Im glad someone finally said it! People sh*t on jet while praise azula and i never understood why. They both had very real reasons for doing the things they did but one gets hated by the fandom while the other one gets praised like???
In my own view, the only characters (and this extends to real people, as well) who cannot be redeemed are the people who don't want to be redeemed. While Jet may not want to be redeemed, it doesn't seem like Azula does, either. She believes everyone is plotting to take power from her, because all she's ever done is plot to take power from others. She's fully immersed in Ozai's ideology, and not simply because she seeks approval. She has made this ideology of hegemony her own because it resonated with her. Now, I've only seen the show, I haven't read the comics, so I don't know what happens after all that. But from what I've seen, I don't envision her having an introspection of any sort, so I think she's at least as deserving of hatred as Jet (which is a debatable amount to begin with.) But Azula's a yandere waifu (meant as tongue-in-cheek) so she gets a pass, I guess.
@@AngelicusEXperiment im going to have to disagree with you about what you said about jet not wanting to be redeemed. In the show jet did say that he was moving to ba sing se to start a new and become a better person. Now did he go through with what he said. No. But thats life for ya, which makes him interesting for me. I think this shows the viewer the uglier side of reality. Not everyone gets a clear cut character arc. There are times when we as people want to change but end up just going back to our old destructive habits, like if we say we’re going to diet but end up going right back to overeating right after we see the next delicious looking thing. Hell, even zuko had the same thing happen to him, yet we praise him for how he shows realism but ridicule jet for doing the same thing. And im not saying that azula and zuko should get hate for their parallels to jet but moreso that jet shouldnt get hate for being a kid that made some stupid mistakes
I think it’s the philosophy that everyone loves a good villain, which Azula definitely is. Jet is supposed to be a hero, and he almost killed women, children and old people. I like them both honestly, but I can see the thought process that may lead to such unfair bias.
I remember being really shocked seeing Jet get killed by Long Feng when I was a kid because I didn't think he deserved to. I always felt like he wasn't evil. He was just misguided. Granted, that's not an excuse for blowing up a whole village. I think he needed more friends/supportive group like the gaang to get him to heal, as everyone in team avatar had trauma they were carrying. I often wonder what his character development would have been like if he survived. I feel like his could have been one of the best in the series. Hell, he and Zuko may have been good friends in the end. Jet is the reminder to not let your hatred blind you.
I never thought jet was a bad character and he was such an interesting character. I don't see him as a character who has done nothing wrong but as a complex character
As someone that has been through several traumas, I understand what it's like to be blinded by rage and lust for revenge. As such, I always found Jet a very relatable character, and see him as a reminder to not be consumed by rage (no matter how justified).
His death was really the main reason I fell in love with him. What makes his story so sad is that his own kingdom when the one that killed him, not the fire nation. After finishing season 2 I was like "damn fuck Zuko, Jet was pretty justified in being obsessed with getting him arrested". ANd how can you not feel bad for him knowing the fire nation ruined his life and seeing him get tortured and brainwashed in Ba Sing Se??
I didn't know there was so much hate for Jet. I always though his story was just sad. Saying he died for nothing and how he died to the last place he thought he could turn his life around, to his own nation.. never thought about it like that.
I’ve been a fan of AtLA for a long time and actually really liked Jet and his role. I didn’t realize the fandom hated him this much until much later (and I was confused af). Thank you for the analysis
YEAH. I never saw the episodes in order and I missed Lake Laogai, so I didn't know he died 🤣 I kept waiting and waiting for him to show up every time an episode of Book 3 was on. And then some years later my brother said he died and I was in denial. I don't know why, but I've always liked him since I was kid which was way before I understood the tragedy of the life he had to live
@@jeltje50 Hard to say that about a child. Iroh changed as an adult and was waging war against innocent people and is considered a powerful bender and crazily respected amongst the Fire Nation in the beginning of the show. He had to have done some awful things. Azula is only 14. She has many more years to unlearn everything
@@grellsutcliffe8265you’re an idiot. You are the only one who is making it weird! You are not going to take into consideration that when this person was a Azula simp that he could have been that simp back when he was a teen himself or maybe he isn’t using the usual definite term of simp. Why do I say this? People call others retarded when they are trying to call them an idiot, stupid, moronic fool; people do use the actual definition of retarded these days and the same is said for simp. Also, you aren’t going to take into consideration that when he said he was a simp for Azula he means in terms of loving her as a character due to her badass written direction as a villain in this series? Your problem is that you only see Azula as just that? Underage and that the mere mention of anyone saying they live Azula, you immediately see it as an attraction . Or if someone said they had emphasis on HAD, a crush on Azula you would see them as loving her now instead of taking into account that they could’ve had a crush on her when they were teens themselves!! I don’t mean to sound condescending but use your damn brain, boy! Don’t see things in such a single narrow lens!
I absolutely love Jet. He’s such a great character. He has so much pain and trauma. Characters like him and Hama really show the trauma people go through during war and how their pain has manifested in their vengeance. While it’s wrong what Jet did, you feel for his pain. Like he lost both his parents at a very young age and he saw his whole village burned down and he gets brainwashed and then murdered. His story is so tragic. Such an underrated character! I would have loved if Jet didn’t die and joined Team Avatar. Then we could have had another potential Zuko and Jet storyline.
I actually felt bad for jet, for all the wrong he did, he still helped team avatar until the end, despite being brainwashed, i understand how everyone could hate him in his first appearance, but i felt so bad for him after he came back, only to die
I didn't watch Avatar as a kid. I only got the chance to watch it as an adult (last year) and Jet was instantly my favorite character. So I was very disappointed to see the bad reception the 10th episode got. I think it really might be too nuanced for people who watched it as a kid, couldn't analyze it very well, and stuck with the show because they watched it when they were a kid. But it all changes when you view it for the first time from a more mature lens. You completely nailed it when you said Jet had NO chance to redeem himself. I mean, look at how long that took for Zuko. Even with Iroh preaching to him since the first episode. You just don't get to clean your soul in a moment's notice, especially if all you have is yourself. You played the clip multiple times in this video and I really like that scene, where Jet's expression suddenly changes when he sees Iroh firebending. It's not the expression of anger or sadness but genuine shock, fueled by his trauma. He sees every firebender as a threat because he's actually scared of them. Even if he's brave kid, he carries that fear when his village was attacked by firebenders. This is my theory and I have no way of proving it but I believe his parents were burnt alive, they just couldn't imply that much since it's a kids show. I mean, how else a group of firebenders would raid and kill an entire village anyway? Same could be said for Katara's mom, but Katara didn't personally witness her death. Actually witnessing a cruel murder first hand definetly adds up to the trauma and extremism. Jet's story have parallels with multiple characters and the general story itself, so it's disappointing to see people empathize with Zuko and Azula but can't do it with Jet, as if they don't get the point.
