#azula deserved redemption

[hjonko]

dunno if anyones done this meme with azula yet, so here you go :)

also i feel like its overlooked that a literal freshmen in high school (US standard at least) was used as a weapon and was seen as more of a villain-

THAN LITERAL EATHBENDING H**LER- (kuvira) WHO GOT FUCKING REDEMPTION, BUT NOT AZULA????

WTF IS THIS SHIT????

edit*

(MY ANGER COMES FROM THE COMICS YA’LL OH MY GLOB IM NOT JUST TALKIN’ BOUT THE SHOW 😭😭)

[bluespiritshonour]

Water Siblings and Fire Siblings as Foils

Katara and Sokka are peak sibling rep: they bicker, they hurt each other, they take turns being the voice of reason while the other goes batshit crazy—and they'd die for each other.

And very clearly Sokka's daddy's boy and Katara's momma's girl: and for most parts, they seem to be content with that dynamic.

Look, parents have favourites, let's establish that first: don't come at me for it.

But in a healthy environment, where all of the kids’ emotional needs are met irrespective of which kid gets along with which parent, they're less likely to tear themselves apart yearning for parental affection.

Sokka and Katara's family was a normal one, a healthy one—as healthy as one can be in a war ravaged world—and Sokka and Katara are normal siblings. Even after their mother died Katara doesn't seem to care much that Sokka gets more time with their father. And everytime she brings up their mother Sokka gets this weird look on his face, which, I think is later explained by the fact that he feels guilty that he doesn't even remember what their mother looked like. And it's not because Katara seems to know more about their mother despite being younger.

Neither of them grudge the other for having been close to one of the parents—let's call it ‘being close to’ instead of ‘dad/mum loved you/me more’ because that's what would come up with Azula and Zuko.

One can say that Azula's daddy's girl and Zuko's momma's boy... Except it isn't like that.

Azula wasn't loved by her father; neither was she close to him. If anything she had the illusion that she's close to him. But children can sense when they aren't loved, which can explain why she took her mother being close to Zuko so hard. Because she didn't get that from her father and isn't she supposed to be daddy's girl? But dad's good to her; mum... isn't. Dad lets her do what she wants... As long as she obeys him or she'd end up like Zuko.

For Ozai, both his children are pawns. He uses Azula to abuse Zuko, which in turn is to get at Ursa. And honestly, Ursa was a bad mum and an abuse victim and not the villain are takes that can co-exist.

A lot of mums in primarily patriarchal cultures end up abusing their own kids while trying to protect them in an environment where they themselves hold little power.

Ursa and Hakoda can be compared in this.

Katara haters can look away: she isn't whiny. And even if she is, well, she takes responsibility when no one else does so I guess she deserves to complain if that's what it takes. Katara is extremely mature. When she was mad at Hakoda, she still had the critical thinking skills to point out that yes, she understands why he left. He had to! She doesn't blame him for that, it wasn't his fault that there was war going on—but it still hurt!

And what does Hakoda do? He hugs her and apologises. He doesn't defend himself, because he doesn't need to. She understands! She said she does and he doesn't insult her by making excuses. He acknowledges and validates her pain.

Unlike Katara, who grew up in a healthy family with parents and grandparents and a whole community—Azula was isolated and under the influence of Ozai. And she was so young! If you remember being that young, you'd remember thinking that parents are always right. You don't realise that parents make mistakes too—and while her emotional needs weren't being met by Ozai, she turned to Ursa—but Ursa was at her wits end trying to undo the damage of Ozai's abuse on Zuko.

If she had given attention to Azula, Zuko, who thought that Azula was perfect and already had father's approval would have gone off rails—and since she didn't... Azula went off the rails.

Which was exactly how Ozai would want it. I don't like the comics much but it made sense that Ozai would hold both the children as bargaining chips against Ursa. Ursa made her choice, or rather, the illusion of her choice and Azula had to pay for it: the real reason Zuko could turn over a new page while Azula couldn't was because from the very beginning, Zuko had his mum and uncle.

