It did irritate me in TLOK how Katara's entire purpose after ATLA literally became nothing but "Oh yeah that's the Avatar's wife" like ???????? she's so much more important than that-
I think the fact that she becomes the stereotype of a Northern woman, and what they should be, right down to being known for healing is what bothered me more. Like...😑
After the end of ATLA that’s basically what she became. They ruined her character for the sake of Aang “getting the girl”. She was ultimately treated as a prize for Aang and that’s so infuriating because her character had great potential.
You're so right. Honestly it feels like Kataangers actually hate Katara because why are they okay with this? It's not even an opinion, it's undeniable she becomes "just" the wife/mother.
The thematic relevance of Zutara can never ever be ignored nor taken for granted because both Zuko and Katara are the most mature and the most insightful members of Team Avatar, considering all of the burdens they had to bear when they were still in their formative years. I also need to reiterate that Zuko and Katara being a couple can signify not only huge changes for the better in their relationship, but also the future of the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe coming together in peace and harmony on an economical, political, developmental, and emotional level, thus making Katara worthy of the title The Fire Lady.
also how can people say that zutara is toxic when maiko literally exists. in terms of the toxicity that people say about zutara, maiko is literally everything that people think zutara would be. i mean at the end of the show zuko and katara are basically attached at the hip and are as close to each other (emotionally) as you can possibly be in a relationship how could you possibly watch that and say that if they were in a romantic relationship together it would be toxic? side note 1:40:55 aang's trauma with the loss of his people is literally told to us in the show that it was essentially placed on Katara's shoulders. Aang's not as traumatized/grief stricken by it because he has Katara to help him through that. that's a *lot* to put on a 14 year old who is already dealing with her own traumas and essentially everyone else's as well since she is the only parental figure the group has for the majority of the show. again she is FOURTEEN YEARS OLD. in case it's unclear i am firmly in the belief that the fandom is entirely way too harsh on Katara for her outburst in the Southern Raiders episode but also she was entirely justified and RIGHT. a little harsh? yes. doesn't take away from the fact that she's still right.
If Zutara is "toxic" then why was Aang the one that only thought about his own needs and desires when he wanted to be with Katara and not hers? Why was he such a shitty dad to 2 of their 3 kids because they didn't have air bending powers? Aang wasn't a good husband for Katara and he wasn't a good father to the kids he ignored because they didn't have his powers, and he should have been with Toph instead. Katara and Zuko were not toxic at all. In the beginning yes, because they were enemies. But Zuko became a better man and showed how great of a man he really was the moment he realized he had a good heart and not an evil heart. He actually sacrificed a lot and helped people out. Even sacrificed himself to save Katara from his psycho sister. Aang and Katara always felt like a mother / son relationship to me and it was just weird. Mei and Zuko weren't a great match either. THEY were the toxic couple out of all the couples in the show.
- Aang always thought about and cared for Katara, if he didn’t care he wouldn’t choose the Avatar State over her - Was he a bad dad though? The only perspectives we get are from Kya and Bumi, complaining that Tenzin got to spend more time with Aang. Their emotions are valid but lets take a second to understand WHY that happened. Aang woke up, at 12 years old, that his entire culture was DEAD. Every man, woman, child, every artifact, even the animals native to their culture were dead. Gone. No one left to teach airbending, except for Aang. He and Tenzin were the last airbenders, so of course Aang was going to spend more time with him, and focus on his training. Not to mention the fact he never even had a dad and that the people in his culture were raised by monks rather than their parents. He doesn’t even know what it’s like to have a dad. Y’all are way too harsh on him my god. If Aang didn’t teach Tenzin airbending an entire bending style would be completely extinct. - Nothing says he wasn’t a good husband, just that he didn’t spend enough time with Kya and Bumi. - Why should he be with Toph? They felt like siblings - Zutara IS toxic. Pls tell me you’d marry the son of the family that killed your mom and committed a genocide on your tribe. Any normal person would say no. Yeah Katara forgave Zuko but that’s something you can’t just move on from. Also her being Fire Lady?? Even worse 😭💀 - If two people kissing and having romantic feelings for eachother ever felt like mother and son to you.. that is very strange I am convinced that if Aang was a little taller or the same as Katara yall would’ve LOVED Kataang lmao
If Zutara is toxic, why did Aang kiss her when she said she was confused? Aang didn't respect her feelings at all in that situation, and that's a serious problem. Zutara could be construed as toxic, but so can Kataang.
This , this is the truth people . If you say that zutara would be toxic (based on whatever you think it is , they spent almost most of the 4 part finale together and worked brilliantly) then Kataang could also be toxic as he kissed Katara without her permission by the same argument .
@@sparkyblue7016 I tend to think Zuko and Katara are on a far more equal footing than Katara and Aang, and is actually less toxic. That could be a result of Aang being mothered by Katara, or it could be just that the Kataang relationship was structured more as a will they won't they thing and was more one-sided while any development was often reset at the end of every episode. But it's also in that Zuko seems to be the only one that gave Katara emotional support. There seemed to be more potential for an equal relationship where they both put that sort of effort into it. And of course the lead up to the end of the show really played up them working together very well and relying on each other. I also think Katara and Zuko connected on a more emotional level. Both understood each other's loss. Zuko understood Katara's need for closure, while Aang didn't understand quite so well. Plus, there are the unresolved conflicts between Aang and Katara leading up to the end of the show. I think that could have also been better resolved by Aang growing beyond his (perhaps) over attachment to Katara. Tie it into his lessons with Guru Pathik, instead of hand waving that important character arc and plot point that sealed the Avatar state away with merely a pointy rock. I get the sense that Zutara actually ties together all these separate ships in a meaningful way. Rather than being mere ship baiting as canon made much of the Zutara stuff, with Zutara being a thing Kataang would remain a meaningful character arc and a lesson, Maiko as well in Zuko giving up the more controlling and uncaring aspects of the Fire Nation, and Zutara itself has a lot of meaning in tying in with the redemption and giving up prejudices (from both Zuko and Katara) and world peace themes. Anyway, pardon me for the long comment. Those are just a few thoughts I had.
@@tlhockey I agree, Atla has a lot of problems on the relationships part, one relationship is toxic(maiko) but many people still ship them. And Kataang feels extremely one sided not to mention aang kissed Katara without her permission, which makes it a bit toxic. Zutara won't be toxic at all if handled properly. But kataang as it's cannon cannot be fixed. I've read various fanfics of zutara which stay true to the characters and still have a beautiful relationship.
@@sparkyblue7016 when I analyzed zutara relationship, I concluded that it is not toxic at all. they had conflict but resolved it eventually. plus they gave emotional support to each other. it is not one sided dominating male gaze or dominating female gaze, it is equal. the ones that think zutara is toxic bcs they haven't moved on from zuko's angry phase and katara's constant nagging while the fact she didn't mothering zuko at all like the rest of the gaang
Worse: Zuko visibly becomes more respectful towards Katara as Aang becomes more disrespectful. And the writers treat Katara's feelings as so unimportant, they never actually bothered to show her and Aang resolving any of the several serious conflicts they have in the third season. Literally their last line of dialogue together before the kiss is Aang yelling at her for trying to help him. Girl's got abandonment issues; a flighty man who takes off, doesn't respect her difference of opinion when conflict happens, and leaves her with all the domestic responsibilities is not her ideal partner.
1:53:03 If we're gonna talk about importance-defining choices, can we just appreciate that Katara, a fourteen year old girl from a nowhere tribe on a slab of ice, decided to make the immature child of an Avatar - and thus, _the entire war -_ her responsibility. _The. Entire. War._ Everything - literally everything! - in the show happens because of this choice. There is a direct throughline from this to the end of the war. And Katara doesn't get one friggin statue. Bs.
I feel like if the show had ended with Katara single, then just confirming that her and Aang got together in Korra, I would've disliked Kataang so much less because I can easily imagine a more mature Aang being what Katara wants, but Aang never reaches that level of maturity in atla so the kiss at the end feels so weird to me
The kiss at the end feels to me like Katara settling: she understands that being Aang’s partner is basically her job now, and that it isn’t such a bad fate. Aang’s a great guy, after all, and he really does love her. But she knows that Aang has come to depend on her, and she won’t risk what her leaving Aang would mean for the world, even if Aang isn’t exactly who she would choose romantically.
How to fix the problem of what Aang does in my headcanon: If we expand on the conspiracy theory that Ty Lee and her family are descendants of air nomads living in hiding in the fire nation (her design and her movement and her need to be free are indicative of the air nomads), all you really have to do is have her and her million sisters at the final ceremony, Aang meets one of the sisters, and they hit it off right away. This could allow for more of an entry point to the geopolitical issues involving the air nomads and Aang's goals and such in LOK.
Maddie, what if…. What if Kataang plays out for a while but Katara chooses to end the relationship and Aang is emotionally wounded (unusual for him). What if, Sokka and Suki are talking one night about it and hatch a little plan? What if the Fire Lord’s governance causes a brand new target on The Avatar’s back to the degree that he needs an official bodyguard? What if Suki assigns a certain aura-reading, grey-eyed, chi-blocking Kiyoshi recruit to travel with Avatar Aang? Someone much more eternally optimistic, like him?
I feel like it wouldn’t be a problem to change who katara ends up with, it was horrible the way she was left by herself in LoK - Tenzin could have a different mum and it wouldn’t change anything...Katara should have become fire lady to help repair the world (such perfect symbolism)
iroh's lesson to zuko about learning from water benders and how this gave him the idea to redirect lightning would have had an even more profound meaning had zuko ended up with katara and together repaired the damages done by the war
Anyone who can listen to these arguments and still say that Kataang is better than Zutara is lying to themselves. You can LIKE Kataang better than Zutara, as the liking of a ship is purely opinion and preference based, but Zutara is undeniably better in almost every way, from a character perspective, a relationship perspective, and a writing/plot perspective.
@@zbrownbb That Zutara is better than Kataang, yes, that's my opinion (and it's one more fans share than those who ship Kataang). However, from a professional writing standpoint, Zutara IS superior. That's not saying that Kataang isn't good, just that Zutara is better, and THAT is no opinion, it's a part of writing skills.
It depends on the genre. Kataang as a ship is most similar to a romance that you would see in an action/adventure, while Zutara is most similar to what you would see in a romance, it actually follows the exact plot of a pure romance relationship. I think that it's all opinion and what you personally ship. Im a hard-core Zutara shipper but I think that Kataang is just as valid because everyone's idea of what they want romance to look like is different to everyone, just like how everyone has different romantic preferences
@@ViewerOnline101 The exact opposite is the case. Kataang is the superior relationship narratively speaking. The only way Zutara fans can justify their stance is by writing their own head canon and fanfiction because there is barely a shred of evidence for a romantic relationship in the actual narrative that is presented. In an alternative universe where Katara and Zuko had more time to develop their relationship over several seasons, this whole Zutara idea could've made sense. However, we have to work with the actual text, the evidence in the finished narrative. So from a professional writing standpoint, Zutara was never explored or developed enough to make sense in the plotline we got. If you want to write an alternative version of events as a creative writing exercise, go ahead. Regardless, I think the relationship between Zuko and Katara we actually ended up getting is far more profound and compelling than the fanficton version of Zutara shippers. Despite the immense harm Zuko brought upon Katara and her friends, both learned to forgive each other. I prefer enemies turned friends over "Oh look how cute they are together! They should make babies!" Zuko ambushed her tribe, threatened her entire family, emotionally blackmailed her to get to Aang, kept attacking and hunting them for months, betrayed her trust when she was willing to stop seeing him as the face of the enemy, assisted in almost killing the Avatar and Katara (and yes Katara and Aang absolutely could've been killed during that fight, Zuko had no assurance they wouldn't be killed or captured by Azula), and to top it all of, he hired a bloodthirsty hitman to make absolutely sure the Avatar gets blown into pieces. If you want to develop a romantic relationship from there you would need an awful lot of time. And even then it would probably feel forced. So yes, maybe if you drastically expand on the original story and in some cases completely rewrite the actual events, Zutara could make sense. That's just not a very compelling argument if you ask me.
i really wanted to see katara do something revolutionary like the others in team avatar did. like, she could've revolutionized healing in the world and build the first fully functional hospitals or something, or find ways other than waterbending to heal
Hey there. Just finished watching the entire series this evening and as a newcomer, I feel I can sort of give an unbiased opinion as my views haven't really been affected by flamewars yet. And I can respect that the writers want the story to go in a certain way, but I felt it somewhat strange to me that Aang and Katara ended up together. They felt like friends and nothing more, possibly Aang having a crush on Katara, but... no, it just felt off. I managed to spoil it for myself back in season one and it was jarring to me to imagine a close-to-adult-sounding teenager getting together with a 12 year old, though that might be down to the fact that their voices sound so vastly different; she has a maturity in her voice while Aang's voice actor clearly is a kid. But their relationship also felt really forced, especially from Katara's perspective, as we don't see that many moments of affection for Aang (she even pushes him away in one of the last episodes) until suddenly they kiss out of the blue. Now, as much as I think Zuko's and Mai's relationship is adorable to a degree, there is no question that Katara and Zuko had a connection and felt more natural than what either had with both Aang and Mai; Katara had a moment when she reached him in the second season, he stepped in with great personal risk to himself to protect her against Azula's lightning, they get mistaken for boyfriend/girlfriend, I mean they had all the classic romance telltale signs there... and then she ends up with Aang?... like, what? XD It felt like the major flaw of the show. Oh, that, and the fact that the big bad, firelord Ozai, had less depth and character-development than a doorknob. Other than that, I loved the show. It was truly awesome. :D
But I think Ozai was meant to be shallow and pure evil, people have to understand that kids have to know that there are people who don't have a good reason to be mean, don't wanna change and won't change. We have to give people a second chance but sometimes some people are irredimable. Aside from this point, I totally agree with you.
