The Zutara Incident - Book 4 Air 

Do you have any interesting con stories? If so please share :)

That’s “Sorry to disappoint the “Zutara” fans” quote only came from Bryke AFTER the series ended. During the run of the show, they refused to say which ship might be endgame, and very often implied it “could go either way you’ll just have to wait and see ;)” - they love profiting off Zutara shippers but they’re freakin’ immature and jealous their pet ship wasn’t the unanimous favorite.

Funny how their "toxic zutara" is basically maiko...

For me personally Zutara had way more organic development and buildup than Kataang ever had.

I was at that panel in 2008, and I shipped Zutara, actively in the fandom. It was actually even my first convention that I went to with another Zutara fan I had encountered on the internet. And yeah, at the time, this book 4 thing really stung, left a bad taste in our mouths, and kind of dampened the whole experience of getting to fly out there, especially because we went PARTICULARLY for this one panel. It felt like needless mocking, or like salt in the wounds, like, we could accept our ship being non-canon, even though we clearly had different opinions than the showrunners did, and we loved the show regardless(because romance is not everything in the series). This panel was right after the finale had aired and we still wanted to go. We dropped money to meet each other and fly out together to go to this convention to see this panel and meet other fans. But, to travel that far, spend that much, and be able to walk into our first SDCC, only to have the entire reason we were there kind of mock us to our faces? It did hurt. We were left cold in our seats, any laughter we may have had at the first handful of lines, died quickly. Like, they didn't have to make that. That time could have been devoted to more inclusive/positive activities or talking or questions, and while Zutara would have come up REGARDLESS because it really was HUGE in the fandom, it really had no reason to be THAT ridiculous. It was clear they never really understood the ship, but it was really unnecessary to treat it like that with devoted fans in the room.After the panel, we met with fellow Zutarians outside. And while we overall enjoyed the experience, we all agreed on Book 4. It left a lot of us feeling alienated, confused, and for some, angry. We were also very upset that a lot of the artists we were so close and familiar with online had their art basically pilfered and used to mock us, as far as I recall, without their permission, and clearly against the very SPIRIT of the creation of those fanarts in the first place. I myself had a long period of extreme disappointment at how they handled the situation. My best friend back home, with whom I watched the show religiously, soured from the whole experience once I told her about it, and she hasn't really touched the show since, and never watched Korra either. It wouldn't have even been SO BAD if they hadn't included the line with the sokka art, mocking girls who ship Zutara as having doomed relationships and at the end saying "Thanks for (SOME) of the fanart. Those two pieces were just...extra condescending. Even if it was just joking, it's hard not to take that a little hard when you've been poring hours of work and passion into making fanart for the series of the "wrong" pairing However it was MEANT, by Bryke and the others, the fact is, it really tainted some of the amazing feelings we had about this very refreshing show that we all fell in love with. And it never had anything to do with the fact that Katara ended up with someone who wasn't Zuko; it was the showrunners attitude about it and how they handled the situation. I've had lots of time and have come to peace with the whole thing and I still adore the show for what it is, a true work of art, I own the seires now as well as Legend of Korra; but there is always going to be that bad memory. While I can forgive Bryke for this misstep, I won't be able to forget it.

I remember watching it as a kid and thinking it was weird that katara chose aang because she acted like an older sister to him. When you’re a kid, years difference between characters are more of a big deal; I viewed katara as a teen and aang still as a kid. Looking back it’s also that cliche trope of the hero “getting the girl,” even though said girl had zero interest in him until the end. 😕 Also considering that fanart was likely done by kids, it was definitely mean-spirited.

How mean spirited this is is one thing, but the thing that makes it so much worse is that this was a kids show, these were kids passions and creative works they were mocking. Trying to navigate life as a preteen is *hard* Avatar was something that made me really happy and if I'd seen this at that age I'd have felt so crushed by these adults who created something incredible that I loved openly mocking me.

The effects of the Kataang vs. Zutara war can still be felt today. Many of its outcomes influenced much of the events that transpired during Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defender.