Azula had no one!

Like Hakoda had to go to war and leave his children behind, Ursa had to choose between Azula or Zuko; Ozai orchestrated it as such.

But while there were people to pick up Hakoda's slack, there was no one to guide Azula. Sokka and Katara raised each other and they had Gran Gran.

Zuko and Azula were constantly pitted against each other by a war-mongering father.

I don't like this unrealistic expectations that fandom has of a family where both the siblings not only love each other equally, they also process emotions similarly (see: the Sokka vs Katara debate on how they both react to trauma) and parents who love all the kids equally.

Katara and Sokka are normal and realistic in the way that they are both different people: they process grief differently. Katara takes up responsibly and grows up too fast, it takes a toll on her and she's vocally expressive. She turns her grief into anger. Meanwhile Sokka internalises it in a survivor's guilt kind of way.

There's also gender involved in the way both pair of siblings interact. It's more subtle for the fire siblings than the water sibling. Plus, Suki makes Sokka drink his respect women juice, please y'all don't call Sokka sexist. That was character development for him which was addressed. I could make another post for gender and A:TLA.

And they both love each other dearly and they're okay with the fact that one is daddy's boy and the other is momma's girl. It's okay.

In contrast Zuko yearns for his father's affection and Azula yearns for her mother's. And while Zuko feels inadequate, for Azula it's “behave or you'll end up like your brother.”

She also learns to derive a sick sort of pleasure from watching Zuko suffer—which is entirely her father's doing. Because in rare moments when she doesn't have anything to gain by getting Zuko into trouble...she actually kind of looks out for him. It's extremely rare and sprinkled here and there to show us the Azula that could have been.

And I don't think Zuko really realised that Azula was abused too—not until he lets go of his father. Until the final Agni Kai. What I love about it is that despite portraying Azula as Zuko's tormentor for 3 seasons (and she was his tormentor) they did not frame the Agni Kai as some epic good vs evil shit.

Because from Zuko's point of view Azula was perfect. He's out here vying for his father's affection while she gets it freely. She's so lucky!—until he lets go of his father and realises what a monster he was... And he also realises that father never really loved Azula either...

They didn't say as much in words. But the final Agni Kai is proof enough. Zuko doesn't rejoice bringing Azula down (technically Katara did it). At this point, I guess, he realises that Azula's a kid too. Even younger than him—that their father couldn't care less about either of them.

Okay. I really do think that Zuko suddenly becoming invested in Azula's redemption would make sense after the Agni Kai. I also read this Twitter thread by Aaron Ehasz where he says he had plans for Azula's redemption and it was fantastic.

So yeah. Without being overt, the water siblings and fire siblings are contrasted by each other. Which is why I don't like the comics trying to do this brother-sister thing where they put Sokka and Katara and Zuko and Azula in back-to-back panels like... Even if I'm a huge supporter of Azula-deserves-redemption I didn't like those panels in the comics.

P.S. don't pit Sokka and Katara against each other. You aren't Ozai. They're different people who process trauma and loss differently and hence, react differently.

Adios.

[samtamdan]

I hate when in fics, Ursa apologizes to Azula with a "Zuko needed me more," and the fic takes it like the best excuse on the world, and everything gets forgiven almost immediately after it.

Let's be honest, even for a first try is a really shitty excuse.

If I was on Azula's feet, I would be so pissed that I would need an apology for that apology

[coralpaperthoughts]

i think some people (me, I'm talking about me) forget that Azula is only 14 years old.

she's FOURTEEN and she was a master at firebending, conquered Ba Sing Se and was nearly crowned Fire Lord ?? among many other things that I can't remember off the top of my head, but she was only 14???

me, at 14? I didn't even know what a swear word was

and then after the war's over?? what happens to her idek but if it's some bs like she got thrown in jail or smth imma be pissed coz she deserves better, like yeah she did all that shit, but Ozai was literally her father and Ursa was her mother - I think that justifies all her actions ngl

she wasn't even of legal age yet, surely that means they can offer her help or smth, instead of punish her???

