Why Azula is the Most Tragic Character in Avatar: The Last Airbender (Avatar Analysis)

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  • Опубліковано 27 лис 2024

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  • @SirMarshalHaig
    @SirMarshalHaig 5 років тому +162

    I think in the last Agni Kai they both faced a mirror image of themself. Azula saw her brother, strong in his firebending, but also with someone at his side, while she was all alone, weakened in her bending and defeated by her own mind. And Suko saw the madness that he had escaped. And they both could have ended in each other´s place under different circumstances. Not easily, they were not the same personalities, but Suko could have been totally corrupted by Ozai and Azula could have been turned away from her path by Iroh and the world outside the Fire Nation. And that´s the tragedy I see here. The total destruction of someone´s mind, who could have found her way, just like we have seen with Zuko. And I believe she realized that at least partially in the moment she started to cry.

    • @theonejosh
      @theonejosh 4 роки тому +4

      Zuko*

    • @36moshpit7
      @36moshpit7 3 роки тому +5

      Frick dude, I think you're right. When Zuko was healed by Katara, maybe Azula saw a mirror of her own situation after Ty-Lee Chi Blocked her at the Boiling Rock, except instead of a loyal friend helping her to her feet, she had her two best friends betray and try to get away from her. She realizes her life was built on a house of cards, that she has no one, and that breaks her.
      I've always seen the parallels between them, but it never clicked that Azula might've seen them too.

  • @johngreen8344
    @johngreen8344 4 роки тому +36

    I don’t understand how so many people put up the defence of ‘Azula was bad from the start, so she deserved what she got.’ It is so incredibly reductive and dismissive of the influence she was under. Ozai never allowed her to create her own path. Once she started to show her natural proclivity for firebending, he made sure to do everything in his power to remove every obstacle in her path, so that she could be his successor. Once Azulon demanded Zuko’s life as punishment for Ozai’s would be usurpation, Ozai would’ve been skipping away with the thought. He had no regard for anyone who stood in his way. He weaponised his ‘love’, to the point where it was awarded as a sick prize for the child who could prove themselves worthy of his time.
    Unfortunately, Ursa could see that she didn’t have the power to pierce through the fog of deceit that Ozai instilled into Azula. For a show that expressly states how anyone can be capable of good and evil, it is so saddening to see just how little sympathy or respect is afforded to Azula. Just as Harleen Quinzel has her life stolen away from her, so to did Azula lose the chance to make up her own mind on what she wanted to be, before she ever had any real say in the matter. For as one note as Ozai is portrayed in the final episodes, the depth of his malevolency is gleaned from the vile effects of his influence over Zuko and Azula. Ursa saw that she could save Zuko from the worst of Ozai’s cutting insults and burning anger, but she couldn’t see anything in Azula that could be saved, due to how effectively Ozai had imposed his influence over her. Ursa didn’t see Azula as the monster. She saw the inferno of Ozai’s malignancy that had consumed her daughter and she called it by its name.
    Azula deserved better. She deserved to go to parties and have a good time, to play volleyball on the beach without worrying about whether she wins or loses. She never should have had to command armies or lay siege to cities in the name of her father. Azula deserved a life where she could make her own choices, rather than being reduced to clinging to the hem of Ozai’s robes, to carry out his commands and clutch at the titles he sheds off, while he forged himself into a figurehead. Just like a Phoenix, Ozai burned away any last niggling traces of familial connection, along with the sad remains of his own humanity, only to rise as a wild and untameable force of nature. Azula was so certain she’d had him wrapped around her finger, only to see how it had been her that he’d been keeping in his top pocket, allowing her to marvel at the view, before dismissing her as though dropping a used Weapon. Azula deserved to be happy. On her terms. Without Ozai’s whispered poison in her ear.

    • @AndalusianPhilosopher
      @AndalusianPhilosopher 2 роки тому

      I agree. I think a lot of it has to do with people who themselves has been abused and manipulated and in their mind people who abused them resemble Azula. I understand them. When you are abused, it clouds your judgement. I have been in this situation myself when I had blind rage and hatred. In addition Azula has said some truly horrible things. Watching with glee when Zuko got his face burned. Taunting Zuko that Ozai is going to kill him. When you see something like this you are overtaken by blind hatred. When I see villains in various tv shows or movies doing bad things, I often find myself enraged and root for their demise on initial viewing. When you are enraged, you lose your mind.
      Also in episode Avatar and Firelord when Aang explains what happened with Roku and Sozin, and how Sozin betrayed Roku, Toph does say it's like these people are born bad. It shows how people react when they first hear of such stories. I think you really need to dig deeper, you really need to think and analyze Azula in order to understand her, but it is difficult when watching the show and seeing some of the Azulas actions. Also another factor is Azula was written as a foil to Zuko in the show.
      So I understand and get it why people think the way they do. I am for Azula redemption and her having a happy ending. In the show and comics looking closely you see that Azula has a spark of more tender side. Creators did say in one of their interviews that Azula does a have soft side which is buried deep. You really have to read between the lines. And it is difficult for people. Also for those who claim Azula cannot be redeemed should ask a question: what if it was your sibling? What if you were in Zukos place? When push comes to shove would you abandon your loved one or give up on your siblings?
      I cannot speak for everyone. However I do know that Dante Basco voice actor for Zuko did say regarding Azula redemption that he has siblings in real life, and you root for your siblings.

