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Few cartoons have received as much praise and love as Avatar: The Last Airbender, both in past years and in recent ones. With the new Netflix adaptation in the works, as well as the newly-developed Avatar Studios announcing more content to come, the Nickelodeon cult classic has become even more widely beloved. And rightfully so. The plot is simple yet compact. The themes are strong and inspiring. And — one of the most widely-discussed topics — the characters are active and lovable. They each have their own arc, where they begin as children stuck in their ways, and then through the course of a world-altering adventure, they live, learn, and grow. And none of the characters exemplify this growth more than the Fire Prince, Zuko.
Zuko quickly became much more than a plot device to keep the Gaang on their toes. From the mysterious scar on his face to the confusingly jovial uncle constantly at his side, there was always something more to Zuko from the very beginning. And now, fifteen years after his first appearance in the show, Zuko is still at the center of countless writing discussions and essays, all analyzing the well-crafted arc of his redemption — one of the most compelling and well-rounded character arcs in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Booke One: Misguidance
When Zuko is first introduced, he is a full-on antagonist, complete with the foreboding black-red colors and threatening musical theme associated with the evil Fire Nation. He has other traits that are well-known to villains, such as intimidating physical attributes, like the scar on his face, and an angry, temperamental attitude. His goal is to capture Aang, and in return, his father, the Fire Lord, will reverse his banishment and welcome him home. Though his plan of action is apparent almost as soon as he appears on screen (capture Aang; restore honor), the motivation behind this mindset is more complicated.
The first clue as to Zuko’s true nature lies not in how he is portrayed but how his uncle is portrayed. The elderly, wise, and good-natured Uncle Iroh accompanies Zuko almost everywhere. His kindness acts as the perfect foil to Zuko’s rage over losing his home and his honor. The fact that a character as jovial as Iroh chooses to remain loyal to the antagonist is a hint to the audience that all may not be what it seems. Zuko’s interactions with other characters also hint at underlying kindness. When he wins an Agni Kai (fire duel) against a hated rival, Zuko shows mercy and walks away without dealing with the final blow.
When faced with deciding whether to follow the Avatar’s flying bison or rescue Iroh from Earth Kingdom soldiers, he chooses the latter. Despite being vocal about not caring about his crew, he saves the life of his men during a storm by prioritizing their safety over chasing the Avatar. This mix of villainous traits and heroic attributes portrays an extremely interesting and nuanced character. Who is Zuko, what brought him down this evil path, and where does he go from here?
Unconditional Versus Conditional Love
Zuko was once a respectful boy, excited to learn as much as possible from his elders and his father, Fire Lord Ozai, assuming that he would one day lead his nation. However, one slip of the tongue in the middle of a war meeting changes his life. He moves from being a hopeful and respectful child to the determined and rageful Avatar-hunter. When Zuko speaks against using their own untrained troops as bait, essentially condemning them to death, he shows kindness and loyalty to his people — and he knows that the generals’ plan is morally wrong. Ozai sees this interruption as an act of disrespect, and he sees the kindness toward the soldiers as weakness. He burns half of Zuko’s face, leaving a permanent scar, and banishes him, condemning him to a wild goose chase to capture the Avatar, a person who has been missing for a hundred years. Ozai knows that Zuko has no chance of finding the Avatar, but he instills a false sense of hope anyway.
You will learn respect. And suffering shall be your teacher.
– Fire Lord Ozai (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “The Storm.” Nickelodeon. June 3, 2005. ))
Ozai’s brutal way of perceiving and interacting with the world doesn’t fully dawn on Zuko until he is forced into an Agni Kai against his own father. In the Fire Lord’s eyes, Zuko is soft, which makes him weak. This, in turn, leads him to become disrespectful and shameful. And he ingrains this view into Zuko’s mind by literally burning it onto his face.
This one moment forever changes Zuko’s life and his outlook on it. In Zuko’s eyes, he made a mistake: what he once thought was kindness is, in reality, weakness. And what he once thought was honorable is, in fact, shameful. And this leads to an important concept regarding the idea of familial love. Until her disappearance, Zuko’s mother is a loving figure in his life. She shows him kindness and teaches him compassion. Even though he could never be as skilled as his sister, Azula, in firebending (a skill that his father greatly values), his mother always shows him love, proving that, even though he is not valued as much in the eyes of his father, other things about him have value.
That’s who you are, Zuko: someone who keeps fighting, even though it’s hard.
