Honestly idc they are adorable together 😍😍

I'm just gonna add that Sokka is also a big brother who was allowed to have his sister's back. He could help Zuko show Azula what that's like.

Zuko and Katara definitely should’ve been together in the end because first of all they both were lost and depressed! They also both lost their mom and honor their nations! Don’t get me wrong I like aang a lot but at the time I feel like he was putting way too much pressure on katara and didn’t really understand about kataras feelings at the time aang was still a child trying to mature while Zuko would’ve supported katara no matter what and zuko and katara are both teenagers! I feel like aang should’ve been with Ty lee I think they would’ve been a great couple while Mai treated Zuko like crap throughout the entire relationship!

A character like Katsuki Bakugou as a love interest would do wonders for Azula

this is really good video!!

I love azula so much, she really represents the girlhood

Very interesting video, thanks for sharing! This community is amazing.

I always feel uncomfortable when Katara and Aang get together in the end. Katara, for me, always represents the strong female energy (that mothers or sisters offten have) in Aangs life. But never really a love interest. And Katara always treats Aang like a little brother. There is never really a scene, where you can see her fall in love. Or show ANY KIND of romantic feelings for Aang like she shows around Jet. Kataang getting together almost feels incestuous, tbh. Also, Aang is 10. TEN! 10 is very young for the 'true love' trope. Thats the age of crushes and 'pretend' loves. He is only figuring out what love is. Let him be a kid for once in his life.

you were so right for this

The amount of delusional takes people have in the comment section for some fictional characters is honestly mind boggling. Most of the argument is invalid though, you could see if you aren't wearing zuko tinted glasses.

The writers admitted that zutara was originally the goal but they changed it near the end. (I forget why) but yeah, they were supposed to be. I wish they had. They had waaaaay more chemistry

she's a Glorified Narcissistic and Manipulative character she still had a choice to be who she wanted to be and she chose wrong... because she thought she was better than everyone else

I disagree with some of your thoughts for counterarguments, I agree Zutara is better, but when it is said 'Zutara is Toxic' and 'Zuko had Mai'.. its not right, I feel Zuko and Mai's relationship was toxic, and I don't see how Zutara will be toxic, nearing the end, we see that Katara and Zuko getting closer together, pretty intimately too, like they are sharing their personal struggles a lot, and I feel that is what allows a healthy relationship, another aspect we see of a healthy relationship is them supporting each other during each other's time of weakness. I feel that Aang and Katara was toxic, because the focus of the relationship seems to be about Aang rather than how Katara would be in that relationship, we see that the focus is constantly on Aang, and I get it, he is the main character, but it still sucks for Katara. On the Age gap, I don't think this was a factor when they wrote the story, but we have to remember that Girls go through puberty earlier than Guys, so Katara going after older guys is just her going after more mature people. The issue with Aang is while he matures more, he is still not mature enough by the end of the story to me, we see before the story that he is lashing out a lot, and while zuko does do it in the story, we see that he matures and controls his actions better (just my take)

