Avatar: The Last Airbender - 2x07 "Zuko Alone" FULL REACTION

The best part of the episode for me is the flashbacks. The ending with Ozai becoming the Firelord chills me to the bone no matter how many times I’ve watched it. It’s kind of the defining moment that sets the series apart from just being a kid’s show. To vaguely imply that either Ursa or Ozai may have murdered Azulon to spare a mother having to watch her son be executed for (and by) his father’s greed and ambition only to have her vanish in the middle of the night.

Bunny Norris

I don't know if being a good person necessarily means fighting against or not profiting from the regime.

G. Smith

I absolutely adore this episode, Zuko is my favorite character and his arc is incredible, glad you loved it! I also just wanted to point out that I think people forget that Azula is a literal child who has been brain washed by her father since she was super young to even now where she is only 14 years old. This is why I have a lot of sympathy for not only Zuko but for Azula as well. Yes her actions are terrible, but she has a father who really fucked her up and her views on things and her mother seemed to care more about Zuko, leaving Azula to be mentored by her abusive father. Iroh as well, he cares more about Zuko and in a way took him under his wing and left Azula in the dust. I can't wait for you to get deeper into s2! glad you are loving this show.

Michelle

Yea as other people have said, I think it is extremely understandable that the family turned on him. Even besides the fact that they had literally been born into a generations old war, against a ruthless genocidal army, they had also just lost their first born son to the fire nation army. All they really know about zuko is he helped them for a day on the farm, and then gave their son a knife that was the cause of him getting captured. The mom was biting back based off of all of the information she had the same way the turtle-duck mom did after he threw a rock at her baby. Zuko also didn't just firebend, he proudly proclaimed he was the heir to the empire, if he had truly changed, from their perspective, why would he still be proud of that identity, and really, why would he just be wandering the earth nation alone instead of trying to actually do what he can to help the earth nation. Also, to the point of there being good fire nation people, are there? I'd argue there are at least of those we've met, they are neutral fire nation citizens at best. Even those not fighting in the war are actively benefiting from the slaughter and colonization of the earth empire. The fire nation is thriving and taking land while every other nation is struggling to survive. Even that knife itself was a product of that colonization, taken as spoils of war as they took down another earth nation battalion.

Matt E.

And then you'll watch the Live action movie and cry for a bit. And then you'll watch the video essays on why it's so bad.

G. Smith

Oh, don’t worry about delving “too much” into this show, you can never stop learning and spotting new things about this show, it’s incredibly deep! Once you’re done I imagine you will enter a spiral of watching all the video essays you can to soak up as much about the world as possible.

Jamie Morgan

Especially the haircut.

G. Smith

The main thing I take away from this episode is that Azula has no love for anyone. Her mother disappears and she just doesn't give a sh*t. She's also kinda mean and abusive toward her friends. She's ironically cold for such a potent fire bender. As for Zuko, I like how he's not as hot headed anymore. He was this very angsty teen in Season 1 and they gradually moved away from that. He can keep his thoughts to himself now and control his anger better. Seems like he's slowly finding his inner peace. So I would say that what he took away from Iroh's words a couple of episodes ago was actually the right lesson to learn at this stage. He needs time to find himself and to come to terms with who he is, without the safety net of Iroh's love. I also think that the people in this town reacted exactly as they should (or maybe even a bit friendlier than you'd expect) after Zuko revealed himself to be from the Fire nation. I'm not sure how much prejudice plays into the whole thing. These nations are at war. The Fire nation has been conquering other nations for a hundred years. And here he is, a powerful fire bender who doesn't talk much, in the middle of the Earth nation. Why would they trust him? I think letting him ride away actually showed some restraint on the villagers' part. You could also say that the mother was just acting on instinct when she stepped between him and her child. And I couldn't care less about the egg throwing boy. Once Zuko is gone and the shock has worn off, once they have run home and told the father about what happened, they might reflect on his behavior and come to the conclusion that Zuko meant them no harm. That he was actually only helping. It would be natural for those thoughts to kick in later after the first reaction to him standing there in a cloud of swords and fire is fight or flight. I mean, imagine you're in the middle of World War II and this stranger kicks some people's ass and then proclaims "I am Adolf Jr., son of Adolf Hitler, heir to the Third Reich. Also, here's the knife I gave you earlier. Have a nice day. " Would be kinda awkward. Ah well. Looks like Avatar doesn't really need the Avatar for a good episode.

G. Smith

One of my favourite episodes of AtLA! Zuko is struggling more than any other character on the show with his own identity and it makes for a captivating story. This show does an amazing job of making us root for Zuko, without necessarily agreeing with the actions he takes (e.g. capturing the avatar, stealing from people who helped him, that terrible season 1 haircut etc.)

Ah, here it is :)

G. Smith