and would explain how The First Order can afford all of the high-tech and dangerous "toys" they get to mess the galaxy up with. The fact that Snoke's character was revealed so early on, and that he has such strong ties to Kylo and his reasons for becoming an antagonist, is actually also a huge hint to Kylo's redemption. The Emperor and the Fire Lord didn't need to be revealed early, because they were just the big goal for the protagonists to defeat at the end of the story to complete their arcs and receive that happy ending (the proverbial dragons in the Fairy Tale being killed by the hero/heroine before winning the Princess/prince and having that 'they all lived happily ever after'). They didn't need to be revealed early on, because in the OT you had Darth Vader who was a faithful villain till the last moment of the third act, and in Atla you had Azula and her cronies for the second act and most of the third to carry the Villain title as Zuko went into his redemption. The fact that Snoke needs to be there, shows in itself that Snoke doesn't trust Kylo not to turn back to the light (confirmed by the fact he was given a 'test' to prove himself and that Snoke didn't complete his training), that without his presence he would most likely rejoin the 'good guys' and not be a self-sustaining Villain like Darth Vader or Azula. He's like a controlling parent, he has to be, because Kylo (unlike Vader or Azula) doesn't have clear motivations to have him act independently as a villain without Snoke's supervision (I mean he has a tracker on his belt - Snoke has SO much confidence in Kylo it seems -_-); and the fact that it conflicts him to the point of wanting to be 'free of this pain' show it wouldn't take much to push him one way or the other. Kylo's motives are a bit of a mystery to us apart from feeling 'abandoned' and wanting to be 'strong' and not 'weak like his father' (though I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that), or he does have clear motives but they're motivations that conflict between bad and good and we could say they do have some conflict with Snoke's plan; aka that entire thing about Hux saying,

"Careful Ren, that your personal interests not interfere with orders from Leader Snoke."

Which was about the map, which has connections to Luke and the first Jedi Temple...so we can assume a lot of his motivations have something to do with one or both of those things and assumedly whatever happened/Kylo did/Kylo learned/Kylo saw/Kylo ??? at Luke's temple (TLJ give me answers please). In essence neither is he truly good or truly evil (<- "there are no Sith in TFA")... which in my book makes him a beautifully crafted character and an interesting antagonist (at the moment), so much drama, like an ionic lattice of compelling story writing compared to the simple covalent character structure of other villains I can think of. (<- If you understood any of that, congrats).    

Anyway -  I don't really like Snoke's character as a villain, yet, because I feel like I need more to work with...But going off of what was said in the TFA novelisation (link above) about him always being there, watching the empire rise and fall, pulling strings, I can definitely say I hate him for what he did to Ben - what Snoke did to Ben is actually worse than what the Fire Lord did to Zuko, because for all the abuse Zuko received, the Fire Lord never really gave Zuko a reason to love him. Apart from Zuko's own sense of loyalty to his family, that he feels in his own naive thinking that, that is where he belongs - because his own morals and honour are important to him. Snoke not only makes Kylo turn away from his own family and turns that loyalty against them, but he nurtures it, grooms Kylo into feeling that what they're doing is morally justified. The fact that Kylo felt abandoned and lost was what Snoke wanted, and snapped Kylo right up into his proverbial jaws at the first chance he got - and Kylo let him, because he probably thought that nobody else cared. He'd convinced himself through Snoke's own 'offer' and manipulation that somebody actually cares about him, when in reality "Snoke is using" him and sees him only as another piece of clay to be moulded in order to attain his goals. Now will this deluded concept that Kylo has remain? Well in TFA it's already cracking. Like I said before he's trying to re-convince himself that what he's doing is right. And Kylo may be reckless, but like Zuko he isn't stupid - he's just lost, he doesn't know what's right or wrong anymore and that makes him feel SO conflicted. "I'm being torn apart...It's too late", he knows, god he knows, but just like Zuko in his reckless misguided naivety he thinks that by passing a test and achieving a goal all that conflict will go away - that he'll finally feel like he belongs.

The fact that Kylo actually shows such heavy signs of conflict in his first Act was astonishing to me, like he verbally pronounces it. For Zuko, who has a REDEMPTION ARC, there are practically no verbal queues to the audience from Zuko for a season and a half that heavily imply his redemption/inner-conflict. It's actually other characters like Iroh that say things such as,

"Your critical decision, what you did beneath that lake, it was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body", - Iroh to Zuko after commits his first redemptive act towards the mid-point of the second season.

What I'm trying to say is that Zuko was actually less conflicted than Kylo at the start of their respective stories, which is amazing and really shines a light on the fact that the pacing for Kylo's redemption will be a lot faster/pushed forward more (which hopefully gives us more screen time of Kylo on the side of the 'good guys'/'neutral' depending on how they go about it- I can't wait for all the incoming snark, it'll be glorious).

We all know that the sequel trilogy (like the original and prequel) will be compromised of three movies/3 acts you might say. Atla is also compromised of three seasons (Three books) or 3 Acts and each act was crucial in Zuko's redemption, just as I'm sure the three act structure will be crucial to Kylo's. Let's get one thing straight, Zuko in the first season of Atla was a VILLAIN. He had goals that were conflicting with the Protagonists and he was one of their main antagonists during that time. Zuko had plenty, although not as many as Kylo, hints towards his redemption; but I'll get to that later. Obviously Star Wars will have to speed up Kylo's redemption a little more than Zuko's in Atla, that's just a given fact. A TV series of 20, 20 and 21 episodes with about a 20-25 minute run time per episode - in comparison to three movies with about a 2 hour run time each - can take it's time a bit and be a little more subtle. I'm not saying that Kylo's redemption can't be subtle, compelling and amazing; cause I have no doubt it will be. I'm just saying that for Kylo in his first act his hints are far less subtle than Zuko's, meaning the pacing's going to be run its course in a shorter time-frame.  

In Atla Zuko's turning point or where he redeemed himself is actually in act 3, but I think due to having less time Kylo's turning point will (quite naturally in the context) happen in the second Act/The Last Jedi. (Ach-To = Act 2 <- lmao). Although Zuko was actually supposed to have his turning point at the end of the 2nd season, but for some reason instead of it being his redemption it was turned into his test/rejection of a redemptive act/choice. (I'm not sure why the creators of Atla, Bryke (Bryan (Bryan Konietzko) and Mike (Michael Dante DiMartino)) decided to change this, but I guess it gave the story a few more twists and choice-encounters so whatever). Kylo may also have a rejection/a betrayal that he commits within TLJ too, just to show that characters redeeming themselves isn't usually a straight path from start to finish - and that characters do make mistakes and sometimes have a relapse in judgement, just as real life people do. At the very least I believe, there will come a point in TLJ where Kylo will have to make a choice...To redeem himself, or to be once again seduced by a false sense of belonging? We'll just have to wait for Christmas to find out I suppose (I'll go further into this idea later in the meta).                                      

Now both Zuko and Kylo have these 'goals' that they become obsessed with - and a 'test'. Zuko's goals are finding the Avatar and therefore restoring his honour so he can feel like he belongs. Kylo's goal is finding that map to the first Jedi temple - for both the Supreme leader and his own personal agenda. Although we still don't know what his agenda is, having something do with "I'll finish what you started" - aka whatever Anakin Started (the destruction of the Jedi? creating Balance? an extreme hatred of sand?????) but its either about Luke and or The last Jedi temple on Ach-To as I've said above - and not being tempted back to the light in order to prove to the Supreme leader and himself that he belongs somewhere.

Zuko's "test" is actually him rejecting the call to join the 'good guys' and he completes this test by betraying his Uncle and all his Uncle tried to teach him about doing good and finding oneself , by fighting the Avatar (there was this big coo with Azula and basically Zuko is pronounced to have killed Aang even though Aang was still alive...), and achieving his goal therefore returning his 'honour' and going back to his father and the Fire Nation.

Kylo's "test" was on that bridge, and although he didn't achieve his goal of getting the map (it's Rey's fault, he's just too recklessly curious about her, but I believe that he will get to Ach-To anyway and confront the protagonists; though that has stuff to do with Fore-Bonds and we're not talking about that at the moment), he did achieve his test albeit it almost accidently. Also his test and rejection to redeeming himself happen in the first Act, unlike Zuko's, also a sign at a faster paced redemption arc. He confronted his father, and killed him which was what the supreme leader wanted - but he did it out of rage and being pushed by the dark side. As J.J said, Kylo WAS being convinced to come back to the light, just as Iroh and even Katara started convincing Zuko to be on the side of good before he betrayed them. Zuko and Kylo both do these acts, and make these choices, believing that it will solve their conflicts and they'll finally feel like they belong - Zuko with his honour and Kylo in the dark side.

Guess what? It won't. For Zuko, even though he was accepted back by his father and reclaimed what he thought was his "honour", Zuko did not feel belonging. Redemption is not something that is deserved, or forced upon someone. Redemption is a decision that a person makes. Anybody can redeem themselves if they want to, but they have to want to, nobody else can decide that for them. They can influence* them but in the end it is their choice. This was the point in Atla that a lot of people realised Zuko's anger and frustration was directed at himself, and that what he had done didn't "magically" fix everything. In season 3 there's this episode where it becomes abundantly clear...

Zuko:

"For so long I thought that if my dad accepted me I'd be happy, I'm back home now, my dad talks to me, ha, he even thinks I'm a hero, everything should be perfect right? I should be happy now, but I'm not, I'm angrier than ever and I don't know why?!"      

Azula:

"It's a simple question you need to answer then, who are you angry at?"

Zuko (bold) - Azula, Mai and Ty Lee (normal):

"No one, I'm just angry"..."yeh who are you angry at Zuko?"..."everyone, I don't know" ..."is it dad?"..."No, no."..."is it your uncle" "No, no, no, NO"..."then who, who are you angry at?"..."answer the question Zuko"..."talk to us"..."who Zuko"..."who are you angry at"...

Zuko:

"I'm angry at myself.”

This. This is the result of Zuko completing his test and achieving his goal. He was being eaten up with guilt over what he did, and what he thinks he lost. It made him more feel more conflicted and lost than ever, he felt deep regret and emptiness at his own actions instead of the fulfilment and confidence in himself he thought he would feel if he proved himself. It is a false honour he had regained, because he thought honour was something that was given, not something that you proved through your own choices instead of others making them for you. And this pinnacle of conflict made him so angry and unbalanced that it lead to him making the ultimate choice - to want redemption.

"For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me. To accept me. I thought it was my honour that I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please you!" - Zuko confronting his father Ozai in Book 3.

