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lizbeeMe yesterday morning: I'm enjoying my AtLA rewatch, but I don't think I have anything new to say, so there's no need to blog about it. "This was good and is still good" is barely worth a Tweet.
Me yesterday evening: ZUKO'S MOTIVATION IN "THE SOUTHERN RAIDERS" WAS AS MUCH ABOUT HIS OWN NEED FOR VENGEANCE AGAINST A CULTURE OF ABUSE AS KATARA'S DESIRE TO AVENGE HER MOTHER!
(Me in the early hours of this morning: Did I just come up with a way of making a story about the validity of a girls' anger all about a boy? No, this is absolutely Katara's story, but Zuko's motivations are complex, that's all.)
Zuko's been trying and failing to connect with Katara since he joined the Gaang, and the second Sokka tells him about Kya's murder, Zuko knows that's the way to do it. "Let's go avenge your mother's death" is not the most likely foundation for a friendship, but, hey, one of Aang and Katara's early dates involved ecoterrorism, she's a complicated girl.
That much is textual and obvious, well done, Liz, for understanding a plot written for ten-year-olds.
What struck me on this rewatch is how much Zuko seems to relish infiltrating the Fire Nation Navy and threatening Yon Rha. And why not, when the Navy was where he spent three humiliating years in exile, being pushed around by people like Zhao?
Zuko doesn't literally bust out a Blue Spirit mask in this episode, but he brings his swords, and keeps firebending to a minimum. As the Blue Spirit, he had two modes: heroic stranger and petty thief. Now, he gets to be a hero to Katara, but also humiliate the Navy just a bit -- while also putting to use the knowledge he gained in exile.
So that's one level of vengeance, but there's another: Zuko has only just discovered that his mother was exiled, and is possibly still alive somewhere. And he knows that it's not just Ozai who is the bad guy, but an entire culture that enables the cruel and petty to rise to positions of power. Yon Rha, who killed Katara's mother, makes a decent stand-in for Ozai and the whole culture that Zuko is rejecting.
What I'm saying is, it's vengeance all the way down. Until Katara realises that killing Yon Rha isn't what she needs. Zuko respects that choice, but his vengeance, when it comes, takes the form of finding his mother and reshaping Fire Nation society, to the point where his own successor is not a warrior, but a bespectacled, unprepossessing woman who refers to the Hundred Years' War as "a nonsense war".
Me yesterday evening: ZUKO'S MOTIVATION IN "THE SOUTHERN RAIDERS" WAS AS MUCH ABOUT HIS OWN NEED FOR VENGEANCE AGAINST A CULTURE OF ABUSE AS KATARA'S DESIRE TO AVENGE HER MOTHER!
(Me in the early hours of this morning: Did I just come up with a way of making a story about the validity of a girls' anger all about a boy? No, this is absolutely Katara's story, but Zuko's motivations are complex, that's all.)
Zuko's been trying and failing to connect with Katara since he joined the Gaang, and the second Sokka tells him about Kya's murder, Zuko knows that's the way to do it. "Let's go avenge your mother's death" is not the most likely foundation for a friendship, but, hey, one of Aang and Katara's early dates involved ecoterrorism, she's a complicated girl.
That much is textual and obvious, well done, Liz, for understanding a plot written for ten-year-olds.
What struck me on this rewatch is how much Zuko seems to relish infiltrating the Fire Nation Navy and threatening Yon Rha. And why not, when the Navy was where he spent three humiliating years in exile, being pushed around by people like Zhao?
Zuko doesn't literally bust out a Blue Spirit mask in this episode, but he brings his swords, and keeps firebending to a minimum. As the Blue Spirit, he had two modes: heroic stranger and petty thief. Now, he gets to be a hero to Katara, but also humiliate the Navy just a bit -- while also putting to use the knowledge he gained in exile.
So that's one level of vengeance, but there's another: Zuko has only just discovered that his mother was exiled, and is possibly still alive somewhere. And he knows that it's not just Ozai who is the bad guy, but an entire culture that enables the cruel and petty to rise to positions of power. Yon Rha, who killed Katara's mother, makes a decent stand-in for Ozai and the whole culture that Zuko is rejecting.
What I'm saying is, it's vengeance all the way down. Until Katara realises that killing Yon Rha isn't what she needs. Zuko respects that choice, but his vengeance, when it comes, takes the form of finding his mother and reshaping Fire Nation society, to the point where his own successor is not a warrior, but a bespectacled, unprepossessing woman who refers to the Hundred Years' War as "a nonsense war".
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Date: 2017-01-05 04:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-06 12:50 am (UTC)On the other hand, they may lose interactions like, well, this! ^_^
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Date: 2017-01-05 10:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 01:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 11:04 pm (UTC)