Thay was always my problem with Katara and Aang even whilst watching the show, from the beginning till LITERALLY the last scene of the show my thoughts on Katara's feelings were "hes just a friend" and sure maybe if you SQUINT you can _maybe_ sorta kinda think that she MIGHT have feelings for Aang... I'm sorry an endgame and apparently "always ment to happen" ship should NOT be so in the air and uncertain, not to mention unrequited and oneside because Aangs Feelings were always obvious but Katara's? Nope she had 0 build up (or reason) to like Aang organically
I agree with everything except the part about Ozai. He wasn't supposed to have character development and depth- Ozai is SUPPOSED to be the big bad firelord, the means to an end, the boss at the end of the show that Aang has to defeat to end the war. I would much rather get character development and depth from Azula, Zuko and the other characters than Ozai because Ozai is just supposed to be a means to an end.
@@hi-tr1bt Sure, but that just makes him very bland. They could have just as well made the endgame about having to deflect the physical threat of Sozin's comet for as little personality as Ozai had; it's as dangerous, if not moreso, with an impact level event which would certainly have spelled doom for the world. And that's just it, Ozai has about the same level of personality as a natural disaster, his presence was as one-dimensional as Palpatine in Star Wars; he is supposed to be an irredeemable threat just so the heroes have something to pound. Being the big bad is all well and good, but some villains are well-written while others are not. I repeatedly find that Azula, or hell, even Zhao, were more interesting to watch than Ozai, at least they got more screen time. For a show that does a great job of fleshing out characters and focusing on emotional dynamics and motivation, the firelord is just evil because... he is evil. That works in a videogame because you kind of have to suspend your disbelief since it is a game and you need a challenge to be entertained, but in a compelling story written as well as Avatar is, it gets kind of jarring when there are multifacetted heroes fighting what's basically a scary poster on the wall.
Katara and Aang never came across as mutual watching the show, from the beginning till LITERALLY the last scene of the show my thoughts on Katara's feelings were "hes just a friend" and sure maybe if you SQUINT you can _maybe_ sorta kinda think that she MIGHT have feelings for Aang... I'm sorry an endgame and apparently "always ment to happen" ship should NOT be so in the air and uncertain, not to mention unrequited and oneside because Aangs Feelings were always obvious but Katara's? Nope she had 0 build up (or reason) to like Aang or organically fall for him outside of "the Hero gets the girl because he got op" trope... which is a terrible trope. And then there's the glaring fact that she has way more emotional build up and chemistry with THE OTHER MAIN CHARACTER OF THE SHOW! Maliki can be cut but the truth is Mai doesn't suit Zuko at all nor does she proved the assurance or affection he needs and Zuko doesn't GET Mai and needs more than she can give, they dont understand eachothers love language amd more Mai doesnt understanding how the Fire Nation was wrong! She still Nationalist and from what we in the comics that doesnt change! She literally said him teaming up with the Avatar was him betraying his Nation and she only turns on Azula because she loves Zuko not because she believes or _understands_ him or his new philosophy. Amd heres the thing ppl always claim that Zutara would never stay together (which isnt true forbmany reasons).... but Maiko literally break up ALL the TIME! EVEN POST SERIES but oh sure THAT'S the better ship😑 Not to mention that Katara 1 if the most vital parts of the alta story and keystone of many lives, an abitious girl that carries the cultural heritage of her tribe and the most abitious women of the water tribe who ultimatelywants to help as many ppl as possible... is sidelined as "Avatars wife or korras first (but least important) teacher" in canon... Yeah no
I feel like everything ATLA made after the original series has totally stripped Katara of her potential and character development. Not many strong and motherly young girls grow up to be demure and in the shadows without significant issues with outside forces.
12:15 to add to the intricacy and ideal outcome if Zuko and Katara got together, it is important to remember Katara and Soka were not peasants of the southern water tribe. They were the son and daughter of the chief and leader of the tribe, the equivalent of zuko being the son of Ozai, just not under a empire, but tribal respect. Additionally, Katara established relations between the southern and northern tribes and led the young girls of the northern tribe. She was essentially the only diplomat between the only water tribes left in the world. So Zuko marrying her would make sense politically to show the fire nation is not still exclusive within its monarchy, but also willing to make amends with their polar opposite element.
the reason why the southern water tribe isn't as rich and developed as the north is because of the war. they were literally impoverished and had almost all of their benders taken as POWs or deleted. the north hasn't been anywhere near as badly affected as the south, hence why the north is more advanced and richer at the time. when given time to heal and recover after the war ended, the south rightly caught up to the north's development and status. so, for sure, katara and sokka were always of the same status as zuko in terms of being direct descendants of leaders.
@@annaguyot8630 Brian and Mike had unresolved childhood issues that stem from the fact that their older babysitters didn't respond to their puppy crushes.
*I was wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my day. I thought about maybe reading a book, maybe helping out down at my local homeless shelter, or spending some time with my loved ones. But I guess I'm going to be spending the rest of my day watching this Zutara video! . So going to have to write this comment pretty fast because I'm pretty sure my wife is going to be leaving me and probably taking this computer with her.*
Love this so much! And also regarding who Aang could end up with, Aang and Ty Lee could be a really sweet pairing. Ty Lee has the same carefree and is into spirtuality. I can see them having a very healthy and sweet relationship.
They also wrote all the best themes and moral dilemmas of the show. As exemplified by LOK being decent but not as good, I've always been of the belief that Bryke took too much credit from them for ATLA.
theyre the true heros of the show. I think the creators of avatar just dont know how to write a healthy relationship cuz lok was messy too. but aaron and elizabeth knew what they were doing for sure . I remember reading they told bryke to let the characters "choose" who they want and dont ship right away but bryke threw that out the window for a self insert.
I don't get the big deal with Aang not getting the girl when he is the Avatar & the show itself explored the importance of the Avatar not having earthly attachments. I get we need a way for Air nomads to revive but there is always a way, LOK had new air benders popping up randomly.
Avatars aren’t suppose to be alone Him not getting the girl would be fine. If his love for her isn’t given. Focus for three seasons and you take out all signs she’s interested in him. If you keep all of it then have them not end up together. It’s Unsatisfactory.
I regularly see Kataang shippers, in the comments here and elsewhere, make this mistake of not critically thinking about the media they consume, especially if they are seeking out pro-Zutara content like this video. I cannot stress enough to these people that seek out their own ragebait (using that term loosely, since Joshua repeatedly acknowledges and respects Kataang shippers' points of view) how _this is a story written by people._ At any point in time, these people that wrote this story could have made choices that changed the trajectory of the story at any point in time. These characters do not have free will. They did not make these choices to be romantically involved with another character. Other people are allowed to critique the choices made by the people who created these characters and imagine these characters in scenarios other than what was presented in the shows. Let's not get too hasty in thinking that Kataang was dictated by an irrefutable god (if that's your thing), and therefore makes you morally superior to Zutara shippers. If this describes you, I suggest you find your dopamine somewhere else.
Honestly I use this same argument whenever people tell me anything about ships, aka they're fictional characters and the creators made them. The characters don't make choices in a vacuum lol. If the creators changed their mind, then Y could have happened instead of X.
The only scene out of place was the Kataang kiss at the end (and a follow up series could easily end Kataang). Zuko literally needed to choose the Fire Nation and his inexplicable discontent despite gaining everything he’s ever wanted. That solidified his face turn and ensured nothing would make him betray Team Avatar when he finally joined.
the conection of zutara is there, in the show itself. All seasons of avatar end with a fight, of zuko and katara, either as enemies or as "friends" (cofcouplecof). Zuko just let katara touch his scar (she touch both scars of zuko) because he trust her, and she can trust him. and that is all i need. uwu
3:02:19 Not only does he not firebend in his Blue Spirit form, but at one point he uses (a bucket full of) *water* to counter a firebender guard's attack. It's quick and easy to forget considering all that's happening, but it's there.
i'm late but i LOVE that you brought up the fact of the age difference between Zuko and Aang and comparing it to a high schooler and a middle schooler. because it's basically the EACT SAME WITH AANG AND KATARA! Aang is 12 years old in the series, meaning he'd likely be in 6th grade. Zuko being 16 means he'd likely be a sophomore in high school, and Katara being 14 would likely be a freshman in high school (i looked at what people head canon when each of the main characters in the show's birthdays would be and with those in mind and with how i think cut off dates are for schools, this is where they would be grade wise based on their birthdays)
at the end they're all 1 year older In "The Promise" they're 1 year older Zuko's 18 Katara's 16 Toph and Aang are 14 The Greatest Strategist in The world that is also the Greatest Character in ATLA is 17. That renforces zutara
3:56:51 wait now with bryke leaving the netflix team /and with the announcement of potential age switches between sokka and katara, i actually wonder if that's the option that the netflix show will take.
Look, the fact of the matter is that Kataang visually is UNCOMFORTABLE in live action. In a cartoon, the age difference doesn't mean much, but when it's a 12yr old acting opposite a 14 or now 16 year old, yea, that's going to look bad. I can very much see them doing Zutara for that alone.
also also i need to mention that in many videos you mention that Aang and Katara kiss in the Cave of Two Lovers episode but really, the editing and what we actually see are as ambiguous as Jet's death. we never actually *see* them kiss in the episode, the light of the torch goes out before we can. most people assume they kissed and i assume the creator's meant to imply that they kiss without showing it but in reality, they could have just been very close, noticed the light, and then not kissed. also Aang brings up the kiss right before the invasion of the Day of the Black Sun, a kiss that we can clearly see, but i can't remember if he ever brings up the cave kiss so yeah.
This is probably the best edited, best scripted video I’ve seen on atla. Zutara has never been my favorite ship, but this changed my opinion on it completely. This is amazing Joshua!
Then you should also check out Sneezy Reviews video on it ‘Get in losers we’re shipping Zutara.’ She also has a very concise and well put together video on why Zutara would ultimately have made for a better story than Kataang. She’s also really funny too 😂
And wouldn’t it have been so cool if Ty Lee shared to Aang that she was actually one of the secret descendants of the air nomads who didn’t get killed but had to keep her identity and ethnicity a secret? It would just be so cool
@@EmiliaSanchez-vf9ts right! Lol finally someone sees potential. Im still in favor of katara x Anag but i would have loved to see ty lee and Anag They just seem so cute together with their optimism.
I think it's a lot of different things. At it's core, though, I think it's because they look at Zutara analysis videos that go into theme and story parallels and then realize, at best, they have "they're cute" / "nice guy/hero gets the girl" trope on their side. I get it, they're canon, ok. However, they're only canon because Bryke wanted the guy to get the girl. They said so themselves in interviews, they were nerds growing up and wanted Aang to ger his dream girl. Meaning they turned him into a self insert in that moment and didn't feel the need to do the work because to them, it was self-evident. Rather than Aaron and Elizabeth, (the Zutara writers) who were focused on themes and greater narrative. That's why Kataang feels so hollow, but Zutara has all this extra story parallels around it. A situation Bryke made even WORSE when they turned Katara into the personification of the perfect Northern female and Aang into a bad dad in LOK. Personally, I'm of the view point that Aaron and Elizabeth knew they'd never get Zutara because Bryke were obsessed with Kataang so they decided to create the themes and foreshadowing and stopping just short of them getting together. Those two were the superior writers so I can see them doing that and Brkye not realizing what was done until the show was already released.
@@ventusbruma1039 i'm quite impressed at the writers who clearly laid the path for the possibility of a zutara endgame, yet deftly turned that arc into what culminated in katara trying to find her mom's killer. just the idea of turning a romance arc into an arc of profound forgiveness, to me, is brilliant writing prowess. it was so organic, that if the show didn't choose an endgame, you can still reasonably assume that zutara can still happen after katara had that moment of being able to forgive this guy who once threatened to destroy what remains of the southern water tribe way back in the very beginning. edit: while i don't hate the kataang ending, i was always a zutara shipper since it just seemed more natural and now as an adult, i can better appreciate how their arcs were written more organically compared to kataang which does feel a little bit forced. i actually don't agree with the argument that aang is just a child while katara is a teen. literally just 2 years separates them. to me they were all still kids anyway. but that's not why i prefer zutara. it's not the fact that zuko is older than katara vs katara is older than aang. i just prefer the way the zutara arc was written vs how kataang was written.
23:48 I paused to go watch the 2008 comicon presentation- That was a total jerk troll move! If I would've heard a book 4 coming out, I would've been excited just to be let down 😢
(Disclaimer, I am hardcore Zutara shipper and by no shape or form I would argue against the ship. What I am about to write is just me trying to understand another perspective). I think the only reason Zutara might have not worked out (and probably from the perspective of the co-creators of Avatar as well) is that Zuko is about to become the Firelord, while Katara has her duty as daughter of her tribe's chief to help restore the Southern Water Tribe and help rebuild it into a greater nation of people, like their Northern Sister Tribe. Two leaders having to get together would force one or the other to drop their duty to their people (most likely that being Katara, becoming the Fire Nation Lady). This would probably imbalance things and that's why they kept Zutara out of the picture.