Kylo is the same. Snoke implies to Kylo that by confronting his father, and in turn killing him and passing his 'test', he will become fully enveloped in the dark side, and become strong like his grandfather (Vader, not Anakin - it seems Kylo is seeing the truth as Obi-Wan said "The truth is often what we make of it" - his own interpretation/believing what he wants to believe. Seeing his own personal truth, not the objective truth when it comes to his grandfather, choosing to ignore how he came back to the light - as I believe he knew of Anakin's story, but Snoke twisted it for his own purposes). Snoke will then 'trust' him enough to "complete his training" and to Kylo this means that he will no longer be lost and unwanted. He will FINALLY belong. Of course I think that Snoke was lying, and 'using' Kylo by wanting to make him feel more conflicted in both the light and the dark as Snoke wants Kylo to be the epitome of both - as he believes that will be MORE powerful (not a Sith, not a traditional Jedi, something more), but will also make him easier to manipulate just like Palpatine did with Anakin. Kylo deep down knows he's being manipulated, he knows he's being used, and he WAS being convinced to go back. I believe he feels he, like Zuko, has no choice. That "it's too late", and he's done too much. He thinks he knows what he has to do to belong, and it's his 'addiction' to this idea of proving himself, of not being conflicted and finally being accepted that overrides his 'pull to the light' in this moment. They're addicted and obsessed with this idea of being accepted by proving themselves. Zuko is described as such in his first act...

'So that's why he's so obsessed, capturing the Avatar is the only chance he has of things returning to normal' - A random Fire Nation soldier talking to Iroh about Zuko.

That says a lot about Zuko's Act 1 and Act 2 mentality. "Only chance" and "normal", that also reflect Kylo's mentality too, because Kylo's never really felt normal; and that this is his "only" chance to feel welcomed. As even in the First Order, Kylo was different. A Knight of Ren, separated and segregated from the rest - treated as if he really is a freak/creature/monster, still as alienated as ever. Above not among, which at the same time can make them feel like they're beneath. Just like Zuko, who was alienated from his nation and his people by his father, banished, still different, never welcomed.

"I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it" - this is his conflict warring within himself, it's almost palpable. He knows what he thinks he must do but he's starting to have doubts, and he hates himself for that. It directly parallels with this line from Zuko in season 1,

"Stop it Uncle. I have to do this".

Further solidifying the feeling of having little choice, that there are no other roads or paths that they feel are available to them that they think they can really go down. Kylo really is afraid he can't be as strong as his grandfather, not power no (I don't think he cares so much about that - he's more prideful then greedy), strength is something he seems to value and strives for just like Zuko strove to be strong and worthy in the eyes of his father. Kylo wants to be strong and worthy in the eyes of his grandfather, somebody he feels he can relate to. It's this fear and self-anger and frustration at himself that I think are the things that push him into committing this horrible patricidal deed. And let's be honest...what Han said was pretty emotional, but if you think of the years that Ben felt abandoned by his father (since it's pretty obvious Han hadn't seen his son since he was a boy/teen), you'd think Kylo wouldn't trust him over the 'wise' supreme leader who in Kylo's eyes actually gives a shit about him. Now we know that's not true, and Kylo realises it as well at THIS moment...

(Although this also links to Kylo feeling Leia's anguish at Han's death through a familial fore-bond I believe Kylo and Leia share, as well as Leia's general force sensitivity, Leia feeling Kylo's immediate regret and guilt which is reflected in Kylo's face and him reacting to what he's done). With that final swift hand touch (I know it was improvised, but Harrison Ford wouldn't have done it and J.J wouldn't have kept it in unless it was confluent to the scene and canon), and with evidence from the Junior novelisation of TFA Han 'forgives his son', because he loves him. In the script it says...

Kylo in his first act, after his 'test' of loyalty and proving thou self to the Big Bad, it does not make him stronger - it makes him WEAKER. Snoke lied to Kylo, in a way he betrayed him, someone Kylo thought had accepted him, and just like with Zuko it was not at ALL what he expected. Like Zuko he feels regret and shock and emptiness at his own act instead of the self-fulfilment and confidence that he was expecting, that Snoke promised him. He's 'horrified' at what he's done, just like Zuko felt horrified and guilty at himself for betraying his Uncle. I believe just as Zuko's act of betrayal to his uncle was the eventual thing that helped him make the choice to redeem himself, Kylo's act on this bridge and Han's sacrifice will be the deciding factor that will begin to turn Kylo back to the light, and redeem him as Ben Solo.

Kylo very literally does feel weaker by doing this, his act creates more conflict and confusion in him, which I actually think overshadows his usual rage with sadness and regret. Even with him being angry at Finn, and battering his wound to both stem the flow of blood from Chewie's Bowcaster wound though to also cause pain to fuel his anger, it's not enough anymore. With that diminishing rage his practised power/skilled control over the force diminishes significantly. He really does become weaker, because his reason/usual power that he draws on isn't as reliable as he thought. What I found incredibly interesting was that something very similar happens to Zuko. When Zuko decides to join the protagonists, because he's no longer hunting his goal to regain his honour, and has finally accepted himself for who he is, his usual rage and anger that powered his flames before when bending - it was gone. That well of power had been diminished, and it leaves Zuko being unable to bend/use his bending to anywhere near the level he could before. Zuko was also 'weakened'.  Now in order to become even more powerful than he was before, and regain his bending without drawing from anger (which btw is reminiscent of Sith teachings), Zuko has to go on a small journey of, I guess you could say 'enlightenment'... and I think Kylo's going to have a similar journey as even though drawing on the dark side and anger can be powerful, I think the sequel trilogy is introducing an idea of something even more powerful that Kylo will have to discover just like Zuko did - but I'll get to that later. Kylo must find a new reason, just as Zuko did.  

Going back to Kylo's decision on that bridge, Han forgives Kylo before his death, but he's also afraid for his son that he will never find his way home to the light. Zuko's Uncle Iroh, when betrayed by his nephew instantly forgave him because he loves him like his own son, but he was afraid for Zuko and that his nephew would never turn to who he truly was - a good person.

Zuko redeemed himself. He did it by himself, by making his own choices through realising his mistakes from his own feelings of regret. Kylo's guilt and increased feeling of conflict isn't going to go away any time soon, it's actually going to get worse. As Adam said in the Vanity Fair interview about TLJ...

"I feel like almost everyone is in that rehabilitation state. You know, I don't think that patricide is all that it's cracked up to be. Maybe that's where Kylo Ren is starting from," Driver teases. "His external scar is probably as much an internal one."

This quote sums up what I've been thinking about ever since I first started comparing Kylo to Zuko in 2015, and what direction Kylo's character would potentially be going. Kylo is trying to heal after what happened in TFA, but those internal scars aren't going to be healed with a bacta tank. Those scars of regret and sadness and conflicting emotions are going to eat Kylo alive in The Last Jedi, just like Zuko's started to just before he realised his mistakes and chose to change. I believe in TLJ we're going to see Kylo realise just like Zuko did that proving himself to be accepted by his 'master'/'abusive father figure' hasn't actually done anything. He doesn't feel stronger, he doesn't feel more confident or more powerful, he doesn't feel accepted. He doesn't feel like he belongs. Kylo's going to feel more isolated and lost than ever at the start of the Last Jedi. It's nothing like he thought it would be, and that's going to make him confused and angry. On the inside he'll be suffering, a self-inflicted wound that began with his parents, had started tearing open inside him with whatever happened at Luke's Jedi temple and with this act/refusal to be redeemed has instead of sealing the wound...he's torn it to reveal a chasm. What happens when a wounded animal feels cornered, wounded and alone like he must be feeling? They lash out. 

Kylo is not towards the end of his redemption arc just yet, actually he still needs to go through quite a bit before he concludes his arc. This is where the pacing of Atla and the sequel trilogy differ, with Zuko's test being in the second Act and his turning point in the third, Kylo's test was at the end of the first act and I believe his turning point with be somewhere in this second act. Zuko completed both the goal and the test as one and the same, well technically he completed his test - but since Aang was still alive his goal was still incomplete, though for a while nobody knew that. This makes Zuko incredibly anxious and worried, and he sends an assassin to finish the job (due to his sister being a political and manipulative snake, and using the knowledge that Aang may be alive as potential black-mail/insurance against Zuko for later). Kylo may have completed his test, but obviously as I've stated above he will not feel fulfilled and centred where he is. Kylo's failings I think are going to be heavily addressed at the start of TLJ/act 2, just like Zuko's were at the start of the second season of Atla (Ozai sends Azula to kill Zuko for  his failings - siblings am I right?) and I'm predicting there's going to be a very angry and disappointed scene with Kylo and Snoke at the start of TLJ. Kylo like Zuko is going to be kicking himself, his frustration and anger at himself are going to reach a fever pitch, it's not going to be pretty unfortunately. Combine that with Kylo's sadness, regret, guilt and increasing conflict and you have yourself one very misguided, confused and furious Kylo Ren. I believe he's going to be feeling all of this at the start of TLJ, and at some point that's where this is going to come into play...

The Broken mask. The fact that smokes coming up from it, means it's likely been destroyed by a Lightsaber, and I can't imagine why it'd be Rey or Luke (I don't think they'd specifically target his mask in a rage) - so it makes sense that Kylo's the one who shattered it. Now what I always found really interesting is that both Zuko and Kylo have personas. Now I'm not saying that the persona of Kylo Ren will be shattered with that mask, I think shattering the persona he's created will be a lot harder than simply destroying the mask. It will take time. Ben Solo became buried under the Dark side persona of Kylo Ren, using this persona to commit horrible acts on and to others (although the persona and the person underneath are one and the same, the person with the persona still feels a disconnect between the two if you get what I mean). Ben has Kylo Ren and Zuko has the Blue spirit.

They both use these personas to hide their own faces, to feel disconnected from who they truly are, so they feel morally justified in committing acts that aren't really very morally 'good' - similar to the 'split' between Anakin and Vader as personalities even though they're the same person.

Though Zuko never did anything nearly as bad with his as Kylo, you have to take it with a pinch of salt. Although Atla can get very dark at times and covers some really heavy themes and tackles really meaningful issues and philosophies it gets nowhere near as dark as Star Wars does, because that's just how they're both written - simple as saying Star Wars is just an incredibly dramatic space opera in comparison to Atla, not saying that Atla can't be dramatic because it can be, but nowhere near to the level that TFA is. (blowing up Hosnian Prime/5 planets with a giant red sun laser of death...). These personas represent the darkness in both these characters, and the outer-mask of strength they want the world to perceive them as and fear them for compared to the vulnerability within...or a "Vulnerable Warlord" - cheers official Star Wars Databank, loving the descriptive oxymoron, very Kylo... Zuko got rid of his mask just like Kylo's going to shatter his, after Zuko used it for the first time for good instead of bad, and it leaves him feeling so conflicted, yet wanting to keep using it cause it makes him feel powerful -  that Iroh tells him to let it go. That's where Zuko really starts to change, linking back to Iroh telling him he's at war within his own mind. That's why I believe that Kylo will in a way mirror this, trying to crush the conflict and feeling of weakness he feels after TFA by destroying the mask that he hides behind, and possibly feeling frustrated with what he couldn't do in the past, but with what he also must do in the present/future. (There are theories that the mask being a relic contains dark side energy/Sith energy, so by destroying it Kylo might actually be helping himself more than he knows). 

