u/2TianK

when kidnapping Kiyi one of Azula's henchwomen notes, "the sedative wore off early on this one" (smoke and Shadow pg 157) This implies Azula and Co. were drugging all the kids, to make the kidnappings go smoothly. The sedative would need to meet a few criteria, as the window of time Azula and Co. had to grab the kids was small, I can't imagine they were waiting for the kids to eat/drink drugged food. And drugging the food/drink beforehand would require another visit which would increase chances of being caught. Also the kids would cry out for help if the sedative was not fast acting.

What I find interesting is Azula and Co. know how to properly dose and administer sedatives. Children have smaller bodies so the dosing of medicine has a much smaller margin for error then adults. These fact does begs some interesting questions. Did the Mental Institute use sedatives? That would explain Azula and Co. skill in dosing sedatives. Maybe the Royal Academy for girls has a great medical training program. thoughts?

Mai's dad blow the his money on building a bunker for Azula (this is stated in Smoke and Shadow). Now he is in jail and thus can't work a cushy job. Mai and her family have a problem, they are Nobles, they have a reputation to uphold. The Mom is working a trade, which suggest she holds no Title, but married up. Mai takes a respectable job of being a teacher at a elite school. They could sale the nice house, but that would be a very public indicator of money trouble. It seems to me that the writers have placed Mai and her family into genteel poverty. I wonder if the writers will revisit Mai's genteel poverty.

In Azula in the Spirit Temple, she is shown a dream/vision of her perfect world, everybody in her family praises her and her mom is proud of her, and Zuko bares no scar. Those all made sense, they address things we know Azula cares about.

The weird one is the Teen saying, "your hair is amazing and you smell great!" the hair comment makes sense, but the 2nd part of the comment makes little sense to me.

if its supposed to be a symbol of Azula's desire to be admired, wouldn't he say something like, your hair is amazing and you are pretty/beautiful. Smell is such an odd thing to focus a compliment on IMO.

Makes one wonder why her smell is what the writer chose? Others have made a similar comment, So I am not the only one that finds that odd/funny.

Mai is a very interesting character, And one of my favorites

Show Mai is clearly a villain, she is chronically bored and joins Azula with glee, while Azula treats her poorly, she enjoys the thrills of fighting...and the freedom from her family that Azula offers. Mai does not care about much outside herself, only switching sides when Azula puts at risk the other person that Mai likes, Zuko. She does leave Azula at great risk to herself, which redeems her, But she has a long way to go. After that she is just Zuko's Gal.

Comics Mai is weird, she is supposedly on the heroes side, yet lies to protect her father who is actively trying to Kill Zuko, but breaks up with Zuko over him having secrete talks with Ozai (who is behind bars). When she fusses up she thinks these two situations are remotely comparable. She also leads on Kei Lo to the point it annoyed Ty Lee.

"there are ways to protect your Ex-boyfriend that don't involve _selling your soul ."Ty Lee

"Whatever" Mai

Once Kei lo is good, even he is disturbed by the fact Mai is willing to lie to Zuko and Co. They break up soon after the fact. I agree that relationship was doomed for many reasons.

Mai also implies in the comics that she never held any real affection for Azula, but stuck around to feel important, which would make sense in the context of the comics previous, Mai is someone who will manipulate people, to achieve her goals. The only way Mai is a hero is that her goals align with the Gang (when she isn't lying to their face about her dad).

I always thought that Mai and Azula had real affection and friendship, just Azula had a insanely toxic view of "love" I don't blame Mai for wanting distance.

there is this odd disconnect between the image the writers present of Mai and what the actual text seems to present, IMO. The text presents a interesting complex character that is willing to manipulate people, lie, be fake to achieve her own goals. who self identifies as hating people.

The writers want her to be a forward thinking teacher that will help usher in a new ere. Which is fine, but that is a big jump. Lets be honest, Mai would have to improve a lot before she would be remotely a good teacher. Good teachers have a contagious sense of wonder and curiosity, they can make the most boring subjects interesting because the passion they have for that topic is infectious.

Mai is NOT that type, in fact I would say she is the opposite. She can look at a sunset and complain about the color. There is an great arc about Mai shedding her "I hate everything attitude", and learning to enjoy the little things and rediscovering wonder. She can still be deadpan and blunt, with a wry sense of humor. Then she can be a good teacher. Which could be a good plot, but the writers skip to Mai loves teaching and is good at it. Aang would make a good teacher, He inspires wonder and learning, The Headband episode is all about that.

The Young teacher that helps the stuffy school shed the old ways plot has been done before, Little House, Anne of Green Gables. But both Anne and Laura start out as people who love life and people, and have firmly held beliefs. its their sunny optimism and fierce drive that helps them change the schools they teach at. When I read ashes of the Academy, I kept thinking this is fine, but it feels like a story for a different character, a driven individual with a strong set of beliefs.

Thoughts?