You mean like how Katara had to drop her duties as a warrior, the all character development that she went through to fight gender stereotypes and being reduced to the exact same things that she fought against just because she became the avatar's wife? The things that you mentioned that could happen if Zutara was canon already happened with Kataang. I think Zuko and Katara would have worked perfectly fine as leaders. They would support each other and try to bring piece between their communities. Based on what we see after they become friends (how they listen to each other, understand each other, he doesn't judge her choices or tries to impose his beliefs on her, him being the first person that she tells the all story about her mom, not having to mother him, her being the first person that he talked to about his mom and his scar, her giving him support to face Iroh, Zuko accepting Katara's anger towards him and trying to his best to make it up to her, having the same values and beliefs about the fact that forgiveness should be earned and violence sometimes being necessary, both being forced to grow up faster because of the war which doesn't make them see the world as black and white as Aang does etc.) shows that they would actually respect, trust and be able to work together as a couple in their political and personal affairs. Let's not forget that Zuko's daughter (if I'm not wrong) is the first firelady. This shows that Zuko is really open minded and that would be another sign on why Katara would be an equal in their professional lives instead of being just a stay at home mom and healer. Zuko is an involved and caring father while Aang prioritized one of their kids over the others just for being an airbender and left all the emotional work for Katara while she had to put her own aside like she always did. Her relationship with Aang is what forced her not to show her full potential and pushed her into a caretaker role that she had since she was a kid and she hated a lot. She became an emotional support for Aang at the beginning of the story and stayed the same until the end because we barely see her being supported emotionally by him. Their relationship is all about Aang, his wants and his needs while Katara is there just in case she needs to provide Aang with something. Also, the fact that Aang is the avatar means he is going to be away from home most of the time and Katara, the girl with abandonment issues, would be left alone with the kids. If Katara and Zuko were a thing at least they would work in the same place and see each other every day. They can also travel back and forth from the Fire Nation to the South Pole instead of being stuck in one place while her husband and friends have a lot of achievements and get rewarded with statues for them. I think Zutara would work much better when they are older, their friendship is stronger and they know each other better. In the meantime, while they work together on their political affairs, they could get closer and this is where the romance can spark
@@biancateslaru unlike Zuko, Aang is a nomad, he could do just fine in the Water Tribe. And it doesn't matter how Zuko would treat Katara if she wouldn't be able to stay in her home tribe and help rebuild it (which takes years)
@@ileanagheorghisorAang is also the avatar and he can't stay in one place, and clearly didn't. In the comics all Katara does is follow him around, in TLOK she became the stereotype she fought against, the submissive healer wife and mother who sits and takes care of womanly tasks and that's it.
while I like Zutara the will DEFINETILY NOT kiss when they are on the cave, this could be a starting point to be friends before lovers, I really disliked that part just wanted to share it, it would be out of place
I knew the music you used was from Xenoblade chronicles!! I’m finishing up the endgame side-quests before I finish the final boss! Great video and thanks for making my questing more enjoyable!
I do find it amusing when Kataang fans use "canon!1!" As their justification and then conveniently forget than in LoK, Aang was a meh father and a meh husband. If ATLA canon counts to prove Kataang, so does LoK canon to prove Kataang was a very flawed relationship.
Their relationship was fine. Them not being the worlds best parents doesn’t mean they had a bad Romance All his kids have a lot of respect and love for their parents. Kya felt comfortable coming out to him and he was supportive. Taught them everything they could learn and they retained what they found interesting
@paigeh7892 I have no issue with Kya being gay, but she isn't technically gay on the show because it's never explicitly stated. If it was only stated in bonus material or in the comics, that falls flat to me. It should have been discussed in the show proper. I'm not gonna judge that as a plus for Aang as a parent since it was never stated in the show itself. As for love and respect, I'd say Aang failed as a parent. He treated two of his three kids as accessories until he got his air bending child. That's not a good father.
I see only some parts and literally isnt debate kataang is clear literally 1 thing with zuko and this is about backstories nothing special and dont love each other
Creators of Avatar made Zutara possible for very good reason, to make people stay on fire for the series. Zutara would for sure be good combinacion, but in my opinion, cannon is the best, both Zutara and Kataang fit perfectfly, just in diffrent ways. Avatar is without a question best animated series of all time, it made my childhood and this series actully helped me with my personal character, I literally became better person because of this show, but in the end, these characters are not real😪🤧
I’m a Kataang fan but before you hate me listen to what I have to say. P.S I’m not placing hate on any Zutara fans out there. What I’m about to say are from Kataang fan’s perspective and the show gave. I can go in for hours but I’m on phone right now, yet might delete my comment, and my grammar might be wrong so sorry if it is.) 1. People saying that Zutara have more chemistry than Kataang. Don’t get me wrong Zutara is a good fighting duo but Kataang is better. First of all Kataang is a great fighting duo, their attitudes/traits match each other (Zutara mostly have one thing in common is that they comfort each other from troubling pasts), Aang doesn’t just comfort Katara but try to always make her day, they over-all make a cute couple. I know you guys say opposites attract, not gonna lie it’s a good plot to think about but Kataang was really endgame from the start. Rewatch all the episodes, there are so many times Aang tries to comfort her and make her day. 2. I know the “Breakup” they had in the Ember Island Prayers is what you think it it is but it isn’t’. The most reasonable explanation why katara “rejected” Aang was if she was to get in to a relationship with him, there was a chance he would die. If he dies, her heart will be heartbroken, it’d be like losing her mother again. 3. Next one is that they barely even try to make each other blush or like each other. The way they interact is comforting each other due to their troubling past. Kataang was already building it’s relationship since Episode 1, Aang literally tried to get Katara’s attention for most of the seasons. Zuko and katara have same backstories, they lost someone they loved in the past but that’s what they have in common(Atleast). 4. Zutara is mostly built by the past, forgiveness, future-seeking, and sadness(You get my point). While Kataang is based of the times they spend together, happiness, mercy, and understanding. Zutara would’ve been a good plot twister but let’s be real Kataang would last longer as a happy couple than Zutara. 5. Now I will talk about the one in Crossroads of destiny and a part in Sozin’s Comet. So in the last episode of Season 2, the way katara comforted Zuko gave Zutara hope for their ship to canon. But let’s be real, they were just comforting one another (not by romance), they were both scarred(Cause same backstories), Katara touches Zuko’s face but it was really out of comfort and forgiving. So in the Sozin’s Comet part, we all saw Zuko take the lightning for Katara, all zutarians probably have seen and felt sad/happy in the scene. Zuko didn’t do it out of love or affection to Katara, did it of natural instinct of protecting his friend. Like come on, Zuko would’ve done the same thing if it was Aang, Sokka, and Toph. Katara cried at that part, but also it’s the same thing, she would cry if that was Sokka or Aang. 6. In terms of bonding, Zutara wouldn’t have much excitement, fun, and energy as Kataang. Like imagine Zuko and Katara just sitting alone, do you think much would happen between them other than them just talking about their past lives. Aang gives joy not to only just to Katara but mostly everyone. Literally he is the physical embodiment of the word Hope. 7. Almost everyone like the ship of Kataang, Sokka was good with it, Aunt Woo (The destiny thingy), and even Avatar Roku (Literally gave him an advice on girls). The minute Aang and Katara locked eyes together, mostly everyone knew they were end game. 8. This is the most blatant obvious reason why Kataang is better than Zutara. Let’s say Aang and Zuko was in a life-threatening situation, Only Katara can save them. Twist is that she can only save one. From this situation the choice is actually blantanly obvious for the audience. I’m saying that Katara would pick Aang rather than Zuko. From what Aang and Katara had been thru the whole series, we could 100% say that she would still choose aang even if it wasn’t in a romantic relationship. Summarization: The most we’ve seen these two in an emotional way was when Katara hugged Zuko because she was forgiving him. Also don’t erase the fact that Katara would hurt Zuko if he hurts Aang ever in the episode The Western Air Temple. Also there is a character called Mai, she is literally the perfect trait/attitude for Zuko. They literally match with the way they act, look, and comfort one another. Zuko’s redemption was good but isn’t that good enough to be Zutara( I know all the things he did for team avatar but really wasn’t enough).I know you are like saying the past is the past, but the sad thing is the past can always come back at your face without you even knowing. What i’m saying is Zuko can still betray Katara, really his choice, you can’t trust a person 100% who was trying to hunt you down and almost kill you.
Also to add is: 9. Katara by the way wasn’t just acting motherly to Aang, she was doing the same mostly in Toph, sometimes Sokka, Mimi, and Appa. She doesn’t single Aang out. Reason why Katara was acting so Motherly was because of losing her mother, it was scarring for her that she lost her mother, she wouldn’t want it to happen again to her friends. But Aang guides her from time to time and help her come out of her comfort zone and that’s how Aang made Katara fall him (mostly) in the end. 10. Katara showed more interest in Jet and Haru than Zuko (Fyi she just met them for the first time). I know Katara wouldn’t like Zuko at the start but there were a lot of times Zuko did some incredible things that should’ve “Wowed” Katara but never really came close, just shows that both really doesn’t seek a romantic relationship from one another. She really never showed romantic emotions for Zuko (mostly ever). 11. This eleventh one has something to do with your “When did Katara fall in love with Aang”. Mostly throughout the series we really never get to see Katara liking Aang but there was one particular episode that most Zutara fans most likely forgot to consider. It’s “The Warriors of Kyoshi”, in this episode we got to see how much Katara really cared about Aang. She was mostly jealous/mad at Aang because there were girls in the town that made a fan club for Aang. Knowing Aang, he does like attention so it got to his head, Aang literally spent the whole time with the fan girls. Katara seeing this showed lots of jealous signs because the fan girls were giving too much attention to Aang. First of all she was always specifically mad at the fan girls whenever they were around. If Katara really didn’t like Aang, she would’ve been happy that girls were starting to like him. But Katara’s response were jealousy and temper. But the episode which really got Katara thinking her life with Aang was probably in the Fortune Teller. Even though we couldn’t see much romantic emotions from Katara to Aang, but most likely she considered the possibility of it happening after that episode. 12. Continuation above, Katara started kissing aang on the cheek just right after the fortune teller. She specifically does it after the moments in the fortune teller, she could’ve kissed Aang before the Fortune teller but she started specifically kissing him after then. Funny thing I noticed in the Bato of the Water tribe (The episode right after the Fortune teller) was when Aang successfuly got the necklace back from Zuko to give it to Katara. Aang says “Zuko made sure I got this to you”(Somewhere along those lines, also Zuko didn’t purposely give it to Katara, just Aang playing around, you can watch the episode for proof). Katara then says “How sweet of Zuko, can you give him a Kiss from me when you see him’”. Aang being the smart kid he is he says yes and that’s when Katara kiss his cheek for the first time. Literally their first kiss but was one-side but Aang let it happen so kinda first kiss. The thing is I think Katara just used the excuse to kiss Aang. Like come on they were rivals in that season, Katara expects Aang to kiss Zuko. That’s just some thing. Most reasonable answer is Katara probably just used the excuse and used the opportunity for a quick kiss on Aang’s cheek. (I’ll probably add more if I’m motivated enough and when I think of relevant ideas for this topic.)
This isn't me trying to attack shipping preferences, but highlight a point of disagreement with the argument above: Aang and Katara _didn't_ make each other happy. Aang was canonically a neglectful husband and father, married to a women with canonical abandonment issues that he canonically neglected even while they were teens in favor of seeking the attention of others. In the post-war comics, for example, Katara is shown alone, huddled sadly in corners while Aang shows off for other women; no one notices and no one cares. LoK implies Katara had to raise their children by herself except when Aang would come by to take Tenzin, his favorite, somewhere... without the rest of the family. Then he died early and Katara was alone. Even the rest of the family left her. She's not included in the trial of the bloodbender, she's not present at Jinora's ceremony... She's just Not Included. And everytime we see her in the South Pole, she comes across as sad and alone. That doesn't seem like a happy marriage to me. Zuko and Katara support each other and help each other work through what they're feeling in the moment. Aang focuses on conceptual and lofty ideals and therefore often behaves as if others' feelings, especially negative feelings, aren't worth acting on in the present. In doing so Aang fails to support or understand Katara emotionally several times throughout the series, a pattern that the comics and LoK indicate continued throughout their marriage. Zuko and Katara have a lot more honest respect for each other as people than Aang does for Katara--not that Aang _doesn't_ respect Katara, but he doesn't accept her for who she is entirely, so it's not completely honest respect. Aang tells her how she _should_ feel, who she _should_ be; Zuko helps her work through what she _does_ feel, and who she is. One of those behaviors is a lot more supportive than the other. I'm not saying the above points don't have validity (although some of them I see as much weaker than others - seriously how is "everyone in the show likes this couple better" a reason for the ship actually being better? Also, one of your points is literally fanfiction where you're making up a scenario and then also making up Katara's response and using the made-up response as proof). I'm saying that as Kataang was written, I see it as deeply unsatisfactory and believe that Katara and Aang both deserved better. I believe there is more potential for Katara to get what she needs most from a partner (mutual support and validation) from Zuko. Especially since she doesn't seem to have gotten that from Aang. There's far more important things in a relationship than having fun. Steadfastness, devotion, conviction, understanding, support. Katara can get those things from Zuko. And it doesn't sound like Katara got much fun out of being married to Aang anyways, since she basically ended up a single mom with a deadbeat husband who picked favorites among their kids.
