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yes! thats why katara was able to beat azula was because she knew who she was and she knows what to not me. Azula was always living under ozai which made her not be able to be who she was and not knowing who she was which made katara easily beat azula.
I know, right? It also gives a lot of clarity to the paths Zuko grappled between throughout the series. Azula's breakdown at the end is so haunting because Zuko could have ended up in a similar place had he kept going down his path of anger. Katara, on the other hand, showed where the path of acceptance can take you; a healthier existence, a more rational mind, and a deeper appreciation for who you are and what you want.
Katara won because ever since she was a kid, she has learnt how to survive and also see how war is terrible since she was a kid while Azula has been living in privilege for so long, she is so narrow minded and doesn't understand a real world. Also, noticed that Azula is always having backup whenever she's fighting Katara, with Ty Lee twice, Zuko, The Dai Li. But when she's fighting Katara alone, she struggled even with quick lightning to defeat her. Also, Azula who used to be a perfectionist and see a small detail can be defeated by Katara because she didn't see a giant water drain below her because she was tired and her mind was totally messed up.
Am I the only one who gets upset when people downplay their emotional states throughout the series? These two had so much trauma on their hands and had to deal with it a young age.
I think a problem in fictional series is, that people directly compare characters to each other. The character and his developement isn´t seen for itself, but compared to others. "well maybe she is strong, but compared to character xy she is totally useless" or "she shouldn´t cry. Character xy has it way worse and that character doesn´t cry about it." This is the case in a lot of series and that´s pretty sad.
Right! No one in real life is going to downplay someone's emotional trauma from losing their mom, and Katara in particular most likely had to see her mother's dead body. That's hugely traumatizing!!! Having that happen at a young age will bring such an emotional impact in your life later in the future. It's good and healthy she dealt with her emotions, and the way Azula was forced to treat it is what we should be talking about. All in all, they were all kids dealing with tragedies and we shouldn't shame them for that. (Also, sadly, this reflects on how people see mental health in real life.)
@@PaniACoCo 100% exactly! Especially because she only brings it up 6 times in the whole series: 1. When arguing with Sokka about family roles in the first scene of the series 2. When Aang found out what happened to his own parental figure Gyatso and the rest of the Air Nomads he lived with 3. When she met Haru, who brought up his father's imprisonment 4. When she met Jet, who brought up the murder of his parents 5. When she met Zuko in that underground Earth Kingdom prison 6. When Zuko asked her why she hated him so much after he joined Team Avatar
I Didn't even notice katara being "too emotional" until the the episode were they were watching a play about themselves in a theatre and made katara very dramatic.
100% exactly! Especially because she only brings up her mother's death 6 times in the whole series: 1. When arguing with Sokka about family roles in the first scene of the series 2. When Aang found out what happened to his own parental figure Gyatso and the rest of the Air Nomads he lived with 3. When she met Haru, who brought up his father's imprisonment 4. When she met Jet, who brought up the murder of his parents 5. When she met Zuko in that underground Earth Kingdom prison 6. When Zuko asked her why she hated him so much after he joined Team Avatar
I personally don't find it annoying when Katara oftenly brings out her mother's demise...because that gives her motivation on keeping moving forward, end injustice, end the war, help the Avatar, and become a SYMPATHETIC PERSON.....That's what makes her a good support for Aang because that very traumatic experience of her leads her to understand other people...she almost have redemption with Zuko in crystal catacomb (because we all know how she hates Zuko) if not only Zuko betrayed her....and her Sympathetic personality shows up in the episode of the southern raider....how do you think she read her mother's murderer if she doesn't know how to become sympathetic person.
It's still something I'm not really sure about. I see what you are saying, but from a common sense standpoint it doesn't make sense to still hate the person who just saved your father. I guess that's just me tho. When he's gained everyone else's trust, being the one person who constantly has to hate is bad. Not to mention, her saying Sokka didn't love his mom was absolutely horrible. If Sokka said the same thing to her she would never forgive him.
I also think that Aang wouldn't have made it without Katara... she was always very aware of his emotional troubles and often addressed them even before he realised that he had some issues... Like that time when he became angry over Appa's disappearance. She was a great and crucial support for him and helped him get over many obstacles. Some people say that there was no foreshadowing to their romance but I think this is one of the bigger things they have in common. They understand each other intuitively without even having to think about it.
@@ijimenez1951 but she's talking about her feelings? Being open with it rather than being closed. Isn't that better? I mean her mother meant everything to her
I also think that! Especially after the episode: the avatar and the firelord. Zuko and Aangs friendship was the key to redemption of the fire nation and start of the war (Sozin & Roku)
Because they aren't written as token "strong female" characters. They are strong characters who happen to be female. They had a deep story and a compelling personality. If azula was zuko's younger brother instead of sister, she would still be remembered as cunning, fearful, sharp, precise, talented and someone who got their shit together. Her being a girl was just organic. It wasn't try-hard. She was raised as a war machine by her father.
I don't know if she meant it, people apologize for appeasement. She may have been just put off that Ty Lee is acting out of place and placated her, so that she wouldn't have a reason to leave her
Though I still don't believe she meant that. I have always felt like that was more being manipulative; being nice for a second so Ty lee won't make a scene or hate her or whatever.
While I agree with both of you wholeheartedly, I think it’s a shame that these fully developed and interesting female characters never had as much chance to interact with one another as friends. We get to see some development with Toph and Katara and with Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, but many of their interactions are more antagonistic than those between male characters on the same side. Like Suki and Katara could have had such a complex friendship, with Suki being the girlfriend of Katara’s brother, but we barely see them interact. I guess I just wish we had more of them, especially together.
Ozai had Azula do all the work for him (conquering the Earth Kingdom, planning against Team Avatar on Day of Black Sun, killing the Avatar, chasing Zuko and Iroh even though Ozai is the one who wants them to disappear, and so on), and the second it was all done, he completely forgot that she even existed. He was literally surprised to hear Azula's voice behind him when he decided to crown himself Phoenix King. Hell, he didn't even think about taking her with him, and she was clearly hurt and confused by his actions because, as you said, she thought he actually cared about her as a person/daughter. And of course, Ozai knew a way to silence her - he simply gave her a title (a title that would make her better and more meaningful than Zuko), even though he intended to rule the world on his own anyway. We all know that Azula is a great manipulator, but she was totally blind to the fact that she herself was a victim of manipulation Katara, on the other hand, was able to cope better with her loss of her mother because she never had to suppress her feelings in the sign of strength. Fans like to make fun of her for her necklace thing but expressing her feelings totally helped her character to grow and even sympathize with people. She even wanted to help Zuko with his scar even though he tried to kill them 2 seasons long! Also, Sokka and Katara have never been separated and I believe that Zuko's exile was a crucial point in Azula's personality (after all she was completely alone with her father). I would also have liked Zuko to try to calm Azula down or at least make her realize that she is just as much of a victim as him. Iroh also said in the previous episode that it would be terrible if two brothers tried to kill each other over a crown.. And that's exactly what they did but whatever
Yes the whole Iroh not fighting against Ozai, but Zuko shall do it with his sister does not really make up. But it sounds good and I´d say children won´t see a problem with that. And even adults seem to just shrug it off. I certainly did not just jump of my seat in my first watch. For Azula to get better, she´d need someone and Zuko seems the only oine to do it. The brother she got back, when Ozai wanted him to disappear, in a cell or six feet under. But he needs to overcome his own resentments for his sister. Ozai was the source of all the BS in their lives, but I´d say Zuko took till the 3rd season to realize and before he just had Azula to blame...like she blamed her mother.
I mean I understand why he may not want to comfort her considering that she tormented him for years on end and he did later in the comics attempt to reconcile their sibling feud and redeem her by giving her the opportunity to come and help find their mother but after that she just started kidnapping kids
@@mercury6284Zuko literally was gonna tbrow azula off a cliff cause she was having a manic episode and the only person who understood azula was Aang. The comics are poorly written and nearly everyone is OOC 💀
This reminds me of one of my favorite contrasts in the show. I think it's in "Zuko Alone". When Zuko found the farming family and the kid was asking him questions. The kid said his big brother is fighting in the war and there's mention of Zukos (or should I say Lee's?) Father. The kid asks if Zukos dad is fighting in the war, too. Zuko takes a moment, and simply says "yes". I always get chills there because yes, Zukos dad is in the war, too. He answered honestly. But the answer had a completely different meaning to the kid and his family.
Another symbolism I loved in the show is when azula and zuko are fighting on the blimp and when they fall zuko has friends to catch him but azula has nobody Also I really hope lok comes to Netflix Ireland I have the series as a dvd set but still Netflix is easier
I wonder what would have happened if they tried to catch her falling? Would it have maybe affected her mental stability or would she have just comtinued trying to end them?
what about zuko - sokka? the elder brothers of the respective families, both desperate for the approval of their fathers, both overshadowed by their bending prodigy sisters.
@@sirmoonslosthismind In the beginning Sokka was not overshadowedby his sister. If anything they were both overshadowed by Aang for like the whole half of book 1 and they had to come into their own.