15:52 I-

Azula doesn't need a redemption arc. She's never going to be part of the "good guy" camp, but a healing arc? Absolutely. I think her road would be tougher than Zuko's because Zuko has always had the inherent knowledge that Ursa and Iroh truly loved him. I think Azula is on some level aware that she's created the monster narrative to explain away how Ursa made her feel. If we take the mirror scene as Azula talking to herself, everything Ursa said is something she knows subconsciously but can't access. As for her healing process, I agree with you that she needs all these things. But most of all, she needs a lot of time away from Ozai and away from everything she knows like Zuko did during his banishment. 1. First would be getting her to trust someone like Zuko trusts Iroh and Aang trusts Katara. A person to be her island and shelter against the storm. That would be Zuko. They can be civil as long as they're firmly rooted in nostalgia. But if he was there for her, not to get something from her or to monitor her, but to spend _genuine_ quality time with her, I think she would eventually open up. And maybe they could move past everything being a competition together. 2. She needs Ursa. All Azula has ever wanted was to feel loved. They do find Ursa in the follow up comics, in which Ursa says "I'm sorry I didn't love you enough." I think if Ursa showed up for Azula now, consistently and unconditionally, she could begin to see that her mother has always, always loved her just as much as she loved Zuko. 3. Toph just implicitly understands Zuko and Azula's messed up upbringing to a degree. She felt pressured to be someone she wasn't just like they did, but it was more subtle for her. I also think Toph coming from high status would help Azula not look down on her so much at the beginning and she might be more receptive to listening to her because of that. 4. If Ozai was the worst and Aang thought he was worth saving, shouldn't his daughter be also? I think Aang would have to work through a lot more with her than he did with Zuko because she did kill him and hurt several of his friends on more than one occasion. Also, Zuko showed redeeming qualities before he joined them like saving Aang from Zhao, letting Aang go to save his crew from a storm, and freeing Appa. But once he's through that, he'd be invaluable in helping her accept what happened to her. Accepting the trauma and moving past it. 5. Like with Aang, Katara would need to work through a lot to forgive Azula for her crimes. But let's say she forgives her. Opening Azula's emotions is basically like opening Pandora's box. She's gonna feel 14 years worth of emotions she never let herself feel. Anger, frustration, sadness, but worst of all guilt and self-hatred. Katara did a similar thing with Aang when he felt guilty about running away from the Southern Air Temple. 6. I think once she's gone through a lot of things, only then would she be able or willing to see Ozai for what he truly is. Plus, if she's gone through enough of the healing process maybe she'd be more open to Iroh and he might begin to see her how he sees Zuko. 7. Sokka could teach her how to live again. Because with all the trauma, how does one go on living? How does one still crack jokes when the world has fallen apart? Sokka did it and still found worth in himself despite not being able to bend. It's going to be a process and she'd probably relapse on multiple occasions but it's possible with a community to back her up.

I remember watching the season finale of ATLA on nick as a kid and holding onto my hope for zutara til the bitter end just to be wildly disappointed she actually mouth to mouthed with a little boy :(

Isn't it funny that the really delusional Kataang fans irrationally reduce Zuko and his whole character as "part of genocidal people" and "kidnapper, colonizer" while conveniently forget his character development instead focusing only on the character-wise underdeveloped Season 1? Did you also forget Zuko "betrayed" Katara because he was really confused and turmoiled and wanted his father's approval? He really felt these things in the cave.

First off not all colonizers are killers

In my headcanon, Katara and Aang break up after book 3 because Aang's too busy with his avatar duties and they lose the "spark" and Zuko and Mai break as well (we know that from the comics) and then Zuko and Katara get together <3

The intro is one giant Yapfest like we get it white peoples are the spawn of Satan we get it 😂 aang just feels like a little brother to Katara its weird seeing them date

Does anyone else feel like it would have been better if they just cut the kiss at the end and left it open ended/for the comics?

i remember watching the agni kai episode on tv like 10 years ago and my mother passed by in the exact moment when zuko took azula's lighting for katara. my mom sat next to me and said "oh, so he's in love with her", like she was stating that the sky is blue. imagine the confused look on her face when i explained to her that actually the main love story was with the twelve years old 🤣

Heres an alternative ending. At the tea shop Mai has reconciled with Zuko and decide is best to be just friends. Someone comes up with how zuko jumped before Katara to save her life and zuko blushes. Mai nudges zuko and give him a nod as if acknowledging zukos feeling for Katara. While toph makes joke about fire and water or something like that. Katara and zuko smile awkwardly. Aang realizes katara looks at zuko the way he never looked at him and learns to let go and smiles in pain. Then sokka cracks a joke nd everyone's laughing.