@@28_748ao Further: You: Zuko can still betray Katara, you can't trust him because of his past. Also you: Zuko taking the bolt for Katara isn't a sign he loves her in particular; I trust that Zuko would jump in front of a lightning bolt for ANY of his friends! 🤔? (Also, the idea that you can never ever trust someone who once fought against you, no matter how much they've grown to be a better person and make it up to you, kinda destroys the conceit that peace is possible at all or that forgiveness is ever valid, because no one can ever be trusted not to repeat their own failings. Which kinda knocks validity out of not only Katara's concept of forgiveness, but also Aang's. And the entire point of both Iroh's and Zuko's entire existences as characters.) (Also does this mean that Katara shouldn't trust Aang again because he left her to die in a desert?)
Lemme say this that practically solidify that kataang is a prob couple compare to Zutara: *They never made PEACE after their last interaction three episodes earlier before the show ends. Literally the writers made three major clashes/fight that somehow NEVER mentioned ever again in the last episode.... They just... Kissed. This by the fact is just messed up, not to have an inner turmoil closure. This also proves that in the matter of shipping, the main writers don't give a shit of what's happening between them, they just want them to be together cause of ✨ Bias ✨
@@28_748ao And with your additional argument. MY POINT TAKEN, Katara was acting motherly to EVERYONE. So it's her natural caring manner. Most Kataang fans consider this as a infatuation reciprocating that makes kataang even more cute. Well, it's not. Overall, it's useless to add the literal romantic scenes of kataang to "justify" it cause the show literally made this ship canon already. I'm not against it.... If it weren't of that last bit of shit writing that messed kataang's platonic cute couple. Kataang is canon, cause it's "made canon" but being canon doesn't make it superior than Zutara. Cause if the writers went for it and give zutara the canonicity with added official romantic scenes the same kataang had, comparing it, zutara's the superior.
zutaras such a good ship(every single time theyre even in a room together katara is constantly angry, acting out of character, upset over something, expressing hatred at someone, while when shes with aang shes the happiest we ever see her and shes almost always thinking clearly)
Almost like she doesn't feel she can express anything negative towards Aang because of how young and naive and preachy he is compared to peers like Zuko, Sokka, Suki, etc.
@@haruzanfuucha she acts like a mom once again and kataangers find that shit super romantic, but when she lets go and is more open and honest with her more negative emotions, then it's 'toxic' lmao
@@angelic252 I've actually seen a lot of Kataang shippers these days deny that Katara was ever motherly towards Aang because they know it makes their ship look bad.
@@haruzanfuucha which is pretty sad, if you like that sort of dynamic who cares what others say, embrace it and accept reality instead of pretending it's not there at all.
If zuko and Katara should've happened then so should sokka and ty lee because y'all are basing things on a few scenes of them being alone and you're also neglecting Zuko already has a girlfriend that he loves
Before ever learning about the internet craze of this show, I watched it without bias and never once did I think “zuko and Katara should be together.” I never once even thought they had feelings for each other... I won’t ever understand the rabid fan base that wanted this relationship to happen lol
did you even watch the video? 🤦🏼♀️ thank you for the ignorant comment to the four hour video essay detailing all the parallels, symbolisms and thematical elements to why ppl shouldve think they shouldve been together
These kind of videos are always clutching at straws to try justify a non-canon pairing for a fictional TV show. Katara was not meant for Zuko; get over it. Both Kataang and Zutara have no real fundamental weight when trying to apply "real-world" relationship mechanics during the course of ATLA. They're all young teenagers. Aang and Katara's relationship develops over the course of ATLA; in the Comics (The Promise; The Search, etc); and even more so as they got older (mildly explored in Korra). There is almost virtually nothing to showcase romance/chemistry with Katara and Zuko in ATLA other than a few small poorly written scenes (due to writer inconsistency) that are completely exaggerated and taken out of context to fit the viewer's personal bias/preference. On the other hand, there are indeed multiple authentic scenes to express romance/chemistry with Katara and Aang; as it was being built since the foundation; as well as less one-sided interactions overtime, etc. The main reason Zutara even exists is because Zuko hosts a more "mature/masculine" frame whilst Aang is developing through this phase over the course of Book 1-3; as he's been MIA for 100 years and was around a pacifist environment of monks with very little hardship/turmoil. Not going to deconstruct everything, but even the typical "lost mothers" and "opposites attract" analogies, etc; are the same old regurgitated arguments. They're all cliche/stereotypical reasons as to why they should've been together. "Lost mother analogy"; Aang lost his guardian Gyatso (father), his race, his friends/family in the Air Genocide; next. "Opposites attract"; Aang's Avatar State is the most powerful/chaotic "element" to exist, yet the best stabilizer for it seemed to be Katara. Quite literally; Yin and Yang. Fire and Water. We see this come into effect after 'the Desert' episode with Appa. Trauma impacted all the characters in different ways. Katara became more overprotective and maternity due to the loss of her mother; Aang suffers from an abrupt epiphany of PTSD from losing his whole "race" and closest friends/family to the Air Genocide, his "father" (Gyatso), and one hundred years of guilt for the repercussions of the war. Think about that for a second? And the effect it'd have on a young teenager if we really want to bring "real world mechanics" into the equation. Aang held his own, all variables considered. And Zuko obviously suffers from stockholm-syndrome related symptoms from his father. But for some reason; Zuko's past wrongdoings are excused because of his arc; this is not realistic. But since we're here selectively picking and choosing when to deconstuct/judge realism. Let me ask yall something. You seriously think it's realistic or fits the story that Katara would fall in love with a guy who's been evil for majority of the show; and betrayed both Katara and Aang in a vulnerable situation, which quite literally led to Aang's death; both Katara's love interest and closest friend at the time? All because he "changed"? Forgiveness does not equate to attraction. This is primarily why the Zutara ship is weird; it's built off negligible interactions and a literal Wattpad fantasy. It doesn't exist. People act as if there is nothing to showcase Aang and Katara. The Fortune-teller episode? The Cave of Two Lovers? The Headband? Crossroads of Destiny? Day of the Black Sun? And so on. She clearly expresses mutual interest/reciprocations in some interactions, blushes multiple times, etc. He getting jealous when another girl pays attention to Aang? Her crying over him all the time, being physically affectionate? Why does she only have those interactions with Aang; and with nobody else? Stop with the delusion. Katara helped Aang grow by teaching him the elements of waterbending, providing emotional support, and encouraging him to embrace his destiny as the Avatar. Likewise, Aang helped Katara confront her past trauma and learn to forgive the Fire Nation, culminating in her forgiveness of Zuko's betrayal. Their relationship grew organically over time, and their love for each other was earned through mutual respect, trust, and admiration. Their personalities complement each other, with Katara's practicality balancing Aang's idealism, and Aang's sense of adventure encouraging Katara to step outside her comfort zone. They have better chemistry/interactions, etc. One of my favourite moments with Katara and Aang (apart from the typical Cave of Two Lovers, etc) is the Avatar State scene regarding Appa in 2x11. Observe the masculine/femine & yin/yang dynamic when Aang enters the Avatar State ready to cause chaos/destruction and Katara is there to restabilize him. Always there for each other. Was a powerful scene imo. Up to the Southern Raiders episode, Katara hated Zuko. First, she projected all her hatred towards the Fire Nation onto him, but after they were trapped in Ba Sing Se she hated him for the betrayal and for acting as an accomplice in Aang's death; the understanding between them they had developed while imprisoned. For Katara to go from hating Zuko to loving him in two episodes would be incredibly forced and unrealistic, and since it was confirmed that no fourth season was planned, it would have been impossible for them to make a natural transition from enemies to friends to lovers. Compare that to Aang and Katara's relationship that was developed over three seasons from such a transition. The whole point of Zuko's story is about redemption, about him realizing what a monster his father is, becoming his own person and at the end fighting to save the world and restoring his own honor as well as his nations honor. Katara's story is very much about finding her role in the world, being the only waterbender in her tribe and reconnecting with the culture and past of her people. That's why meeting Hama was such a big deal for Katara, her excitement of learning water bending techniques from the Southern Water Tribe. Her story is also about her learning to move on from her mother’s death, breaking the cycle of violence and war and thereby in a way forgiving the Fire Nation for all the crimes it has committed. That's what great about Zuko and Katara's friendship, it’s about forgiveness. However, this forgiveness does not require them to end up together; nor attraction. Zuko and Katara ending up together tells nothing that their friendship doesn't already tells. A romantic relationship between the two does nothing for their characters. It wouldn't add to the story in any significant way. If there's no point of either of them having a relationship, especially not with each other why should they be together? Katara's story doesn't need a romantic relationship to be complete, but Aang's story ending with him and Katara in love is as said, the perfect conclusion to his character arc. Some people complain that Aang's too immature to end up with Katara. That's not a reason why they shouldn't end up together, that's the reason why they should end up together. Aang's story is about him growing up, him starting out being a kid running away from his responsibilities; to him becoming the Avatar who restored balance to the world. His story is one of becoming a young man, becoming a man that is worthy of Katara's love. That's why their most overtly romantic moments occur in Book 3, he is on the verge of truly growing up and Katara starts seeing that more and more. During the Ember's Island episode, Aang tries kiss to Katara even though she says she needs time to think. It's was an understandable thing to do from Aang, the play had made him insecure about his romantic prospects with Katara, but still stupid and it shows why at that time they couldn't be together. Aang was still acting like a kid at the time. Compare that to the final moment in the series. Zuko has just been coronated to Fire Lord, his quest of returning the Avatar to the Fire Nation and restoring his honor has been completed. Next to him stands Aang, having become the Avatar the world needs, the Avatar that the world has needed for the past century. Katara sees this, she sees the man he has become. In the very last moments, Aang exits Iroh's tea shop to get some air. Katara joins him. She follows him, she's the one taking the inititative, she's the one who sees that he has become a man worthy of her love. They look at each other, seeing the love that have for each other just by looking at each other, and then they kiss. They both kiss each other, not just Aang kissing her. He is different than the boy who tried to kiss Katara after the play made him insecure about his romantic chances with Katara. He has become the powerful bender Katara was foretold to marry and he has become a man worthy of her. Having that being the final moment of the show, the final moments of Aang's story of him having grown up, of him finally being worthy enough of her is such pure genius and there's no better way to end a perfect show. Could the overall development of romance have been written better? Sure. We should've gotten more of Katara's perspective on the relationship. But it was enough. You can judge the development of Katara and Aang; but Zutara is a big reach and all I see here is confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance. I'm not even part of this "shipping community" for either side. I just enjoyed the show; enjoyed the finale and conclusion with Katara and Aang together. I even loved Zuko as a character, especially his arc.
That's a lot of words to just say "kataang is canon, zutara never will be, get over it and stop shipping them" which is hella unproductive and pointless.
It did irritate me in TLOK how Katara's entire purpose after ATLA literally became nothing but "Oh yeah that's the Avatar's wife" like ???????? she's so much more important than that-
I think the fact that she becomes the stereotype of a Northern woman, and what they should be, right down to being known for healing is what bothered me more. Like...😑
After the end of ATLA that’s basically what she became. They ruined her character for the sake of Aang “getting the girl”. She was ultimately treated as a prize for Aang and that’s so infuriating because her character had great potential.
@@hellfire4you That... That's what I was getting at XD
You're so right. Honestly it feels like Kataangers actually hate Katara because why are they okay with this? It's not even an opinion, it's undeniable she becomes "just" the wife/mother.
@@marzipantart Bruh Kataangers were never okay with that. You’re acting like we wrote the show LMFAO, we all know LOK butchered the og Gaang
The thematic relevance of Zutara can never ever be ignored nor taken for granted because both Zuko and Katara are the most mature and the most insightful members of Team Avatar, considering all of the burdens they had to bear when they were still in their formative years. I also need to reiterate that Zuko and Katara being a couple can signify not only huge changes for the better in their relationship, but also the future of the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe coming together in peace and harmony on an economical, political, developmental, and emotional level, thus making Katara worthy of the title The Fire Lady.
also how can people say that zutara is toxic when maiko literally exists. in terms of the toxicity that people say about zutara, maiko is literally everything that people think zutara would be. i mean at the end of the show zuko and katara are basically attached at the hip and are as close to each other (emotionally) as you can possibly be in a relationship how could you possibly watch that and say that if they were in a romantic relationship together it would be toxic? side note 1:40:55 aang's trauma with the loss of his people is literally told to us in the show that it was essentially placed on Katara's shoulders. Aang's not as traumatized/grief stricken by it because he has Katara to help him through that. that's a *lot* to put on a 14 year old who is already dealing with her own traumas and essentially everyone else's as well since she is the only parental figure the group has for the majority of the show. again she is FOURTEEN YEARS OLD. in case it's unclear i am firmly in the belief that the fandom is entirely way too harsh on Katara for her outburst in the Southern Raiders episode but also she was entirely justified and RIGHT. a little harsh? yes. doesn't take away from the fact that she's still right.
If Zutara is "toxic" then why was Aang the one that only thought about his own needs and desires when he wanted to be with Katara and not hers? Why was he such a shitty dad to 2 of their 3 kids because they didn't have air bending powers? Aang wasn't a good husband for Katara and he wasn't a good father to the kids he ignored because they didn't have his powers, and he should have been with Toph instead. Katara and Zuko were not toxic at all. In the beginning yes, because they were enemies. But Zuko became a better man and showed how great of a man he really was the moment he realized he had a good heart and not an evil heart. He actually sacrificed a lot and helped people out. Even sacrificed himself to save Katara from his psycho sister. Aang and Katara always felt like a mother / son relationship to me and it was just weird. Mei and Zuko weren't a great match either. THEY were the toxic couple out of all the couples in the show.
