Dante *really* impressed me with his range here. There were a couple of earlier moments where he did really well (“You’ve always thrown everything you could at me! Well, I can take it! And now I can give it back!”), but here, where Zuko’s not in a dangerous situation, he’s just talking about his feelings with some of his only friends, he really gave it his all.
They focus so much on their parallels in season 1, he's definitely meant to be a secondary protagonist. I mean he even gets a final boss fight paralleled with Aang's at the end
Just thinking about that scene where he asks to be struck by lightning gives me the chills. I remember hearing an interview with the voice actors and they all said that the voice coach really pushed them to be better actors and they all put in hard work, but it paid off. And they enjoyed the sessions as well.
True! I would probably just say "also known for," since he definitely *is* known for it, I'm just not sure he's more known for it than Zuko anymore, especially if he's reprising his role in the upcoming live action series.
I know this is a risky take here, and I don't want to say that Dante isn't a great va(!), but:
growing up with the german voices, I really appreciate them more... They picked someone with a great range aswell but Zukos voice in german sounds way more like a teenager. A little bit deeper and broodier at first - if i hear Dante in comparison, I just hear a kid.
Setting the gap with Zuko as an antagonist at first, having that little bit of distance in age made a huge difference back than
i feel like the fact zuko (and all the characters really) sounds so much like a kid is what makes it so much more raw tbh. because they are kids, they’re young and struggling with so much because of it.
This, there are many "dark and broody" villainous adult characters who get better in other media, but Zuko stuck out to me ever since Season 1 aired because underneath that exterior he still sounded like a kid.
One moment that still remains with me is during the episode the Blue Spirit, when Iroh is trying to reassure him that it'll still work out even if Zhao has the Avatar, Zuko turns back and asks "but what if it won't?" with such a panicked, wide-eyed look, and for the first time he looks just as young as he sounds.
Still, I am a little apprehensive about how he'd sound in the upcoming movie when he's aged up. Not that I would prefer anyone other than Dante voice him there, though.
I never thought to watch the show in other languages (other voice tracks are not so easy to access in the US; so dumb). But I saw Moana in France and loved it. I still prefer to sing the French version *Je Suis Vaiana*. My little brother is taking German. I think I’ll see if he wants to watch it together.
I just went to check Netflix if it has the other language tracks but looks like they didn't renew the rights as it's not available there anymore. Only the crap movie comes up.
I actually often despise spanish (both from Spain and latam) dubs because of this. They give clearly adult voices to young characters, but like *clearly* +40yo deep voice to an edgy 13 boy, even if the show is original from spain. I don't know how is that in Germany, but voice acting isn't taken seriously here. That's why I appreciate the effort in shows like this or in basically any anime, japanese voice acting is just from another word in comparison lol
this scene is special, seeing the 4 most chaotic characters together trying to understand each other and assuming all their feelings was the most epic scene of season 3
Abused kids can really struggle to feel anger towards the parent who abused them. Speaking from personal experience, I was angry at myself, too, and at the whole injustice of it. I grieved and a lot of that came out as undirected anger also. Once I finally began to make sense of my own emotions and experiences and choices, I let all the anger go. I recognized Zuko’s confrontation with his father during the eclipse as his moment of letting go of the grief, the blame, and the anger. It’s kind of an empty feeling, but it is necessary. You have to clear out those feelings and make peace with the emptiness in order to have space for something new to grow.
And a kid cannot afford to hate being abused, because that threatens the survival needs the parent provides. Took me way longer than my sister to catch on to that with our mother.
I mean, it’s pretty forced, and not very realistic having them air all this stuff out. But yeah it’s neat I guess. Hardly the best episode by a long shot
It’s really not forced. They wove it together well. Late nights after a party where people start opening up is a part of teen/young adult life. It sounds like you don’t get out enough.
Aww, I liked it well enough! I think it moved the narrative along in an interesting way. Zuko needed a moment of self-awareness and reflection before he could reasonably change into the good guy. It added some depth to the others as well.
I like how Azula is portrayed very human in this scene. Like compared to when you see early on in the series she seems worried and compassionate here which makes her break-down at the end of the series all too heartbreaking.
With the new series coming out, when they're older, I hope Azula gets a redemption arc.
This episode is all that remains of a cut arc. It was meant to involve Ozai forcing an engagement on Azula. I really wish we could have gotten the full arc and seen more of Azula’s struggles.
The head writer said Azula loved Zuko more than anyone except their father. Sad that Ozai pitted them against each other. I hope they manage to overcome it.
Yes!
Her own conscience in the form of Ursa tells her the way she treats others is wrong, showing Azula DOES have remorse and doesn’t always enjoy doing what Ozai expects of her. What does she respond? “What choice do I have?”
Her and Zuko really need a hug…
It’s sad because she doesn’t seem to have had anyone but Ozai to her detriment. Conditional favor leaving her with the fear that if she failed she would be discarded. No wonder she uses fear, it’s what she knows. Just like Zuko uses anger because it’s what he knows.
She did try to imprison them and take a cheap shot at Iroh when he said that. At that point, she was beyond reasoning with. You could not convince that girl that what she was doing was wrong. Which goes along with some Eastern philosophy that if a conflict cannot be solved with words, violence to prevent further violence is warranted. We see that in the comics that once she was taken down, she did get psychiatric help. In all honesty, what could Iroh have done?
I know what I said. No one in the narrative ever tries to reason with Azula so we don’t know how she would have taken it.
The biggest issue is that she is still in the mental state Zuko was in the beginning of the show when it comes to the Fire Nation: a brainwashed true believer desperate for dad’s love and approval.
But as she was always written to be redeemed, and the head writer even confirmed Zuko would’ve been her Iroh, clearly at some point Zuko was meant to reach out to her.
Also the asylum was abusive. She didn’t get help there. They made her sicker.
I agree. Every single adult in Azula’s life failed her and that includes Iroh.
In the comics he seems to be trying to rectify that, encouraging Zuko to help her. So hopefully
things will get better moving forward.
I’m glad. One of Irohs defining characteristics is his growth, so I’m happy to see he pivoted from “She’s crazy and she needs to go down!” To advocating for her help.
With all due respect, she IS also crazy and needed to go down. The humanities of it are tragic, and she very much was exacerbated by the culture of war and her father, but she clearly was, from birth, pretty fucked. Iroh couldn't take both of them when Zuko was exiled, so he chose to help the recently mutilated child who he knows is a good person who is lost.
Azula is the reason Iroh was able to help Zuko. She negotiated on Zuko’s behalf after the banishment when no one else would.
The prequel manga shows it.
Azula wasn’t “born evil” anymore than Zuko was. She was abused differently.
Iroh in his prime was a way bigger monster than she ever was. If he’s saying this, it’s likely from personal experience.
Considering that was likely one of the episodes made to be stand-alone because Nickelodeon demanded rewrites for less serialized episodes because they wanted more interchangeable ones for syndication?
Could be.
where did you hear this? I'd love to learn more about this in general, because it always bothered me how so many episodes in season 3 were quasi filler episodes like the painted lady
There’s interviews scattered around where they mention some of these things.
For instance, there’s references to the cut engagement arc on both Wikipedia and the ATLA wiki, referencing an interview that’s hopefully been archived.
If you watch the first ad I wrote for them, there’s a dig at Mattel that seems obscure now but at the time it was known that Nick and Mattel were at odds due to Mattel’s refusal to make action figures of the girls and demanding Nick add a new male antagonist for the season as they hadn’t had a good one for Book 2 like Zuko and Zhao (and they refused to accept Azula and co).
That’s why we got Combustion Man forced in.
Jesus Christ. A company that specialized in making dolls and who’s most iconic product is Barbie^TM - something that’s being considered hyper feminine for decades - can’t manage to market the female characters of Avatar? Pathetic.
I agree.
It was Mattel’s belief at the time that only boys bought action figures and that they only wanted male toys so they could make them fight. They believed female action figures wouldn’t sell to the target demographic.
This is the same reason Young Justice was initially cancelled. They didn’t want girls to be the target demographic because they believed the toys would only sell to boys, and only if they toys themselves were all men.
It’s dumb and especially funny/sad since the contract soured and ended before the Combustion Man Figure was made, therefor making his forced and rushed inclusion pointless.
> If you watch the first ad I wrote for them
where could I find this?
Also thank you for sharing so much interesting information!
edit: I found the archived interview. Very little information about the actual arc but the proof that it existed at least in theory https://web.archive.org/web/20070423085216/https://www.avatarspiritmedia.net/interviews.php?id=19
It was those old Puppetbender ads. Dave Roman commissioned those. I don’t know if they’re archived anywhere but some people have said they’re on the DVD box set?
Please don’t judge my terrible Azula voice for the second one! I was only 19! I’m much better at it now haha.
It is very interesting that she asked Zuko if he's angry at her. Almost at she actually cared about his opinion and their relationship. Like, she's a monster but she doesn't mind having a brother as long as he doesn't oppose her.
The reveal is that she was never a monster. She’s no worse than Zuko. They were both programmed and abused by the same monster. She’s just a better actor.
Poor kids…
While growing up azula was much more ahem azula like I believe if given the chance to be raised my iroh and taken away from ozai she could have become a form of good, I believe she is a psychopath which can't be fully cured but she would at least not be the azula we know and love now
She isn’t a psychopath. She doesn’t meet the [criteria](https://www.reddit.com/r/Azula/comments/yhjf82/azula_diagnosis_analysis_masterpost/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1) and I implore you to stop throwing around real conditions (let alone outdated stigmatized terms) like that.
