#idk yall ive just been having a lot of zuko thoughts during my rewatch

[acesexualspock]

Iroh spent 3 years trying to determine which of Zuko’s reactions to things were caused by his trauma and history of abuse and which were caused by the fact that Zuko was literally 15.

Like during that scene in The Waterbending Master where Zuko refused to leave his room, Iroh was probably thinking “Lu Ten also had his moments of slamming the door and staying in his room all day ,,, is this the same or did something remind Zuko of Ozai and/or Azula and now he’s suffering?”

I think a great example of when Zuko comes home from his date in “Tales of Ba Sing Se.” He comes home and slams the door, ignoring Iroh’s question of how his night went. And at first Iroh’s spirits seem to fall. Iroh was definitely hoping something “normal” like a date would help Zuko continue to heal and grow past his traumatic past.

So when Zuko storms in and slams the door, Iroh is sad because he thinks something made Zuko upset. Something just solidified the idea Zuko has in his head that he doesn’t deserve good things.

Then Zuko slides the door open again and says, so shyly, that his night has good. And that precious hope that all our main characters have been struggling with in Book 2 comes back to Iroh. He realizes Zuko slamming the door was just him being a kid—a kid who was forced to grow up too fast and is playing catch-up with those weird teenager feelings—like feeling shy about having a good night with a girl.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #iroh #uncle iroh #victor shh #idk yall ive just been having a lot of zuko thoughts during my rewatch