I always thought Jet was a great, underutilized character. But now that you've brought up the crimes of hypocrisy by Azula apologists, I cannot unsee your very good point... If you feel bad for Azula, you should feel even worse for Jet... He never got the chance to live his own life, that honor was stripped from him the moment the Fire Nation attacked...
Jet is important because he gives the show nuance. He shows the evils of the cycle of hatred war causes. That everyone is corrupted by war there's no clear good and bad side
Agreed. In war, it's easy for both sides to demonize the other, and 100 years is more than enough time for great hatred to foster. Jet was the byproduct of that hate.
I think one of the biggest issues is that Jet never really got a redemption arc, yes he helped team avatar at the end, but never let go of his prejudices or hatred in his heart. Considering how producers really thought out Zuko's arc, Jet's story is overshadowed by someone's who overcame it. It's not like people don't like him for no reason, its because he wasn't given the same thought as more complex characters like Sokka, Zuko or even Azula
No...I think he was just meant to represent (much like Azula and Hama) how badly war/abuse can affect people and how not everyone gets a happy ending. He’s a tragic character.
As someone who is gearing up to cosplay as jet along with my avatar group -I love diving deep into the character and this video of jets character was super informative and well put together GREAT VIDEO!!
Another distinction between Jet and Katara's experience is that Jet lives in an area where the war is still actively ongoing: Jet's had to live watching the Fire Nation attack other villages, Fire Nation soldiers occupying conquered villages, and Fire Nations colonists creating their own settlements or moving into conquered Earth Nation villages and displacing or oppressing the original inhabitants. There's also an interesting thing going on here in regards to the old Fire Nation man that Jet mugs. The old man himself is innocent but he's also an active participant in imperial colonization. He's not just some Earth Nation immigrant, he's part of a settling group of Fire Nation citizens moving into conquered Earth Nation territory to capitalize on new land and new natural resource opportunities at the detriment of the original Earth Nation inhabitants. It's not surprising that Jet has a negative perception of colonists even if they are citizens and not soldiers. The Fire Nation pretty much left the Southern Water Nation undisturbed since the last raid where Katara and Sokka's mother was killed. Sokka's never had to face citizens of a conquering nation coming in to steal land and natural resources from his people while turning his people into second-class citizens just like Katara hasn't lived through watching helplessly as the Fire Nation creates more Harus and Smellerbees and Longshots and the Dukes. Another thing I wanted to mention is that Jet's concern over Iroh and Zuko was absolutely justified albeit he went about it in the wrong way. The audience often forgets that none of the others characters see Zuko's character progress or get to know Iroh. All Jet knows is that these two Firebender guys are pretending to be refugees and sneaking into the final bastion of safety for the Earth Kingdom. It's not unreasonable to try and get to the bottom of what these two Firebenders are doing there and what their intentions are.
Jet breaks my heart y’all. his battle with his character flaws is so well ingrained into the world. everything is a symptom of the war. seeing him hurt and fail himself and others leads him deeper and deeper into the conflict even while he makes attempts to escape the conflict. in the end he dies fighting.
Tbh I agree he's a'lot more complex of a character layered as many others such as Azula and Zuko who I find similar to Jet and even Aang himself is a complex character too with a'lot of shades to his characterization
Hi, I’m late to this! but I really don’t understand when fandoms attack a character for their actions without considering their motivations or things they’ve been through to lead them to that point. Its the difference between understanding a character, and believing that their actions are justified. Just because jet is valid for hating on the fire nation does not mean that its okay for him to attack the innocent. That being said, great video! you’ve inspired me to make my own video of a character deep dive, because I do have a lot to say about her and she also gets some backlash despite being the main character in the show. (You can probably guess from my profile picture who I am referring to lol). Great work on this avery!
Jet wasn't always my cup of tea. And not because he was a liar or traitor. ## ,it's not even really because of Katara's relationship with him 🙄. It's simply how...Well ,simply he sees the world. He thinks he sees the whole picture. That he can play by the rules of sacrifice, even though he doesn't really know what sacrifice means. In his eyes, things lost are just taken. There's no further meaning to them. That said,I was truly proud of him in his next appearance. He was growing up. Then Zuko,then Long Feng. Boy died like a legend.
your script is extremely concise and well reasoned, your voice/manner of speaking is analytical but not droning, and pleasant to listen to. you bring up a lot of good points about the characters as well as the hypocrisy within the fandom. i feel like i could listen to you talk about this show for hours. great watch, you definitely deserve more views/subs
What a beautiful video essay. I feel a little less crazy as someone who absolutely loves this character so much despite the fact that he's kinda shitty and morally ambiguous. Actually, probably BECAUSE he's morally ambiguous.
I think it boils down to the fact that a lot of people do not appreciate and have no idea what war is, and what it does to people. Jet lost his community and family, and ended up all alone, and had to build himself up. I consider Jet to be most tragic of all the character. At end what is even sadder is he is reduced to a simple punchline in ember island players. You understand why he is this way without excusing his actions. I sincerely believe jet had he survived could have potentially become a better person, if he got proper guidance and support. It would be very challenging, but with time and effort Jet might get past his hatred of fire nation. And also Jet did not deserve any of this. He seems to be a good kid to whom life dealt a cruel blow. In case of Zuko or Azula, as tragic as their lives were they were still royalty, and in case of Azula no matter how tragic her downfall is, in sense she got her just deserts.
This was a super good video, and very very well spoken and made. Jet deserved better, he was troubled and when he was about to get his redemption, he was killed for it. I hope you do more of these kinds of analysis videos, this was the first serious media analysis video I've found enjoyable in a while
I hated Jet on the first viewing of the show, even after his death(?) scene, but on rewatching years later I realized that he was intended to be a tragic character rather than a villain and became a reflection of Zuko's character in his second appearance. So I appreciate him, though I still don't like him. If he was Katara's first kiss (which is news to me) then I like him a bit less as that would exploitative, but I hadn't considered your point that he fed and protected the kids in the freedom fighters to a pretty amazing degree for a teenager. He wins a few points from me there.