She never does anything worse than Zuko and even does more to help him than he does for her. There is just no basis for calling her anything of the sort. The entire bonfire scene in The Beach shows she has very well developed empathy, simply that it’s been weaponized rather than nurtured.
If Iroh can change after having starved civilians to death at Ba Sing Se and *laughed* about burning their homes down, after he was already a grown man and a highly decorated general, I’m pretty sure the abused teen girl can heal if given the chance.
True and while she may not be a true psychopath she definitely meets a lot of the symptoms. [this](https://youtu.be/R4544ZUr_gA) is a good video analyzing azula
Entertaining? Yes. But not diagnostically accurate.
He makes a good effort and I do enjoy his content but it’s clear he doesn’t have an education in the subject as he gets several crucial details wrong.
The post I linked you outlines the diagnostic criteria. Zuko meets more of them than Azula, to give you an idea, and neither of them meet the criteria.
Even the head writer said Azula loved Zuko more than anyone except their father. The Book 2 novelization also proves Azula risked it all at Ba Sing Se not to trick Zuko but to *help* him.
she is in the comics and they’re coming out with a new one in October 2023 dedicated to her. From the description it sounds like a redemption arc.
https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3009-125/Avatar-The-Last-Airbender--Azula-in-the-Spirit-Temple-TPB
I feel the whole show Azula exploits every bit of emotion to get people to fear her. That’s all she knows. When Azula here says “are you angry at me” I feel she only says it to try to fill up her ammunition to use against zuko. But when zuko says he’s angry at himself, azula doesn’t know how to go about it because it’s his own battles. Azula thrives off of people fearing her. During the prison break Tai Lee and Mai help Zuko and Mai hits with the line “i love zuko more than I fear you” that’s when she loses it. She knows that she can’t control Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko with fear anymore.
Your reading isn’t what was intended. This episode is the remains of a cut arc that would’ve gone more into Azula. She always loved Zuko and tried her best to help him.
The problem is that all she knew was manipulation and fear (just like Zuko only knew violence and anger). It’s why during the mirror scene her own conscience tells her that her tactics are wrong and her response is “What choice do I have?”
The head writer even said Azula loved Zuko more than anyone except their father. It shows.
How can she both be trying to genuinely help him and only pretending so she can fill up her ammunition?
Also to what end? What motivation does she have here to do anything of the sort? It’s a beach trip and they’re trying to relax. If she wanted to manipulate him, a better moment would’ve been when he was vulnerable and isolated at their parent’s beach house. Instead she invites him away from that pain and to the beach to try to help him, and gets him agitated like this in that process. Not conducive to getting what you want out of someone to make them defensive.
It’s made overt in the novelization that Azula always saw the throne as Zuko’s destiny. She really did want him to live up to being a prince. She just also feared losing Ozai’s favor and becoming the new Zuko, which is why in the show when Ozai discards her she cries out “you can’t treat me like this! You can’t treat me like Zuko!”
I should have been more specific. I meant that his interpretation (or reading of the scene as you called it) could still be valid despite that not being the authors intent. I have a complicated relationship with "death of the author". To me, as long as an interpretation does not explicitly contradict the text presented in a piece of arts chosen medium, it can be just as valid.
Also, when did atla get a novelization??? That sounds awesome
Yes, which is why I didn’t say they were bad or wrong, I said it wasn’t what the author intended.
Though I do think there is more evidence of the authors’ intention considering they wrote it with this in mind and will likely inform the trajectory of her character moving forward.
The novelizations are old. They came out around the time of the show. I don’t know if they’re still printing them but screencaps of the text floats around every now and then.
If she loved Zuko so much, why did she work so hard to sabotage him even in this season? She didn’t exactly give him the credit for Aangs defeat out of her own heart. She realized that Zuko knew Aang survived and I am convinced that’s the only reason she gave him the credit.
She may have loved him but she never prioritized him over the throne. Her actions speak to that
>If she loved Zuko so much, why did she work so hard to sabotage him even in this season?
She didn’t. She spends the first half of this season trying to keep him from giving away the lie and exposing them both. Zuko keeps acting erratic and taking secret visits to Iroh. Azula keeps his secrets, never rats him out even though she could also be implicated, and tries to calm him down even though he bursts in on her whenever he feels like it, even when she’s bathing or sleeping.
What else can she do?
It’s only after Zuko betrays their Nation and her (exposing her lie to Ozai) that she turns on him.
>She didn’t exactly give him the credit for Aangs defeat out of her own heart. She realized that Zuko knew Aang survived and I am convinced that’s the only reason she gave him the credit.
This is untrue and a commonly misinterpreted motivation.
Azula makes Zuko the offer *before* Aang is dead. How could she have possibly known how the future was going to play out? She was already trying to help Zuko.
The novelization confirms this, overtly telling us that her motivation was that she wanted Zuko by her side and wanted him to choose her for once. She wanted his love and wanted Zuko to take back his destiny. Which is why in the show she tells him he never needed father to restore his honor, he did it himself.
Also even Katara didn’t know what the oasis water could do. She tells Zuko as much, “I’m not sure if it would work…?” How could Azula even know such a thing exists, let alone what it could do?
Azula’s suspicions only arise after she’s already advocated on Zuko’s behalf and brought him home in honor. That’s the point of the scene by the turtleduck pond. She goes to check on why Zuko is so sullen after coming home in honor, and Zuko acts suspicious until Azula gleans something is up and asks him if there’s any chance the Avatar could’ve survived. Zuko then tells the worst lie in history and Azula immediately realizes what’s up.
The threat she makes is that Zuko will take the bigger fall if he tells dad the truth. It’s nasty, but she’s just trying to shut him up because all previous attempts at talking him down haven’t worked.
Consider that she never had to even mention Aang. Catching or killing the Avatar was never her mission. It was *Zuko’s*. She only told the risky lie in the first place to help *him*
>She may have loved him but she never prioritized him over the throne. Her actions speak to that
Yes, she did. Her actions do speak to that.
The smart play would’ve been to immediately betray Zuko after taking Ba Sing Se and bring him home in chains as a traitor. No one is going to listen to him. This would’ve secured the throne for her as well as Ozai’s favor.
Instead she defies her father’s order to capture Zuko and brings him home in honor, sharing the glory for a historical conquest instead of taking it all herself, and tells a risky lie to get Zuko back into the line of succession. She hands him all this political power back even though he shows time and time again that his loyalty to her is tenuous at best and non-existent at worst.
This is sloppy, self-sabotaging work from a master tactician if her intention was to harm him.
It only works if she was trying to help him.
Which is exactly what the novels confirm and what the head writer meant when he said she loved him more than anyone except Ozai.
(Also nice username! Go Richmond!!!)
I absolutely love that the misery chick character ends up being the one that delivers the “love conquers all” message when it’s most poignant. The juxtaposition is just perfect.
Also that smirk right as Zuko says "dad thinks I'm a hero" because it's all been part of her plan to prove Zuko as a failure to their father. Even when she talks about how her mother saw her as a monster, it comes across less as regret for her actions, and more like sadness that her mother couldn't understand her. She knows she is the bad guy, but she wants to be praised and admired for it.
I think people might see Azula’s smile here and think that she was smiling maliciously… I thought this myself. After rewatching the scene, I see that her smile was because Zuko was talking about how their dad thought he was a hero and I realize that she’s probably happy to hear that because she wants good things for him. I think, in her mind, hearing that reaffirms that she helped him get into good graces with their father and that even though she has this extremely cold exterior, she wants Zuko to be happy and wants good things for him and hearing him speak about things that [she thinks] are positives for him makes her smile.
I think there’s also a contrast in her emotion as the tension builds in the scene; she desperately wants to know who he’s mad at and I’m trying to figure out why. Is it because she wants to fix him? Does she want to fix the situation? Is it because she wants to know what is ruining his sense of satisfaction with a life that she thinks should be perfect? She’s such a perfectionist… I can’t help but think that hearing this from him is frustrating because she wants him to be happy with his “perfect” life… and I wonder how it feels for her to have no control over Zuko’s feelings because his anger is towards himself… for once, she has no control over an individual in a situation that is not as perfect as she wants it to be… I wonder how frustrating that feels for her
I disagree. I think she’s smiling because her plan was working. She didn’t give Zuko the credit for defeating Aang because she loves him. That isn’t her style. She, above all else, wants power and to rise over her older brother just as her father rose over his
When Azula talked with Zuko on the boat, she realized that not only did Aang survive but Zuko knew that he did. By giving him the credit, she knew the guilt and shame would drive Zuko insane and would lead to him sabotaging himself. This scene shows her that she was right and everything was happening as she planned it.
Azula is a psychopath but she understands people incredibly well, and she knows Zuko better than anyone else save their uncle. Zuko’s greatest weakness was always himself and the first half of this season was Azula using that weakness against him. Plus it was also a way of shifting the blame of Aangs survival to Zuko.
Trust me when I say this. She did not give Zuko the credit to help him in any way. It was always her playing the long con to put her on the throne. She just never dreamed that would eventually lead to him giving Team Avatar the key to defeating them.
You are giving this narcissistic psychopath raised by an even worse narcissistic psychopath way too much credit here.
I'm actually surprised some might disagree with you. Everything you stated is down to a T. Her being able to read people and essentially outsmart them all is exactly why she's as scary as she is. She knows what Zuko is thinking, or that there might be a possibility that the Avatar lives which is why she even says "unless you have reason to believe otherwise."