  • @chrisdinas1151
    @chrisdinas1151 4 роки тому +34

    To me The beach episode is one of the most tragic one for azula if not the most just because she is so war-raised that she cannot act like a normal person in her age. Although it is played as a joke the voleyball game and the kiss she has in the episode everytime i see them I can't help but feel incredibly sad for her.

  • @אוררובין
    @אוררובין 4 роки тому +71

    I don't think Ursa is the one who loves Azula between her and Zuko-9:37. She had to love her because she was her daughter, but she didn't like her, and she always criticized her, in her face. A mother's love is so important to children's self-confidence, and Ursa probably loved Azula deep down, but Azula could never see it because all she got from her mother was the impression that she was a monster, and treating someone like a monster could turn someone into a monster (frozen ahem) and that is something very dangerous for a girl with complexes like Azula. The way she is a victim is not like her victims whom she chose to attack, but she is imprisoned in her own mind, she is the victim of her self-destructive consciousness, and her cruel father, and her disgusted mother, and her messed up nation. And the one who truly understood her and even while understanding her madness loved her was Zuko, they both had an inner conflict throughout the series but Zuko was surrounded by love so he chose love and Azola was surrounded by hatred and fear so she chose hate and fear.eventually she needed to be The better person to escape the evil within her, but she is not that kind of person, she is the kind of person who calculates emotions and situations, and she distances herself from emotions. She did not have to be the kind of person who enjoys others suffering, but she was suffering so everyone around her had to suffer as well, and she was the princess so she had the power to make them suffer. maybe she would always choose this path but she didn't really have much choice between options. The path of evil was set for her And she had no one to reach out to help her, most of all I feel sorry for her.

  • @morrisonscott1139
    @morrisonscott1139 5 років тому +64

    It's highly possible that Ozai's the one who made Azula think that Ursa feared and despised Azula and it's possible that during Azula's crazy ideas in smoke and shadows actually came from Ozai and he instructed her to do these things while speaking to each other privately during the search. so her issues in both comic trilogies is because she still believes and trusts in Ozai. All these things highlights the ultimate difference between Ozai and Azula: Azula thinks she can be like her father and emulates him, his cruelty, and his philosophies...but never realizes why his ideas work for him and not her. Ozai's mentality only works because he has no friends, no love for his family at all (not even Azula) and thus, no problems eradicating people at the blink of an eye or dealing with a traitor in his ranks. Betrayal means nothing but a swift death for the traitor. Azula, on the other hand, cannot stomach betrayal at all and becomes unhinged quickly at being betrayed by anyone. In turn, this leads her to a life of paranoia, constantly thinking there's a knife to her back or an arrow aimed at her head. Azula's (admittedly twisted) love for her brother and (at the time) trust in her friends makes her a complete contradiction to what she professed she wants. the only person she loves and trusts is now just Ozai. There needs to be a comic trilogy (two if necessary) where these possibilities are true and Ozai destroys that trust. This would cause Azula to go further down in her madness as Aaron Ehasz wanted but Ozai's reasons for betraying Azula would contrast greatly to the reasons why Mai, Ty lee and Zuko decide to betray Azula. In there case, the reasons why Zuko betrays her is because Iroh showed him truths that Zuko couldn't see before and that spreading fear and hate are not the way to do things, why Mai then betrays Azula is because she trusts and loves Zuko more then she fears Azula and finally why Ty lee backstabs Azula (kinda close to being literally) is that Azula threatened to kill Mai (that and maybe Mai inspired Ty lee to rely more on love then hate) Ozai does leave Azula behind and made the title "fire-lord" look obsolete but he still manipulates her into trusting in his wisdom (probably even gave the "we can rule together" speech at some point off screen) so when Ozai betrays her for real, it could be because she failed to kill Ursa while she had the chance, failing to keep the homeland safe from Zuko and Katara, confesses that Ozai lied about Ursa not loving Azula and thought of her as a monster, after Ozai escapes and plans to overthrow the world into chaos along side Zhi Bao and the entire new Ozai society and renaming that society the red lotus and doesn't need Azula anymore, and tries to kill Azula as a result or all of the above. This betrayals would utterly destroy her, all her worst and greatest fears have now been realized, and truly reaches the bottom of her abyss but then Zuko comes in and puts everything he learned from Iroh to the test and he tells her that no matter how bad and messed up their family is, he'll never turn his back on her and would always be wise and loving to Azula alongside Ursa shortly after and Azula takes all that to heart and decides to learn to have compassion. And I think Aang would be the first to forgive her due to his belief that everyone deserves a second chance and trusts Zuko's way of thinking. This of course would still come with some problems. For one thing, Azula may push Zuko away multiple times and are many others who won't be so easily forgiving, the whole ordeal would be longer and far more complicated then Zuko as to be expected and Azula would probably have to stand trial for what she's done, Azula may come off as weird an awkward, even more so then how she was in the beach because she has no clear idea how to be the new Azula. All her life she believed fear and control were the natural order of things, so to learn to be a moral empathetic person would require her to invent a new image of herself. It would be very challenging for her and would go through an identity crisis and her hard work to regain the trust of others and being integrated into the group just doubles the challenge. They may try to do a 12 angry men parody like they did with footloose. Ultimately, Azula succeeds in being redeemed and once again fights along side team avatar against Ozai and the red lotus.