When I was a kid I loved Jet, he was so interesting to me even from a young age (also little me was a huge simp) and I could never understand the hate he got, even now I think people are a little dumb for just labeling him as "crazy ba guy" so this video was a helpful explanation
Yea i love jet as a character, it hurt when he died. I know he was deeply deeply flawed but i feel like he was on the road to redemption. And would have made a great ally to the Gaang at some point. Shit to took Zuko 2 full seasons to truly come around.
I completely 100& agree with everything you said about Jet. Always have. I honestly thought most of the fandom did as well as his character's complexities and narrative purpose is easy to understand imo. Jet is one of my top favorite characters from Avatar, I love the morally gray sauvé antagonist/anti-heroes! I really do!
honestly, I'm kinda upset the writers didn't delve further into the relationship between Zuko and Jet, that could've been one of the most interesting on the entire show.
Jet was a great character, I didn’t know he had hate. For one, his design is an amazing homage to Spike Spiegel and Mugen. Second, it was nice to have someone in the grey for the show. His motivations made sense but his methods were wrong. A character being wrong doesn’t make them a bad character. The show is better for Jet’s inclusion.
Thank you for pointing out his age, the years of trauma, the lack of a support network or authority figure or guidance (especially in aspects like self soothing, emotional regulation, etc after trauma) and the insane amount of responsibility he had during those fundamental years. I'd also like to say that if you were this traumatised, and in a war, and you were a refugee to a city that was the only stronghold and safe place against the enemy of that war and you believed that two of the enemy had infilitrated it... wouldn't you also obsess? Try to prove yourself right? That place you escaped to isn't safe. For you, or anyone. You came to move on but what happens if you don't say anything and you're right? Jet is literally proven correct by Azula's infiltration. Enemy invaders infiltrating the city and taking over Ba Sing Se. He just... happened to get the wrong fire nation people to obsess over. Thank you for this video!
I consider hama as tragic if not more tragic than jet but anyways I still don't think jet is irredeemable because like you said he himself wasn't a bad person His circumstances just stopped him from being cured from his obsession and he was misguided I won't call him irredeemable when he didn't get the chance to get help for his trauma or obsession When he died he died trying to do something good but ultimately got brainwashed and didn't save appa like he wanted
Maybe it's a childhood thing, I didn't like him at all as a kid. But now I understand and don't dislike him as much. Some of the fandom might still be young or don't think enough lmao
We didn't see much of jet as we saw with azula but I do think jet is a good character. Unlike azula jet at some point did want to change he also admitted that he was blinded by revenge. Also he is not a complete evil or bad guy He did some good things and he did some bad things. That is the type of character we can call morally grey He is not a complete bad guy but he is not a complete good guy. The existence of jet is here very important in avatar the last airbender because it shows us how not everything is black and white. Was jet the most tragic character? To be honest I don't know Zuko is the most tragic in terms of harsh experiences. When it comes to how the character ended up mentally I will say azula since she literally went insane and kept hallucinating. So in terms of how tragic the character ended up mentally it is azula. But when it comes to a character 's fate it is jet. Jet died before getting rid of his hatred for the fire nation. It is pretty sad because if jet just saw how the war stopped and how the fire nation had a good person like zuko who helped stopping the war Jet would have felt peace inside him and lived a normal happy life.
Part of the reason avatar is amazing is because the character’s are complex! Jet is no exception, he attempts horrific things but also does heroic things too Not saying all his actions are justified or good but ppl are rarely all good or all evil, and the show reflects in so many characters which is why I love it so much.
hi edit:look i didnt like jet but that has more to do with his personality being annoying to me personally than whether or not he was a "good" character. jet wasnt a bad person at all. he did bad things, but he had reasoning, and he did feel remorse in the end. he deserved redemption (which he sorta got). but about knowing whether he would do something bad-yeah i knew the minute I saw those eyebrows he was gonna do something bad I mean come on- also yeah katara can be a hypocrite. at a lot of points. i like her but she annoyed me a bit-also a little bcuz she was so motherly and I tend to get annoyed by that (I guess I'm being a hypocrite considering I pull a mystic messenger rfa every time I talk to my friends-"hAvE yOu eAteN yEt? driNk mOre wAteR! yOu nEed sLeEp!" but yknow) also yeah I agree about hama. tbh I would probably have done the same thing (even if only to escape and not to kill people after that)... i don't think bloodbending is inherently evil. it can be used for evil, sure, but it's a tool that could even be used to end a fight peacefully-if someone's attacking you, for example, you don't even have to hurt them, you can just stop them from moving. edit 2: I was the first comment! well that's a......... first 😎 edit 3: wow this comment just got progressively longer. but anyway yeah I agree with you on everything except liking jet (he's not a bad person, I just don't like him) and thinking azula had redemption potential.
So really glad i came across this video as there is a ATLA TTRPG coming out later this year and i have been writing a plot for my friends that places jet as the primary antagonist set well after zuko becomes firelord. Before anyone comes after me saying "But jet died!" I think Sokka said it best when asked what happened to Jet, "Unclear."
I think a big reason to why some people hate jet but want redemption for someone like azula is the element of betrayal. Me personally I am more forgiving to a villain I never trusted or had a bond with than a character who was a friend or ally. Azula, while clearly needed therapy, was never a good guy, she wasn't even that nice to her friends so whenever she did anything bad there wasn't really a personal element involved, it's like expecting a selfish person to be selfish, nothing unusual. This mentality also spreads to zuko. I know that he did a betrayal but at that point of the story he was not really an ally yet. If anything we hated what he did to iroh, not the gang. However Jet was a friend to the gang at least for a short time and if he wasn't so vengeful or even if he had time to better himself y'know he would gladly be involved in the final fight against the fire lord. I suppose at his core, jet is an ally of the avatar and could've fought alongside them but due to his own agenda he betrayed them in the first episode. I mean ignoring the dam situation, he manipulate the two to think sokka was wrong (or stupid) then literally used the two pacifists of the group to drown a whole village. Even before he saw the gang as the enemy, jet had already tried to use them and betrayed their trust as their friend and that is much worst than an enemy trying to kill them, at least I think it is.
