#and zuko’s guilt about iroh in the second half of book three is about the eay he acts here just as much as his betrayal i think

[zukosdualdao]

watching zuko berate iroh in jail is honestly one of the hardest scenes in the show for me to watch (i literally had to pause and take a breath lmao, it’s just. it’s a lot.) but it’s legitimately so fascinating because zuko is doing so much projection here. which is what people very often are doing when they lash out in this way.

like, part of it is obvious. zuko blames iroh for his imprisonment, insisting they could have returned home together—echoing azula’s insistence that it was really iroh who betrayed him in tcod—if iroh had just sided with them. and when iroh says nothing, zuko insists iroh has no right to judge him. but again: iroh has said and done… literally nothing. sure, you could argue that zuko’s reading iroh silence and turning away as judgment (which, i think it’s more complicated than that. he’s very hurt and very sad, and he also doesn’t know what else he could possibly do or say when he’s tried everything to help zuko and ended up in a prison cell, so why should he think zuko will listen to him at this point?) but he came into this one-sided conversation already defensive.

zuko doesn’t feel judged because of anything iroh’s doing, despite what he says; he feels judged because he feels guilty, because he has an actual conscience, and as much as he wants to ignore it, he can’t, not entirely. but he also can’t admit to feeling guilt without admitting that the choice he made in ba sing se was wrong. and he’s not ready to admit that for a number of reasons, partially because i’m not even sure he knows that’s what he’s feeling, partially because he’s not yet ready to take moral accountability—but also, partially because at this point, admitting that is dangerous, because now he’s back with his abuser, who would take such guilt as both treason and personal offense. even if no one else was around to hear it, zuko certainly wouldn’t feel safe expressing that.

which leads to the other bit of projection i think is a lot subtler. it’s honestly not something i clocked until this rewatch, as before, zuko shouting that iroh was a “crazy old man” just seemed like something zuko was mimicking from ozai and azula, who absolutely do talk about iroh like he’s crazy, and i do still think that’s part of it.

but, idk, maybe it was less intentional on the part of the writers, but when zuko shouts that iroh’s crazy… i mean, i can’t help but think of how he’s actively being told his feelings and fears are irrational and being gaslit since he got back to the fire nation. i think it’s fair to say he feels a bit “crazy” because that’s what people who gaslight you are trying to accomplish (and we’ll see zuko admit to how confused he’s feeling in both the beach and the avatar the firelord.) that’s a scary, out-of-control thing to be feeling, so it’s not surprising that it’s another thing he tries to turn back on iroh in order to gain back some semblance of control. (it Does Not work.)

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Mutilated Mannequin (Part 3)

Azula feels as though she has signed away her soul. She supposes in some more flowery and figurative manner of speaking, that she has. At the very least, she has signed away a portion of her body.

She directs her thoughts elsewhere and begins working out a speech for the class elections; a list of promises and choice words. Perhaps she'd pass out some sort of food since monetary bribes are prohibited by the school.

Her plans thus far included a push for  a better reward system for those on the honor roll and for better funding for the non-athletic extra curriculars. She taps her pen against her lips as she thinks it over. The first formal lunchroom debate is to occur in three days time and she best have some dialogue prepared. Granted, she finds it hard to come up with anything when the student council hasn’t even told her of the questions to be asked and topics to be discussed. 

TyLee drops into the seat next to her. “How’d your...uh...thing go?” 

Azula shrugged. “It was an event and it...occurred.” She wishes that she could say that it isn’t still occurring. “How did your tryouts go?” 

“Fantastic!” TyLee claps her hands together. “You know, varsity is only for upperclassmen, like juniors and seniors…”

“I know what an upperclassmen is, TyLee.” 

“Well, coach Rangi says that she might put me on varsity anyways.” She is beaming from ear to ear and Azula tries to muster up some enthusiasm, but she hasn’t been able to shake her own dread since the night prior. 

It keeps re-emerging in her mind, the image of her altered face. If she can’t even get used to the mental image of it, how the hell is she supposed to cope with seeing it in a mirror? 

“Are you still planning on attending the astronomy club?” TyLee asks. “I think Yue said that she was going, she really likes the moon or something.” The girl gives a shrug. 

