it makes me real fucking emo to think of how Iroh always refers to Zuko as “Prince Zuko”. Not out of some false stuck-up sense of formality or to distance himself emotionally or something, but because Zuko has been kicked out of his home by his own father and stripped of his identity, has lost his birthright and nation and entire sense of self in one terrible blow, and all he really has left is his name and title, as defamed and mocked as it is. Iroh is probably the only person in the world to address Zuko as “Prince” and actually mean it. His nephew needs to believe he can return home, needs to maintain some scrap of hope to keep him going. The only time Iroh slips up is and just calls him “Zuko” is when he thinks Zuko’s been killed in the ship explosion.
similarly, it makes me real fucking emo to think of how Zuko only ever calls Iroh “Uncle”. Not Prince, not General, not the Dragon of the West, not even just Iroh – he calls him uncle. Because Iroh is the only member of his family who Zuko trusts enough to let his guard down completely. He knows he won’t be punished for being informal or vulnerable around him, knows that calling him “uncle” will never be misconstrued as a sign of disrespect. Even at his angriest, Zuko addresses Iroh as “Uncle”. In the end, his uncle is the only person with whom he feels truly safe.
okay i have a burning question for the atla fandom
who is the more skilled or powerful firebender: iroh or azula?
i feel like i’ve always grown up thinking azula is the most powerful firebender just because we see her skills displayed so vividly throughout the series, and she’s constantly heralded as an insane prodigy. however, in a 1v1 duel with them both in their prime…who would win? personally, i still think azula has the advantage when it comes to straight up skill and tenacity, but iroh in his prime was both incredibly strong and crafty, so i’m stumped
I think I would have to say Iroh. Azula thinks she has everything perfectly calculated at everyone moment, but she didn’t see this coming:
And this was far before her mental breakdown started. I think there’s a difference between brute force and power. Now, I don’t know if Iroh is the most powerful firebender in the fire nation, but I think it says something that he basically led the other members of the white lotus in ba sing se, and you could really see him controlling the fire with his breathing. I think that’s the main difference and what makes him a better bender than her: control. There are times where Azula lacks restraint, Iroh has nothing but.
Azula is extremely skilled, and an incredible fighter in her own right, but Iroh is enlightened, much how like Zuko became enlightened when he met the dragons. Azula uses anger and fear to fuel her fire, and for that she is weaker than Iroh.
hmmm… this is all very true, iroh definitely had foresight, wisdom, and experience on his side. however, i see a lot of people arguing that azula has mostly “pure force” on her side which makes her weaker than iroh—and i would be inclined to agree if i didn’t think otherwise. i actually think the main reason azula was such a credible threat throughout the series was because she not only had the physical prowess but the strategic advantage.
azula knows how to turn on a dime and manipulate the battlefield AND her opponents to her advantage. most of the time, she is seen using or refraining from brute force depending on her opponent and her situation:
until force may be used at the most opportune time:
i actually think that zuko’s pre-transformation bending style was more (though not always) reliant on brute force than azula, which is why he always lost to her. and i think azula’s precision/patience is actually more similar to iroh’s style—albeit more nefarious. when i watch azula’s battles, her bending never strikes me as power for the sake of using power, but it almost always seems refined and premeditated.
what she lacks, imo, is exactly what you said in your last sentence: inner peace. her bending is weakened only by the fact that she has limited herself at a certain level of strength because her source is finite—it is dependent on cause/reaction rather than an endless well of peace and balance, the way that iroh (and later, zuko) have discovered. her inner fire may be well controlled, but only bc she has metaphorically locked it in a box, rather than allowing it free range in a spiritual/mental system of give and take. iroh mastered firebending in a unique way bc he listens to his inner fire instead of attempting to harness it.
i wish we had seen more of young iroh, because truly, i think that if it was a fight between pre-mental breakdown azula and pre-spiritual enlightenment iroh, azula would win hands down.
fresh-faced, young or new fans of atla who are ready to die for their ship:
washed up fans, a.k.a. seasoned veterans that experienced the original 2008 ship wars and emerged on the other side understanding that ships are unimportant in comparison to how many people share the same love for an amazing show:
Says someone with that name
i’m sorry, but i don’t see anywhere in the original meme post where i said, “respecting other people’s ships and opinions in a fandom means that you can’t have or express your own ever, and to respect the prerogative of other people to have their own ships and opinions means that you must actively stan every single other ship or opinion, lest you prove that you are an enemy to the people”
Anyone ever think about how the first conversation Zuko has after betraying his uncle and siding with Azula, stepping backwards from his redemption, is with Mai. And then his last conversation before reconciling with his uncle and, through this, completing his redemption, is with Katara.
