r/ATLA

Just saw a post asking "Is Zuko the weakest bender on Team Avatar?" I audibly gasped when reading it

"Of course not, it's Zuko, he's a firebending menace." was my gut reaction. Until I thought about it, and realized that it's true, Zuko's bending proficiency is probably the worst out of the 4 in Team Avatar.

Despite training more than anyone else in the show, his bending while great, still isn't the best. Meanwhile, Katara pretty much mastered waterbending from nothing in a couple of months. It led me to wonder "what's the difference between them? Why is Katara naturally more gifted than Zuko despite his genes being logically optimal for it?".

Then I realized something. Katara is a natural-born fighter, Zuko is not. Katara's not hot-headed like Korra and Zuko himself, but she is clearly just inclined to battle for justice. She is naturally protective, empathetic and caring, and willing to fight for it.

Zuko was not born to be a fighter I think. His kindness and empathy as a child is borderline miraculous under his family conditions, especially compared to Azula. Of course Ursa nurturing him to be kind and gentle has a lot to do with it, but the extra care Ursa shows to him compared to Azula is because of his nature in the first place. What's interesting is that while also has a strong sense of justice like Katara, it seems he has a level of pacifism and conflict aversion that she just doesn't. He stands up for people, but he's not naturally inclined to fight (at least as a child)

Zuko's conflict is so interesting because he's constantly fighting against his nature. He's good forcing himself to be evil. I know the fact that "Zuko is actually weak" is hampered to us during the show. His speech to unconscious Aang at the North, the flashbacks to his childhood with Azula outperforming him. But I never really internalized how he is just not built for this, how naturally gentle and kind Zuko is. It juxtaposes well with so many characters, like Katara I mentioned earlier. Iroh, who I could be wrong about but seems to be a case of learned kindness rather than natural (his son's death seems to have sent him on a journey of spirituality). Azula, who unfortunately never truly learnt kindness, (she either just wasn't naturally inclined to it, or her prodigal nature led Ozai to snuff out any gentleness from a very young age).

This natural kindness angle also contextualizes his obsession with honour. Clearly, neither Ozai nor Ursa indoctrinated him in the ways of "honour", instead favouring "strength" and "kindness" respectively. So where does this honour come from? An expression of both: The kindness he naturally evoked, which was protected and nurtured by Ursa, and the strength and resilience Ozai attempted to nurture in him. I think it's his inner self's way of expressing compassion without immediately being flagged as weakness. That's what I think Zuko's obsession with honour is.

I just think it's fascinating to write a villain turned hero this way. Not just a "evil guy who learns to be good", but a subversively good guy whose natural goodness is constantly leaking out.

https://preview.redd.it/sspcfolycdbh1.png?width=1408&format=png&auto=webp&s=22333ec29d833ceb33f92859be05b3ccca4af4ae

From when we meet her, it’s clear (to everyone apart from Zuko) she has a crush on Zuko. She acts on this confidently asking him out and not waiting for him to make the first move. When they meet, she immediately tries to establish physical contact by embracing him and playfully messing with his hair.

During their dinner, despite the awkwardness, she is eager to understand Zuko’s story, asking open-ended questions not to interrogate him but to tear down his walls. She does this by being enthusiastic and showing interest in everything Zuko says. Most importantly though she is not being judgmental at all; even when Zuko fails to juggle, she doesn’t get suspicious or criticize him.

Then it’s her turn to be vulnerable. She wants to show him around her world, and reveal a place important to her; hence her disappointment when the lights aren’t lit. I think that’s why she doesn’t get suspicious of Zuko lighting the lights; it doesn’t matter to her how he did it, but that he did it to be in her world.

Finally, when they lean on for a kiss, she understands Zuko’s awkwardness and isn’t put off by it. Instead, she remains kind, comments on Uncle Iroh’s wisdom, and tries again, this time with a more delicate approach.

In the end, I think that's why despite only 4 mins of screen time, their short story feels so impactful; she is the one that got away. After all even Zuko, at this point in the story, was able to admit "it was nice".

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting pretty sick and tired of the live action supporters dismissing genuine criticisms of the Netflix show as "you just want a 1:1 remake".

No. As a fan of the OG I don't want a 1:1 remake. I want a good story that keeps the spirit and integrity of the original characters intact.

I wanted them to take the original cartoon and expand on its themes and concepts in original and creative ways.

NOT take the plot, remix it, bastardize the characters, and create an even worse story because of it.

If the original cartoon didn't exist , this show would have completely flopped. Why? Because it keeps making BAD choices in its writing and dialogue.

When fans make comparisons to the original cartoon, they're not doing it because they want the live action to be exactly like the original cartoon..

The comparisons are there to DEMONSTRATE the difference between good and bad writing, and why the changes don't work for the characters and the story they're trying to tell.

I get some people like the live action. I do. But please stop invalidating criticism that is out there as just nostalgia attachment when it isn't.

I was so hopeful for this series after season 1 but season 2 destroyed all of that hope.

Uncle iroh and zuko are the worst part of this series. I cant believe how dull they made such great characters.

Not to mention half of the scenes dont make sense because they cant commit to the changes theyre making.

For example: zuko helps azula, talks about capturing the avatar, then all of sudden turns on her because iroh showed up? There was a reason zuko turned on azula in the cartoon, the netflix adaptation removed that reason but failed to give zuko a compelling change of character arc. Its like it was a completely different character altogether.

The whole betrayal scene of azula bringing zuko back just to find out they were prisoners was supposed to be the huge eye opener for zuko.
The entire zuko alone arc was insufferable.

Azula is growing on me but i cant STAND the actress for mai. The LEGOness of it all throws me off and i just dont picture zuko with her in season 3 at all.

Im not going to mention how they butchered the painted lady by announcing to everyone who she is 🙄.

And sokka spent half the season crying over a girl he barely got to know. Then cried over a girl he spent the entire season pushing away. It was so out of character.

Toph was honestly the greatest part of this entire season. But i had to force myself to finish this season because it was so boring.

He left the pregnant lady alone in the animated series and after the first book started to find himself and leaned towards the right decisions.

I very much have said this before but, I loved watch season 2 of the Live action series and truly go believe it was a major improvement over season 1!

But the biggest issues i had with it was the fact that the focused more of the gaang getting to Ba sing se rather than focusing of the journey which leads to the team growing into their dynamics and becoming a bigger family!

And honestly that was mainly in how the story was layed out so here is how I fixed it!!

Episode 1
Return to Omashu

Episode 2
The Blind Bandit
Zuko Alone
The Chase

Episode 3
Bitter Work
The Library
The Guru

Episode 4
The Desert
The Serpent's Pass
The Drill

Episode 5
City of Walls and Secrets
The Tales of Ba Sing Se

Episode 6
Appa's Lost Days
Lake Laogai

Episode 7
The Earth King
The Crossroads of Destiny

is anyone has questions on why I put what where please feel free to ask but I would love to talk about it!

So far I think it’s great!

Given what everyone has said,
Should I be scared?