Based
- Aang always thought about and cared for Katara, if he didn’t care he wouldn’t choose the Avatar State over her
- Was he a bad dad though? The only perspectives we get are from Kya and Bumi, complaining that Tenzin got to spend more time with Aang. Their emotions are valid but lets take a second to understand WHY that happened. Aang woke up, at 12 years old, that his entire culture was DEAD. Every man, woman, child, every artifact, even the animals native to their culture were dead. Gone. No one left to teach airbending, except for Aang. He and Tenzin were the last airbenders, so of course Aang was going to spend more time with him, and focus on his training. Not to mention the fact he never even had a dad and that the people in his culture were raised by monks rather than their parents. He doesn’t even know what it’s like to have a dad. Y’all are way too harsh on him my god. If Aang didn’t teach Tenzin airbending an entire bending style would be completely extinct.
- Nothing says he wasn’t a good husband, just that he didn’t spend enough time with Kya and Bumi.
- Why should he be with Toph? They felt like siblings
- Zutara IS toxic. Pls tell me you’d marry the son of the family that killed your mom and committed a genocide on your tribe. Any normal person would say no. Yeah Katara forgave Zuko but that’s something you can’t just move on from. Also her being Fire Lady?? Even worse 😭💀
- If two people kissing and having romantic feelings for eachother ever felt like mother and son to you.. that is very strange
I am convinced that if Aang was a little taller or the same as Katara yall would’ve LOVED Kataang lmao
EXACTLY!!!
And again the vid have just the essay for your essay. And here me out, bryan and his partner "self-inserted" ironic asf@@ilykatara
If Zutara is toxic, why did Aang kiss her when she said she was confused? Aang didn't respect her feelings at all in that situation, and that's a serious problem. Zutara could be construed as toxic, but so can Kataang.
This , this is the truth people .
If you say that zutara would be toxic (based on whatever you think it is , they spent almost most of the 4 part finale together and worked brilliantly) then Kataang could also be toxic as he kissed Katara without her permission by the same argument .
@@sparkyblue7016 I tend to think Zuko and Katara are on a far more equal footing than Katara and Aang, and is actually less toxic. That could be a result of Aang being mothered by Katara, or it could be just that the Kataang relationship was structured more as a will they won't they thing and was more one-sided while any development was often reset at the end of every episode.
But it's also in that Zuko seems to be the only one that gave Katara emotional support. There seemed to be more potential for an equal relationship where they both put that sort of effort into it. And of course the lead up to the end of the show really played up them working together very well and relying on each other.
I also think Katara and Zuko connected on a more emotional level. Both understood each other's loss. Zuko understood Katara's need for closure, while Aang didn't understand quite so well.
Plus, there are the unresolved conflicts between Aang and Katara leading up to the end of the show. I think that could have also been better resolved by Aang growing beyond his (perhaps) over attachment to Katara. Tie it into his lessons with Guru Pathik, instead of hand waving that important character arc and plot point that sealed the Avatar state away with merely a pointy rock.
I get the sense that Zutara actually ties together all these separate ships in a meaningful way. Rather than being mere ship baiting as canon made much of the Zutara stuff, with Zutara being a thing Kataang would remain a meaningful character arc and a lesson, Maiko as well in Zuko giving up the more controlling and uncaring aspects of the Fire Nation, and Zutara itself has a lot of meaning in tying in with the redemption and giving up prejudices (from both Zuko and Katara) and world peace themes.
Anyway, pardon me for the long comment. Those are just a few thoughts I had.
@@tlhockey I agree, Atla has a lot of problems on the relationships part, one relationship is toxic(maiko) but many people still ship them. And Kataang feels extremely one sided not to mention aang kissed Katara without her permission, which makes it a bit toxic.
Zutara won't be toxic at all if handled properly. But kataang as it's cannon cannot be fixed. I've read various fanfics of zutara which stay true to the characters and still have a beautiful relationship.
@@sparkyblue7016 when I analyzed zutara relationship, I concluded that it is not toxic at all. they had conflict but resolved it eventually. plus they gave emotional support to each other. it is not one sided dominating male gaze or dominating female gaze, it is equal.
the ones that think zutara is toxic bcs they haven't moved on from zuko's angry phase and katara's constant nagging while the fact she didn't mothering zuko at all like the rest of the gaang
Worse: Zuko visibly becomes more respectful towards Katara as Aang becomes more disrespectful.
And the writers treat Katara's feelings as so unimportant, they never actually bothered to show her and Aang resolving any of the several serious conflicts they have in the third season. Literally their last line of dialogue together before the kiss is Aang yelling at her for trying to help him.
Girl's got abandonment issues; a flighty man who takes off, doesn't respect her difference of opinion when conflict happens, and leaves her with all the domestic responsibilities is not her ideal partner.
Am I about to watch a 4 hours analisis of zutara just because I can't let it go?
Yes
I saw it was 4 hours and didn’t know how to react 😂😂
1:53:03 If we're gonna talk about importance-defining choices, can we just appreciate that Katara, a fourteen year old girl from a nowhere tribe on a slab of ice, decided to make the immature child of an Avatar - and thus, _the entire war -_ her responsibility. _The. Entire. War._ Everything - literally everything! - in the show happens because of this choice. There is a direct throughline from this to the end of the war.
And Katara doesn't get one friggin statue. Bs.
I feel like if the show had ended with Katara single, then just confirming that her and Aang got together in Korra, I would've disliked Kataang so much less because I can easily imagine a more mature Aang being what Katara wants, but Aang never reaches that level of maturity in atla so the kiss at the end feels so weird to me
The kiss at the end feels to me like Katara settling: she understands that being Aang’s partner is basically her job now, and that it isn’t such a bad fate. Aang’s a great guy, after all, and he really does love her. But she knows that Aang has come to depend on her, and she won’t risk what her leaving Aang would mean for the world, even if Aang isn’t exactly who she would choose romantically.
@@muddlewait8844 this is so depressingly true
How to fix the problem of what Aang does in my headcanon:
If we expand on the conspiracy theory that Ty Lee and her family are descendants of air nomads living in hiding in the fire nation (her design and her movement and her need to be free are indicative of the air nomads), all you really have to do is have her and her million sisters at the final ceremony, Aang meets one of the sisters, and they hit it off right away. This could allow for more of an entry point to the geopolitical issues involving the air nomads and Aang's goals and such in LOK.
Maddie, what if…. What if Kataang plays out for a while but Katara chooses to end the relationship and Aang is emotionally wounded (unusual for him). What if, Sokka and Suki are talking one night about it and hatch a little plan? What if the Fire Lord’s governance causes a brand new target on The Avatar’s back to the degree that he needs an official bodyguard? What if Suki assigns a certain aura-reading, grey-eyed, chi-blocking Kiyoshi recruit to travel with Avatar Aang? Someone much more eternally optimistic, like him?
I feel like it wouldn’t be a problem to change who katara ends up with, it was horrible the way she was left by herself in LoK - Tenzin could have a different mum and it wouldn’t change anything...Katara should have become fire lady to help repair the world (such perfect symbolism)
iroh's lesson to zuko about learning from water benders and how this gave him the idea to redirect lightning would have had an even more profound meaning had zuko ended up with katara and together repaired the damages done by the war
Anyone who can listen to these arguments and still say that Kataang is better than Zutara is lying to themselves. You can LIKE Kataang better than Zutara, as the liking of a ship is purely opinion and preference based, but Zutara is undeniably better in almost every way, from a character perspective, a relationship perspective, and a writing/plot perspective.
That’s literally your opinion 😂
That’s literally your opinion 😂
@@zbrownbb
That Zutara is better than Kataang, yes, that's my opinion (and it's one more fans share than those who ship Kataang). However, from a professional writing standpoint, Zutara IS superior. That's not saying that Kataang isn't good, just that Zutara is better, and THAT is no opinion, it's a part of writing skills.
It depends on the genre. Kataang as a ship is most similar to a romance that you would see in an action/adventure, while Zutara is most similar to what you would see in a romance, it actually follows the exact plot of a pure romance relationship. I think that it's all opinion and what you personally ship. Im a hard-core Zutara shipper but I think that Kataang is just as valid because everyone's idea of what they want romance to look like is different to everyone, just like how everyone has different romantic preferences
@@ViewerOnline101 The exact opposite is the case. Kataang is the superior relationship narratively speaking. The only way Zutara fans can justify their stance is by writing their own head canon and fanfiction because there is barely a shred of evidence for a romantic relationship in the actual narrative that is presented. In an alternative universe where Katara and Zuko had more time to develop their relationship over several seasons, this whole Zutara idea could've made sense. However, we have to work with the actual text, the evidence in the finished narrative. So from a professional writing standpoint, Zutara was never explored or developed enough to make sense in the plotline we got. If you want to write an alternative version of events as a creative writing exercise, go ahead. Regardless, I think the relationship between Zuko and Katara we actually ended up getting is far more profound and compelling than the fanficton version of Zutara shippers. Despite the immense harm Zuko brought upon Katara and her friends, both learned to forgive each other. I prefer enemies turned friends over "Oh look how cute they are together! They should make babies!" Zuko ambushed her tribe, threatened her entire family, emotionally blackmailed her to get to Aang, kept attacking and hunting them for months, betrayed her trust when she was willing to stop seeing him as the face of the enemy, assisted in almost killing the Avatar and Katara (and yes Katara and Aang absolutely could've been killed during that fight, Zuko had no assurance they wouldn't be killed or captured by Azula), and to top it all of, he hired a bloodthirsty hitman to make absolutely sure the Avatar gets blown into pieces. If you want to develop a romantic relationship from there you would need an awful lot of time. And even then it would probably feel forced. So yes, maybe if you drastically expand on the original story and in some cases completely rewrite the actual events, Zutara could make sense. That's just not a very compelling argument if you ask me.
i really wanted to see katara do something revolutionary like the others in team avatar did. like, she could've revolutionized healing in the world and build the first fully functional hospitals or something, or find ways other than waterbending to heal
I think Zuko and Katara deserve each other
I think Ty Lee would make Aang get over his Katara crush real quick if the two spent any significant time together.
@@Ironcabbitor toph! the two could’ve honestly been a cool match, ngl.
Hey there. Just finished watching the entire series this evening and as a newcomer, I feel I can sort of give an unbiased opinion as my views haven't really been affected by flamewars yet. And I can respect that the writers want the story to go in a certain way, but I felt it somewhat strange to me that Aang and Katara ended up together. They felt like friends and nothing more, possibly Aang having a crush on Katara, but... no, it just felt off. I managed to spoil it for myself back in season one and it was jarring to me to imagine a close-to-adult-sounding teenager getting together with a 12 year old, though that might be down to the fact that their voices sound so vastly different; she has a maturity in her voice while Aang's voice actor clearly is a kid.
But their relationship also felt really forced, especially from Katara's perspective, as we don't see that many moments of affection for Aang (she even pushes him away in one of the last episodes) until suddenly they kiss out of the blue.
Now, as much as I think Zuko's and Mai's relationship is adorable to a degree, there is no question that Katara and Zuko had a connection and felt more natural than what either had with both Aang and Mai; Katara had a moment when she reached him in the second season, he stepped in with great personal risk to himself to protect her against Azula's lightning, they get mistaken for boyfriend/girlfriend, I mean they had all the classic romance telltale signs there... and then she ends up with Aang?... like, what? XD
It felt like the major flaw of the show. Oh, that, and the fact that the big bad, firelord Ozai, had less depth and character-development than a doorknob.
Other than that, I loved the show. It was truly awesome. :D
But I think Ozai was meant to be shallow and pure evil, people have to understand that kids have to know that there are people who don't have a good reason to be mean, don't wanna change and won't change. We have to give people a second chance but sometimes some people are irredimable.
Aside from this point, I totally agree with you.
Thay was always my problem with Katara and Aang even whilst watching the show, from the beginning till LITERALLY the last scene of the show my thoughts on Katara's feelings were "hes just a friend" and sure maybe if you SQUINT you can _maybe_ sorta kinda think that she MIGHT have feelings for Aang... I'm sorry an endgame and apparently "always ment to happen" ship should NOT be so in the air and uncertain, not to mention unrequited and oneside because Aangs Feelings were always obvious but Katara's? Nope she had 0 build up (or reason) to like Aang organically
I agree with everything except the part about Ozai. He wasn't supposed to have character development and depth- Ozai is SUPPOSED to be the big bad firelord, the means to an end, the boss at the end of the show that Aang has to defeat to end the war. I would much rather get character development and depth from Azula, Zuko and the other characters than Ozai because Ozai is just supposed to be a means to an end.
@@hi-tr1bt Sure, but that just makes him very bland. They could have just as well made the endgame about having to deflect the physical threat of Sozin's comet for as little personality as Ozai had; it's as dangerous, if not moreso, with an impact level event which would certainly have spelled doom for the world. And that's just it, Ozai has about the same level of personality as a natural disaster, his presence was as one-dimensional as Palpatine in Star Wars; he is supposed to be an irredeemable threat just so the heroes have something to pound. Being the big bad is all well and good, but some villains are well-written while others are not. I repeatedly find that Azula, or hell, even Zhao, were more interesting to watch than Ozai, at least they got more screen time. For a show that does a great job of fleshing out characters and focusing on emotional dynamics and motivation, the firelord is just evil because... he is evil. That works in a videogame because you kind of have to suspend your disbelief since it is a game and you need a challenge to be entertained, but in a compelling story written as well as Avatar is, it gets kind of jarring when there are multifacetted heroes fighting what's basically a scary poster on the wall.