Uncle Iroh. Throughout Avatar the Last Airbender, Zuko's journey and story through both the first and second Act's and towards the end of book 3 - he is always there by Zuko's side. He supports Zuko, helps him, guides him in a way that is unbiased and completely selfless. Iroh is funny and wise from experience and extremely humble with kindness. He is also strong willed but softly peaceful, and incredibly open-minded. It is shown through Atla that Iroh experienced much pain and a lot of heavy responsibility in his life, but he unlike Zuko at the start of his arc, had come to terms with who he is and his place in the 'cosmos', and had found soulful peace and a deep connection to the spirit world.

He dedicated himself to teaching Zuko, to being the family the banished prince never really had, and to be the friend Zuko needed in order to realise what was really important. He mentors Zuko about the world, using his experiences of its many different cultures and all his vast knowledge, trying to open Zuko's closed minded and prideful views of his own reality and the people in it; to show him its diversity and complexity. That people don't have to stay on one path, but have the freedom of will to choose their own. He is (especially for Zuko at the start of his arc) one of Zuko's main character foils, who is also an 'antagonist' though I've never really viewed him as an antagonist, and more as a neutral character. The voice of reason, the lighthouse in the storm. He is Zuko's true father figure, who has really been a Dad to Zuko more so than his actual father -

"After I leave here today, I'm going to free Uncle Iroh from his prison, and I'm going to beg for his forgiveness - he's the one who's been a real father to me." - Zuko during his big speech to Ozai in Book 3.

I believe not just Zuko, but everyone, should have an Uncle Iroh in their life...and his Tea jokes.  

Especially Kylo. This is one of the main ways in which Kylo and Zuko differ as characters at the moment. Kylo doesn't really have an Uncle Iroh in his life - instead he has Snoke, and as I've talked about that's not a good thing. He didn't have one when he felt abandoned by Leia and Han as a kid, he may have had one in Luke but whatever happened at that temple unraveled whatever had been built between the two it seems (I need answers Rian!)...and in the last 6 years in the timeline since he joined the First Order, up to the present canon in the sequel trilogy of TFA and the start of TLJ it seems, Kylo is still very much alone. Zuko always felt nobody understood him, when the person that could understand him the most was literally standing right next to him the entire time, and his realisation of this is one of the big reasons he turns to become a protagonist. Just as romantic love turned Anakin to the dark side, it seems Kylo has the same conundrum with his familial bonds - in that the mistakes of his family are what pushed him to Snoke and the dark. Though that doesn't mean family won't play a huge role in his redemption, because it already has, and I believe there are characters in this sequel trilogy that will be Kylo's representation and will partially evoke the characteristics and story-relevance of Iroh and how they will influence Kylo's redemption like Iroh did Zuko's.

Han Solo (The Father).  

I've already talked above about how Kylo killing Han and Zuko betraying Iroh were their 'tests', and the relevance this had for Zuko and his redemption and how it already has and will impact Kylo in the future. As Iroh was the catalyst and the over-arching reason for Zuko to want to join the good guys, apart from his own moral conclusions, Han's death at Kylo's hands will be the catalyst that eventually redeems Kylo and pushes him towards that turning point and so on... as I've already explained before, so I think you get how Han and Iroh's characters parallel each other in that sense. (Unfortunately for Han and my heart, Han unlike Iroh with his nephew will never get to see his fully grown Son redeemed, and in a sense that's extremely tragic and makes what happened even more sad but powerful and important).

Now there was a line in TFA that always really stood out to me.

"Take off that mask, you don't need it", Han talking to Kylo on that bridge, wanting to see the 'face of his son' beneath, who he thought he was (Ben), not who he had become (Kylo). It stood out to me, because it always reminded me very fondly of this line...

"I wonder who could be behind that mask?" which was Iroh talking to the Blue Spirit, knowing it was Zuko underneath and wanting to see his nephew, not the beastly looking persona he was hiding behind.

In Zuko's case, after Iroh says this to him and sees straight through the persona, after finding Zuko in front of the protagonists pet bison Appa (who means a great deal to them and is actually what is driving the story at that point in the season - to find Appa) where Zuko was thinking about taking Appa as ransom... Iroh calls Zuko out on his short-term thinking and reckless actions. He worriedly and angrily shows Zuko that what he is doing is obsessive and could potentially get him killed - and then Zuko says,

"I know my own destiny", (Zuko) and,

"I have to do this", (Zuko) which very much sounds like a different way of saying that he has no choice, or,

"It's too late", (Kylo) and or,

"I know what I have to do, (but I don't know if I have the strength to do it).", (Kylo) - in my humble opinion. Iroh has this big speech, and part of it goes as such:

"Is it your own destiny, or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?".

Which also sounds very similar to Han saying,

"Snoke is using you for your power".

The words may be different, but the themes and meanings behind the two sentences are the same - that Kylo and Zuko are being used. Kylo and Zuko at the start of their arcs are blinded by this 'destiny' they both believe they think they have - and they do have destinies - just not the way they first believe and for Zuko this comes full circle by the end of his arc, just as I think it will for Kylo in knowing what their 'true' destinies are. One of Kylo's script prompts was -  

*Eager to fulfill his destiny* before landing on Takodana, and Zuko saying in Book one when he's the main antagonist -

"I want my destiny!", so both of them do have these notions of achieving their own destinies in order to be accepted, not realising that by chasing this false destiny, (although in real life I don't personally believe in the notion of destiny, but both Star Wars and Atla have pretty strong themes of it - so I'll go with it for the moment) they instead stumble onto their true destinies, Zuko's being that he joins the protagonists, and Kylo's will be the same in that he'll help Rey.  

Also Iroh says in his speech "I'm begging you prince Zuko! It's time for you to look inward", paralleling Han practically begging Kylo on that bridge that "No, my son is alive/Come home, we miss you", to find himself again, to step away from this dark path and become Han's son again - Ben.

A redemption arc essentially is taking a character that's antagonistic/done wrong, breaking their character down through different decisions/choices and events (which usually isn't a straight line, but has many twists, turns, rejections and conflict/regrets) and then building their character up again into a protagonist or someone who is more neutral through redemption. For both of them, the parts in which these quotes are taken from are the start of the breaking down of their characters into their redemption’s, like really announcing it if the hints hadn't already been obvious. Although Kylo has already taken his mask off for Rey, the removal of the mask in front of Han has its own weight. Han seeing beneath the persona and seeing his son/his vulnerable boy all grown up and buried in darkness whilst struggling not to drown really tugs on the heart strings, for the audience and Han himself. That scene on that bridge with Han, without the barrier of the mask, is the first time that Kylo really shouts out the obviousness of his redemption. There were hints throughout the movie, his 'pull to the light' when talking to Vader's helm, the obvious foreshadowing of 'I will not be seduced', cause let's be honest when a character (especially a Skywalker) says that the total opposite is going to occur. His sparing of Finn ('saving the cat' as others in the community have expertly noted with their over worldly screenplay knowledge, and yes I have read the book "SAVE THE CAT" by Blake Snyder, I highly recommend it if you haven't read it). The script ->

...scenes with Rey and his 'compassion' for her, his clear want to not use Star Killer and something else, something big that I'll save for later - etcetera... bam bridge scene! (and then links to everything I've talked about above, including Han's death as the catalyst). Han, although he may be gone, will be one of if not the most important character influence for Kylo's redemption and in turn will give Han's death meaning. In the points I've shown before, he has already been a major Uncle Iroh type character for Kylo and will continue to be even in death. He was supposed to be the 'weak and foolish' part of Kylo that his son wanted to destroy on that bridge, and although I expect others and Kylo to punish himself for what he did (for what he did was a terrible thing, and he needs to face its consequences which I'm pretty sure he will as 'patricide isn't all it's cracked up to be'), it will instead be the thing that makes Kylo wiser, more humble, and ironically stronger.

Leia Organa (The Mother).

Iroh never gave up on Zuko, not once throughout the entirety of Atla. Sure he became frightened/worried for his nephew, but he never turned his back on him, nor did he say anything as final and defeatist as "If Luke couldn't reach him how could I?" and or "We lost our son. Forever." which is what Han says. And then guess who stands her ground and says "We can still save him", and then goes on to say this...

"There is still light in him. I know it." Yeah Leia does. She believes he is still good, she hasn't given up on him, and she wants him back ("You think I want to forget him? I want him back!"). She still holds out hope, whilst fighting for what she believes in -  the rebellion/resistance - as she always has done. Just like Padme who said something similar about Anakin ("There is good in him."), and she was right, because "Women always figure out the truth - ALWAYS!". And just like Iroh, who continued fighting for what he believed in, through another secret organisation/'resistance' called the White Lotus alongside the other oppressed nations, he still held out hope his nephew would return and become good, even after he was betrayed by him - until Zuko and him reconciled later and his hopes were proven to not be futile.

"You have light and peace inside of you." Is a quote from Iroh talking about Zuko, to Zuko, that I thought paralleled Leia's quote about Kylo's inner light beautifully. Both are talking about the light they know and hope is there in these characters that they unconditionally love, who have taken a wrong turn and gone down a dark path. They believe and see their potential for goodness, where no one else does. When everyone abandons Zuko, Iroh is there, still believes in him, still hopes. Just like how when Kylo turns to the dark, everyone abandons him, even Han to an extent, except for Leia who although cannot be there with Kylo, believes in him and hopes he will come home. Her hope even convinces Han that his "Son is alive". All Leia wants is for someone to find Kylo and "Bring him home," Whether that's her, Han, Luke, Rey or anyone - even Kylo himself. In the same vein, all Iroh wanted for Zuko, was for his "Little soldier boy to come marching home...", in the absence of his own son, and he was shown that his hope that Zuko had potential for goodness and the freedom to make his own choices was not in vain. Atla is all about hope, and seeing the potential in people to be better. Star Wars is also about hope and seeing the potential in people for good, and Iroh in Atla and Leia in the sequel trilogy represent these ideals (whereas in the OT forgiveness and seeing good in people was more along the lines of Luke's character, whilst Leia and Luke together were more about Hope in times of darkness). I believe George Lucas once said something along the lines that the original trilogy was Leia's story, or as much her story as it was Luke's. She has always been fighting, even before the first movie introduced her, and she never EVER gave up. She was as tenacious then as she is now, and she will never give up on her son. (Ah~ I'm sorry if this is making anyone miss Carrie, I miss her too and I always will - it's just a really terrible thing, that has no positives for anyone).

