In Defense of Azula - The Born Lucky Prodigy (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

she is a firebending

prodigy

my father says she was

born

lucky

he says I was

lucky

to be

born

when I think of the real brothers of the Fire Nation the first thought in my head I am born lucky Zuko says this while capturing Aang in the Northern Water Tribe as he remembers how his father said he was lucky to be born, while Azula was born lucky, but the more I think about Azula, the more I think that while Azula might have been born lucky, her luck, quote unquote , ran out as the series developed. I'm not here to analyze Azula's psychology too much, since hello future, I did a great deep dive into her mind.

I'm more interested in seeing if Azula is truly capable of deserving Redemption and how the Fire Nation princess is the real deal. tragedy of the series this is me mounting a

defense

for Azula Fire Lord Ozai saw his daughter as nothing more than a pawn in his plan for domination a daughter who was loyal and would do anything imaginable if it meant pleasing him and with the Time that loyalty and willingness to please turned Azula into a cold-hearted perfectionist as she followed him. Fear became Azula's most powerful weapon, since it was hers, she feared her father and that is why Azula would never dare to answer Ozai, she would not even dare to disrespect him. the slightest and his mind did the same, so when Zuko was burned by his father's hand, I think his reaction explains this when he returned from his broken siege, his reaction also explains this Ozai made him believe that only force mattered and that those who challenge that power deserve to be burned with that idea in mind she turned off her sense of compassion and empathy to make room to be the perfect weapon everything Azula believed in every action was in the name of her father wall Zuko can being praised for his hard work to become a skilled swordsman and a skilled firebender with no aptitude for it Azula combined her natural talent with a work ethic that had her yearning perfect.

That work ethic resulted in one of the most skilled firebenders we would see in the series raising her flame to a unique blue like no other and capable of generating lightning under any state of mind, but for Ozai she wanted to be perfect in every aspect, Even her design amplifies that perfection and maturity, her hair is always well combed, she wears lipstick that makes her look older. In reality, her physical feats of acrobatics or her experience in using fear manipulation and her emerging as a more than capable leader, someone who managed to defeat bosses, are all said to be reflections of this goal that she sought and that He advanced when the moment required it.

I had the presence of mind to almost kill the

avatar

for good, all in the name of her father. Azula did her best. I asked her and when she needed him most and loved her specifically on the verge of collapse, Ozai pushed her aside. she mentally abused her daughter one

last

time, while Ozai was the main reason for Azula's outcome. Ursa and Zuko are also important factors. Zuko showed Ozai that he was not a

prodigy

and that Azula was. She quickly pushed him to the side, which is where Ursa enters. Only in Zuko do we see his love and care for her primarily through her perspective.

She clearly had a favorite child of hers and Ursa had to redirect most of her attention towards Zuko to make sure he didn't feel abandoned and even more so when she sacrificed herself to protect. he this is where Zuko's story begins but it is also where Zula's story begins when Ursa left, she was harmful to Zuko, she left him alone with Ozai, the Fire Lord abused Zuko physically, mentally and emotionally, followed by his banishment in pursuit of an almost impossible goal, but fortunately for the prince, he had to fill the void across the Four Nations, but as an uncle, someone who would push him to do better, to be better and to want more from his life. and that he was by her side during her darkest days that Azula never had. that he never had anyone tell him that he could be more than Ozai's daughter Li and inferior loyal servants to his country and that was the closest thing he had to another figure and mentioning Iroh and Zuko leads me to wonder if Azula was worthy of redemption like the other members of her family were while I look at what Azula has done compared to what other characters have done, especially other redeemed characters, it is important that she be held to the same standard.

Azula almost killed Aang and took over Ba Sing se as her two very damaging actions, but let's compare that to Zuko, who sent an assassin after Aang almost destroyed Kyoshi Island, attacked the Southern Water Tribe, and also played a major role in Aang's injury. Also, let's compare that to the dragon of the west, Iroh, the accomplished war general who almost burned Ba Sing Se to the ground, what separates Azula from her family members here is that she was not given the opportunity to change. Azula is 14 years old and she was abused and taught that power, strength and that she and the Fire Nation have the right to rule.

Throughout the world, the princess was taught to be a conqueror rather than a fourteen-year-old girl and the beach highlights this up to that point in Avatar Azula was a heartless monster and the beach reveals Azula, the 14-year-old girl. years socially inept that you could drill. the hull of a fire nation empire class battleship that leaves thousands of people drowning, seeing the illustrated beach as well as the facade, being by his father's side means he can't have weaknesses like emotions because that's how Sukhoi was banished, you can't treat me like that. you can't treat me like Zuko and on the beach she shows the ability to feel not only empathy but also pain towards empathy when he makes fun of her and immediately apologizes to her after realizing that it hurt her okay calm down .

I didn't mean what I said, look, maybe I just said it because I was a little jealous and later in that episode, she actively seeks out Zuko when he leaves the party to join her, showing concern for her brother and finally showing pain. . She could sit me down. here and complain that our mother liked Zuko more than me, but I don't really care. Azula shows that this actually hurt her as she plays it off like it's not a sad story. Azula exposes the fact that she sees herself as a monster. She was right, of course, but it still hurt her.

She doesn't even have her own identity and she has lost it in the search to please her father's boys. Azula was that she was cold and felt like she didn't care about anyone, least of all her mother. She even once made fun of her of Zuko with the presence of the IRS, but in reality his mother was the only person he desperately needed attention and validation from and he knew it only through Zuko Ursa never mistreated Azula, scolded her daughter when she acted out of character in comparison with praise. that she received from her father and in addition to the breakup it tells the truth even more about this, the princess of the Fire Nation did not understand the family dynamic that Zuko needed Ursa because Ozai favored her by leading her to erase all traces of the love that her mother had given her. had. although despite that favor of his towards her, Azula clearly did not feel loved by the person she needed it from, which leads me to question the upbringing of nurses after Ozai, the princess of the Fire Nation;

However, she is not without flaws, she had very close friends who always respected her. but she manipulated them into fearing her and was ultimately betrayed because of it, a clear result of Ozai becoming a father again Azula had no one, she never had an Iroh to guide her Azula didn't even have Ursa to shape her own identity from. same way she and Iroh made four Zuko that's who you are Zuko someone who keeps fighting even if it's hard she wasn't someone who never gives up like her brother for Zuko a pearl dagger from the general who gave up when we broke through the outer wall never gave you Rindas stood up without a fight so who exactly is his identity supposed to be?

Let's not forget that she also had good and evil within her like Zuko, she was also the great-granddaughter of Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozen, but because she was under the cunning Joseph Ilych. The only thing she ever was was a prodigy. Azula was only born lucky to be a true prodigy. It is also stated for these reasons that it makes Zullo the perfect foil for Zuko and the fact that her final moment in the show is her breakdown after being overcome by her crying, screaming, and chained brother makes her story and tragedy much more heartbreaking.

Not receiving said redemption in my opinion was the perfect ending to her story. Azula shows the ability to feel showing even more of her humanity on the beach. her showing that humanity as she cried in front of her and Katara's brother. I don't see an evil monster. I see a wayward girl. A fourteen year old girl. The princess of the Fire Nation was nothing more than a girl who was a victim of circumstance. she might have meant more in that world a girl who needed love and who she needed to be more than the lucky born prodigy.

I'm sorry she has to end this way, brother.