![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Okay, the Avatar finale--so much awesome. And I haven't heard a lot of complaining about it, but right after it was over there were some issues raised about stuff being done badly that I heard. So this is my post about how I actually think those same things were done REALLY AWESOMELY!
Iroh as Mentor
Iroh has always been one of the greatest people in the Avatar-verse (one of the greatest because, you know, TOPH!), but his primary function as a character was to be Zuko's mentor. It's a cliché to say that the white-haired mentor always has to die, but that's not just some Joseph Campbell rule. The mentor has to die (either literally or figuratively) so that the hero can go on alone. It's unsatisfying to see a hero who's just a good student passing tests under the watchful eye of his teacher, and it leaves us with the impression that the hero will never be quite as good as that teacher. We need to see him show how he'll work things himself--and then grow into a mentor for someone else who is independent of his original teacher. It’s after the mentor dies that we start to see what’s unique to the hero.
The mentor doesn't have to literally die for this to happen, and Iroh didn't. But still, the moment that Zuko decides to switch sides Iroh has fulfilled this purpose for his character. Although we have hints of Iroh's own arc (more on that below), he's never been the protagonist of his own story within the narrative. He's always just been all about Zuko, and now Zuko really doesn't need him for that anymore. In fact, he would get in the way. So there really, imo, was no reason for us to see Iroh during those episodes that he was gone.
Iroh as General
We do, as I said, get some hints of Iroh's arc, and for me that's a case of the show being even better than it had to be. Because Iroh clearly does have his own really affecting story going on here dealing with his history as a warrior. There's nothing in the story's structure, imo, that demanded we see Iroh re-conquer Ba Sing Se. That original battle could have just been the thing that made Iroh become the man he became, who was focused on helping Zuko become a better Fire Lord. In that sense, Iroh leading the re-conquering of Ba Sing Se is totally extra--great, but nothing they had to give us.
Except for one moment, which is where he breaks out of prison. Once they decided to have Iroh escape to get him away from Zuko, the question was raised of what he was doing. Because of course he would never have just left for no reason. Once that happened, I concede that Iroh's function in the final battle did become necessary. I'm just saying they really didn't have to do it that way--they could have killed Iroh off or had him in prison the whole time, unable to escape until the very end or whatever. Instead they had this whole battle of the Old Guy team--there is something really wonderful the way in a show with young heroes there's no sense that youth is better than old age. Everybody works together. It’s better than it had to be.
Iroh as Family
Usually when you have a mentor/student relationship in these kinds of stories, that's the whole relationship. Obi-Wan in Star Wars is immediately connected to the battle and Luke's father and training him as a Jedi, for instance. Zuko and Iroh, though, have a rather unique relationship in this regard, because while Iroh is being a mentor he's also part of the story of a family tragedy that's just as central to the story as the battle to take down Ozai.
We start the story with a family--the Water Tribe family. Tragedy occurred when Kya was killed and Hakoda had to leave, but the other family members try to fill the holes left behind. Kana steps in as parent, Katara tries to mother Sokka, Sokka tries to be the man of the family. They don't always succeed in these specific roles, but the fact that they love each other enough to try is what makes them so healthy. Fear and anger do sometimes threaten to mess things up. For instance, Katara remembers feeling helpless and afraid when her mother was killed, and the fear leads her to anger, which makes her lash out at Sokka. She's afraid when Hakoda leaves them behind, and that leads to anger and to lashing out at Hakoda. But in the end love showed to her by others brings her back to a healthier place.
In the Fire Family fear and rage are far more of a problem. Here we've got Fear represented by Ozai and Azula, and the challenge for the family members who can love (Zuko, Iroh and Ursa) to pull it together as best they can in the face of it. In a way it sort of parallels Aang's problem in the finale where he recoils from the idea of killing Ozai, because the Fire Family sometimes faces that same issue: should they get rid of the bad elements in their family to stop their influence, or is that just becoming like them?
This is why I loved Zuko's regrets about Iroh as expressed in Ember Island Players. Toph tells him, correctly, that all Iroh wanted was for Zuko to find himself and be happy, so Zuko has redeemed himself just by doing that. And that is the correct ending to the mentor arc for Iroh and Zuko. But Zuko knows that this is also a family drama that makes it supremely important that he not just make his uncle proud but explicitly love him. That is also why I think it’s such a good choice for Iroh to just be gone, because it makes us really feel his loss—not as a strategist or plot device, but as a person. Zuko mourns his absence not just as somebody who would tell him what to do, but just as a loving, flawed, sometimes maddening presence.