@@sirmoonslosthismind sokka and katara, and zuko and azula can each be matched against each other as pairs to compare their sibling relationships as well
Yeah because obviously she didn’t have iroh but she also just didn’t have anyone like iroh. No one to support her or show her the right path. Zuko had iroh and it took a while for him to grow but he still did. Iroh just had to take the original ideas his mom showed zuko and show him how to be good and healthy again. Azula didn’t have anyone to do that with, to talk or grow with. She was alone literally but also mentally and everyone that could’ve helped didn’t and left her.
Never before had I considered the parallels between Katara and Azula. Your points, however, were on the mark so well I can see it perfectly. I didn't realize how well they mirrored each other. To get more on the nose, fire and water, opposites in elements and in the two characters. One thing I did want to bring up when Zuko starts the fight with Azula, he and his sister have switched. First time, he was very unstable and she was calm and controlled. But their final fight, he was calm and collected as he now used the original source for firebending rather than relying on his hate and anger.
Both Azula and Katara are: - 14 years old - Bending prodigies - More obviously talented younger sisters of brothers who sometimes struggle with that fact - Motherless daughters - Travel the world and achieve impressive things at a very young age - Daughters of male leaders who value their fathers deeply - Forced to grow up very young (different reasons but still) - Able to identify others insecurities and issues (Azula for manipulation, Katara for helping) - Driven and hard-working especially in bending Etc. I think it’s interesting that on paper Azula and Katara are very similar, but in reality they are very different. It shows that “what you are” I.e. genes, inherent skills etc are far less important than your experiences and who you work to become. Azula, because of her father’s abuse, has moulded herself into the person she thinks will make him value and love her, where Katara has moulded herself into someone very different, because sometimes she felt she had to and sometimes she wanted to. Both have worked hard to become a certain person for a variety of reasons, but what they wanted to become is very different thanks to their different experiences. Not trying to blame Azula for this - her fathers abuse is to blame, but just acknowledge that she had to make herself fit his idea of the perfect daughter. It gives me, as someone from a messed up background, hope that working towards becoming someone different is important.
Bringing up how Katara discovered from Yohn Ra that Kya sacrificed herself made me realize something. When Zuko intercepted Azula's lightning to spare Katara, in a way, she was reliving that moment over again. So the fact that she was able to do something about it this time around, from her resourceful defeat of Azula to being able to heal Zuko, must have been a big moment of healing from her childhood trauma. At the very least, it perfectly emphasizes Katara's growth and how far she's come on this journey.
This is such a great take, I wonder if Azula felt abandoned by her father when he left her behind to lay seige to Ba Sing Se. That might have contributed to her downward spiral into madness.
Ozai is very dissapointed to his children. - Zuko betrayed him and leave the Fire Nation and join the Avatar to teach him Firebending. -Zuko told him that Azula was lying about him killing the Avatar. -As soon as he sees Zuko can redirect his lightning, he realized that his kooky and foolish older brother taught him well. -He left Azula behind after learning she's lying of the Avatar being dead. -Noticed how he humiliated *both* of his kids in front of people? First, when Zuko supposed to do Agni Kai with him, not the general and burn his face. Second, when he made Azula shut up by giving her the title Fire Lord when he declared to be Phoenix King, the ruler of the world. It feels like you are president of your county while your dad is the king of your country. Who would everyone fear? Your dad, of course!
Kataras ability to be openly emotional about her mother is rlly good, positive thing about her character. Although shes still traumatized she can deal with it and that allows her to heal and move on Azula on the other hand................ is the queen of bottling up her emotions 😂😂
@@CarnisianLady this is a story about kids traveling around the world during a war. I mean its perfectly fine to have your own opinion and thoughts on her. I think it's just sad that a 14 child went through all of that. She was raised in a toxic household where she was exploited for her natural talents. She really didn't have anyone to turn to except her father who made her like that. This was unlike Zuko and Katara who had support around them. At the end of the series she had a break down after trying to be so perfect. She just kinda broke.
@@CarnisianLady oh, she _definitely_ looks 14 to me. but yes, it really doesn't matter. ( also no one said you couldn't hate her? i think they were just drawing another parallel since katara is also 14 )
@@CarnisianLady Visibly aging up children who take up positions of power is actually a pretty common tactic. For example, how Glimmer and Catra looked noticably older in S4 of She-Ra while everyone else looked roughly the same.
7:29 I wonder how Azula would've turned out if Iroh did more to reach out to her. Zuko developed a conscience because he had two loving adults in Iroh and Ursa, but like you said, Azula was groomed by Ozai from day 1 and was manipulated into resenting them. As much as fans like to praise Iroh, it's pretty jarring how to him, Azula was just "crazy and needed to go down" which is a pretty messed up thing to say about your abused 14-year-old niece who he _knows_ was railroaded by Ozai (hell, she was made fire lord when most girls her age would be in middle school). Even though she clearly needed to be stopped, she was never really shown any genuine empathy by anyone in her life and she developed the way she did because of that. People would always give me side-eye whenever I say I just wanted Azula to get better rather than just outright defeated. It seems like whenever we get an accurate depiction of a traumatized mentally ill abuse victim who isn't just a scrappy underdog we're clearly supposed to root for, they're generally despised by fans, especially when they're female. It's never "wow this child soldier is seriously messed up in the head", It's just "oh that person is mean and makes bad choices. Screw 'em I hope they die."
I like to believe that Iroh was saying that Azula needed to be humbled, just like Zuko has been humbled after his failing in the north pole. But also....just to be charitable to Iroh.....(not that he needs it with how much he is worshiped)...Azula did shoot him in the chest with fire like only a day or two ago. He may have just been a bit sore. Iroh seems a lot kinder towards Azula in the comics, perhaps because she had in fact been humbled. Curiously both Zuko and Azula are humbled by the fighting the same person.
To be fair Iroh said that statement when he was recovering from the *lightning blast she shot at his chest*..I'm not saying Iroh's perfect but he's realistic and flawed. And I'm not sure which fandom discourse you witnessed, but generally most people love Azula as a well written character and antagonist...they just don't necessarily think she needs redemption in the show. Is she worthy of it? Yes. But did she choose it? No. And that's how life is sometimes. I've seen Zuko get a lot of smoke from Azula apologists but pointing out their similar abuse trauma holds no weight because Zuko wasn't redeemed because of his tragic past, it's something he worked for. And their psyche is completely different... Zuko was trying to be something he inherently was not, he's always been good but he was punished for doing right and praised for doing wrong. A kid who wanted their father's approval would do anything, even change their belief system to gain it. Azula's different. Their mental state was not the same, so neither is their trauma and neither can their redemption be the same. Saying Zuko had a conscience because of Ursa and Iroh is mixing up cause and effect. Zuko was cast to the side by Ozai because he had empathy /a conscience. Those aren't traits associated with a powerful firelord, hence why Ursa and Ozai felt the need to compensate. My theory is that Zuko reminded Ursa of herself, because she was also a victim of Ozai's abuse. We always get drawn to those who reflect us the most. Again, that's flawed but true. Every person we try to wield a finger of blame upon, there's someone else to blame behind them. That's what makes it real, and excellent writing. But if we can understand how Ursa a victim became an abuser towards Azula, then we can't overlook Azula's actions which she felt no remorse for or ever tried to make right. But holding her accountable doesn't mean we hate her either, there's so many discussions admiring her skill and complex mind. Three dimensional doesn't mean *oh they have a tragic past let's give them a pass for everything they do*. To me it's when their actions are completely justifiable from their point of view, but unjustifiable from ours... we sympathize with the character but not their actions. Instead of cramming how complex they are down your throat, they create complex feelings within you. Azula is so perfectly written.
ALL OF THIS! I find it interesting how Iroh and Ursa are never seen as complicit or held accountable. Yes, Ozai abused and manipulated his children, but it was also Ursa's responsibility to make both of her children feel loved. Azula's confession in "the Beach" shows how deeply that traumatized her. And Iroh, despite being a caring and wise uncle to Zuko, seems to have been more uneasy around Azula, and never sought to father her in the same way. I don't think Iroh or Ursa were bad people, but they made mistakes that hurt people they cared about.
Just a sign of a realistic character, imo. Most of the most messed up people in prison were abused as kids, but once you start trying to kill your siblings and stuff people don't much care what happened to you. Today, _you're_ the abuser.
Watch this makes me remember the last 5 years, how I forced myself to be "emotionless" cause I actually thought that if I never expressed my true emotions would be better because of how people never liked on how I was very loud, stubborn, and talkative when I was young. When people told me to stop being loud, annoying, and talkative. I stopped. I stopped expressing my emotions since I was so scared to explore my emotions properly, the only time I realised when I was emotionally repressing myself was when I was just researching about mental illness for my story. Tldr: I'm working on myself. Its working somewhat but it's so easy to go back me being back to my old emotional repression, but I can say that it will be better, great days will come.
Azula’s intelligence and skills were also products of her environment. She needed to know when Ozai was in a good mood in order not to get on his bad side, and she needs to be able to manipulate people in order to not bear the brunt of Ozai’s abuse. Her brain was hardwired on survival, and she used the survival tactics she learned at home to defeat Team Avatar and to best Zuko.