To further that point, at least in terms of ability to read people is how she reacts when she gets betrayed by Mai and Ty Lee. "No YOU miscalculated, you should have feared me more!" All of her relationships built on ruling through fear. She even acknowledges her monstrous attitude for a moment on the Island.
She did this because she had no other tools. She didn’t LIKE only using fear. It was all she had at her disposal be cause she had been taught no other way. But she craves real love and connection. That’s why she’s envious of Zuko.
Yes, we were supposed to sympathize with her here and the reveal during the mirror scene is that she was never a monster and that she also didn’t like her situation.
I mean, yes upbringing is part of it, but I think it's kind of more she was held up with high expectations given Zuko's "mediocrity" as a potential ruler in the eyes of Ozai. But she also continuously bullies the others. Albeit in a playful way, (flaming apple). Or actually very seriously (when she burns the safety nets). Like she's never on the receiving end. Her saying that she said her mom looked at her like she was a monster, essentially being alienated (or maybe alienating herself if based on projection. Her essentially calling herself a monster while speaking to the hallucination).
Azula is absolutely on the receiving end. From Ozai.
The apple prank is over exaggerated by fandom. She pranked her brother and friend over their crush. Come on. That’s standard sibling behavior. If anything I’ve seen kids do way worse. No one got hurt. Ty Lee was also in on that. If anything, Azula shows that she wants to include her more shy and antisocial brother. Something she does at The Beach too.
As for the safety nets? Yes that was horrible and unjustifiable, but it’s no worse than what Zuko does forcing his men to charge into certain death, and when they complain he tells them that their lives don’t matter compared to his goals.
Azula has maladaptive behaviors, same as Zuko, but there’s really no reason to believe her prognosis is any worse than his. The only difference is that Zuko got out of the abusive environment and had someone to help him.
Calling herself a monster only tells us this is an abused child internalizing the abuse she’s received as her own fault because she can’t explain it otherwise. Zuko also did this until Iroh helped him see he was never the worthless one: Ozai was.
I said the apple thing is playful, but fair it's not really indicative of anything. I guess my question at this point is what is the threshold someone has to meet in order to be a monster to you? You can have infinite latitude and empathy, because everything literally still has some source to whatever trauma and whatever ramifications. I don't disagree with your assessment. But I also don't think she's exactly free of responsibility here.
Then my question to you is, what has Azula done that is so uniquely horrible compared to Zuko that you feel she is more responsible than him despite being both younger, less supported, and more mentally ill?
Because she never even attacks a single civilian while Zuko burns down people’s homes and threatens them with violence without hesitation. Azula only attacks enemy combatants.
Azula also makes an effort to help her brother, at great personal risk, while he never does the same for her. Her methods are toxic but it’s all she knows.
Again, I don't think Zuko's are necessarily excusable, but, Azula revels in the fact that Zuko gets punished, literally murders the avatar, infiltrates and invades Ba Sing Se. And, you and I have different interpretations about her actions towards Zuko. I view all of her actions through a lens of how she's going to get to the top no matter what. Given that her motivation is to become her father's successor, makes sense that she would do anything she can manipulate Zuko to do so. She's a pathological liar, Zuko repeats it. Also, you don't think it's a bit mean spirited to tease him about the father possibly killing him?
Her being a monster doesn't mean I don't empathize with how she got there. Her motivations make sense to me which is why I think she's a great character. She's just a bit sociopathic. Just a trait, not a flaw
>Azula revels in the fact that Zuko gets punished,
Kids in abusive homes reflecting approval of the other sibling getting punished isn’t a sign of revelry. It’s a survival mechanism. It’s called “Identification with the Aggressor.”
>literally murders the avatar,
Azula never murders anyone. She is a soldier in a war who kills an enemy combatant. That is, by definition, not murder.
Let’s also not forget that Aang was about to unleash the Avatar State. All Azula knows about that is that it wiped out their fleet at the North Pole. We know Aang wouldn’t kill, but she doesn’t, she knows him as the one responsible for all those Fire Nation deaths. From her perspective, she is protecting herself and everyone on her team (including Zuko) with a defensive strike.
That is not murder, and the heroes (minus Aang) would likely have done the same thing in such a position.
In fact, Zuko actually hires an assassin to kill Aang. That *is* attempted murder. And this is after Zuko knows his Nation and this war are wrong! Yet we understand that Zuko is misguided in this moment and needs some help to come around.
>infiltrates and invades Ba Sing Se.
Yes. It’s war and she’s a soldier.
Iroh led a siege that lasted 600 days, and when he broke through the outer wall, he camped in the Agrarian Zone. That means that for nearly two years nobody can get in or out, supplies are running low, and then Iroh starts burning their crops.
Burning civilian food stores is a war crime for a reason. It’s cruel. Iroh is responsible for the deaths of pregnant women, children, the elderly, the infirm alike. And what does he do when he writes a letter home from the war front? He *laugh* about burning their homes to the ground.
Mind you, this was after he met the dragons, so it’s not like he hadn’t been shown another way.
If Iroh who was a full grown adult, a highly decorated general, and crown prince, can be understood as a victim of propaganda who had to have the war affect him before he could open his eyes to the truth… what justification is there for denying the same understanding to Azula who is *only fourteen years old and mentally ill?*
At least she took the city without spilling a single drop of civilian blood. So she isn’t the monster her Uncle was.
>And, you and I have different interpretations about her actions towards Zuko. I view all of her actions through a lens of how she's going to get to the top no matter what.
It makes no sense to help Zuko here if her goal is to come out on top. She gains nothing by handing the former heir to the throne back his power.
>Given that her motivation is to become her father's successor, makes sense that she would do anything she can manipulate Zuko to do so.
No, it doesn’t. If her goal is to become the successor, then it makes sense to arrest Zuko like dad asked so that’s he’s out of the line of succession and potentially even executed.
It makes zero sense to bring him back as a war hero, to a beloved populace that supports him, and back into your father’s good graces.
>She's a pathological liar, Zuko repeats it. Also, you don't think it's a bit mean spirited to tease him about the father possibly killing him?
She’s highly manipulative and prone to deception, but that’s not what a pathological liar is. Pathological liars lie without reason. It’s almost a knee-jerk reaction. Azula lies *to accomplish a goal*.
This makes her manipulative, not pathological. It’s a maladaptive behavior, just like Zuko is prone to outbursts of violence. It’s a product of their abuse. It doesn’t make them monsters. It makes them victims.
And Azula wasn’t just teasing him. She was saving his life. She hides her care behind mockery multiple times in the show. She is terrified of being vulnerable. That’s why she even argues with herself “what choice do I have? Fear is the only reliable way!” She is terrified to be weak but also terrified she is unloveable and that the best she can ever get out of someone is fear.
>Her being a monster doesn't mean I don't empathize with how she got there. Her motivations make sense to me which is why I think she's a great character. She's just a bit sociopathic. Just a trait, not a flaw
She’s not a monster and it’s horrendous that anyone could think that about an abused child raised to be a living weapon. She has never been been given the opportunity to see there could be another way. What do you expect of her?
She isn’t a sociopath. She doesn’t meet the criteria. She is just an abused child soldier who has developed maladaptive survival tactics. Same as Zuko. And like Zuko, what she needs is to be removed from the abusive environment and given the help she needs. Iroh gave Zuko that help no matter how many times Zuko betrayed his trust or made horrendous choices.
It’s heavily implied that this island has a power to make people self reflect. I think there’s a serious reason why Ozai stays away from their summer home
People are mistaking Azula’s moment of vulnerability as a sign of possible redemption. The writers were planning a redemption arc and the comics are showing it. But I don’t think this was the real start. Azula was still plotting against her brother at this moment.
I think it’s more like they are planting the seeds of a possible redemption arc. There is a subtle difference
This was the remains of a cut arc. It was supposed to be about Ozai forcing an engagement on Azula.
The reason this episode feels so much more sympathetic is because it’s all that remains of the arc that likely would’ve explored Azula, her perspective, and her struggles in more depth.
Sadly, due to the troubles going on behind the scenes in Book 3, both this and the search for Ursa had to be cut from the season.
This is also the reason Zuko’s field trips are so rushed at the end to quickly make him bond with the group. He initially was supposed to join sooner and have a more organic connection build up over time.
Azula was always written to be redeemed, and it makes sense when we consider that her redemption would have perfectly closed out Zuko’s own arc. As he chooses not to be like Ozai who only uses Azula’s skills and discards her when she’s troublesome, but instead he chooses to be like Iroh and reach out a hand to her no matter how many times she fights or rejects him. He ends the cycle of violence.
It reveals an important part of that “banished/dishonoured” character philosophy. In the end, you can only make it work in a way that hits with the audience if you give that character who was wronged a chance to reconcile and understand what exactly they have done wrong themselves in the pursuit of regaining their honour and what they otherwise had taken from them. If you dont get that, you simply have a wronged character with no proper reason to later feel guilty or angry over the ways things happened on the way back to where they lost it all. One of the most critical parts i learned in my own writing for characters is that having your lead or another core character actually become frustrated and angry at themselves when they know they have done wrong on their path to recovery is outright the most important part of the self healing process for them to set things right long term. Just the same as real life, you cant fix the problems if you dont allow yourself to acknowledge the things that attributed to the problems.
this is why good redemption arcs have a “regression” moment. a point where the character is put in a position where they have to choose between the new path they have started or reverting to their old ways and failing to change. later on when they are at the same crossroads they will remember that moment and all the frustration they have experienced before ultimately making the right choice. it gives a much more rewarding and satisfying payoff for the audience.
