#like to ashura it was presented as 'they killed one of our princes so we're going to kill their queen'

[hassianlovebot]

Spoilers for Ashura's lvl 5 friendship quest. Mentions of Subira and Reth Tish and Zeki quests.

Listen, I want to be very clear so there's no confusion. Yes, what Ashura did was wrong. Yes, I hate militarism, governments, and cops. Yes, S6 often deals with subject matters that require a lot more content and grace than the little 5 minute dialogue quests we're given. But (imo) no, I don't think they're trying to make you sympathize with the military or even with veterans.

Really think about everything we know so far about these kingdoms and institutions with power. Really think about all of the characters we know, their backstories and motivations, and their actions throughout the story so far. Yes, Subira is a magic cop, but she was also isolated and groomed as a young child to become that and shows clear signs of doubting The Order in her later friendship and romance quests. Reth is firmly against the government and The Order for outlawing flow. Ashura, out of trauma and guilt, is so against the military that he tries to force his son out of that path despite understanding how Majiri society sees path deserters. Caleri keeps a stock of hidden books because she believes censorship is wrong.

Literally everything we know about the Palian Republic government, The Order, and their military history is painted as Bad within the narrative. As of right now, they are not the good guys, and we have multiple characters and quest lines that either directly say or heavily imply that.

Imo, Ashura's lvl5 quest doesn't change this. If anything, I think it's meant to be read as further proof that the government and Order can't be trusted. Ashura is pretty heavily painted as a Good Guy with a troubled past in the narrative. It's clear from the start that he has regrets and guilt from his military life, we're just not sure how far that goes. Then it's revealed he had the task of assassinating the Umbraan queen and accidentally killed the princess instead. He retired and changed his path because of that. Then tried to force his son away from the military life so he didn't make the same mistakes, and ruined his relationship with him in the process.

I understand that some people will feel uncomfortable with being forced to comfort and sympathize with Ashura, but imo, reading his story as military sympathism specifically, isn't quite... right? It's not being presented that way and literally everything else we know about them is Bad and is presented as Bad. The only character who likes The Order is Auni and that's cause he's like 8.

Imo, S6 wants you to be suspicious of the government and The Order while recognizing the grooming and brainwashing being done to its citizens. The narrative wants you to question culture, the status quo, and "right vs wrong". They're not doing a great job of showing it, but imo, that is the lesson here. Ashura's backstory isn't supposed to make you go "ah well maybe some soldiers are okay lol". It's supposed to make you go "ah shit the order is an oppressive force trying to assassinate foreign leaders and grooming young soldiers and watchers into believing surveillance and violence is the Right Thing". Similarly, Subira's whole deal isn't meant to make you think "cops good", it's meant to make you realize "ah shit the order is grooming young children into enforcing a surveillance state in order to oppress the masses".

Yes, both Ashura and Subira are meant to be sympathized with, but imo, that doesn't automatically mean sympathizing with the military or the powers. It's,,, in a not quite so eloquently written way, very similar to the Fire Nation in atla. Yes, they are bad, and yet Zuko's redemption and the sympathism of Fire Nation citizens living in poverty isn't meant to challenge that. It's meant to drive home the point that oppressive powers are Bad for Everyone. Zuko's redemption isn't "sometimes bad guys are Actually good guys", it's "sometimes bad guys are groomed from the start and given the right perspective, education, and chance are capable of changing and actually doing the right thing". That doesn't lessen the pain he has caused, it just gives him the chance to do right by people in the future.

I just think, given everything we know about these characters and the politics within this world, that Ashura's backstory is really not meant to make you sympathize with soldiers or the military. Any amount of sympathy for Ashura is supposed to go hand-in-hand with the suspicion of the government and The Order.

maybe this is a hot take but i feel like reading ashura's story and character as military sympathism is a bad faith interpretation given everything we know about him, the government, and the order