*Creators Mock Zutara calling the Ship Ridiculous and too dark* *Made Zuko end up in an Unhealthy toxic Relationship with Mai* Ok buddy whatever you say

I never knew this was a thing that happened, but after watching it all these years later... yeah, this was mean-spirited 100%. I actually can't stop cringing at it. Imagine being a creator that actually goes out there and spends his time animating (no offense) poorly drawn fanart -- most likely drawn by young fans -- and adding generic sitcom jokes with voiceover so you can show it to people at a con and have your audience hoot and holler (because that's what they're going to do, it's their con and their place of power. The writers were /not/ going to get a negative reaction for this (at least immediately) and they knew it). I would've been uncomfortable to be in that audience -- this was laughing AT people and their work and ideas... having fun at the fans' expense. Not cool. I wasn't really in the Avatar fandom so I wasn't familiar with how "annoying" the fans were, so... the "they needed to be put in their place" argument doesn't sit well with me either. Though honestly, in what world would it really? This is why creators need to take a step back and just stop interacting with their fanbases if they feel the fans are taking their work in directions they didn't intend. Of course the artist has the final say, but that old argument about whether the art belongs to the artist or society is... yeah, that's still a thing. Once you put it out there, SOMEONE is going to interpret it in a way you don't want them to. Don't put it out there if you're going to be bitter about it. Dunno. I always felt that the Kataang 'twist' came out of left field and was completely reactionary, like the creators blowing raspberries at Zutarians or whatever. It always felt weak and underdeveloped to me, unlike Zutara which had a lot of conflict and buildup. I was rooting for it, but meh. I guess. Great video as always -- I love going back in time to learn more about fandom and transformative works from you. Love it & wish you the best of success!

Also, as a writer, I can promise you we examine all our choices under a microscope and from millions of angles. We have reasons for writing what we write, and we want the story to go a certain way and we turn it over and over in our head to see what will work in the framework of our world and our characters. We have biases. We have favorite characters. We have pet story ideas or even ships. I like to abide by the law of “kill your darlings” - if I’m too attached to a character or arch or plot point, I HYPER examine it. Am I just really emotionally attached to this part of my story and don’t wanna scrape it even though it doesn’t work, goes against character arcs, or derails the themes I’m going for? I feel like Bryke doesn’t kill their darlings. Probably because they are not, first and foremost, writers. They are artists. Their expertise lies in character designs and worldbuilding and cool fight scenes. Watching ATLA and TLOK, and ESPECIALLY in the comics, this becomes so, SO clear. They have this idea in their heads of what would be cool and visually appealing. They also tend to have very two dimensional ideas of their characters. When they’re working with other writers, like on ATLA and TLOK this manifests as the characters being a little all over the place - Zuko is such a good example. I feel like some of the writing team, including Aaron and Elizabeth Ehasz had a much more nuanced understand of Zuko’s character and his arc. Their names are on top billing for the writing of quintessential episodes like Zuko Alone and The Day of Black Sun pt 2 (where Zuko has his famous, moving confrontation with his father). But then you get episodes that seem more Bryke driven (and I think they were also in charge of writing) like the beach episode and the absolute bipolar rickety swingbridge of characterization which was The Southern Raiders. (Also, I noticed it came out in the “Book 4” comic con clip - that “emo!Zuko” weird bad boy character that is...really such a flat, 2d understand of Zuko’s character and it reinforces for me how Bryke view Zuko and you can just see where their handiwork edited and changed Zuko in the episodes and comics). I’m sorry but the guy who confronted quite possibly the most dangerous and evil man on earth and said “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.” ...and then who acts like some weird stereotype of a scene kid on MySpace with his “I love how you hate the world” and “Ok, Mr. goody two shoes.” With Zuko as one of my favorite characters in media, of all time, it makes me wanna bang my head against the wall.

Wow I never even knew about this. To be fair I was like 8 when this all happened so it’s clear why it went unnoticed by me. I just feel bad for the artists that had their works used in this since they’re clearly passionate about zutara :(

I find it strange they implied that anyone who ships katara and zuko together won't have a meaningful relationship when they made mai and zuko canon

While I shipped Zutara I has no problem with Katang. But hf did Zuko and Mai end up together?

I was there for the wars but Zutara was also pretty much endorsed by Dante Basco who was the voice for Zuko. At one point he was even willing to work on a fan project with everyone.

Personally I shipped Zuko and Katara because I felt uncomfortable shipping Aang with anyone. He just felt way too much like a little kid. Especially with his voice. Zuko and Katara felt a bit more like equals, whereas Aang just seemed like he had the typical crush young kids have on someone older.

I feel like Book 4 was meant to be well-intentioned fanservice, but it does come across as mean. Using the fanart with the actual voice actors like that is especially cruel.