That's what's resolved in the finale. Iroh, as well as being a general who failed to take his city, is a father who lost his son. He doesn't have any issues left over regarding that--we see that he knows that he and Lu Ten will be together again after death. But he has lost the love of a son in this life, and that's what Zuko brings him in TOM. That's really the moment Zuko becomes his son in that sense. Before he was a son in that Iroh cared for him and taught him and put up with his nonsense. This is Zuko turning around and saying he will now be a son in the sense of loving and respecting Iroh, being his legacy, and proudly working in his tea shop because if Iroh loves it, Zuko supports and is proud of it too. (Seriously, how great is that?) Zuko even loves Iroh’s strong scent.
That's where I get to Ursa, btw. I know some were disappointed that Zuko and Ursa weren't reunited in the finale, but this actually works for me. We see Zuko ask where she is so it's clear he's going to go off and find her, but I think their reunion is a little too complicated to just stick in as a narrative prize. If Ursa were an innocent, benevolent figure sent away by Ozai, she could just be brought back as the same pure, innocent figure for Zuko. But Ursa isn't innocent. She put Ozai on the throne, and murdered Azulon to do so. I'm not suggesting Zuko would hold that against her at all, but I think Ursa herself would probably be conflicted about doing that even while she didn't regret it. Kya's the mother who sacrificed herself to save her child; Ursa killed to save hers and supported Ozai in his ambition by doing it (even if she was forced into it by the threat to Zuko). I think it's right to just tell us this is a reunion that's going to happen without either trying to get all that into the last episode or ignoring it to get a less complicated happy symbol with Ursa. Zuko and his mother have both done some things they're not proud of here.
So I think the ultimate lesson of that family drama was a dearly bought: Love beats fear. To the point where, totally unexpectedly, the true victim of the family is, sadly, Azula. The very things that protected her and not Zuko growing up turn out to be her downfall. Like her fire bending, her methods gave her quicker success but couldn’t take her as far. Faced with the idea that her mother loves her rather than fears her, she just feels more threatened. In her final defeat she tries to use love as a weakness (as she did in Ba Sing Se) by attacking Katara and causing Zuko's injury, but love wins again when Katara saves him.
Which is why in the end I think it's really only Ozai who will be frozen out by the family. Not hated, but let go. While I think Azula will probably be cared for kindly by her brother and later her mother. (I woke up this morning with this vision of every year on Azula's birthday Zuko having her favorite kind of cake from when she was little made for her.)
Hey, I just realized there's another parallel there. All the Avatars seem to be telling Aang that Ozai has to go down, but Aang's instincts tell him that's not right. Zuko and Iroh have that funny conversation where Zuko says that he knows he should "try to get along" with Azula and Iroh says no, she's crazy, she has to go down. In both cases the one side is correct that the person has to be defeated decisively (and in the case of Azula, she is crazy), but what makes Aang and Zuko better is their instinct to get along with the other person instead.
Iroh as Mentor
Iroh has always been one of the greatest people in the Avatar-verse (one of the greatest because, you know, TOPH!), but his primary function as a character was to be Zuko's mentor. It's a cliché to say that the white-haired mentor always has to die, but that's not just some Joseph Campbell rule. The mentor has to die (either literally or figuratively) so that the hero can go on alone. It's unsatisfying to see a hero who's just a good student passing tests under the watchful eye of his teacher, and it leaves us with the impression that the hero will never be quite as good as that teacher. We need to see him show how he'll work things himself--and then grow into a mentor for someone else who is independent of his original teacher. It’s after the mentor dies that we start to see what’s unique to the hero.
The mentor doesn't have to literally die for this to happen, and Iroh didn't. But still, the moment that Zuko decides to switch sides Iroh has fulfilled this purpose for his character. Although we have hints of Iroh's own arc (more on that below), he's never been the protagonist of his own story within the narrative. He's always just been all about Zuko, and now Zuko really doesn't need him for that anymore. In fact, he would get in the way. So there really, imo, was no reason for us to see Iroh during those episodes that he was gone.
