Read on Twitter
i’m so tired of the ursa slander all the time.
1. the principle window we have into what the family dynamic was like isn’t merely unbiased scenes of the royal family, it’s Zuko reliving personal memories. it’s therefore focused on him and not azula except as she matters to him
1. the principle window we have into what the family dynamic was like isn’t merely unbiased scenes of the royal family, it’s Zuko reliving personal memories. it’s therefore focused on him and not azula except as she matters to him
we were never going to get a fair image of ursa’s relationship w azula in this ep bc it isn’t abt them.
2. she’s often accused of favoritism, but we don’t actually see anything here that indicates troubling disparity. what we DO see is ursa compensating for voids in zuko’s life.
2. she’s often accused of favoritism, but we don’t actually see anything here that indicates troubling disparity. what we DO see is ursa compensating for voids in zuko’s life.
zuko doesn’t have friends like azula, so he spends a lot of time with mom, and ursa also encourages him to spend time with his sister and hers. zuko struggles w his bending & gets none of the support & encouragement azula does from ozai, so ursa gives it to him when he struggles.
3. her rebukes of azula’s behavior are appropriate to and even sometimes gentler than what the situation warrants. “we don’t speak that way” is a much kinder and more demonstrative correction than most i got as a kid.
perhaps the harshest thing we see her do to azula is mutter
perhaps the harshest thing we see her do to azula is mutter
“what is wrong with that child” as azula is leaving the room. it’s unclear whether azula heard. but let’s be clear: azula’s behavior has been disturbing. in the course of these flashbacks, she has taught her brother to be cruel to animals, wished for her family members’ deaths,
set a doll she was given on fire, & soon will go on to torment her brother w the knowledge that their father is plotting to murder him & suggesting to adopt him out to an enemy country that certainly wants him dead.
something is, in fact, seriously wrong with how she is acting.
something is, in fact, seriously wrong with how she is acting.
this does, of course, leave the question: why does azula 6 six years later think her mother thought she was “a monster” and “liked zuko better than her”, but still feel compelled to insist to everyone anytime the subject comes up that really, she doesn’t care anyways?
1. azula lost her mother at 8yo and probably feels a significant amount of guilt for what happened.
never mind that if azula hadn’t told her mother azulon’s orders, she would’ve lost her brother instead. a common response to loss is guilt, even in when it doesn’t make sense.
never mind that if azula hadn’t told her mother azulon’s orders, she would’ve lost her brother instead. a common response to loss is guilt, even in when it doesn’t make sense.
this added an extra twist of pain and self loathing to memories of her mother.
2. in retrospect, azula remembers how zuko got to spend more time with ursa than she did, and assumes that it was because mother didn’t love her/liked zuko better.
2. in retrospect, azula remembers how zuko got to spend more time with ursa than she did, and assumes that it was because mother didn’t love her/liked zuko better.
3. azula’s last few memories of ursa before she disappeared were mostly not positive interactions because azula’s behavior kept needing correction. this would’ve added further weight to her young mind, seemingly supporting her conclusion that “mother thought i was bad”
4. azula’s mom didn’t die, she left. putting her firmly under ozai’s control & making her feel she had to take sides in the split. obvious choice, for a kid who knew her brother nearly got murdered, is to take the “winner’s” side, & repress any positive association w the loser
5. the final strike. although i don’t doubt that ursa would’ve done exactly the same if it were azula’s life on the line, azula, with all these factors in mind, has no reason to think that. all she knows for sure is that mother left her for zuko and never came back. i don’t know
if she knew that ursa was banished, but if she didn’t...imagine thinking, as an 8yo, that your mom left bc she couldn’t stand ur family anymore, that the only reason she didn’t take your brother is bc your father wouldn’t let her, and that she is never, ever coming back for you
i’m not trying to say w all this that ursa was a perfect parent- lbr, there are no perfect parents. but i think azula’s problems have much more to do w the trauma of *losing a parent* especially in such a way that could easily be twisted into something she feels guilty for.
the main reason that i view it this way is actually bcof azula’s hallucinatory breakdown.
azula’s inner world is crumbling. she’s abt to be crowned FL, but she’s lost her grip over other ppl-& she knows exactly how fast power can slip away from someone who isn’t in control.
azula’s inner world is crumbling. she’s abt to be crowned FL, but she’s lost her grip over other ppl-& she knows exactly how fast power can slip away from someone who isn’t in control.
she pushes ppl away violently, banishing everyone in the palace, & finally she’s left alone w her thoughts. repressed memories and emotions come tumbling out of the shadows and peeking through mirrors.
i don’t think it’s a coincidence that on the eve of her coronation, she’s
i don’t think it’s a coincidence that on the eve of her coronation, she’s
tormented w memories of the person who killed Azulon. Ursa represents the first major fracture in her mind, and the danger she’s terrified of now.
but ursa isn’t really there. this is all azula’s buried subconscious, talking to the azula that’s been suppressing it to survive.
but ursa isn’t really there. this is all azula’s buried subconscious, talking to the azula that’s been suppressing it to survive.
this is a moment of truths.
and the truth we learn, the truth azula has desperately tried to keep buried for the last six years, is that she’s known deep down all along that her mother really did love her and wanted to see her succeed.
and the truth we learn, the truth azula has desperately tried to keep buried for the last six years, is that she’s known deep down all along that her mother really did love her and wanted to see her succeed.
this is WHY she doesn’t trust love. love didn’t stop mom from leaving. love didn’t bring mom back to save her from her manipulative, abusive father. love didn’t save zuko, it only bought him time. what azula knows to work is fear-and now that fear is failing her too, she is lost.
the tragedy of ursa&azula wouldnt exist if ursa hadn’t left. 8yo r notorious for being in trouble constantly & feeling like ppl hate them bc of it. i still remember it myself. time would’ve seen her thru it & shown that just bc mom has to correct u doesn’t mean she thinks ur evil
i do disagree w the assertion that ursa never/barely spent any time w azula. that is by no means a definitive reading of the canon as presented in the show. in fact, in all but 2/3 of zuko’s memories of ursa from zuko alone, azula is with both of them.
i didn’t put three exactly bc in one azula starts off not being in it but then comes up and takes zuko with her, then ursa comes back to get both of them at the end, so it’s not clearly in one territory or the other.
it should be noted i’m not using any scenes from the search in this interpretation; it’s poorly written & doesn’t align well with the original canon/characterizations. plus, “zuko alone”, which it regurgitates/expands, was written by elizabeth welch, not bryke.