[fanfic-lover-girl]

What Aang stans and Zuko/Zutara antis have in common

They forget season 3 of ATLA exists.

[akiizayoi4869]

I finally realized why all of these talks about whether or not Azula should be redeemed annoys me. Besides the fact that it's been more than 15 years since the show ended and people are still having this discussion when the answer couldn't be more obvious, we have Kuvira. Someone who did way worse shit than Azula ever did. Who made numerous prisons to confine anybody who stood in her way. She got a redemption arc. Albeit a very shitty one. But the point is, she got one. If Kuvira of all people can be redeemed? Then there's no reason as to why the 14 year old abused child soldier can't be redeemed, or is "undeserving" of it. And to the people who say "she hasn't suffered enough!" um, did you not see this girl's breakdown?

I think she's suffered enough.

[hello-nichya-here]

Azula's mommy issues how it does (and doesn't) affect her personality and theoretical redemption

Ah, Ursa and how she ties into a possible Azula redemption. I recommend you get a snack and some water, because this answer is gonna be a long one XD

Before we even get to the dynamic between these two characters and how it informed Azula's actions, let's remember THE main thing that is responsible for Azula being the way she is: Indoctrination.

Her nation had been waging war against the rest of the world for 100 hundred years. Azula is 14. For 86 years her family had been telling everyone, including themselves, that the war was just, it was for the good of the world and of the Fire Nation, it was "sharing their glory", it was just them taking over land that was rightfully theirs because of "divine right to rule" (something Azula herself says to Lu Fang when she's taking over Ba Sing Se).

We see children cheering for a puppet version of Fire Lord Ozai in a festival, as he defeats an "evil" Earth Kingdom general. We are explicitly shown that Fire Nation schools lie about things like the Air Nomads, a pacifist culture, having an ARMY that Sozin's men attacked, framing it more as a mutual conflict between equals in which the Fire Nation won, instead of a sudden attack against an entire group of people that were just minding their business.

We see IROH write a letter about how he hopes his family can see Ba Sing Se IF THEY DON'T HAVE TO BURN IT TO THE GROUND to conquer it - and not only do Zuko and Azula both laugh, URSA is also laughing.

Azula was raised to believe her nation had every right to do all the attrocities it commited. And just like Zuko, she is still a teenager, not an adult like her dad, uncle or mom - and while they had less excuse than the Fire Siblings for not knowing any better since they were already grown, they do still have more excuse than Azulon and especially Sozin, since they were ALSO raised to believe that stuff was perfectly normal.

Even if Ursa had been a perfect mom, Azula would likely still be a villain, though maybe less bitter and insecure over feeling unworthy of love (but that would not disappear completely, since Ozai was still an abusive dad that very clearly expected perfection from his children at all times, which is way too much pressure to put on anyone, let alone on two kids. And since she was his favorite, she'd obviously try to copy him, so she wouldn't end up like Zuko, so her more cruel, ruthless side would also be very present).

HOWEVER, that does not change the fact that Ursa's flawed parenting had a deep impact on her daughter.

For starters, even the creators/showrunners and writers of the show have said Zuko is her favorite child - and a parent playing favorites is NEVER good, even if they don't downright abuse the one they don't like as much. And for a kid that is in an abusive home, seeing her brother be treated as completely worthless because he is not the favorite, it isn't that hard to understand how Azula concluded that, if her mom didn't like her as much as she liked Zuko, it's because she didn't like her AT ALL. Add in Ursa's concern over Ozai's influence over Azula and how it's shaping her personality, plus the fact that she said "What's wrong with that child?" WITH AZULA IN THE ROOM, and we have the source of her belief her mom didn't just dislike her, but also saw her as monster.