Another piece of evidence that bad parents might raise bad children is in LOK, Noatok, was raised by Yakone to be a bloodbender. Tarlok said that their fathers influence got to both of their heads and Amon wasn’t always evil.
Most of the people who start out watching the series, they think that she is just a girl. The love interest of the protagonist and that's it. That she is very feminine. Katara is more than that. She lost her mother and technically her father as well. As Iroh said, the people of the water tribe adapt to changes. Whenever something bad happened it was her who tried to keep everything together. Always caring about each member of the group. She is more than someone who behaves like a mother, she is powerful, versatile and dangerous but full of love. I will never meet someone as emotionally strong as her. Appreciate her!!
I’m glad that you praised the “Beach Episode”. I always felt it was more of a character study of the Fire Nation teens, showing them WANTING to be with people their own age, but because of their personal past trauma & baggage, they lash out at each other & others because they’ve never had the opportunity to be “normal” kids.
Side note; the successes Azula brought to Ozais rule were the only accomplishments worth noting in his 7 year reign. It was azula who took the two great earth kingdom cities and it was Azula who killed the avatar (despite Aangs revival thanks to Katara). Ozai did nothing else for the reign of the fire nation across the world except raise Azula to become the person who did achieve things.
People like to forget that both Azula as well as Katara are still just children. They had to grow up very fast due to circumstance and neither of them had any say as to what these circumstances would have been. Katara grieving her mother is so very rational, imagine you are 14 and took over this motherly role, every day you'd think back to your own mom, asking yourself what she would do. Then think of Azula, what 14 year old never bottled up their emotions, what 14 year old never sought the approval of their role model.
I genuinely love that Katara was the one to defeat Azula as well, mainly because in my eyes Katara is kind of the sister figure that Zuko wants/needs. So having Katara be the one to take her down and save Zuko makes so much sense
Oh i love your avatar analysis so much, i think you're one of the best and most interesting creator that talks about this! I'm so happy i found your channel ♡♡
I think it also note worthy that Ursa may have not tried hard enough to support Azula and care for her. Because even though Azula always tried to be like her father, she still craves her mother's love and understanding. She feels as if Ursa never actually wanted to be around her or even see her as a child (thinking that Ursa saw her as a monster). And I think that is part Ursa's fault because she projected her relationship with Ozai on to her children, leading her to sympathize with Zuko more because he was on the "same side" of the parental conflict as her. So instead of stepping in and allowing Azula the emotional freedom and support Ozai denied her, she left her daughter to fend for her own and depend on her father even more. Azula's feelings of rejection and abandonment are completely valid. This is such a great video btw, I always felt that Katara and Azula contrasted each other very well, especially because of their similarities!
They were actually both 8 when they lost their mothers. We know that Kya died in 92 AG and Ursa disappeared in 92 AG as well and both of the girls were born in 86 AG putting them both at the same age when they lost their mothers. That age being 8
I’m not a cryer but I genuinely cried at three points in ATLA. First was obviously iroh’s leaves from the vine. Second was all through appa’s lost days. And the last one was definitely Azula screaming-crying at the very end after Katara defeated her. These three are very emotional but the last one is much more subtlety emotional. It didn’t get to me when I first watched it, but watching it a second time it really got to me.
I’m glad you made this point and this is why I appreciate the show. Growing up was really difficult for me and my sister and we had to grow up quickly because of it. Luckily with that cake self awareness at a ridiculous young age and it was a huge advantage for us. Both of us took psychology in high school and some college courses as well and boy was that helpful in understand ourselves and environment. As well as learning how to cope and that it was truly up to us to break that vicious cycle. I don’t have it all yet but I do have a good stable job and I feel that it’s in the right step forward. I can only stay positive and keep trying to work towards a brighter future. And that’s honestly want I want and hope for others to have as well!
I think in a way Azula was like a foil character.A character they basically went through the same thing as Katara but shows what would happen if she bottled up her emotions she is also used to show Kataras weaknesses.
I just love how Katara gets so much hate for being too vengeful and talking about her dead mother so often, and just generally being so emotional, but I guarantee you if it was Sokka that had the revengeful storyline and talked about his dead mom, people would be sympathetic and love his character, especially in the southern raiders episode. hm what's that smell? *sniff sniff* ah yes, sexism and double standards!
While she never is called a monster, Ursa did say "what's wrong with that child?" in front of her. It was definitely a moment of frustration and I know she loved Azula genuinely, but that's still going to contribute to the monster belief. It was also one of the first interactions we see between them. That seems purposeful to get on board with Azula's mindset on the writer's part though.
Great observation on the parallels with their mothers. The second time I watched the show I notice that katara and azula were paralleled by being prodigies in their bending. Also in the finale of the second season we get a glimpse of katara almost defeating azula after they switch opponents when fighting in the cave beneath Ba Sing Se. maybe foreshadowing the ending of the show.
Katara and Azula are two of my most favorite characters in atla and I always saw the duality of them. Your analysis added more to my perception as well. That's exactly why we should strive to be like Katara who used her trauma and sadness to help others by showing her own scars rather than bottle up emotions and allow your false sense of the world grow. I think Azula could've been a better person had she ever stopped to analyze her own brother's choices, but she had too much pride to do so. She was too wrapped up in showing the world what she was not than dealing with her issues and this became her downfall.
Istg ATLA is one of the best made shows ever. The details, the every little frame of this show is packed with clues, things to look into, funny jokes, little peaks of the past and present, sometimes future, even the personalities of the characters, the bending, the everything is just is such a great gift not even Santa can top. It’s all ties back and fourth, connecting dots everywhere, anywhere, specks of just perfection. I can’t believe this was a kids show, it’s just too amazing and more.
I honestly felt like Katara was the most human. Although not in front of her, It was outside her tent, where her mother died. I never found her annoying, she was trying her best to stay composed, but just like any human being, she also has her points where she is vulnerable.
I've never noticed this paralel but one day everyone was talking about how Zuko had horrible life and Azula was like.. okay.. just another psychopat.. like no.. Azula had maybe worse life than Zuko. Yes, Zuko was treated like sh*t after Ursa left and the only one who actually cared about him was Iroh.. but he had at least him. Azula had noone who would support her and help her with her own problems and so on. This video is just great. The emotional abuse Azula got from Ozai was maybe worse than his physical abuse he gave to Zuko. Because Zuko could deal with everything thanks to Iroh. Azula just couldn't and when she lost everything, all she could do was cry and call her mother who wasn't there anymore...
Also Katara finishing the battle with Azula draws back to what Iroh said about himself not being the one to take Ozai down. The world would have seen it as just a brother taking down his sister to grab power. Or at least thats how I always saw it.
When Azula had her breakdown in season three she had Schizophrenia, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder & OCD, plus a few more minor ones, the saddest part is... she was fourteen...
Good video! Interestingly enough, both of them also grow up to look like their mothers, while their brothers resemble their fathers. Azula even uses the same make-up as her mother.
You should make a video on the balance the show has. While rewatching this series as an adult, I noticed parallels upon parallels. I feel like ATLA is rooted in balance. Like I feel that Appa getting stolen was the direct karma of the Gaang going in the owls library and misusing the knowledge. There is always a price to pay for their actions. The other parallel I noticed was how they both got struck with lightning by azula over katara. Aang because he'd waited too late to gain access to the avatar state, and on his back and unaware, but doing it to protect her, and Zuko getting struck voluntarily, on his chest, to protect her.
I'm so happy there's a video about this!! when I first finished watching avatar I was freaking out about the similarities and contrast between these two prodigies and you talked about those points so well
Head writer, Aaron Ehasz envisioned a redemption arc for Azula one that's longer and far more complicated then Zuko's he states that she did not reach the bottom of her downfall in the season 3 finale, she had further down to go but the moment she truly does find the bottom she also finds Zuko. Despite it all, Zuko puts everything he learned from Iroh to the test and he expresses compassion for her and promises to never turn his back on her again. Head showrunners, Mike and Bryan, stated that Azula does have a bright side to her and if given the chance, she could heal. The mirrored stories with Katara and Azula also mirror the stories with Katara and Zuko, ergo Zuko and Azula are way alike. Zuko can use this to his advantage in getting Azula to emerge from her hateful path she's on along with passing everything he learned from Iroh down on to her.
Katara lost her mother when she was a kid, probably the person she loved most, and Azula also lost her mother, azula thought she was seen as a monster. In the end tho, Katara gains more than she loses but Azula loses everything
I’ve noticed some of the parallels (prodigy with an older brother and a missing mother, etc) but it’s cool to hear that dissected and talked about what it means
Our environment does influence us and I like how the show demonstrates this. Zuko went to his caring mother because he was rejected by his uncaring father, later supported by his caring uncle. The goodness in both gave him the courage to be a better person.