Both of these characters come over to him when he is by himself and ask after his wellbeing:
Mai: Aren’t you cold?
Katara: Are you okay?
And Zuko responds to this probing in both situations by giving some variation of “not in good headspace right now”
Zuko: I’ve got alot on my mind.
Zuko: No I’m not okay.
He then lays out the external situation.
Zuko: It’s been so long. Over three years since I was home. I wonder what’s changed.
Zuko: My uncle hates me I know it. He loved and supported me in every way he could and I still turned against him.
In the first scene he’s contemplating his step back. In the second he’s contemplating his step forward. He goes on to pose a question to each, wondering if this is a step he’ll even be able to take.
Zuko: I wonder how I’ve changed.
Zuko: How can I even face him?
This is where the scenes diverge. Mai reacts by yawning and voicing her disinterest, effectively shutting him down.
Mai: I just asked if you were cold I didn’t ask for your whole life story. Stop worrying.
Her advice is to ignore this conflict that he’s facing, just as she’s doing. Notably, Zuko doesn’t speak again in this scene after this. Mai also kisses him, meaning to distract him from his problems completely.
Katara has a very different approach:
Katara: Zuko, you’re sorry for what you did, right?
She presses him to actually answer his question. He asked how he can face his uncle. He can face him if he wants to be better, if he’s truly sorry for the things he’s done. So she asks him, is he?
Zuko: More Sorry then I’ve been about anything in my entire life.
Katara: Then he’ll forgive you. He will.
After their conversations, Mai walks away, leaving Zuko alone; Katara stays and watches Zuko enter Iroh’s tent.
These conversations symbolise the difference between Zuko’s old life and his new one. Mai’s words mean forgetting, ignoring your mistakes and staying where you are. Katara’s mean confronting your mistakes and moving on.
And if we needed any more parallels that show this, take note of the almost identical framing, specifically what each girl is seeing when they are looking at him:
Mai is on his right. She’s seeing the unscathed side of his face. The Zuko she’s seeing is the same one she knew in the Fire Nation. She figuratively and literally cannot see the hurt, scarred part of Zuko. The part of him that came as a result of standing up to the Fire Nation in the first place. Mai is talking to the side of him that is on the Fire Nation’s side.
Katara is on his left, facing the scar, the scar which he told her himself represents him being seperate from the Fire Nation, seperate from what they are doing and “free to determine his own destiny”.
Here, Mai represents stepping backwards. Katara represents stepping forwards.
i think about this ALL THE TIME
no hate to mai or m*iko shippers, but that moment was objectively so cringe and sad to me. tbh, i think it was very indicative of how emotionally isolated zuko was about to become in the fire nation post-betrayal. mai wasn’t even acting ooc either (imho), she just really doesn’t seem to naturally handle serious or emotional situations very well—which is totally fine—except that zuko IS FUNDAMENTALLY A SERIOUS AND EMOTIONAL PERSON.
their reunion at the boiling rock is also so sad to me, bc mai absolutely had a right to be angry at zuko for leaving/breaking up with her through a letter—but she also was the one who was emotionally unavailable to him. idk it just seems like the exchange on the boat was teaching zuko/the audience that mai is unwilling or unequipped to emotionally support zuko through such a turbulent time, so it makes sense to me that zuko didn’t trust her enough to tell her his intentions to join the avatar to her face. i don’t think he believed she would understand his perspective, and lowkey, he was right about that.
this whole parallel marked a huge moment for me as a zutara shipper, just bc of how immature the mai and zuko moment was compared to the katara and zuko moment
he’s probably freaked out (rightfully so) but in the back of his mind he’s probably also thinking “worst comes to worst, I could probably fight her” until:
this happens and he’s like:
and immediately starts reevaluating every bender he’s ever met, thinking of every time Katara totally could’ve killed him, and is forever grateful that she has morals lol