“Yes, I’m going.” Azula confirms. Between running for student presidency, maintaining her spot on the honor roll list, and astronomy, she is going to have her hands full. Perhaps it is a good thing, it doesn’t leave much room for dwelling on her nerves. If she is lucky, she might be able to keep herself busy enough to avoid a second appointment. But she knows that she will only be delaying the inevitable. 

She knows that her father will cancel her plans to drag her to the clinic. She just hopes that these appointments won’t conflict with the astronomy club. 

“Are you going to join Yue and I? Mai can’t because she has to watch Tom-Tom on Tuesdays.” 

TyLee bites her cheek. “I can probably come later in the year, but Coach Rangi says that most of our competitions are going to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, sometimes Saturdays for the big ones.” 

Azula nod, she has an overwhelming desire to guilt her into dropping gymnastics. Instead she lightly bites down on her pen. 

“Are you mad?” 

Azula shakes her head. 

She isn’t mad. 

She is scared. 

Scared and somehow she feels alone. 

.oOo.

She finds herself in the lunchroom again, bracing herself for another conversation that she couldn't get invested in.

"Hey, can I copy your history homework?" Chan asks. "Kyoshi is going ham with these assignments."

"I suppose that it looks that way to someone who hadn’t turned his assignments in, in over a week." Azula shrugs.

"So that's a no?" Chan asks.

"Chan, I threw out that worksheet a week ago." She pushes another away, and I already turned this packet in."

"Well shit..." he mutters.

"I heard you're thinking of joining the astronomy club, Toph." Azula hears Suki say as the pair breezed by.

"That's right!" Toph replies boldly. "I'm going to be Agni High's first blind stargazer! Principal Pathik is going to be so proud."

"You just want to discuss extra terrestrial conspiracy theories." Katara mumbles.

“God, they are such dorks.” Yue comments. 

Azula shrugs but she isn’t going to disagree. Though she does wonder exactly what warranted the comment this time. She tests the waters, “if you think astronomy is for dorks then why are you going to the club?”

“First of all, it’s cool when we do it. Second of all, I promised Katty that I’d be better than her at everything.” 

“Pretty sure that I made Zuzu the same promise.” Azula flicks her bangs. She fills in one last answer on her worksheet and puts it away.

“Done already?” Jet asks.

“Did you expect anything less?” Mai asks. “How long have you been sitting with us now?”

“Much longer than any of us can tolerate.” Azula mutters, drawing a cheerful laugh from TyLee. 

“And here I was going to share my cookie with you.” He shuffles around in his paper bag and fishes out an absurdly large chocolate chip cookie.

Azula holds her hand out. “I suppose that we can tolerate your presence a bit longer.” 

He chuckles and breaks the cookie in half. 

“What about the rest of us?” Yue asks.

“Yeah, you jackass!” Chan adds. 

Azula exhales, it is refreshing to be talking about things unrelated to relationships and homecoming dances, and other matters that remind of her of what’s to come. She tries to immerse herself in the conversation. Tries to remind herself to just think about the first astronomy club meeting.

.oOo.

“I bet that you can’t even work a child friendly telescope.” Yue drums her fingers on the table. 

“I’ve been stargazing longer than you have.” Katara counters. 

Azula finds herself a seat, next to Yue. She gives the room a once over. Other than Yue and Katara, she knows no one. She finds herself somewhat disappointed that Toph had only been jesting about joining the club. She supposes that she doesn’t mind some time to herself. The stars are supposed to be serene anyways. Serene and quiet and a steady constant when she needs some sort of stability. 

“You’re just mad because my daddy bought me the last StareScape model 10.” Yue declares. 

“Just because you have an overpriced telescope, doesn’t mean that you have the brains to use it.���

Azula rolls her eyes, she has an itch to inform Yue that it is a StarScope model 9, but she doesn’t fancy agreeing with the brother of her competition. She would rather observe the squabble than part-take. She isn’t quite in the mood for petty games these days, if she ever had been at all. 

The more she ponders it, the more she begins to consider that, perhaps, she is only with the in crowd because her family has money. That’s the only reason Zuko isn’t harassed. It’s the only reason that the girls flock to him, or so he claims. 

“Tell her, Azula!” Yue pulls her back into the present.”

Azula rolls her eyes. “Tell her what.” 

“That she’s not allowed to be here. No nerds in the astronomy club.”

“I’m fairly certain that the astronomy club was founded by a gaggle of nerds.”

