Avatar, Regression, and Redemptions

I like to tell people that I don’t watch television, I don’t watch TV shows, and I don’t binge series. This is a lie, obviously. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t watch at least one television show, and for me that one television show is the highly esteemed Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I watch this show constantly; I watch this show beginning to end three to five times a year. I have been rewatching this show consistently for nearly a decade now. I have found it to be a source of comfort during illness and hard times, and I find it to be thought provoking and a source of inspiration during productivity streaks and happy times.

The funniest part about this show being my favourite is that I never even considered it to be a favourite. I simply considered it to be a constant in my life; there wasn’t a need to label it. I saw myself in the characters, and the character I relate to the most changes as I get older. I’ve seen this show so many times that I have begun to watch while keeping a specific theme in mind so that anything that relates to the theme is noticed and brought together as a larger picture.

In my opinion, Avatar is a good show because it is, for the most part, well thought out. It is a perfect three seasons. There is clear plot development, important themes about life that are adapted for a wide age range, well crafter character arcs, and world-building that is woven into all of it. Obviously there will be some moments that are not perfect (like when June and her shirshu are following Katara’s scent through Taku to the healer’s – even though Katara was never there, only Aang passed through that spot), but I have made far worse mistakes.

I will be posting Avatar: The Last Airbender spoilers after this line. Proceed at your own risk.

A fan favourite aspect of the show is the character arc for Zuko. Zuko starts the series being introduced as the antagonist to Aang and completes a redemption arc throughout the three seasons. It works because it was planned, and it works even better because Zuko struggles with it.

In the beginning of the show, Zuko is shown as an exiled prince. He is leading his crew in his mission to find the Avatar, his only hope for returning home and regaining his honour. He is sixteen at the beginning of the show, and he is accompanied by his uncle Iroh. Even though the pilot episodes have Zuko portrayed as the main antagonist, it is in the third episode that season one’s main antagonist is actually revealed, Commander Zhao.

This is important. Zuko is given humanity early in the show. Even in the pilot episodes, we see Iroh trying to have him rest and be at ease. In the third episode though, we see that extended just a bit further. Commander Zhao references that Zuko was dishonoured through his temper and enters a duel with Zuko. When Zuko wins and spares Zhao, Zhao tries to attack while Zuko’s back is turned. Iroh steps in to defend Zuko, brushing off the attack for Zuko, advising Zuko not to retaliate. Iroh then adds in that “even in exile, my nephew is more honourable than you.” (Season 1, Episode 3).

Mid-way through the first season we learn about Zuko’s history and how he was banished by his father after a public duel resulting in his face being scarred (Season 1, Episode 12). Zuko may be consistently following the Avatar, but he is not the bad guy at any point, more like a nuisance.

Something that is important to Zuko’s arc however is that he has wronged and hurt people. Zuko burns down people’s villages, he terrorizes Aang and his friends, and he is disrespectful to his crew and his uncle. There is a reason that by season 3, when Zuko is requesting to join the Avatar and his friends, that Zuko is initially rejected and seen as a threat. He may not be the main antagonist, but he is not a protagonist in the series either. He is a morally gray character.

By the end of season one, we see that Zuko is simply desperate to return home. He knows his father is not a forgiving figure and knows that he does not have any favour from his father either. In his monologue in The Siege of the North (Season 1, Episode 20), Zuko is speaking to an unconscious Aang about how his sister, Azula, was the one that was always favoured.

Then in season two, we see that Azula becomes our main antagonist, and while Zuko takes her side and fights with her in The Crossroads of Destiny (Season 2, episode 20), the entirety of that season is Zuko battling his own internal values and demons to determine what he wants and what his destiny is. We know that Zuko can be kind and helpful, like in Zuko Alone (Season 2, Episode 7), and we see that he is warming up to the idea of living as a refugee before the final episode of the season.

What makes Zuko’s redemption arc work the best though is his regression in season three. The first half of season three we see Zuko return to where he has been claiming as his proper place. Yet, we see Zuko is out of place here. He shows discomfort at being overly spoiled and directly confides in Mai that he feels wrong (Season 3, Episode 9). His paranoia in being pushed out again alongside his inability to fall into the role he is expected to is due to his character development in the first two seasons. If Zuko didn’t have to struggle and work towards his own identity, he would have never had the realization of his wrongdoings.

It reminds me of myself, in a way. I’m no banished prince, but when I was having a hard time in my life when I first moved to Montreal, I ran away back to Ontario to be a Store Manager again. I had my old life back, and it didn’t work for me anymore. I had outgrown the normal I once had, and my values didn’t align with the work I was doing. Yet, if I had never gone back, I would have never seen my own growth.

It was the same with Zuko. If he hadn’t gone back to the fire nation, he would have never been able to acknowledge that he had outgrown the life of the crown prince. He had to make the mistake of going back to what he believed his life was supposed to be, because otherwise he would have consistently lived in the morally gray what if. There would have been temptation in any chance to have his idea of normal, even if his values were no longer aligned.

Zuko shows resistance to harming innocents in his first appearance. When Zuko is searching for Aang in the Southern Water Tribe, Zuko honours his word on not harming any others, and shows restraint against Sokka since he poses no real threat (Season 1, Episode 2). Zuko does not harm Zhao when he has an opportunity to do so with no consequence (Season 1, Episode 3). He shows empathy to his crew and gets them to safety (Season 1, Episode 12), and shows shame of attacking Aang after the events of The Blue Spirit (season 1, episode 13).

Zuko is only sixteen years old, and he is the victim of his circumstance. He learns throughout season 2 that the Fire Nation is not seen as good, but as violent and evil. He was taught that he was sharing the greatness of his nation with the world, and he has to challenge his worldview to become a better person. He makes mistakes, real ones, and that’s what makes his transition so rewarding, because it feels real.

Keep in mind, the Azula gets the same privileges but without the exposure to the reality of consequence. That is why Azula’s character arc ends with her having a mental breakdown and Zuko’s ends with a satisfying happy ending.

I’ll break that one down next time.