Anyway, some people have speculated that Leia and Luke might meet in The Last Jedi. There's no hard evidence for this (cheers Pablo), but if Luke and Leia were to meet in assumedly the second act (since Leia's part of the resistance plot and Luke, Rey and Kylo are part of the 'force plot') of the movie, then there's a high chance that Kylo might be there with them. Now this is just pure theory and a 'hope' of mine I guess you could say, but I would love for a reconciliation scene between Leia and Kylo like the one Iroh and Zuko had. Just like in Atla, the scene would have so much power and emotional weight to it, and would be really compelling and interestingly heart-wrenching to watch. If this were to happen, it would also align with my thoughts on the sequel trilogy having a faster paced redemption than something like Atla, as straight after Zuko's turning point he meets the person he loves that he betrayed and Iroh forgives him, so if Kylo as I've speculated has his turning point in Act 2 of the story arc rather than act 3, then a reconciliation between Kylo and Leia would make sense. Also it's pretty obvious that Kylo cares for his mother, a lot more it seems than he did for his father. He felt closer to here as a child since they were both 'force-sensitive' and Leia understood him in that sense, (same excerpt where Han felt he couldn't connect with Ben) and Kylo is against using Star Killer BECAUSE the resistance planet (D'Qar) they were going to blow up after Hosnian prime potentially/almost certainly had Leia on it, and in the books as soon as Snoke mentions Leia's name Kylo immediately changes the subject. So although Han coming to and forgiving his son on the bridge was an emotional blow for Kylo, Leia coming and forgiving Kylo would for the character probably feel much more important. Not for the audience cause both Han and Leia are equal in that sense - but for Kylo it would be something he thought impossible and would show how Leia has evolved as a character even from her fully resolved arc in the Return of the Jedi - in that she understandably couldn't acknowledge or forgive her father and only did years later (with probably a lot of influence from Luke). Unless a character dies, even if they have a fully resolved arc, they are still always changing, always making mistakes, always growing even if it's not written. Just like in reality people have arcs of growth, but life isn't just going to be like 'yep, that's it your done, have a cookie', life is a series of character arcs that make up our own story, just like these characters, however fictional and that's what makes a character feel more realistically three dimensional/human.

Leia showing Kylo forgiveness would not only bring Leia's arc of forgiving full-circle, but would bring both Leia and Kylo that sense of peace, as it did Zuko and Iroh. They may not do this, and they may not meet at all, which would be a shame since It won't happen in episode 9 as Leia will not be there anymore (there's also a potential-spoiler that Leia might/will get seriously injured in TLJ, I don't know how early or late in the film this would be, but it'd be really tragic if Luke and Kylo did get to her only to find her in a coma or worse, unable to speak to/see them ever again even with them right there). She will still always be an Uncle Iroh type character, with his themes, with her silent support, forgiveness and hope as well as her will to fight evil from across the galaxy for the people who can't fight and her son - but if they do meet, then like Iroh her hopes will not be futile. Just like Iroh, finally, she'll be able to see her little soldier boy come marching home.

Luke Skywalker (The Uncle).

Talking about life still going on for characters who've already had fully resolved arcs, it seems Luke's gone on quite a bit of a tangent. Having his face the biggest thing on the poster; which is usually saved for the villains? Being doused in red which is a representation of the "dark side", just like Kylo our current antagonist (whose face on the poster is smaller/seemingly more passive or sad compared to Luke's aggressive facial expression)? Isolating himself on an island? Not coming to the aid of his friends and dear sister? Looking like a grumpy old man whose tired of the worlds shit instead of a wise peaceful and accepting Jedi? having his new order burn down? from which a presumable lapse in faith or an enlightenment ensued and so then wanting the Jedi to END?    

Ok I do actually like where Rian might be taking Luke's character, and how compelling it might be for the story and its ramifications on not only him, but Kylo and Rey too, as well as the whole of the Star Wars verse. The possibility of the old and seemingly corrupted ways of the Jedi being scrapped and a new order of force users being formed with their own code  aka grey (general term that's not canon) Jedi? Hell yes that sounds amazing! (also I enjoy the idea that either the force or the island itself is keeping Luke there, and once you land it doesn't let you leave or something along those lines).  

In Atla Iroh was one of the most neutral characters in the entire series, even when he was supposedly with the 'antagonists' he still found time to help those on both sides of the war. He supported Zuko in his quest for the avatar, but he also helped characters like Aang, Toph and Katara - the protagonists. He never discriminated between nations, he was always compassionate and kind to those he met, and never used violence unless it was absolutely necessary. If you've watched the series you'll know what I'm talking about when I say he was the grey between the black and white and a physical representation of balance, just in a different sense than the Avatar. Nothing can be confirmed till The Last Jedi comes out and reveals Luke's current character, but it would seem Luke after isolating himself on Ach-To due to whatever happened at the temple, has become a similar representation of neutrality. He has stayed on Ach-To, studying ancient force-user and Jedi scripture (those books in the trailer), trying to find this balance in the force, which is what I believe he is going to try to show/teach to Rey and potentially Kylo. Luke will not be on 'one side or the other' rather he will be a neutral character who only wishes to restore balance. One side conquering the other does not bring balance, as we've learned from both the prequel and original trilogy, just like how Iroh only wished for balance and peace; and is why he strove so fervently to have himself and Zuko try and help the avatar in book 2 and 3 instead of hindering him.

Through the Original Trilogy, Luke was one of, if not the most forgiving person in the entire galaxy. He forgave his father, Vader who had slaughtered and destroyed so many and so much, and returned him to the light. I don't know how much has changed with Luke's character, but I wonder if that forgiveness is still there, as there were rumors that Luke would order Rey to 'kill' Kylo if he landed on Ach-To. Life can do that to a person, it's not impossible or unrealistic for real life people, so it begs the question if this would happen to a character in Star Wars....but Luke's forgiveness was a powerful thing, and if like Iroh who forgave Zuko of his transgressions and betrayal that could have potentially doomed the world, then maybe if through Kylo slowly starting to show he can be redeemed through his own actions, Luke can forgive Kylo for what he's done and move forward as Iroh forgave his nephew after Zuko made his own decisions. If not to bring balance, then for Han and Leia's sake. Family has always been important to Luke, and I don't think that will have changed. Unlike Han, Leia or Rey, I don't think Luke's going to be one of the MAIN reasons Kylo will redeem himself, since Han already has said "If Luke can't reach him how can I?".

I say Luke could have the 'biggest' Iroh type role towards Kylo, because theoretically if Luke were to forgive his nephew and they were to reconcile, or even just tolerate each other as allies...Luke could take on the guide/teacher type role to Kylo as he had before the temple incident, only this time he will encompass all of the force instead of what I assume was just the light - as he will probably do to Rey, and the same role Iroh had to Zuko - to broaden their knowledge/minds and show them that instead of 'light' and 'darkness' it's "so much bigger" as Luke puts it in the trailer. In Atla it's revealed Iroh has learned bending techniques from every nation, after all his travels, in order to become stronger and more fluid/knowledgeable in his own element. This could link the idea of Luke using both sides of the force, or at least learning all branches of what makes up 'the force' instead of like the Jedi beforehand limiting themselves to only the light, trying to cut themselves off from basic human emotions/needs, which lead to their destruction in the first place. Iroh then uses his expanded knowledge of the other benders/cultures, specifically water bending techniques, in order to teach Zuko how to redirect lightning (lightning-bending is an advanced form of fire bending) which is incredibly important in terms of not just Zuko learning to defend himself from deadly attacks, but also an important lesson in understanding the elements and in turn the world aren't isolated from each other, but rather connected to one another. I don't know if this will happen or not, but like Iroh, Luke could be the guide Kylo needs in order to balance himself in the light and the dark, and rather than 'tearing himself apart', help him find the calm and belonging in the grey between the dark and light of the force. This is all speculation, and we'll just have to wait and see for the answers. I was hoping that Leia would take on an even more supportive/familial and guiding role for Kylo in ep 9 (which from things Kathleen Kennedy and even Carrie herself had said seemed possible), but due to Carrie's unfortunate passing, it looks like that role will most likely be passed onto Luke instead.

There is actually another character in Atla I could compare Luke to as a neutral, mysterious, god-like figure connected to the 'universe' as a whole through meditation and isolation. That's the Guru.

He helps to teach the main hero Aang how to unlock his full potential, just as Luke can teach Rey and possibly Kylo how to open themselves up to the world around them and learn to balance themselves in the entirety of the force, and be connected to it on a level beyond 'crude matter', just as Iroh was deeply spiritual in Atla.

We know practically nothing about what transpired that day at Luke's Jedi temple, what we DO know is that it shook Luke so heavily that it led him to believe the Jedi must now end, whatever students/acolytes Luke had (apart from Kylo) were killed, the Knights of Ren (and presumably Snoke) were involved, and this event has heavy links to both Luke and Kylo Ren and his 'turning point' to the dark side when he was seemingly 23 years old. Kylo/Ben would have been in his teens when he was 'sent away' to Luke to become his apprentice, so let's just say he was around 15 at the oldest. From 15 to 23 would mean Kylo spent at the very least 8 years under Luke as his student (compared to 6 years in the First Order). Add to the fact that they are family, would most likely mean Kylo and Luke in that time did have a friendly/familial bond between them and that they cared for each other on some level. When Luke and Kylo meet in the Last Jedi, and it's almost certain they will, ALL of that history is going to come to the forefront. I have a feeling that whatever is revealed is going to show either Luke is not as innocent as others may believe, or that Kylo was not as guilty as was first thought, or perhaps both - especially with how Luke's been marketed in posters and how Mark Hamill initially 'didn't like' where Rian had gone with Luke. In bloodline there was a 'dirty' political move made on Leia, where her and Luke's familial connection to Darth Vader was publicly broadcast throughout the galaxy; which both destroyed Leia's political career, but would also mean Kylo found out about his family heritage (which Leia or Luke hadn't revealed to him) most likely in public, surrounded by people who most certainly hated and feared Vader for what he had done to the galaxy, and would in turn be hateful/fearful of anyone related to him - especially if they were force-sensitive. In Atla, book 2, when Zuko goes on his own journey in the Earth Kingdom, he comes across a village where he is accepted and stays/works for a while, but when he reveals he is a fire-bender and is recognized as the Prince of the Fire Nation and his heritage/bloodline is revealed, even those who were kind to him in the village suddenly hate and fear him because of what he represents to them as the 'enemy'/a fire nation 'monster'. Zuko is shunned again, first by his own nation,  and now by others, both because of his family. The same with Kylo, in his mind he was shunned by Leia and Han and sent to Luke, and after this event he was probably shunned by the entire galaxy - no wonder he turned to Snoke. Both Zuko and Kylo are judged for their families mistakes, and not seen as simply themselves.