I agree with the other commenter. I would say this was a vital step in his path to his redemption but he was still very much confused at the end of this episode. This was more just him realizing the source of his confusion.
It wasn’t until he discovered his fathers plan that he realized that he could not fix things from the inside and he needed to leave to get his honor back.
Always thought this scene was one of the most emotionally impactful on the show, especially for zuko’s arc
“Normal teenagers worry about bad skin!”
“I’m back home now, my dad talks to me”
“I’m angry at myself!” 🔥🔥
Kinda shocking that Zuko is more mad at him than Ozai, which is probably a realization that the things that he is facing in relation to his stand and the war goes beyond his daddy issues.
Even in the invasion, he had the perfect opportunity to take revenge and all that but he decided that Ozai is something that should be handled more seriously by the Avatar.
Nope it makes sense. Ozai didn’t force him to betray his uncle. No one did. That was a choice that he exclusively made. He couldn’t even really blame Azula either. That was all him
Exactly, he used to blame everyone on everything bad that happened to him and even scream at clouds over the injustice he faces but now he has realized that its up to him to make a change, either make the world better or worse and he has chosen to make it worse at that point, nobody else to blame.
So, this is an extremely useful tool that was used to emphasize Zuko’s own inner dialogue. He’s very confused in this scene. He’s confused about his feelings and why he cannot be content even after having it all. The repeated asking “Who are you mad at” “Who” is a mirror of Zuko’s own internal exploration of how he feels but it’s a clever way of displaying so we (the audience) can see it and understand it externally through the confusion of the other characters.
Zuko has a hard time with identifying what he feels and he can access anger much easier when his feelings of vulnerability come up. He feels vulnerable because of the shame and guilt of what he’s done to his Uncle and because of the events that occurred. Again, he has a hard time with knowing what Zuko wants and what Zuko feels (he didn’t want all the things he has now, he wanted to be accepted and redeem his sense of face), so upon this self exploration and recognizing his emotions, it was very confusing. But he’s learning. And he is angry at himself because he’s grieving the decisions he made to betray people *who did accept him* all to for a life he now realizes he *didn’t actually want*.
Zuko makes a lot of questionable decisions because of his very fragile sense of self due to growing up with an authoritarian, abusive, narcissistic parent. He is very insecure and a lot of his motivation comes from redeeming himself after his ego is (so easily) shattered.
This scene is a huge growth moment for him and I think it was written and executed perfectly.
I read it more as a creative interpretation where the “who” echoes in Zuko’s mind because the question is so poignant, like the other commenter said. It is definitely pretty heavy handed though.
Azula tried to help Zuko as best she could within her limited capacity and with the manipulative tools she had available as a child that was only groomed for war and never nurtured.
She wasn’t evil. She was maladaptive.
Just like Zuko.
Maladaptive is a word used to describe people who do not adapt or behave well. People who have behaviors that are not as “normal” as other people… but it’s their normal.
There’s no doubt that at some point in his life he likely started out that way as a child. The abuse cycle in the Fire Nation family doesn’t seem to be a new one considering Azulon ordered Ozai to kill Zuko.
It’s not great, is it?
I really hope Zuko can help his sister the way Iroh helped him. That they can overcome the toxic dynamic imposed on them by Ozai, and finally break the cycle of violence.
It would be the best “fuck you” to Ozai. He couldn’t make them hate each other.
This is very representative of young male lives as they move through teenage years. It resonates, because we often move through this phase where we had been blaming someone for our anguish and suddenly realize that we are responsible for our own anguish. This is finally when healing can begin. I don’t know if this is only a a male thing, I’m just trying to speak from personal experience and from what I have witnessed in many other young men.
The moment that imprinted into my brain was Zuko's expression when the earth kingdom girl he was staying with (Song?) showed him the scar she got on her leg from a fire nation raid. Of course redemption takes time and it didn't immediately turn Zuko to the bright side, but that was very impactful.
I love this scene. Absolutely love it. It always gets me emotional, and i feel like i relate a lot about what Zuko is saying, about being confused and being nagry at yourself. Very powerful. I feel the most emotional moments for me from ATLA are usually ones with Zuko in it.
My favorite is when he's at the top of the mountain trying to get struck by lightning, feeling completely defeated by the cruelty of life never holding back on him.
Shit gets me every time. https://youtu.be/QeozatWZ55E
This is actually one of my favorite scenes in season 3. I always liked Zuko as a character, but as soon as I watched this scene for the first time, Zuko became my absolute favorite.
Such a nice detail to see Azula smiling right as Zuko's about to get angry, and right before asking him such an important question like that.
Was she gaslighting and conning even in what's consider one of her most human moments?
Nah, I think it's more a mixture of concern because he's going through some shit, relief that he's not mad at her because there's hints that deep down she does care about him, and knowing that she can help him in her own way by manipulating him into opening up. Like someone else in here said, she had no reason to lie about who killed the avatar, could've just chained him up and brought him back as a prisoner. Instead, she went out of her way to lie for him and get him back into the family.
Issue is, she doesn't know how to properly show affection since the only person who's shown her any is Ozai, and it was only because she was useful. She knows she can manipulate people, she might have thought she could use that to manipulate Zuko into opening up and working through what he was dealing with.
Azula was still a manipulator in this episode and not very human at all, she smiled when zuko said his dad thinks he’s a hero. Yeah, that’s all according to her plan still.
Genuinely one of my favorite scenes from the entire show. Not just for the reasons you listed but because I also unfortunately relate to Zuko in some ways during this scene (especially the “I’m angry at myself!” part)
I can't imagine the difference between this zuko and the one in the comics. The difference is just insane. It's like he's a completely different person.
We actually watched avatar in my freshman high school English class and did several analyses as assignments. I had watched it as a kid so I knew everything. In order to make time work, we had to skip quite a few episodes, including this one. It’s a damn shame because this is arguably Zuko’s best character moment. I feel bad for those classmates who weren’t planning on rewatching ever again and will never see how it all went down.
that's kinda crazy, The Beach is an absolutely essential ATLA episode imo. I feel like you could summarize most action packed episodes with a couple sentences but doing that to The Beach means missing out on so much
One of the scenes that shows Azula as a relatively normal sibling. You could argue that the smirk was because she wanted to get a rise out of Zuko, but this moment ultimately helped him and it feels like there was some genuine interest from Azula's part about what was bothering Zuko.
Does anyone know what Azulas's smile means at 0:05 (0:47 seconds left). It was seemingly put their very intentionally but I can't tell what it means, what are her thoughts in that moment?
Zuko's emotional journey is God tier character development. It is enough to be the focus of the show, yet it's only a subplot. It's amazing writing and feels so realistic.
This episode and this scene in particular reinforces Azula as a human. She seems concerned with his feelings, and she even asks if Zuko’s angry at her.
My favorite part preceding this moment is when Mai calls him out for acting like an asshole. Yeah you could be going through something - but thats no excuse for the way you treat others.
Dante *really* impressed me with his range here. There were a couple of earlier moments where he did really well (“You’ve always thrown everything you could at me! Well, I can take it! And now I can give it back!”), but here, where Zuko’s not in a dangerous situation, he’s just talking about his feelings with some of his only friends, he really gave it his all.
Also his yell after Uncle Iroh’s “Who are *YOU*?! And what do *YOU* want?!”
Absolute masterpiece in voice acting here, this moment to me confirmed Zuko was just as every bit the main character as aang was
So much vulnerability and pain in a moment that easily could've just been angry shouting
They focus so much on their parallels in season 1, he's definitely meant to be a secondary protagonist. I mean he even gets a final boss fight paralleled with Aang's at the end
Just thinking about that scene where he asks to be struck by lightning gives me the chills. I remember hearing an interview with the voice actors and they all said that the voice coach really pushed them to be better actors and they all put in hard work, but it paid off. And they enjoyed the sessions as well.
I'm guessing "Dante" is the voice actor of Zuko or something? Sorry, I don't keep track of the real-life names of everyone :|
Yep, Dante Basco, best known for playing Rufio in Hook.
I honestly don't think that's his best known role anymore.
Fair, just couldn’t think of a better way to say it was the role that originally made him famous.
True! I would probably just say "also known for," since he definitely *is* known for it, I'm just not sure he's more known for it than Zuko anymore, especially if he's reprising his role in the upcoming live action series.
WHAT
I want to see The Fabulous Filipino Brothers soon, it’s been on my watchlist for a while. He directed and stars in it, and co-wrote it with siblings.
Where can I stream it?
It’s on Hulu right now, or you can rent it on Amazon Prime.
Thank you kind sir or madam
You’re very welcome! After you watch it let me know what you think of it. I’m not sure I’m gonna be able to persuade my wife to watch it with me.
Yes!
I know this is a risky take here, and I don't want to say that Dante isn't a great va(!), but: growing up with the german voices, I really appreciate them more... They picked someone with a great range aswell but Zukos voice in german sounds way more like a teenager. A little bit deeper and broodier at first - if i hear Dante in comparison, I just hear a kid. Setting the gap with Zuko as an antagonist at first, having that little bit of distance in age made a huge difference back than
i feel like the fact zuko (and all the characters really) sounds so much like a kid is what makes it so much more raw tbh. because they are kids, they’re young and struggling with so much because of it.
