Azula Shouldn't Be Redeemed

[@ZagTheRaccoon]

Trying out an experimental off the cuff format. Lemme know if you enjoy it still, cuz I can make these much faster. Fuller thoughts can be found here: www.patreon.com/posts/93908454?pr=true I probably should have uploaded this *before* the new comic came out, but it was written and recorded beforehand.

[@justdre2692]

I'm very glad I'm seeing this position on the character more & more these days. It was hard back in the day to be like 'Azula gets some of my sympathy she's a product of her environment & her function in the story works if not a lil rushed & contrived in places. I don't think she pure evil. can we stop pop diagnosing her that's ableist. I'd like her to have an arc that moved forward' without ppl accusing you of wanting Zuko lite or absolving her. I like this format you we're pretty concise for off the cuff!

[@LillyAnarkitty]

The issues with redeeming imperialists become way more divisive when it comes to Iroh. People seem to think that because he stopped doing imperialism and became a nice himbo he’s some kind of paragon of morality. He really embodies that redeemed savior for a lot of people and the truth is he’s way more problematic than that.

[@nanananaxhhd4330]

people change. accept that

[@LillyAnarkitty]

@@nanananaxhhd4330 I am big internet

[@unicorn1655]

If Iroh could be redeemed, a grown ass man who killed thousands of people for the better part of his life, Azula absolutely can changem

[@ZagTheRaccoon]

you'll probably like my next video.

[@hilgigas09]

I don't need her to be "redeemed" but she should be given a chance. Iroh, Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee are afforded an opportunity to be better, even though they laughed as they committed atrocities of their own. What we got was Azula being locked up for months and treated like a mad dog.

[@ConnorLonergan]

Honestly, she could be redeemed. Still, I should be clear that for me, I use the term in a broader idea (perhaps too wide, I will acknowledge.) in the latest Avatar graphic novel, we have Azula deals with a spirit that tries to get Azula to turn over a new leaf and fails as she still has the same morals and beliefs. But there was something different about her. Azula seems to have accepted who she is and is done just blaming everyone around her for all her problems. Also, before, she would be corrosive in imposing loyalty and fear on those she subordinates. When she met up with the school girls, she conscripted and fled to save one of their own against Azula's commands. Azula lets them go and finds new people to rule (that's not even paraphrasing from me.). So Azula is still very much an evil person, but one that is now content with who she is and not as coercive as before.

[@AndalusianPhilosopher]

I just want to say that Azula's story canonically speaking has not been concluded. The gap between Korra and Aang is 70 year in universe. The furthest in the timeline that we know of Azula is about 4-5 years past hundred year war, still ways away from team avatar having children and flashbacks we see in Korra. Who knows perhaps during the decades leading up to Korra it is possible that Azula can see error of her ways. She does not have to be friends with Team avatar or a member of team avatar. The problem is not whether Azula can be redeemed or not. The problem is that Brian and Mike left her story up in the air for years. With avatar studios it is logical that her story might and should continue, however we do not know how many years we have to wait for her story to be concluded properly or if her story will be concluded at all, given how much time has passed since Korra, and we still have no idea where Azula ends up. The ltest comic focused on Azula left her story open ended.

[@AndalusianPhilosopher]

Also Azusa’s redemption will and should be unique and not a copy paste of Zuko

[@antarath517]

I honestly believe that, given enough time, she could become a good person. However, and I know this may come off harshly, I don't think it's worth the cost. The cost includes all of the people who have to reckon with their oppressor being set free, as well as all those who would spend years rehabilitating her. That is not to mention, she could very well just take nothing away from it and remain as she is. A lot of this has to come from either a willingness or a determination to improve. It's impossible to tell if she's willing to change. I guess what I'm trying to say is, "You can rehabilitate someone, but you can't rehabilitate everyone." Sometimes, you just have to see if they reach out their hand first.

[@spencernaugle]

I would agree... If she wasn't a 14 year old girl.

[@hopedefiant]

Yay, new Zag vid!

[@ArvosCrusader]

Is the audio sped up or something? Sounds off

[@hopedefiant]

Compared to the previously used dictation voice, yes. This sounds a lot more like standard speaking voice, which tracks with him saying this is much more off the cuff.

[@zzzsumo]

The fact that ppl can forgive iroh but can't have any sympathy for azula :/

[@anewplasticidea]

they are presented completely differently and it's a bit naive to not assume so. the loss of his son is representative of that cost which isn't to say any of this is okay but that they present them completely differently and put the viewer in a quandary when understanding the political nature and the character driven one.

[@stretchypowers]

I liked it, it was interesting. As @arvoscrusader already mentions, maybe slower talking speed would be helpful

[@viyusavery248]

Ozai isnt one dimensional, he has a flat character arc depth for characters like those should be judged by the change the force around them Seems like nobody understands flat characters and judge them like the typical positive and negative character arc types

[@jamestolbert1856]

Ozai is a compelling character because it shows how Azula IS BECOMING more like him and how Zuko COULDVE been like him

[@anewplasticidea]

she was so exhausting to watch for me but i think bc i knew what ppl thought of her just by seeing how ppl discuss ppl the way you explain. i agree with you so much. and i hate hate hate that we have to think about age with regards to her being "flawed" and those flaws being the same as being extremely annoying as a neglected fucked up teen. but look at what we think of settlers so. it's so weird that i love this show a lot but it's so fucking frustrating to think of stuff like this and people's reception of it and how it shapes how they talk about it. which makes me really sad that we have been so lulled into neutralization. paying attn to palestine has colored my view even more. a great show that set up a really confusing world based on a shoddy understanding of what these things rly mean. thanks for ur vids!!! also: what do the people she has dominated and harmed want from her? that's the deeper question and with better understanding it would probably be a tribunal, revenge, and deep loss. if left alive a removal of bending. their decision and it's removed.

[@aspie-anarchist9854]

Yeah like in real life people arent redeemable. Henry kissinger was not someone who could be redeemed. There is not enough good acts child molesters could do to redeem themselves. Frankly the reason i hate the star wars prequels is because like yeah vader was bad but the only people we actually see him kill is obiwon, other imperials and the emperor. So we can imagine his redemption. Once we learned he was a genocidal toxic manipulator before he was even vader then he turns into a guy who kills children and beats his pregnant wife to death Somehow that just seems worse than anything i would have imagined vader doing.

[@petermj1098]

It seems to me fandoms only want female villians to be redeemed. It’s like they can’t believe a female can be unapologetically evil.

[@SebOSENPA]

Why you didnt make video something like this-"I hate Azula, etc". Would eazy to skip it. if your read fantasy books, or any other you would see how poeple can change but speed of that process is not same for everyone. Azula make bayb step for her change so let her be.