I have always shipped zutara and since I wasn’t very involved in the fandom I didn’t have any knowledge of this incident but now I definitely feel that it was a little mean spirited. And Bryke could have easily made it better by having Zuko and Katara find each other again in LOK. That would give Kataang and zutara shippers what they want and it would just be adorable as elderly badasses falling in love usually is ^^

I just finished the show with my brother and when we watched The Southern Raider he goes "Oh, I see, so Katara is going to end up with Zuko? The whole Yin and Yang thing." And I'm just crying silently on the couch.

This is the first time I've ever seen this, but holy shit was that offensive. You can tell us our ships will never happen, but don't mock those ships with fan art. That's just cruel. Especially since it's a kid's show. Some of that fanart may very well have been drawn by kids.

If the writers weren't being so pretentious & closed minded they'd realize how much more potential that ship could've had compared to what they made canon. Zuko & Mai relationship is so damn unhealthy like they are not a good fit at all it gets even worse if you go past the show & read the books she is always emotional unavailable which causes zuko to lose his temper then later when zuko becomes fire lord she goes on the opposite end of the spectrum & won't give him any space & they break up why she dates some new guy who she is manipulating to get info on her father & she flirts with zuko while still being with the new guy like I can't make this shot up. Also not saying Aang is a evil but even as a kid I always hated how he would basically try to force Katara to have feelings for him kissing her without warning yelling at her to love him like wtf? It's like he didn't respect her boundaries at all & didn't really see her as her own person. She also felt too mature for Aang. Zuko & Katara had the most natural chemistry & really understood each other. And showed the importance of forgiveness & growth. They thought they'd be a bad couple for kids compared to what they gave us in canon? ESPECIALLY Mai & Zuko.

As a Zutara fan, Bryke is kind of despicable. They clearly have a preference for Kataang and took it personally that Zutara got so popular. So they came up with all these petty, childish ways to rile up Zutara shippers, thus alienating a good chunk of their fanbase. I really feel that the shipping war wouldn’t have been as heated as it was/is without the show creators themselves taking sides.

Just two things: 1) This was mean-spirited, even if it was a joke. I cringed my way through it again just as I did ten years ago and actually put off watching your vid for a few days because I kept cringing when I saw it in my recommendations. 2) I love Zutara but when it comes to Aang, I’m much less annoyed that he ended up with Katara and more annoyed that the Guru episode didn’t come to fruition. He was told that he had to let everything go, including Katara, to reach new heights in his power. I thought it would have been a really cool way to show being able to let go of your past (history, crush, etc) to move forward. Anyway that’s just me. I hope you’re having a a great day though~

I remember this happening and being appalled. It still makes me cringe. If you set aside the context of fandom and look at it as simply as possible, it was essentially two grown men mocking and deriding kids. Kids who liked their work. As adults, the onus is on them to deal with their feelings on reactions to their work in a mature way. This was visceral and cruel. Telling someone that if they like something they will "forever have doomed relationships" is mean-spirited and unnecessary in any context. Using fanart of a beloved character to voice that nastiness is even worse. Maybe it's just my fuzzy memory, but I feel like Mike and Bryan were always sort of brash and even mean. They just made me really uncomfortable. I remember not being into Avatar much beyond watching the show because of it, even though I love Aaron Ehasz.

Bryke shouldn't blame Zutara fans for their own poor relationship development between Maiko and Kataang. Both ships could have easily been more likable if Mai had been more fleshed out or if Katara hadn't constantly been mothering Aang.

Ehasz: "If Katara got with Zuko six year olds would cry" What! I cried as a kid when Zutara didn't happen lol

The first serious Red/Blue ship to dominate a fandom and ultimately bite the dust lol.

Also, I'm a big enthusiast of multishipping, but kataang definitely don't stick with me. She was his mother figure since the beginning of the series (and that's not speculation, that's in the series text) but I don't take issue with the "yikes" of some sort of Oedipus complex, no, their not actually related, so they could transition to a less mother-son dynamic as Aang matured, but they didn't. Katara still take most of the emotional work in a really unbalanced way and seemed to had basically raised two of their children on her own, scaring them af, specially Bumi. I'm not saying they had to be a perfect family, but Zuko, when he entered the gang, was probably the only person other than Suki that Katara didn't had to mother around, probably because he was the closest to a self realized adult. Mean while Katara seemed to be kept responsible for putting Aang's shit together, as we see in the comics, and then their children, and then the whole family dynamic (I see many women complain about this kind of situation, because they get exhausted, they want divorce, but it's utterly difficult to quit the relationship afterwards, because the guy grew so dependent on them). Putting it simply, I think Kataang kinda works in the detriment if both characters development. I made peace with the idea of zutara not happening (I'm very satisfied with the great fan work out there), but the fact the Kataang is end game really gets my goats.