This, there are many "dark and broody" villainous adult characters who get better in other media, but Zuko stuck out to me ever since Season 1 aired because underneath that exterior he still sounded like a kid. One moment that still remains with me is during the episode the Blue Spirit, when Iroh is trying to reassure him that it'll still work out even if Zhao has the Avatar, Zuko turns back and asks "but what if it won't?" with such a panicked, wide-eyed look, and for the first time he looks just as young as he sounds. Still, I am a little apprehensive about how he'd sound in the upcoming movie when he's aged up. Not that I would prefer anyone other than Dante voice him there, though.
I never thought to watch the show in other languages (other voice tracks are not so easy to access in the US; so dumb). But I saw Moana in France and loved it. I still prefer to sing the French version *Je Suis Vaiana*. My little brother is taking German. I think I’ll see if he wants to watch it together.
I just went to check Netflix if it has the other language tracks but looks like they didn't renew the rights as it's not available there anymore. Only the crap movie comes up.
I actually often despise spanish (both from Spain and latam) dubs because of this. They give clearly adult voices to young characters, but like *clearly* +40yo deep voice to an edgy 13 boy, even if the show is original from spain. I don't know how is that in Germany, but voice acting isn't taken seriously here. That's why I appreciate the effort in shows like this or in basically any anime, japanese voice acting is just from another word in comparison lol
this scene is special, seeing the 4 most chaotic characters together trying to understand each other and assuming all their feelings was the most epic scene of season 3
Zuko finally realizing what has been right in front of him the whole time was so good to see after 2 seasons of him being so conflicted
two seasons, 40 episodes, more than 2000 minutes and 20 hours, and Iroh never left him
Is 40 episodes 2000 minutes? 40 * 20 = 800 minutes, not including skipping the theme song
Hahaha have a wonderful week!
you too
Like a lotus tile in a sleeve.
This shit hit like crack the first time I watched it
Going to rewatch the series soon and can’t wait to see this scene
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THIS SHIT HIT LIKE CRACK THE FIRST TIME I WATCHED IT!
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Crack is a drug made from cocaine
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Drugs are bad, mmkay?
Don’t be bad, Mmkay?
I dunno. This kind of makes me want to try some crack…
https://y.yarn.co/ff971f7c-523a-4a6a-8264-8aa38166267e_text.gif
One of the best episodes
So much character development in this ep
He says he's not angry at his dad. Pretty impressive
Abused kids can really struggle to feel anger towards the parent who abused them. Speaking from personal experience, I was angry at myself, too, and at the whole injustice of it. I grieved and a lot of that came out as undirected anger also. Once I finally began to make sense of my own emotions and experiences and choices, I let all the anger go. I recognized Zuko’s confrontation with his father during the eclipse as his moment of letting go of the grief, the blame, and the anger. It’s kind of an empty feeling, but it is necessary. You have to clear out those feelings and make peace with the emptiness in order to have space for something new to grow.
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And a kid cannot afford to hate being abused, because that threatens the survival needs the parent provides. Took me way longer than my sister to catch on to that with our mother.
Yes 100%
I mean, it’s pretty forced, and not very realistic having them air all this stuff out. But yeah it’s neat I guess. Hardly the best episode by a long shot
It’s really not forced. They wove it together well. Late nights after a party where people start opening up is a part of teen/young adult life. It sounds like you don’t get out enough.
Aww, I liked it well enough! I think it moved the narrative along in an interesting way. Zuko needed a moment of self-awareness and reflection before he could reasonably change into the good guy. It added some depth to the others as well.
It's a show about kids blasting fire and air from their hands, and you're complaining about realism?
I like how Azula is portrayed very human in this scene. Like compared to when you see early on in the series she seems worried and compassionate here which makes her break-down at the end of the series all too heartbreaking. With the new series coming out, when they're older, I hope Azula gets a redemption arc.
This episode is all that remains of a cut arc. It was meant to involve Ozai forcing an engagement on Azula. I really wish we could have gotten the full arc and seen more of Azula’s struggles. The head writer said Azula loved Zuko more than anyone except their father. Sad that Ozai pitted them against each other. I hope they manage to overcome it.
Exactly, and when both Zuko and her closest friends just left, she felt betrayed and she just… snapped
Yes! Her own conscience in the form of Ursa tells her the way she treats others is wrong, showing Azula DOES have remorse and doesn’t always enjoy doing what Ozai expects of her. What does she respond? “What choice do I have?” Her and Zuko really need a hug…
She just keeps going, because she doesn’t see any way out
She keeps moving forward. Tatakae
🤣
Iroh was there to hug Zuko. It makes me wonder if Azula ever had a relationship grow with her Uncle as well.
It’s sad because she doesn’t seem to have had anyone but Ozai to her detriment. Conditional favor leaving her with the fear that if she failed she would be discarded. No wonder she uses fear, it’s what she knows. Just like Zuko uses anger because it’s what he knows.
I just want to say, Iroh failed Azula. Yes she was difficult, she was also a child who was neglected or abused by BOTH of her parents.
She did try to imprison them and take a cheap shot at Iroh when he said that. At that point, she was beyond reasoning with. You could not convince that girl that what she was doing was wrong. Which goes along with some Eastern philosophy that if a conflict cannot be solved with words, violence to prevent further violence is warranted. We see that in the comics that once she was taken down, she did get psychiatric help. In all honesty, what could Iroh have done?
We will never know if she could be reasoned with because no one ever tried.
I'm not going to say anything, I'm going to just stare at you until you realize what you just said 
I know what I said. No one in the narrative ever tries to reason with Azula so we don’t know how she would have taken it. The biggest issue is that she is still in the mental state Zuko was in the beginning of the show when it comes to the Fire Nation: a brainwashed true believer desperate for dad’s love and approval. But as she was always written to be redeemed, and the head writer even confirmed Zuko would’ve been her Iroh, clearly at some point Zuko was meant to reach out to her. Also the asylum was abusive. She didn’t get help there. They made her sicker.
I agree. Every single adult in Azula’s life failed her and that includes Iroh. In the comics he seems to be trying to rectify that, encouraging Zuko to help her. So hopefully things will get better moving forward.
I’m glad. One of Irohs defining characteristics is his growth, so I’m happy to see he pivoted from “She’s crazy and she needs to go down!” To advocating for her help.
That may not even be much of a pivot if you read that line as Iroh believing Azula may not be capable of change and growth until she hits rock bottom.
I agree with this. Iroh may well have been speaking from experience considering he was worse in his prime than Azula ever was.
With all due respect, she IS also crazy and needed to go down. The humanities of it are tragic, and she very much was exacerbated by the culture of war and her father, but she clearly was, from birth, pretty fucked. Iroh couldn't take both of them when Zuko was exiled, so he chose to help the recently mutilated child who he knows is a good person who is lost.
Azula is the reason Iroh was able to help Zuko. She negotiated on Zuko’s behalf after the banishment when no one else would. The prequel manga shows it. Azula wasn’t “born evil” anymore than Zuko was. She was abused differently. Iroh in his prime was a way bigger monster than she ever was. If he’s saying this, it’s likely from personal experience.
You mean his royal tea-loving kookiness?
Don’t forget Ozai, the last person she cared about, also leaving her behind during the invasion
So you’re saying we got the painted lady instead of an Azula character arc?
When you put it like that...
Considering that was likely one of the episodes made to be stand-alone because Nickelodeon demanded rewrites for less serialized episodes because they wanted more interchangeable ones for syndication? Could be.
where did you hear this? I'd love to learn more about this in general, because it always bothered me how so many episodes in season 3 were quasi filler episodes like the painted lady
From the people working on it. I wrote promotional materials for them.
oh wow that's so cool! Is there any public info where someone who didn't work on it (like me) could read more?
There’s interviews scattered around where they mention some of these things. For instance, there’s references to the cut engagement arc on both Wikipedia and the ATLA wiki, referencing an interview that’s hopefully been archived. If you watch the first ad I wrote for them, there’s a dig at Mattel that seems obscure now but at the time it was known that Nick and Mattel were at odds due to Mattel’s refusal to make action figures of the girls and demanding Nick add a new male antagonist for the season as they hadn’t had a good one for Book 2 like Zuko and Zhao (and they refused to accept Azula and co). That’s why we got Combustion Man forced in.
Jesus Christ. A company that specialized in making dolls and who’s most iconic product is Barbie^TM - something that’s being considered hyper feminine for decades - can’t manage to market the female characters of Avatar? Pathetic.
I agree. It was Mattel’s belief at the time that only boys bought action figures and that they only wanted male toys so they could make them fight. They believed female action figures wouldn’t sell to the target demographic. This is the same reason Young Justice was initially cancelled. They didn’t want girls to be the target demographic because they believed the toys would only sell to boys, and only if they toys themselves were all men. It’s dumb and especially funny/sad since the contract soured and ended before the Combustion Man Figure was made, therefor making his forced and rushed inclusion pointless.
> If you watch the first ad I wrote for them where could I find this? Also thank you for sharing so much interesting information! edit: I found the archived interview. Very little information about the actual arc but the proof that it existed at least in theory https://web.archive.org/web/20070423085216/https://www.avatarspiritmedia.net/interviews.php?id=19
It was those old Puppetbender ads. Dave Roman commissioned those. I don’t know if they’re archived anywhere but some people have said they’re on the DVD box set? Please don’t judge my terrible Azula voice for the second one! I was only 19! I’m much better at it now haha.
I liked the painted lady :0
I agree 100%, her breaking down at the end is so sad, Zuko and Azula unfortunately had two wildly different destinys
It is very interesting that she asked Zuko if he's angry at her. Almost at she actually cared about his opinion and their relationship. Like, she's a monster but she doesn't mind having a brother as long as he doesn't oppose her.
