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comradekatara · 1 month

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Your atla analysis is the best so I wanted to ask your opinion on something I've found the fandom fairly divided on - what did you think of Azula's ending within the show proper? Unnecessarily cruel or a necessary tragedy? Would you say that her mental breakdown was too conveniently brought about in order to 'nerf' her for the final agni kai? Also, do you think it was 'right' for Zuko to have fought with his sister at all or would it have been better for him to seek a more humane way to end the cycle of violence?

okay so im saying this as someone who loves azula to death like she has always been one of my absolute favorite characters ever since i was a kid and i’ve always vastly preferred her to zuko and found her to be extremely compelling and eminently sympathetic. i am saying this now before the azula stans come for me. i believe in their beliefs. but i also think her downfall is perfectly executed, and putting aside all the bullshit with the comics and whatever else, it’s a really powerful conclusion to her arc. obviously that isn’t to say that she wouldn’t continue to grow and develop in a postcanon scenario (i have a whole recovery arc for her mapped out in my head, like i do believe in her Healing Journey) but from a narrative perspective, her telos is in fact very thematically satisfying.

no, she wasn’t nerfed so that they could beat her in a fight. the fact that she falls apart is what makes them feel that they can confidently take her on (although i do think in a fair fight katara could win anyway), but the whole point is that it’s not about winning or losing in combat. the whole point is that zuko and azula being pitted against each other in this gratuitous ritual of violence as the culmination of their arcs is fundamentally tragic. yes it’s a bad decision to fight her, and zuko should have chosen another path, but the whole point is that he’s flawed and can only subscribe to the logic he has spent his whole life internalizing through violence and abuse.

that’s why aang’s fight against ozai, while tragic in its own way, is also a triumph for the way in which his ideals prevail in the face of genocide, while zuko and azula’s fight is very patently tragic. there is no moment of victory or triumph. even as zuko sacrifices himself in a beautiful mirroring of “the crossroads of destiny” and as katara uses the element of her people combined with techniques across other cultures to use azula’s hubris and ideology of domination against her, it’s presented as moments of personal growth occurring within a very tragic yet inevitable situation. it was inevitable because azula had always been positioned as an extension of her father, and thus to disempower ozai also means disempowering azula, his favorite site of projection, his favorite weapon.

yeah, it does rub me the wrong way when zuko asks katara whether she’d like to help him “put azula in her place.” it’s not a kind way to talk about your abused younger sister. but it’s also important to understand that zuko doesn’t really recognize his sister’s pain, despite the fact that they obviously share a father, because he’s always assumed that she was untouchable as their perfect golden child and thus never a victim. and he’s wrong. zuko and katara expect a battle of triumph and glory, noble heroes fighting valiantly so that good may prevail over evil. but as they discover here, even more so than their previous discovery two episodes prior, a battle is not a legendary event filled with bombast and beauty until after it has been historicized. often a war is simply fought between pathetic, desperate people who see no other option but to fight.

aang’s ultimate refusal to fight despite having all the power in the world is what makes him so important as the protagonist. but katara and zuko both share a more simplistic view of morality and what it means to be good. and zuko assumes that by fighting azula, he can only be punching up, because she has always been positioned as his superior, and she (in her own words!) is a “monster.” and then azula loses, and his entire worldview shatters. joking about putting her in her place makes way for the realization that behind all her posturing and lying (to herself more than anyone) and performance and cognitive dissonance, azula has always been broken, perhaps even more than he is.

azula says “im sorry it has to end this way, brother,” to which zuko replies “no you’re not.” but i think azula is truly sorry, because in her ideal world, she wouldn’t be fighting zuko. she doesn’t actually want to kill him, as much as she claims to. she’s already reached the conclusion that zuko will only truly reach once their fight is over. she lacks a support system, and she needs one, desperately. if she could somehow get her family back, do everything differently, less afraid of the consequences, she would. she’s smirking, she sounds almost facetious, but really, she is sorry. as of this moment, she really doesn’t want it to end this way. but zuko cannot accept that, because in his mind, azula is evil. azula has no soul nor feeling. azula always lies.

her breakdown doesn’t come out of nowhere, either. it’s precipitated by everyone she has ever cared about betraying her. first zuko betrays her, then mai, then ty lee, and then ozai — the person she has staked her entire identity to and to whom she has pledged her undying loyalty and obedience, become nothing more than a vessel for his whims — discards her because she had the audacity to care about someone other than him. what i don’t think zuko realizes, and perhaps will never realize, is that azula betrayed ozai by bringing zuko back home. he was not supposed to be brought back with honor and with glory. azula specifically orchestrated the fight in the catacombs to motivate him to join her, and it’s not because she’s some cruel sadistic monster who wanted to separate a poor innocent soft uwu bean from his loving uncle, it’s because she genuinely believes that she’s doing what’s best for him. she believes that their uncle is a traitor and a bad influence, and she believes that bringing zuko home with his honor “restored” is an act of love. to her it is.

