#azula is NOT power hungry

[balanceoflightanddark]

One of the great misconceptions about Azula is the notion is that she's self-serving. That everything she does is to further her own gains, and she'll backstab everyone else in the process whether it be family or friends. Something that's supported by Bryan himself in the Season 2 commentary:

“Yeah, unfortunately in real history, there are people like Azula, who are just so charismatic, but sort of soulless that they’re… You know, but they’re able to climb to positions of influence. Same with, uh, people like Long Feng, unfortunately throughout history. People who are willing to sell out their own–own countrymen, just for their own, uh, security, you know, their own job security.”

And in many ways, that's how it's framed. Azula bringing her brother back to the country is always framed by everyone as using him as leverage in case the Avatar was somehow alive. We see her brutal recruiting of Ty Lee. We don't see a whole lot that suggests that Azula is doing this for anything other than personal gain. After all it's a trait that's pretty endemic to the Fire Nation, especially with her fellow main antagonists Ozai and Zhao.

The thing is though...Azula's problem wasn't that she was selfish.

Her problem was that she was selfless.

Let's wheel around to when she brought Zuko back home. Mainly, there was no way in hell she could have known about the spirit water. She only learned of the possibility when Zuko indirectly brought it up, and that's when she starts to think up of the leverage angle. Plus, it's been said a thousand times before that Azula didn't necessarily need Zuko to secure Ba Sing Se. And even if she did, she could've easily backstabbed and captured him with the Dai Li if she wanted to secure her path to the throne while also taking the glory of slaying the Avatar.

She didn't. Instead, she allowed Zuko to take the glory and return home in honor with no strings attached. Even when her initial orders were to capture Zuko to begin with. And in doing so, damaged her own claim to the throne since the "rightful" heir returned with a tad bit more glory than her.

And we all know how that eventually ended.

This wasn't exclusive to Zuko. Arguably her biggest Achilles' heel was her unwavering devotion to Ozai, something that she was carefully groomed to do once Zuko proved to be an embarrassment to her father's name. Almost everything she did was to get in his good graces and his acceptance. And she didn't except any reward for it either outside of approval. She was initially stunned when Ozai wanted her to be the Fire Lord, clearly not expecting him to bestow such honor upon her.

Course that was spoiled a bit when Ozai proceeded to throw her to the side. All that work, all that devotion, years of trying to be the perfect servant...wasted.

Mind you, Zuko and Ozai are probably the only two family members in the series to have shown her something regarding affection. Her relationship with Iroh was strained and more formal than anything, while Ursa made her feel like a monster. Even her friendship with Ty Lee and Mai was poisoned because her belief that she was a weapon and thus expendable warped her genuine affection into something more akin to a military unit. Again, all to prove she was as ruthless and heartless as her father.

Azula's problem wasn't that she was power hungry, cause she never expected to get power. Her problem was that everything she did, she did for somebody else. Think about it. She wanted Zuko home so she sacrificed her path to the throne. She wanted Ozai's approval so she became something she hated. Azula was desperate for some kind of acceptance, otherwise her mother's rejection wouldn't have shaken her so bad.

It's not like we have don't examples of selfish and egocentric behavior from the series. Zhao was willing to put the entire world at risk by killing the moon just to stroke his own ego. Ozai was willing to burn down the Earth Kingdom (killing who knows how many innocent lives) and proclaim himself as Phoenix King just because he could. Even Zuko was willing to put the safety of the world and backstab his own allies just for a chance to return home and claim his birthright.

Azula...doesn't come even close to those levels of narcissism and self-interest. Cause she based herself around pleasing others and wouldn't stand up for herself when she was crossed, both from personal experience and a low sense of self-worth. In many ways she was like Zuko in trying to please her father.

It's just unlike him, she wasn't presented with a way out.

[i-wish-i-were-softer]

Ozai can be the most terrible parent in the history of parenting but he didn't ignore azula's powers just because she was a girl.

[the-badger-mole]

Why don't you think Azula deserves a redemption arc? I don't necessarily disagree with you, btw, I just want to know what made you think that.