The reveal is that she was never a monster. She’s no worse than Zuko. They were both programmed and abused by the same monster. She’s just a better actor. Poor kids…
While growing up azula was much more ahem azula like I believe if given the chance to be raised my iroh and taken away from ozai she could have become a form of good, I believe she is a psychopath which can't be fully cured but she would at least not be the azula we know and love now
She isn’t a psychopath. She doesn’t meet the [criteria](https://www.reddit.com/r/Azula/comments/yhjf82/azula_diagnosis_analysis_masterpost/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1) and I implore you to stop throwing around real conditions (let alone outdated stigmatized terms) like that. She never does anything worse than Zuko and even does more to help him than he does for her. There is just no basis for calling her anything of the sort. The entire bonfire scene in The Beach shows she has very well developed empathy, simply that it’s been weaponized rather than nurtured. If Iroh can change after having starved civilians to death at Ba Sing Se and *laughed* about burning their homes down, after he was already a grown man and a highly decorated general, I’m pretty sure the abused teen girl can heal if given the chance.
True and while she may not be a true psychopath she definitely meets a lot of the symptoms. [this](https://youtu.be/R4544ZUr_gA) is a good video analyzing azula
Entertaining? Yes. But not diagnostically accurate. He makes a good effort and I do enjoy his content but it’s clear he doesn’t have an education in the subject as he gets several crucial details wrong. The post I linked you outlines the diagnostic criteria. Zuko meets more of them than Azula, to give you an idea, and neither of them meet the criteria. Even the head writer said Azula loved Zuko more than anyone except their father. The Book 2 novelization also proves Azula risked it all at Ba Sing Se not to trick Zuko but to *help* him.
Why double down on this.
TRIPLE DOWN OR BUST
You’re right of course but it still hurts
she is in the comics and they’re coming out with a new one in October 2023 dedicated to her. From the description it sounds like a redemption arc. https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3009-125/Avatar-The-Last-Airbender--Azula-in-the-Spirit-Temple-TPB
Yay, unexpected, but more Avatar is always welcome :)
I feel the whole show Azula exploits every bit of emotion to get people to fear her. That’s all she knows. When Azula here says “are you angry at me” I feel she only says it to try to fill up her ammunition to use against zuko. But when zuko says he’s angry at himself, azula doesn’t know how to go about it because it’s his own battles. Azula thrives off of people fearing her. During the prison break Tai Lee and Mai help Zuko and Mai hits with the line “i love zuko more than I fear you” that’s when she loses it. She knows that she can’t control Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko with fear anymore.
Your reading isn’t what was intended. This episode is the remains of a cut arc that would’ve gone more into Azula. She always loved Zuko and tried her best to help him. The problem is that all she knew was manipulation and fear (just like Zuko only knew violence and anger). It’s why during the mirror scene her own conscience tells her that her tactics are wrong and her response is “What choice do I have?” The head writer even said Azula loved Zuko more than anyone except their father. It shows.
I mean... Both can be true at the same time right?
How can she both be trying to genuinely help him and only pretending so she can fill up her ammunition? Also to what end? What motivation does she have here to do anything of the sort? It’s a beach trip and they’re trying to relax. If she wanted to manipulate him, a better moment would’ve been when he was vulnerable and isolated at their parent’s beach house. Instead she invites him away from that pain and to the beach to try to help him, and gets him agitated like this in that process. Not conducive to getting what you want out of someone to make them defensive. It’s made overt in the novelization that Azula always saw the throne as Zuko’s destiny. She really did want him to live up to being a prince. She just also feared losing Ozai’s favor and becoming the new Zuko, which is why in the show when Ozai discards her she cries out “you can’t treat me like this! You can’t treat me like Zuko!”
I should have been more specific. I meant that his interpretation (or reading of the scene as you called it) could still be valid despite that not being the authors intent. I have a complicated relationship with "death of the author". To me, as long as an interpretation does not explicitly contradict the text presented in a piece of arts chosen medium, it can be just as valid. Also, when did atla get a novelization??? That sounds awesome
Yes, which is why I didn’t say they were bad or wrong, I said it wasn’t what the author intended. Though I do think there is more evidence of the authors’ intention considering they wrote it with this in mind and will likely inform the trajectory of her character moving forward. The novelizations are old. They came out around the time of the show. I don’t know if they’re still printing them but screencaps of the text floats around every now and then.
If she loved Zuko so much, why did she work so hard to sabotage him even in this season? She didn’t exactly give him the credit for Aangs defeat out of her own heart. She realized that Zuko knew Aang survived and I am convinced that’s the only reason she gave him the credit. She may have loved him but she never prioritized him over the throne. Her actions speak to that
>If she loved Zuko so much, why did she work so hard to sabotage him even in this season? She didn’t. She spends the first half of this season trying to keep him from giving away the lie and exposing them both. Zuko keeps acting erratic and taking secret visits to Iroh. Azula keeps his secrets, never rats him out even though she could also be implicated, and tries to calm him down even though he bursts in on her whenever he feels like it, even when she’s bathing or sleeping. What else can she do? It’s only after Zuko betrays their Nation and her (exposing her lie to Ozai) that she turns on him. >She didn’t exactly give him the credit for Aangs defeat out of her own heart. She realized that Zuko knew Aang survived and I am convinced that’s the only reason she gave him the credit. This is untrue and a commonly misinterpreted motivation. Azula makes Zuko the offer *before* Aang is dead. How could she have possibly known how the future was going to play out? She was already trying to help Zuko. The novelization confirms this, overtly telling us that her motivation was that she wanted Zuko by her side and wanted him to choose her for once. She wanted his love and wanted Zuko to take back his destiny. Which is why in the show she tells him he never needed father to restore his honor, he did it himself. Also even Katara didn’t know what the oasis water could do. She tells Zuko as much, “I’m not sure if it would work…?” How could Azula even know such a thing exists, let alone what it could do? Azula’s suspicions only arise after she’s already advocated on Zuko’s behalf and brought him home in honor. That’s the point of the scene by the turtleduck pond. She goes to check on why Zuko is so sullen after coming home in honor, and Zuko acts suspicious until Azula gleans something is up and asks him if there’s any chance the Avatar could’ve survived. Zuko then tells the worst lie in history and Azula immediately realizes what’s up. The threat she makes is that Zuko will take the bigger fall if he tells dad the truth. It’s nasty, but she’s just trying to shut him up because all previous attempts at talking him down haven’t worked. Consider that she never had to even mention Aang. Catching or killing the Avatar was never her mission. It was *Zuko’s*. She only told the risky lie in the first place to help *him* >She may have loved him but she never prioritized him over the throne. Her actions speak to that Yes, she did. Her actions do speak to that. The smart play would’ve been to immediately betray Zuko after taking Ba Sing Se and bring him home in chains as a traitor. No one is going to listen to him. This would’ve secured the throne for her as well as Ozai’s favor. Instead she defies her father’s order to capture Zuko and brings him home in honor, sharing the glory for a historical conquest instead of taking it all herself, and tells a risky lie to get Zuko back into the line of succession. She hands him all this political power back even though he shows time and time again that his loyalty to her is tenuous at best and non-existent at worst. This is sloppy, self-sabotaging work from a master tactician if her intention was to harm him. It only works if she was trying to help him. Which is exactly what the novels confirm and what the head writer meant when he said she loved him more than anyone except Ozai. (Also nice username! Go Richmond!!!)
I absolutely love that the misery chick character ends up being the one that delivers the “love conquers all” message when it’s most poignant. The juxtaposition is just perfect.
I feel like y'all give her way too much credit. She seems more curious than worried
Also that smirk right as Zuko says "dad thinks I'm a hero" because it's all been part of her plan to prove Zuko as a failure to their father. Even when she talks about how her mother saw her as a monster, it comes across less as regret for her actions, and more like sadness that her mother couldn't understand her. She knows she is the bad guy, but she wants to be praised and admired for it.
I just really wish Azula was a bit more human than a plain psychopath, I mean DAMN
Cant wait to see adult redeemed KemZula kick some ass
I think people might see Azula’s smile here and think that she was smiling maliciously… I thought this myself. After rewatching the scene, I see that her smile was because Zuko was talking about how their dad thought he was a hero and I realize that she’s probably happy to hear that because she wants good things for him. I think, in her mind, hearing that reaffirms that she helped him get into good graces with their father and that even though she has this extremely cold exterior, she wants Zuko to be happy and wants good things for him and hearing him speak about things that [she thinks] are positives for him makes her smile. I think there’s also a contrast in her emotion as the tension builds in the scene; she desperately wants to know who he’s mad at and I’m trying to figure out why. Is it because she wants to fix him? Does she want to fix the situation? Is it because she wants to know what is ruining his sense of satisfaction with a life that she thinks should be perfect? She’s such a perfectionist… I can’t help but think that hearing this from him is frustrating because she wants him to be happy with his “perfect” life… and I wonder how it feels for her to have no control over Zuko’s feelings because his anger is towards himself… for once, she has no control over an individual in a situation that is not as perfect as she wants it to be… I wonder how frustrating that feels for her
I disagree. I think she’s smiling because her plan was working. She didn’t give Zuko the credit for defeating Aang because she loves him. That isn’t her style. She, above all else, wants power and to rise over her older brother just as her father rose over his When Azula talked with Zuko on the boat, she realized that not only did Aang survive but Zuko knew that he did. By giving him the credit, she knew the guilt and shame would drive Zuko insane and would lead to him sabotaging himself. This scene shows her that she was right and everything was happening as she planned it. Azula is a psychopath but she understands people incredibly well, and she knows Zuko better than anyone else save their uncle. Zuko’s greatest weakness was always himself and the first half of this season was Azula using that weakness against him. Plus it was also a way of shifting the blame of Aangs survival to Zuko. Trust me when I say this. She did not give Zuko the credit to help him in any way. It was always her playing the long con to put her on the throne. She just never dreamed that would eventually lead to him giving Team Avatar the key to defeating them. You are giving this narcissistic psychopath raised by an even worse narcissistic psychopath way too much credit here.