“Whose side are you on?” Yue asks. 

“Whichever side has more brain cells at the time.” She shrugs. Sure the girl’s brother is competition, but at least the girl doesn’t make Azula feel like her IQ points are dwindling with every passing second spent in her company. Resentfully, she recalls that her IQ points are really the only advantages she has. “Besides, this is your age old rivalry. Not mine.”

“Thank you!” Katara throws her hands up. 

“Don’t get the wrong idea. You’re brother is a nuisance and I have a feeling that it runs in the family.” She folds her arms over her chest. She has to remind them every now and again, has to remind herself of why she has a higher place on the social ladder. She has to maintain it somehow. And since she can’t flash a gorgeous smile or flaunt an enticing body, she’d just have to settle for asserting her dominance and pick friends carefully. Not that she really particularly trusts anyone in these halls save for Mai and TyLee. 

Katara scowls but folds her arms with a ‘humph’.

If the banter were to continue it would have been cut short anyhow. Mr. Zhao appears in the room with a stack of books and star charts. She hopes to God that he is less humdrum and sour after school hours. “Where is Pathik?” Asks a boy from the other side of the room. “Usually principal Pathik runs the club.” 

“Pathik is busy with final back to school matters.” Zhao replied. “I will be filling in for him for the time being.”

“Hoo-ray.” Yue slouches in her chair, puffs out her cheeks, and blows at a strand of her hair. Azula can’t help but think that, somehow, that expression is still more attractive than whatever she has going on with her own face at any given moment. She grips her pencil more firmly. 

“I have a rather special announcement. Exciting news.” Zhao drawls. 

His monotonous demeanor certainly drove his words home.

“This year, we are offering a chance to visit the NIR&Ex...”

“Isn’t that a designer brand?” Yue asks.

“It’s the National Interstellar Research and Exploration Institute, you dolt.” Katara hisses. 

“As well as a chance to earn a scholarship to Laogai Lake University. Many astronomers have graduated from there like…” Zhao peers down at his paper. “Wan, Sozin, and Agni High’s own Yangchen.”

“Isn’t Sozin, like, your uncle or something? The one who always talks like a poetry book.” 

“He’s my great-grandfather, Yue. You’re thinking of Iroh.”

“I’m trying to hear this!” Katara shushes through gritted teeth. “Maybe your daddies can bribe you in, but I actually need this.”

Yue rolls her eyes. “Listen to that. I hear that she gets wears secondhand socks from her brother. That’s why they call him Sokka, because he keeps giving her his socks.”

“They call him Sokka because that’s. His Name.”

Azula pinches the bridge of her nose, she doesn’t know just how long she can tolerate this for. She came here for solace and at least a fraction of a moment of peace. 

“Sure it is…” Yue replies.

Azula groans softly before getting up and going to sit next to the boy on the other side of the room. 

[zuko-always-lies]

Honestly I feel like ATLA is a show which could very much have used a fourth or fifth season. The third season was a bit poorly paced and the second half in particular was rushed.

But one of the interesting things about Zuko’s arc is that Ozai’s whole “let’s burn down the Earth Kingdom” plan was pretty blatantly retconned in. It wasn’t originally part of the writing when they wrote the “Day of Black Sun” or “The Western Air Temple.” And without Ozai’s evil plan, Zuko’s arc looks suspiciously like “I decided to defect and join the Avatar because I didn’t feel happy and fulfilled in the Fire Nation and felt I’d be happier telling off my abusive father and joining the Gaang.”

For instance, “Nightmares and Daydreams”

Zuko: During the meeting, I was the perfect prince.  The son my father wanted. But I wasn't me.

“The Southern Raiders”:

Zuko: This isn't fair. Everyone else seems to trust me now. What is it with you?

...

Zuko: Your sister, she hates me and I don't know why! But I do care what she thinks of me.

So the implication, intended or not, is that when Zuko joins the Gaang, he’s primarily seeking his own happiness. At best, he’s trying to assuage his guilt about betraying his uncle by doing what he thinks Iroh wants him to do. 

Why is Zuko seeking his own happiness bad? Well, in doing so he throws his sister, his girlfriend, and his only other friend in the Fire Nation about as far under the bus as he can, doing everything he can(particularly through tattling on Azula’s lie) to get them imprisoned, executed, or tortured.  “Seeking his own happiness and fulfillment” involves hurting the only three people in the Fire Nation who love him just about as badly as he can, all three women.

