Mai's dialogue is so important. She's a kid born and raised into the family of a strong politically inclined family that ISN'T the Fire Lord's, meaning that if they even slightly bother the head family, there could very easily be consequences for the whole bloodline. Azula does something shitty and out of pocket and that's the Princess just being a Princess, Mai does something slightly too loud and it's an active threat to the family's respectability, and therefore, their position. The basis of the Fire Nation's social hierarchy seems very inspired by old China, which was extremely, EXTREMELY punishing to anyone that dare question the authority of the emperor or dare disrespect the royal family, so most children (especially daughters) who were raised within close proximity to the royalty were taught to be polite and behave as unassuming and nonconfrontational as possible, so they wouldn't slip up and make the precious little heirs upset. Mai's behavior makes complete and total sense given how strict the Fire Nation is, both as a result of the in universe issues and the inspirations for it. Knowing how unable Mai was to speak up about anything she cared about, it makes her turning against Azula one of the inarguably powerful and underrated moments in the entire show.
@valentai_7775 ай бұрын
Im glad we got some Mai defenders in the comments. She’s not at all my favorite character, but even I can see that she still has a solid arc. She isn’t one of the main characters, but the writers managed to insert a satisfying exploration and development of her character without coming off as forced or crammed. Which is really impressive. A lot of fans have a bad habit of overlooking the side characters. They still add a lot of the world and culture of the show
@JamesWilkinson-jb9oh5 ай бұрын
I am sorry, you shed feel all your emotions?
@crystallinecrisis39015 ай бұрын
I do like the moment with Azula and Zuko at the beach house. Azula is a monster but this scene, to me, shows that deep down she realizes how fucked up their childhood was and she chose to show just a little bit of camaraderie with her brother.
@ruriva49315 ай бұрын
Mai’s dialogue was great. Idk what you were on about. Like obviously Mai is not really happy, but she’s not even allowed to say that because of her upbringing. Unlike Tylee who can cry or Zuko who can get angry she can’t.
@twindrill28525 ай бұрын
I actually didn’t mind Mai’s monologue-but if anything it’s probably because my household hates it whenever I react towards anything with sadness or surprise on impulse, so it feels like I’m expected to suppress any emotion I have.
@nkanyezihlatshwayo36015 ай бұрын
I grew up in a political family (I’m not American) so I suppose I should at least so part of this to hit home for me regardless, but despite this I honestly found Mai’s story to be quite sympathetic, in the least as much or more Ty Lee’s, it does what it needs to do narratively, lays down some important character work for Boiling Rock, and makes her and Zuko dynamic both more understandable if you have your Watson-hat on and for the audience more accessible from a Doylist perspective.
@EnbyNomad5 ай бұрын
Im in a similar boat. Hence why Mai's moment still feels real to me.
@toomanymonkeys215 ай бұрын
I never could see these kids as such young teenagers. Azula in particular does not read as any younger than seventeen.
@nkbujvytcygvujno60065 ай бұрын
@@toomanymonkeys21 yeah the idea that Azula is 14 doesn't have any canon backing or writer confirmation. And the idea that she's 2 years younger than Zuko as opposed to one year is even contradicted in the comics, where Ozai specifically reminds Zuko that his sister is 1 year younger than him while disparaging him at one point. I mean not a lot of people considered the comics 100% canon, but it does seem odd the writers specifically put that in, probably bc they were sick of the baby age rumors.
@EggMilkBread5 ай бұрын
Anybody who has a problem with Mai's monologue probably doesn't understand that abuse comes in all shapes and forms and that all abuse needs to be treated with respect for the victim, no matter if it personally seems bad to you. Same though, I likes her monologue too
@tophatgeo5 ай бұрын
Oh snap this was unexpected! Been on an avatar binge so this was great. I love that despite Azula being machiavellian schemer she cannot act as somebody else in social situations with people her own age. Her losing Ty Lee and Mai must have been a real blow to her confidence, if she can't get friendship through fear, and she is incapable of making new bonds, she will ends up feeling entirely alone. I wonder if that is part of why she was despairing so much by the finale's end.
@GingerIntrovert5 ай бұрын
Quite honestly, this episode makes me so sad for Azula. All her awkward socialization moments are funny, but they also expose the tragedy of her upbringing in a much more direct way than other parts of the series because she'll never be able to be a normal teen. That was taken away from her, and that really sucks.
@terrantitanium64415 ай бұрын
I actually just finished a recent binge of the show it's lovely to see you cover an episode from it around the same time
@cyber44055 ай бұрын
DO MORE AVATAR CONTENT PLEASE, I love the adventure time but please keep covering both shows
@Ilikestarwars12455 ай бұрын
Hey it's okay that it's twice the length that it needed to be!! I watched it on 2× speed so it was actually the perfect length 🤣🤣🤣
@akluji5 ай бұрын
I COULDN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO TALK ABOUT AVATAR, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE VIDEOS FROM THIS SERIES
@pedrogabrielduarte45445 ай бұрын
Do king Ramses's curse next!
@fairlyoddenginecreations5 ай бұрын
This and Zuko Alone are some of my favorites of Avatar, cant wait to see you cover more!
@mothsolotl5 ай бұрын
I really wished that we got more of Ty Lee between this episode and the finale, because for me, the finale's resolution to her arc felt really inappropriate for her. The Kyoshi Warriors are formal and organized, while Ty Lee is informal and agile, and it doesn't make sense for Ty Lee to end up with the Kyoshi Warriors, and for her to be happy with that.
@olleselin5 ай бұрын
Zuko's the GOAT
@PandoRem3 ай бұрын
I know this is late, but I have another comment in defense of Mai- her dialogue reminds me a lot of people who downplay how toxic or unhealthy their home lives or relationships are because they aren't in physically abusive situations, so they feel like they can't complain. But constantly suppressing your child's emotions and self expression is actually pretty unhealthy and harmful, especially when the impression we get is this started young for Mai.
@scribbleshrimp5 ай бұрын
Very true
@Random-em7oz5 ай бұрын
Your point on mai was just ignorant due to experiences I’m assuming you must be the exact opposite of Mai in terms of upbringing so it’s hard for you to understand
@Thevamp1reking4 ай бұрын
It’s not that deep
@issybella665 ай бұрын
The beach episode was good it was interesting to see four rich traumatise teens try and to act like normal people and falling at it and parts are hard to watch like Zuko treating Mai like crap and being paranoid and him calling Tylee a circus freak but the most interesting part was the four teens at the camp fire talking their trauma and their terrible childhoods and Azula thinking that her mother thought she was a monster but the most underrated part of camp fire therapy session was Mai’s part which I thought you misunderstood and you thought was boring when it wasn’t I thought it was great and I’ll explain why first of all it explains why she’s doesn’t much show emotion because her parents would ignore her emotional well being and her tell to shut up and stay in her room and shut up her with gifts if she doesn’t speak when spoken to and all her family cared about was her dad’s political career because he’s governor they didn’t care about her
@bruhvibin5 ай бұрын
❤
@fireire33095 ай бұрын
The most recent steven universe video got send for yourube kids, cant comment anymore.