Because yeah, let's not forget Azula had TWO parents. Two parents that clearly wanted very different things from their children. Ursa was cool with all the imperialism stuff, but she was horrified at the thought of the family being at war with itself, fighting for the crown. She was a bad guy, but she had standards. Meanwhile Ozai was clearly on team "stab everyone in the back to get what you want, then rule by fear." Once her mom was out of the picture, Azula naturally felt like her dad had essentially proven his method was better, since he ended up getting everything he wanted (though Azula does question that in the finale, when she imagines Ursa of all people trying to make her see trying to use fear to force people into supporting/loving her would only further isolate her, showing some part of her DID internalize a point of view that did not align with Ozai's).

But even before Ursa was forced to disappear from her daughter's life, she was already failing to connect with her, but not solely because of Ozai. Think about it. We see lots of scenes of Ursa spending time just with Zuko, and some of her with both of her kids - but never do we get even a single scene just between her and Azula.

When Zuko immitates Azula's bad behavior (because he thought it was cool and funny) and throws bread (not a rock like the fandom insists, BREAD) at the turtleducks, Ursa is visibly shocked and distressed, but she EXPLAINS to Zuko why what he did was wrong (it hurt the baby turtleduck, and thus made the mother mad) in a VERY light-hearted way that he clearly remembers fondly. When Azula says things about Azulon being likely to die soon or Iroh being pathetic, Ursa is shocked and distressed - and either just says "Azula, we don't speak like that" or a very angry "Young lady, not another word" but without ever trying to explain to her why what she did was wrong.

Meanwhile, ZUKO actually says things like "How would you like it if Lu Ten wanted dad to die?" or explaining that Iroh gave up on conquering Ba Sing Se out of grief for his only child. Those two scenes were the CLOSEST Azula got to having someone actually try to explain things to her in a way she could understand - but obviously she's not gonna take her brother as seriously as she would an adult, and Zuko has his own stuff to deal with so he can't step up and be a replacement parent to her like Iroh was to him (and considering how young he was at the time, expecting him to do so would be unreasonable - hell, he likely didn't even notice just how badly Azula needed help until she had her breakdown).

Things get worse if we take the comics as canon (which I don't, but I know a lot of people do). On that version of the story, Ursa goes from "Making effort, but screwed up along the way" to "Neglectful/abusive piece of shit that should have her kids taken away."

Comics!Ursa's idea fo "quality time with her kids" involves talking solely to Zuko and ignoring Azula, instead of interacting with both of them. She doesn't encourage them to spend time with each other like she did in the show. When she is banished, she visits both her kids - but only wakes Zuko up. He gets a sweet farewell so he always gets to remember that, no matter what happened, his mom loved him and did not want to leave him. Azula doesn't get a single word, and is left to believe her mom didn't even bother with her.

Worse of all, Ursa CHOOSES TO FORGET HER OWN KIDS. After she had explicitly said she does not believe they are truly safe living with Ozai. After she explicitly said to Zuko "Never forget who you are." Not to mention, she writes a letter with the fake claim that Zuko is actually NOT Ozai's kid - because she knows he will read it and get mad. She risked putting her son in danger just to piss off her husband. That's what she did to the kid she LIKED. How low would she go if the kid in danger was the kid she didn't care for? Oh, wait the comics answer that too. She never bothered asking ANYTHING about what had happened to her all those years (nor to the kid with a scar on his face, mind you), showed more empathy towards her when she COULDN'T remember who she was (and even then it was just a "If I really am your mom, I'm sorry I didn't love you enough." That's it. That's all Azula gets), and she doesn't do ANYTHING about Azula running away. No asking Zuko or someone else to find her, no crying about losing her again, no indication that she is worried about her safety even though she is all alone and mentally unstable.

The comics really did Azula dirty, and I HATE Ursa in it. It reached the point of "I don't want these two to make up, I want Azula to give a whole speech about how much her mom sucks, just like Zuko did with Ozai" because that's what she deserves. Show!Ursa made mistakes, Comics!Ursa IS a mistake. The sympathy for Azula despite her bad actions grows significantly on that version of the story, because how the fuck can we speak her to not be so mad at the world after all that?