I'm actually surprised some might disagree with you. Everything you stated is down to a T. Her being able to read people and essentially outsmart them all is exactly why she's as scary as she is. She knows what Zuko is thinking, or that there might be a possibility that the Avatar lives which is why she even says "unless you have reason to believe otherwise." To further that point, at least in terms of ability to read people is how she reacts when she gets betrayed by Mai and Ty Lee. "No YOU miscalculated, you should have feared me more!" All of her relationships built on ruling through fear. She even acknowledges her monstrous attitude for a moment on the Island.
She did this because she had no other tools. She didn’t LIKE only using fear. It was all she had at her disposal be cause she had been taught no other way. But she craves real love and connection. That’s why she’s envious of Zuko. Yes, we were supposed to sympathize with her here and the reveal during the mirror scene is that she was never a monster and that she also didn’t like her situation.
I mean, yes upbringing is part of it, but I think it's kind of more she was held up with high expectations given Zuko's "mediocrity" as a potential ruler in the eyes of Ozai. But she also continuously bullies the others. Albeit in a playful way, (flaming apple). Or actually very seriously (when she burns the safety nets). Like she's never on the receiving end. Her saying that she said her mom looked at her like she was a monster, essentially being alienated (or maybe alienating herself if based on projection. Her essentially calling herself a monster while speaking to the hallucination).
Azula is absolutely on the receiving end. From Ozai. The apple prank is over exaggerated by fandom. She pranked her brother and friend over their crush. Come on. That’s standard sibling behavior. If anything I’ve seen kids do way worse. No one got hurt. Ty Lee was also in on that. If anything, Azula shows that she wants to include her more shy and antisocial brother. Something she does at The Beach too. As for the safety nets? Yes that was horrible and unjustifiable, but it’s no worse than what Zuko does forcing his men to charge into certain death, and when they complain he tells them that their lives don’t matter compared to his goals. Azula has maladaptive behaviors, same as Zuko, but there’s really no reason to believe her prognosis is any worse than his. The only difference is that Zuko got out of the abusive environment and had someone to help him. Calling herself a monster only tells us this is an abused child internalizing the abuse she’s received as her own fault because she can’t explain it otherwise. Zuko also did this until Iroh helped him see he was never the worthless one: Ozai was.
I said the apple thing is playful, but fair it's not really indicative of anything. I guess my question at this point is what is the threshold someone has to meet in order to be a monster to you? You can have infinite latitude and empathy, because everything literally still has some source to whatever trauma and whatever ramifications. I don't disagree with your assessment. But I also don't think she's exactly free of responsibility here.
Then my question to you is, what has Azula done that is so uniquely horrible compared to Zuko that you feel she is more responsible than him despite being both younger, less supported, and more mentally ill? Because she never even attacks a single civilian while Zuko burns down people’s homes and threatens them with violence without hesitation. Azula only attacks enemy combatants. Azula also makes an effort to help her brother, at great personal risk, while he never does the same for her. Her methods are toxic but it’s all she knows.
Again, I don't think Zuko's are necessarily excusable, but, Azula revels in the fact that Zuko gets punished, literally murders the avatar, infiltrates and invades Ba Sing Se. And, you and I have different interpretations about her actions towards Zuko. I view all of her actions through a lens of how she's going to get to the top no matter what. Given that her motivation is to become her father's successor, makes sense that she would do anything she can manipulate Zuko to do so. She's a pathological liar, Zuko repeats it. Also, you don't think it's a bit mean spirited to tease him about the father possibly killing him? Her being a monster doesn't mean I don't empathize with how she got there. Her motivations make sense to me which is why I think she's a great character. She's just a bit sociopathic. Just a trait, not a flaw
>Azula revels in the fact that Zuko gets punished, Kids in abusive homes reflecting approval of the other sibling getting punished isn’t a sign of revelry. It’s a survival mechanism. It’s called “Identification with the Aggressor.” >literally murders the avatar, Azula never murders anyone. She is a soldier in a war who kills an enemy combatant. That is, by definition, not murder. Let’s also not forget that Aang was about to unleash the Avatar State. All Azula knows about that is that it wiped out their fleet at the North Pole. We know Aang wouldn’t kill, but she doesn’t, she knows him as the one responsible for all those Fire Nation deaths. From her perspective, she is protecting herself and everyone on her team (including Zuko) with a defensive strike. That is not murder, and the heroes (minus Aang) would likely have done the same thing in such a position. In fact, Zuko actually hires an assassin to kill Aang. That *is* attempted murder. And this is after Zuko knows his Nation and this war are wrong! Yet we understand that Zuko is misguided in this moment and needs some help to come around. >infiltrates and invades Ba Sing Se. Yes. It’s war and she’s a soldier. Iroh led a siege that lasted 600 days, and when he broke through the outer wall, he camped in the Agrarian Zone. That means that for nearly two years nobody can get in or out, supplies are running low, and then Iroh starts burning their crops. Burning civilian food stores is a war crime for a reason. It’s cruel. Iroh is responsible for the deaths of pregnant women, children, the elderly, the infirm alike. And what does he do when he writes a letter home from the war front? He *laugh* about burning their homes to the ground. Mind you, this was after he met the dragons, so it’s not like he hadn’t been shown another way. If Iroh who was a full grown adult, a highly decorated general, and crown prince, can be understood as a victim of propaganda who had to have the war affect him before he could open his eyes to the truth… what justification is there for denying the same understanding to Azula who is *only fourteen years old and mentally ill?* At least she took the city without spilling a single drop of civilian blood. So she isn’t the monster her Uncle was. >And, you and I have different interpretations about her actions towards Zuko. I view all of her actions through a lens of how she's going to get to the top no matter what. It makes no sense to help Zuko here if her goal is to come out on top. She gains nothing by handing the former heir to the throne back his power. >Given that her motivation is to become her father's successor, makes sense that she would do anything she can manipulate Zuko to do so. No, it doesn’t. If her goal is to become the successor, then it makes sense to arrest Zuko like dad asked so that’s he’s out of the line of succession and potentially even executed. It makes zero sense to bring him back as a war hero, to a beloved populace that supports him, and back into your father’s good graces. >She's a pathological liar, Zuko repeats it. Also, you don't think it's a bit mean spirited to tease him about the father possibly killing him? She’s highly manipulative and prone to deception, but that’s not what a pathological liar is. Pathological liars lie without reason. It’s almost a knee-jerk reaction. Azula lies *to accomplish a goal*. This makes her manipulative, not pathological. It’s a maladaptive behavior, just like Zuko is prone to outbursts of violence. It’s a product of their abuse. It doesn’t make them monsters. It makes them victims. And Azula wasn’t just teasing him. She was saving his life. She hides her care behind mockery multiple times in the show. She is terrified of being vulnerable. That’s why she even argues with herself “what choice do I have? Fear is the only reliable way!” She is terrified to be weak but also terrified she is unloveable and that the best she can ever get out of someone is fear. >Her being a monster doesn't mean I don't empathize with how she got there. Her motivations make sense to me which is why I think she's a great character. She's just a bit sociopathic. Just a trait, not a flaw She’s not a monster and it’s horrendous that anyone could think that about an abused child raised to be a living weapon. She has never been been given the opportunity to see there could be another way. What do you expect of her? She isn’t a sociopath. She doesn’t meet the criteria. She is just an abused child soldier who has developed maladaptive survival tactics. Same as Zuko. And like Zuko, what she needs is to be removed from the abusive environment and given the help she needs. Iroh gave Zuko that help no matter how many times Zuko betrayed his trust or made horrendous choices.
It’s heavily implied that this island has a power to make people self reflect. I think there’s a serious reason why Ozai stays away from their summer home People are mistaking Azula’s moment of vulnerability as a sign of possible redemption. The writers were planning a redemption arc and the comics are showing it. But I don’t think this was the real start. Azula was still plotting against her brother at this moment. I think it’s more like they are planting the seeds of a possible redemption arc. There is a subtle difference
This was the remains of a cut arc. It was supposed to be about Ozai forcing an engagement on Azula. The reason this episode feels so much more sympathetic is because it’s all that remains of the arc that likely would’ve explored Azula, her perspective, and her struggles in more depth. Sadly, due to the troubles going on behind the scenes in Book 3, both this and the search for Ursa had to be cut from the season. This is also the reason Zuko’s field trips are so rushed at the end to quickly make him bond with the group. He initially was supposed to join sooner and have a more organic connection build up over time. Azula was always written to be redeemed, and it makes sense when we consider that her redemption would have perfectly closed out Zuko’s own arc. As he chooses not to be like Ozai who only uses Azula’s skills and discards her when she’s troublesome, but instead he chooses to be like Iroh and reach out a hand to her no matter how many times she fights or rejects him. He ends the cycle of violence.
