I could sit here and complain how our mom liked Zuko more than me. But I donāt really care. My own motherā¦ thought I was a monsterā¦
She was right of course, but it still hurt.
(we didnāt see too much of it in the show, and Iām not sure if it was fully explained in the comics, but did Azulaās mother ever actually call her aĀ āmonsterā? we only hear Azula say that was what her mother thought of her. this conversation is more-or-less a hallucination, but even here Azulaās imagined version of her mother doesnāt agree that she is a monster. she does mention that Azula uses fear to control people, and although her mother doesnāt like what her daughter doesā¦ sheās never seemed to beĀ āafraidā of Azula. I mostly blame Ozai for it, but I donāt think Azula can accept somebody caring about her when they also arenāt afraid of her. her mother never feared her, but her mother did love her, but Azula didnāt trust that)
Zukoās scar is different than the typical villainās scar bc itās not an ambiguous sign of past violence but an explicit symbol of his fatherās abuse – rather than making him seem tougher for no reason it shows that at his heart heās just a traumatized child and not a villain at all. In this essay I will
ok so i screenshotted this moment because i thought it was pretty cool
the first time we get to see all four elements working together for a common enemy, blah blah blah, but i started laughing because
sokkaās fucking boomerang. sokka threw a fucking boomerang at princess azula, renowned lightning bender and heir-apparent to the throne of the fire nation.
and sokka threw a boomerang at her.
I said it once and i say it again.
Azula considered Sokka to be the biggest threat in this group and countered him first. What this picture miss is Sokka sanding nearby. All members of this group unleash their attack at same time, but Azula reacts to boomerang first. If you watch this part in slow motion, you could see that Sokkaās boomerang was the first thing that would hit Azula and may even incapacitate her making her unable to continue to fight. So she had to counter in first. She deflected it with well placed shoot.
Then and only then, when there is no immediate threat, she starts to create her blue fire wall to counter other elements.
Lets think about this. How hard should you have to throw something to make it move faster that any elemental attack? Either all elemental attacks are slow or you are pretty strong. That said nonbenders with good aim and strong hands could easily overpower benders if they timed it right.(Aang got captured by Yuan archers who are all nonbenders.) Azula knew of this and acted according to it. She is talented bender and you may think that she should enlist other benders to help her track and capture Zuko, Iroh, and later avatar, but instead she uses her nonbender friend to help her.
Even if you have no bending you can still fightā¦ and win.
Letās not forget that on the Day of Black Sun, Sokka was the one in charge and Azula was no idiot Azula knew that.
When Aang, Sokka, and Toph all confronted Azula, she proceeded to make them chase her and waste their time. Azula is not only talented, sheās sly and smart as hell. WHO WAS THE ONE WHO SAW THROUGH THAT BS CHASE?
Sokka.
NOT ONLY THAT but after Sokka explains to the Gaang that Azula is just baiting them, Azula actually verbally attacks Sokka. Not through fighting, but through words, knowing not only that an intelligent person like him could only be brought down with emotions BUT that Sokka was the leader and if she could get him the stay, Aang and Toph would follow his lead.
Azula knew Sokka was their strength and took him down. WOULD SHE DO THAT IF HE WASNT A SIGNIFICANT THREAT TO HER!!??!
No. She wouldnāt waste her time and energy on someone she didnāt think was capable of actually getting in her way.
WHEN SHE GETS HER FIREBENDING BACK SHE HAS THE OPTION OF ATTACKING BADASS METAL BENDING TOPH AND THE FUCKING AVATAR
WHO DOES SHE ATTACK?!?!
Azula never underestimated the power of non benders especially an intelligent one like Sokka.Ā Sokka was a huge threat to fucking Azula on multiple occasions.Ā
Remember that.
Look at this spot on fucking discourse. LOOK AT IT.
Just thought Iād drop thisĀ
into the debate as well, (instead of actually fighting him she backs off, and who blames her? Sokkaās club looks like it could shatter bonesā¦).
Along with this:
Scenes with Azula confronting Sokka are few and far in between but they paint a pretty interesting picture, donāt they?Ā
I mean, Azulaās friends/most trusted warriors were two non-benders. Mai was an expert with thrown weapons and Tai Lee was the only chi blocker shown in the first series, and she was able to take down half a groups of earth nation soldiers like that. Azula knows that non-benders are dangerous and she sees sokka for the genius he is
Sheās knows she can take bending, she can redirect fire and sheās fought Katara a lot- but unlike Zuko she was probably never trained with weapons, she knows she has no defense to a sword or a club, and she knows that one of Ty Leeās biggest advantage is that people underestimate her
Emma's Blog 