Katara and Aang never came across as mutual watching the show, from the beginning till LITERALLY the last scene of the show my thoughts on Katara's feelings were "hes just a friend" and sure maybe if you SQUINT you can _maybe_ sorta kinda think that she MIGHT have feelings for Aang... I'm sorry an endgame and apparently "always ment to happen" ship should NOT be so in the air and uncertain, not to mention unrequited and oneside because Aangs Feelings were always obvious but Katara's? Nope she had 0 build up (or reason) to like Aang or organically fall for him outside of "the Hero gets the girl because he got op" trope... which is a terrible trope. And then there's the glaring fact that she has way more emotional build up and chemistry with THE OTHER MAIN CHARACTER OF THE SHOW!
Maliki can be cut but the truth is Mai doesn't suit Zuko at all nor does she proved the assurance or affection he needs and Zuko doesn't GET Mai and needs more than she can give, they dont understand eachothers love language amd more Mai doesnt understanding how the Fire Nation was wrong! She still Nationalist and from what we in the comics that doesnt change! She literally said him teaming up with the Avatar was him betraying his Nation and she only turns on Azula because she loves Zuko not because she believes or _understands_ him or his new philosophy. Amd heres the thing ppl always claim that Zutara would never stay together (which isnt true forbmany reasons).... but Maiko literally break up ALL the TIME! EVEN POST SERIES but oh sure THAT'S the better ship😑
Not to mention that Katara 1 if the most vital parts of the alta story and keystone of many lives, an abitious girl that carries the cultural heritage of her tribe and the most abitious women of the water tribe who ultimatelywants to help as many ppl as possible... is sidelined as "Avatars wife or korras first (but least important) teacher" in canon...
Yeah no
I feel like everything ATLA made after the original series has totally stripped Katara of her potential and character development. Not many strong and motherly young girls grow up to be demure and in the shadows without significant issues with outside forces.
Zutara is great.
Me:YES
This channel is also great.
Me:YES
12:15 to add to the intricacy and ideal outcome if Zuko and Katara got together, it is important to remember Katara and Soka were not peasants of the southern water tribe. They were the son and daughter of the chief and leader of the tribe, the equivalent of zuko being the son of Ozai, just not under a empire, but tribal respect. Additionally, Katara established relations between the southern and northern tribes and led the young girls of the northern tribe. She was essentially the only diplomat between the only water tribes left in the world. So Zuko marrying her would make sense politically to show the fire nation is not still exclusive within its monarchy, but also willing to make amends with their polar opposite element.
the reason why the southern water tribe isn't as rich and developed as the north is because of the war. they were literally impoverished and had almost all of their benders taken as POWs or deleted. the north hasn't been anywhere near as badly affected as the south, hence why the north is more advanced and richer at the time.
when given time to heal and recover after the war ended, the south rightly caught up to the north's development and status.
so, for sure, katara and sokka were always of the same status as zuko in terms of being direct descendants of leaders.
You have outdone yourself.
You are - in my opinion - co-captain of the Zutara ship with Dante.
KING!!! 👑👑👑👑👑👑
Joshua is Captain of the Zutara ship, Dante is Admiral of the Zutara fleet!
@@luckymoon7276 NEVER!!!
@Maimuna Yusuf even the head writters thought it was better ! But mike and brike, the creator said no, because they just wanted the kataang
@@annaguyot8630 Brian and Mike had unresolved childhood issues that stem from the fact that their older babysitters didn't respond to their puppy crushes.
*I was wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my day. I thought about maybe reading a book, maybe helping out down at my local homeless shelter, or spending some time with my loved ones. But I guess I'm going to be spending the rest of my day watching this Zutara video! . So going to have to write this comment pretty fast because I'm pretty sure my wife is going to be leaving me and probably taking this computer with her.*
Love this so much! And also regarding who Aang could end up with, Aang and Ty Lee could be a really sweet pairing. Ty Lee has the same carefree and is into spirtuality. I can see them having a very healthy and sweet relationship.
Tenzin able to air bend and chi-block. Badass!
some people theorise that ty lee could have air nation blood or from the air nation so this would be cool tbh
Tbh I always thought she was a better match for Aang
Ty Laang
There is always Aaron and Elizabeth and they wrote the Zutara episodes.
They also wrote all the best themes and moral dilemmas of the show. As exemplified by LOK being decent but not as good, I've always been of the belief that Bryke took too much credit from them for ATLA.
@@ventusbruma1039, you had that feeling too?
theyre the true heros of the show. I think the creators of avatar just dont know how to write a healthy relationship cuz lok was messy too. but aaron and elizabeth knew what they were doing for sure . I remember reading they told bryke to let the characters "choose" who they want and dont ship right away but bryke threw that out the window for a self insert.
I don't get the big deal with Aang not getting the girl when he is the Avatar & the show itself explored the importance of the Avatar not having earthly attachments. I get we need a way for Air nomads to revive but there is always a way, LOK had new air benders popping up randomly.
Avatars aren’t suppose to be alone
Him not getting the girl would be fine. If his love for her isn’t given. Focus for three seasons and you take out all signs she’s interested in him.
If you keep all of it then have them not end up together. It’s Unsatisfactory.
I regularly see Kataang shippers, in the comments here and elsewhere, make this mistake of not critically thinking about the media they consume, especially if they are seeking out pro-Zutara content like this video. I cannot stress enough to these people that seek out their own ragebait (using that term loosely, since Joshua repeatedly acknowledges and respects Kataang shippers' points of view) how _this is a story written by people._ At any point in time, these people that wrote this story could have made choices that changed the trajectory of the story at any point in time. These characters do not have free will. They did not make these choices to be romantically involved with another character. Other people are allowed to critique the choices made by the people who created these characters and imagine these characters in scenarios other than what was presented in the shows.
Let's not get too hasty in thinking that Kataang was dictated by an irrefutable god (if that's your thing), and therefore makes you morally superior to Zutara shippers. If this describes you, I suggest you find your dopamine somewhere else.
Honestly I use this same argument whenever people tell me anything about ships, aka they're fictional characters and the creators made them. The characters don't make choices in a vacuum lol. If the creators changed their mind, then Y could have happened instead of X.
The only scene out of place was the Kataang kiss at the end (and a follow up series could easily end Kataang). Zuko literally needed to choose the Fire Nation and his inexplicable discontent despite gaining everything he’s ever wanted. That solidified his face turn and ensured nothing would make him betray Team Avatar when he finally joined.
the conection of zutara is there, in the show itself. All seasons of avatar end with a fight, of zuko and katara, either as enemies or as "friends" (cofcouplecof).
Zuko just let katara touch his scar (she touch both scars of zuko) because he trust her, and she can trust him. and that is all i need. uwu
And when they were both technically still enemies at that point!
@@liliallen6439 This girl didn't use the magic water to help Jet when he was wounded and she just had to heal Zuko's scar :3
@MegaMilenche that’s because jet had a serious internal injury. Real doctors have a bad time trying to help those kinds of things.
3:02:19 Not only does he not firebend in his Blue Spirit form, but at one point he uses (a bucket full of) *water* to counter a firebender guard's attack. It's quick and easy to forget considering all that's happening, but it's there.
16:00 It also seems Katara's the one who wrote the "books" that comprise the show. And it makes sense seeing as she's the narrator of the opening.
THE ADS😭 it’s ok tho, i love your vids
It's great to see ads and knowing he may be profiting off these videos too!
InvaderChulia yes! i love his channel so much. ads make money, and he deserves it, so i’m not complaining :)
I wish you were a writer for the live action series, your idea would be perfect 👌 👌 👌
This is a case of the writers accidentally writing a compelling love story
i'm late but i LOVE that you brought up the fact of the age difference between Zuko and Aang and comparing it to a high schooler and a middle schooler. because it's basically the EACT SAME WITH AANG AND KATARA! Aang is 12 years old in the series, meaning he'd likely be in 6th grade. Zuko being 16 means he'd likely be a sophomore in high school, and Katara being 14 would likely be a freshman in high school (i looked at what people head canon when each of the main characters in the show's birthdays would be and with those in mind and with how i think cut off dates are for schools, this is where they would be grade wise based on their birthdays)
at the end they're all 1 year older
In "The Promise" they're 1 year older
Zuko's 18
Katara's 16
Toph and Aang are 14
The Greatest Strategist in The world that is also the Greatest Character in ATLA is 17.
That renforces zutara
Tho Zutara us shit
3:56:51
wait now with bryke leaving the netflix team /and with the announcement of potential age switches between sokka and katara, i actually wonder if that's the option that the netflix show will take.
I really they do this as a remake and not a retelling, of the original source
Look, the fact of the matter is that Kataang visually is UNCOMFORTABLE in live action. In a cartoon, the age difference doesn't mean much, but when it's a 12yr old acting opposite a 14 or now 16 year old, yea, that's going to look bad. I can very much see them doing Zutara for that alone.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is called commitment
As I've been drawn more by Zutara. I've been getting more and more drawn by the pairing between Aang and post-redeemed Azula (Azulaang).
We thank you for your generous offering 🙏
Please king you never miss. You're the captain of this ship keeping it sailing alongside Dante Basco
This video soothes my past 14yo self. Thank you Josh
also also i need to mention that in many videos you mention that Aang and Katara kiss in the Cave of Two Lovers episode but really, the editing and what we actually see are as ambiguous as Jet's death. we never actually *see* them kiss in the episode, the light of the torch goes out before we can. most people assume they kissed and i assume the creator's meant to imply that they kiss without showing it but in reality, they could have just been very close, noticed the light, and then not kissed. also Aang brings up the kiss right before the invasion of the Day of the Black Sun, a kiss that we can clearly see, but i can't remember if he ever brings up the cave kiss so yeah.
ZUTARA FAN HERE IN 2024 going strong!
You nerds just like kataang cause it gives you hope that one day some girl will like you back if you persist despite her rejecting you multiple times
This is probably the best edited, best scripted video I’ve seen on atla. Zutara has never been my favorite ship, but this changed my opinion on it completely. This is amazing Joshua!
Then you should also check out Sneezy Reviews video on it ‘Get in losers we’re shipping Zutara.’ She also has a very concise and well put together video on why Zutara would ultimately have made for a better story than Kataang. She’s also really funny too 😂
I seriously love this video so much - going to be watching it for the next few days!
Thanks for the great Zutara content!!!
I always thought Aang and Ty Lee would have been good together
Man i wish that one was explored! It weird how no one talks about that.
And wouldn’t it have been so cool if Ty Lee shared to Aang that she was actually one of the secret descendants of the air nomads who didn’t get killed but had to keep her identity and ethnicity a secret? It would just be so cool
@@EmiliaSanchez-vf9ts right! Lol finally someone sees potential. Im still in favor of katara x Anag but i would have loved to see ty lee and Anag They just seem so cute together with their optimism.
Agreed! It’s super cute!
Why is the avatar community is so hostile to zutara shippers?
Because they have problems with thematic payoff and story arc direction.
because, deep down, they know it's best but won't accept it .
I think it's a lot of different things. At it's core, though, I think it's because they look at Zutara analysis videos that go into theme and story parallels and then realize, at best, they have "they're cute" / "nice guy/hero gets the girl" trope on their side. I get it, they're canon, ok. However, they're only canon because Bryke wanted the guy to get the girl. They said so themselves in interviews, they were nerds growing up and wanted Aang to ger his dream girl. Meaning they turned him into a self insert in that moment and didn't feel the need to do the work because to them, it was self-evident. Rather than Aaron and Elizabeth, (the Zutara writers) who were focused on themes and greater narrative. That's why Kataang feels so hollow, but Zutara has all this extra story parallels around it. A situation Bryke made even WORSE when they turned Katara into the personification of the perfect Northern female and Aang into a bad dad in LOK. Personally, I'm of the view point that Aaron and Elizabeth knew they'd never get Zutara because Bryke were obsessed with Kataang so they decided to create the themes and foreshadowing and stopping just short of them getting together. Those two were the superior writers so I can see them doing that and Brkye not realizing what was done until the show was already released.
@@ventusbruma1039
i'm quite impressed at the writers who clearly laid the path for the possibility of a zutara endgame, yet deftly turned that arc into what culminated in katara trying to find her mom's killer. just the idea of turning a romance arc into an arc of profound forgiveness, to me, is brilliant writing prowess. it was so organic, that if the show didn't choose an endgame, you can still reasonably assume that zutara can still happen after katara had that moment of being able to forgive this guy who once threatened to destroy what remains of the southern water tribe way back in the very beginning.
edit:
while i don't hate the kataang ending, i was always a zutara shipper since it just seemed more natural and now as an adult, i can better appreciate how their arcs were written more organically compared to kataang which does feel a little bit forced.
i actually don't agree with the argument that aang is just a child while katara is a teen. literally just 2 years separates them. to me they were all still kids anyway. but that's not why i prefer zutara. it's not the fact that zuko is older than katara vs katara is older than aang. i just prefer the way the zutara arc was written vs how kataang was written.
Me: Boy, I wonder what I’m gonna do to pass time on this 5 hour long road trip
This video: *Pops up in my recommended*
1 or 2 kids in their case is more realistic scenario, but in my fanfiction they have four.
23:48 I paused to go watch the 2008 comicon presentation- That was a total jerk troll move! If I would've heard a book 4 coming out, I would've been excited just to be let down 😢
Zutara is the best ship of ATLA💦💥
dude, this video is 4 h o u r s , i just know its gonna be good :)
I'm 20 mins into the video and suddenly noticed only now its 4 hours long???
Alright then.