Seeing jet go for a soccer kick to an old mans face had me shook as a kid. Something about a kick to the face of a person ur holding down seems so dark 😭 Jet definitely curb stomped a few firebenders 😅😅
Jet is far from a bad person. He's a look at what happens when you aren't the main character and have to fight the bad guys. He's a look at what happens when you can't bounce on an air bison with things get ugly. He's a look at what happen when you don't have magical powers and have to get your hands dirty. Jet is real. Aang is literally a fantasy.
It's simple. Azula was wrong, but that didn't stop her when she's right. Jet was right, but he was wrong. Hell, _Hama_ was right, but _she_ was wrong. I mean, attacking random citizens, and not military personnel? Messengers? Scouts? I get where it's coming from but what the _hell._ Atleast Katara made a friggin B-line to the guy who killed her mother, and _specifically_ him. Even if she'd gone through with it, or atleast _hurt_ him, she'd have crossed a line, yes, but... Not the wrong one. Spearing her mothers' killer would never turn her into Hama, let alone Azula, or even Jet. It's simply just that. TMW, you're right, but you're wrong. I mean, killing the firelord would have been right, even if it's wrong. If not, it never would've been portrayed as an option. Possibly the _only_ one. EDIT: Also, a personal note? Revenge is best left as a secondary motivator. If hypothetically, a _giant raptor of a hawk_ swooped down and took your child right outta your arms, you know it'll do it again next time it gets hungry. You can _figuratively_ kill two birds with one stone, by trying to shoot the damn thing down on sight. Protect others, and get yours. It's the lesson that Sokka's view, should always be the one to moderate Jet's. If you're beset by dark clouds, don't forget the silver lining. That bit of light at the edge.
I think Jet is one of the best well written anti heroes in pop culture, he was consumed by hatred for the things that the fire nation did to him and then he fired back, a similar case was shown in ww2 where the british were bombarded by the germans and with it 40,000 civilians died, then in 1945 the british had there revenge by bombing Dresden (a major city in Germany) and consequently 25,000 german civilians died. The actions of Britain weren't justified and shouldn't be but they were understood, this is the same thing with Jet, to show this, in later episodes we see his death and along with it, his redemption, this way him dying was way more sad and Impactful. The philosophy of redemption and revenge were all included in a kids show, this is writing at it's best.
And my mom thinks me being too lazy to do anything is a bad thing. Yeah I could seek revenge for the person who wrong me but… their too far and the plan would require me to think for a long time
Okay about azula and jet they kinda did the same actions but their mentality is different. I usually don't like characters who want revenge that's not to mean they are bad but writing them is not usually done right. I was annoyed by katara when she went searching for her mother 's killer even if she had a reason I liked it that she learned her lesson in the end but I was always asking myself why she hated the man who killed her mother I mean I know he killed her mother but he was obeying orders , wasn't he? so why didn't she hate the fire nation a whole that will make more sense. That's why for me it makes sense why jet thinks like that because when his parents died he blame all the people in the fire nation because those warriors who killed his parents just obeyed the orders and of course the warriors themselves did such awful act so I would understand where his mentality came from.
@@Hamzakarim-1I think fandom is split between Azula haters and those who have sympathy. The main reason I think many have sympathy for Azula is because her downfall is tragic and was portrayed in such way. Neither Zuko nor Katara felt sense of triumph. In addition if you read the comics and look closely, you can see some glimpses of potential change in Azula. Wishing her to be better is not the same as excusing her actions. Zuko betrayed everyone at Ba Sing Se in crossroads of destiny. And sent an assassin after team avatar. We understand why he did all this, but in no way it means excusing actions. I do admit there those in the fandom who excuse Azulas actions, however there are those who are not and they see potential to change in Azula.
I think would annoys people about Jet is how he comes off as a delusional hypocrite that betrayed the team’s trust in the first episode. So glad that they gave him his redemption arc
Jet is an incredibly nuanced character, but I can't consider him a good character. He is truly not evil, but despite his understandable trauma, he fell from being a good character
Im glad someone finally said it! People sh*t on jet while praise azula and i never understood why. They both had very real reasons for doing the things they did but one gets hated by the fandom while the other one gets praised like???
I like both Azula and Jet.
And smellerbee and longshot
In my own view, the only characters (and this extends to real people, as well) who cannot be redeemed are the people who don't want to be redeemed. While Jet may not want to be redeemed, it doesn't seem like Azula does, either.
She believes everyone is plotting to take power from her, because all she's ever done is plot to take power from others. She's fully immersed in Ozai's ideology, and not simply because she seeks approval. She has made this ideology of hegemony her own because it resonated with her.
Now, I've only seen the show, I haven't read the comics, so I don't know what happens after all that. But from what I've seen, I don't envision her having an introspection of any sort, so I think she's at least as deserving of hatred as Jet (which is a debatable amount to begin with.)
But Azula's a yandere waifu (meant as tongue-in-cheek) so she gets a pass, I guess.
@@AngelicusEXperiment im going to have to disagree with you about what you said about jet not wanting to be redeemed. In the show jet did say that he was moving to ba sing se to start a new and become a better person. Now did he go through with what he said. No. But thats life for ya, which makes him interesting for me. I think this shows the viewer the uglier side of reality. Not everyone gets a clear cut character arc. There are times when we as people want to change but end up just going back to our old destructive habits, like if we say we’re going to diet but end up going right back to overeating right after we see the next delicious looking thing. Hell, even zuko had the same thing happen to him, yet we praise him for how he shows realism but ridicule jet for doing the same thing. And im not saying that azula and zuko should get hate for their parallels to jet but moreso that jet shouldnt get hate for being a kid that made some stupid mistakes
I think it’s the philosophy that everyone loves a good villain, which Azula definitely is. Jet is supposed to be a hero, and he almost killed women, children and old people. I like them both honestly, but I can see the thought process that may lead to such unfair bias.
I remember being really shocked seeing Jet get killed by Long Feng when I was a kid because I didn't think he deserved to. I always felt like he wasn't evil. He was just misguided. Granted, that's not an excuse for blowing up a whole village. I think he needed more friends/supportive group like the gaang to get him to heal, as everyone in team avatar had trauma they were carrying. I often wonder what his character development would have been like if he survived. I feel like his could have been one of the best in the series. Hell, he and Zuko may have been good friends in the end. Jet is the reminder to not let your hatred blind you.
I never thought jet was a bad character and he was such an interesting character. I don't see him as a character who has done nothing wrong but as a complex character
He's bad but he's not down with burning the whole world bad. He's bad because all he experienced was violence.
