Shoutouts to the birds that refused to shut up when I was recoding this video lol. And also, an even bigger shoutout to the voice actress for Azula, Grey DeLise, who I forgot to mention, but she did an absolutely amazing job with the character.
I think it was becausethis was the first time ever, that someone stand against her. Like she said that Mai would go against her was surprising but kindofexpected. But that Ty Lee would also fight against Azula to defend Mai was not expected and shattered her worldview. For real Iroh, Zuko and Azula... these Charakters are so well written, you really forget that this show was meant to be just entertaining for kids.
i love how we keep waiting for her downfall and anticipating her defeat to be super climactic and satisfying, and when she's finally defeated, it's devistating. that's what this kind of perfectionism leads to, not victory, but utter and complete defeat and emptiness
it’s not an epic moment where the big bad is defeated, because in the end we see an abused 14 year old girl finally break down into tears after she’s lost everything, and there’s no joy in that
Azula's genuinely one of the best antagonists in all of media. I finished watching the show earlier this year, and good news! It's still one of the best things to ever come out of television
It is really sad that Azula was raised by Osai while Zuko was raised by Iroh. One was being shaped into a tool for her father's gain, and the other was being set free from the conditioning and abuse from his childhood. In the end, Azula did not know how to be her own person. She was also being abused by her father just in a different way, not knowing what she was going to do. While Zuko had Iroh as a real mentor, and this allowed him to shape his own destiny and overcome his past experiences.
Avatar: Creates the greatest villain in any cartoon. Netflix: Lets just take everything that made Azula that made her a truly terrifying force of nature both in intelligence and physical prowess and JUST... NOT do that.
I've seen people defend this by saying that Azula was technically always an insecure emotional basket case and she was just bottling it all up. So her being like this is perfectly in character for her. Sure, that in itself is true. But not now. The thing that makes Azula's hidden insecurities and tragedy so effective is BECAUSE we don't see them for so long. It's way more interesting and impactful to have a character introduced as and being an unflappable powerhouse with terrifying power and emotional restraint only to watch them eventually crumble as their facade breaks. If Azula showed her true colors a lot before Mai and Ty Lee betrayed her we would just go "oh this girl is trying so hard. All she needs is just a good long read by someone like Iroh and she'll fall apart". It lessens her effectiveness as a villain and the tragedy she hides underneath.
@@mellemadswoestenburg1296 I didn't bother with the Netflix series. Azula was perfectly portrayed in this one. The scene at the end where she burst into hysterical sobs was heart-breaking, partially because Grey DeLisle made it sound so damn REAL. And the thing is, Azula completely deserved what she got. But that doesn't stop it from being upsetting to watch.
56:04 this fight is act supposed to be a tragedy, not just for Azula, but for Zuko too. Cause these two are basically siblings and they’re just kids. The war affected them greatly.
I'm fine with azula going nuts but wish she had more time to explore it and more scenes that show her slowly falling off until she gets to the fire lord situation. We do see she has that fear of becoming zuko in their father's eyes and the insecurities of her mother hated her which she jokes about but knows she liked zuko more. Her losing her friends. Her father's right hand position. Losing to zuko in their fights more and such all came very quickly and needed more room.
I think the show executes all this perfectly. Azula's problems are because she structured her life around false beliefs, the types of things that could collapse at any moment suddenly. Which actually makes her downfall more realistic and powerful, because it was always doomed to happen, all it took were a few significant pushes to completely knock her over.
@@Rockotarthepurplehatguy the execution is fine but it's still so fast it's not really that believable since it that was the case she would have crashed when zuko won their exchange or friends betrayed her. She then suddenly goes off after dad gives her fire lord position making those scenes not as impactful to her fall off since that's when her real problems began. I mean even the hair out of place at the start of the series messed with her more than her friends betrayal
@@Rockotarthepurplehatguy The execution itself is fine, it's that the events needed time to breathe. Azula goes from losing her friends to losing her mind in a couple of _days_ , maybe a week. And for the audience, it's an even shorter amount of time. Technically realistic, but not as narratively satisfying. It's a pacing issue more than anything.
what I think makes Azula so interesting is theres an idea she's never really irredeemable, except for the fact she doesn't want to be redeemed. If like Zuko she'd decided to not follow Ozai, she could've been great, and the only thing stopping that is herself.