Zuko took a FREAKING LIGHTNING BOLT for Katara HOW R PPL ARGUING AGAINST IT

Zutara doesn't make any narrative sense. Zuko and Katara aren't shown to be romantically interested in each other whatsoever. They definitely have an interesting and unique relationship, but it revolves more around Katara's negative feelings toward the Fire Nation and the death of her mother and Zuko's guilt toward his own negative actions in the past, rather than anything romantic. While some people dislike Katara and Aang as a couple, it makes sense in the story. Katara and Aang have been set up since episode one. If it was not resolved by the end of the show it would be bad writing. It would just be strange if all that time was spent setting up Aang and Katara for Katara to end up with someone she didn't even properly talk to until the second half of the last season. Also, a lot of people in the comments say it's one-sided but it clearly isn't (Fortuneteller, Cave of Two Lovers, The Finale). The show does focus more on Aang's feelings about the relationship, but that doesn't mean Katara doesn't like him. Maybe people like Zutara because they're hot together or whatever, but would it make the show better? No, I think it would only make the story worse.

Being called a colonizer because I shipped zutara was a WILD thing to have happen and beyond shocking. Here I was just loving a ship…

Author is too WOKE

I absolutely agree with your first point, it’s even clearly evident today, no matter how racist the parent of a child is, there is simply no guarantee that their child will be just as racist as them 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️

Apart from EVERYTHING ELSE in the video AND the comment section, I like Zutara because of their contrast and similarities. Fire and Water Sun and Moon Blue Spirit and Painted Lady (sim) Lack of mothers Their anger. (Where one of them has it boiling under their skin, the other is literally a raging storm. THEY SWITCH, TOO.) A sibling that is/feels younger than them (the siblings, the mother’s absences, and the *absent* fathers are all contrasting to Katara and Zuko too) They represent balance to me, they represent Tui and La (moon fishies). That’s why I like them

“Their relationship would’ve been toxic”. Ummmm have you seen Zuko and Mai’s? They break up so many times and are toxic. Even in the comics

It would have been completely okay if Katara ended up with NO ONE, especially as a child. But to have ended up with Aang was plain gross because she acted as a mom to the Gaang the entire time and he never really grew up. Considering the show is targeted to children (and it's still okay for adults to enjoy it!), it's gross that Katara is made into a mom and is one of the most prominent female characters in ATLA. Motherhood is shoved on to girls at a very young age, and they grow up coddling their boyfriends and husbands and doting on them just like with Aang. Katara was never a mom to Zuko--that instantly makes him a way more attractive option.

I want to give my 2 cents based only in personal and experience opinion on why there was such a backlash against Zutara. In my case I first watched the show when I was around Aang’s age, perhaps younger, and it really stayed with me for a lot of years because it is a very good show, then it started rerunning on Nickelodeon and I started rewatching on….other sites at around Zuko’s age maybe I was between 15-17. I remember relating to Aang ( bc of my age) and wanting Kataang to be endgame, also I was too young to get a lot of the growth and evolution Zuko and Katara were having. Then when I rewatched it I related more ro katara and understood more of their relationship but I distinctly remember thinking how can I root for Zutara now? Why did I first ship Kataang in the first place( it’s important to note i hadnt seen the series in order or complete the first time around, hence why I wanted to rewatch it). Anyway I clung a little bit to childhood nostalgia and to the Kataang ship but eventually made my way to the Zutara team, and then completely obsessed about it on Tumblr in my 20’s but that’s not important. Anyway my argument here is that maybe a lot of people had the same experience but ended up still liking the Kataang ship because it’s difficult to get rid of the feelings even if it’s for a ship ( bc let’s be honest if ur fighting about a ship and even willing to give all those arguments you definitely are invested and your feelings are too in that ship, as a fangirl I get it and experience it and even if they are feelings for fictional characters they’re real and are hard to change ) maybe they just watched in when they were kids and stayed with the ship, maybe they watched it in their teens and thus like Zuatara more. My point is no matter what logic you use on either side of the argument you’re probably gonna stick to your ship because you are invested in it and you’re gonna try to find arguments for it. I don’t know if I make sense Im not good explaining things and im having tumblr shipways flashbacks from explaining this 😂 Edit: forgot to say : great video! It is very nuanced and takes into account a lot of historical aspects within our culture that need to be adressed because even if it’s a made up world we don’t in a vacuum and our experience perception and worldview make it into the pieces of fiction we write and consume so I’m glad you mentioned and acknowledge how this similar dynamic has played out in the real world.