To conclude, Han is the one who is the representation of Iroh as a catalyst for redemption, and a parental figure of forgiveness. Leia is the representation of Iroh as one who has unconditional love, forgiveness and hope for her son. And Luke is potentially the familial support (instead of Leia) and voice of reason/the guide for Kylo, as Iroh was to Zuko (as well as family drama, and someone who potentially has all the answers).

Aesthetic.

Kylo and Zuko are very similar in their looks and personality, Zuko is the oldest in the group of the main 'kids', tall, quite mature, handsome, but his personality shows he can be vulnerable and emotional. Kylo is also incredibly tall, fit, looks like a 'prince' handsome and can be incredibly emotional/vulnerable... I mean...

^that's Kylo.

^realistic depiction artwork of Zuko.

I think you get the point.

What I want to talk about is how Zuko's aesthetic actually changes, as is normal when characters develop, through each Act of Atla and how that relates to Kylo. Visual story-telling is incredibly important in a visual medium, and this is especially essential when it comes to characters and the designs of their costumes and general look. Below is an image of what Zuko mainly looks like linearly through each of Atla's three books/three seasons. I'm going to for the most part ignore how his hair changes because it doesn't really apply to Kylo, and actually has more to do with Anime tropes and how an anime characters hair will change drastically as they develop (as I said Atla has heavy Asian influences, and some animators who take their styles/are from Korea and or Japan).

In book 1, Zuko wears heavily plated fire Nation armor that has many layers and covers him up almost completely. It has dark red and grey colorings, that incite imagery of fire and smoke - and it has always seemed like something that would be very suffocating and restrictive. Sharp angles and hard lines. His hair is shaven off all except for the pony-tail at the back, which gives monk like imagery in correlation to his exile, and the ponytail has links to the Fire Nation culture and his honor and loyalty to his nation. Also his face is usually pressed into a scowl, because book 1 Zuko almost never really genuinely smiles). 

Compare this to Kylo in TFA. Kylo wears heavy robes, and has many layers of clothing, that cover him up almost completely except for his head which is covered by a mask - it always felt like it restricted his movement and was incredibly suffocating, as if under all those layers he was making himself suffer, since wearing it constantly couldn't have been comfortable. The coloring is black and dark grey to elicit the visual metaphor of being enveloped in the dark side. He is described by some as a monk-like figure, uninterested for the most part in normal human carnal desires and behaviors, completely focused on his task (except for Rey, but even she is linked to him wanting to find the map, though loosely). There is only one point throughout TFA that Kylo actually smirks/lifts his lips upwards slightly, for the rest of the movie it's pretty obvious his mood is not one that invokes a happy face.

Both Zuko and Kylo in their first Act's metaphorically and physically are wrapped up in layers of 'armor' and their own walls, masks and personas they've created to hide themselves from the world in order to seem  stronger and not actually shattering apart on the inside and making themselves go through hell. Kylo taking off his mask was such a big deal, because it was a metaphor for him showing a part of himself that nobody else sees and making himself vulnerable, and no pure evil/villainous character would ever willingly show their opposition weakness, which makes it all the more strange that Kylo did.      

From the breaking down of a character through both their personality and their aesthetic, and then through redemption, they can slowly be built back up again - which is something that happened to Zuko and is what I believe will happen to Kylo.

In book 2 of Atla, after Azula has attempted to kill Zuko and he seemingly 'cuts ties' with the fire nation completely, he has to go into hiding. He loses the bulky Fire Nation armor for more common clothes, which are quite layered, but nowhere near as heavy as the armor. They're green and brown, colors that are more connected to the Earth and plants, and are much simpler and less grand in design. They represent Zuko 'coming down to earth' for a bit, or getting off his high-horse.  By wearing commoner clothes, he is no longer 'above' the people, but among them. It allows him to see from a whole new perspective/angle, and realise the world is a much bigger place and not everything is about him. It's about him learning and expanding his understanding of the world, and by shedding those extra layers he is metaphorically showing more of himself/being more like himself - which is ironic as he's hiding - by starting to accept himself and the world around him a bit more, but not completely (that only comes to full fruition in Book 3). He is less angry, more confused, lost and just trying to find himself.

Now from images we've been given of Kylo from the Battlefront II The Last Jedi heroes pre-order images, the TLJ poster, Vanity Fair and the TLJ trailer we can see the similarities of what happened to Zuko happening to Kylo.  He's lost the cowl to shadow his head and features, and replaced it with a billowing cape (like a true Skywalker). There has been a loss of some of the layers that were on his original outfit, giving him a lot more freedom of movement and should be less suffocating, including more of his neck and legs showing. From what we can see from the trailer and all the promotional stuff (including the broken mask), Kylo will not be wearing the mask for most, if not all of the movie, showing us his face which was considered a vulnerability to him in TFA. He's starting to strip away those physical and metaphorical layers, and from all the stuff we've been given off his face, rage hasn't really been the main emotion. Mainly it's been seriousness, lost and sad looks and even more vulnerability. It's possible in the movie, they may use less makeup and make him look a bit more disheveled like in the image above, in order to get across the point that on all fronts he's falling apart and off kilter. Also the coloring may still be dark, but it's leaning less towards black, and more towards grey (including the cloak), which could also be a visual queue for him starting to move towards the 'grey' area of the force that encompasses both dark and light. This is the stage where he'll be lost and trying to find himself, less confident and far more desperate. He's becoming more vulnerable, and will be showing more of himself rather than the character who just wants to be a Vader 2.0. It's indicating that instead of Kylo, we're going to see more of Ben Solo.

That's about as far as I can go in terms of comparison between the current aesthetic of Kylo in Act 1 and 2, compared to Zuko, as I'll need to wait for Act 3 or episode 9 in order to completely finish it, and by then I'm sure it'll all be confirmed anyway. But, since I do have what Zuko looks like in his Act 3, I'll try and make a prediction of how that'll link to Kylo in his own Act 3.

In book 3 of Atla, Zuko's main outfit for most of the season is that of 1 or two layers of light fire nation garb, the coloring of the clothes are that of light/dark reds and golds. His clothes at this point are incredibly light, non-restrictive allowing him to use his Chi/Ki more fluidly and really breathe (as fire bending is of the breath) instead of suffocating him. By stripping away all those metaphorical and physical layers, he's showing himself for who he is, and by wearing the colors of his nation and his ancestry it shows he has come to know who he is and should be (as he discovers his ancestry is not only to Sozin, but to Roku as well) and that he accepts himself - and therefore has found a harmony within himself (<-'The Fire bending Masters' episode) . He no longer cared about disappointing his father, for he realised there was no true honor in being a puppet to a father who didn't love him, and that he would only find honor by doing the right thing. And by doing this, accepting himself, he found belonging.

"We've created an era of fear in the world, and if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."

- Zuko, The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse, Book 3. (his speech to Ozai)  

If Kylo follows this pattern by ep 9, and I'm not an expert on clothing, but I'm going to assume his clothes will be far less restrictive with different shades of grey and brown aka a lot lighter/less 'pure' dark side colours - I may be wrong, but we'll just have to wait and see. But more importantly, instead of being lost and confused, like Zuko he'll finally be able to have the truth instead of all the lies and mistruths he's probably been told by Snoke or not told by others, if he doesn't already figure them out in the Last Jedi (there are rumors that there will most likely be force ghosts in TLJ so let's hope they help straighten out the truth, especially Anakin). Instead of striving to be strong like his grandfather, or wanting to please the Supreme Leader, or hide from/fight the rest of the galaxy due to his heritage - he'll finally be free of those mental chains and able to see that he in fact does have a choice. And hopefully he'll finally accept himself for who he is, instead of trying to be someone else like Kylo Ren, and instead Ben Solo will finally find the belonging he's always been looking for... in unexpected places. And like Zuko, ironically it will make him stronger but also more humble and hopefully, kinder.

Act 1 = Villain/antagonist/anti-villain Act 2 = Conflicted anti-hero Act 3 = Byronic Hero/protagonist

Now I've been saving the best till last...their scars.

In terms of general aesthetics for characters, especially Byronic heroes, scars give the characters complexity and depth. There's history behind those wounds that can make them far more compelling. In the case of Zuko and Kylo, their scars come from very different circumstances, but the metaphorical weight behind those scars is still significant for each. The fact that Rian changed the scar for Kylo, moved it and made it smaller (cat-scratch) to be more aesthetically pleasing doesn't really scream 'ugly sith villain' now does it? More like 'I want this character to be complex, but not so much that he looks purely evil and loses that "princely" look' unlike Zuko that has quite literally a huge horrible burn across half his face, yet somehow makes him a far more beautiful character, in my eyes anyway.

Zuko's scar comes about when he dishonors his father at the young age of 14, and his father severely burns half of his face - he receives it before the story of Atla even starts. It was one of the many cruel lessons Ozai gave Zuko, a Punishment, and had the most lasting effects. He would hide it, wouldn't let anyone touch it/get near to it, he despised it - like a mistake in an otherwise perfect painting. It was first a blemish to Zuko, something that represented all his mistakes, all of his weakness. It represented everything Zuko didn't want to be, but as the series went on, his scar eventually turned from his weakness to his strength. By the end of the third act, Zuko no longer cared for his scar, it was a part of him, a representation of all he had endured and survived and risen above. By accepting it, he was accepting his flaws, and accepting himself.

Compare that to Kylo, who when we first see his face, it's of this handsome 'prince' like figure, no scar, nothing. Whereas with Zuko we never got that 'holy shit' moment, because to the audience he always had that scar, that was just who he was to us. It would be hard to see Zuko without it, as it was such an integral part of his character.

It's Rey that gives Kylo that scar in the First Act, different from Zuko in Atla, but in a sense very similar. Rey giving him that scar is a representation of Kylo's supposed 'weakness', his compassion. If he had killed Rey on that ledge it would never have happened, but he didn't want to - he wanted to teach her, and that lead to his face being burned and in a way Rey teaching him a lesson instead. Kylo's scar is a physical representation of the compassion and pull to the light that Kylo wants to crush and so desperately be free of. It's almost as if Rey made a crack in that wall of his, the lie of his persona being broken apart leaving him vulnerable, and now his 'mistakes' and 'regrets' a permanently etched on his face.

I read somewhere that the scar runs along the place where Han touched Kylo's face, and that it was some universal punishment for what he did. I like that idea, because not only is the scar physical, as Adam Driver has said it's also metaphorical, and it's a symbol for Kylo's own walls of confidence and denial starting to crack, due to what he did to Han and what happened in that forest with Rey. Zuko was burned because he refused to fight his father, Kylo was burned because he refused to kill Rey. It's his 'antagonistic' character starting to break down, as well as giving Kylo a personal link to the protagonist, Rey, and how they are personally connected through what she did to him. She didn't go for the kill, she could have but instead she went for the face, and there's a reason she did it.