Considering that, just like her brother, she too is a descendent of Roku and Sozin, and thus, had just as much potential for restoring balance as Zuko did, but chose to instead perpetuate the destruction is a real tragedy. Makes you wonder what she could've been like if she were raised in different circumstances.
Azula is the perfect foil to zuko, and I love that the final Agni Kai is almost a reflection of that. Zuko is fighting who he would have become, and when he loses, once again, the people that care about him bring him back. Zuko’s story wouldn’t have its perfect conclusion without Azula.
I know some people took issue with the fact that Zuko wasn't the one to truly defeat Azula in the end, since he got injured by her lightning and needed to be healed by Katara. But I think it ultimately works for two reasons. 1.) It gave Katara an active role in the finale, instead of just being a bystander. All that training she went through to be a top notch combative waterbender would've been a waste if she ended up doing nothing. 2.) It's more fitting for Zuko's character and why he's ultimately more fit for the throne, as he never truly desired power for himself, but for the good of his nation and people, shown by his willingness to lay down his own life for others.
Zuko and Azula’s contrast is critical. Iroh and Ozai were their respective mentors, and obviously shows you why they ended up the way they did. Zuko wrestled with so much inner turmoil because he was raised by Ozai, and then Iroh was there and only showed him love and care. This shaped Zuko, and they grew to care for each other deeply. Ozai also raised Azula but she stuck by him. She never was instilled that love and care. So she had no idea there were people in the world who truly loved her for who she is. That’s why she snapped.
I love how Azula was written. We see shes a badass capable young woman that was far more entertaining then any second we got of her father on screen, and we get to see all of her sides. We get to see how calculating and cruel she is, but then we get to see how much she cares for Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee and even small acts of kindness and empathy. I love the subtle demomstration that when Iroh told Zuko he has both good and evil within him, it applies to Azula as well. Despite having issues with her mother, some of her traits clearly stuck with Azula as she showed empathy for Zuko and Apologized to Ty Lee for being in the wrong, and didnt show much of this side elsewhere as she knew her father would not have any of it. I just love everything about her character and the ending was just sooo tragic....
I find it interesting that zuko called katara a peasant during the finale of book 1 and azula called katara a peasant on the final episode I think that was done on purpose to symbolize that azula has fallen from Grace big time and she now knows what it feels like to be zuko
Someone once mentioned the genius of the scene where Azula is speaking to her mother in the mirror, where it could be perceived that she turned away from her mother by turning away from the mirror, or turned to face her mother and turning away from herself, figuring it was just a reflection we were seeing.
A thing I want to point out its how Azula works in her complexity because the way his father is such a narcisist, people often say how Ozai is a bad villain but he enabled so much and still works amaizingly, of course Azula is the face of the enemy but Ozai does serve it's purpouse a lot more than people give him credit for.
Really did a good job of pointing out to me how being a perfectionist just leads to hating yourself more than anyone else ever will 'cept for the part where I'm just a common motivationless shmuck and not some noble-blooded self-lifter
Dang! I already knew Azula was an extremely well-written character, but I didn't realize *how* well-written! It's also kind of interesting when you think of how messed up her father is, and how his manipulation also fueled her ultimate downfall. Also, I love that parallel between Zuko and Azula! It's always really interesting when you have a character that shows what another character could have been!
Azula is such a fantastic character, not only I adore her character by itself but how she enables so much of the story to feel organic is amaizing and beautiful, I am so glad they didn't cut corners with her.
Although Azula was, (in this context) a character driven to extremes as a result of her own perfectionism embedded from a young age, she is truly a character many can relate to deep down. To give a current example of a different context relating to today, we can see this perfectionism that she holds within the Education system. That effort to still be at the top of the game and to be top of the class. When you reach that point of being excellent in that subject and knowledge; when you fail, it takes its toll on you as well as that jealousy of others that may have come with it. Whether that’s freedom, or simply the acceptance that they may just be better at it than you. Which is life. Her redemption arch in the comics was so raw because it’s a slow progress. You can’t undo the damage that is done on yourself, but you can try and make amends, even if you fail over and over in the process. I really hope we see her make amends with her friendships whilst still maintaining that comedic sass we all love 😂
8:16 ah yes, her Mad King speech about the captain needing to ignore the very real possibility of the _ocean_ sinking their _ship._ To be fair, it highlights her authority, (actual) power, and neuroticism. And it’s a great defining moment, seeing her almost try to enforce her will over a force of nature.