I didn't mean that in a moral way, exactly. Morally, I don't think redemption can be earned as much as it can be lived up to (which, btw, I don't think Azula would). What I meant was that as a character, her story didn't deserve a redemption arc because it's not what's been set up. If she had been "redeemed" through her mental breakdown, it would cheapen her arc, and Azula doesn't deserve that. Someone (I think @sokkastyles) mentioned on my post over the weekend that Azula's arc was complete as it was, and I agree. It was a fantastic arc, too. It just ended sadly, and I feel like a lot of people just don't like that. Which is fine. That's their prerogative. That doesn't mean that there was something missing from Azula's story. And it doesn't mean that her arc deserves or needs a redemption.

As I've said before, I do think that there could be a redemption for Azula, but it would need a lot of work to make it worthwhile. First of all, they would have to break Azula down the point where she would not only see her need to change, but have her want to change. She is nowhere near that point at the end of the show. Which is fine. She doesn't have to be. Let Azula be a villain. If she's your fave, embrace that your fave is a villain. It's okay. I am a HUGE fan of Maleficent (the only Maleficent). Yes, her arc had to end with her defeat, but she made defeat look fabulous!

[harrowscore]

finished atla and thoroughly enjoyed it... but what i'm going to do without my girl azula now?? her ending was so sad (and yet exactly what i expected)

[opalescent-apples]

I think some people sincerely love evil women and some people have so much internalized misogyny that a girl who rolls her eyes is a girl who kicks puppies.

honestly

[venussaidso]

𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐭.

Kathryn Merteuil from Cruel Intentions is portrayed by Ketu natives. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amy Adams, and now Sarah Catherine Hook.

Characters that I randomly thought would be Kathryn Merteuil's daughters, just so happen to be played by Ketuvians; particularly known for having manipulative, cunning, power-driven personalities.

This relentless pursuit for power and control extends to other Ketu characters. I have explored this theme already in my Ketu Dominant Themes post, I just didn't use female characters as my examples.

Cersei Lannister is an extreme version of this archetype, set in this non-modern, brutal world in Game of Thrones, known for her psychopathy.

Being extremely ruthless and cunning, with a thirst for power and control and an unchecked ambition, it doesn't come as a surprise that she is portrayed by a fire sign native Lena Headey (Venus nakshatras share these themes, as well).

Reminded me of Cate Blanchett's character from Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, who has a desire for control and maintaining power. She is absolutely heartless and cruel.

The same actress also played Hela who driven by power, is absolutely cunning and even more ruthless, possessing this superiority complex.

Having this deep desire to dominate and conquer, it comes as no surprise that the actress has an Aries stellium; proving it true that the rashi comes first, as the signs alone can be known for these negative, power-seeking traits. These fiery traits in the Ketu section are specifically exaggerated. The Ketu rulership seems to not only exaggerate the traits of the fire rashis, but darken them too. Technically; Ashwini is Dark!Aries, Magha is basically Dark!Leo and Mula is just Dark!Sagittarius lmaoo.

Just shortly describing Hela's Ashwini traits, I thought of Azula, who is voiced by Magha Sun Grey DeLisle.

Having a fiery determination and borderline exaggerated Leo traits; much like Hela, she is obsessed with being domineering. Known for being cunning, extremely ruthless and driven by power and control.

Another Hela-type character is the formidable antagonist, Artemisia, played by double Ketu native Eva Green in 300: Rise of an Empire.

Similar to Azula, she is driven by vengeance and is relentless about it. She is extremely strategic and power-hungry, seeking dominance over others and causing destruction.

Both Magha ASC Eva Green and Magha Moon Katie McGrath played the character Morgana, though with different arcs.

Eva Green's version of the character is more overtly power-driven and manipulative, as she has a double whammy effect of the Ketu nakshatras. While Katie McGrath's portrayal is her journey to villainy as she grows a thirst for vengeance and power, becoming a formidable force in the series.

Madison Montgomery from AHS: Coven! Played by Mula native Emma Roberts, she is undeniably ruthless and chaotic.

She seeks power & status in the witch world, being cunning, mean-spirited and manipulative.

In the same season, AHS: Coven, we also have the ruthless and powerful, vengeful witch Marie Laveau played by Magha Sun Angela Bassett. She means to assert her place in the world, embodying LEGACY (Magha nakshatra nod, much like Azula who strongly represents legacy and her ancestors).

And alongside her is Ashwini native Jessica Lange playing Fiona Goode, another ruthless, cunning Ketuvian/Fire sign character obsessed with power, youth and maintaining superiority over others.

Speaking of power-hungry witches; Ashwini Moon native Kathryn Hahn plays Agatha Harkness, who has a lust for power and control, finding herself completely fixated on Scarlet Witch's powers and wanting to gain control over such an immense force to master it within herself.