– Ursa (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “Zuko Alone.” Nickelodeon. May 12, 2006. ))
His mother shows him unconditional love. When he acts out due to outside influences, like throwing rocks at turtle ducks because he saw Azula do it, Ursa quickly but lovingly corrects this behavior. When he fails to showcase acceptable firebending despite trying his best, she still commends him for continuing to strive to be his best self. This instills in him a simple but important truth: love is freely given. In a mysterious and tragic turn of events, Zuko’s mother disappears when he is still young, leaving him to the teachings of his father. Ozai, in direct contrast to his wife, showcases conditional love. When Azula excels in her firebending training or shows coldness to others, Ozai rewards her with praise and affection. When Zuko fails despite trying his hardest, he is literally frowned upon.
The war meeting, along with the following Agni Kai, is the culmination of this mindset. This traumatic moment in Zuko’s life that leaves him scarred both physically and emotionally hammers home the idea of conditional love, muscling his mother’s mindset out to make room for Zuko’s brutal new truth. Love is dependent upon action. You are only loved if you earn it. And, in Ozai’s case, you are only loved if you are strong.
Struggle And Strength
Throughout the series, Zuko talks about regaining his honor so much that it has become a meme within the Avatar fandom. But the true meaning behind what Zuko is saying when he mentions “honor” also encapsulates this idea of love. He doesn’t just want to prove to his father that he is honorable and strong. He wants to prove to his father that he is worthy of love.
Zuko’s journey for acceptance is, unfortunately, flawed from the start. The way he goes about chasing the love and acceptance he craves is the very path that leads him further into the rage that plagues him. And the most tragic part is that he thinks struggling this much and suffering for this long is good for him.
I’ve always had to struggle and fight, and it’s made me strong. It’s made me who I am.
– Zuko (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “The Siege of the North: Part 2,” Nickelodeon. December 2, 2005. ))
This is a combination of his two parents’ mindsets. Ursa told Zuko that he keeps fighting even when it’s hard to go on, and that gives him a sense of self. Ozai taught him that fighting and violence constitute strength. And so, with the combination of determination and a certain disregard for the lives and well-being of others, Zuko does villainous things, but in his mind, his reasoning is sound. This constant struggle leads Zuko through many humiliating losses to the Gaang, as well as a deadly rivalry between himself and a fellow Fire Nation soldier.
Even on days when nothing is happening, like the ship’s designated music night, Zuko never stops working to achieve his goal (which is, in itself, commendable). But no matter how much empathy and determination Zuko shows, his misguided rage continues leading him down the wrong path. He loses his entire crew, barely survives an assassination attempt, and fails to capture the Avatar even when he literally has Aang in his grasp. His kind nature is constantly at odds with the anger that Ozai cultivated in him.
At the very end of Book One, Iroh yet again encourages Zuko to rest, implying that the rest should be emotional as well as physical. And for the first time that we’ve seen, Zuko takes this advice, lays down, and closes his eyes. A life chasing after conditional love is a life filled with constant struggle. However, this one moment of rest and listening to one of the few positive and loving voices in his life, that of his uncle Iroh, introduces a hopeful shift in Zuko’s life path.
Zuko: I’m tired.
Iroh: Then you should rest. A man needs his rest.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book One finale (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “The Siege of the North: Part 2,” Nickelodeon. December 2, 2005. ))
Iroh loves Zuko unconditionally, much as his mother did. Unfortunately, Zuko is far too misguided and traumatized to perceive such love. The struggle continues.
Book Two: Perspective
With the second season of Avatar comes a change, a shift in perspective. While the first book takes place in winter, Book Two begins at the start of spring, signifying new life. For Zuko, however, this shift into the new is equivalent to a shift into the unknown and the dangerous. Azula nearly tricks him into becoming a prisoner of his own nation, forcing him and Iroh to become fugitives in the Earth Kingdom, the land of their enemy. In order to hide in plain sight, Zuko cuts off his ponytail.
This is a momentous action in Zuko’s case, as the topknot is a symbol of honor in Fire Nation culture; those who lose important Agni Kais are often said to shave their heads but leave the topknot (( Yee, F.C. and Dante Dimartino. Rise of Kyoshi. New York: Amulet Books, 2019. Print )). Throughout Book One, Zuko wore a ponytail with the rest of his head shaved, signifying that, while most of him was still considered dishonored, he did have that last shred of identity, tying himself to the Fire Nation. In a way, Zuko has always been willing to risk certain parts of himself to get what he wants. Now, however, he is forced to give up this final symbol of his nation as well. And his hesitation just before doing so proves that he is constantly considering the weight of his losses.
Song
As Zuko chases the Avatar through the Earth Kingdom, he comes across many victims of Ozai’s harmful actions. Not long after going into hiding, Zuko meets Song, a kind Earth Kingdom girl who helps cure Iroh of the poison he’d ingested. Interacting with her and her family gives Zuko a new perspective on the Fire Nation and his own part within it. When Song tries to comfort him regarding his scar, he immediately stops her from touching it. But she reveals her own wound, a burn scar on her leg, shocking Zuko with the revelation that he has more in common with the rest of the world than he thought.