But at last, we need to make an important distinction clear here: It doesn't matter if we are talking about the comics or the show, if we like or dislike Azula, if we do or don't want her to be redeemed, the simple fact still is that she WAS screwed over her entire life, her troubled relationship with her mom had a deep and longlasting impact on her mental health, and there was no way in hell she would have EVER been an innocent little angel that is 100% against everything her evil father does. It's just impossible considering her backstory.

And there is a very clear double-standard in how people talk about the idea of a redeemed Azula VS the reality of a redeemed Zuko. Both start with the premise of "This bad guy has understandable, sympathetic reasons to do bad things, since they were indoctrinated from birth and had a terrible family life", both include the character having to see how their actions are hurting them AND others (including those they care about, Zuko's "victim" being Iroh, while Azula's are Mai and Ty Lee. Plus, they've both hurt each other in some ways, some more deliberate than others), and both culminate with the character turning their life around, confronting those who wronged them, and finding a support system for themselves.

Yet one is treated as revolutionary despite not being the first redemption arc ever (nor the only redemption arc in the story itself), nor being perfectly written (because perfect writting doesn't exist), while the other is labelled as lazy, out of character, or "making excuses" for bad people just because they had a tough life (like Azula is an actual person). There is no thematic or moral difference between redeeming Zuko and redeeming Azula, especially in a show that says "EVERYONE has the potential for great good and great evil" and ends with Zuko telling his abuser he hopes he'll also have a change of heart someday, even if he is not sticking around to witness or actively try to make it happen.

Redeeming Azula is no different than redeeming Zuko. It's perfectly fine to want to just one of these things instead of both, but it is NOT a superior choice in anyway, and it's very hypocritical of the same fandom that criticizes the idea of a redeemed Azula because "mommy issues isn't a good enough reson" when they can't stop praising the redemption arc that has "the villain had daddy issues" as it's core premisse. Personal preference is one thing. Being a dick about it is another.

[ilikepjo24]

A key point in Azula's potential redemption...

I have talked before about how I think that humiliating and torturing Azula in the name of redemption is ineffective, unfair, cruel, barbaric, inhumane, monsterous, ect...

I go into detail about why I think that in this post, check it out if you're interested.

It has come to my attention that people believe that Azula should be abused cause Zuko also got abused and the pain and humiliation changed him. In this post I will explain why that wouldn't work for Azula.

Mainly, it's because Zuko didn't just get abused. He got abused by Ozai. And that's a major detail, because it affects what Zuko thought of that abuse.

In Fire Nation, the Fire Lord is treated like some kind of god and everyone accepts it. People suffer due to bad economy (war and all) but it's okay because it's the Firelord's will send the Firelord knows best. Zuko being abused by said Firelord is what taught him that no, the Firelord isn't always good, he abuses his fucking kids, the Firelord can go fuck himself.

Zuko hated the fact that he was being abused and therefore to an extend hated Ozai for abusing him. That hatred is what made him able to view Ozai as an imperfect, non-godly being, that could be wrong in same cases and then helped Zuko realize that he was wrong about the war.

Zuko's hatred of Ozai's abuse is basically what triggered his redemption. That method worked for him. But it wouldn't work for Azula. And here's why.

Ozai is now out of the picture.

That's it. That's the reason why. That single detail is why the idea that Azula must suffer for redemption is logically impossible. Allow me to compare the situations:

Zuko was abused / Azula could be abused

Zuko hated his abuser / Azula will hate her abuser

Zuko wanted to destroy his abuser / Azula will want to destroy her abuser

Zuko's abuser was Ozai / Azula's abuser would be the Gaang and the peaceful society

Zuko hated Ozai / Azula will hate the Gaang and the newfound peace

Zuko helped ruin Ozai / Azula will try to ruin the whole world

Azula's redemption arc isn't happening during the war or by a character we know is bad. Especially if we say it's for the sake of redemption. Logically, the people that would want to see her redeemed would be Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, Aang and potentially the rest of the Gaang.