I just started thinking about how a lot of the Avatar Analysis videos on RUclips focus on how The Last Airbender portrayed masculinity. I sort of realized that there is a large gap in covering how femininity is portrayed or what the development is like for the female characters in the show so I really appreciate videos like this. I definitely will connect more to discussions on toxic masculinity and alternatives but it would still be enlightening to see the commonalities between Katara, Toph, Azula, Tsuki, May, etc on their journey's and experiences in the show. Food for thought: The male characters had role models like Hakoda, Iroh, to a lesser degree Roku, and Aang was seemingly emotionally fully-developed at the age of 12. I can't think of counterpart female role models, but I can remember specific instances of each female cast member grating against some type of suppression. Katara being culturally suppressed in the North, Azula having to suppress her emotions for her father, Toph with her parents forcing a lifestyle on her, and others I can't think of when on just 2 hours of sleep. Either way thanks for the video. I did especially enjoy the comparison between blood-bending and lightning-bending for the pair, I never connected the dots on that one.
I think Katara wasn't given a space or even time to grieve her mother which is why she talks about her so much, hence the southern raiders episode. She felt like she had to grow up and be the mother right away and was never allowed to grieve.
Apparently, the series creators had planned a fourth season of the series, and had planned on redeeming Azula during that season. It would have been more complex than Zuko's, and probably would have made her a more beloved character than she already is.
Hi ! I love this essay :) Makes me think of how missing the fourth season is. For context : I've heard in an essay about atla that they were supposed to be a fourth book : air, in wich Ang was supposed to finish his work of getting balance by re-creating the air nomads and Azula should have had her redemption arc and a chance to truly heal. This would have made so much sence ...
There is a popular AU on reddit where the Water Tribe and Fire Nation are switched, and Zuko and Azula swap places with Katara and Sokka! I think you should take a look at that!
One thing I think people miss when they complain about Katara talking about her mother is that the year that the characters spend on the journey in ATLA is the first time Katara is exposed to other people affected by the war as well as fire nation soldiers. I don't think she talked about her mother that often beforehand, but seeing other people who have gone through similar things, it makes sense for her to relate in that way. Additionally, until "the southern raiders", she had no idea who killed her mother. As far as she was concerned, any of those fire nation soldiers could have been that person. And she doesn't go after them like Jet does. She talks through her emotions in that way, recognizing that it doesn't make any sense to go after every fire nation individual she encounters. Wonderfully contrasting with Jet and Hama. I also think it is important to note that Katara was the last person to see her mother alive. I bet she feels guilt about that. Also, in the same way Sokka felt the need to always be the leader, having been one of the oldest boys left in the village, Katara had to fill the role of mother to all those kids and fulfill the tasks that would go unnoticed ('have you ever smelled your dirty socks?'). It is a lot of responsibility and pressure on someone who is still a kid. This responsibility is often hand waved as unimportant or just expected because of sexism and the patriarchy. In conclusion, Katara is my favorite character, and I will not tolerate anybody giving her shit. Interesting video!
I feel like there can be different interpretations in the scene where Ursa tells Azula that she loves her. For example, I always thought it was just Azula wishfully thinking and longing for someone to say that they loved/cared for her. I don’t doubt that Ursa loves Azula but I definitely think that Azula stubbornly believes that Ursa was always afraid of her.
I’m an OG Avatar fan and I’ve never thought about the parallels between Katara and Azula before! the last time I re-binged I enjoyed watching the progression of the parallels between Aang and Zuko, now I have something to look forward to during my next binge! ☺️ great vid!
"I wanted to take out all of my anger on [Yon Rha]. But I couldn't. I don't know if it's because I'm too weak... or if because I'm strong enough not to." -Katara talking about why she didn't take Yon Rha's life
I just want to say before I start that while she may not have liked her, maybe even hated her, I think azula had a bit of respect for katara due to all the similarities and possibly why she had such difficulty fighting against her.
I personally disagree. Azula was very mentally unstable during their last fight, leading her to be less controlled with her attacks and wearing her out very quickly. Her last speaking line in the entire series is her calling Katara a “filthy peasant”. Azula may have respected Katara’s power and abilities, much like she did with her own father. But Azula saw Katara as being beneath her, barely even a person
you might be overthinking. azula had difficulty fighting katara because azula's world was crashing down around her and katara is incredibly powerful and resourceful. The parallels between the two characters are real but the only time Azula notices such things is when they're useful to her to manipulate others. she wasn't manipulating just then; she was fighting.
@@tomswiftyphilo2504 Azula had the toughest time fighting Katara in any fight, not just the last one. That was just technically the easiest because her game off. To be honest, any theory is overthinking it, but that's the fun of it! To me, azula does her research. She may not know who they were at first, but she built up the knowledge to figure out whose shes dealing with. And you can totally respect someone while hating them at the same time and wanting to defeat them. I think it's what made it more difficult for her to fight katara.
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Never noticed the contrast between Katara and Azula
This gives their battle in the Agni Kai with Zuko even more meaning
yes! thats why katara was able to beat azula was because she knew who she was and she knows what to not me. Azula was always living under ozai which made her not be able to be who she was and not knowing who she was which made katara easily beat azula.
I know, right? It also gives a lot of clarity to the paths Zuko grappled between throughout the series. Azula's breakdown at the end is so haunting because Zuko could have ended up in a similar place had he kept going down his path of anger. Katara, on the other hand, showed where the path of acceptance can take you; a healthier existence, a more rational mind, and a deeper appreciation for who you are and what you want.
EXACTLY
Katara won because ever since she was a kid, she has learnt how to survive and also see how war is terrible since she was a kid while Azula has been living in privilege for so long, she is so narrow minded and doesn't understand a real world. Also, noticed that Azula is always having backup whenever she's fighting Katara, with Ty Lee twice, Zuko, The Dai Li. But when she's fighting Katara alone, she struggled even with quick lightning to defeat her. Also, Azula who used to be a perfectionist and see a small detail can be defeated by Katara because she didn't see a giant water drain below her because she was tired and her mind was totally messed up.
@@margarethmichelina5146even in crystal chamber katara had upper hand on her
Am I the only one who gets upset when people downplay their emotional states throughout the series? These two had so much trauma on their hands and had to deal with it a young age.
Specially with Katara, all of her flaws are completely understandable, and she's just a teen. All of them are children in the middle of a war.
I think a problem in fictional series is, that people directly compare characters to each other. The character and his developement isn´t seen for itself, but compared to others. "well maybe she is strong, but compared to character xy she is totally useless" or "she shouldn´t cry. Character xy has it way worse and that character doesn´t cry about it." This is the case in a lot of series and that´s pretty sad.
Right! No one in real life is going to downplay someone's emotional trauma from losing their mom, and Katara in particular most likely had to see her mother's dead body. That's hugely traumatizing!!! Having that happen at a young age will bring such an emotional impact in your life later in the future. It's good and healthy she dealt with her emotions, and the way Azula was forced to treat it is what we should be talking about. All in all, they were all kids dealing with tragedies and we shouldn't shame them for that. (Also, sadly, this reflects on how people see mental health in real life.)
@@PaniACoCo 100% exactly! Especially because she only brings it up 6 times in the whole series:
1. When arguing with Sokka about family roles in the first scene of the series
2. When Aang found out what happened to his own parental figure Gyatso and the rest of the Air Nomads he lived with
3. When she met Haru, who brought up his father's imprisonment
4. When she met Jet, who brought up the murder of his parents
5. When she met Zuko in that underground Earth Kingdom prison
6. When Zuko asked her why she hated him so much after he joined Team Avatar
Sorry but,
No this is Patrick
I Didn't even notice katara being "too emotional" until the the episode were they were watching a play about themselves in a theatre and made katara very dramatic.
100% exactly! Especially because she only brings up her mother's death 6 times in the whole series:
1. When arguing with Sokka about family roles in the first scene of the series
2. When Aang found out what happened to his own parental figure Gyatso and the rest of the Air Nomads he lived with
3. When she met Haru, who brought up his father's imprisonment
4. When she met Jet, who brought up the murder of his parents
5. When she met Zuko in that underground Earth Kingdom prison
6. When Zuko asked her why she hated him so much after he joined Team Avatar
Fun With Memes exactly and she’s a 14 year old girl.. people act like losing your mother is an easy thing to go through
She had so much hope
@@marianaprokopowiski7027 right!
I personally don't find it annoying when Katara oftenly brings out her mother's demise...because that gives her motivation on keeping moving forward, end injustice, end the war, help the Avatar, and become a SYMPATHETIC PERSON.....That's what makes her a good support for Aang because that very traumatic experience of her leads her to understand other people...she almost have redemption with Zuko in crystal catacomb (because we all know how she hates Zuko) if not only Zuko betrayed her....and her Sympathetic personality shows up in the episode of the southern raider....how do you think she read her mother's murderer if she doesn't know how to become sympathetic person.
I don't find it annoying at all.
It's still something I'm not really sure about. I see what you are saying, but from a common sense standpoint it doesn't make sense to still hate the person who just saved your father. I guess that's just me tho. When he's gained everyone else's trust, being the one person who constantly has to hate is bad.
Not to mention, her saying Sokka didn't love his mom was absolutely horrible. If Sokka said the same thing to her she would never forgive him.