I watched the legend of korra before i watched atla (at like 20 years old) so I was never involved in ship wars, and after watching korra I saw an article “proving” korrasami by comparing it to kataang. So when I went back and actually watched atla, I went in knowing kataang was canon and thus hoping to ship it if it was comparable to korrasami. But in actually watching it, zutara just stole the show for me. I wasn’t strongly against kataang, but it just wasn’t interesting initially and zutaras dynamic was just far more fascinating to me so I fell more into that despite knowing I was setting myself up for failure when kataang inevitably happened. Anyway, to the topic of the video, yeah this was extremely distasteful. Sure, it was a joke, but that excuse means nothing to me when the end result is this harmful and they refuse to apologise for it and in fact continue to celebrate it. It’s hella immature in my opinion.

Creators should always have final say in their works.... But that was just in bad taste.

I still believe Zutara had a huge potential !

If it happened at more recent times like this, things would have been a lot worse. Fans would send death threats or accuse people of being sexist.

Kataang vs. Zutara Makorra vs. Korrasami Klance vs. Sheith All of these shipping wars are some of the most culturally defining moments of fandom, or at least the shipping fandom. You cannot deny how their impact in fan culture.

There seems to be this belief that because something is said in jester - that it can' be malicious. Jokes can be hurtful. Some people will also use "its just a joke" to excuse their bad/hurtful behavior. In my opinion, this was in poor taste. I never really cared for the Last Airbender as much as some but Kaatang never appealed to me and I believe that was the case for many. Zutara was more popular hands down. I just feel like the creators should respect the fan's wishes more because in the end they are the ones who care about your content.

That clip is always so cringey. The Ember Island play was playful acknowledgment but the Comic-Con clip was straight mockery

WOOW I had completely repressed the memory of watching this years ago and it brought back a LOOOT of feelings I had towards Bryke after this happened. In the moment when I watched this I laughed bc the whole episode is funny/cringy in its ridiculousness. But the second it stopped being funny was the end of the video when it says “thanks for all of the fanart through the years” and “all” becomes “some” and then “most”. At that point it became a real jab to zutara shippers and more specifically, those who created fanart/fanfic as the whole story also felt like a jab at the stories fans write too. As if to say we arent gratful to fan works if it was Zutara, and that made a lot of creators feel like crap. Its one thing if as the show creator you prefer one pairing or character or whatever over what some of the fandom does. But to actively take fan art you thought was ridiculous and use it to create a video making fun of said fans is nothing more than mean spirited. That event was a big deal for me bc it was a little bit of the reason why I stopped drawing. Bryke were (and still are) my heroes, but to have them mock fans really sucked as a teen. Looking back it was a poor choice on their part, but I do think it made the ship stronger. WE’RE STILL HERE YALL ❤️💙

I remember reading the comics and being so sad that Zuko and Katara never interacted...They clearly bashed the fangirls

Zutara is endgame for me. Done.

So are you saying that we need to bring “balance” to the shipping? 😉😆

I wish I could live in the alternate universe where Zutara happened

I remember this. It WAS an insult! I was there. The pain of losing Zutara still hurts to this day in fact. So much so that I've never rewatched ATLA. Ever. It still hurts. 😔

I never hate Kataang (I was just okay with the couple). I mjust say that the comics after the TV-series made me like the couple less. They felt like a weird married couple with the wayy that they talk to eachother and it kind of made me inconfortable. The comic Kataang felt blend and just not natural for their age and personnality. Also I love atla but I don't like how the fans are being treated by the creators. I feel like they are just mean.

Writer: if Zutara happened 6 years old would cry Lmao they couldn’t give a better explanation than that? Plus so many people people have said even as kids Kataang was weird

When I was a toddler I was shipping Zutara before I knew shipping was a thing

Ok, sooooo... I see the book 4 as really mean spirited, but I'm not sure it's ok to demonize Bryke over it since the 2000s were a experimental moment for the fandom/creator relationship. But what gets me kinda hurt (that's not the word I'm actually looking for but let's use it for a while) is the lack of capability to acknowledge what is it that zutara has to offer and that plays in the "all women who ship zutara will have doomed relationships bit" each is... A bit mysoginistic and for me highlights a lack of engagement with something they're criticizing. That makes a terrible impression that they think that the only appeal in zutara is that all girls like bad boys. o-o yikes. Zuko is one of the most complex and well-handled characters in children's television, there's a lot more to him than just bad boy vibes~

I will be honest, I was probably there for the panel but I was like 10 at the time and forgot the majority of the panel, as well as previous ones I went to. I just have one out of context memory of one of the panels that’s just “For the record Jet is dead,” and then a Jet cosplayer just shouts “Jets not dead!” and that’s basically all I remember, that and the proto types of aang with hair

I think it was mainly a joke, I get why people were offended by it though. I shipped Zutara even though I knew it wasn't cannon but I had not problems with Katang being end game. I definitely felt like Zutara had more upfront chemistry and it would have worked, but Katang was cute and not unjustified.