Magha Moon Helena Bonham Carter played the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, the character having a very fiery temper and an obsession with control. The Leo characteristics being exaggerated by the nodal rulership, she has an oversized ego and an extreme sense of self-importance, ready to inflict punishment on those who slight her.

A far lighter, less sinister, version of this Ketu archetype, is the Evil Queen in Mirror Mirror, played by Magha Moon Julia Roberts.

She still fits this highly manipulative, power-hungry archetype, her motivations rooted in status and control over the kingdom.

These characters thriving on power and control speaks to the emptiness and wounds they hold within. People who naturally possess power do not seek it, yet it seems to be a theme for these Ketuvians to be hungry for it. As if there's a beast inside of them that wants to suck things in and conquer, which makes sense for the Ketu x Jupiter polarity as Jupiter has excess to give out and Ketu wants to possess it (as I've talked about Ketu constantly absorbing things & people intentionally or not). The more cunning portrayals show how these characters live through their domineering force, deliberately using it to pull things under their control; ready to combat any outside forces that mean to take away their status and things that signify power to them. This combativeness is specifically shown in Ashwini Moon Blair Waldolf who becomes very combative when threatened. I believe people forget that Ketu alone is different from Ketu nakshatras. The fire signs will always remind you that they're fire signs, that's why observations like "Ketu nakshatra people have zero ambition and only seek spirituality and they represent nothing" is a completely one-sided statement and a disregard to how the houses and signs ruling these nakshatras operate. If this observation were the case, then I wonder what the Ketu gold-digging archetype implies if not everything I talked about.

[manias-wordcount]

I hope you’re having a good week I have a request if you’re interested in Azula X read reader has the personality of scar from the lion King the animated version obviously 

S/o with the personality of Scar HCs (Azula)

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗺! 𝗶 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆!!

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚? ⇒ 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧?

𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚?

With this type of personality, your relationship with her tends to have two modes

Mode one is like lovey-dovey sickly sweet because you guys just get each other

In that classic children’s media villain way y’know

Like every conversation between the two of you will be fluid and you can complain about things to each other openly because you guys just understand each other and have such similar personalities

Literally, it’d be so easy to just shoot the shit with each other like this and boss other people around because you two just radiate power and confidence 

(although she’s the only royal here, you’re faking it to you make it lmao)

But since you guys are so similar, mode two is when you guys can’t stand each other

You both can be powerful hungry and uncaring towards others, so it can be really hard to stand each other when one sets the other off into a bad mood

To be frank, getting this relationship to work is going to be difficult since Azula and someone with Scar’s personality are bound not to be good people

But there’s someone out there for everyone- including you and her too

[zuko-always-lies]

What a lot of "power-hungry Azula after the throne" takes miss is that Azula was already securely the heir before the series started. Not only was she Ozai's favorite child, but Zuko had already lost his birthright by being banished. Although throughout Book 1 there is a small chance that Zuko might regain Ozai's favor and his status as Crown Prince by capturing the Avatar, at the end of Book 1 Ozai declares Zuko a traitor and has him hunted as a fugitive. From that point on, Zuko regaining Ozai's favor is extremely unlikely, at least without Azula putting her thumbs on the scale. Iroh also theoretically has a claim to the throne, but he has persistently failed to press it, so any direct threat from his corner also seems unlikely, and of course Ozai would never recognize Iroh as his heir.

With Zuko completely disgraced and Iroh a non-threat, the biggest potential threat to Azula's "right to the throne" actually comes from another quarter. If Ozai remarried or took a concubine, their children might threaten Azula's position, especially if they were male. Ozai might even desire a male heir and favor one over Azula. Azula would still have 14 years and many accomplishments on them, but this would still be more dangerous than "traitor Zuko" making his return to grace. However, since Ozai seems to have shown little interest in having more children in the many years since Ursa left, this is strictly a hypothetical threat.

Without these hypothetical half siblings of Azula, Ozai is essentially stuck with her as his heir. Aside from the disgraced Zuko, Ozai has no one other to choose, even if he wanted. There might be some distant relatives of the royal family available, but they would have weak claims and Ozai would have to be truly desperate to choose them over his own, prodigious daughter.