Like, I’m sure that this wasn’t entirely intended, but some of the bad writing in Zuko’s arc(and the very fact that the arc is always more focused on “Zuko finding happiness and fulfillment” than on “Zuko turning against Fire imperialism”) leaves this implication.

And honestly, if we accept the retcon of Ozai’s evil plan and have Zuko be focused on stopping that, than the easiest way for that would be for Zuko to just kill Ozai during the Day of Black Sun and then flee, because it’s very doubtful that Firelord Azula would go through with something as stupidly inefficient as Ozai’s plan if she were in charge. And that way he wouldn’t be putting Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee in massive amounts of danger by throwing them under the bus and deliberately pissing off Ozai.

I know I’m being harsh, but I feel the writing in Zuko’s arc in Book 3 was particularly questionable, because it focused almost entirely on “Zuko learning that he should prioritize making Iroh and the Gaang happy and bend his entire life on fulfilling the destiny Iroh set out for him” rather than “Zuko rejecting what he’s been indoctrinated in.” The “Zuko moves beyond Fire imperialism” part is entirely shown through words(and only a couple instances there) rather than through actions or through Zuko actually struggling to reconcile incompatible values and learning to be a better person.

As someone, who's favourite character is Zuko, let me just say that your analysis about the Southern Raiders is spot on. Something about that episode (especially the way Zuko acted) always felt a little... off to me. And I could never figure out what it was exactly and considering the fact that discussion about this episode centered around the Kataang vs Zutara, I thought I was the only one who felt that way. So, I guess thanks for putting my thoughts into words.

Oh, I really feel ya, anon. If you actually don't look at the episode from a shipping point of view, which seems to be the focus of most the fandom, a lot of unpleasant things really start sticking out. I'm personally neutral to the Kataang vs. Zutara debate, I see good points and drawbacks to both ships, and no one's going to convince me that this episode proved the superiority of either pairing, especially when the shipping interpretations have never been important to me when analyzing this episode. People can say Aang is right in the end, they can say Zuko understands Katara's plight better (which, considering Aang has lost even more people he loved than Zuko has, he certainly should have understood Katara's suffering quite well too), but focusing on whether Zuko or Aang are the angel or the devil on Katara's shoulders practically blinds everyone to the very glaring and mindboggling flaws in this episode's writing, imo.

In general, the concept of Zuko's life-changing field trips with the three Gaang members he'd wronged the most is fine and fun for most people, but from the first time I watched the show it felt like the production team knew they were pressed for time and needed some veeeery quick and effective solution for Zuko to gain acceptance in the Gaang ASAP despite all the bad blood there. I can imagine a lot of people love these episodes, but admittedly I wouldn't rank any of them among my favorites because, as interesting as some of their concepts could be, if executed right, my immersion certainly wasn't as strong as with the rest of the show due to the nagging feeling that this was all for the sake of redeeming Zuko in the eyes of each Gaang member... and not necessarily in the eyes of the audience.

They get away with it, of course, because by this point in time, the audience is 100% conditioned to love the Gaang and Zuko, and if you see them getting along, you should be rejoicing in their team-up... but if you put some emotional distance between yourself as a viewer and the events of these episodes, their writing leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the concept of giving Zuko a quick whitewashing in the eyes of Aang, Sokka and Katara, one after the other, so they can genuinely accept him as a teammate and friend. If we'd seen similar trips frequently or occasionally in the rest of the show, with two specific members of the team taking off on an adventure by themselves, it might not be so glaringly obvious (and even... artificial? I guess?) that they're trying to quick-redeem him for each of them here, but on top of it happening thrice, it's literally happening one after the other, too. There's no episodes in-between, it's just literally a four-parter arc of "let's help Zuko become friends with these three".

The plotlines to be dealt with in these episodes are basically catered to each Gaang member, tailor-made life-changing field trips based on whatever they'll value the most, all of it conveniently possible and doable in the span of time they have between Zuko's joining of their group and the show's finale. Aang needs to learn firebending, Sokka needs to save his dad, Katara is permanently grieving for her mother's death. And so, Zuko to the rescue! If he helps them with their personal character quests, he gets 50+ approval points! :'D Honestly, I'm absolutely not against the notion of Zuko befriending them, obviously not, but the methods through which they chose to make it happen simply might not be the finest...?