I also think that Aang wouldn't have made it without Katara... she was always very aware of his emotional troubles and often addressed them even before he realised that he had some issues... Like that time when he became angry over Appa's disappearance. She was a great and crucial support for him and helped him get over many obstacles. Some people say that there was no foreshadowing to their romance but I think this is one of the bigger things they have in common. They understand each other intuitively without even having to think about it.
I mean she just speack about her mom five times in the whole series
@@ijimenez1951 but she's talking about her feelings? Being open with it rather than being closed. Isn't that better? I mean her mother meant everything to her
yes!! katara gets so much hate just for being emotionally open lmao
legitttt
And she barely even shows deep emotions but as soon as she does face realistic emotion there's a problem.
People forget she's a 14 yr old little girl😑
She mentions it less than how many times Zuko mentions his honor, no hate on Zuko, I love Zuko. But people can really overreact
the kid lost her mother.
Am I the only person who noticed that Zuko and aangs relationship almost the exact inverse of Roku and sozins?
I also think that! Especially after the episode: the avatar and the firelord. Zuko and Aangs friendship was the key to redemption of the fire nation and start of the war (Sozin & Roku)
Sozin betrayed his friend to rule all others. Zuko betrayed his ruler to save others.
True dat.
Roku, Sozin.... Friends, Enemies
Aang, Zuko.....Enemies friends
I noticed this..-
I believe that's exactly the 'destiny' of the relationship between Aang and Zuko
The women of avatar are amazing characters PERIODT
agreed af
just wanna say 500th like
everyones an amazing character
Because they aren't written as token "strong female" characters. They are strong characters who happen to be female.
They had a deep story and a compelling personality. If azula was zuko's younger brother instead of sister, she would still be remembered as cunning, fearful, sharp, precise, talented and someone who got their shit together. Her being a girl was just organic. It wasn't try-hard. She was raised as a war machine by her father.
everyone in avatar is an amazing character
The beach episode showed something we had never seen before, azula apologized to ty lee, she felt bad, she let her empathy show
She even said she was jealous.
I don't know if she meant it, people apologize for appeasement. She may have been just put off that Ty Lee is acting out of place and placated her, so that she wouldn't have a reason to leave her
Though I still don't believe she meant that. I have always felt like that was more being manipulative; being nice for a second so Ty lee won't make a scene or hate her or whatever.
It showed that Azula has feelings and has the ability to feel bad about her actions
T y z u l a 👁️👄👁️
The fact that A:TLA gave voices to multiple female characters with depth and intelligence is one of the things that makes it so amazing
They don't have one female character that must represent every woman. They can be portrayed as fully human, something basic that many shows fail at.
While I agree with both of you wholeheartedly, I think it’s a shame that these fully developed and interesting female characters never had as much chance to interact with one another as friends. We get to see some development with Toph and Katara and with Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, but many of their interactions are more antagonistic than those between male characters on the same side. Like Suki and Katara could have had such a complex friendship, with Suki being the girlfriend of Katara’s brother, but we barely see them interact. I guess I just wish we had more of them, especially together.
Paula Cortés it is a pretty sad standard that we’re excited about that and not used to it
Paula Cortés which is so weird, like just write a character that’s it. It’s not any different...
that shouldn't be such a distinguishing characteristic, but here we are.
Ozai had Azula do all the work for him (conquering the Earth Kingdom, planning against Team Avatar on Day of Black Sun, killing the Avatar, chasing Zuko and Iroh even though Ozai is the one who wants them to disappear, and so on), and the second it was all done, he completely forgot that she even existed. He was literally surprised to hear Azula's voice behind him when he decided to crown himself Phoenix King. Hell, he didn't even think about taking her with him, and she was clearly hurt and confused by his actions because, as you said, she thought he actually cared about her as a person/daughter. And of course, Ozai knew a way to silence her - he simply gave her a title (a title that would make her better and more meaningful than Zuko), even though he intended to rule the world on his own anyway.
We all know that Azula is a great manipulator, but she was totally blind to the fact that she herself was a victim of manipulation
Katara, on the other hand, was able to cope better with her loss of her mother because she never had to suppress her feelings in the sign of strength. Fans like to make fun of her for her necklace thing but expressing her feelings totally helped her character to grow and even sympathize with people. She even wanted to help Zuko with his scar even though he tried to kill them 2 seasons long! Also, Sokka and Katara have never been separated and I believe that Zuko's exile was a crucial point in Azula's personality (after all she was completely alone with her father).
I would also have liked Zuko to try to calm Azula down or at least make her realize that she is just as much of a victim as him. Iroh also said in the previous episode that it would be terrible if two brothers tried to kill each other over a crown..
And that's exactly what they did but whatever
Yes the whole Iroh not fighting against Ozai, but Zuko shall do it with his sister does not really make up. But it sounds good and I´d say children won´t see a problem with that. And even adults seem to just shrug it off. I certainly did not just jump of my seat in my first watch.
For Azula to get better, she´d need someone and Zuko seems the only oine to do it. The brother she got back, when Ozai wanted him to disappear, in a cell or six feet under. But he needs to overcome his own resentments for his sister. Ozai was the source of all the BS in their lives, but I´d say Zuko took till the 3rd season to realize and before he just had Azula to blame...like she blamed her mother.
I mean I understand why he may not want to comfort her considering that she tormented him for years on end and he did later in the comics attempt to reconcile their sibling feud and redeem her by giving her the opportunity to come and help find their mother but after that she just started kidnapping kids
@@mercury6284Zuko literally was gonna tbrow azula off a cliff cause she was having a manic episode and the only person who understood azula was Aang. The comics are poorly written and nearly everyone is OOC 💀
How did I never notice this at all??? Even how the fire nation took both of their mothers. I only related her to zuko...
this show has LAYERS
Me too
This reminds me of one of my favorite contrasts in the show. I think it's in "Zuko Alone". When Zuko found the farming family and the kid was asking him questions. The kid said his big brother is fighting in the war and there's mention of Zukos (or should I say Lee's?) Father. The kid asks if Zukos dad is fighting in the war, too. Zuko takes a moment, and simply says "yes". I always get chills there because yes, Zukos dad is in the war, too. He answered honestly. But the answer had a completely different meaning to the kid and his family.
You can't do this! You can't relate me to Zuko!
@@RileyJayDennis Onions have layers 😃👍🏻
Bless you for pointing out that double standard with Katara and Zuko. Katara deserves better from this fandom.
She really does
She really really does
ive watched a lot of avatar analysis videos and this is such a great point!! never noticed how they contrasted each other
thanks so much im glad you liked it!!
Riley J. Dennis oohijhh hooch o h Ohio Ohio o o z zaqmo’😆😁😁😆😆😁🥺🥰🥶🐀🌜🐉
Mm. M jz🧙🏼♀️😅😅🌻🦗🦗🦗🦄
Ch hb
I'm sure you've seen Hello Future Me's "The Psychology of Azula"
Another symbolism I loved in the show is when azula and zuko are fighting on the blimp and when they fall zuko has friends to catch him but azula has nobody
Also I really hope lok comes to Netflix Ireland I have the series as a dvd set but still Netflix is easier
Like after the final Agni Kai; Katara healed Zuko which saved him, meanwhile she was chained down to a grate all alone.
Aaron Carroll well unless my family gets one I can’t
Side note completely unrelated but we have the same last name
It’s actually Katara who catches him despite still being mad at him (although he just had saved her in during the same battle as well).
I wonder what would have happened if they tried to catch her falling? Would it have maybe affected her mental stability or would she have just comtinued trying to end them?
You live in Ireland? I found out some time ago that I'm part Irish!
Finally someone’s recognized it. It’s always been Katara - Azula and Zuko - Aang since the beginning.
what about zuko - sokka? the elder brothers of the respective families, both desperate for the approval of their fathers, both overshadowed by their bending prodigy sisters.
@@sirmoonslosthismind In the beginning Sokka was not overshadowedby his sister. If anything they were both overshadowed by Aang for like the whole half of book 1 and they had to come into their own.
sirmoonslosthismind Zuko and Aang are literally the center of the entire show. They have SO many parallels and their journeys are reciprocal.
I think zuko could parallel sokka or aang depending on how you look at it. Either way the writers did a really good job with this show
@@sirmoonslosthismind sokka and katara, and zuko and azula can each be matched against each other as pairs to compare their sibling relationships as well
‘Azula never had an Iroh’
Dang, that hits really different than ‘Azula never had Iroh’
Yeah because obviously she didn’t have iroh but she also just didn’t have anyone like iroh. No one to support her or show her the right path. Zuko had iroh and it took a while for him to grow but he still did. Iroh just had to take the original ideas his mom showed zuko and show him how to be good and healthy again. Azula didn’t have anyone to do that with, to talk or grow with. She was alone literally but also mentally and everyone that could’ve helped didn’t and left her.