Azula's status as the next Firelord is thus essentially secure at the beginning of Book 2. All she needs to do is keep breathing, not screw up in an absolutely horrific way, and not get her only potential competitor back into her father's favor. Even if she wants the throne, she already essentially has it in the bag. It doesn't make sense for her to do anything particularly crazy or desperate to secure it, or even really expend much energy or thought on an already "solved" problem.

Meanwhile, Zuko desperately wants to be crown prince again but is literally a traitor marked for death, so him doing something crazy to try to regain his "rightful place" makes perfect sense.

[theotherpacman]

offsetting all my hateposting with another positivity post

things I didn't get to in my first positivity post but have since remembered

the part where katara uses her waterbending to put out the flaming arrow and stop the bombing???? cool as shit. A+ use of waterbending

having jet sneak them into omashu was pretty damn good. it's not like the live action show could've realistically pulled off the goofy fake beard thing, and it introduced jet as this kind stranger doing something significant for them at great personal risk to himself, setting him up to be a Good Guy, at once making him more complex (he isn't just angry and power-hungry - he really wants to help people) and making it hit harder when katara learns that he's,,,, a terrorist

"that wasn't you. that was me" honestly iconic

that moment where sokka goes "oh us southern water tribe warriors are more known for our hand-to-hand fighting" and suki is like "!!!! flirt opportunity!!!! I shall impress him with my fighting prowess and thus woo him!!!!!" and then she kicks his ass like ":D :D :D and now we shall kiss" omg babygirl ur too good for him

I added this to my first positivity post in an update but azula as a prodigy archer!!! adds to her characterization directly as highly talented and multi-skilled in various combat techniques, and symbolically as very precise, efficient, perfectionistic. love it

zuko's diary. oh my god zuko's diary

seriously first of all zuko as a calligrapher and artist deepens his characterization as skilled in areas his father deems worthless and weak, and secondly aang getting his hands on the thing helps him see into zuko's head more which is cool, but more importantly zuko losing his own personal diary to his fucking nemesis is a hilarious choice can you imagine how that would've driven him insane

that lady in omashu who smacked zuko with a brush bc he was beating up a child. queen

[blorboazula]

I've been reading a bunch of Azula fics, I have three pet peeves (and they bother me a lot because I read "Azula-friendly" only).

Azula shot Iroh with lighting: she didn't. I've just watched one or those bending compilations and her shot even makes the fire noise. there's no crackling of electricity, there's not the whole bending movement she does for lighting.

the same goes for Mai, she was going to shoot fire. (it's not as if we see her shooting with two fingers multiple times...) fire is faster, she's good at it, that's a primary weapon.

sending the Kyoshi warriors, Ty Lee and Mai to prison is the worst thing she could have done. it makes sense to send Suki to the Boiling Rock, as it makes sense that Hakoda was there, they're the leaders. having prisoners of war is not a war crime. actually, war crimes ≠ acts of war. sending the Kyoshi warriors to prison after fighting them is exactly what you expect of people in a war.

Ty Lee and Mai committed treason on her face. that's not even about the betrayal, that's just a whole ass crime. that's the crown princess, the second most important person in the fire nation, literally the only one left to take the throne. if this wasn't a children's show, they'd have been executed before Azula could move again after being chi-blocked.

sure, being resentful about being in prison is fine, but if you don't want to go to prison, perhaps don't commit treason in front of the god-damned crown princess?

now, the worst of all: Azula always wanted to be Fire Lord.

Azula...

born fifth in the line of succession...

who has her grandfather, her father, her uncle, her cousin and her brother in front of her...

Azula always wanted to be Fire Lord.

you mean the kid that has abandonment issues?

not even counting that. after the whole shit with Lu Ten dying, Azulon dying and Ozai usurping the throne. she still has 1) her father in the throne and 2) Zuko as the crown prince. to want to be Fire Lord even then, when she's a lot closer to it, is making her want the people she loves the most to be dead or exiled.

even if you don't believe that she loves someone. why would she bring Zuko back home, restore him as the crown prince, if she wants to be Fire Lord? leave the guy there, betray him after he helped you, that would make more sense for a power-hungry secondborn daughter of the secondborn son than bringing your only competition to the throne.