He was willing to literally kill innocents
@@mysticalkeyblade759we know but his backstory made him lke that
@@mysticalkeyblade759and
Whats sad about Jets animosity towards Zuko is the fact that in a better world, the two of them could have been best friends.
As someone that has been through several traumas, I understand what it's like to be blinded by rage and lust for revenge. As such, I always found Jet a very relatable character, and see him as a reminder to not be consumed by rage (no matter how justified).
I love jet and his character is awesome.
I hope you get lots of love ❤️
His death was really the main reason I fell in love with him. What makes his story so sad is that his own kingdom when the one that killed him, not the fire nation. After finishing season 2 I was like "damn fuck Zuko, Jet was pretty justified in being obsessed with getting him arrested". ANd how can you not feel bad for him knowing the fire nation ruined his life and seeing him get tortured and brainwashed in Ba Sing Se??
I didn't know there was so much hate for Jet. I always though his story was just sad. Saying he died for nothing and how he died to the last place he thought he could turn his life around, to his own nation.. never thought about it like that.
I’ve been a fan of AtLA for a long time and actually really liked Jet and his role. I didn’t realize the fandom hated him this much until much later (and I was confused af). Thank you for the analysis
I hated him the first time I saw him but when we saw him ba sing se I liked it
Same
Sameee
YEAH. I never saw the episodes in order and I missed Lake Laogai, so I didn't know he died 🤣 I kept waiting and waiting for him to show up every time an episode of Book 3 was on. And then some years later my brother said he died and I was in denial. I don't know why, but I've always liked him since I was kid which was way before I understood the tragedy of the life he had to live
More Jet love, it's funny I made one a few months ago and now I see this, really warms my heart more people are coming out defending Jet
thank you for spreading the good word ♥️ sounds like I need to watch your video next! :o
You know you're right. I was a Jet hater and Azula simp. Now I can see my own hypocrisy and bias. Thank you for this thoughtful analysis.
Wait why are people an azula simp. She's an interesting character. But intrinsically not very redeemable. Maybe I just don't get simp in this context.
Isn't azula 14?
@@jeltje50 Hard to say that about a child. Iroh changed as an adult and was waging war against innocent people and is considered a powerful bender and crazily respected amongst the Fire Nation in the beginning of the show. He had to have done some awful things. Azula is only 14. She has many more years to unlearn everything
@@grellsutcliffe8265you’re an idiot. You are the only one who is making it weird! You are not going to take into consideration that when this person was a Azula simp that he could have been that simp back when he was a teen himself or maybe he isn’t using the usual definite term of simp. Why do I say this? People call others retarded when they are trying to call them an idiot, stupid, moronic fool; people do use the actual definition of retarded these days and the same is said for simp.
Also, you aren’t going to take into consideration that when he said he was a simp for Azula he means in terms of loving her as a character due to her badass written direction as a villain in this series?
Your problem is that you only see Azula as just that? Underage and that the mere mention of anyone saying they live Azula, you immediately see it as an attraction . Or if someone said they had emphasis on HAD, a crush on Azula you would see them as loving her now instead of taking into account that they could’ve had a crush on her when they were teens themselves!! I don’t mean to sound condescending but use your damn brain, boy! Don’t see things in such a single narrow lens!
I absolutely love Jet. He’s such a great character. He has so much pain and trauma. Characters like him and Hama really show the trauma people go through during war and how their pain has manifested in their vengeance. While it’s wrong what Jet did, you feel for his pain. Like he lost both his parents at a very young age and he saw his whole village burned down and he gets brainwashed and then murdered. His story is so tragic. Such an underrated character! I would have loved if Jet didn’t die and joined Team Avatar. Then we could have had another potential Zuko and Jet storyline.
very eloquent, i must say i am a fan of this instead of jet being screamed at the earliest hours of the morning.
when she gets called out
Lol rip iron and I can't believe that he thought she was a man 🤣 lol
Jet is my favorite character in avatar the last Airbender too I have a huge crush on him and I cried when he died
I actually felt bad for jet, for all the wrong he did, he still helped team avatar until the end, despite being brainwashed, i understand how everyone could hate him in his first appearance, but i felt so bad for him after he came back, only to die
I didn't watch Avatar as a kid. I only got the chance to watch it as an adult (last year) and Jet was instantly my favorite character. So I was very disappointed to see the bad reception the 10th episode got. I think it really might be too nuanced for people who watched it as a kid, couldn't analyze it very well, and stuck with the show because they watched it when they were a kid. But it all changes when you view it for the first time from a more mature lens.
You completely nailed it when you said Jet had NO chance to redeem himself. I mean, look at how long that took for Zuko. Even with Iroh preaching to him since the first episode. You just don't get to clean your soul in a moment's notice, especially if all you have is yourself.
You played the clip multiple times in this video and I really like that scene, where Jet's expression suddenly changes when he sees Iroh firebending. It's not the expression of anger or sadness but genuine shock, fueled by his trauma. He sees every firebender as a threat because he's actually scared of them. Even if he's brave kid, he carries that fear when his village was attacked by firebenders.
This is my theory and I have no way of proving it but I believe his parents were burnt alive, they just couldn't imply that much since it's a kids show. I mean, how else a group of firebenders would raid and kill an entire village anyway? Same could be said for Katara's mom, but Katara didn't personally witness her death. Actually witnessing a cruel murder first hand definetly adds up to the trauma and extremism.
Jet's story have parallels with multiple characters and the general story itself, so it's disappointing to see people empathize with Zuko and Azula but can't do it with Jet, as if they don't get the point.
I always thought Jet was a great, underutilized character. But now that you've brought up the crimes of hypocrisy by Azula apologists, I cannot unsee your very good point... If you feel bad for Azula, you should feel even worse for Jet... He never got the chance to live his own life, that honor was stripped from him the moment the Fire Nation attacked...
I really liked Jet's arch, I just didn't vibe with him
YOU'RE RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD SAY IT
Jet is important because he gives the show nuance.
He shows the evils of the cycle of hatred war causes. That everyone is corrupted by war there's no clear good and bad side
Agreed. In war, it's easy for both sides to demonize the other, and 100 years is more than enough time for great hatred to foster. Jet was the byproduct of that hate.