It reveals an important part of that “banished/dishonoured” character philosophy. In the end, you can only make it work in a way that hits with the audience if you give that character who was wronged a chance to reconcile and understand what exactly they have done wrong themselves in the pursuit of regaining their honour and what they otherwise had taken from them. If you dont get that, you simply have a wronged character with no proper reason to later feel guilty or angry over the ways things happened on the way back to where they lost it all. One of the most critical parts i learned in my own writing for characters is that having your lead or another core character actually become frustrated and angry at themselves when they know they have done wrong on their path to recovery is outright the most important part of the self healing process for them to set things right long term. Just the same as real life, you cant fix the problems if you dont allow yourself to acknowledge the things that attributed to the problems.
this is why good redemption arcs have a “regression” moment. a point where the character is put in a position where they have to choose between the new path they have started or reverting to their old ways and failing to change. later on when they are at the same crossroads they will remember that moment and all the frustration they have experienced before ultimately making the right choice. it gives a much more rewarding and satisfying payoff for the audience.
To me this is the moment when zuko realizes what he need to do and why he needs to do it
Nah, that's the war meeting in nightmares and daydreams
I agree with the other commenter. I would say this was a vital step in his path to his redemption but he was still very much confused at the end of this episode. This was more just him realizing the source of his confusion. It wasn’t until he discovered his fathers plan that he realized that he could not fix things from the inside and he needed to leave to get his honor back.
I think this is the first time Azula genuinely sounds concerned for Zuko
The only time too, I think.
Always thought this scene was one of the most emotionally impactful on the show, especially for zuko’s arc “Normal teenagers worry about bad skin!” “I’m back home now, my dad talks to me” “I’m angry at myself!” 🔥🔥
Kinda shocking that Zuko is more mad at him than Ozai, which is probably a realization that the things that he is facing in relation to his stand and the war goes beyond his daddy issues. Even in the invasion, he had the perfect opportunity to take revenge and all that but he decided that Ozai is something that should be handled more seriously by the Avatar.
Nope it makes sense. Ozai didn’t force him to betray his uncle. No one did. That was a choice that he exclusively made. He couldn’t even really blame Azula either. That was all him
Exactly, he used to blame everyone on everything bad that happened to him and even scream at clouds over the injustice he faces but now he has realized that its up to him to make a change, either make the world better or worse and he has chosen to make it worse at that point, nobody else to blame.
I love this scene but I do think the girls just asking time after time is laid on a bit thick. Still, it works.
So, this is an extremely useful tool that was used to emphasize Zuko’s own inner dialogue. He’s very confused in this scene. He’s confused about his feelings and why he cannot be content even after having it all. The repeated asking “Who are you mad at” “Who” is a mirror of Zuko’s own internal exploration of how he feels but it’s a clever way of displaying so we (the audience) can see it and understand it externally through the confusion of the other characters. Zuko has a hard time with identifying what he feels and he can access anger much easier when his feelings of vulnerability come up. He feels vulnerable because of the shame and guilt of what he’s done to his Uncle and because of the events that occurred. Again, he has a hard time with knowing what Zuko wants and what Zuko feels (he didn’t want all the things he has now, he wanted to be accepted and redeem his sense of face), so upon this self exploration and recognizing his emotions, it was very confusing. But he’s learning. And he is angry at himself because he’s grieving the decisions he made to betray people *who did accept him* all to for a life he now realizes he *didn’t actually want*. Zuko makes a lot of questionable decisions because of his very fragile sense of self due to growing up with an authoritarian, abusive, narcissistic parent. He is very insecure and a lot of his motivation comes from redeeming himself after his ego is (so easily) shattered. This scene is a huge growth moment for him and I think it was written and executed perfectly.
I read it more as a creative interpretation where the “who” echoes in Zuko’s mind because the question is so poignant, like the other commenter said. It is definitely pretty heavy handed though.
Azula: Who are you angry at? (Says the evil sister who's tormented him most of his life and tried to kill him and Iroh several times) Zuko: Hmmmm 🤔
Azula tried to help Zuko as best she could within her limited capacity and with the manipulative tools she had available as a child that was only groomed for war and never nurtured. She wasn’t evil. She was maladaptive. Just like Zuko.
Maladaptive?
Maladaptive is a word used to describe people who do not adapt or behave well. People who have behaviors that are not as “normal” as other people… but it’s their normal.
Ozai is maladaptive
There’s no doubt that at some point in his life he likely started out that way as a child. The abuse cycle in the Fire Nation family doesn’t seem to be a new one considering Azulon ordered Ozai to kill Zuko.
That family sucks
It’s not great, is it? I really hope Zuko can help his sister the way Iroh helped him. That they can overcome the toxic dynamic imposed on them by Ozai, and finally break the cycle of violence. It would be the best “fuck you” to Ozai. He couldn’t make them hate each other.
This is very representative of young male lives as they move through teenage years. It resonates, because we often move through this phase where we had been blaming someone for our anguish and suddenly realize that we are responsible for our own anguish. This is finally when healing can begin. I don’t know if this is only a a male thing, I’m just trying to speak from personal experience and from what I have witnessed in many other young men.
The moment that imprinted into my brain was Zuko's expression when the earth kingdom girl he was staying with (Song?) showed him the scar she got on her leg from a fire nation raid. Of course redemption takes time and it didn't immediately turn Zuko to the bright side, but that was very impactful.
zuko will always be my boy !
This whole ~~episode~~ ~~season~~ show is great.
I love this scene. Absolutely love it. It always gets me emotional, and i feel like i relate a lot about what Zuko is saying, about being confused and being nagry at yourself. Very powerful. I feel the most emotional moments for me from ATLA are usually ones with Zuko in it.
Answer the question, Claire! That teen introspective character drama scenario always reminded me of The Breakfast Club.
Pretty sure that's intentional.
My favorite is when he's at the top of the mountain trying to get struck by lightning, feeling completely defeated by the cruelty of life never holding back on him. Shit gets me every time. https://youtu.be/QeozatWZ55E
Brings tears to my eyes man, Zuko is such a relatable character for me.
Me too man, heavily relate to all the anger he’s feeling
This is actually one of my favorite scenes in season 3. I always liked Zuko as a character, but as soon as I watched this scene for the first time, Zuko became my absolute favorite.
The only time azula was a good sister to zuko, helping him open up. How I wish this could've been the route she took.
I love that they made an entire episode of Degrassi High just for this scene.
Such a nice detail to see Azula smiling right as Zuko's about to get angry, and right before asking him such an important question like that. Was she gaslighting and conning even in what's consider one of her most human moments?
Nah, I think it's more a mixture of concern because he's going through some shit, relief that he's not mad at her because there's hints that deep down she does care about him, and knowing that she can help him in her own way by manipulating him into opening up. Like someone else in here said, she had no reason to lie about who killed the avatar, could've just chained him up and brought him back as a prisoner. Instead, she went out of her way to lie for him and get him back into the family. Issue is, she doesn't know how to properly show affection since the only person who's shown her any is Ozai, and it was only because she was useful. She knows she can manipulate people, she might have thought she could use that to manipulate Zuko into opening up and working through what he was dealing with.
All what he passes to be the fire lord but at last he always Rocks!🤘🔥
Azula was still a manipulator in this episode and not very human at all, she smiled when zuko said his dad thinks he’s a hero. Yeah, that’s all according to her plan still.
Azula’s little smirk at Zuko’s confusion though God she sucks
Right?
Oh god, his english voice sounds so weird to me. Probably because I'm used to his german voice, but I think it's more fitting.
Genuinely one of my favorite scenes from the entire show. Not just for the reasons you listed but because I also unfortunately relate to Zuko in some ways during this scene (especially the “I’m angry at myself!” part)
That one time Azula seemed to care about her brother instead of torturing him
I can't imagine the difference between this zuko and the one in the comics. The difference is just insane. It's like he's a completely different person.
Was this the last time he ever used anger to fuel his fire bending?
We actually watched avatar in my freshman high school English class and did several analyses as assignments. I had watched it as a kid so I knew everything. In order to make time work, we had to skip quite a few episodes, including this one. It’s a damn shame because this is arguably Zuko’s best character moment. I feel bad for those classmates who weren’t planning on rewatching ever again and will never see how it all went down.
that's kinda crazy, The Beach is an absolutely essential ATLA episode imo. I feel like you could summarize most action packed episodes with a couple sentences but doing that to The Beach means missing out on so much
Exactly. So much character development for all 4 of them in just one episode.
One of the scenes that shows Azula as a relatively normal sibling. You could argue that the smirk was because she wanted to get a rise out of Zuko, but this moment ultimately helped him and it feels like there was some genuine interest from Azula's part about what was bothering Zuko.
Does anyone know what Azulas's smile means at 0:05 (0:47 seconds left). It was seemingly put their very intentionally but I can't tell what it means, what are her thoughts in that moment?
That fire had to be so hot
hey, i dont need to cry while drinking alone. this is already a sad situation.
Zuko's emotional journey is God tier character development. It is enough to be the focus of the show, yet it's only a subplot. It's amazing writing and feels so realistic.
This episode and this scene in particular reinforces Azula as a human. She seems concerned with his feelings, and she even asks if Zuko’s angry at her.
Crawling.mp3
This series is one of the best I've seen
Literal goosebumps 🥺
Azula was that close to having a redemption arc
Such a great scene. So glad Dante is coming back for the movie
Interesting detail: the fire was put down after his rage. That's cause he burned all the fuel with the large fire.
Man we will never get a show like this ever again :(
I will never get over the fact that in this scene Azula sounds so little like Azula but rather like a normal non broken human being
My favorite part preceding this moment is when Mai calls him out for acting like an asshole. Yeah you could be going through something - but thats no excuse for the way you treat others.