I was a Kataang shipper back in the day, more Zutara now though. However, the "episode" was mean-spirited and I would have seen it that way then too. I shipped Kataang but I could see where Zutara came from. Doing something like that is mean af. The other thing is, as someone writing an original series, sometimes what you initially planned turns out differently as you execute it. Pigeonholing your characters, narrative or - yes - ships, is a disservice. While I wouldn't say Kataang is pigeonholing, the writer's reactions being so against Zutara that had developed somewhat on its own shows their inability to let the story breath.

We watched rewatched Avatar at my dorm after I got the DVD set and one of my friends was seeing it for the first time and she started shipping Zutara lol. So yeah, I think it's definitely something that appeals more to older fans, but for the demographic I can see why Aang and Katara ended up together. I didn't really care when I first watched the show since I was like, 9, and just sorta figured Katang would happen because Aang liked Katara, but after i discovered The Internet and Zutara I was immediately like "... I like that shit". and i've been a Zutara shipper ever since.

Hardcore comic book and video game nerds used to be fair game for making fun of until mainstream creators realized that nerds were their bread and butter. Now look at Ready Player One and Big Bang Theory: male nerd culture is hugely celebrated. Soooooo they've moved on to making fun of shipping culture and girl geek culture. Maybe they didn't intend to be mean-spirited, but they were openly mocking shipping culture, and shipping culture continues to be mocked all the time. To the extent that when it comes up during an interview or on a talk show and *isn't* mocked, all of fandom falls over themselves in shock and relief. I get that we're intense and kind of hard to please but so are the more "traditional" fanboys who have read every Star Wars novelization (yes, of course including the pre-episode seven timeline). I think they're (creators) starting to get the picture that we (shippers) do represent a valuable demographic and just because we care more about character development and character relationships than the accuracy in continuity of the improvements made to the Starship Enterprise doesn't mean we're "not watching the show for the right reasons." I'm not interested in branding anyone as an asshole, but this kind of thing just makes me sad. We're not just faceless crazy fangirls, we're people. Why ya' gotta hate on us so much?

Brike didn't need help alienating tons of fans, they did they well enough with Korra.

I still don’t care what anyone says I still ship zutara to the end

1. WOW I was not aware of this incident - I had known they had done 'shipping' parts at previous panels - I distinctly remember an early on panel where they had a slide of possible couples and people would cheer. But I never knew they had down one so maliciously - I can see where it's "just a joke" but I have always been one to believe creators/staff need to take a step back from the fandom, especially when it comes to shipping - as it does more harm than good when they are involved (i.e. VLD) 2. I definitely believe there is writer's strife and just staff strife overall. For example, VLD - the artists clearly preferred certain ships but the writing staff did not - or, at best, was at war with itself and became the mess it evolved into. Looking back on it with ATLA, I can definitely see that there may have been some writer's strife, but I feel it wasn't as bad as future projects. I'm definitely a multishipper now - but I do remember being a staunch Zutara fan when the series first came out, and I agree multishipping, while not for everyone, is great and should be more embraced by so many fans - it would definitely make fandoms more pleasant and engaging.

Watching this instantly killed my Avatarverse hyperfocus and stopped me midway through the legend of korra and made me go look for dopamine elsewhere... while watching princess mononoke I realised how much "inspiration" for the show actualle came from studio ghibli... I love Avatar the last airbender, but I really don't know how to feel about the creators attitude and treatment of the fans...

Hoo boy am I glad I hadn't even started lurking in fandoms then and never got involved in ship wars XD I never really got on board with Kataang, simply because Aang to me just seemed too young to ship, mostly mentally. But I adored their friendship enough that I wasn't mad when they became canon. So I was more of a Zutara girl, but I was keen on most of the other ships too. Particularly Zokka. As for the video I was completely unaware of it until now, and at first I was laughing along, finding it amusing. It was the ending of it that pushed things over the edge, personally. But then again I'm so used to my ships never being endgame that it just really doesn't bother me, and I always have art and fics there for whenever I want them. Sincerely your Professional Lurking Multi-Shipper ;)

Take one look at the creators and you'll know why they shipped Kataang.