yes, she claims that she was actually just manipulating him so that she wouldn’t have to take the fall if the avatar was actually alive, but also, she’s clearly just covering her own ass. she didn’t know about the spirit water, and only started improvising when zuko started showing hesitation. but even if she was only using zuko, then that was an insane risk to take, because either way she was lying directly to ozai’s face. and zuko admits it to ozai while simultaneously committing treason, so of course ozai would blame azula, his perfect golden child who tried to violate his decree by bringing zuko back home a prisoner at best and dead at worst, and instead found a way to restore his princehood with glory.

we only see ozai dismissing and discarding azula in the finale, but it’s clearly a tension that’s been bubbling since the day of black sun. and we know this because we do see azula falling apart before the finale. in “the boiling rock” she is betrayed by her only friends. in “the southern raiders” we see that this has taken a toll on her, that she is already somewhat unhinged. she and zuko tie in a one on one fight for the first time. and she takes down her hair as she uses her hairpin to secure herself against the edge of a cliff. unlike zuko, who is helped by his friends and allies, who has a support system. it’s a very precarious position; she’s literally on a cliff’s edge, alone, her hair down signifying her unraveling mental state. azula having her hair down signals to us an audience that she is in a position of vulnerability. she is able to mask this terrifying moment wherein she nearly plummets to her death with a triumphant smirk, but it should be evident to us all that her security is fragile here.

and the thing is, even though she’s always masked it with a smirk and perfect poise, her security has always been fragile. azula has never been safe. azula’s breakdown is simply the culmination of her realization that no matter how hard she tries, she will never be ozai’s perfect weapon, because she is a human being. she is a child, no less. and there is no one in her entire life who loves her for nothing. zuko has iroh, who affirms to him that he could never be angry with zuko, that all he wants is simply what is best for zuko. but azula doesn’t have unconditional support in her life. she doesn’t even have support.

everyone she ever thought she could trust has betrayed her, and so she yells that trust is for fools. because she feels like a fool. of course fear is the only way; it’s what kept her in line all these years. azula is someone who is ruled by fear, and who is broken by the recognition that fear isn’t enough. her downfall is necessarily tragic because her worldview is wrong. the imperialist logic of terror as a tool for domination is her own undoing, just as ozai’s undoing is losing the weapon he has staked his national identity to. it’s a battle of ideals. aang v ozai: pacifism v imperialism. katara and zuko v azula: love and support v fear and isolation.

zuko is unfair to azula, it’s true. he tries to fight her even as he can clearly recognize that “she’s slipping.” instead of trying to help his little sister, he uses that weakness to his advantage, tries to exploit her pain so that he can finally, for the first time ever, beat her in a fight. it’s cruel, but it’s also how siblings act. especially considering the conditions under which they were raised, and how zuko has always viewed her. and in zuko’s defense, she has tried to kill him multiple times lately, both in “the boiling rock” and in “the southern raiders.” zuko is someone who gets fixated on a goal and blocks out everything else, including recognition of his surroundings or empathy for others. so of course when he’s promised to put azula in her place he’s going to exploit her weaknesses to do so. after all, isn’t exploiting his weaknesses exactly what azula does best? so he allows himself to stoop to her level, and in fact only redeems himself through his sacrifice for katara. but it is when azula is chained to the grate and zuko and katara, leaning on each other, look down and observe the sheer extent on her pain, that zuko realizes that “putting azula in her place” isn’t actually a victory. it feels really, really bad, actually.

they’re in a similar position as they were when they faced yon rha. and now it is zuko’s turn to understand that he is not a storybook hero triumphing over evil, but rather a human being, facing another human being, in a conflict that is larger than themselves. to “put someone in their place” is to imply a logic of domination, of inherent superiority, that someone has stepped out of line and must be reordered neatly into the hierarchy. but aang disputes the notion, ozai’s notion, that humanity can be classified along these lines, that there exists an ontological superiority among some and not others. so operation: putting azula in her place was always going to be flawed, even if she was performing competency the way she always does, because they’re nonetheless subscribing to her logic.

of course they should be helping azula, of course they should be reaching out to abuse victims through support instead of more violence. but first they must recognize her victimhood. first they must come to understand that they didn’t get lucky, and they didn’t dominate her because they are more “powerful,” that they weren’t “putting her in her place.” they must understand that they are not heroes fighting villains in a glorious trial by combat. that the logic of the agni kai is flawed. that they are all victims. that they are all just scared, hurt children who are still grieving their mothers.

#update: ok i readmored it 👍🏼#azula #analysis #zuko #katara #ozai #azula&zuko #azula&ozai #asks #malatilata #ugh azula is such a beautiful character….. i love her sm #her arc is so beautifully perfectly tragic #just thinking abt the mirror scene gets me sooo . distraught #this was supposed to be like 2 paragraphs lol #as is always the way . with me..

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theragamuffininitiative · 20 days

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#brain is very: gotta tell all my favorite episodes and also make little editorial notes on my least favorite episodes

Please don't hold yourself back from sharing them!

ok as far as episodes go, bear with me, there are seven season of this show lol...