Jets and the freedom fighters story arc was severely ignored by the writers for how deep and layered and JUICY it was
EDIT: @ 8:45 I am mourning 💔
I think one of the biggest issues is that Jet never really got a redemption arc, yes he helped team avatar at the end, but never let go of his prejudices or hatred in his heart. Considering how producers really thought out Zuko's arc, Jet's story is overshadowed by someone's who overcame it. It's not like people don't like him for no reason, its because he wasn't given the same thought as more complex characters like Sokka, Zuko or even Azula
No...I think he was just meant to represent (much like Azula and Hama) how badly war/abuse can affect people and how not everyone gets a happy ending. He’s a tragic character.
As someone who is gearing up to cosplay as jet along with my avatar group
-I love diving deep into the character and this video of jets character was super informative and well put together
GREAT VIDEO!!
Jet was my favorite character as a kid
We love our spike spiegal lookalike. Awesome video!
Be careful when fighting monsters, you don’t become one, for when you stare long enough into the abyss the abyss stares also into you..
Jet was annoying in the same way Zuko was annoying, people were just already too thirsty over Zuko at that point to admit it.
Jet is just Zuko if he got killed mid season 1
@@ameixa9432 true
Okay.
I like jet but comparing jet to zuko is not fair.
Zuko is intead a better character.
Jets always been my favourite character
Another distinction between Jet and Katara's experience is that Jet lives in an area where the war is still actively ongoing: Jet's had to live watching the Fire Nation attack other villages, Fire Nation soldiers occupying conquered villages, and Fire Nations colonists creating their own settlements or moving into conquered Earth Nation villages and displacing or oppressing the original inhabitants. There's also an interesting thing going on here in regards to the old Fire Nation man that Jet mugs. The old man himself is innocent but he's also an active participant in imperial colonization. He's not just some Earth Nation immigrant, he's part of a settling group of Fire Nation citizens moving into conquered Earth Nation territory to capitalize on new land and new natural resource opportunities at the detriment of the original Earth Nation inhabitants. It's not surprising that Jet has a negative perception of colonists even if they are citizens and not soldiers. The Fire Nation pretty much left the Southern Water Nation undisturbed since the last raid where Katara and Sokka's mother was killed. Sokka's never had to face citizens of a conquering nation coming in to steal land and natural resources from his people while turning his people into second-class citizens just like Katara hasn't lived through watching helplessly as the Fire Nation creates more Harus and Smellerbees and Longshots and the Dukes.
Another thing I wanted to mention is that Jet's concern over Iroh and Zuko was absolutely justified albeit he went about it in the wrong way. The audience often forgets that none of the others characters see Zuko's character progress or get to know Iroh. All Jet knows is that these two Firebender guys are pretending to be refugees and sneaking into the final bastion of safety for the Earth Kingdom. It's not unreasonable to try and get to the bottom of what these two Firebenders are doing there and what their intentions are.
Jet breaks my heart y’all. his battle with his character flaws is so well ingrained into the world. everything is a symptom of the war. seeing him hurt and fail himself and others leads him deeper and deeper into the conflict even while he makes attempts to escape the conflict. in the end he dies fighting.
“Gotta be quicker next time.” 😏
Yes I never understand people that don't hate Zuko or Azula but hate Jet
Tbh I agree he's a'lot more complex of a character layered as many others such as Azula and Zuko who I find similar to Jet and even Aang himself is a complex character too with a'lot of shades to his characterization
Hi, I’m late to this! but I really don’t understand when fandoms attack a character for their actions without considering their motivations or things they’ve been through to lead them to that point. Its the difference between understanding a character, and believing that their actions are justified. Just because jet is valid for hating on the fire nation does not mean that its okay for him to attack the innocent.
That being said, great video! you’ve inspired me to make my own video of a character deep dive, because I do have a lot to say about her and she also gets some backlash despite being the main character in the show. (You can probably guess from my profile picture who I am referring to lol). Great work on this avery!
Never really got the impression that he was irredeemable or anything. He always gave of sorta anti-hero vibes.
currently crying bc of this video. jet deserved so much better
Jet wasn't always my cup of tea. And not because he was a liar or traitor. ## ,it's not even really because of Katara's relationship with him 🙄.
It's simply how...Well ,simply he sees the world. He thinks he sees the whole picture. That he can play by the rules of sacrifice, even though he doesn't really know what sacrifice means. In his eyes, things lost are just taken. There's no further meaning to them.
That said,I was truly proud of him in his next appearance. He was growing up. Then Zuko,then Long Feng. Boy died like a legend.
your script is extremely concise and well reasoned, your voice/manner of speaking is analytical but not droning, and pleasant to listen to. you bring up a lot of good points about the characters as well as the hypocrisy within the fandom. i feel like i could listen to you talk about this show for hours. great watch, you definitely deserve more views/subs
What a beautiful video essay. I feel a little less crazy as someone who absolutely loves this character so much despite the fact that he's kinda shitty and morally ambiguous. Actually, probably BECAUSE he's morally ambiguous.
fun fact it's been confirmed that he actually gets mercy killed by long shot
I think it boils down to the fact that a lot of people do not appreciate and have no idea what war is, and what it does to people. Jet lost his community and family, and ended up all alone, and had to build himself up. I consider Jet to be most tragic of all the character. At end what is even sadder is he is reduced to a simple punchline in ember island players. You understand why he is this way without excusing his actions.
I sincerely believe jet had he survived could have potentially become a better person, if he got proper guidance and support. It would be very challenging, but with time and effort Jet might get past his hatred of fire nation.
And also Jet did not deserve any of this. He seems to be a good kid to whom life dealt a cruel blow. In case of Zuko or Azula, as tragic as their lives were they were still royalty, and in case of Azula no matter how tragic her downfall is, in sense she got her just deserts.
I love hearing Avery rant
This was a super good video, and very very well spoken and made.
Jet deserved better, he was troubled and when he was about to get his redemption, he was killed for it. I hope you do more of these kinds of analysis videos, this was the first serious media analysis video I've found enjoyable in a while
Would love to hear a video on Hana. Many people r quick to day she was in the wrong but I'm a apologist too. She is a also a very tragic character.
I hated Jet on the first viewing of the show, even after his death(?) scene, but on rewatching years later I realized that he was intended to be a tragic character rather than a villain and became a reflection of Zuko's character in his second appearance. So I appreciate him, though I still don't like him. If he was Katara's first kiss (which is news to me) then I like him a bit less as that would exploitative, but I hadn't considered your point that he fed and protected the kids in the freedom fighters to a pretty amazing degree for a teenager. He wins a few points from me there.
