#zukodemption

[the-maidofmischief]

both zukos and catras characters arcs are great and amazingly written, so i always feel uncomfortable when ppl compare them, because not every redemption arc has to be the same in order to be good.

THANK YOU. This is gonna be long lmao, please bare with me.

Zuko and Catra share some similarities, but at the end of the day they are very different characters, with different backgrounds, story and psychology.

And that’s AMAZING.

It’s amazing because we were shown two different but effective ways to tell a story about how childhood’s abuse can affect a person’s mental health, and how they can get better and grow up, showing that there is hope for everyone, as long as you do the best you can to change.

Want to know why their redemption arcs worked, where others like Kylo Ren’s or Snape’s failed?

I could start by saying that Kylo and Snape where two grown ass men, only written as negative characters with literally no background on why they acted the way they did. Kylo has a change of heart at the last minute (which is okay, because I believe that anyone can change at any point), but its not enough to be redeemed, because he should have also actually took responsability for his past actions. But he didn’t, he simply died for the good side and...that’s it. That’s why it doesn’t work. And also, because, let’s be real, it wasn’t planned for him to get a redemption arc in the first place. He was supposed to be de main villain, Rey and Finn were supposed to be the main characters of the sequels trilogy, but the fans decided that it was all about the white sad man uwu instead, and that, plus the lack of story planning, is what ruined the movies. What about Snape? he was an abusive teacher and a negative character for seven books straight. Then, in one of the final chapter we get his whole backstory and we are supposed to feel sorry for him. And we are, at least I sure was, and I won’t deny that he is actually a complex character, and that not everything is black and white. But it’s still not enough for him to be forgiven of all the bs he put the other characters too, even when he was supposed to be a good guy. So, at the end of the story, when Harry named one of his children after him, it just feels wrong, especially when Harry actually had a lot of positive people in his life that helped him way more than Snape - or Dumbledore - ever did. (I also have the feeling that jkr totally improvised snaped backstory at the last minute, but maybe that’s just me lol)

Both Catra ans Zuko were literally children/teens, and the reasons why they acted the way they did were shown by the very beginning. It is something that makes you emphatize with them, but that at the same time it makes you realize that their past sufference can’t be use as an excuse to hurt others. They both had many wake up calls/chances during the shows to simply join the good guys, but they both do that in the final season because they needed to take a look at themself first, and realized why they fucked up so many times. Because guess what? abuse victims fuck things up. You guys support abuse victims only when they fit your ideals of hurt and sweet damsel in distress, but when they actually have personality/anger disorders they’re monsters. The shows NEVER justified or romanticized the bad things that they did. And if you want a well-written redemption arc, you HAVE TO let the characters do bad guys stuff. What makes them different is that even when they were on the villain’s side, they both showed moments of kindness that enstablished potential for a future change. What makes them different, is that we actually follow their story arcs too, and we see them growing up and changing.

And, most importantly, they actually face the consequences of their own actions. Before joining the gaang, Zuko is already starting to have doubts. During season 4 Catra has constant nightmares of the portal, and she tries to repress the guilt that she is feeling, because she is slowing realizing that this time she hurted a lot of people, and that there’s no one else to blame but herself. And she doesn’t fully accept it until DT slaps the truth to her face. And at this point of their story, what Zuko and Catra need is NOT more punishment, but forgiveness. IF they actually try to be better people. And they do. In different ways, but they do.

Zuko joins the gaang that accepts him and he constantly tries to be good. The only person that is giving him an hard time is Katara (rightfully), but eventually she forgives him too, because she is realizing that he is making an effort.

Catra sacrifice herself saving Glimmer, goes through more physical and psychological trauma and abuse by Horde Prime, and literally almost dies. Then Adora saves her, and Catra joins the squad, but it’s not easy. It’s not easy because she knows that she hurted them in the past, and doesn’t think that she deserves their forgiveness. But she decides to try. She shows genuine remorse of her past behaviour, and makes sincere apologies to the people that she hurted, without expectation of forgiveness. It is easier for Adora to forgive her, because she grow up with her, and knows her better than anyone else. It’s easier for Glimmer to forgive her because they started to bond on Prime’s ship, and the princess realized that they are more similiar that she thought. But they all know that the road to redemption is hard and long, and that Catra need to work on herself. And guess what? she does.

After they join the good guys Zuko and Catra show constant effort to improve throught both big and small actions of true selflessness. And that’s why they works as characters. We can’t really compare them because they have different stories. But that doesn’t mean that one arc is better than the other.

[disgustedorite]

Every time I see someone praise zukodemption--and it absolutely deserves it--I can't help but think if ATLA was a brand new show, even if it was identical, people would call it half-assed problematic and possibly also call the writers fascists or something

[urcadelimabean]

I can't believe I've seen "well certain star wars fans who hold up Zuko as an example of redemption wouldn't have actually supported the idea of zuko being redeemed if avatar was coming out now" as some sort of gotcha. 1) many of us did support the idea of a well written redemption for Kylo Ren before tros, but were critical of how race and racism played a role and sidelined Finn for Kylo's white manpain. And 2) I loved zuzu from the beginning, but .... what if hypothetically we didn't support Zuko's redemption from the start? How would that actually be a bad thing? To allow a show to slowly reveal a character's path and bring them the character development that makes you start to sympathize with them. That convinces you redemption is necessary and possible, instead of just doling it out randomly because fans asked. Because that's exactly what actually happened for the whole fandom. There weren't nearly as many people lobbying and begging for "zukodemption" and badmouthing all other characters from the get go, building up Zuko at all the other characters expense. Avatar fans have always been insane, yes, but when I think about that time in fandom compared to the discourse in the star wars fandom now I have to laugh because comparing two villains and their redemption arcs and their respective fans for and against like it's a perfect analogy.... pretending you can do that without addressing the insane amount of anti blackness in the SW fandom... truly crazy.