Thread by @fiat_luz, alright let's go: "the beach" character by character analysis thread!alternative title: for [...]

alright let's go: "the beach" character by character analysis thread!

alternative title: for fuck's sake shut up about that shell

let's start with ty lee! "the beach" is pretty much the only episode where we get character development for her (arguably TBR part 2 counts too but her presence in that episode is... thin). we learn three major things about her in that episode:

1) she likes attention
2) she is terrified of losing her individuality
3) she knows how to play into people's expectations of her

it's also one of the few times we see her express emotions other than pure positivity, when she rightfully yells at mai for slut-shaming her

mai sums up ty lee's issues in one sentence: "attention issues. you couldn't get enough attention as a kid so you're trying to make up for it now". i'm not gonna go too much into this because, unlike the rest of team azula, ty lee has already worked through this problem

all four of the kids are at different stages of unpacking their trauma: ty lee knows where it stems from and is taking steps to work against it, zuko knows what traumatised him and what he needs to do to start healing but refuses to get to it, mai and azula are in complete denial

ty lee already left the toxic environment she grew up in and has distanced herself from her sisters by being a "circus freak". unlike the other three, she doesn't have to be backed into a corner to admit her trauma, she brings it up on her own because she's aware of it

zuko insults her because he wants to hurt her into not pressing him on his own issues, but he doesn't understand that straying from expectations set for her, the very thing he finds shameful about her character, is something she's proud of -replace "circus freak" with "traitor"

and you get foreshadowing for zuko's development. turns out ty lee's right, she does know him.

unlike zuko, however, azula knows how to hurt ty lee, as is demonstrated when she hits right where it stings and states that the boys that won't leave ty lee alone (something that, i

should say, mai is absolutely in the wrong for shaming her friend for, since she didn't ask for them and is just taking advantage of a bunch of weirdoes falling on her lap) don't "actually care who [she is]". azula's not wrong per se, but i think ty lee knows this to an extent,

because of the advice she gives azula right after. ty lee essentially tells her to lie to get boys to do what she wants, by playing into their egoes, smiling a lot and lauging at everything they say "even if it's not funny". there's no way ty lee's cognitive dissonance is strong

enough for her to do that around men and then think they genuinely like her for who she is. but notice something else about that advice? that's how ty lee acts around azula. she's always smiling and acting overjoyed (see "return to omashu" where she subtly warns mai by stating

that "azula called a little louder" with a big smile on her face). she also always flatters her ego with compliments, something that happens twice in "the beach": first by saying that people "should" worship her (and zuko but who cares about him) for being royalty, then with the

delightfully gay "you're the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world". azula immediately dismisses ty lee's strategy as "really shallow and stupid", showing that despite priding herself on knowing people she underestimates the people on her team so much she can't

even recognise when she's being manipulated. that little interaction between them is brilliant because it sums up their dynamic perfectly, gives us some insight into how smart and cunning ty lee actually is, and highlights the shortcomings of azula's superiority complex

anyway i'm so sorry to the mai stans who make up 100% of my audience and had to sit through a whole paragraph about ty lee, she's just so often forgotten in discussions of this episode and it's a shame because she's fantastic in it. let's talk about mai now!

mai gets A LOT of hate for her behaviour in "the beach". she gets called toxic, dismissive, even an abusive girlfriend. so, in the spirit of fairness, let's start with what she did wrong in that episode:

1) shaming ty lee for "needing 10 boyfriends"

that's it.

unlike ty lee, mai is fleshed out outside of "the beach", but the bulk of her development and of that of her relationship with zuko is really in this episode. maiko have been a cute and loving couple until now, and they're at their worst here. but NONE of that is mai's fault

mai and zuko butt heads a couple times throughout the episode, starting with trivial stuff and culminating in a full-on break-up. this is where we get to my worst nemesis: The Shell

can you believe this motherfucker right here is responsible for so much of the hate mai gets. EVERY other zuko ship has art of the other person in the pairing lovingly accepting the shell. ALL OF THEM. i'm so tired

let's get this straight: the shell is a terrible gift. zuko sees something lying on the sand, picks it up and hands it to mai with the justification that "i thought it was pretty. don't girl like pretty things?". it's not a thoughtful gift, it's quite literally something he'd

have given any other girl (and the episode hammers this point home by having one of the annoying boys swarming around ty lee pick it up and give it to her, although having mai indirectly call ty lee stupid is wrong and unnecessary). mai is not being toxic here, if anything she's

much more patient than i'd ever be (i certainly would not respond with a neutral "why would i want that?" if my partner PICKED UP SOMETHING LYING AROUND AND HANDED IT TO ME). i have no idea what zuko expected out if this. it's below the bare minimum. if anything, it shows

that HE's being a dick here because he takes a misguided guess as to what his partner likes, wants thanks for it, and blows up when he's met with a well-deserved lukewarm response. i will concede that mai does have issues talking about what she likes (she's more likely to point

out what she hates like the repressed emo she is), but zuko could just, y'know, ask her. like he does in "nightmare and daydreams". where she enthusiastically responds that she wants fruit tarts. anyway, calling mai a toxic person or an abuser over her reaction to the shell is

ridiculous (you can't in good faith convince me that you'd be overcome with happiness at the shell, and neither would your preferred zuko partner)

taking a break here cause i've apparently hit my thread limit i'll add the rest asap

alright i'm back, not even gonna touch on the ice cream bit cause that was just zuko being a useless bisexual and mai reacting accordingly and it's a pretty funny scene. their next fight is at chan's party, where zuko is for some reason convinced that mai is interested in another

guy because he seems into her, even though she's shown no signs of liking him back. again, her reaction is absolutely justified. zuko's looking for excuses to take his anger out on her and there's no reason she should take it. he's being a possessive creep and an asshole and mai

was right to break up with him because he needed a reality check. zuko has a tendency to wallow in self-pity and ignore the feelings of those around him, his whole arc is about learning to care about others and be selfless. i've seen people compare mai to ozai (worst take in atla

history btw but i digress) but she's really more like iroh in that she doesn't hesitate to call him out when he's wrong (like iroh did when zuko wanted to capture appa). with iroh emprisoned, it's mai who takes on the role of keeping zuko in check, except she's a bit more lenient

than iroh. they both want his happiness and for him to be his best self, only iroh is old and wise enough to know zuko can only achieve this away from his father, and mai doesn't realise this until TBR (and as soon as she does she quite literally sacrifices herself for him)

mai breaking up with zuko in "the beach" is not her overreacting or being a bad girlfriend. she's exhausted all her other options (talking to him doesn't work, making a scene in public doesn't work), and he insults her by calling her a "big blah". so she uses her last resort and

ends it. the next time they see each other she's the one to try and reach out first, showing she didn't mean it, she just wanted to shock him into understanding he was being a dick (and it kinda worked). she was willing to put up with him until it got personal and he tried to

hurt her. that's not being abusive, that's setting healthy boundaries.

i'm not going to go much into mai's discussion of her own trauma, since there are tons of metas about it and that it's resolved with the single best line in the show (fight me), where mai expresses that not

only is she in touch with her positive emotions now, they're powerful enough to overcome her negative ones and actively guide her moral compass

i'll just say that we see all of you calling yourselves feminists and in the same breath calling a teenage girl with emotional issues an abuser because she's not constantly showering her man in uncritical praise. "the beach" shows mai is a well-intentioned and loving partner who

also knows when her boyfriend is stepping out of line and when to leave because it's not her job to be his punching bag

that's it for mai, stay tuned for azula and zuko next

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