Unlike Zuko's scar, which has nothing to do with attraction and more to do with honor and weakness, Rey sliced Kylo's face because she was attracted to him, and the fact he didn't look like a monster - and she hated that. She probably wanted him to look as monstrous on the outside as she thought he was within, as she thought she would see when he took off that mask. It was about lessening his beauty, and de-humanising him, just as Zuko is de-humanised and only seen as 'The banished Prince of the Fire Nation' instead of an actual person. The irony is, Kylo's scar may be a symbol for his weakness and compassion, but Rey gives him that scar because she too is trying to stifle her own compassion for him (aided by a petty revenge she was trying to enact due to her taking strength from the dark side at the end of that fight). It makes me wonder how she'll feel when she sees it in TLJ? will she try to stifle her compassion further, or will she feel even more guilt?

Anyway both Zuko and Kylo's scars represent their imperfections, physically and metaphorically, and weaknesses that have the potential to turn into strengths. I find it curious that they are both 'burned' by things linked to their respective in-verse 'magic'. For Zuko is was the flames from his father's 'fire bending', and for Kylo is was the concentrated plasma (superheated flame/the 4th state of matter + Kyber crystals are found in the heart of stars, giant balls of flaming gas, and that's how light sabers are powered) of his grandfathers Lightsaber - so they're both burned by fire that was created by one of their family members that they don't want to disappoint and prove to that they are strong - to sum it up simply. Kylo's scar, just like Zuko's, will be the symbol that he will at first see as the pinnacle of all his weaknesses, but then eventually come to realise it represents what can actually make him strong, and he will through that learn to accept himself and all his scars and mistakes, physical and or psychological...a reminder of his guilt at what he's done, so he doesn't repeat history and instead strives for better; bringing balance to the force. The fact that they gave him this scar AND he lost the battle with the hero in the first act are both key pointers towards setting the groundwork's for a complex character whose going to have a compelling redemption.  

Kylo Ren's "Failure" as a villain.

This is one of the main things I noted that indicated to me that Kylo was going to get a redemption arc, when I first viewed TFA, and re-watching ep VII only confirmed it for me. Zuko and Kylo in their first acts fail to be strong villains. Not strong in the terms of the characterization, because Zuko and so far Kylo are strong characters in that sense, more so in terms of us taking them seriously as antagonists.

Below I'm going to bullet point how Zuko and Kylo "fail" as villains within their first Acts, and why that's the point.

Zuko and Kylo are both Funny.

It's true, watching through TFA and Book 1 of Atla there were numerous times where I laughed aloud at these two characters, whether it was a silly/clumsy thing Zuko would do, or that Iroh would say to him, and don't even get me started on the humorous bits within TFA that come from Kylo and his character interactions (his sarcasm to Hux and Mitaka, his outbursts of rage always seemed very comical to me as a watcher, etc). Within their first Acts, Kylo and Zuko are constantly undermined and made fun of, which if compared to Vader or the Emperor, or even Azula would never happen. Sure there's dark humor, but usually from villains you don't get comedic relief like you do with Zuko or Kylo, because villains are supposed to be built up to be intimidating/feared and sure Kylo and Zuko can be powerful, intimidating and scary, but they don't evoke it in the way that Vader or Azula would.

Secondly, some things Kylo tolerated throughout TFA would have been instantaneously crushed if it had been Vader, but Kylo unlike Vader takes it out on the inanimate objects instead of his crew. Similar to Zuko, even when he was an antagonist, towards his opponents he was still honorable, unlike Azula who was cunning and very tactical. Like Zuko, Kylo always takes the direct path, he's not manipulative like Azula, and he's incredibly honest to his enemies just as Zuko was (aka not lying to Rey about her friends instead of lying in order to blackmail her). Sure you can have an honest villain, but you don't introduce antagonists who will stay antagonists by making them less threatening by undermining them and making their characters intentionally comical, ESPECIALLY within the first Act when you're trying to build up your villain. Sure, the rebellion won and blew up the first death star in A New Hope, but Vader still attained a victory by defeating one of the two last Jedi, and his former father-figure/master Obi-Wan and not having Vader himself physically defeated or even confront  the main hero, and NEVER was Darth Vader used intentionally as comic relief.    

Thirdly Kylo and Zuko are immediately undermined by the protagonists at the start of their stories. Zuko and Kylo both enter on large loud ships, surrounded by masked sometimes incompetent stormtroopers/fire nation soldier with ominous music playing, into a small isolated village that was hiding something important. After first showing up, and threatening the people there in order to attain the thing of importance (the avatar/the map) Zuko defeats Sokka in hand-to-hand easily and Kylo stops Poe's blaster bolt. Immediately after, Kylo is undermined by Poe when he's asking him about the map, talking back to him and not taking him seriously with the mask on. Similarly, Zuko is undermined (first by Iroh not bending to Zuko's commands) and by Sokka who humorously hits him round the head with his boomerang at the start of Atla - then by Aang straight after sending him on his backside. By undermining them at the very start of the story, the audience subconsciously takes them less seriously as 'scary' antagonists. You've made them amusing to us, and so we see them less as detached pillars of evil, than we had originally. Instead by making them tipped of balance by others/making mistakes, to the audience, you actually make them see more human.  

Fourthly, his continuous inability to retrieve the map. This is less important, because this mainly happens because him not getting the map is what moves the plot forward, just as not being able to apprehend Aang was what motivated Zuko and the plot of Book 1 Atla. Though just like Zuko, Kylo is thinking about his own personal goal of why he wants the map, just as Zuko wanted to get back Aang, rather than prioritizing his Masters orders, which shows Zuko and Kylo had a knack for being disobedient - especially when you consider Zuko turned his back on his Nation in Book 2 (although that was because his sister tried to kill him). The only order Vader ever disobeyed was when he redeemed himself at the very end of the story, and Azula was cunning but never disobedient when it came to her father Ozai. Not following orders, and getting sidetracked, such as capturing Rey instead of the droid because Kylo personally wanted to, were some of the reasons why he failed and allowed the resistance to not only win but find their way to Luke first, which was a huge blunder. And Azula only tried to kill Zuko and Iroh because they were apparently 'disobedient' and went against orders whilst being unable to fulfill the goal Zuko had been banished for in the first place, whereas villains like Azula or even Zhao had a better track record of victories than failures. Disobedience within the first Act is a clear foreshadowing to them turning their back on their "masters" completely later on, just as Zuko did to Ozai, and hopefully Kylo will do to Snoke.

Fifthly, one of the earliest clues supporting Kylo's potential redemption, and his first failure as a villain, was sparing Finn - one of the trilogies main heroes. He knew Finn didn't shoot, he can read people minds and intentions, so he knew why and he still let him go out of compassion instead of alerting someone or killing him. This Act, in terms of a domino effect, allows the resistance to win and get the droid. In the same vein, within Book 1 Zuko also saves Aang. The Avatar had been captured and was being held by Zhao, and although Zuko did it for personal reasons, under his persona as the blue spirit he saves Aang and frees him (not thinking about his Nation, but himself) and after this act, that was the first time Aang ever offered to be friends with Zuko. Even though he refused, putting that option on the table in the first place was proposing the idea that maybe they COULD be friends, which was huge. Them both having these "save the cat" instances are foreshadowing and a set-up towards their eventual turn to becoming good, but  are also moments that make us again see them as more human and less as "villains".

Finally, Kylo and Zuko both being utterly defeated at the end of their stories first Acts. At the end of TFA, although the fight was pretty close at times, Rey towards the end kicked Kylo's ass. She overtook him in the force, burned him, disabled his Lightsaber and all in all at the last moment completely overpowered him - granted there were many reasons Kylo wasn't fighting at full capacity, but he still Lost. Zuko at the end of the first season of Atla, gets his ass handed to him in the final fight. He gets completely overpowered and defeated by Katara after a back and forth battle, and altogether it's a victory for the good guys. With villains in stories, you DON'T have them get utterly defeated like that within the first Act. Usually the antagonist always needs to have their own personal victory, or the protagonists lose but live to fight another day, because if you have the antagonist lose in the first Act there is no tension later on. The hero has already won, there's no drama there, no build up towards a second potential fight because you know the protagonists have beat them before - they're less of a threat (and unless they're a onetime villain aka a mini-boss, this doesn't work). That's why with normal villains who are present through the majority of the story that doesn't usually happen, because that's just them being a failure of a villain and makes the story less compelling (lowers the stakes); UNLESS that "villain" is going to have a redemption arc. By having the protagonists beat an antagonist whose going to have a redemption, that allows for the antagonist to be knocked off their podium of pride, and re-evaluate the world around them/what they're doing wrong. It allows for a crack in their psyche, in which a character  can naturally be broken down and then built back up again as a protagonist.  

Looking at how many hints there are towards Kylo getting a redemption arc, it makes me wonder... Who is going to be the main "force" villain in either Act two or Act Three? Sure we've got Snoke, but he's the "big bad", the final boss. In Atla, we had the main villain in Azula, who was only introduced at the very end of the first act, and then towards the end of the third act the protagonists faced the final Big Bad - The Fire Lord. In the Original Trilogy, you had Darth Vader as the main villain who was present throughout the trilogy, and the heroes had to face the Big Bad - the Emperor - towards the end of the third act. In these stories there is always what I like to call the Beta villain to the Alpha Villain, usually this Beta Villain is the subordinate, student or underling to the Alpha Villain - they are powerful, and face the main protagonists on usually an equal footing, but they are still a servant to the Big Bad (This would be Kylo if he weren't going to be redeemed, but if he weren't I'd would be comparing Kylo and Azula instead of Kylo and Zuko, but I haven't since Kylo's character resembles Zuko's far, far more). When you've got a character you want the audience to root for/an antagonist you want to redeem later, you always introduce a villain that's worse. Aka in Atla it was Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Azula, and in the original trilogy it was of course the Emperor. We've got Snoke, but is that enough...