I don't know where the idea that she always wanted the throne comes from, I just know it's stupid and doesn't fit anything in her show characterization

[nayadoesstuff]

People (mostly Zuko stans) like to think Ursa was some saint. Ursa is not a saint, let's be completely real. I mean, series!Ursa is a plot device - she's there to remind Zuko to never forget who he is. The show wouldn't paint her in a bad light. Comic!Ursa is also a terrible portrayal. I can't imagine a parent choosing to forget their own children to go and live another life and have another child. Kiyi is quite literally a replacement child - and lying about who Zuko's father is? That could've put Ozai, Ursa herself and Zuko at risk if Azulon ever caught wind of it. She did it to spite Ozai, which I think is so incredibly stupid. Back to the point - Ursa is not a saint in any way. No completely innocent person has a collection of poisons which they can use at any time. Ursa also grew up in the FN. She was married to a Fire Prince - I highly doubt she'd support any kind of rebellion. Let's be honest, she'd probably be a hardcore imperialist. I'm quite sure it's implied Ursa had a hand in how Azula turned out, even if it was mostly Ozai. She'd probably be proud of Azula for taking over Ba Sing Se and being an imperialist if she stayed with Ozai. Are we forgetting she laughed, along with Azula and Zuko over Iroh's whole 'burning Ba Sing Se to the ground' joke? Ursa is not a good person, and IMO not even the best mother. It doesn't mean she can't change. In fact, we don't even know much about her without the comics (which were terrible) I feel it's lazy writing. They needed a reason why she wouldn't return or try to contact Zuko when he joined the gaang - it could've been done much better. Especially her relationship with Ozai. Sure, it's fine for her to be a victim of abuse, but it's incredibly boring and been done before. The trope of evil guy and kind woman where evil guy abuses kind woman is OVERDONE. It'd be more interesting if Ursa and Ozai actually liked eachother. The idea of them marrying because she's Roku's descendant is good, but I feel the rest of it was poorly executed - she could've been as power hungry as him. I mean, Ursa's family would've been nobility if Roku didn't betray the FN. Maybe she wanted power, maybe she was like Ozai in that regard. It would've been a lot more interesting if they loved eachother for a while because of the things they had in common but Ursa stopped chasing power after her children were born and Ozai didn't.

[prying-pandora666]

Look at this for a moment.

Notice how Azula, a 14 year old child at her oldest in the show, is now somehow a “woman” and not a girl.

Notice how Ozai isn’t her father and only remaining parent. He’s just “a man”.

Notice how the emphasis is on Ozai’s power as something Azula desires, as if she’s the power-hungry equivalent of a gold digger rather than an abused child who can’t defy her father who also happens to be the unquestionable ruler of their highly-militarized nation.

Notice how Azula being motivated by wanting her father’s love and approval—a normal desire for any child but especially one who hasn’t received love—is somehow “reductive”.

And yet Zuko having the exact same motivation despite being two years older somehow isn’t?

This is misogyny. And it’s been so internalized that they can’t even recognize it’s coming from inside the house.

Fandom is a mess. Can we please talk about the sexism and ableism surrounding Azula discourse?

You don’t have to like her or agree with her redemption to recognize this is not okay.

[high-on-cactus-juice]

honestly I’m kinda annoyed by people who view Azula as some irredeemable psychopathic monster cause that’s such a misunderstanding of her character and everything she represents.

don’t get me wrong my girl is crazy in the series, but she’s also just a 14 year old girl who was raised as a weapon her whole life by a goddamn EVIL DICTATOR. while her other parent was emotionally unavailable due to her own mental issues at the time (I’m not saying that Ursa was a bad parent, I’m saying that Ursa was fucking traumatised by being forcibly married to a tyrant, and she ended up seeing a reflection of her husband in young Azula). when one of your parents is a tyrannical power hungry ruler and your other parent is emotionally unavailable because they associate you with their trauma, of course that’s gonna fuck you up???

Zuko represents everything Azula could have been. the two siblings are placed as fundamental opposites because Zuko is the one who achieved his redemption while Azula descended further into madness. however we do ignore the fact that a big part of the reason Zuko chooses redemption is because of the actions of other people, because of the support he had from Ursa and Iroh and later the gaang members. and if Azula had been given the same circumstances from the start she could have been redeemed too, just like Zuko.

but she wasn’t given any outside perspectives of the world outside of her fathers brainwashing ideology. so of course she listened to the one parent that she was left with because that’s what she thought love was. she was a child who was raised by only being exposed to her father’s propaganda, in other words literally cult brainwashing.

people don’t understand that Azula is a tragic character and not a psychopathic one, because she COULD HAVE been a redeemed character, she had all the POTENTIAL to be redeemable, and the only reason why she wasn’t redeemed towards the end was because she actively CHOSE not to be redeemed. because how can she go against all she has ever known?