Frankly I don't think Katara should have ended uo with any of the potential love interests in the show. The only ships I can get behind is Toph with either Sokka or Zuko. They are the only ones I feel like had a genuine connection (that could lead to romance) that didn't rely on "motherlyness" or motherlessness and loss, she had actual connections and friendships with them both based on more than just "the context of life" if that makes sense...

Honestly the age gap between Katara and Aang isn't talked about enough imo. Yes, it's only two years... But she had already gone through puberty when they met and he hadn't even started. I feel like that's not talked about enough. The fact that Aang was the one initiating often covers it up, but it should've ultimately been Katara's responsibility to reject him. Ultimately, at the end of the show when they get together, she's a teenager dating a child- Aang is still clearly a child despite being more mature in comparison to season 1. Compare to Toph's little crush on Sokka (notice the flipped genders meaning it's handled better...). Sokka never returns those feelings. It's never taken seriously in any romantic light. They actually do have quite a sweet bond as friends if you pay attention, but that's how it stays, friends, which is good. Toph and Aang are also pretty similar in that they've never really been exposed to potential crushes when they meet the older teenager they get feelings for, so, it makes sense, but for Toph it's fleeting like it frankly should be, rather than Aang's fixation on it. But I don't blame Aang- I blame this being the one part of the show that felt poorly written. I honestly feel like they should've just... Not had any endgame romances for anyone except Sokka and Suki because those two are amazing lol. I agree from a fandom perspective that Katara and Zuko are much better together than Katara and Aang but I honestly think it should've been left as hinted for the future when they've had more time being allies, while Aang learns to get over his crush and Zuko learns that Mei isn't good for him lol

Only thing I want to correct is that Sokka actually met Suki first. He meets her in episode 4 of book 1 and doesn't meet Yue till the end of book 1. I feel like Suki was always endgame for Sokka. Wouldn't say he cheated but it was weird that him and Suki immediately start acting like a couple after reuniting in book 2 since he was with Yue between

I remember in the pandemic, the Avatar fandom (including me) were so bored they decided to start again twitter accs for staning characters and pairings... 3 years later or so and I still remember how they all critized me and other ppl for simply like Zutara. They where so brutal and mean that all fanart where forbiden and they blocked you if they knew u where a Zutara shipper. Pretty hipocryte coming from fans who claimed to defend ppl rights, like we all were Hittler just for like a cartoon pairing and one like u said: a growth character like Zuko who defied all the stuff he was born to. Maybe they were children or teenagers (I was like 24) but still they attacked other young ppl for the wrong reasons. Anyway no matter how old am I I'll always stand Zutara.

I've never heard the colonialism of Indonesia talked about :-) as a mixed indo-dutch person I very much appreciate you mentioning it

The first two arguments are so weird to me… never did I think zuko was a “colonizer” (gross term that is abused now days btw) or a “killer”. He was a confused child.

I don't know, it always seemed funny to me how a show where balance and opposites coming together had Zutara under its nose the whole damn time and went right ahead and squandered it. I once saw someone mention how both Zuko and Katara lost their mother's to the Fire Nation, and how beautiful it would have been for them, together, to bring it down and create a new world, and I can't agree more. Aang is a wonderful character don't get me wrong, but I would have personally paired him with Toph and not Katara. Katara has had to shoulder the weight of mothering her brother and tribe ever since her mother's death, it's always pissed me off that she had to settle romantically in a relationship where she isn't with an equally mature person who can care for her emotionally. Yes, Aang pulls aways from her mothering and "matures", but the fact that she is presented as a caregiver when he is younger than her even if it's just two years is frankly uncomfortable. I also agree with the people saying that Kataang feels very "hero gets the girl"-ish. Specially considering that Aang was always the one pushing Katara around about his feelings for her, and we hardly see her initiate or address their "romance".