It’s okay; the Fire Nation hurt me too.
– Song (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “The Cave of Two Lovers,” Nickelodeon. March 24, 2006. ))
Lee
The Fire Nation has left many areas of the Earth Kingdom devastated, including a small village in the middle of nowhere. When Zuko separates from Iroh to chase the Avatar by himself, he meets Lee, a trouble-making kid who invites him home for provisions. Half-starved in the desert, Zuko begrudgingly agrees, and he meets Lee’s family, who have lost their son, Sensu, to the Fire Nation.
Zuko draws a parallel in his mind between the loss of Sensu and the loss of his cousin, Lu-Ten. Both sides of the war suffer tragedy and loss, and Zuko has now begun to see with new eyes the way that the Fire Nation treats the rest of the world — that is, with brutality and violence, a behavior with which he is painfully familiar.
Jin
Following the frustration and paranoia of living as a refugee in Ba Sing Se, the last great city in the Earth Kingdom, Zuko is stunned by the offer of a date with a cute Earth Kingdom girl, Jin, who has a crush on him. At this point, Zuko is working in a tea shop with Iroh, lying low with no way of knowing where the Avatar is or even if he’ll ever be able to go home again.
Through the date with Jin, which is awkward at first but sweet nonetheless, Zuko catches a glimpse of what his life could be like if he stayed in Ba Sing Se and gave up on restoring his honor — an option that Iroh seems to be pushing lately. Jin could become another positive voice in his life, offering a type of love that he hasn’t let himself consider in years. Here, Zuko reconnects with his previously lost sense of compassion and sweetness by using his firebending to light the candles around the water fountain for Jin. They kiss, and all is going extraordinarily well. But Zuko leaves early, startled by how good the night had gone, and rejects this simple life in Ba Sing Se. Yet, the option lingers.
Iroh: How was your night, Prince Zuko?
Zuko: …It was nice.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book Two (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “Tales of Ba Sing Se,” Nickelodeon. September 29, 2006. ))
The Crossroads Of Destiny
Toward the end of Book Two, Zuko is faced with a choice: help Azula capture the Avatar or join the Avatar to stop the Hundred-Year War. The eye-opening experiences and soul-searching that Zuko has done this season all culminate here.
It’s time for you to look inward and start asking yourself the big questions. Who are you? And what do you want?
– Iroh (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “Lake Laogai,” Nickelodeon. December 3, 2006. ))
In the end, Zuko rejects Iroh’s teachings and nearly gets Aang killed by siding with Azula. Even knowing the depth of Iroh’s concern for him, Zuko chooses to pursue a destiny that Ozai wanted for him rather than what he knows is right. This betrayal becomes Zuko’s greatest regret. Though Zuko’s betrayal is frustrating, the choice that he makes rings true. For someone who has suffered as long as he has, and for someone who has been as morally confused as he has been, Zuko’s desperation for love wins out, as it is challenging to leave a toxic relationship and even harder to break out of a toxic mindset.
In a lesser story, or even a simpler one, this point might have become Zuko’s redemption — indeed, many fans speculated that this might be so. However, considering just how much of himself he would have to reject in order to change, it makes sense that he would need more time to sort out his own self-contradictions. In real life, people don’t change overnight. In real life, sometimes they don’t change at all.
Book Three: Redirection
In Avatar: The Last Airbender’s final season, Zuko becomes much more introspective. His anger begins to spiral despite being back in Ozai’s good graces. The danger and manipulation of his family continue. However, being away from this environment for so long has changed Zuko’s perception of it. Finally, he begins to see that his life in the Fire Nation and what he is told does not match his experiences in the Earth Kingdom and the people he met there. Zuko finally admits that his anger is directed at himself. Belatedly, Zuko decides to accept Iroh’s teachings and stand up to his father. And on the Day of Black Sun, Zuko finally does what Iroh — and what we — have been waiting this whole time for him to do: he lays out the truth to Ozai and leaves him to join the Avatar and the side of peace.
For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn. You, my father, who challenged me, a thirteen-year-old boy, to an Agni Kai. How could you possibly justify a duel with a child?… It was cruel, and it was wrong…Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They hate us! And we deserve it. We’ve created an era of fear in the world. And if we don’t want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness.