notice how when Iroh talks about Azula he says she is “crazy and needs to go down” because that’s the truth and that’s what needs to happen in that moment, BUT he doesn’t at any point say that Azula is irredeemable, because he knows that if she was given the same chances as Zuko she could have been redeemed.

also people throw around the word psychopath a little too easily. Azula does care about others to some extent, she has emotions and complex feelings that she doesn’t know how to express due to her fucked up upbringing, and unstable mental health. hating Azula has low key become a gateway into stigmatising people with mental health disorders and I don’t like that. if you’re gonna dislike Azula think of a better reason than “oh she’s psychopathic and heartless boohoo”

[atla-recluse]

Has it ever been discussed, what sort of things Zuko had to have been taught by who-even-knows, to be so throne-hungry at the age of just 16?

Was it Ozai teaching it to Zuko? Iroh teaching it to Zuko? Was it Ozai teaching it to Zuko through a young, impressionable Azula?

Or is Zuko just that naturally preoccupied with power and control, but able to hide behind his younger sister's far greater raw power and skill and her being preferred by the main bad, to get away from these accusations?

[yxngchen]

LOVE the pattern of the Power Hungry Father with Two Children dynamic throughout atla and lok. Ozai/Azula/Zuko, Yakone/Noatak/Tarrlok, Unalaq/Eska/Desna. idk if it’s on purpose but it is so interesting every time

[balanceoflightanddark]

"Azula overturned Zuko's banishment, not because he really cares about him, it's just in case Aang survived her lightningblast and she'd sadistically frame Zuko as a scapegoat and save her own ass from Ozai's wrath!"

So, a lightningblast is not an instant-kill move? If it still is, then this plan can only work if Azula had supernatural clairvoyance, precognition, ESP, and/or is a Jedi. Which I recall none of these things being revealed.

Zuko completely spilled the beans about Azula making the blast and that Aang survived. Two episodes later, at the boiling rock, oh look! Azula is perfectly fine!

Ah yes. The blackmail. People just loooove to frame Azula's whole "giving Zuko the credit for killing the Avatar" maneuver as some master plan that Tzeentch would be proud of in order to bring her brother to ruin. Thing is, she had no way of knowing that Aang would have any chance of survival.

Something that she herself brought up before:

See? She genuinely believed the Avatar was dead and that Zuko had nothing to worry about. The whole myth about bringing Zuko back just to use him for blackmail doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Even with the common misconception that Azula is power-hungry, why bring back and restore somebody's status when she could've just used the Dai Li back in the Earth Kingdom?

Bringing Zuko back honestly did more damage to her chances for the throne in the long run if that's what she was after...and to her as well.

Did Azula blackmail Zuko? Yes. But you also have to remember that she figured out that Zuko was withholding information from her. Here's a post by my dear friend @akiizayoi4869 which goes into detail, but the short gist of it was that both siblings are equally guilty of hurting each other with this mess. And trying to pin the blame squarely on Azula is an attempt to make Zuko look better than he actually was.

But to the second point. It is true that we didn't see what Ozai did when Zuko threw her under the bus (a rather dick move of him I might add since he didn't really gain anything from it). Thing is, I don't think Ozai would've hurt Azula if he still had some use for her. He'd probably scare the hell out of her and give her an ultimatum of killing Zuko or killing the Avatar to get back into his good graces. Since she failed in both, that could factor in his decision to abandon her during Sozin's Comet since she wasn't needed anymore.

Honestly, that potential scene is a huge missed opportunity. One, it actually gives Ozai more development and elaborates on the relationship between him and Azula. Two, it helps paint Azula in a more sympathetic light and clears up some of the ambiguity around her actions. And three, establish that between the two, Ozai is the more heinous one if he threatens to do the same thing to Azula that he did to Zuko. It certainly would give this line a bit more weight:

Thing is...Book 3 had a LOT of writing problems and shortchanging characters when it came to development. We didn't really get any time with anyone from the Royal Family not named Zuko outside of "The Beach" to humanize them too much. Some of the story decisions such as Azula's breakdown do feel a bit rushed. And we also missed out on storylines which could've developed her a bit more, like the arranged marriage subplot. So while her getting a scene like I mentioned would make a lot of sense in terms of character development, I'm not really surprised given what we've seen from Book 3.