There are some episodes that are among my favorites because of small side plots that happen in them, but most that are on here take their place because of main plots. I'm going to bold my very top picks:

Pilot (it's rough, as most pilots are, but important set up)

The Yellow Truck (because heartwarming Christmas)

It All Happened So Fast (Jim 😭)

I'm Still a Cop (just stanning Pete ok)

A Dead Cop Can't Help Anyone (Ed is 🙃 and Pete is incredible)

Good Cop Handle with Care (some journalists just shouldn't)

Pig is a Three Letter Word (😩 but Jessie Smith is The Best)

Baby (stanning Jim, the moron)

Once a Junkie ( 😭 TJ)

Hostage ( PETE 😭😭😭)

SWAT (just a good intense episode I guess?)

A Rare Occasion (plot is ok, I'm here for the Reeds+Pete bit 😍)

Vengeance (solid plots, plus Walker Edmiston ok)

Attempted Bribery (my boys are Good. Boys.)

Easy Bare Rider (mostly just that part lol)

Elegy for a Pig (hhhhhh vignette of the death of an officer)

IAD (in which we stan and hug Pete)

The Search (kajdflsdjg 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭PETE)

((^^^aka the show realized in Hostage that Martin did a great job acting in agony and decided they should make as much use of it as possible through the rest of the show.)))

Ambush (any episode that puts the boys in direct peril, right?)

Assassination (same as above)

The Princess and the Pig (JIM 😭)

Back-up 1L20 (Mac deserves the world ok and Pete knows it)

Badge Heavy (😒 Charlie. 👏 Jim)

Clear with a Civilian 1 and 2 (solid, solid, we stan the Civilian lol)

Killing Ground (hhhhhhhhhhhhh don't hurt my boyyyyysss)

Suspended (JIM AND PETE ARE SO IMPORTANT TO ME)

A Fool and His Money (ehehehehe)

Keeping Tabs (this one is just so unexpectedly sweet???)

If the Shoe Fits (ehehehe plus cute kid)

Trouble in the Bank (JIM 😭)

Suspect Number One (this one hurts so much, why do i rewatch)

Excessive Force (😣😣😭😭 but so important too)

Christmas (I'm here for the tree escapade)

Operation Action (can we...can we stop trying to kill Pete please)

Something Worth Dying For 1 and 2 (...please???! also finale 😭😭)

There are so many other episodes that have little bits that are my favorite - like the toothbrush snake, all of Jim's little sideplot life capers and attempts to get Pete married, how I totally ship Pete with Juju at least to some degree, lots of other random funny incidents they have to take care of, Jim directing the drunk guy directing traffic, Pete's face whenever he encounters child abuse, Pete's spidey sense... I love Jim but clearly I'm here for Pete alright.

*"Elegy for a Pig" is hard to watch ok - I know this show is pro-lapd propaganda but it's good propaganda 9/10 times, this one just Hurts (and isn't even a proper episode really).

**Excessive Force is also very very hard to watch on the content level. This show is not overtly graphic or gruesome and it's the 70s, they don't show much. But the writing knew they didn't have to show or say much at all most of the time to get the point across.

This is already very long so I'm not going to go episode by episode for my least favorites, but the one where they end up in a ridiculous confrontation with a wrestler? Yeah that is way down low on my list lol. Essentially, when the writers wanted to show a Situation (generally based on real life incidents) but didn't have a good way to justify it happening to the characters, it loses points with me. Those boys had weapons and backup, and they're not idiots, so those episodes are not my beloved.

Also, dealing with racial issues is sometimes iffy. For example, the episode "The Militants" is... a weird one. I don't hate it. I think the writers meant well, but it doesn't come off very well and has some pretty cringe moments and dialogue where it had the opportunity to be important. Often, episodes like this feel more like they are missing the nuance and other side of the truth they're telling. (Sometimes they hit the mark better: for example, "Pig is a Three Letter Word" has the saving grace of the Jessie Smith character in an otherwise very not-nuanced look at very complex issues.) I do appreciate that the show repeatedly displays stupid racist characters being stupid and getting their just desserts.

You have to accept the hippie slang too. You just gotta roll with it and laugh a little at deliveries ok? To their credit, Pete and Jim stand up for the hippies roughly the same amount of times they end up arresting them for drugs. XD

Some people are bothered by the portrayal of female characters in the show. I'm somewhere in the middle. I think it portrays them mostly honestly as the world went at the time, and a few have genuinely great roles and characterization - sadly, not many of Pete's girlfriends are in this number. 🙈 Pete is also a bit of a womanizer but he's also pretty respectful still, he just needs help ok. Jim is great for him that way. 👏 However, there are definitely episodes where a woman has been threatened or victimized and is not treated with the concern she should be in those situations and I do yell at my tv during those moments. XD

Lastly, this show has no filler. It starts to get there a little in later seasons, but mostly it's just pop pop pop action to action. This is great, I actually love the pacing of the show. It just... it means... well it means we don't get nice little comfort scenes with the boys after most of their hard days and I would personally like a little more of that ok? (rip the end of the often cute/relaxed little credit scenes after the first couple seasons)

[end ramble, more out of steam than thoughts]

#thanks for the ask!#malatilata #adam 12 #a ramble

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