59:50 This moment when Azula cry because of her entire life lies in pieces is still hearthbreaking. She was a Monster, but we know why. It is insane how the show established her as kind of a monster that MUST be defeated, but when it finally happens, you can't do the more the what Katara does. Close your eyes and look away, because there is nothing you can do. I wish we would have gotten to see her feature, without needing to read the comics.
She brings to mind the quote "it is better to be Feared than Loved, if you cannot be both". She never accepted the love of her mother, never really receieved much from her father, and garnered most of her power over others through the manipulation and fearmongering of her friends, brother, and just anyone who crosses her path tbh. Her only real failing is in love, her flirting skills in the beach episode show as much, so she has to rely on fear to get her desired results; not just as a leader but as a person. Her friends also directly confront her with this physically when Ty Lee chooses to defend Mai, and Mai tells Azula straight up she Loves Zuko more than she Fears her. It is the Fear she strikes in others that allows Azula so much control, but because she is unwilling to give or accept Love, she'll never be able to truly succeed in her desires.
@@vivvy_0 I haven't read the comics tbh so if this is mentioned there I wouldn't know. Speaking just from the show, my main reason for feeling this way is based on the scene where Azula really snaps on the day of her coronation and sees a hallucination of her mother in the broken mirror. I think whether or not her mom loves or accepts her in reality, Azula doesn't trust or believe her mother in that hallucination; nor do I think she'd accept it in reality from her or anyone else if they expressed genuine love for her. There's just an inherit distrust and therefore fear, which in her case results in her lashing out in anger when it comes to love (and also rejection). Ironically she uses the same fear she seems to feel when it comes to love/friendship to manipulate her loved ones and enemies as well.
Thank you for this great analysis! One thing that emphasises Azulas „failure“ in the final agni kai even more is that on the one day when firebenders are seriously overpowered, she is taken down by Katara, a waterbender who is not boosted in power like she is. Really great storytelling!
This is one of the greatest Azula analysis I've seen. In too many videos, they get so caught up trying to find and apply the right psychological label to her, that they end up using scenes of her to explore the mental disorder instead of actually looking at her character, and trying to make her fit into their chosen label.
Makes you wish that her mental downfall was a bit more gradual than what we got, but if anything I’m nitpicking near-perfection. Just a *hair* out of place!
the thing you said about Azula never being able to trust anybody, and how she was never trusted by anybody, and basically becomes an engine of self-destruction as a result, it's always been a thing that resonated with me. its the reason i love pure evil villains like this as well Evil can't comprehend Good, and Azula's entire character is built on that concept (Ozi too, but Azula explores it more strongly i would say)
This made Azula's ending finally make sense to me. I never understood why exactly she went so crazy in the end, it felt rushed to me. But I guess there were always signs that she had that in her, idk why I fell for her composed nature. The ending fight shows just how unhinged she truly could be. Lots of moments I felt bad for her cuz it really didn't have to be that way, but she might just be a lost cause. She has thought the way she did for so long, and has no intentions of ever taking accountability for what she does and kind of has no moral boundaries. Like Zuko and his honor, he would never strike Aang or Katara who are defenseless/not fighting or anyone while they were at their most vulnerable, Azula would. And her mindset is so skewed that she sees it as a good thing, since she won at the end of the day, she has too many issues and needed to experience true defeat in order for her to realize...but unfortunately it's too late for her. In my wishful thinking mindset though, for some reason I feel like Aang could've been a great person to guide Azula into become who she truly is deep down, sorta like what he did for Katara (not just motherly and mature, but a kid who needs to be given room to express herself, stick by her morals and truly grow)
You mention how sad it was when Azula lost and I definitely agree there. I think we forget that the heroes we're rooting for here are still children. Sure, teenagers but Zuko and Azula were abused by their father, both emotionally and physically. I know she gets her own redemption in the comics which is fitting. We've done things as stupid teens and grow from it (hopefully).
I think Katara getting close in victory during the battle with Azula in the Earth Kingdom catacombs, is a foreshadow, especially the only one that got the closest and while cutting her hair.