Also, I would really love to see commentary added to this about Ehasz’s recent tweets revealing that they had always planned for a season 4, along with a redemption ark for Azula, until plans for the live action was pushed forward and ruined everything.

When I was younger I didn't ship anybody but I do think katara and zuko is a good pairing, whenever there is kataang scene I would feel uncomfortable, when katara and aang ended up together instead, it made me feel confused cause I always thought they got a sister and brother relationship, or the motherly one, the ending scene where they kissed just left me a wierd taste, but overall, the show is great

I don’t take ships all too seriously anymore in this day and age, but for some reason I always found Zutara not being cannon hard to take. I think it just seems like a terrible writing choice.

I never expected Zutara to be canon but that never ever stopped me from liking it.

Kataang bothers me so much because their dynamic is simply so childish and motherish and it just always seemed wrong seeing as Aang was never as mature as Katara

In the end though....all I really wanted was Zuko to go back and find Jin in Ba Sing Se. She would have been perfect for him.

I am such a huge fan of this show!!! I wasn't ready for kataang though. He was so young and it felt weird for them to kiss. Age them up a little and give them a more time to explore a romanic arch and it would feel better. It felt fine in legend of Korra when they were shown older with history, but in the show it was shown as a one sided love with katara being more of a motherly care giver. There was no real time given to the development of her attraction to Ang. Katara and Zuko had such a spark. It felt more natural. Im fine with how the show ended. I'm happy with kataang, but the other just felt more natural.

It's such a lame excuse that the Zutara ship would not go well with the 6 years old. I was between 5 and 8 during the airing of the show and loved them together, not only me but most of my friends as well, I never thought Aang and Katara would be endgame.

Zutara would of been better family and parents then katang

I've always shipped kataang and zutara both ships having solid cases and adorable moments however with all the drama between those two ships, the fans and Bryke i much prefer to ship Zuko and Aang. I mean Zuko stalked him for ALL of book one their storylines have been mirrored since the very begining right up into the comics! Rare pairs just speak to me I guess 😊❤💛

Would have made sense if Aang didn't have any love interests as he was from a monk culture, and they tend to avoid romance. It's even a part of air nomad culture to avoid attachment to anything, both things and also people.

The only good thing about Kataang is that Tenzin only exists thanks to that relationship.

based on what season 3 showed us, they would've been compatible

I did not know about this, and holy shiz I would've liked to keep on being ignorant. Don't take me wrong, I ADORE your videos, I'm not talking about that of course 😅 💕 BUT DEAR LORD THAT VIDEO IS D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G. What the heck??? How could they think that was ok? First of all, as a fanartist, I'd be furious were they to take my work and mock it like that. You have no right. Especially because most of them seemed to be made by younger artists, It would have crushed me. I probably would have NOT supported or watched the show at all had I known about this. To a young beginner artist, to be mocked by the creators of the show I love wnough to make fanart of it's devastating. What the hell. How concited can they be to do something like that? As a creator, you should remain humble and respect your viewers. What the heck. And also, I really think that creators and fandom is something that should remain separate. Like, in two parallel, untouching universes. One, either one, shouldn't try to control the other. I like to think that somethink like this would not be well recieved today. I hope so. Ugh. Disgusting.

she sounds like watch mojo lady

Bruh I remember my 8 year old self crying cuz they did not end up together HAHAHAHA up until now I'm still disappointed 😒😔

As a Zutara shipper, I find it all in good fun except for when they say that Zutara shippers have doomed relationships. That's the only thing I didn't find funny. But, nonetheless, I still love the series because it is not just about romance.

could you imagine if vld's staff made a video like that?

elizabeth welch wrote southern raiders and aaron ehasz is the head writer so i think they pushed for zutara

Can you make a video on how the Kataang vs. Zutara war influenced the Makorra vs. Korrasami and Klance vs. Sheith wars?

That whole 'dark' thing is absolute bs because its not like the show isnt dark already.. there are many instances where i feel like the show takes a very dark turn such as the bloodbending plotline, azula's mental health etc.. yes zutara would gave been much deeper than kataang but in the way that its not surface level..it would have much more meaning and it would have layers.. just like the show does in general as it deals with many critical issues under the surface level.