– Zuko (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “Day of the Black Sun: Part 2,” Nickelodeon. November 30, 2007. ))
Using his experience of being loved and supported by Iroh and his observations of how people in the Earth Kingdom show kindness, Zuko is able to look back on his traumatic experience and realize that he was not in the wrong: Ozai was. This moment of clarity is palpable, especially when hearing the wonder in Zuko’s voice as he marvels at the Fire Nation’s lie, one that was so amazing that he himself accepted it as truth for years. Zuko symbolizes his turn to the good side by using lightning redirection, a technique that Iroh taught him to escape from Ozai’s wrath. This signifies a major turning point in Zuko’s life.
He can now redirect his father’s negativity, allowing it to pass through him and not hurt him anymore. He embraces this technique as he embraces Iroh’s unconditional love and sets out to correct the mistakes that he’s made. He begins by approaching those who were once his enemies.
Seeking Forgiveness
Of course, acceptance from others takes time and effort, and sometimes it’s much harder than we think. Zuko has to prove to the Gaang that he truly is a changed man and wants to join them. Even after being technically accepted into the group, he doesn’t become their friend right away. It takes a solo journey with each of them to move past their bad blood. While Aang and Sokka are open to forming a new relationship with Zuko, Katara is much more resistant to the idea of trusting him after being betrayed by him in Ba Sing Se. However, Zuko approaches, earning her friendship with the same determination he’s always had. He goes about seeking forgiveness (or the restoration of trust) in a much healthier way than he tried to do with Ozai. He helps Katara move past the loss of her mother (a trauma they both have in common), and she, at last, decides to forgive him.
There is one last person from whom Zuko seeks forgiveness. Leading up to the series finale, Zuko has not been able to find or speak with Iroh. However, Zuko cannot keep himself from mentioning his uncle, keeping his presence felt even when he isn’t around. And though Zuko never realized that Iroh was more of a father to him until after the betrayal, he always felt that unconditional love at a subconscious level. When he finally does find his uncle, he breaks down and apologizes. It’s interesting to note that he doesn’t ask for forgiveness — in his mind, that is too much to ask — but for a way to make it up to Iroh.
This, once again, shows the contrast between the unhealthy relationships in Zuko’s life and the healthy ones. Looking all the way back at how Zuko apologized to Ozai for talking out of turn, he bows, apologizes, and pleads for forgiveness. He is met with refusal, physical violence, and banishment. Despite the journey that has led Zuko back to his uncle, despite having learned to expect better from others and himself, that fear still resides in him, that he will not be forgiven but punished. He will not be loved but scorned. And the thought of being scorned by Iroh of all people scares Zuko to tears.
He needn’t have worried. His tearful apology is interrupted by an embrace from Iroh, and this absolutely floors Zuko. He questions why they are able to move past his mistake so fast, and Iroh’s response is moving.
Zuko: How could you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me.
Iroh: I was never angry with you. I was sad because I was afraid you had lost your way…But you found it again. And you did it by yourself. And I’m so happy you found your way here.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, series finale (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “Sozin’s Comet: Part 2,” Nickelodeon. July 19, 2008. ))
With this, Zuko’s redemption arc is all but complete. And though he still has a final battle to fight against Azula in the finale, he is now well and truly redeemed. Armed with the knowledge that he is loved and forgiven, he can continue fighting and living as a person he can be proud of.
Where Does Redemption Lead Us?
In many stories, including movies, TV shows, books, etc., redemption often requires paying a heavy price. Many ex-villains prove themselves worthy of redemption through death, and this approach is somewhat of an extreme one. It would have been easy for Zuko to give his life for Aang or another member of the Gaang in a one-moment act of redemption. But that’s just the thing: it’s easy. True redemption — that is, being able to live with yourself and others as a changed and better person — is a much more difficult path to take.
We are all capable of great good and great evil. Everyone…deserves to be treated like they’re worth giving a chance.
– Aang (( Avatar: The Last Airbender. “The Avatar and the Fire Lord,” Nickelodeon. October 26, 2007. ))
Zuko is consistently portrayed with a certain duality. The scar on his face is used differently in shots that accentuate his villainous qualities or heroic ones. And his ancestry is even more revealing: on his father’s side of the family, his great-grandfather was Fire Lord Sozin, who began the Hundred-Year-War; and on his mother’s side of his family, his great-grandfather was the Avatar before Aang. Zuko’s constant struggle between good and evil will not end overnight; likely, he will always be questioning himself. But even the knowledge of his own duality proves that Zuko has grown enough to recognize the parts of himself that need work and the parts of himself that he can be proud of. This makes Zuko’s redemption the most powerful one in the series: the revelation that redemption is constant.
In real life, it is hard for people to change and better themselves. It is agonizingly difficult to forgive people who have wronged us. But continuing to work on ourselves is an important part of living. Zuko’s journey through trauma, rediscovery, and forgiveness illustrates that even though we might sometimes give in to the worst in ourselves, there is always a different, better part that can grow when given proper time, room, and love.