@@inmariokartimalwaysdaisy I know I heard someone say this and it hit me. "Ozai favored her not love her. There's a difference." I was like bruh
YES! and this honestly explains why I’ve always found their bending fight scene so amazing. honestly one of my favorite parts of the entire show!!!
yesss 🙌
Never before had I considered the parallels between Katara and Azula. Your points, however, were on the mark so well I can see it perfectly. I didn't realize how well they mirrored each other. To get more on the nose, fire and water, opposites in elements and in the two characters.
One thing I did want to bring up when Zuko starts the fight with Azula, he and his sister have switched. First time, he was very unstable and she was calm and controlled. But their final fight, he was calm and collected as he now used the original source for firebending rather than relying on his hate and anger.
Both Azula and Katara are:
- 14 years old
- Bending prodigies
- More obviously talented younger sisters of brothers who sometimes struggle with that fact
- Motherless daughters
- Travel the world and achieve impressive things at a very young age
- Daughters of male leaders who value their fathers deeply
- Forced to grow up very young (different reasons but still)
- Able to identify others insecurities and issues (Azula for manipulation, Katara for helping)
- Driven and hard-working especially in bending
Etc.
I think it’s interesting that on paper Azula and Katara are very similar, but in reality they are very different. It shows that “what you are” I.e. genes, inherent skills etc are far less important than your experiences and who you work to become.
Azula, because of her father’s abuse, has moulded herself into the person she thinks will make him value and love her, where Katara has moulded herself into someone very different, because sometimes she felt she had to and sometimes she wanted to. Both have worked hard to become a certain person for a variety of reasons, but what they wanted to become is very different thanks to their different experiences.
Not trying to blame Azula for this - her fathers abuse is to blame, but just acknowledge that she had to make herself fit his idea of the perfect daughter.
It gives me, as someone from a messed up background, hope that working towards becoming someone different is important.
I never noticed the contrast between these 2 characters. This makes the show even better than it already is
Bringing up how Katara discovered from Yohn Ra that Kya sacrificed herself made me realize something. When Zuko intercepted Azula's lightning to spare Katara, in a way, she was reliving that moment over again. So the fact that she was able to do something about it this time around, from her resourceful defeat of Azula to being able to heal Zuko, must have been a big moment of healing from her childhood trauma. At the very least, it perfectly emphasizes Katara's growth and how far she's come on this journey.
Finally a video that explains why Katara ending the final battle with Azula it's a well thought turn!
should've been Zutara!
@@gumballwatterson5037 My older sister was a shipper.
@@gumballwatterson5037Katara is literally the sister Azula never was to Zuko.
I agree that Katara raised by a blood-bender would have been bad news. Now how would Azula have turned out if she had been raised by Iroh?
The word you are looking for is Katara
You forgot Ursa’s line:
*”What is Wrong with that child?”*
This is such a great take, I wonder if Azula felt abandoned by her father when he left her behind to lay seige to Ba Sing Se. That might have contributed to her downward spiral into madness.
I think you're right. Some part of Azula wanted him to go but also I think it highlighted how abandoned she felt.
It did indeed because right after that she banishes everyone for the smallest inconveniences like the cherry pit girl and the dai li
Yes, it really puts her argument with Ozai when he's about to leave in a totally different light, doesn't it!
Ozai is very dissapointed to his children.
- Zuko betrayed him and leave the Fire Nation and join the Avatar to teach him Firebending.
-Zuko told him that Azula was lying about him killing the Avatar.
-As soon as he sees Zuko can redirect his lightning, he realized that his kooky and foolish older brother taught him well.
-He left Azula behind after learning she's lying of the Avatar being dead.
-Noticed how he humiliated *both* of his kids in front of people? First, when Zuko supposed to do Agni Kai with him, not the general and burn his face. Second, when he made Azula shut up by giving her the title Fire Lord when he declared to be Phoenix King, the ruler of the world. It feels like you are president of your county while your dad is the king of your country. Who would everyone fear? Your dad, of course!
Now I want a side story where Katara teaches Azula to process her emotions :((
OMG YESS!!
They should've make a comic of that ,it would've been great!
ngl, that wuld be amazing.
she needs a life changing field trip too
Poly Tan *Y E S .*
@@polytan6993 Not really some ppl are best to be left alone
Katara is my favorite character in the avatar universe simply because of her immense growth as a person and a bender
Gotta respect the growth
Kataras ability to be openly emotional about her mother is rlly good, positive thing about her character. Although shes still traumatized she can deal with it and that allows her to heal and move on
Azula on the other hand................
is the queen of bottling up her emotions 😂😂
Keep in mind Azula was 14 in ATLA
She doesn't look 14, doesn't sound 14, doesn't act 14, but somehow her age is supposed to be relevant. I hate her anyway.
@@CarnisianLady this is a story about kids traveling around the world during a war. I mean its perfectly fine to have your own opinion and thoughts on her. I think it's just sad that a 14 child went through all of that. She was raised in a toxic household where she was exploited for her natural talents. She really didn't have anyone to turn to except her father who made her like that. This was unlike Zuko and Katara who had support around them. At the end of the series she had a break down after trying to be so perfect. She just kinda broke.
@@CarnisianLady oh, she _definitely_ looks 14 to me. but yes, it really doesn't matter. ( also no one said you couldn't hate her? i think they were just drawing another parallel since katara is also 14 )
@@CarnisianLady Visibly aging up children who take up positions of power is actually a pretty common tactic. For example, how Glimmer and Catra looked noticably older in S4 of She-Ra while everyone else looked roughly the same.
CarnisianLady I hope you hate zuko too if that's your logic
7:29 I wonder how Azula would've turned out if Iroh did more to reach out to her. Zuko developed a conscience because he had two loving adults in Iroh and Ursa, but like you said, Azula was groomed by Ozai from day 1 and was manipulated into resenting them.
As much as fans like to praise Iroh, it's pretty jarring how to him, Azula was just "crazy and needed to go down" which is a pretty messed up thing to say about your abused 14-year-old niece who he _knows_ was railroaded by Ozai (hell, she was made fire lord when most girls her age would be in middle school). Even though she clearly needed to be stopped, she was never really shown any genuine empathy by anyone in her life and she developed the way she did because of that.
People would always give me side-eye whenever I say I just wanted Azula to get better rather than just outright defeated. It seems like whenever we get an accurate depiction of a traumatized mentally ill abuse victim who isn't just a scrappy underdog we're clearly supposed to root for, they're generally despised by fans, especially when they're female. It's never "wow this child soldier is seriously messed up in the head", It's just "oh that person is mean and makes bad choices. Screw 'em I hope they die."
I like to believe that Iroh was saying that Azula needed to be humbled, just like Zuko has been humbled after his failing in the north pole. But also....just to be charitable to Iroh.....(not that he needs it with how much he is worshiped)...Azula did shoot him in the chest with fire like only a day or two ago. He may have just been a bit sore. Iroh seems a lot kinder towards Azula in the comics, perhaps because she had in fact been humbled. Curiously both Zuko and Azula are humbled by the fighting the same person.
To be fair Iroh said that statement when he was recovering from the *lightning blast she shot at his chest*..I'm not saying Iroh's perfect but he's realistic and flawed. And I'm not sure which fandom discourse you witnessed, but generally most people love Azula as a well written character and antagonist...they just don't necessarily think she needs redemption in the show. Is she worthy of it? Yes. But did she choose it? No. And that's how life is sometimes. I've seen Zuko get a lot of smoke from Azula apologists but pointing out their similar abuse trauma holds no weight because Zuko wasn't redeemed because of his tragic past, it's something he worked for. And their psyche is completely different... Zuko was trying to be something he inherently was not, he's always been good but he was punished for doing right and praised for doing wrong. A kid who wanted their father's approval would do anything, even change their belief system to gain it.
Azula's different. Their mental state was not the same, so neither is their trauma and neither can their redemption be the same. Saying Zuko had a conscience because of Ursa and Iroh is mixing up cause and effect. Zuko was cast to the side by Ozai because he had empathy /a conscience. Those aren't traits associated with a powerful firelord, hence why Ursa and Ozai felt the need to compensate. My theory is that Zuko reminded Ursa of herself, because she was also a victim of Ozai's abuse. We always get drawn to those who reflect us the most. Again, that's flawed but true. Every person we try to wield a finger of blame upon, there's someone else to blame behind them. That's what makes it real, and excellent writing.
But if we can understand how Ursa a victim became an abuser towards Azula, then we can't overlook Azula's actions which she felt no remorse for or ever tried to make right. But holding her accountable doesn't mean we hate her either, there's so many discussions admiring her skill and complex mind. Three dimensional doesn't mean *oh they have a tragic past let's give them a pass for everything they do*. To me it's when their actions are completely justifiable from their point of view, but unjustifiable from ours... we sympathize with the character but not their actions. Instead of cramming how complex they are down your throat, they create complex feelings within you. Azula is so perfectly written.
ALL OF THIS! I find it interesting how Iroh and Ursa are never seen as complicit or held accountable.
Yes, Ozai abused and manipulated his children, but it was also Ursa's responsibility to make both of her children feel loved. Azula's confession in "the Beach" shows how deeply that traumatized her. And Iroh, despite being a caring and wise uncle to Zuko, seems to have been more uneasy around Azula, and never sought to father her in the same way.