If Kylo is being redeemed, he's going to be fighting alongside Rey and the protagonists, not against them. Sure we've got Phasma and Hux, but Captain Phasma is more of a personal antagonist for Finn, and for force users like Rey and Kylo I'm not sure she'd stand much of a chance. There is Hux, but Hux is more of a Zhao type character, with some of the sibling rivalry that Azula and Zuko had - but not really the same. Zhao was one of the other minor antagonists within Atla Book 1, and just like how Hux is an antagonistic rival for Kylo who dislike one another immensely but are technically on the same side, Zhao was a power-hungry and villainous pain in the backside for Zuko, constantly undermining him and trying to rival him -  above all else wanting to win the Fire Lords favor and destroy Zuko's chances - even if that meant killing the banished prince, and so Zuko and Zhao also both hated each other; they even had an Agni Kai (fight of honor between fire-benders within the fire nation). Zhao was "taken care of" in Book 1 (by a giant blue fish), and was as I said above, a 'mini-boss' - aka not very impactful to the story overall. If Hux had died in TFA, (apart from the fandom and all the Millicent and hair jell jokes), for the story it really wouldn't have made much difference - and people are making bets as to whether he dies (and even how he dies - though that's more for fun) in the upcoming episode. So unless Hux is some secret dark side force warrior, and he's just been hiding it all this time, I don't think he's going to be the 'force plots' Beta villain either. I mean, they don't HAVE to have a beta villain, there are some works of fiction that follow similar story arcs which don't, and they could have Rey and Kylo simply mowing down Stormtroopers, taking out space craft, dominating battlefields, doing co-op undercover missions and using their skills on non force users till they get to Snoke, but it's extremely unlikely - why have Rey and Kylo train to become skilled in Lightsaber fighting and force powers only to have them fight enemies who can't also use said powers? This is Star Wars, one of the biggest space-operas and dramatic Fairy Tales in modern fiction, and having an opponent(s) who are on equal footing, can use the force and fight with a Lightsaber against Rey and Kylo is much more compelling, much more personal for the characters, and far more fun and dramatic to watch. I mean who doesn't love a force-warrior Lightsaber/force fight, especially in a "force plot" where you can have the resistance take care of less powerful threats and political maneuvering? There needs to be more to cause chaos than just Snoke, and it sounds unlikely that Kylo would be Snoke's only powerful piece on the board with how "wise" he seems to be.

There's a few options (they could do as I said above, about not having a Beta "force" villain, however unlikely). Either they're going to give an already established character a major upgrade or reveal (maybe one of the Knights of Ren? one of Luke's acolytes that survived? etc) - or they're going to Introduce a completely new character - and début them in the second Act/ep VIII, or even ep IX, just as Azula became the main antagonist/the Beta villain in Book 2 of Atla. Or...Snoke isn't actually the Biggest Bad, and there is surprisingly something far worse/far more powerful with the potential to be something we've never seen before in Star Wars, possibly something that exists outside the influence of the force (though unlikely), or something just plainly nightmarish. It's food for thought at least until we see for ourselves, I trust that whatever we're given at the very least it'll be a good story.

Betrayal.

In terms of paralleling Atla and The Last Jedi, I've been a bit all over the shop due to the differences between the two stories, but in this case linearly these two events would fall into the same place. The end of the second Act. I've talked about Zuko betraying Iroh before, as well as Katara and Aang in the finale episode of Book 2/the second Act "The Crossroads of Destiny", and how it really put a spanner in the works in terms of Zuko's redemption. Zuko and Katara even fight each other, after Katara becomes confused, angry and hurt over Zuko betraying her trust and saying something along the lines of 'I thought you'd changed'. I've always paralleled Zuko's betrayal of Iroh at the end of Act 2, to Kylo betraying Han at the end of Act 1 of the sequel trilogy. In TFA, Kylo although on the side of the First Order is tied to this continual theme of inner-conflict. Similarly throughout book 2 of Atla, Zuko spends the entirety of the second Act within his own conflict, between both good and bad. He struggled with it, just as Kylo was struggling with the light and dark. Zuko then has a moment where it seems he's going to join the protagonists, but then betrays them for the antagonists. The same thing happens to Kylo on that bridge, for a moment we think he's going to come back to the light, but then betrays the protagonists for the darkness. Only after did Zuko find his way to redemption in the third act, just as I believe Kylo will find his way to redemption in the second Act. I've already talked about the parallels between Zuko and Kylo, so why am I going over it again now? Well as I think I've said before, Zuko's redemption wasn't simple, it has twists and turns. Actually most redemptions in good stories are usually never as straight forward as that, it's just a general rule of basic compelling story telling; you make the character make mistakes, so they feel more human and it's even more satisfying when they eventually do the right thing. There has been speculation that if Kylo were to join forces with Luke and Rey, there's a possibility that at some point in TLJ he may betray them for Snoke and his manipulations. I have no doubt that he'd continuously be tempted to go back to the dark completely, but full betrayal is another matter. For one it would put another twist into Kylo's redemption arc, create even more drama between the characters and set up some interesting plot points for episode IX. However, Atla was able to have such a prolonged development and have multiple twists in Zuko's redemption, because Atla was a TV series. In movie form, they may simply not have enough screen time to break down Kylo's character, build him up in redemption then break him down through betrayal AGAIN and finally have him fully redeem himself. It's a bit convoluted, especially since I'm sure Kylo will be a protagonist by the end of this trilogy. I believe they're going to spend a lot of The Last Jedi having Kylo a bit on the fence like he was before, except this time he won't betray those he has compassion for, especially Rey.

This entire trilogy is about balance, as in all 3 acts will be metaphorical representations of this balance. If the first Act - The Force Awakens - was about light conquering darkness, then the second Act - The Last Jedi - will be about darkness conquering light. And finally in Act 3 there will be balance between both. In TFA, Kylo's light was  beginning to conquer his dark, that's why he was so conflicted. So in TLJ, perhaps instead it will be Rey's dark conquering her light? There have already been theories about Rey facing her inner darkness, and possibly her past being connected to some form of evil in the galaxy. It's very speculative, and it's more likely than not that it won't come true, but...what if Rey becomes the one who betrays the light? In TFA Snoke already ordered Kylo to "bring the girl to me" and had sensed that there was an awakening in the galaxy after Rey left Jakku. Assumedly, either Snoke is going to send Kylo to dispose of Rey, or he's going to send Kylo to retrieve her again for his own uses. The Last Jedi is going to end in a dark place. In terms of a story telling arc, as the second part of a trilogy it has to end badly for the protagonists, and be either a win or a bitter-sweet victory for the antagonists. So in the third act the stakes become higher and the story more compelling, or else there's no tension. There have been jokes and theories of Rey "going dark", but... If at the end of this second Act, a scenario occurs where Rey gets captured but this time by Snoke, or she goes with him as someone she cares about is in danger, or Snoke (or an even darker entity) manipulates her using her past and vulnerabilities as well as her own natural pull to the dark side as shown in TFA - it could set Rey on a dark path at the end of the second Act, or at least an extreme temptation to the darkness. Just as Zuko had a betrayal at the end of the second Act, perhaps Rey instead will parallel Zuko as the one who will betray. As Kylo begins to become more connected to the light and out of the darkness, Yin becoming Yang, perhaps Rey will fall more out of the light and into darkness, Yang becoming Yin. If anyone reading this knows of the Knights of the Old Republic, you know a similar scenario occurred between Revan and Bastila when they were on the Star Forge. One was a Jedi of the light, then fell to the darkness, before becoming more grey in terms of the force, though still good (Revan). Whilst the other was of the light, but fell to darkness before returning to become good, but more 'grey' (Bastila). If Rey turns to the darkness at the end of The Last Jedi, it will be Kylo who will not force her, but give her the choice to turn back to the side of good as he will understand what it is like - and show her the same compassion she will most likely show him. Where they can both become neutral/'grey' in the force and be balanced. Just like Revan gave Bastila the choice to either go back to the light or have him join her in the darkness, and just like Zuko gave Katara the choice, freedom and support to do as she needed in Book Three of Atla. Again this is all hypothesis until proven fact through evidence. Though it would be interesting to have one of the stories main heroines go through something like this, I'm skeptical about her going full dark and then coming back to the light, rather I think she'll be severely and rigorously tempted, but she is a strong willed and stubborn character, so I feel her compassion and natural affinity for kindness in the end shall prevail.

At the end of this trilogy, balance should be achieved. We know that when there are two opposing forces, even if one conquers the other, as the Original and Prequels taught us, that will never truly bring balance. That's why the idea of the "grey Jedi" is so important, and Lor San Tekka was right in a sense - "Without the Jedi there can be no balance in the force" - Jedi, just not in the original sense of the term, because they would encompass all of the force, and they wouldn't be tied to one side or one political group/government like the Jedi of the Prequels were. No more restrictions. They would be neutral warriors who not discriminate and or side with one thing, all they do is fight for what is right using what the force gives them naturally. Instead they'd focus on keeping balance and peace in all corners of the galaxy with their own freedom, no longer chained down to a corrupt creed. At the start of Atla, Zuko was the banished Prince, and by the end he was the Fire Lord that brought balance and peace. I believe by the end of this sequel trilogy, in a tragically flipped mirroring of Zuko, Kylo instead will be the banished Prince - as retribution for the sins he's committed, and he has done wrong there's no question about that, so he will need to have some sort of recompense in some form. A wondering neutral warrior helping those and bringing balance, mirroring Ben Kenobi the man he was named after, who spent 20 years doing the exact same thing. Who in that time did not consider himself a true Jedi, but never turned his back on his duty to watch over Luke, or help those who needed it.

Only this time, I don't think Ben will be alone.  

Well kriffing hell, cack me! Cheers for reading the First Part of me trying to type down the stuff inside my head about these two fictional worlds and their characters before I become (even more) insane. There is more but it was getting so long I decided to put it into a two part post, the second will expand more on general parallels and the ships rather than just redemption, so go to part two (when I finally get it up) in order to read more and become further engrossed in the dark side mwahahaha.

p.s If any of the Star Wars Connection People are reading this, first off hello there! Second off I was actually towards the end of writing this meta when I saw your videos on my notifications come out detailing similarities between Atla and Star Wars. I know parallels have been drawn in the community plenty a time, but it still blew my mind a little bit  that you guys were talking about something I’ve been furiously typing down for weeks - lol.

 If any of you guys haven’t already, I seriously recommend you go check out their Star Wars Connection Podcast on YouTube - it’s got some pretty funny yet brilliant analysis on Star Wars, especially the sequel trilogy. Including ships, symbolism and general theories. They’re a testament to the community and some of the stupendous people in it, and they’re only a small fraction.  

[seyaryminamoto]

While I agree that I would've loved to see Zuko and Azula get along more, and I still do want that, but honestly, I don't think that anyone will disagree that Azula's behavior was far worse when she got older. This isn't me ripping on her, because I really do love her, but Ozai corrupted almost any good that she had in her. At that point in time, I agreed with Iroh. She needed to go down. I still have some hope for her redemption, but she was a danger, and needed to be stopped at that time.

PSA: THIS IS A RANT THAT CRITICIZES FANDOM BELOVED CHARACTERS. NOT BECAUSE I’M RANTING ABOUT IT DOES IT MEAN YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO LOVE THEM. THIS IS NOT A BLOG FOR PROMOTION OF NON-PROBLEMATIC CONTENT, NEVER HAS BEEN NEVER WILL BE. I AM NOT PRETENDING MY FAVES ARE BETTER HUMAN BEINGS THAN YOURS. OKAY? OKAY. CARRY ON.