So while Zuko's abuse made him hate a person that should have been hated, Azula's abused will make her hate people that shouldn't.

Zuko's abuse happened by Ozai and it made him Ozai.

If Azula gets abused, it will be by the good guys and it will make her hate the good guys.

Zuko's abuse was done by evil and made him turn towards good, which caused a redemption arc.

If Azula gets abused for the sake of a redemption arc by good, it'll make her hate both the idea of redemption and good in general.

You could argue that Zuko's abuse made him good but Azula's abuse would just make her more evil and that kind of defeats the purpose of doing it for the sake of redemption

Which is why humiliating/abusing- I'm sorry, "humbling" Azula wouldn't work for her the same way it did for Zuko, it'd have the opposite effect.

Thus proven.

And kudos to @hello-nichya-here for being one of the reasons I was inspired to write this post in the first place!

[penguinfrommars]

The fire Hazard siblings deserved better

Someone pointed out that azula cared more for zuko and he did for her and I can't stop thinking about it. His entire life, zuko was constantly over-shadowed and compared to azula so it's only natural for someone to grow jealous. But, more than that azula quite literally made his life hell with playing pranks on him, teasing him and actually burning him. So it's only natural for zuko to grow up fearing and even hating azula, even if he does see her as a sister.

On the other hand, we know that azula's a perfectionist and a control freak. Pretty evident from the whole beach episode and even the spirit temple comic, she doesn't understand love and freindship because no one really showed her any. Sure, she had Mai and Ty Lee who probably treated her like a freind, but even at that point she only knew how to control people. Which is why, I think throughout her life she saw zuko as something she could control and keep by her side. She probably thought that zuko would always choose her. It's pretty evident from the fact that in book 3 she lied to her father, the most rebellion she's shown, for his sake. Infact, she disobeyed direct orders to bring him as a prisoner, but rather found a way to bring him home as her brother. Apart from that she clearly saw zuko as a landmark, as a reassurance. That all she had to do was be Better than him. Better at bending, better at politics etc. Because that way she had her father's attention. (Pretty obvious from the "You can't treat me like Zuko")

Personally, I feel like they deserved so much better, especially azula. I feel like, if zuko had made an effort to show azula that he cared about her, not out of fear but out of love, and if azula had tried to be nicer with zuko instead of belittling him, things might have been different. It's impossible for them to have the same dynamic as Sokka and katara because their situations were as different as day and night. Katara and Sokka had to rely on eachother to survive and to protect the village while Zuko and Azula had to compete for their father's favor. Still, I feel like they could have a much better relationship than actively trying to kill eachother and maybe even work together as slightly-less-maniac-but-still-disfunctional siblings.

Also you can't convince me that Zuko and Azula wouldn't make THE MOST POWERFUL DUO ever

Edit : Lu ten. The answer is lu ten

[colorfulandblack]

It is the year of our lord 2024 and here I'm eating carrots and desperately digging in the infinity of the abyss that is this hellhole to find some crumbs pertaining a pink haired, three eyes, purple goober with anger issues and going absolutely FERAL about the fact that apparently Starco is canon.

[lesbian-goku]

Saying that kuvira deserves a redemption arc but azula doesn’t is such a wild thing to say tbh

[hjonko]

shes my blorbi scrimble wimble stinky possum

[cleverheroine]

Friendly reminder that the fact a couple is LGBT doesn't erase abuse. You can still be a victim of serious abuse, by a monster, and need to escape your abuser and find your voice, freedom, and independence away from them. And the fact they are your same gender doesn't mean you should endure that abuse. An abusive relationship is never better than being single. No matter what the circumstances surrounding.

Ty Lee was a victim of abuse by Azula. Ty Lee didn't want to be there. Azula FORCED Ty Lee to come. Ty Lee was terrified of Azula and at the first sign that Mai was brave enough to stand up to her, Ty Lee finally felt strong enough to.

It's not enough to say "but ty lee was bright and bubbly and acted like she cared about Azula."