I don't think Iroh or Ursa were bad people, but they made mistakes that hurt people they cared about.
Just a sign of a realistic character, imo.
Most of the most messed up people in prison were abused as kids, but once you start trying to kill your siblings and stuff people don't much care what happened to you. Today, _you're_ the abuser.
Frankly, I'd like to see her die at Iroh's hands.
Watch this makes me remember the last 5 years, how I forced myself to be "emotionless" cause I actually thought that if I never expressed my true emotions would be better because of how people never liked on how I was very loud, stubborn, and talkative when I was young. When people told me to stop being loud, annoying, and talkative. I stopped. I stopped expressing my emotions since I was so scared to explore my emotions properly, the only time I realised when I was emotionally repressing myself was when I was just researching about mental illness for my story.
Tldr: I'm working on myself. Its working somewhat but it's so easy to go back me being back to my old emotional repression, but I can say that it will be better, great days will come.
Take care, I support you from far far away!
"Imagine Katara was raised by Hama"
Amon.....has entered the chat
Azula’s intelligence and skills were also products of her environment. She needed to know when Ozai was in a good mood in order not to get on his bad side, and she needs to be able to manipulate people in order to not bear the brunt of Ozai’s abuse. Her brain was hardwired on survival, and she used the survival tactics she learned at home to defeat Team Avatar and to best Zuko.
Another piece of evidence that bad parents might raise bad children is in LOK, Noatok, was raised by Yakone to be a bloodbender. Tarlok said that their fathers influence got to both of their heads and Amon wasn’t always evil.
That was brutal
That part always made me sad
Most of the people who start out watching the series, they think that she is just a girl.
The love interest of the protagonist and that's it.
That she is very feminine. Katara is more than that. She lost her mother and technically her father as well. As Iroh said, the people of the water tribe adapt to changes. Whenever something bad happened it was her who tried to keep everything together. Always caring about each member of the group.
She is more than someone who behaves like a mother, she is powerful, versatile and dangerous but full of love.
I will never meet someone as emotionally strong as her. Appreciate her!!
I’m glad that you praised the “Beach Episode”.
I always felt it was more of a character study of the Fire Nation teens, showing them WANTING to be with people their own age, but because of their personal past trauma & baggage, they lash out at each other & others because they’ve never had the opportunity to be “normal” kids.
Riley, i am LIVING for these avatar analysis videos
YAY 😄
@@RileyJayDennis please make more!!
Does anyone notice that Azula looks like Ursa? She styles her hair in a very masculine style, like Ozai.
she probably hates that she looks so much like her mother with her hair down, so she styles it up
Azula was initially tomboy, she hated dolls, was dressed like boy, she was raised mostly by her father... So no wonder
Also, if you guys notice, when Katara disguised as Fire Nation Citizen, her hairstyle kinda look like Ursa.
@@ashlynwolff but she does wear nails and have subjects treat her feet
@@ashlynwolffshe wasn't a tomboy
Side note; the successes Azula brought to Ozais rule were the only accomplishments worth noting in his 7 year reign. It was azula who took the two great earth kingdom cities and it was Azula who killed the avatar (despite Aangs revival thanks to Katara). Ozai did nothing else for the reign of the fire nation across the world except raise Azula to become the person who did achieve things.
People like to forget that both Azula as well as Katara are still just children. They had to grow up very fast due to circumstance and neither of them had any say as to what these circumstances would have been. Katara grieving her mother is so very rational, imagine you are 14 and took over this motherly role, every day you'd think back to your own mom, asking yourself what she would do. Then think of Azula, what 14 year old never bottled up their emotions, what 14 year old never sought the approval of their role model.
6:49 I still can't believe Azula was 11 here, she looks so mature
The path from trauma to community is, I think, the most important theme of ATLA
I genuinely love that Katara was the one to defeat Azula as well, mainly because in my eyes Katara is kind of the sister figure that Zuko wants/needs. So having Katara be the one to take her down and save Zuko makes so much sense
Oh i love your avatar analysis so much, i think you're one of the best and most interesting creator that talks about this! I'm so happy i found your channel ♡♡
ah thank you so much!!! 😭
I think it also note worthy that Ursa may have not tried hard enough to support Azula and care for her. Because even though Azula always tried to be like her father, she still craves her mother's love and understanding. She feels as if Ursa never actually wanted to be around her or even see her as a child (thinking that Ursa saw her as a monster). And I think that is part Ursa's fault because she projected her relationship with Ozai on to her children, leading her to sympathize with Zuko more because he was on the "same side" of the parental conflict as her. So instead of stepping in and allowing Azula the emotional freedom and support Ozai denied her, she left her daughter to fend for her own and depend on her father even more. Azula's feelings of rejection and abandonment are completely valid.
This is such a great video btw, I always felt that Katara and Azula contrasted each other very well, especially because of their similarities!
No wonder why helping Zuko defeat Azula was just pleasure for Katara.
I-💀
They were actually both 8 when they lost their mothers. We know that Kya died in 92 AG and Ursa disappeared in 92 AG as well and both of the girls were born in 86 AG putting them both at the same age when they lost their mothers. That age being 8
lmaoo we stan researcher luna💛
Actually Kya died in 94 ag Ursa vanished in 94 AG Katara and Azula where born in 85 AG
I’m not a cryer but I genuinely cried at three points in ATLA.
First was obviously iroh’s leaves from the vine. Second was all through appa’s lost days. And the last one was definitely Azula screaming-crying at the very end after Katara defeated her.
These three are very emotional but the last one is much more subtlety emotional. It didn’t get to me when I first watched it, but watching it a second time it really got to me.
I can never get enough of your Avatar videos! :)
yay ty ty! 😄
I’m glad you made this point and this is why I appreciate the show. Growing up was really difficult for me and my sister and we had to grow up quickly because of it. Luckily with that cake self awareness at a ridiculous young age and it was a huge advantage for us. Both of us took psychology in high school and some college courses as well and boy was that helpful in understand ourselves and environment. As well as learning how to cope and that it was truly up to us to break that vicious cycle. I don’t have it all yet but I do have a good stable job and I feel that it’s in the right step forward. I can only stay positive and keep trying to work towards a brighter future. And that’s honestly want I want and hope for others to have as well!
i'll never get tired of this kind of videos
I think in a way Azula was like a foil character.A character they basically went through the same thing as Katara but shows what would happen if she bottled up her emotions she is also used to show Kataras weaknesses.
*talking about how Katara would be different if she was raised by Hamma*
Me: IS THAT AN AU IDEA I HEAR? HM? PLEASE GIVE ME SUCH FANTASTIC CONTENT
The way I want to see azula’s backstory in full and her redemption arc ....
Finally someone who actually understands these two queens
it's fascinating on how these girls became the way they are
always love your avatar/korra videos
thanks so much!
You're welcome! Probably goes without saying but I love your she ra videos as well
oh i see a gay of culture😌
I just love how Katara gets so much hate for being too vengeful and talking about her dead mother so often, and just generally being so emotional, but I guarantee you if it was Sokka that had the revengeful storyline and talked about his dead mom, people would be sympathetic and love his character, especially in the southern raiders episode.
hm what's that smell? *sniff sniff* ah yes, sexism and double standards!
Oh hell yes more avatar subtext analysis thank you for my life
😎
While she never is called a monster, Ursa did say "what's wrong with that child?" in front of her. It was definitely a moment of frustration and I know she loved Azula genuinely, but that's still going to contribute to the monster belief. It was also one of the first interactions we see between them. That seems purposeful to get on board with Azula's mindset on the writer's part though.
im writing a compare and contrast essay on these gals and u saved my life 😭🥰
That sounds awesome. Was it for school? If so, your class is cool af
Azulas story is so tragic
Great observation on the parallels with their mothers. The second time I watched the show I notice that katara and azula were paralleled by being prodigies in their bending. Also in the finale of the second season we get a glimpse of katara almost defeating azula after they switch opponents when fighting in the cave beneath Ba Sing Se. maybe foreshadowing the ending of the show.
Katara and Azula are two of my most favorite characters in atla and I always saw the duality of them. Your analysis added more to my perception as well. That's exactly why we should strive to be like Katara who used her trauma and sadness to help others by showing her own scars rather than bottle up emotions and allow your false sense of the world grow.
I think Azula could've been a better person had she ever stopped to analyze her own brother's choices, but she had too much pride to do so. She was too wrapped up in showing the world what she was not than dealing with her issues and this became her downfall.
Istg ATLA is one of the best made shows ever. The details, the every little frame of this show is packed with clues, things to look into, funny jokes, little peaks of the past and present, sometimes future, even the personalities of the characters, the bending, the everything is just is such a great gift not even Santa can top. It’s all ties back and fourth, connecting dots everywhere, anywhere, specks of just perfection. I can’t believe this was a kids show, it’s just too amazing and more.
I honestly felt like Katara was the most human. Although not in front of her, It was outside her tent, where her mother died. I never found her annoying, she was trying her best to stay composed, but just like any human being, she also has her points where she is vulnerable.