I personally always thought that Katara and Zuko both loved Aang (maybe in different ways but still loved and cared about him) and she stays with Aang but when Aang died so young it was so tragic for everyone but they couldn't really relate to anyone else on that except with each other and spent a huge part of their adult lives very close. Maybe even too close as Aangs two best friends who both mourned loosing him together.

Do Jotakak next

i truly think the toxic argument is only used by kids or teens who have never experienced real romance in their lives. Relationships arent perfect, hell i would even dare to say every relationship is toxic to some extent, at the end of the day, we are individuals, with our own thoughts, morale and past experiences doing our best to live with another individual who has slightly or pretty different thoughts, morale and past experiences than ours. Arguments and fights are unavoidable, period. I truly think this new wave of "nothing can be problematic" is destroying media and the portrayal of real humans

I can fix her

What the hell are you talking about? Seriously, you’re just talking out of your a**. Seems like you’re one of these feminists/ communists.

Iroh cares for Azula but i also think Azula reminds him of his failure to guide Ozai to something better. Iroh is not perfect and i think he knows he is not the one who will bring her over the line. But he ows her an apology. I dont think he meant to chose zuko over Azula. Zuko was something that really needed attention asap. If Iroh didnt left with him he would have died. But she was still hurt by it and Iroh is wise enough to see that in her viewpoint she has a point. What i think she needs is Zuko although she doesnt know it yet. I find it hard to inmagine when i watched the series but Zuko is her older brother and she envied and admired his '' soft '' qualities,. Those qualities like being emphatic, caring and he allows himself to feel. Ursa admired this in Zuko and she said it while Azula was near. Although she became what Ozai wanted her to be but at ember island you could see that she had empaty and she could open herself up. She was in a few moments genuine with advice or compliments. Or cared why zuko felt the way he felt. But her facade came back instantly after that. Zuko can show her and let her see that she is capable of feeling and caring. She is still sees herself as tool with a purpose to something. Only Zuko can with unconditional love, while she trows fire at him and try to hurt him show that he trust her and have confidence that she is capable to feel and her feelings important to him. He trust that deepdown Azula is a good person. I think when she worked trough this and sees that she is good enough just the way she is. She want to give up her bending because all her life her bending was used tool and she was only defied by her bending skill. she was only perfect when her bending was perfect. The gift of bending will be a curse for her i think. She needs to see this and give up her bending willingly. At last she will talk to Ozai and tell him first the truth about what he has done to her. She is not his tool anymore because she gave up her bending freely. And she knows it will hurt when Ozai says: She will be no more use to Ozai. But Azula will have Zuko, Ursa, iroh, Tai lee, mei and team avartar. When Ozai lost his bending it was his ticket to jail. When Azule gives up her bending she will be free.

I ship Aang and Katara butI also ship Katara and Zuko. I just prefer the latter a little more.

Never had a strong opinion on that, though I was probably a little more Kataang leaning. But what I can clearly say is that Mai wasn't a great ship for Zuko. We never get to see the slightest hint as to why they even like each other. And as much as I like the show, Mai often felt more like a plot device and present to enhance other character's development than anything else: to emphasize how Zuko tries to continue his old life in the fire nation. to later attack Azula and leading to her downfall in the long run. They both deserved a better romance than that

Correct me if im wrong, but i feel like a 4th season could of grown Zutara into a ship almost everyone is comfy and happy with. There was so much untouched potential. Completing both of their major emotional arcs in the show (Zuko's is obvious, Katara is overcoming her hatred for all fire benders & being a badass & actually being happy with someone she actually has chemistry with) im sorry not sorry for any shade. 🙏

When you watch this show... You can tell different people wrote different episodes and there's a silent ship war going on there 😅

Sadly hemmings lie propaganda