Yeah. And Ty Lee didn't want to even travel with her. Ty Lee was brought away from her life where she was *happy* because Azula felt like she wanted company and Ty Lee was her personal property.

You want to ship her with a girl? Go nuts. Idc. Ship her with one of the girls giggling on the beach at Zuko for all I care.

But shipping her with Azula is fucked up. And yes I will die on this hill.

Abuse is abuse no matter the gender.

In short: #justiceforTyLee #downwithshippingsomeonewiththeirabuser

[missaccuracy]

I had this scenario for azula redemption. Basically redeemed azula gets hurt really bad while trying to stop a villain of some sort and is found by zuko. zuko take her back home only wanting to help and figure out why he found her with half her blood on the ground.

But azula's new friends and family think he is going to put her back in the asylum because that's the only thing they know about him from a personal level. Of course, he doesn't but the FF is freaking out.

The chaos that follows is indescribable

That's a good idea for a story! I would imagine that at first, Azula will also be scared that Zuko is going to put her back in the asylum before she realizes he isn't going to do that.

And while the FF is looking for Azula, Zuko and Azula slowly make up. But the FF doesn't know that and when they find Azula, they are just ready to destroy Zuko:) But when they find out everything, I guess, they would all team up to defeat the villain Azula was fighting in the beginning.

If Zuko had found Azula with half her blood on the ground, I would assume Azula's enemy can be a bloodbender. So it would be interesting how they'll deal with it.

[coralpaperthoughts]

I will never understand ppl who hate/anti ANY of the members of the Gaang, or even any of the other kids. coz they are just kids. in the middle of a fucking war. of course they're gonna fuck up and make mistakes and be little shits, THEY ARE 12-16 !! ALL OF THE GAANG (including Zuko but excluding Suki) HAVEN'T HAD PROPER SOCIALISATION WITH OTHER KIDS THEIR AGE UNTIL THEY MET EACH OTHER !!

and yes, you could argue that Katara and Sokka had each other, but that's siblings and siblings are not the same as friends, and also Sokka was the only teen boy left in the tribe and I think Katara was the only teen girl too (might be wrong there tho)

you could also argue that Aang had friends before he got stuck in the iceberg so he did actually have that socialisation, but bro is fucking 12 and he was stuck in an iceberg for a hundred fucking years and had the whole avatar thing weighing down on his shoulders, cut the boy some slack ???

Toph and Zuko were both Rich Noble Kids™ so they automatically did not get proper socialisation with other kids their age. Toph was sheltered from the outside world because she's blind and a young girl, but yes she did go to that underground boxing ring but that was mainly adults, I highly doubt she was hanging about with kids there and definitely not in normal circumstances.

And although Mai and Ty Lee were there, they were Azula's "companions" (not originally meant to be friends but may have ended up as so after the war) and they weren't there for Zuko, they were there for Azula only. I'm pretty sure Zuko spent most of his time with tutors or with his mother before she left, he didn't get any socialisation with normal kids and he definitely did not get a normal childhood.

None of them got a normal childhood, so can you really blame any of them for being manipulative or assholes or doing dumb shit, whilst still being a kid/teen !!! and then being bad parents too, when they literally have no good role model to go off of (love Hakoda but bro was not there for his kids for a good couple of years and that does a lot to a kid)

edit: also Azula deserved a redemption/healing arc because she was a victim of abuse as much as Zuko was. she was in fact just a child, as much as the rest of them were, and deserved better. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk 🙏

edit 2: Jet also deserved a chance at healing. like bro watched his village burn and was the sole survivor, he probably has mega survivor's guilt that isn't touched upon in the show, like his hate for the fire nation is pretty rational and his actions (to an extent) are justified. all I'm saying is that if he had anybody else in his corner, that wasn't more angsty, out-for-revenge teens or kids, he could have had a much nicer life. one that didn't lead him to his downfall.

[glassy-eyed-poet]

The way I'd let Azula ruin me if it meant I could breathe the same oxygen as her