Man this channel is criminally underrated, all of your work is filled with so much passion and I love how in depth you’re able to analyze masterpieces like this. I admire the dedication you have, and I appreciate the time you take to cover everything you can. As a long time avatar fan myself, I can say with absolute certainty that this video was impeccably perfect👌🏻💯 (even though perfection is impossible)
I only have one problem with how they did her character: They should've given us a glimpse into her after the comics, in The Legend Of Korra, since I want to know if she changed her ways or not and what eventually became of her
@Rockotarthepurplehatguy I would agree, had they not expanded her story in the comics. That's what makes it bad, that they continued it after the show without conclusion. But other than that, you are correct
@@Rockotarthepurplehatguy not really, sure her breakdown is a good ending to her arc but a shitty ending to her story. A redemption for Azula would be the best ending and the most logical, it’s the only real way to resolve her story with Ursa. Also, no it wasn’t really Azula’s fault for her becoming like this, Ozai was the one who brainwashed her with this philosophy, it was Ursa’s neglect and banishment that led to Azula speculating that Ursa hated her. A redemption also is the perfect final test to complete Zuko’s arc by having him help his sister the way Iroh helped him. If people seriously think he’d just abandon Azula and leave her like this, they are fucking wrong. He loves her unconditionally, he knows that they weren’t truly that different from each other. The comics should have evolved Zuko to that role Aaron Ehasz intended. Hell Ehasz straight up said he always wanted to redeem Azula and Bryke even teased that it was possible since she survived the Agni Kai. Redeeming Azula just makes too much sense.
This is an amazing video as always on your channel, everything point you give is very well thought out and you point out stuff that I never even noticed before, thank you for making this it was very ENJOYABLE!!!
Thank you, that was wonderful! I am an almost obsessive fan of this show, and yet I still learned several things from this excellent video. (It helps that I have a "perfectionist" streak myself - a philosophy I had to learn to reject...come to think of it I was about their age when I discovered the flaws in that mindset...)
Unironically my top3 favorite villain of all time next to Darth Vader and Uchiha Obito. Its something about that insanely strong+bad attitude+deranged and traumatized lunatic deep down combination that does it for me
If you love Azula as a character you should read the comic Azula in the Spirit Temple! It shows more of her warped view of herself and her relationships with others. Even when presented with chances to self analyze and discover what might truly make her happy she vehemently rejects it.
I loved ATLA when I was a kid I still do, watching it back then Azula was very memorable as was zuko and uncle iroh it taught me many life lessons and gave advice to my younger self, one of the greatest cartoons I ever watched and great video rockotar!
One thing I wasn't a fan of was how bland Ozai felt in contrast to Azula. Ozai was pretry much written as the personification of evil, even though this isn't entirely true. Just like Azula, he was a product of his environment, but unlike her, he didn't seem to have any doubts or insecurities about it. The comic also shows that he does have a sort of "love" for Zuko, so I do wish we'd seen more of him as a person rather than simply the big bad.
Azula's character in Avatar: The Last Airbender is undeniably amazing. She is fierce, smart, and strong, making her one of the best villains of all time. Her cunning strategies and incredible bending abilities make her a formidable opponent. However, what makes her character truly captivating is her complex backstory and inner struggles. When she is ultimately defeated by her own brother, Zuko, and the waterbender, Katara, her mental breakdown is a poignant reminder that she is still just a 14-year-old girl who was abused by her father. This realization humanizes her and makes her character even more compelling. Despite being on the wrong side, Azula's character is a testament to the effects of trauma and how it can shape a person.
