#i'm not as good at analysis as other ppl (cough catie) but here we are

[iamfitzwilliamdarcy]

@byjoveimbeinghumble replied to your post: mai choosing zuko over azula is entirely about...

You’ve been in this fandom longer so I must respect this but I don’t understand it at all

i have a couple of points here!! you just woke me up bc i was starting to doze in an armchair to atla closing music. anyway here we go:

1. Azula’s mother favors Zuko over her. She talks about this in a very dismissive manner in the Beach episode, but it’s clear that this actually has a pretty negative impact on her. She likes Zuko when he’s in his proper place, beneath her, and when she is assured of her father’s favor of her over him. Her friends choosing Zuko over her exploits the exact insecurity she has that begins her breakdown. This scene waters that seed so that it’s already in her mind when Ozai tells her to stay behind--she shouts he can’t treat her like Zuko. This is her worst fear, and it started again with Mai. She can’t trust her friends to choose her, so she can’t trust anyone. Fear is the only reliable way. 

2.  Mai and Zuko have a weird relationship. I’ve talked about it before, but they rarely seem to like each other and frequently are actively antagonistic towards each other. I don’t think either of them are bad people, but I do think they are bad to each other and fundamentally incompatible. (my petty zutara-lens take is that bryke tried to write opposites attract relationship w/ zuko to deter zutara shippers but jokes on them they were Bad At It). they frequently invalidate each others’ feelings, rarely get along, and even when they try to be supportive of each other, are not able to do so in a way that the other actually needs 

3. Zuko has just dumped Mai and approx 2 seconds before Mai betrays Azula, Mai was still upset about this. There’s no resolution--Zuko tries to explain he’s helping his country, but Mai is not swayed. Mai tells him he is betraying his country (this is interesting because it’s the most Mai has ever cared about like....patriotism or politics or y’know literally anything). Then Zuko locks her in a cell and leaves her behind. They have resolved nothing, discussed nothing, and are still, explicitly, broken up. 

4. The gaang needs a rescue from Azula or they will not escape the prison! Lo and behold, a mysterious rescuer comes! It’s Mai! What is she doing? Azula asks. What indeed. Mai has apparently done some offscreen introspection and soul-searching and decided that she is a) not hurt by zuko, despite noting several times he ripped her heart out b) in fact, loves zuko and is c) willing to choose him over her best friend, her country, and her entire life. To me, this works towards the general way the writer’s refuse to show female characters changing their minds about the boys in their lives or developing their feelings and relationships because it’s convenient to plot. 

5. I actually think the writers could have made this work if they’d put some more effort in. I’ve been critical about the portrayal of zuko and mai’s relationship in previous episodes; i don’t think they work well as a couple how the show wrote them and think you could cut mai out of zuko’s life entirely without any change to his arc, personality, and other relationships. I think Mai is pretty underdeveloped as a character, though she’s cool and coul dhave a lot of potential. I’ve presented my criticism of this episode here. but the writers needed a deeply personal betrayal for Azula, they needed someone else to choose her brother over her, like her mother had, and this was the best set-up they had given themselves. It was never about Mai or Maiko--it was always about Azula and Zuko