#i also wanna make more posts abt the aang & zuko imagery

[comradekatara]

I can see your whole history in your eyes. You were born with nothing. So you've had to struggle and connive and claw your way to power. But true power, the divine right to rule, is something you're born with. The fact is, they don't know which one of us is going to be sitting on that throne and which of us is going to be bowing down. But I know, and you know.

while azula’s speech to long feng in this scene is indisputably iconic and powerful, it is also blatantly wrong. azula cites “the divine right to rule” as her prerogative to take the earth kingdom throne over long feng in their vie for power, but the divinity of the monarchy is a hollow justification for the existence of any given monarchy in the first place, not some ontological imperative that demands certain families seize and maintain power. centuries ago, azula’s ancestors claimed power over the fire nation, and her belief system is the product of the rhetoric they created after the fact to justify their power and influence over the state, and some time later, sozin’s imperialist doctrine that it is also the fire nation’s prerogative to colonize other states beyond their accepted borders. what makes this moment so effective is that azula truly believes the imperialist rhetoric she spouts in this intimidating monologue, as it was the creed she was born into – but as we are plainly shown throughout the show, her belief system is wrong, and she possesses no inherent, divine superiority over others. her facade of power, strength, and domination ultimately guards an empty myth, a lie that nearly destroyed the entire world.

BUT.

out of context, her words are not entirely wrong.

you've had to struggle and connive and claw your way to power

but true power

the divine right to rule

is something you're born with

unlike in our world, wherein the existence of divine power(s) cannot ever be truly proven, the spirit world not only demonstrably exists, but is eminently accessible. only because of aang’s century-long stasis in the iceberg was there ever any doubt of the avatar’s return, reducing the spiritual/cultural/political/global significance of the avatar to a myth, and plunging the world into unrest, chaos, and despair. but the world of avatar itself spans a vast history, in which aang’s era is merely a blip. he is but one reincarnation is the vast line of avatars, the bridge between the human and spirit worlds, the bringer of balance, chosen by the spirits. if anyone has an ontological, divinely-necessitated influence over the world, it is not the fire nation royal family: it is, quite plainly, the avatar.

#id in alt text #analysis #azula #aang #long feng #ozai #lore #ive had this post in my drafts for like two years #and just went through and made a couple tweaks now #idk why i didnt post it sooner but #i think this post is only part of a larger discussion #bc the role of the avatar in their world is actually more controversial than im presenting it here #i also wanna make more posts abt the aang & zuko imagery #of how they are the phoenixes that ozai fails to be #and the important thematic parallels between them #but this is also a second part to the 'azula tides analysis' post #deconstructing her speeches is so fun #the dramatic irony of her rhetoric #maybe ill compile those moments too #idk #theres just so much to say abt atla #i guess. thats why. i have this bloggue #hm!