Iroh as General
We do, as I said, get some hints of Iroh's arc, and for me that's a case of the show being even better than it had to be. Because Iroh clearly does have his own really affecting story going on here dealing with his history as a warrior. There's nothing in the story's structure, imo, that demanded we see Iroh re-conquer Ba Sing Se. That original battle could have just been the thing that made Iroh become the man he became, who was focused on helping Zuko become a better Fire Lord. In that sense, Iroh leading the re-conquering of Ba Sing Se is totally extra--great, but nothing they had to give us.
Except for one moment, which is where he breaks out of prison. Once they decided to have Iroh escape to get him away from Zuko, the question was raised of what he was doing. Because of course he would never have just left for no reason. Once that happened, I concede that Iroh's function in the final battle did become necessary. I'm just saying they really didn't have to do it that way--they could have killed Iroh off or had him in prison the whole time, unable to escape until the very end or whatever. Instead they had this whole battle of the Old Guy team--there is something really wonderful the way in a show with young heroes there's no sense that youth is better than old age. Everybody works together. It’s better than it had to be.
Iroh as Family
Usually when you have a mentor/student relationship in these kinds of stories, that's the whole relationship. Obi-Wan in Star Wars is immediately connected to the battle and Luke's father and training him as a Jedi, for instance. Zuko and Iroh, though, have a rather unique relationship in this regard, because while Iroh is being a mentor he's also part of the story of a family tragedy that's just as central to the story as the battle to take down Ozai.
We start the story with a family--the Water Tribe family. Tragedy occurred when Kya was killed and Hakoda had to leave, but the other family members try to fill the holes left behind. Kana steps in as parent, Katara tries to mother Sokka, Sokka tries to be the man of the family. They don't always succeed in these specific roles, but the fact that they love each other enough to try is what makes them so healthy. Fear and anger do sometimes threaten to mess things up. For instance, Katara remembers feeling helpless and afraid when her mother was killed, and the fear leads her to anger, which makes her lash out at Sokka. She's afraid when Hakoda leaves them behind, and that leads to anger and to lashing out at Hakoda. But in the end love showed to her by others brings her back to a healthier place.
In the Fire Family fear and rage are far more of a problem. Here we've got Fear represented by Ozai and Azula, and the challenge for the family members who can love (Zuko, Iroh and Ursa) to pull it together as best they can in the face of it. In a way it sort of parallels Aang's problem in the finale where he recoils from the idea of killing Ozai, because the Fire Family sometimes faces that same issue: should they get rid of the bad elements in their family to stop their influence, or is that just becoming like them?
This is why I loved Zuko's regrets about Iroh as expressed in Ember Island Players. Toph tells him, correctly, that all Iroh wanted was for Zuko to find himself and be happy, so Zuko has redeemed himself just by doing that. And that is the correct ending to the mentor arc for Iroh and Zuko. But Zuko knows that this is also a family drama that makes it supremely important that he not just make his uncle proud but explicitly love him. That is also why I think it’s such a good choice for Iroh to just be gone, because it makes us really feel his loss—not as a strategist or plot device, but as a person. Zuko mourns his absence not just as somebody who would tell him what to do, but just as a loving, flawed, sometimes maddening presence.
That's what's resolved in the finale. Iroh, as well as being a general who failed to take his city, is a father who lost his son. He doesn't have any issues left over regarding that--we see that he knows that he and Lu Ten will be together again after death. But he has lost the love of a son in this life, and that's what Zuko brings him in TOM. That's really the moment Zuko becomes his son in that sense. Before he was a son in that Iroh cared for him and taught him and put up with his nonsense. This is Zuko turning around and saying he will now be a son in the sense of loving and respecting Iroh, being his legacy, and proudly working in his tea shop because if Iroh loves it, Zuko supports and is proud of it too. (Seriously, how great is that?) Zuko even loves Iroh’s strong scent.