When I was a kid I loved Jet, he was so interesting to me even from a young age (also little me was a huge simp) and I could never understand the hate he got, even now I think people are a little dumb for just labeling him as "crazy ba guy" so this video was a helpful explanation
Avatar the last Airbender and i love jet and he is my favorite character,
Yea i love jet as a character, it hurt when he died. I know he was deeply deeply flawed but i feel like he was on the road to redemption. And would have made a great ally to the Gaang at some point. Shit to took Zuko 2 full seasons to truly come around.
I’m glad someone is finally seeing this
I completely 100& agree with everything you said about Jet. Always have. I honestly thought most of the fandom did as well as his character's complexities and narrative purpose is easy to understand imo. Jet is one of my top favorite characters from Avatar, I love the morally gray sauvé antagonist/anti-heroes! I really do!
Kinda with you on this like people go on and on about how Azula was just dealt a bad hand but can't spare Jet anything
i mean i thought when Sokka says ____ at 4:34 it was pretty hot. ... but we don't need to talk about that 🥺
just finished avatar today so this is great timing 😂
You must make your case about Hama! It’d be very interesting to hear your insight.
My main reason for disliking him is because he got with Katara lmao 😂😭 good video tho :)
honestly, I'm kinda upset the writers didn't delve further into the relationship between Zuko and Jet, that could've been one of the most interesting on the entire show.
Nice analysis video, a close friend of mine recommended this video to me.
This is a pretty good video, love this!
Fantastic analysis! Would love to see more
Jet was a great character, I didn’t know he had hate. For one, his design is an amazing homage to Spike Spiegel and Mugen. Second, it was nice to have someone in the grey for the show. His motivations made sense but his methods were wrong. A character being wrong doesn’t make them a bad character. The show is better for Jet’s inclusion.
Thank you for pointing out his age, the years of trauma, the lack of a support network or authority figure or guidance (especially in aspects like self soothing, emotional regulation, etc after trauma) and the insane amount of responsibility he had during those fundamental years.
I'd also like to say that if you were this traumatised, and in a war, and you were a refugee to a city that was the only stronghold and safe place against the enemy of that war and you believed that two of the enemy had infilitrated it... wouldn't you also obsess? Try to prove yourself right? That place you escaped to isn't safe. For you, or anyone. You came to move on but what happens if you don't say anything and you're right?
Jet is literally proven correct by Azula's infiltration. Enemy invaders infiltrating the city and taking over Ba Sing Se. He just... happened to get the wrong fire nation people to obsess over.
Thank you for this video!
Jet and azula are both children who are products of war and it’s too in the face for most people but azula is seen as younger and thus salvageable
One of the best videos I’ve seen on this platform thanks. This should be taught in psychology classes
I consider hama as tragic if not more tragic than jet but anyways
I still don't think jet is irredeemable because like you said he himself wasn't a bad person
His circumstances just stopped him from being cured from his obsession and he was misguided
I won't call him irredeemable when he didn't get the chance to get help for his trauma or obsession
When he died he died trying to do something good but ultimately got brainwashed and didn't save appa like he wanted
Jet reminds me of Saw Gerrera from "The Clone Wars" a lot (both shows directed by Dave Filoni)
Wait…people commonly hate on Jet in the fandom?
…then what fandom have I been chilling in? 😳
Maybe it's a childhood thing, I didn't like him at all as a kid. But now I understand and don't dislike him as much. Some of the fandom might still be young or don't think enough lmao
This video is insanely good
I'm so happy that someone finally is protecting Jet and not shitting him. Thank you.
We didn't see much of jet as we saw with azula but I do think jet is a good character.
Unlike azula jet at some point did want to change he also admitted that he was blinded by revenge.
Also he is not a complete evil or bad guy
He did some good things and he did some bad things.
That is the type of character we can call morally grey
He is not a complete bad guy but he is not a complete good guy.
The existence of jet is here very important in avatar the last airbender because it shows us how not everything is black and white.
Was jet the most tragic character?
To be honest I don't know
Zuko is the most tragic in terms of harsh experiences.
When it comes to how the character ended up mentally I will say azula since she literally went insane and kept hallucinating.
So in terms of how tragic the character ended up mentally it is azula.
But when it comes to a character 's fate it is jet.
Jet died before getting rid of his hatred for the fire nation.
It is pretty sad because if jet just saw how the war stopped and how the fire nation had a good person like zuko who helped stopping the war
Jet would have felt peace inside him and lived a normal happy life.
i respect you so much bro
sooooooo, when is the freedom fighters comic coming ??
All in due time babey
Part of the reason avatar is amazing is because the character’s are complex! Jet is no exception, he attempts horrific things but also does heroic things too
Not saying all his actions are justified or good but ppl are rarely all good or all evil, and the show reflects in so many characters which is why I love it so much.
hi
edit:look i didnt like jet but that has more to do with his personality being annoying to me personally than whether or not he was a "good" character. jet wasnt a bad person at all. he did bad things, but he had reasoning, and he did feel remorse in the end. he deserved redemption (which he sorta got). but about knowing whether he would do something bad-yeah i knew the minute I saw those eyebrows he was gonna do something bad I mean come on-
also yeah katara can be a hypocrite. at a lot of points. i like her but she annoyed me a bit-also a little bcuz she was so motherly and I tend to get annoyed by that (I guess I'm being a hypocrite considering I pull a mystic messenger rfa every time I talk to my friends-"hAvE yOu eAteN yEt? driNk mOre wAteR! yOu nEed sLeEp!" but yknow)
also yeah I agree about hama. tbh I would probably have done the same thing (even if only to escape and not to kill people after that)... i don't think bloodbending is inherently evil. it can be used for evil, sure, but it's a tool that could even be used to end a fight peacefully-if someone's attacking you, for example, you don't even have to hurt them, you can just stop them from moving.
edit 2: I was the first comment! well that's a......... first 😎
edit 3: wow this comment just got progressively longer. but anyway yeah I agree with you on everything except liking jet (he's not a bad person, I just don't like him) and thinking azula had redemption potential.
I don’t like azula she doesn’t dersve redemption, she is a monster.
Thank you for this video
I think Katara had every right to kill the man that killed her mother..