Thank you so much for this video. 👍🏻
(Disclaimer, I am hardcore Zutara shipper and by no shape or form I would argue against the ship. What I am about to write is just me trying to understand another perspective).
I think the only reason Zutara might have not worked out (and probably from the perspective of the co-creators of Avatar as well) is that Zuko is about to become the Firelord, while Katara has her duty as daughter of her tribe's chief to help restore the Southern Water Tribe and help rebuild it into a greater nation of people, like their Northern Sister Tribe.
Two leaders having to get together would force one or the other to drop their duty to their people (most likely that being Katara, becoming the Fire Nation Lady). This would probably imbalance things and that's why they kept Zutara out of the picture.
You mean like how Katara had to drop her duties as a warrior, the all character development that she went through to fight gender stereotypes and being reduced to the exact same things that she fought against just because she became the avatar's wife? The things that you mentioned that could happen if Zutara was canon already happened with Kataang. I think Zuko and Katara would have worked perfectly fine as leaders. They would support each other and try to bring piece between their communities. Based on what we see after they become friends (how they listen to each other, understand each other, he doesn't judge her choices or tries to impose his beliefs on her, him being the first person that she tells the all story about her mom, not having to mother him, her being the first person that he talked to about his mom and his scar, her giving him support to face Iroh, Zuko accepting Katara's anger towards him and trying to his best to make it up to her, having the same values and beliefs about the fact that forgiveness should be earned and violence sometimes being necessary, both being forced to grow up faster because of the war which doesn't make them see the world as black and white as Aang does etc.) shows that they would actually respect, trust and be able to work together as a couple in their political and personal affairs. Let's not forget that Zuko's daughter (if I'm not wrong) is the first firelady. This shows that Zuko is really open minded and that would be another sign on why Katara would be an equal in their professional lives instead of being just a stay at home mom and healer. Zuko is an involved and caring father while Aang prioritized one of their kids over the others just for being an airbender and left all the emotional work for Katara while she had to put her own aside like she always did. Her relationship with Aang is what forced her not to show her full potential and pushed her into a caretaker role that she had since she was a kid and she hated a lot. She became an emotional support for Aang at the beginning of the story and stayed the same until the end because we barely see her being supported emotionally by him. Their relationship is all about Aang, his wants and his needs while Katara is there just in case she needs to provide Aang with something. Also, the fact that Aang is the avatar means he is going to be away from home most of the time and Katara, the girl with abandonment issues, would be left alone with the kids. If Katara and Zuko were a thing at least they would work in the same place and see each other every day. They can also travel back and forth from the Fire Nation to the South Pole instead of being stuck in one place while her husband and friends have a lot of achievements and get rewarded with statues for them. I think Zutara would work much better when they are older, their friendship is stronger and they know each other better. In the meantime, while they work together on their political affairs, they could get closer and this is where the romance can spark
@@biancateslaru unlike Zuko, Aang is a nomad, he could do just fine in the Water Tribe. And it doesn't matter how Zuko would treat Katara if she wouldn't be able to stay in her home tribe and help rebuild it (which takes years)
@@ileanagheorghisorAang is also the avatar and he can't stay in one place, and clearly didn't. In the comics all Katara does is follow him around, in TLOK she became the stereotype she fought against, the submissive healer wife and mother who sits and takes care of womanly tasks and that's it.
....4 HOURS?! OH I’m ready
while I like Zutara the will DEFINETILY NOT kiss when they are on the cave, this could be a starting point to be friends before lovers, I really disliked that part just wanted to share it, it would be out of place
YOU ARE MY KING!!!
There’s a couple of ads
*omg I LOVE your Profile pic! XD*
Thank yee
Watched an hour and a half and I love it. Zutara for life.
I knew the music you used was from Xenoblade chronicles!! I’m finishing up the endgame side-quests before I finish the final boss! Great video and thanks for making my questing more enjoyable!
Jesus I thought my internet was broken when I saw 4 hrs
She never truly appreciated her lot in the water tribe life. She didn't really cared for, nor wanted the return of the Avatar. Just wanted a way out.
Finally finished it. So good.
FINALLY SOME GOOD FOOD
Zuko + Katara= Kutara
for life
24:28 Avatar netflix Show in 2021 or so... Hi from 2024 😁
Gracias me encanto ❤
I do find it amusing when Kataang fans use "canon!1!" As their justification and then conveniently forget than in LoK, Aang was a meh father and a meh husband. If ATLA canon counts to prove Kataang, so does LoK canon to prove Kataang was a very flawed relationship.
Zuko also ended up being the best father out of anyone in the main cast.
@@FearsomeVoid
You should probably say "the best parent" cuz Toph and Katara can never be the best father xD
Their relationship was fine. Them not being the worlds best parents doesn’t mean they had a bad Romance
All his kids have a lot of respect and love for their parents. Kya felt comfortable coming out to him and he was supportive. Taught them everything they could learn and they retained what they found interesting
@paigeh7892
I have no issue with Kya being gay, but she isn't technically gay on the show because it's never explicitly stated. If it was only stated in bonus material or in the comics, that falls flat to me. It should have been discussed in the show proper.
I'm not gonna judge that as a plus for Aang as a parent since it was never stated in the show itself.
As for love and respect, I'd say Aang failed as a parent. He treated two of his three kids as accessories until he got his air bending child. That's not a good father.
and i'm back to my yearly watch 😍
But still zutara is the best
4 HOURS?!?!
I respect it also love zutara
Rooting for zutara
i can summarize it like this: i was indoctrinated at five years old
Plus Angus a child
1:38 min
I am still here
Yesss
I see only some parts and literally isnt debate kataang is clear literally 1 thing with zuko and this is about backstories nothing special and dont love each other
While i agree on this ship, i have some issues with this video, a 4 hour debate?
Creators of Avatar made Zutara possible for very good reason, to make people stay on fire for the series. Zutara would for sure be good combinacion, but in my opinion, cannon is the best, both Zutara and Kataang fit perfectfly, just in diffrent ways. Avatar is without a question best animated series of all time, it made my childhood and this series actully helped me with my personal character, I literally became better person because of this show, but in the end, these characters are not real😪🤧
you said so much and nothing at the same time
...what?
I’m a Kataang fan but before you hate me listen to what I have to say. P.S I’m not placing hate on any Zutara fans out there. What I’m about to say are from Kataang fan’s perspective and the show gave. I can go in for hours but I’m on phone right now, yet might delete my comment, and my grammar might be wrong so sorry if it is.)
1. People saying that Zutara have more chemistry than Kataang. Don’t get me wrong Zutara is a good fighting duo but Kataang is better. First of all Kataang is a great fighting duo, their attitudes/traits match each other (Zutara mostly have one thing in common is that they comfort each other from troubling pasts), Aang doesn’t just comfort Katara but try to always make her day, they over-all make a cute couple. I know you guys say opposites attract, not gonna lie it’s a good plot to think about but Kataang was really endgame from the start. Rewatch all the episodes, there are so many times Aang tries to comfort her and make her day.
2. I know the “Breakup” they had in the Ember Island Prayers is what you think it it is but it isn’t’. The most reasonable explanation why katara “rejected” Aang was if she was to get in to a relationship with him, there was a chance he would die. If he dies, her heart will be heartbroken, it’d be like losing her mother again.
3. Next one is that they barely even try to make each other blush or like each other. The way they interact is comforting each other due to their troubling past. Kataang was already building it’s relationship since Episode 1, Aang literally tried to get Katara’s attention for most of the seasons. Zuko and katara have same backstories, they lost someone they loved in the past but that’s what they have in common(Atleast).
4. Zutara is mostly built by the past, forgiveness, future-seeking, and sadness(You get my point). While Kataang is based of the times they spend together, happiness, mercy, and understanding. Zutara would’ve been a good plot twister but let’s be real Kataang would last longer as a happy couple than Zutara.
5. Now I will talk about the one in Crossroads of destiny and a part in Sozin’s Comet. So in the last episode of Season 2, the way katara comforted Zuko gave Zutara hope for their ship to canon. But let’s be real, they were just comforting one another (not by romance), they were both scarred(Cause same backstories), Katara touches Zuko’s face but it was really out of comfort and forgiving. So in the Sozin’s Comet part, we all saw Zuko take the lightning for Katara, all zutarians probably have seen and felt sad/happy in the scene. Zuko didn’t do it out of love or affection to Katara, did it of natural instinct of protecting his friend. Like come on, Zuko would’ve done the same thing if it was Aang, Sokka, and Toph. Katara cried at that part, but also it’s the same thing, she would cry if that was Sokka or Aang.
6. In terms of bonding, Zutara wouldn’t have much excitement, fun, and energy as Kataang. Like imagine Zuko and Katara just sitting alone, do you think much would happen between them other than them just talking about their past lives. Aang gives joy not to only just to Katara but mostly everyone. Literally he is the physical embodiment of the word Hope.
7. Almost everyone like the ship of Kataang, Sokka was good with it, Aunt Woo (The destiny thingy), and even Avatar Roku (Literally gave him an advice on girls). The minute Aang and Katara locked eyes together, mostly everyone knew they were end game.
8. This is the most blatant obvious reason why Kataang is better than Zutara. Let’s say Aang and Zuko was in a life-threatening situation, Only Katara can save them. Twist is that she can only save one. From this situation the choice is actually blantanly obvious for the audience. I’m saying that Katara would pick Aang rather than Zuko. From what Aang and Katara had been thru the whole series, we could 100% say that she would still choose aang even if it wasn’t in a romantic relationship.
Summarization: The most we’ve seen these two in an emotional way was when Katara hugged Zuko because she was forgiving him. Also don’t erase the fact that Katara would hurt Zuko if he hurts Aang ever in the episode The Western Air Temple. Also there is a character called Mai, she is literally the perfect trait/attitude for Zuko. They literally match with the way they act, look, and comfort one another. Zuko’s redemption was good but isn’t that good enough to be Zutara( I know all the things he did for team avatar but really wasn’t enough).I know you are like saying the past is the past, but the sad thing is the past can always come back at your face without you even knowing. What i’m saying is Zuko can still betray Katara, really his choice, you can’t trust a person 100% who was trying to hunt you down and almost kill you.
Also to add is:
9. Katara by the way wasn’t just acting motherly to Aang, she was doing the same mostly in Toph, sometimes Sokka, Mimi, and Appa. She doesn’t single Aang out. Reason why Katara was acting so Motherly was because of losing her mother, it was scarring for her that she lost her mother, she wouldn’t want it to happen again to her friends. But Aang guides her from time to time and help her come out of her comfort zone and that’s how Aang made Katara fall him (mostly) in the end.
10. Katara showed more interest in Jet and Haru than Zuko (Fyi she just met them for the first time). I know Katara wouldn’t like Zuko at the start but there were a lot of times Zuko did some incredible things that should’ve “Wowed” Katara but never really came close, just shows that both really doesn’t seek a romantic relationship from one another. She really never showed romantic emotions for Zuko (mostly ever).
11. This eleventh one has something to do with your “When did Katara fall in love with Aang”. Mostly throughout the series we really never get to see Katara liking Aang but there was one particular episode that most Zutara fans most likely forgot to consider. It’s “The Warriors of Kyoshi”, in this episode we got to see how much Katara really cared about Aang. She was mostly jealous/mad at Aang because there were girls in the town that made a fan club for Aang. Knowing Aang, he does like attention so it got to his head, Aang literally spent the whole time with the fan girls. Katara seeing this showed lots of jealous signs because the fan girls were giving too much attention to Aang. First of all she was always specifically mad at the fan girls whenever they were around. If Katara really didn’t like Aang, she would’ve been happy that girls were starting to like him. But Katara’s response were jealousy and temper. But the episode which really got Katara thinking her life with Aang was probably in the Fortune Teller. Even though we couldn’t see much romantic emotions from Katara to Aang, but most likely she considered the possibility of it happening after that episode.
12. Continuation above, Katara started kissing aang on the cheek just right after the fortune teller. She specifically does it after the moments in the fortune teller, she could’ve kissed Aang before the Fortune teller but she started specifically kissing him after then. Funny thing I noticed in the Bato of the Water tribe (The episode right after the Fortune teller) was when Aang successfuly got the necklace back from Zuko to give it to Katara. Aang says “Zuko made sure I got this to you”(Somewhere along those lines, also Zuko didn’t purposely give it to Katara, just Aang playing around, you can watch the episode for proof). Katara then says “How sweet of Zuko, can you give him a Kiss from me when you see him’”. Aang being the smart kid he is he says yes and that’s when Katara kiss his cheek for the first time. Literally their first kiss but was one-side but Aang let it happen so kinda first kiss. The thing is I think Katara just used the excuse to kiss Aang. Like come on they were rivals in that season, Katara expects Aang to kiss Zuko. That’s just some thing. Most reasonable answer is Katara probably just used the excuse and used the opportunity for a quick kiss on Aang’s cheek.
(I’ll probably add more if I’m motivated enough and when I think of relevant ideas for this topic.)
This isn't me trying to attack shipping preferences, but highlight a point of disagreement with the argument above: Aang and Katara _didn't_ make each other happy. Aang was canonically a neglectful husband and father, married to a women with canonical abandonment issues that he canonically neglected even while they were teens in favor of seeking the attention of others. In the post-war comics, for example, Katara is shown alone, huddled sadly in corners while Aang shows off for other women; no one notices and no one cares. LoK implies Katara had to raise their children by herself except when Aang would come by to take Tenzin, his favorite, somewhere... without the rest of the family. Then he died early and Katara was alone. Even the rest of the family left her. She's not included in the trial of the bloodbender, she's not present at Jinora's ceremony... She's just Not Included. And everytime we see her in the South Pole, she comes across as sad and alone.
