sistermagpie | Now that's a redemption story!

So yeah, I'm going to write about Avatar again--and again I feel like I'm just stating the obvious but nothing excites me more than a story that just stuff really really well so I'm satisfied!

So...Zuko. Oh, what a satisfying story. ::sigh:: Especially having just finished the 7 books taking place in the Potterverse, aka "The Land that Redemption Forgot (but if you earn it our hero may grant you some measure of approval and won't that be wonderful for you)." I was listening to ATLA commentaries the other day, and the creators talked about how they were kind of surprised when fans figured out where Zuko was headed back in the first season. Not that this bothered them, because it wasn't about the surprise but how they got there. (And that alone makes me love them, because what is the obsession people have with surprise at the expense of all else sometimes? If all you've got going for you is the surprise, there's no reason to think about it later.)

Anyway, the creators said how they got all these angry letters when Zuko chose "evil" in CoD, but they felt that was the only choice he could have made at that moment, as he was angry and confused and angry and confused people make bad decisions.

But here's what I love about it, is that it's not just about redemption but maturity...and in fact those two are linked together, which is one of my favorite pairings! I love it when stories show that being a good person is actually smart and intelligent and badass. If Zuko had chosen to side with Aang and Iroh et al. in CoD--well, it still could have worked, but he wouldn't have really switched sides because he would still be confused. His choice there would have been less about him truly choosing the Avatar and more about him choosing one father (Iroh) over the other (Ozai as represented by Azula). He would be doing what Uncle thought was right and also still following along his muddled ideas about fate. If they had done that, I think they would have needed Zuko to waiver and be untrustworthy to the group until they truly finished that part of the arc. They knew he wasn't done changing yet. He was still in the middle. (Iroh was not completely correct—this wasn’t Zuko’s crossroads. He was rushing it.)

I mean, at that point in the series he's admitted that he has these impulses towards protecting or helping Aang and others, that he isn't so sure about the war. But he still isn't sure those aren't just weaknesses that keep him from being a good Fire Nation Prince. Iroh tells him that he's stronger and wiser and freer than he was before, and he's right, but Zuko doesn't see that yet so it’s just Iroh trying to get him to take the path he (Iroh) thinks is best for him. (Zuko’s still operating under that pesky Bad Faith!!) Actually, it's kind of interesting given Iroh's own past and relationship with Zuko that he always avoids the real thing that Zuko's about, which is his father. Azula doesn't--she jumps right in about how if he fights with her he'll have his father's love. That's what even later Zuko admits it was more about for him. I wonder if Iroh just didn't want to go there. Because he can't really say to him: "That stuff you long for as a son? Not gonna happen."

In fact, the whole Iroh/Zuko father/son relationship probably deserves its own post the way it informs that whole relationship and especially Iroh's actions imo, while at the same time Zuko has to work out his dad issues completely on his own with no overt help from Iroh.

The creators just totally hit a personal story kink of mine by not having Zuko switch sides here where he'd be listening to Iroh. He's not just Iroh's successful project. In order to make a strong decision he had to be thinking completely for himself for the first time. So we get that whole section where he returns to the Fire Nation and still feels uneasy and angry. But it takes him a while to really know why. At first he keeps trying to find old reasons for his anger, ones that fit his old child pattern. If he just feels badly for not doing what Iroh wanted he's back to where he was with his father and can lash out at Iroh. Only Iroh refuses to play that role. Zuko’s last scenes before he decides to switch sides play on that even more--he's angry because he's been cut out of the war meeting and sulks that he won't go--that's the sort of thing he was always angry about before. But then it turns out he has been invited and they're waiting for him and he's still not really happy.

He's trying to fit himself back into his old role at court but he's outgrown it. Unfortunately he has not grown to fit the new role he's being offered either. So ultimately, as he tells Sokka in TBR, leaving the Fire Nation isn't that hard because it's the only thing that feels right for who he is. It's hard, but staying would be a lot harder.

Of course, just because he's not just making decisions based on what Iroh thinks doesn't mean Iroh's not still a role model and Zuko can't still imagine what Iroh would say when he's confused. That's another thing I love in the post-DBS Zuko, the way he can't ever be Iroh when he's trying to be (his imitation in WAT and "silver sandwich" blathering in TBR) and yet doesn't notice the times when he actually is being Iroh. When he tries to imitate him he focuses on Iroh's personal quirks of language, using metaphors from the natural world and speaking in abstractions. He sucks at that because that's not how he talks.

But at times when he's just being sincere and passing on his own wisdom gained through experience (which is what Iroh was trying to do) he can be quite the guru! Just in more straightforward language. Like his speech about honor when he approaches the GAang the second time to explain why he wants to join them or his advice to Sokka on what not to base his decisions on in TBR. He isn't aware of it, since he's still speaking in his own straightforward way, but the concepts can still be confusing. He even gets a confused reaction from Sokka in TBR like he might have given to Uncle in the past, but with Sokka's personality ("Is this supposed to be helping?") when he talks about failure.

Zuko's been wonderfully goofier since embracing his Avatar love, since he's not taking himself so seriously and isn't so afraid to show when he's at a loss or make mistakes. But in the moments where he knows what he's doing, he's far more interesting and charismatic than his old, robotic self. Zuko's cool!