I know chances are you won’t read my comment considering that I am one of the many we waited far too long to watch this amazing video, but I just wanted to say I really needed this right now You see I myself and unfortunately a bit of a perfectionist, and as you’ve highlighted throughout this video, perfectionism is a slippery slope towards of destruction, but even though I’ve always been aware of this fact, i’ve always found it very difficult to keep in mind However, I think this video has reminded me that I need to reframe my failures as potential beneficial necessities, instead of viewing them as negative roadblocks to my success Also before I finished this video, I had a fight with my father(well it was more like him yelling at me over something we were in agreement about, but whatever) and I was feeling pretty down, yet when I watched the rest of this video, the passion to which you spoke about the series really cheered me up in a way that I really needed, so I also just wanted to say thank you for that As for Azula I think what I love most about her character is just how many angles you can take with her psychology or beliefs, and how those various angles not only play into each-other, but also the overarching themes of the series Fear Vs Love, Strength Vs Vulnerability, Perfectionism Vs Self-acceptance, False Self Vs True Self, The Effects Of Colonialism, The Dangers Of Fascism, and so many more Thematic Topics are all expressed within one character, each of these ideas tying so well into her arc and the ideas present throughout the entire entire series Overall, this was a fantastic video and this one in addition to the vid on Cedric, have made me a proud subscriber
I think Azula would never have been redeemed because she's genuinely a sociopath. Her family were bad people, but Azula had no concept of what goodness even was. Actually getting into her psyche is what makes her so interesting compared to other sociopaths. Most of the time you just get enough to know that they are one and it gets left there. Take Harkonnen's nephew in Dune 2 as an example. The character is played super well, but the fact that he's a sociopath is about as much as you see of him.
OMG, Azula's arc is just so damn good! How her determination and desire to be the next Fire Lord blinds her completely from young age. How her fury has completely devoured her soul to the point where she does not hesitate to kill whoever stands in her way (including her own brother) Too bad the Netflix adaptation made her dirty.....
I love how azula almost always has her hair perfectly, but zuko almost always has it messed up, not just that, but we also see that even as a kid zuko didn't have his hair perfectly. Basically symbolising that he has never fit in. When we're introduced to zuko for the first time, we can see how much his cut to make it perfect, showing how much he tries to fit in. Only at the start of season 2, does he let go of fake control, to actually let his natural hair grow.
Azula is not my favorite villain of all time, that would go to Dr. Smith from the Netflix show lost in space (super underrated show. I highly recommended it if you haven’t seen it) however Azula is fantastic. I Especially love her in the last episode where she just completely loses her sanity. Idk why but seeing people lose their insanity is surprisingly entertaining
Honestly at the beginning I absolutely didn't like Azula while watching Avatar, but finishing the series I came to relate to her alot with her problems of needing to be perfect. She truly is the greatest villain of all time, and with that atleast she can take it as a perfect.
I'm just over 12 minutes into the video, but I wanna say that the thing I hate most about some of the more vocal Azula "fans" is that they very often try to use her "tragic backstory" to justify her actions and prop her up as a "strong woman" icon. In reality (and somewhat ironically), this strips her of her agency and accountability and makes her an even WEAKER character; acting on impulse purely because of trauma and not because she enjoys the power and status that comes from manipulating others. She is a careful liar and master manipulator and reducing all of that to "she was treated bad" is a GREAT disservice to her character. She is a great character and villain precisely BECAUSE she is already too far gone, utterly vile, and irredeemable. She needs no justification or redemption. Characters and people like her enjoy the evil they do and deserve the consequences therein and that makes them far more compelling and fun to watch and despise.
Precisely. As I say in my segment on her backstory, she acted selfishly in the first place, and when people rejected that, it only caused her to act even more selfishly to try and prove them wrong, but causing her to lose all meaningful relationships thus allowing her to be manipulated by the Firelord into becoming his personal servant. So I believe she is personally responsible for her own downfall even from the start, and almost everything she does is wrong and her own fault, her actions were only made worse by others like the Firelord, but that does not remove her responsibility from the picture.
1:47 That is not her first appearance, but I really like how she's there, and that she's in the front. She is so evil that she is smiling while watching her father burn her brother and leave him scarred forever.
@@garytda5402 yeah, that was a mistake, what I actually should have said, was that she never learned the inner heating technique, not fire breath specifically. It fits that Azula is cold inside and lets all her rage flow out of her, while Iroh keeps his true strength contained and controlled most of the time.
There's a fantastic fanfiction called Gladiator that's built from the basis of "What if Katara and Sokka never found Aang". All of the characters grow up in a world where there is no Avatar, so the inciting incident of the show never happens, and the Earth Kingdom is conquered. Azula, in her early adulthood, is sent to an outpost at the Southern Water Tribe for a war meeting where Sokka and the other warriors of the South try to attack the outpost and Sokka is defeated by Azula and sold into slavery. A few years later Azula is being pressured into marrying but doesn't want to so comes up with the plan to hire a Gladiator, and any suitor who wishes to marry her has to have their Gladiator defeat hers, and she goes out in search of one, and happens across Sokka. As the story progresses we get an in depth exploration of Sokka and Azula's characters. The personalities are spot on, the dialogue is fantastic. The world building is exactly what you expect of Avatar, just in a more mature setting. If you've got the time to read it I strongly recommend it.