That's where I get to Ursa, btw. I know some were disappointed that Zuko and Ursa weren't reunited in the finale, but this actually works for me. We see Zuko ask where she is so it's clear he's going to go off and find her, but I think their reunion is a little too complicated to just stick in as a narrative prize. If Ursa were an innocent, benevolent figure sent away by Ozai, she could just be brought back as the same pure, innocent figure for Zuko. But Ursa isn't innocent. She put Ozai on the throne, and murdered Azulon to do so. I'm not suggesting Zuko would hold that against her at all, but I think Ursa herself would probably be conflicted about doing that even while she didn't regret it. Kya's the mother who sacrificed herself to save her child; Ursa killed to save hers and supported Ozai in his ambition by doing it (even if she was forced into it by the threat to Zuko). I think it's right to just tell us this is a reunion that's going to happen without either trying to get all that into the last episode or ignoring it to get a less complicated happy symbol with Ursa. Zuko and his mother have both done some things they're not proud of here.
So I think the ultimate lesson of that family drama was a dearly bought: Love beats fear. To the point where, totally unexpectedly, the true victim of the family is, sadly, Azula. The very things that protected her and not Zuko growing up turn out to be her downfall. Like her fire bending, her methods gave her quicker success but couldn’t take her as far. Faced with the idea that her mother loves her rather than fears her, she just feels more threatened. In her final defeat she tries to use love as a weakness (as she did in Ba Sing Se) by attacking Katara and causing Zuko's injury, but love wins again when Katara saves him.
Which is why in the end I think it's really only Ozai who will be frozen out by the family. Not hated, but let go. While I think Azula will probably be cared for kindly by her brother and later her mother. (I woke up this morning with this vision of every year on Azula's birthday Zuko having her favorite kind of cake from when she was little made for her.)
Hey, I just realized there's another parallel there. All the Avatars seem to be telling Aang that Ozai has to go down, but Aang's instincts tell him that's not right. Zuko and Iroh have that funny conversation where Zuko says that he knows he should "try to get along" with Azula and Iroh says no, she's crazy, she has to go down. In both cases the one side is correct that the person has to be defeated decisively (and in the case of Azula, she is crazy), but what makes Aang and Zuko better is their instinct to get along with the other person instead.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
Re: And lest I forget this equally interesting discussion…
I meant a scene where Katara had the guy and didn't want to do violence to him and Zuko pushed her. Zuko wants to present the guy to her. That was what he said he could do--he could give her the guy who killed her mother. So when it's not the guy, Zuko's failed. Katara walks away not because she's not just as eager to get revenge than ever, she just thinks Zuko was wrong in thinking he could get the guy. So Zuko sees his own goal slipping away and says if you're not the guy, who is?
He's totally enabling her, of course, the same way he was when he first brought it up. But he's not pushing her to do violence to the guy, it's just important to him that he give her the guy. When she pulls back from actually killing him Zuko isn't disappointed or angry at that choice. But he can't let it go at the idea that it's impossible to find the guy at all.
I just wish I knew why she forgave Zuko, since other than bring out the worst in her and enable her almost commit murder, he hasn’t really done anything to counteract her fears of him.
I think in the writers' eyes she doesn't have fears about him that haven't been already counteracted by his behavior since he joined the group. It looks more like she was most suspicious of him, but that over time he hasn't given her reason to think she was right about those suspicions. Only instead of that making her feel better, it just disappointed her that he wasn't going away and giving her good reason to kick his arse out of there. I would guess that's why her attitude is most obvious when Zuko has just proven himself fighting Azula.
OK, I’m interpreting idealism in the extreme sense: someone whose beliefs border on romanticism, on impracticability, on unreality.
Yes, once you said it I saw that would totally fit Aang. It's probably not the right word for me to use to describe the difference between Aang and the other two. Maybe it's more that justice is more important to them. Aang is just, of course, but justice as a concept doesn't seem as important to him as it is to the other two. He's more likely to say "the poor will always be with us" where Katara is more like "It's not fair that some people should go without when others have more than enough."
not love for Iroh, not guilt, but the principles he’s always had all along, the same principles that caused him to be banished in the first place
Just had to agree with this. It can't be that Zuko turns because he wants to make Iroh happy or whatever. He has to realize something about right and wrong. Once he does that he won't ever go back. (I thought there was something like this going on with Snape in HP, but he didn't get that kind of turning point.)
One thing I maintain about the finale is that we’re not told unequivocally that what Aang did was right or wrong or even more merciful or not.
Totally agree. It's not like it would just be "wrong" to kill the Fire Lord and this was the "correct" solution.