… Actually, I think literally everyone I know disagrees? o_O

I mean, it’s 11-year-old Azula who celebrates Zuko getting burned (for whatever her reasons, it’s very debated, as you might know). 14-year-old Azula doesn’t thrive in Zuko’s pain until her breakdown, which I THINK everyone acknowledges as her not-normal status, where she basically wants revenge for Zuko “stealing” everything she thought was rightfully hers. So, in regards of “basking in suffering”? There’s literally no solid evidence for it when she’s older, which is why everyone uses the Agni Kai as evidence to call her a sadist and then have no other examples for it. Azula has lots of chances to put people through worlds of pain if she feels like it, but she never takes them. Even after taking Zuko captive in the Crossroads of Destiny, she inflicts ZERO damage on him. So? Is she really worse at 14 than she was at 11?

Throughout Book 2 she tries to capture Zuko and Iroh, never kill them. Back when she was 9, she was amused by the idea of Zuko getting adopted by an Earth Kingdom family while at 14 she’s offering him the chance to come home. I’d think there’s a difference, and not quite a negative one. Even if “the redemption she offered was not for him”, it’s still Azula giving Zuko a chance to return to his family and homeland, as fucked-up a family as it may be, instead of thinking it’s hella fun for Zuko to live like a peasant and be cut off from his family and everything he knows. Again, I don’t see how she’s worse at 14.

Though I’ll say, just in case, that if you’re one of those people who think she could see the future and somehow predicted that Aang wouldn’t die because Katara had magic water (for the billionth time, she had no realistic way of knowing this, and this is the only reason why she could have suspected Aang would survive because it’s the only reason why Zuko suspected it in the first place), if you think that she planned everything ahead long before the turtle-duck pond scene, then I don’t think we’ll see eye to eye in many regards, if any at all…

If you’re also thinking about how she burns Iroh in The Chase, as most her actions in Books 2 and 3, she was doing it for a purpose. She needed to escape, Iroh’s the one that got distracted. If anyone else had been distracted instead, she would have gone for them instead, I’m sure of it.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, BECAUSE I JUST KNOW IT WENT FORGOTTEN:

Iroh escaped violently too back in Book 1 from a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers who had rightfully taken him prisoner when he had his guard down. I don’t see the difference between either situation. If Iroh and Zuko get to team up, burn and crush five Earth Kingdom men (who may just have had good reasons to despise Iroh for his siege to Ba Sing Se, just like Iroh and Zuko had good reasons to run away from Azula), why the heck is it such a horrible crime when Azula did it? Is it because she did it to a named, beloved character but when Iroh did it, it was to a random Earth Kingdom soldier?

Just to remind you, since this is an old episode people tend to forget, at one point Iroh even set up a trap so a soldier would “tighten his shackles”, overheated his left shackle and burned the guy’s hand, AND KEPT HIS HAND PRESSED TO THE SHACKLE, BTW, to make sure he got burned! Afterwards, shoots a lot of fire at an ostrich horse so he can cause a distraction and escape, but he fails anyways and that’s when the soldiers decide he’s too dangerous as he is. Now, how is his course of action any different from what Azula did to him and to the Gaang? How aren’t we having discussions on how awful Iroh’s actions are, but this is ALWAYS an argument people bring up to say Azula is awful…?

My opinion? We should start measuring characters with the same scale, same measure tape. If this is something we forgive of Iroh’s, then it makes no sense for it to be something we can’t forgive of Azula’s. All it really means is people are less willing to forgive her than they are to forgive him.

After all this evidence, I don’t think she got any worse with age, nor do I think that at 14 she’s a worse person than a lot of people the Gaang met. I mean, I really don’t know where you’re getting that idea about her being worse when she’s older… I mean, what, she’s better at manipulation? She’s more efficient about the things she does? She’s more goal-oriented? 9yo Azula literally talks about her grandfather and uncle dying as casually as can be, I see no such behavior in 14yo Azula until her breakdown, which is the only point where she starts wanting Zuko dead (given how frustrated Zuko is when Azula doesn’t plummet to death, though, I don’t think she’s the only one who wanted to be an only child).

Long story short, Anon, I see no excuse for Iroh’s comment. Especially when you see him dismissing and treating Azula as less important than Zuko from as early as in picking out presents for his niece and nephew. I see no excuse for Iroh trying to spare his own potentially conflicted feelings when it comes to fighting his own brother, who is WORSE than Azula, while having groomed Zuko perfectly into being ready to fight his sister 24/7. 

She was a hazard and needs to be stopped is an argument I’ve seen used countless times to justify Iroh and Zuko being merciless towards her, btw. May I remind you, though… both Zuko and Iroh end up as her prisoners at different points in time. Then she takes them home, mission accomplished. That’s it. That’s what she did to them at the time. That’s what her threat amounted to. Zuko goes unharmed altogether. Iroh gets treated worse by the creep-ass Warden than he does by Azula. So, she was a hazard? She was a problem? She needed to be stopped? Uh, let me translate that: she was their foil, she was on a mission that they needed to keep her from fulfilling. Just as Azula was a danger to them, Zuko was a danger to Aang in Book 1 (and still part of Book 2). Why doesn’t anyone ever claim he needs to be stopped, that he’s a menace, that he’s a terrible person for all that? It doesn’t happen in-story, ever. When Katara is being super distrustful of him in Book 3, she’s framed as in the wrong about him and takes aaaaaaaaaaall of it back before long. So, why the double standard? Is it because Zuko’s not as effective as his sister? Because his persistence is apparently a good trait, but in Azula it’s the mark of evil?

Really, stop to look at Azula’s POV for a while. Watch the show from where she’s standing. Literally, her every action from Book 2 to 3 (until her breakdown) has a reason, she doesn’t do anything for free. Even her threat to Ty Lee, horrible as it was, came from her deciding to change her tactics and settling on Ty Lee and Mai as her new companions. It proves she’s not going to stop at anything, yes, but she had a purpose. Ty Lee would have stayed happy, unthreatened, in her circus, if only Ozai didn’t tell Azula to find and bring Iroh and Zuko home. It’s because of her mission that Azula drags her out of there. EVERYTHING she does is because of the mission in Book 2. By Book 3, it’s about keeping the Fire Nation on top, and about defeating the threats against it. She literally lets the Gaang get away when she could have chased after them on that blimp she was on at the end of the episode, maybe attacked them from it (especially since Appa was carrying too many people and wouldn’t fly too far like that). She chooses not to, because the battle is over. She won. Why would she need to do anything else? 

Also, literally none of the adults who were taken prisoners look harmed, so the Fire Nation didn’t treat them poorly. Hell, Hakoda is HEALED from his injury when we see him again in the Boiling Rock. Sooooo, how damn horrible it is to lose against Azula, isn’t it? Who has EVER seen a more dangerous villain?!?!?! I mean, ffs, let’s be objective here, shall we? Zhao was way worse to Zuko and to his prisoners than Azula was. Long Feng was a literal brainwasher. By violence measurements and cruelty, she’s a n00b compared to them.

Long story short, if the problem is Azula is too effective a villain without that much violence, and that’s why she has to stop, well, it ain’t her fault her enemies aren’t as competent as she is. I don’t see how she’s morally worse than anyone else they fought, tbh she’s not, because she does offer Zuko kindness plenty of times. Yet she gets treated like the biggest problem ever by the characters and fandom alike.

And really, I think we both got extremely sidetracked from the point of the post that caused you to send this ask. Point is, Iroh doesn’t want Zuko and Azula getting along. Iroh doesn’t ever consider that maybe he can guide Azula into a better path if it was possible with Zuko. Iroh doesn’t ever think that maybe he can help her get out of Ozai’s influence. To him, she’s a lost case, and worse than that, she’s barely family (NEVER does he refer to her as such). To him, she’s the biggest rival he ever faces in the show because, as the show proved, Azula can make Zuko drift away from him. So, Mr. Nice Wise Guy never tried to get along with his niece and basically marked her as unforgivable for as long as she was a threat to his influence on Zuko. Ursa was a nasty mother to Azula and we literally have no proof of her loving Azula, but she didn’t want her children to be enemies. Ozai and Iroh literally turn Azula and Zuko against each other. Can we just accept that Iroh isn’t all that blameless? Why do we need to excuse him and pretend he had every right to behave like this 14yo girl was Vaatu incarnate when the show itself proves she’s NOT?

Seriously though. Iroh is not perfect. What’s so hard about admitting this? Why can’t we accept that he’s not all wisdom? That he never tried to help Azula? That he never wanted Zuko and Azula to get along? That he literally was counting on breaking Zuko away from his other relatives so he’d come to him, and him alone? I’m not saying that Azula and Ozai were good influences on Zuko, because they weren’t, but Zuko used to care about his father. He used to think he should get along with his sister. 

Wouldn’t it be EXTRA meaningful if Zuko had still felt that it was somehow wrong to fight his family, even though he knew it was the only thing he could do, instead of being murder-happy towards Aang while telling him his father HAD TO DIE? Wouldn’t it be better if Iroh had actually tried to reach Azula, but she just swatted him off because she’s not interested in what he’s selling? Wouldn’t it mean something huge for his character if Zuko’s attempt to reconnect with the good in his family had actually meant reconnecting his family to GOODNESS, instead of just worrying about his personal needs during The Search, WHICH IS ALL HE DID???

No. Instead, we get both Zuko and Iroh concluding that their respective siblings need to be ended. If you find nothing worth complaining about in those regards, that’s your problem, but I don’t have to like it. And I don’t have to think they’re heroic or right to think the way they do. Azula is no angel, neither are they. Zuko would be a far more moving character for me if he actually had shown he gave a damn about his sister, but he NEVER DID. 

Because really, every single time you see those asks going around? It’s “Do you guys REALLY think Azula cared about Zuko?” Ask yourself if Big Brother Zuzu cared about Azula instead, for a change. And FYI, if you conclude that he didn’t love her at all, that doesn’t mean you can’t love him. You can. Just, be aware of the fact that he’s no beacon of perfect goodness, that he’s got a lot of areas to improve on, and just like him, Iroh does. I find it beyond unfair that a man who literally redeemed himself at well past 50 years of age decided that his teenage niece is beyond saving. 

So, anon, be objective, don’t look at things from Iroh’s POV but from a neutral one, by understanding everyone’s motivations, and tell me that Iroh wouldn’t look like a way better human being if he just gave a shit about the family members he’s estranged from, while they don’t care about him at all. Literally, it’d be the perfect way to show why Iroh is the morally correct one. You want me to tell you the hard truth as to why this is so hard to accept for most fans? It’s only because of how morally incorrect his behavior is that people keep refusing to admit Iroh was wrong in how he handled Azula and her relationship with Zuko.