I haven't watched this show yet, so I will be avoiding this video until I have watched the show to avoid spoilers. I'm sure it's a great video though!!!
Hey, I’m kinda curious about something. Since you made a video on the Tigger movie, I’m kinda curious to hear your thoughts on the Mickey, Donald and Goofy Three Musketeers movie.
This was a heartwrenching ending to Azula's arc. The reality is, parents like Osai and Iroh both exist and the repercussions on kids are just as real as what happened to Azula and Zuko. It's sad to say when I first watched ATLA, I saw myself in Azula as someone who was raised by an abusive and narcissistic grandmother, and I ended up being overly critical of myself because perfectionism and achieving her own opinion of what was 'good enough' were the only ways I could've won her affection. Breaking away from that cycle is so vital in growing as a person. I was crushed with what happened to Iroh, and this whole series is an insane rollercoaster of good storytelling and well-fleshed out characters that all make you FEEL. People like to complain about cartoons these days being 'woke' when ATLA had mature themes that were meant for children to teen audiences. Cartoons like this shape an entire generation.
We can see just how demented Azula is in that she values nothing beyond herself. She constantley mistreated Mai and Ty lee even as a child and manipulated both in all kinds of way even eventually trying to kill Mai. She didn't even care that Lu ten died and genuenly tought Iroh was a loser for being sad that his son died. She pretty gleefully allowed Ursa to be banished and tormented Zuko with it. Didn't care at all that her garand father Azulon died. Constantley mentally tortured Zuko any time he failed and when Zuko was getting burned she clearly smiled with sadistic pleasure at the sight and eventually she just degenerated into wanting to slaughter him. Hell even her admiration for Ozai is worth nothing considering that she took plesure in Ozai being abused or at least intimidated by Azulon clearly showing that family means nothing to her. Hell the fact that she had a mental breakdown because she wasen't allowed to be complicit in genocide shows how utterly insane she is.
Sorry to keep you waiting, I've been working on a lot of large time consuming projects like this recently. Hopefully they will all start to come to completion in the future, and my upload speed will increase, no guarantees though.
I think I have an unpopular opinion on this matter, but I thought Azula was fine, she wasn't bad at all, she had a bunch of good moments. But I personally enjoyed Zuko more as a villain just because of his more complex character and how they went all out with it. With Azula it felt like they wanted to do a complex character again but also wanted just a pure evil villain and couldn't decide between the two. For the most part I liked her but I'm just trying to say that she wasn't my favorite. (Great video though!)
Zuko is very good as well, I think they both work as excellent characters because they compliment each other with the way they are written, showing the descent of one character as the other rises up.
Azula is my favorite character on the show. Her downfall was tragic in the end. All those years of mental abuse and manipulation by he Ozai caught up with Azula. Hopefully she would be able to redeem her self someday.
@@Rockotarthepurplehatguy you good I was mostly joking anyway 😂 mostly I am big and dumb and stuff like emperor’s new grove made me think there would be more powerful women out there in need of idiot sidekicks
Most ATLA content on youtube is really bad. Bottom of the barrel garbage from people who have zero in-depth understanding of the series. It's very frustrating trying to find any good quality content. This is a huge breath of fresh air and one of the most enjoyable video essays I've ever watched. You know your stuff and present it in a very entertaining way. I've always felt this way about Azula but have never heard anyone describe it so well. Thank you for this, and I really hope you consider making more atla content in the future if you are inspired to do so!
To be honest this is a great video azula is a better-written villain than the others I do reason why I kinda like Ozai is because of his voice actor mark hamil and he works in the story but Azula is the best villain in Avatar she is the best-Written she is tragic but still evil and she is a master mainpulator. Side note:great video by the way
@@Dodo-x3g I plan to eventually, I actually have a FULLY RECORDED ranking of all the episodes, that I just haven't got around to editing yet because of other priorities. So trust me, there will be more Avatar content to come.
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