Well, this gave me a brand new perspective on these two characters. Great video as always!
thank you!
Katara being raised by hama reminds me of noatak and tarrlok from Lok and thats honestly sad that they were raised that way
This is a really cool contrast between the two. Theres really is a lot of appreciation even to a small detail
I've never noticed this paralel but one day everyone was talking about how Zuko had horrible life and Azula was like.. okay.. just another psychopat..
like no.. Azula had maybe worse life than Zuko. Yes, Zuko was treated like sh*t after Ursa left and the only one who actually cared about him was Iroh.. but he had at least him. Azula had noone who would support her and help her with her own problems and so on. This video is just great. The emotional abuse Azula got from Ozai was maybe worse than his physical abuse he gave to Zuko. Because Zuko could deal with everything thanks to Iroh. Azula just couldn't and when she lost everything, all she could do was cry and call her mother who wasn't there anymore...
Also Katara finishing the battle with Azula draws back to what Iroh said about himself not being the one to take Ozai down. The world would have seen it as just a brother taking down his sister to grab power. Or at least thats how I always saw it.
When Azula had her breakdown in season three she had Schizophrenia, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder & OCD, plus a few more minor ones, the saddest part is... she was fourteen...
I wouldn't say she had schizophrenia, just stress-induced psychosis. And I don't know where you get OCD from.
Where did you get narcissistic personality disorder from
Finally some justice for Katara! It makes me so sad when people diss her character, she's the best!
Good video! Interestingly enough, both of them also grow up to look like their mothers, while their brothers resemble their fathers. Azula even uses the same make-up as her mother.
You should make a video on the balance the show has. While rewatching this series as an adult, I noticed parallels upon parallels. I feel like ATLA is rooted in balance. Like I feel that Appa getting stolen was the direct karma of the Gaang going in the owls library and misusing the knowledge. There is always a price to pay for their actions. The other parallel I noticed was how they both got struck with lightning by azula over katara. Aang because he'd waited too late to gain access to the avatar state, and on his back and unaware, but doing it to protect her, and Zuko getting struck voluntarily, on his chest, to protect her.
I'm so happy there's a video about this!! when I first finished watching avatar I was freaking out about the similarities and contrast between these two prodigies and you talked about those points so well
Head writer, Aaron Ehasz envisioned a redemption arc for Azula one that's longer and far more complicated then Zuko's he states that she did not reach the bottom of her downfall in the season 3 finale, she had further down to go but the moment she truly does find the bottom she also finds Zuko. Despite it all, Zuko puts everything he learned from Iroh to the test and he expresses compassion for her and promises to never turn his back on her again. Head showrunners, Mike and Bryan, stated that Azula does have a bright side to her and if given the chance, she could heal. The mirrored stories with Katara and Azula also mirror the stories with Katara and Zuko, ergo Zuko and Azula are way alike. Zuko can use this to his advantage in getting Azula to emerge from her hateful path she's on along with passing everything he learned from Iroh down on to her.
This.... DAMN!!!! This really hit me so hard with how alike Katara and Azula are!
When katara is truly angered, even azula should be worried.
Katara lost her mother when she was a kid, probably the person she loved most, and Azula also lost her mother, azula thought she was seen as a monster. In the end tho, Katara gains more than she loses but Azula loses everything
I’ve noticed some of the parallels (prodigy with an older brother and a missing mother, etc) but it’s cool to hear that dissected and talked about what it means
Our environment does influence us and I like how the show demonstrates this. Zuko went to his caring mother because he was rejected by his uncaring father, later supported by his caring uncle. The goodness in both gave him the courage to be a better person.
Can someone write a fanfiction about what would happen if katara raised by hama
Check out Avatar distorted reality by orgo. She wasn’t exactly raised by Hama, but trained.
There might be something on Wattpad...
I just started thinking about how a lot of the Avatar Analysis videos on RUclips focus on how The Last Airbender portrayed masculinity. I sort of realized that there is a large gap in covering how femininity is portrayed or what the development is like for the female characters in the show so I really appreciate videos like this. I definitely will connect more to discussions on toxic masculinity and alternatives but it would still be enlightening to see the commonalities between Katara, Toph, Azula, Tsuki, May, etc on their journey's and experiences in the show.
Food for thought: The male characters had role models like Hakoda, Iroh, to a lesser degree Roku, and Aang was seemingly emotionally fully-developed at the age of 12. I can't think of counterpart female role models, but I can remember specific instances of each female cast member grating against some type of suppression. Katara being culturally suppressed in the North, Azula having to suppress her emotions for her father, Toph with her parents forcing a lifestyle on her, and others I can't think of when on just 2 hours of sleep.
Either way thanks for the video. I did especially enjoy the comparison between blood-bending and lightning-bending for the pair, I never connected the dots on that one.
I'd love for Azula to have a proper redemption arch
I think Katara wasn't given a space or even time to grieve her mother which is why she talks about her so much, hence the southern raiders episode. She felt like she had to grow up and be the mother right away and was never allowed to grieve.
Exactly! I think so too
Apparently, the series creators had planned a fourth season of the series, and had planned on redeeming Azula during that season. It would have been more complex than Zuko's, and probably would have made her a more beloved character than she already is.
Another reason why I love this show so much! It was genius, everything was so beautifully designed to the last detail.
Hi ! I love this essay :)
Makes me think of how missing the fourth season is.
For context : I've heard in an essay about atla that they were supposed to be a fourth book : air, in wich Ang was supposed to finish his work of getting balance by re-creating the air nomads and Azula should have had her redemption arc and a chance to truly heal. This would have made so much sence ...
There is a popular AU on reddit where the Water Tribe and Fire Nation are switched, and Zuko and Azula swap places with Katara and Sokka! I think you should take a look at that!
One thing I think people miss when they complain about Katara talking about her mother is that the year that the characters spend on the journey in ATLA is the first time Katara is exposed to other people affected by the war as well as fire nation soldiers. I don't think she talked about her mother that often beforehand, but seeing other people who have gone through similar things, it makes sense for her to relate in that way. Additionally, until "the southern raiders", she had no idea who killed her mother. As far as she was concerned, any of those fire nation soldiers could have been that person. And she doesn't go after them like Jet does. She talks through her emotions in that way, recognizing that it doesn't make any sense to go after every fire nation individual she encounters. Wonderfully contrasting with Jet and Hama.
I also think it is important to note that Katara was the last person to see her mother alive. I bet she feels guilt about that. Also, in the same way Sokka felt the need to always be the leader, having been one of the oldest boys left in the village, Katara had to fill the role of mother to all those kids and fulfill the tasks that would go unnoticed ('have you ever smelled your dirty socks?'). It is a lot of responsibility and pressure on someone who is still a kid. This responsibility is often hand waved as unimportant or just expected because of sexism and the patriarchy.
In conclusion, Katara is my favorite character, and I will not tolerate anybody giving her shit.
Interesting video!
I feel like there can be different interpretations in the scene where Ursa tells Azula that she loves her. For example, I always thought it was just Azula wishfully thinking and longing for someone to say that they loved/cared for her. I don’t doubt that Ursa loves Azula but I definitely think that Azula stubbornly believes that Ursa was always afraid of her.
I know what it's like to be hurt mentally and emotionally.
For all those people who say katara is too emotional.... Remember, she was the one who saw her mother's body first
There is a scene where Ursa asks the open question "what's wrong with that girl?"
I’m an OG Avatar fan and I’ve never thought about the parallels between Katara and Azula before! the last time I re-binged I enjoyed watching the progression of the parallels between Aang and Zuko, now I have something to look forward to during my next binge! ☺️ great vid!
"I wanted to take out all of my anger on [Yon Rha]. But I couldn't. I don't know if it's because I'm too weak... or if because I'm strong enough not to."
-Katara talking about why she didn't take Yon Rha's life
everyone always talks about zuko and sang being foils but no one ever remember these queens
I just want to say before I start that while she may not have liked her, maybe even hated her, I think azula had a bit of respect for katara due to all the similarities and possibly why she had such difficulty fighting against her.
I personally disagree. Azula was very mentally unstable during their last fight, leading her to be less controlled with her attacks and wearing her out very quickly. Her last speaking line in the entire series is her calling Katara a “filthy peasant”. Azula may have respected Katara’s power and abilities, much like she did with her own father. But Azula saw Katara as being beneath her, barely even a person
you might be overthinking. azula had difficulty fighting katara because azula's world was crashing down around her and katara is incredibly powerful and resourceful.
The parallels between the two characters are real but the only time Azula notices such things is when they're useful to her to manipulate others. she wasn't manipulating just then; she was fighting.
@@tomswiftyphilo2504 Azula had the toughest time fighting Katara in any fight, not just the last one. That was just technically the easiest because her game off.
To be honest, any theory is overthinking it, but that's the fun of it! To me, azula does her research. She may not know who they were at first, but she built up the knowledge to figure out whose shes dealing with. And you can totally respect someone while hating them at the same time and wanting to defeat them. I think it's what made it more difficult for her to fight katara.