Zuko loses his ability to bend because he "lost his rage", but he's still angry pretty often, the show even spoofs its own writing by showing him losing his patience at Sokka... while at the same time trying to sell that Zuko "isn't angry" anymore? Zuko helps break out random prisoners from the Boiling Rock without taking a single moment to actually learn who they are, why they were locked up, and without pondering if they deserve to be helped or if perhaps they're genuinely dangerous? Zuko gives Katara every possible tool and information she needs to take revenge on Yon Rha, because, loosely quoting his own words, he "cares what she thinks of him"...?

How about if we'd seen Zuko trying to connect with Fire Nation people, to help his fellow Fire Nation citizens, especially the ones who were living in dreadful conditions, like the ones in the Jang Hui river village? How about if we'd seen Zuko saving lives rather than threatening to take them? How about if we'd seen Zuko actually reasoning with his anger, and either working his way out of it, or repurposing it consciously, or making legitimate, personal efforts to find a new source of strength for his firebending through self-reflection, above all else?

We didn't really need sudden one-on-one field trips to teach Aang, Katara and Sokka to trust Zuko: we needed Zuko to prove himself worthy of that trust, to show how much he has changed, to literally contrast his new behavior with the old, to actually see that the guy no longer jumps into violence-mode 24/7, that he's willing to listen to other people's opinions or wisdom, that he wants to learn better when he knows he's misguided or misunderstanding something or another. Would he have become BFFs with any of them in four episodes if this had happened? Well, it definitely would have happened with Aang, the other two would have been trickier, but they definitely would have been more willing to accept him if they actually got to SEE that the changes in Zuko weren't skin-deep. Katara can be as thick-headed and stubborn as she may want to be, but I have no doubts she wouldn't have been able to hate Zuko as much as she used to if she'd seen him helping people, much like she often wants their group to do. But instead, they don't get to see the actual changes and growth... they just get their biggest goals and wishes satisfied, and that's enough to decide Zuko's trustworthy, no matter whatever sketchy behavior he displays in later episodes.

I absolutely appreciate the worldbuilding context we gain for the raids on the Water Tribe through The Southern Raiders, but I don't think this was an organic way to tell the story of how Zuko became friends with the Gaang. If pressed, I'd even say that Zuko's overt desperation to be their friend is OOC, to a degree: if this guy actually knows how dangerous his father's plans are (and he's supposed to :'D), how isn't he focusing on that side of things, when he's always been such a go-getter? It's not like he grew out of this sort of ends-justify-the-means behavior, seeing as he's absolutely obsessed with stopping his father ASAP, by any means possible, in the finale, when there was no such urgency to be found ever since he joined the Gaang. How isn't he more worried about stopping Ozai than about becoming best friends with the Gaang? Immediately sharing everything he's learned about Ozai's intentions of destroying the whole world might not make them friends instantaneously, but it would certainly get someone like Sokka to take his information seriously and immediately begin strategizing how to counter Ozai's plans. Instead, Zuko spent all those weeks, over a month, even, teaching Aang firebending, going on field trips and hanging out with his new friends in Ember Island. Once you have all the cards on deck and you actually look at all of them at once, doesn't it feel like there were so many more ways to achieve what the show was going for, far more effective ways than through the "let's be friends with Zuko" arc?

Ultimately, there's very little display of growth, in my opinion, in this small arc, on Zuko's side, despite the most obvious and reasonable way to earn the trust of the Gaang would be by outright showing them how much he's grown. I won't deny I appreciate that the writers respected his personality and didn't just warp him into the perfect good softboi the way the fandom apparently interprets him, but even if Zuko was going to be cranky and speak one-liners like "I'm never happy", it wasn't impossible to write better situations for him to connect with the Gaang's members and gain their trust. Even if the writers were set on having these episodes happen exactly as they did, they absolutely could have been written in a much better way, to create an explicit and direct contrast between Zuko's early behavior and the new Zuko's behavior when it comes to things that matter (most the parallels I've seen the fandom drawing are things like "oh look he hated tea before but now he brews it for his friends! So much growth!"... would've been nice to see the growth when it came to a lot of other things, too, if the growth really was there? Am I rite...?).

