u/snophire

I feel like the misogyny in the writing often gets overlooked. Zutarians have talked to hell and back about the misogyny behind Katara and by extension Kataang, but the overall writing is filled with it. We also all have thoughts on how Iroh treated June and the recent comic where he apologized. The only characters who arguably escape it for the most part are Toph and Suki, though she was originally just a conduit for Sokka to help outgrow his sexism and she ultimately just ends up forgotten by Bryke.

Yue sacrifices herself to save the world and it's deemed as necessary because the world is out of balance. Regardless of the effect on those close to her, it's framed as the best/only possible outcome. On the other hand, a season later, Aang choosing to give up the Avatar State, something that's arguably a necessary tool to restore balance, and keep his attachment to Katara is framed as the correct choice. Why was it good for Yue to sacrifice herself, but Aang to not make any sacrifices when both were needed for the world's balance? We also don't get to spend much time with Yue to feel much of an attachment to her prior to her death. She's important to us solely due to the importance Sokka placed on her.

Azula also falls under misogynistic writing. Being the grandchild of Roku and Sozin only matters for Zuko, not Azula. Iroh can't overthrow Ozai because of the optics, but Zuko can dethrone Azula even though it's the exact same.

The Korra/Mako/Asami love triangle. I'm not a fan of love triangles in general, but Korra just outright hates Asami for no reason other than she's dating Mako. The narrative of season 1 in general just treats Asami like garbage for no actual reason. Season 2 isn't much better towards Asami since Varrick is manipulative and she once again wants Mako... the guy who CHEATED ON HER just months ago.

These are just the instances that I can immediately remember, but I'm sure there's far more considering Bryke was at the helm.

EDIT: This comment corrected me about Toph and Suki. It's always the writing that's the problem here.

The information about what Aaron Ehasz had thought about is sparse at best at this point, but he's openly talked about it over the years. I know Ehasz himself is controversial at best now, but he and the writing team (though I 100% think Elizabeth Welch was a bigger contributing factor than him in advocating for certain characters since she was behind some of the best episodes, with "Zuko Alone" and "The Southern Raiders" being the most notable).

I can no longer find a source for this, but Ehasz allegedly once spoke about Aang having consequences for taking Ozai's bending and stuggling to refind his own balance. This is wild to me since Aang very rarely had to deal with the fallout from his own actions. Yes, there was the loss of the Avatar State for a whole season, but he... never actually tried to fix it himself nor did it seem like he really viewed it as a major loss. But this? Something unavoidable that is a direct result of his own action? I'd be 100% down to watch it play out.

https://preview.redd.it/81jdt5263pgh1.png?width=587&format=png&auto=webp&s=22aab7f869b75873b12155e3a3c43bd8d8643e0a

Zuko having compassion for his sister? Yes! Zuko's been shown to have complex feelings towards Azula, but Iroh always chooses to validate his worse expectations of her. Then Azula herself goes out of her way to bring Zuko home alive and give him credit for killing Aang to ensure he'll be safe then she watches his back and he just... treats her with suspicion that borders on contempt. Their relationship is so complicated, but I do not believe Zuko hates her enough to never check in on her in the asylum like the comics state.

There is also some framework for how Ehasz imagined a post-"redemption" Azula in the show as well. She's shown to be extremely socially inept in "The Beach" so it would weirdly track for her to be the type to potentially over-share.