  • @moonwalkerforlife6899
    @moonwalkerforlife6899 4 роки тому +60

    And this is why I want a season 4

    • @shadyrain1206
      @shadyrain1206 4 роки тому +3

      Me. Too.

    • @teateakira5971
      @teateakira5971 3 роки тому +2

      But instead we got that not to be named movie

    • @Juugrichkory
      @Juugrichkory 3 роки тому

      @@teateakira5971 facts

    • @seoul08
      @seoul08 3 роки тому

      The Search went a lot more into it

  • @Skalesthegoat
    @Skalesthegoat 4 роки тому +39

    It's even worse when you consider that Azula is only a child.

    • @gregzotter6189
      @gregzotter6189 3 роки тому +7

      And, even in the comics (where she finally regains her sanity), she NEVER gets redeemed. That's depressing.

    • @Skalesthegoat
      @Skalesthegoat 3 роки тому +1

      @@gregzotter6189 I know, with a lot of new stuff In production, I hope her story will be continued

    • @AndalusianPhilosopher
      @AndalusianPhilosopher 2 роки тому +1

      @@gregzotter6189 I see a lot of people keep saying this. Please keep in mind that the comics continue Azulas story up to 2 years after the end of the series. We still have long ways to go before flashbacks that we see in Legend of Korra. Never mind Korras time. There is a lot of unanswered time to what Azula has been doing in this time. Azulas redemption if creators do take this route will be longer and it will more complicated than Zukos. Azula has a lot of emotional baggage that she never been able to deal with in a healthy way. It will take time. Her redemption will not be linear, the same as Zukos. As of now we only know that Azula will be causing trouble to Zukos reighn for at least 4 more years after the Smoke and Shadow. Beyond that we simply do not know as of now how her story goes. Redemption is possible because we have such a long time before Korra. Who knows what Azula will go through. I know it will not be just Zuko. It will be Ursa who would want to help, Kiyi, Ikem. Even Avatar Aang might be able to help. He did express optimism that Azula can change. I believe the seeds of possible redemption has been planted by Zuko. When at the end of comic book the Search when Zuko tells Azula that he will love her no matter what, true Azula runs away. But if you look closely, you can see Zukos words had deep impact on Azula. As for Smoke and Shadow, it just shows that possible redemption will be difficult. Azula is not going to turn good overnight and in a straight line. Zuko certainly did not.
      Sadly her story has been left in the air for years. New RPG game delves in the time period between Aang and Korra up to 6 years, and there are still 64 years before events of Korra. So there are decades of unanswered questions about Azulas fate in canon as of now, and this will be like this for years, because creators did say the progress on new stories from Avatar Studios will be slow. We just have to wait and see.

    • @makiroll218
      @makiroll218 Рік тому

      @@AndalusianPhilosopherI didn’t read your long ass comment but I can see you spent time on it so I liked your comment 😂

  • @AnnieMacFlannie
    @AnnieMacFlannie 2 роки тому +6

    When I first saw Azula, I thought that "OMG! She is so evil!" But now that I've thought about and think of her "Oh my goodness... she is such a tragic villain" and the reason why she is a tragic villain is because she went through abuse, neglect, trauma, and unwanted attention from her father, mother, and everyone that feared her

  • @monstermoo4191
    @monstermoo4191 4 роки тому +8

    This was my first video of yours and I just wanna say that intro was incredibly well-written 😮.