I may just be influenced by other redemption arcs that focus mainly on characters having common goals and working together to achieve them, then becoming friends in the process... but I really don't see how Zuko's character benefited from these episodes. Yes, bridges were built... but they absolutely could have been built in a more organic way that didn't make people like myself (and a few others) question if Zuko had learned or grown at all, considering the way he behaves isn't all that distant from the Zuko we've seen and known throughout the rest of the show. And the fact that he really seems to have learned nothing in The Southern Raiders once you reach the show's finale... you're basically asked to take for granted Zuko did learn a lot of lessons because he says he did, to assume he's going to put them into practice sometime in the future despite he has chances to do it during the show itself but never does, simply because they drop the ball upon every opportunity to show how much he's changed.

I really don't blame his character at all, when it comes to these shortcomings... it's seriously, genuinely, a problem with the writing department. Take a look through the fandom and you'll see thousands of people who claim Zuko's character arc is the most touching, complex and beautiful writing they ever have seen... and why? Because we're in the face of tell-don't-show :'D most people's perception of Zuko's character are based not so much on HOW Zuko displays his growth, it's strongly based on him stating he made progress, even if there's too many instances where the growth simply seems to have fallen to the wayside or gone forgotten for the sake of a plotline or another. Zuko absolutely could have been written far better than this, he could absolutely have the redemption arc his fans are sure he does have, but for me... there's way too many gaps in logic, too many missed opportunities, to truly think his growth was as extraordinary as a lot of people are hung up on saying it was.

[neuronary]

not to mention - and this is never mentioned - azula is both just a kid, and not just a kid, because she is a child soldier, in a much more literal sense than the rest of the characters. yes, aang and his friends are forced to fight in a war, and yes, zuko also fights on and off in his avatar quest, but their motivations/driving forces are mainly internal. aang is driven by guilt and a sense of duty. similarly, katara is driven by hope and a desire for justice and peace. sokka, i would say, is mostly driven by a desire to stop his sister from making terrible jet-shaped decisions. zuko is not only just driven by a wish to regain his honour, he is actively discouraged by his Responsible Adult, iroh.

azula, on the other hand, is in part driven by ambition and a sense of duty, but more pushed by the external force of His Royal Bitch Lord Ozai, and her heavily political environment. honestly, just read this entire essay by @cobra-diamond​ because it’s incredible. then go read everything else they’ve written ‘cause they write the best meta (eshu, i get the impression you in particular will love them if you aren’t already familiar), but back to my point(s):

the fandom at large has a strong desire to pathologize azula. this has a couple different reasons behind it but the top three are:

they like to throw complex personality disorders at characters they dislike in order to make it ‘problematic’ to like them, usually because they’re ableist but sometimes because they don’t want to think critically about the depiction of psychosis in the final episodes

they don’t want to do the half hour of (actually very interesting) research into atla’s east asian basis and apply it to azula

the two-for-one deal

now, i’m not gonna try to write any serious meta using my scant understanding of japanese and chinese political history because it’s, as i said, scant. people have written hundreds of thousands of books on the subject; i have read three and skimmed a few wikipedia articles where needed. most of my heavy research has gone into day-to-day life in the relevant places and times.

(not to mention i’m the kind of white that could get sunburn from a resilient firefly and it’s really not my place.)

but i do wanna drop a quick rant on not considering other lived experiences because That i’ve seen/experienced enough of to make a documentary about.

beyond azula being literally fourteen, the age of your average emo phase (and wouldn’t that explain a lot), she lives every second of her life in a highly politically charged environment, the likes of which simply does not exist in today’s western world (the majority of atla’s fanbase). (i can’t speak for the rest of the world; i keep myself pretty closed off to international news where i can seeing as my own country is enough to drive me to bad places sometimes.)

so yeah, azula’s hard for the average viewer to relate to, but congratulations, you should have an imagination in your armchair psychologist brain somewhere. use it. 

(i could probably bang out another two rants on How This Affects Fandom’s Perception Of Aang and possibly Why Everyone Who Wants To Talk About Azula Online Should Have To Take A Short Course On Psychosis, but that’s for later.)

Zuko and Iroh are "good at heart" which is why they're *deserving* of redemption even though they objectively have done more evil than Azula.

The black and white morality of ATLA is too shallow and apologetic.