One of the best aspects of the Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series is its range and variety of characters and how those characters have real depth and development. They move the story forward while drawing the audience into both the overall narratives and the characters’ individual growth.
No character demonstrates growth and complexity better than Prince Zuko. He is a character with a complicated and troubled past, to put it simply. Every part of his life was a struggle. And every struggle shaped him into a person that many viewers would agree was the best that the show had to offer.
10 “I’m Never Happy.”
At least Zuko is aware of how he acts. Life had been rough for Zuko, and all of the difficulties he faced taught him to be reserved with his emotions, especially the ones that he used to always believe make him vulnerable and weak.
He learned over time. He might not have been in a happy mood when he said this, especially because he was trying to talk some sense into Sokka at the time, but his unhappiness used to be constantly paired with anger. He slowly but surely grew and learned to accept the good emotions and control the dangerous ones.
9 “No, You’re Not.”
When Zuko had to face his sister, Azula, in one final duel, he was focused and determined. He was balanced. Azula tried to get under his skin one final time by lamenting that their relationship had to come to this. When she thought her manipulation worked, assuming herself to be in control, Zuko simply and stoically responded with the line, “No, you’re not.”
Azula used to always know how to enrage Zuko. It was the primary tactic she used against him whenever they fought. She needed to get him flustered so she could easily take him down. But he matured greatly during his travels, and he learned to keep himself from losing control. His growth cost Azula her advantage.
8 “My Name Is Zuko. Son Of Ursa And Fire Lord Ozai. Prince Of The Fire Nation And Heir To The Throne.”
Throughout the entirety of Avatar, Zuko wrestled with the idea of identity. He believed knew who he was supposed to be. He was a prince who was destined to rule, and everyone would know it.
That was what he declared when he defeated some corrupt Earth Kingdom soldiers in a remote village. He had tried to hide who he was, but he eventually needed to reveal his identity by using his fire bending. This was one of the greatest examples of when Zuko was at war with himself. He wanted to be peaceful, but he also wanted to be a Fire Nation prince. Deep down, he incorrectly believed that could not be both at the same time.
7 “You Rise With The Moon … I Rise With The Sun.”
Despite his being banished and disgraced by his father, being disliked by his troops, and being mocked and attack by people such as Admiral Zhao, Zuko never lost his pride in the fact that he was a Fire Nation citizen and fire bender. It was part of his identity and culture to embrace fire’s power.
During the siege of the Northern Water Tribe, he fought with Katara under the light of a full moon. The moon gave Katara strength, enough to defeat Zuko and trap him in ice. But dawn eventually broke, and Zuko was able to draw power from the sun to break free and knock Katara unconscious. It was a moment when he felt full of strength and pride in who he was.
6 “Because Their Honor Didn’t Hinge On The Avatar’s Capture. Mine Does.”
All Zuko ever wanted was to be viewed as a good and honorable person. The issue was that he misunderstood what honor was. He believed that only his father could restore his honor, and he was willing to do anything to re-earn his father’s love.
His father, Fire Lord Ozai, had banished Zuko from the Fire Nation for disrespecting him. And he had told his young son that he would only be allowed to return if he captured the Avatar. It was a seemingly impossible mission, but Zuko was determined to win back his father’s approval. He saw no other way to redeem himself.
5 “You’ve Always Thrown Everything You Could At Me! Well, I Can Take It, And Now I Can Give It Back!”
Hardship after hardship had been thrown Zuko’s way. And with every assault on his will and resolve, he learned resilience, but he could never truly retaliate in the way he wanted. He remained proud, but he lacked true hope.
So when Zuko finally discovered that there was a way to redirect lightning, a powerful fire bending technique used by his sister, he was determined to master it. But his uncle, Iroh, wouldn’t train him due to a fear of hurting Zuko, so the prince went out into a thunderstorm to challenge the universe itself to test him. He thought he had found a way to stop being weak, but when the universe refused to answer his cries, he realized that he still failed to understand what true strength was.
4 “I Did Lose My Way.”
When the time came to face the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation in the final battle, Zuko and his friends first needed to reunite with Iroh. It was not going to be an easy reunion, however. The last time Zuko had seen his uncle, he had betrayed him. He couldn’t believe that Iroh would want to see him again after that.
That’s why Iroh’s embrace and love for Zuko surprised him. Iroh explained that he was never angry at Zuko, only sad that he had lost his way. In this touching moment, Zuko showed that he had learned from his mistakes and that his repentance had helped him find the truth again.
3 “I Promised My Uncle That I Would Restore The Honor Of The Fire Nation. And I Will.”
At the end of the show, after the Fire Lord had been defeated and all of the world’s nations cheered for the end of the war, Zuko gave a speech in which he vowed to help rebuild the war-torn world and restore the Fire Nation’s honor. He would do whatever it took to set things right.
Zuko had finally reclaimed his honor after so many years of struggling to learn what honor even was. He had to go through many trials to learn that honor didn’t come from power or approval but through integrity and kindness. It wasn’t an easy journey for him, but it was the one he needed to take to become someone worthy of being the next Fire Lord.
2 “You Have To Try Every Time. You Can’t Quit Because You’re Afraid You Might Fail.”
There came a time when Zuko, after learning so many harsh life lessons, was able to pass on what he knows to his friends so he could help them. In this instance, his lessons helped to teach a discouraged Sokka.
Zuko had joined Sokka on his mission to infiltrate the Boiling Rock prison to find and free Sokka’s dad. The original plan did not go as Sokka hoped, but Zuko was there to encourage him to make a new plan and to not let the threat of failure keep him from trying again.
1 “I Don’t Need Luck, Though. I Don’t Want It. I’ve Had To Struggle And Fight And That’s Made Me Strong. It’s Made Me Who I Am.”
It’s clear that Zuko resented how the events of his life played out, but he never wanted everything to be handed to him. His views on honor were still misguided at the point when he said this, but his desire to earn what was his remained unchanged. He wanted his old life back, but he didn’t want it at the cost of his pride.
Reliance on his strength was one of the few things that had kept Zuko going during his banishment from the Fire Nation. He did not take it for granted. Zuko always kept his resolve, and he fully believed that he had what it took to return to his former glory. It didn’t work out the way he initially envisioned, but he did end up being right.
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