The azula and Aang was inappropriate though. Like fr the didn't need to put that in there they were children. 🤮

I love Zutara and I don't have any problem with Kataang. What I don't like is that in the comics, Zuko and Mai broke up. Why did my boy have to suffer like this? Do the creators not love him enough to let him have a loving girlfriend? That was so mean!

I tend to like weird or obscure ships. I shipped Zuko and Jin hardcore :x

Kataang felt like an awkward pairing to me, if I'm perfectly honest. But I fully admit my bias as someone who REALLY dislikes main guy x main girl ships and who is a huge Zutara shipper.

I always thought that Aang would end up with Toph while Zuko with Katara

Typical Bryke. Ugh.

i feel like the statement of 'people along your journey of love that you don't end up with' could just as easily apply to aang and katara. if anything, it seems more fitting coz being around aang would give katara a certain level understanding for zuko. maybe i need to rewatch the show to refresh my memory (actually i probably have to coz it's been a while), but i don't think there was enough interaction between her and zuko for it to count as him helping her to grow edit: i just remembered the episode where zuko helps her find her mother's killer. . .i guess that could count for relationship development or helping her to grow, depending on how you wanna look at it (also, disclaimer: this is just a personal opinion!)

All kinds of Shippers can be overly intensive though. Maybe because romance plots requires a much more personal investment so people take it very personally? Who knows but I have noticed intensive shippers in all kinds of fandoms

I never heard of this incident until now. I'm a multishipper. Even as someone who likes both Kataang and Zutara, this is just...wow. What they did was not only super mean-spirited and petty, it's just unprofessional. But using someone's fan art to mock them on a public platform that hundreds of people will see is something else completely. It's like if another series creator made fun of another show made by the same studio by using someone's fan art and concept art. Like you can't do that. What makes it worse is that a lot of that fan art was drawn by kids and teenagers.

Bryke were shitty guys. Aaron and Elizabeth, they were who developed the characters. Thanks to them Toph was a woman and not prospect love rival for Aang. Thanks to them for Azula, for all the episodes where ALL characters show development. Bryke are the example of not all great animators can be great writers. Bryke, cuz they designed Aang became obsessed with the hero get all after all, and Katara was the trophy. Katara after become the girlfriend of the avatar that was her end in all dimensions. No more, even in Korra the woman didn't deserve a statue. She couldn't get more than becoming a wife. And that was all for Katara. The couple (Aaron and Elizabeth) they were all for a season 4 but Bryke adamantly refused and preffer to give their faith to a joke of a movie and the comics that completely ended to kill the characters we loved. That's it.

I knew about this incident, but I was today years old when I found out it was called the Zutara Incident. I thought it might be called the Book 4 Air Video, if anything. I was 12 at the time, I think, and I thought the whole thing was funny because WOW LOOK AT ALL THESE SHIPS! LOOK AT ALL THIS FAN ART! WOW!! I loved Avatar and still do, and unlike with other shows/movies/books I've never had strong opinions on ships within Avatar, probably because I was so young when I started watching it. I found out about the Kataang-Zutara ship war and was a) intrigued because I hadn't considered Zutara before (nor its common shipmate Taang) and b) frightened when I saw people being really mean to one another. So when I saw the Zutara Incident? OMG it's from a con!! OMG they're talking about ships! Wow you can ship ANYONE! (Yeah, that was my reaction to Azaang.) This is so fun! Now? Well I had nearly forgotten about it, so I didn't really have thoughts on it. It does seem somewhat scornful (mostly "anyone who thinks Zuko and Katara should be together will forever have doomed relationships"), but I don't think they wanted to upset people. It seems like one of those times when intent and consequence don't align. So to me, it's still funny, but also cringey for coming across as mocking.

Man, my Zutaraaa. I was a little girl when I started to ship them, they were like my first ship! And I had no idea about this incident. I think it was meant to be a mockery over the shipping fandom, but as far as I know the Zutarians were very passionate and they didn't have a good relationship with the creators, so IDK. I do believe that they tried to mock them mainly.

3:19 Okay This reaction to both characters shows they are not interested in each other which is the truth And I don't think they put that scene to laugh at the people who ship it but they put it to show that they are not interested in each other

Me *a grizzled Zurata veteran*: I was there, at the shipping wars, five thousand years ago

1. What did i think? Boy howdy that sure would not happen today lest someone die. 2. Was i aware of it? I was not. I was pretty young at the time and not hugely aware of fandom. 3. Joke or mean spirited? It feels?? Like a mean spirited joke??? 4. Writer strife? I have no coment on that. Whatever's going on in show runners' heads will forever be a mystery to me.