That doesn't seem like a happy marriage to me.
Zuko and Katara support each other and help each other work through what they're feeling in the moment. Aang focuses on conceptual and lofty ideals and therefore often behaves as if others' feelings, especially negative feelings, aren't worth acting on in the present. In doing so Aang fails to support or understand Katara emotionally several times throughout the series, a pattern that the comics and LoK indicate continued throughout their marriage. Zuko and Katara have a lot more honest respect for each other as people than Aang does for Katara--not that Aang _doesn't_ respect Katara, but he doesn't accept her for who she is entirely, so it's not completely honest respect. Aang tells her how she _should_ feel, who she _should_ be; Zuko helps her work through what she _does_ feel, and who she is. One of those behaviors is a lot more supportive than the other.
I'm not saying the above points don't have validity (although some of them I see as much weaker than others - seriously how is "everyone in the show likes this couple better" a reason for the ship actually being better? Also, one of your points is literally fanfiction where you're making up a scenario and then also making up Katara's response and using the made-up response as proof). I'm saying that as Kataang was written, I see it as deeply unsatisfactory and believe that Katara and Aang both deserved better. I believe there is more potential for Katara to get what she needs most from a partner (mutual support and validation) from Zuko. Especially since she doesn't seem to have gotten that from Aang.
There's far more important things in a relationship than having fun. Steadfastness, devotion, conviction, understanding, support. Katara can get those things from Zuko. And it doesn't sound like Katara got much fun out of being married to Aang anyways, since she basically ended up a single mom with a deadbeat husband who picked favorites among their kids.
@@28_748ao Further:
You: Zuko can still betray Katara, you can't trust him because of his past.
Also you: Zuko taking the bolt for Katara isn't a sign he loves her in particular; I trust that Zuko would jump in front of a lightning bolt for ANY of his friends!
🤔?
(Also, the idea that you can never ever trust someone who once fought against you, no matter how much they've grown to be a better person and make it up to you, kinda destroys the conceit that peace is possible at all or that forgiveness is ever valid, because no one can ever be trusted not to repeat their own failings. Which kinda knocks validity out of not only Katara's concept of forgiveness, but also Aang's. And the entire point of both Iroh's and Zuko's entire existences as characters.)
(Also does this mean that Katara shouldn't trust Aang again because he left her to die in a desert?)
Lemme say this that practically solidify that kataang is a prob couple compare to Zutara:
*They never made PEACE after their last interaction three episodes earlier before the show ends. Literally the writers made three major clashes/fight that somehow NEVER mentioned ever again in the last episode.... They just... Kissed. This by the fact is just messed up, not to have an inner turmoil closure. This also proves that in the matter of shipping, the main writers don't give a shit of what's happening between them, they just want them to be together cause of ✨ Bias ✨
@@28_748ao And with your additional argument.
MY POINT TAKEN, Katara was acting motherly to EVERYONE. So it's her natural caring manner. Most Kataang fans consider this as a infatuation reciprocating that makes kataang even more cute. Well, it's not.
Overall, it's useless to add the literal romantic scenes of kataang to "justify" it cause the show literally made this ship canon already. I'm not against it.... If it weren't of that last bit of shit writing that messed kataang's platonic cute couple. Kataang is canon, cause it's "made canon" but being canon doesn't make it superior than Zutara. Cause if the writers went for it and give zutara the canonicity with added official romantic scenes the same kataang had, comparing it, zutara's the superior.
zutaras such a good ship(every single time theyre even in a room together katara is constantly angry, acting out of character, upset over something, expressing hatred at someone, while when shes with aang shes the happiest we ever see her and shes almost always thinking clearly)
Almost like she doesn't feel she can express anything negative towards Aang because of how young and naive and preachy he is compared to peers like Zuko, Sokka, Suki, etc.
Katara acts like a lobotomized doll when she's around Aang
@@haruzanfuucha she acts like a mom once again and kataangers find that shit super romantic, but when she lets go and is more open and honest with her more negative emotions, then it's 'toxic' lmao
@@angelic252 I've actually seen a lot of Kataang shippers these days deny that Katara was ever motherly towards Aang because they know it makes their ship look bad.
@@haruzanfuucha which is pretty sad, if you like that sort of dynamic who cares what others say, embrace it and accept reality instead of pretending it's not there at all.
I'm going to be completely honest here. After all of this, I still don't realize see myself with Katara all that much. She's more like a sister to me.
Roleplaying accounts are cringe
@@angelic252 cool
If zuko and Katara should've happened then so should sokka and ty lee because y'all are basing things on a few scenes of them being alone and you're also neglecting Zuko already has a girlfriend that he loves
Mai and Zuko literally break up in the comics so its funny you're using that as an argument
Zuko & Mai break up in the comics?? That’s canon too so… 🤔
Guess what it didn’t happen
you're so boring
no shit we were robbed
Before ever learning about the internet craze of this show, I watched it without bias and never once did I think “zuko and Katara should be together.”
I never once even thought they had feelings for each other... I won’t ever understand the rabid fan base that wanted this relationship to happen lol
did you even watch the video? 🤦🏼♀️ thank you for the ignorant comment to the four hour video essay detailing all the parallels, symbolisms and thematical elements to why ppl shouldve think they shouldve been together
If this four-hour video is too long for your attention span, may I recommend Sneezy Reviews’ two-hour video “Get in, Losers. We’re Stanning Zutara!”
@@Ironcabbiti love that video
nah fam i think your just crazy thatl never happen.
What a disappointing way to engage in critical writing. You gotta have something better than that.
@@MrDiplomat180 Right? People are so boring and have no imagination it's honestly sad
These kind of videos are always clutching at straws to try justify a non-canon pairing for a fictional TV show. Katara was not meant for Zuko; get over it. Both Kataang and Zutara have no real fundamental weight when trying to apply "real-world" relationship mechanics during the course of ATLA. They're all young teenagers. Aang and Katara's relationship develops over the course of ATLA; in the Comics (The Promise; The Search, etc); and even more so as they got older (mildly explored in Korra).
There is almost virtually nothing to showcase romance/chemistry with Katara and Zuko in ATLA other than a few small poorly written scenes (due to writer inconsistency) that are completely exaggerated and taken out of context to fit the viewer's personal bias/preference. On the other hand, there are indeed multiple authentic scenes to express romance/chemistry with Katara and Aang; as it was being built since the foundation; as well as less one-sided interactions overtime, etc. The main reason Zutara even exists is because Zuko hosts a more "mature/masculine" frame whilst Aang is developing through this phase over the course of Book 1-3; as he's been MIA for 100 years and was around a pacifist environment of monks with very little hardship/turmoil.
Not going to deconstruct everything, but even the typical "lost mothers" and "opposites attract" analogies, etc; are the same old regurgitated arguments. They're all cliche/stereotypical reasons as to why they should've been together. "Lost mother analogy"; Aang lost his guardian Gyatso (father), his race, his friends/family in the Air Genocide; next. "Opposites attract"; Aang's Avatar State is the most powerful/chaotic "element" to exist, yet the best stabilizer for it seemed to be Katara. Quite literally; Yin and Yang. Fire and Water. We see this come into effect after 'the Desert' episode with Appa.
Trauma impacted all the characters in different ways. Katara became more overprotective and maternity due to the loss of her mother; Aang suffers from an abrupt epiphany of PTSD from losing his whole "race" and closest friends/family to the Air Genocide, his "father" (Gyatso), and one hundred years of guilt for the repercussions of the war. Think about that for a second? And the effect it'd have on a young teenager if we really want to bring "real world mechanics" into the equation. Aang held his own, all variables considered. And Zuko obviously suffers from stockholm-syndrome related symptoms from his father. But for some reason; Zuko's past wrongdoings are excused because of his arc; this is not realistic.
But since we're here selectively picking and choosing when to deconstuct/judge realism. Let me ask yall something. You seriously think it's realistic or fits the story that Katara would fall in love with a guy who's been evil for majority of the show; and betrayed both Katara and Aang in a vulnerable situation, which quite literally led to Aang's death; both Katara's love interest and closest friend at the time? All because he "changed"? Forgiveness does not equate to attraction. This is primarily why the Zutara ship is weird; it's built off negligible interactions and a literal Wattpad fantasy. It doesn't exist.
People act as if there is nothing to showcase Aang and Katara. The Fortune-teller episode? The Cave of Two Lovers? The Headband? Crossroads of Destiny? Day of the Black Sun? And so on. She clearly expresses mutual interest/reciprocations in some interactions, blushes multiple times, etc. He getting jealous when another girl pays attention to Aang? Her crying over him all the time, being physically affectionate? Why does she only have those interactions with Aang; and with nobody else? Stop with the delusion. Katara helped Aang grow by teaching him the elements of waterbending, providing emotional support, and encouraging him to embrace his destiny as the Avatar. Likewise, Aang helped Katara confront her past trauma and learn to forgive the Fire Nation, culminating in her forgiveness of Zuko's betrayal. Their relationship grew organically over time, and their love for each other was earned through mutual respect, trust, and admiration. Their personalities complement each other, with Katara's practicality balancing Aang's idealism, and Aang's sense of adventure encouraging Katara to step outside her comfort zone. They have better chemistry/interactions, etc. One of my favourite moments with Katara and Aang (apart from the typical Cave of Two Lovers, etc) is the Avatar State scene regarding Appa in 2x11. Observe the masculine/femine & yin/yang dynamic when Aang enters the Avatar State ready to cause chaos/destruction and Katara is there to restabilize him. Always there for each other. Was a powerful scene imo.
Up to the Southern Raiders episode, Katara hated Zuko. First, she projected all her hatred towards the Fire Nation onto him, but after they were trapped in Ba Sing Se she hated him for the betrayal and for acting as an accomplice in Aang's death; the understanding between them they had developed while imprisoned. For Katara to go from hating Zuko to loving him in two episodes would be incredibly forced and unrealistic, and since it was confirmed that no fourth season was planned, it would have been impossible for them to make a natural transition from enemies to friends to lovers. Compare that to Aang and Katara's relationship that was developed over three seasons from such a transition.
The whole point of Zuko's story is about redemption, about him realizing what a monster his father is, becoming his own person and at the end fighting to save the world and restoring his own honor as well as his nations honor. Katara's story is very much about finding her role in the world, being the only waterbender in her tribe and reconnecting with the culture and past of her people. That's why meeting Hama was such a big deal for Katara, her excitement of learning water bending techniques from the Southern Water Tribe. Her story is also about her learning to move on from her mother’s death, breaking the cycle of violence and war and thereby in a way forgiving the Fire Nation for all the crimes it has committed. That's what great about Zuko and Katara's friendship, it’s about forgiveness. However, this forgiveness does not require them to end up together; nor attraction. Zuko and Katara ending up together tells nothing that their friendship doesn't already tells. A romantic relationship between the two does nothing for their characters. It wouldn't add to the story in any significant way. If there's no point of either of them having a relationship, especially not with each other why should they be together?
Katara's story doesn't need a romantic relationship to be complete, but Aang's story ending with him and Katara in love is as said, the perfect conclusion to his character arc. Some people complain that Aang's too immature to end up with Katara. That's not a reason why they shouldn't end up together, that's the reason why they should end up together. Aang's story is about him growing up, him starting out being a kid running away from his responsibilities; to him becoming the Avatar who restored balance to the world. His story is one of becoming a young man, becoming a man that is worthy of Katara's love. That's why their most overtly romantic moments occur in Book 3, he is on the verge of truly growing up and Katara starts seeing that more and more. During the Ember's Island episode, Aang tries kiss to Katara even though she says she needs time to think. It's was an understandable thing to do from Aang, the play had made him insecure about his romantic prospects with Katara, but still stupid and it shows why at that time they couldn't be together. Aang was still acting like a kid at the time. Compare that to the final moment in the series.
Zuko has just been coronated to Fire Lord, his quest of returning the Avatar to the Fire Nation and restoring his honor has been completed. Next to him stands Aang, having become the Avatar the world needs, the Avatar that the world has needed for the past century. Katara sees this, she sees the man he has become. In the very last moments, Aang exits Iroh's tea shop to get some air. Katara joins him. She follows him, she's the one taking the inititative, she's the one who sees that he has become a man worthy of her love. They look at each other, seeing the love that have for each other just by looking at each other, and then they kiss. They both kiss each other, not just Aang kissing her. He is different than the boy who tried to kiss Katara after the play made him insecure about his romantic chances with Katara. He has become the powerful bender Katara was foretold to marry and he has become a man worthy of her. Having that being the final moment of the show, the final moments of Aang's story of him having grown up, of him finally being worthy enough of her is such pure genius and there's no better way to end a perfect show.
Could the overall development of romance have been written better? Sure. We should've gotten more of Katara's perspective on the relationship. But it was enough. You can judge the development of Katara and Aang; but Zutara is a big reach and all I see here is confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance. I'm not even part of this "shipping community" for either side. I just enjoyed the show; enjoyed the finale and conclusion with Katara and Aang together. I even loved Zuko as a character, especially his arc.
You’re not part of the shipping community but you wrote all of this?!
@@untitledgoosebumps4841 I had just finished the show and wrote my thoughts lool
That's a lot of words to just say "kataang is canon, zutara never will be, get over it and stop shipping them" which is hella unproductive and pointless.
Uh uh, Zuko is a douche, and Katara was meant to be with Aang