I know Zuko has an amazing character arc, but please never forget how Sokka went from being an obnoxious, sexist, jealous, mean, foolhardy, irresponsible joke to being a caring, loving, fierce, loyal, talented warrior, leader, military strategist, brother, friend, and boyfriend.
For the record while ATLA is an excellent show and Zukos redemption arc was perfectly paced, I would kill to have had Zuko join the Gaang at the end of book two, because the first half of book three would have been the funniest thing on the planet. Like. Just picture it. A bunch of unsupervised teenagers travelling undercover through enemy territory, trying to blend in… and the only people who have even been there before are 1. A guy who hasnt been there in a century, and 2. The former crown prince who has literally never spoken to a fire nation citizen who wasnt nobility, military, or one of his servants.
Like. Neither of them have any idea what they’re doing, or how normal fire nation citizens act, but they’re pretty sure the other one is wrong. Rest of the gaang knows even less. No adults. Zuko and Aang getting into a shouting debate over the finer points of fire nation culture is a nightly event. They are both so wrong, and so, so awkward
Zuko, for the fifth and probably not last time: FOR THE LAST TIME, NOBODY USES THE PHRASE ‘FLAMEO HOTMAN’!
Aang, aware of that fact but in too deep to back out now: OH YEAH? THEN WHAT DO THEY SAY!?
Zuko, clueless and bluffing: …Something about glory to the Fire Lord?
Toph, well aware that both are lying through their teeth and have no idea what they’re talking about, and fucking loving every second of this train wreck: Clearly the only solution is for both of you to go into town tomorrow and test your theories out.
And the side taking, oh my god the side taking from the other three. Katara sides with Aang every single time. Does she honestly believe that the people of the Fire Nation greet each other with ‘Flame on, my em-brother’? Hell no. Would she rather die than say that Zuko’s correct? Yes.
Sokka usually sides with Zuko, unless he comes up with something astoundingly stupid. Zuko’s thoughts, while usually wrong, sound a lot more plausible then Aangs, and fuck it he’s willing to take a gamble.
Toph is the closest thing to a neutral party they have, in that she knows damn well they’re all full of shit, and has chosen to instead egg them on to make it worse. She’s an agent of chaos, and this is free nightly entertainment. She’s having the time of her life right now.
The debate takes a brief pause once they stop going undercover and get to the business of actually saving the world, but holy shit. once things have settled down? it’s back on with a vengeance. Except now Aang and Zuko aren’t the two most wanted people in the Fire Nation, they’re the two most influential people in the world. They are trendsetters. They can make slang become a thing.
When Zuko first hears the phrase ‘flameo, hotman’ being thrown around casually, it takes a lot of deep breathing exercises to not immediately return to his previous occupation of hunting the Avatar.
Iroh: I’m so proud of the way you’ve been ruling, nephew. Flameo, hotman!
I- I just can’t get over Zuko and his arc. Everything he did – everything – was out of this insane drive to prove everyone wrong, to prove that he was worth something, and it amazes me that he never realized just how valuable he already was.
His sister tells him ‘You waste all your time playing with knives. You’re not even good!’ and he masters dual swords.
His sister is a prodigy and he’s told he’ll never catch up. He learns from dragons. He trains the Avatar. He takes her down (with the help of a very skilled waterbender)
He’s left behind by his mother, cast out by his father, hunted by his sister, and Zuko still learns unconditional love.
His father tells him he’s worthless and unloved, that he was ‘lucky to be born,’
and he becomes a man that the world is proud of.
Anything his family said to him, he managed to turn around and build on it. He thrived on it, exploded from it, turned all the negativity into a positive path and it’s just… it’s amazing.
There’s just no end to my love for this character. No fucking end.
Bonus: The weak, banished prince has fangirls for all the ages. Take that, Ozai.
Zuko has the best redemption and development of ANY character I’ve ever encountered.
How dare no one mention Uncle Iroh as being one of if not THE main reason Zuko didn’t lose his way. Yes Zuko took action and did what he did to grow and learn from his mistakes and turn what others deemed were his weaknesses into his strengths.
But THIS MAN.
Kept Zuko on the right path, teaching him all the lessons Zuko needed to grow. Even after what happened between them in Book2 Iroh never gave up on Zuko.
If it wasn’t for Iroh, Zuko wouldnt have had the needed support to grow and would have probably ended up like Azula in book 3
The fact that both of zukos abusers used lightning against zuko and instead of learning to use lightning himself like he could have he learned how to redirect the lightning and let it pass through him and then straight clean out of him… Do you ever think about how that is literally physically representing how instead of absorbing his father and sisters abuse he lets it pass through him and instead of soaking it in and letting it destroy him he redirects it away from himself… I just want some peace in my life
bullshit central 