Oh man, this has brought to mind so many memories! I remember watching this video back on RU-vid and being so hopeful for a new season of Avatar, back then I was a Zutara shipper but when I think about it, when I watched that video I was angrier that the video was not a teaser for a new season but rather some joke video which I found distasteful. Whatsmore, I felt sorry for the fan artists whose work was used, I can only imagine the damage that did to those young fan artists and I don't think the creators ever apologised for that, did they even ask for permission to use such works? However, looking back on my time as a Zutara shipper it's very strange, the ship war was not as intense as the ones of today though, in particular, the Voltron fandom, although I do remember there being A LOT of discussion around character age differences (somethings never change). What is nice to see, now looking back is that in regards to fandom (not necessarily the source contents of fandoms) there is much more LGBT rep - back in the days of Avatar, those sort of ships were rare and hard to come by and in some cases people were made to feel bad for even bringing that to the fandom, there was a lot of homophobia. I watched the Avatar series recently and I found myself not shipping my old ship or even Kataang, rather I ended up shipping Jetko (Jet/Zuko), this is an incredibly rare ship, but not necessarily a crack ship. I have also now developed my own headcanon that Zuko is bisexual - when watching his relationship with Jet in Book 2 I found that there was potential for a more developed relationship between the two and then later in the season, after Zuko kisses that girl in Ba Sing Se (forgotten her name) he suffers from a fever that Uncle describes as a form of identity crisis. Upon first viewing I interpreted this as his good v. bad side, but now, I think you can interpret it as Zuko struggling to accept his newly discovered sexuality (I would argue bi), because if you look at the previous episodes he has been bonding with both male and female characters in a way he hasn't before. Sorry, I could go on about this for a long time! But my point is that now is the perfect time for old viewers of the show from all ships to rewatch the entire series and see what ships they conclude with. In regards to this video, in particular, I don't feel that this is unique to Avatar and this has been done by other creators in what I think is a poor attempt to bond with the fanbase.

*Zutara isn't endgame* "That's rough buddy"

first off ive never seen that video omg, but that video was definetly in poor taste. that went a bit to far (funny but too far) its clear it was in poor taste because of how they ended it with zuko and katara not talking and only making out when brian himself said "they wouldnt last" so he sees the ship in a narrow minded point of view, so that was incredibly petty i am definetly new to this kataang and zutara shipping war stuff, when i was a kid and the series was airing i thought zutara was canon for so long until the last episode, i saw so much art for it and i loved both characters so i shipped it, but as a kid, i didnt care about the shipping i just liked the show, but i do prefer zutara since i rewatched it, its clear there was something planned for them, but im not mad about kataang, but when you rewatch the series you can tell katara wasnt romantically interested in aang AT ALL and the relationship felt forced, idk when she started having feelings for him but it was kinda out of no where for katara to suddenly be into aang just to make bryke's prefered ship canon and lets be real, Makorra was an off brand/rebranded version of Zutara, and they didnt work out, which was kinda another stab at zutara shippers.

I got into Avatar I believe around the end of book 2 possible during the wait for book 3 and I really gravitated toward Zutara. I knew in the back of my head that they were going to have Katang be end game. You know the lead gets the girl trope. Although I wanted Katara with Zuko because I loved their characters the most and though their chemistry was better. So as for the Book 4 incident I do feel it was mean spirited I mean yah other ships where mentioned but Katara was slammed and if this was in good intent why not have the voice actors in on it?💜

1 million percent mean spirited

I know I'm 2 days late watching this, but wow, that was just mean. Anyone who thinks Bryke are shipper-positive because of Korrasami should be reminded of this . And last year, The Amazing World Of Gumball pretty much did the same thing in The Shippening, an actual episode, stealing from people's fanart to mock it… how do people even think this is okay?

As someone who was 5?when the show came out I didn’t know about shipping but I did like Katara and Aang together because I always thought that they were good together and then in the season two finale it looked like that Zuko and Katara kinda liked each other and I was fine with that. It didn’t matter to me and it still doesn’t really matter to me who ended up with who because Katara was my favorite character all I wanted was for her to be happy. I know it sounds weird but I was eight when the series ended all that mattered was that was a character that I like so much all I want to with their happiness I didn’t care.

Thank you for this video! It's clearly well-researched, cleverly incorporates memes, and includes useful video clips. You present various views that I would not have otherwise explored. Love your content. - An old Zutara shipper.