  • @edrolick1
    @edrolick1 4 роки тому +9

    your video essays are impressive and insightful, and worded very very well. thanks for the awesome avatar content 🙏🏽💕

  • @princessazula6679
    @princessazula6679 5 років тому +41

    She's my second favourite villian

  • @methujeraya
    @methujeraya 4 роки тому +8

    Are you WAKANDA-ing while talking? 18:30

  • @Spido68_the_spectator
    @Spido68_the_spectator 4 роки тому +12

    Pride IS the opposite of shame, but can defenetly be its source.

    • @fernandouseodysee5027
      @fernandouseodysee5027 3 роки тому +2

      I was thinking if that is true or not but then I think about something else. What you said is true, pride and shame are opposites and pride is the source of shame, but... In any other language, Is there a different word for internal pride vs external pride?
      I don´t know, like in the show the word "Honor"; Suko at the begining seek for Honor and he thought it was something that would be given externally, but at the end Suko says that Honor was something given by himself by doing what it is right. I don´t know if the confusion could be that there is something like external pride vs internal pride but in our language we call both pride, but in another language these have different words.
      I don´t know. Maybe I am making this up.

    • @fightingmedialounge519
      @fightingmedialounge519 Рік тому

      I'd say pride is more the opposite of humility.

    • @Spido68_the_spectator
      @Spido68_the_spectator Рік тому

      @@fightingmedialounge519 yup

  • @rkaiser1333
    @rkaiser1333 3 роки тому +5

    This is...so fuckign tragic because the way you describe azula? Is me. Maybe I have natural tendencies towards cruelty and pride--its completely possible--but i also had people growing up who would counter those tendencies in me, rather than encourage them. If i hadn't...i would have turned out like azula, too.

  • @kobzarivna
    @kobzarivna 5 років тому +7

    Great video! Very smart thoughts.

  • @jonathanmichaelsmith9012
    @jonathanmichaelsmith9012 3 роки тому +3

    Regarding the fourth season, "we was robbed".

  • @pointseventhree
    @pointseventhree 4 роки тому +4

    Great analysis and video

  • @shaylianna_2003
    @shaylianna_2003 3 роки тому +5

    I can’t get over how they thought that shit movie would be better then a season 4.

  • @chulol7935
    @chulol7935 4 роки тому +5

    bruh... i wrote about this and i had literally the exact same title

  • @Yolabian
    @Yolabian Рік тому

    16:30 People tend to forget that Azula’s mental collapse starts immediately after her friends betray her. It’s unfortunate, because if she had her cunning and lust for world domination, while having the ability to empathize and understand love and have true friends, then she would be absolutely impossible to defeat.

  • @VictorianoOchoa
    @VictorianoOchoa 2 роки тому

    Beautiful video.

  • @HamuelTheGrey
    @HamuelTheGrey 5 років тому +2

    Oh my God is that Ringo the beanie baby?!?!?

  • @AndalusianPhilosopher
    @AndalusianPhilosopher Рік тому

    As sad as Azulas story is, it is not nearly as heartbreaking as Jets. Azula post show may get redemption in time, given that her story does not extend in canon that far post show and for long time has been left up in the air. And her ultimate fate in canon by the time of legend of Korra is a mystery so far. Post show comics do show that not just Zuko but Ursa as well as Iroh do care for her. In spite of Iroh saying she is crazy and needs to go down. Understandable given the context, in the comic the search comic, Iroh does encourage team avatar to bring Azula along for Ursas search saying it might bring peace to Azula as well as Zuko. The story needs to expanded, and it is up to creators to decide whether redemption partial redemption or a villain is the best path for Azulas story going forward. Fact remains Zuko and Ursa want to reach out to Azula. Also good fanfiction stories about Azula redemption have been written. Jet on the other hand does not have a chance since he passed away. Jet lost everything and he is a good kid. He was also nothing special. He was just an ordinary everyday earth kingdom child in an ordinary villaige until rough rhinos destroyed his home. So no I disagree that Azula is the most tragic. After thinking about it. In addition Jet ends up being subject of mockery in ember island players and also he got killed by his own countryman Long Feng. Truly sad and heartbreaking story.

  • @marisafaith9975
    @marisafaith9975 4 роки тому +3

    10:17 😂😂

  • @thegifting267
    @thegifting267 4 роки тому +8

    Decent video, but It sounds like you’re not interested in this topic.

    • @jameskowanko7574
      @jameskowanko7574 2 роки тому +3

      Some people just have very flat voices. But this dude is really happy to be talking about this. He really loves the show, you can tell from his channel banner.

  • @garyforsheejr3711
    @garyforsheejr3711 3 роки тому +1

    I disagree 10000% aang never grew never change was and is selfish punk spoiled brat he always was I dare you show me what grow he had because I researched the entire series only difference between aang and aslzula is aang get everything he want and asulza does not