So really glad i came across this video as there is a ATLA TTRPG coming out later this year and i have been writing a plot for my friends that places jet as the primary antagonist set well after zuko becomes firelord. Before anyone comes after me saying "But jet died!" I think Sokka said it best when asked what happened to Jet, "Unclear."
5:56 Sokka was 10× the man Jet was. Principled, strong, compassionate, fearless, and honestly? Suave af in his own way. Don't diss Sokka like that. 😞
omg Jet saw Zuko's Scar and literally took it at FACE value
Great video!
Jet was one of those characters I could never form an opinion on because the ends and the means were too close.
I think a big reason to why some people hate jet but want redemption for someone like azula is the element of betrayal.
Me personally I am more forgiving to a villain I never trusted or had a bond with than a character who was a friend or ally.
Azula, while clearly needed therapy, was never a good guy, she wasn't even that nice to her friends so whenever she did anything bad there wasn't really a personal element involved, it's like expecting a selfish person to be selfish, nothing unusual.
This mentality also spreads to zuko. I know that he did a betrayal but at that point of the story he was not really an ally yet. If anything we hated what he did to iroh, not the gang.
However Jet was a friend to the gang at least for a short time and if he wasn't so vengeful or even if he had time to better himself y'know he would gladly be involved in the final fight against the fire lord.
I suppose at his core, jet is an ally of the avatar and could've fought alongside them but due to his own agenda he betrayed them in the first episode. I mean ignoring the dam situation, he manipulate the two to think sokka was wrong (or stupid) then literally used the two pacifists of the group to drown a whole village. Even before he saw the gang as the enemy, jet had already tried to use them and betrayed their trust as their friend and that is much worst than an enemy trying to kill them, at least I think it is.
Great video.
Jet reminds me of Gale Hawthorne from The Hunger Games.
Seeing jet go for a soccer kick to an old mans face had me shook as a kid. Something about a kick to the face of a person ur holding down seems so dark 😭
Jet definitely curb stomped a few firebenders 😅😅
Jet is far from a bad person. He's a look at what happens when you aren't the main character and have to fight the bad guys. He's a look at what happens when you can't bounce on an air bison with things get ugly. He's a look at what happen when you don't have magical powers and have to get your hands dirty. Jet is real. Aang is literally a fantasy.
It's simple. Azula was wrong, but that didn't stop her when she's right.
Jet was right, but he was wrong. Hell, _Hama_ was right, but _she_ was wrong.
I mean, attacking random citizens, and not military personnel? Messengers? Scouts? I get where it's coming from but what the _hell._ Atleast Katara made a friggin B-line to the guy who killed her mother, and _specifically_ him. Even if she'd gone through with it, or atleast _hurt_ him, she'd have crossed a line, yes, but... Not the wrong one. Spearing her mothers' killer would never turn her into Hama, let alone Azula, or even Jet.
It's simply just that.
TMW, you're right, but you're wrong.
I mean, killing the firelord would have been right, even if it's wrong. If not, it never would've been portrayed as an option. Possibly the _only_ one.
EDIT:
Also, a personal note? Revenge is best left as a secondary motivator. If hypothetically, a _giant raptor of a hawk_ swooped down and took your child right outta your arms, you know it'll do it again next time it gets hungry. You can _figuratively_ kill two birds with one stone, by trying to shoot the damn thing down on sight. Protect others, and get yours.
It's the lesson that Sokka's view, should always be the one to moderate Jet's. If you're beset by dark clouds, don't forget the silver lining. That bit of light at the edge.
no fucking way you said Zuko's weird ass proverb in a way that makes sense damn
1) You're Right And You Should Say It and 2) I DEMAND A HAMA APOLOGIST SEQUEL VIDEO
Jet's would be a tragic hero if he had his own show.
I think Jet is one of the best well written anti heroes in pop culture, he was consumed by hatred for the things that the fire nation did to him and then he fired back, a similar case was shown in ww2 where the british were bombarded by the germans and with it 40,000 civilians died, then in 1945 the british had there revenge by bombing Dresden (a major city in Germany) and consequently 25,000 german civilians died. The actions of Britain weren't justified and shouldn't be but they were understood, this is the same thing with Jet, to show this, in later episodes we see his death and along with it, his redemption, this way him dying was way more sad and Impactful. The philosophy of redemption and revenge were all included in a kids show, this is writing at it's best.
say do you think jet would accept the end of war and the fire nation?
or would he end up like gilak but worse?
And my mom thinks me being too lazy to do anything is a bad thing. Yeah I could seek revenge for the person who wrong me but… their too far and the plan would require me to think for a long time
Its my birthday sheesh
Jet is the most criminally underrated character in the series he should have been in season 3 so Jet can see how wrong he was.
FACTS!
also discord gang ✌
Okay about azula and jet they kinda did the same actions but their mentality is different.
I usually don't like characters who want revenge that's not to mean they are bad but writing them is not usually done right.
I was annoyed by katara when she went searching for her mother 's killer even if she had a reason I liked it that she learned her lesson in the end but I was always asking myself why she hated the man who killed her mother I mean I know he killed her mother but he was obeying orders , wasn't he?
so why didn't she hate the fire nation a whole that will make more sense.
That's why for me it makes sense why jet thinks like that because when his parents died he blame all the people in the fire nation because those warriors who killed his parents just obeyed the orders and of course the warriors themselves did such awful act so I would understand where his mentality came from.
Jet is what zuko could have been if iroh didn’t go with him to find the avatar
"If you're going to stan Azula" have people been doing that? This is news to me
The atla fandom is full of azula appologists
@@Hamzakarim-1I think fandom is split between Azula haters and those who have sympathy. The main reason I think many have sympathy for Azula is because her downfall is tragic and was portrayed in such way. Neither Zuko nor Katara felt sense of triumph. In addition if you read the comics and look closely, you can see some glimpses of potential change in Azula. Wishing her to be better is not the same as excusing her actions. Zuko betrayed everyone at Ba Sing Se in crossroads of destiny. And sent an assassin after team avatar. We understand why he did all this, but in no way it means excusing actions.
I do admit there those in the fandom who excuse Azulas actions, however there are those who are not and they see potential to change in Azula.
wait some folks actually defend azula?
I think would annoys people about Jet is how he comes off as a delusional hypocrite that betrayed the team’s trust in the first episode. So glad that they gave him his redemption arc
Jet is an incredibly nuanced character, but I can't consider him a good character. He is truly not evil, but despite his understandable trauma, he fell from being a good character
OP simps for Jet 😏😂