Azula
“True Power, the Divine Right To Rule, Is Something You Were Born With.”
Introduction
In the episode ‘Zuko alone’, Zuko had a flashback sequence where he tried to show off his skills to his grandfather only to fall apart and embarrass himself.
This initial action was a way to showcase himself to be better than his terrible sister whom we had seen earlier to have made fun of him. It would seem that nobody understands why Zuko does not want to bond with his sister even if his mother had encouraged him.
Later on, Azula would call him in to listen to what Sozin had to tell Ozai and the deed that must be done. Zuko did not want to listen. He had a heart that could not dare to hear the horrors and cruelty that his father shall do. However, later on, Azula came in and told him that his father would kill him. Zuko of course does not believe this and proclaims the ever-iconic quote.
“Azula always lies.”
Throughout this whole flashback, we see how cruel and heartless she can be. She makes fun of her brother. She wishes for the death of her uncle and would do anything to belittle his brother. She does not care as long as she maintains power and impresses those she deems worthy.
She is a character who seems hatable but by the end, it feels almost as if she had gotten what she deserved but we still sympathize for her. She is definitely a villain but deep down could she just be a human being who had flaws from the very start or her downfall had always been inevitable?
Why write about her?
The first question to ask is why am I even writing about her? There are a slew of villains in the fictional world that can be talked about. Villains like Thanos, Hannibal Lecter, Voldemort, and the Joker. These are villains who are written with depth and complexity so why not them? Why am I talking about a villain from a kid’s cartoon?
For one, Avatar the Last Airbender is not as mainstream as you may assume. If you ask a general consumer today then they may not even have heard of this show and even asks whether it was the one with the blue people. It is always harder to get the attention of a TV series when they are in animation and for kids. Adults simply only see them as such and do not have the desire to watch them. That is why this article should raise the awareness that Azula and every character in this show are as good if not better than most adult live-action shows and showcase how animation is not only for kids, but another medium for storytelling.
Secondly, Azula is a character that we can relate to. Her character has a deeper thematic message that I think we can all learn from. At the end of the day, that is what fiction has been about. Fiction gives the experience and knowledge of a life that you may never have gotten but by watching and reading you can get it and even apply it in life. You can see how people view others and themselves and gives you a way to relate to others as well. Fiction is about connection and empathy.
Lastly, I am obsessed with the Avatar fandom and Azula is easily one of my favorite characters in fiction so there is that.
First Impression
Azula’s first major appearance was in season 2 of episode 1: The Avatar State. In her first appearance, we see that she is commanding her soldiers to attack Zuko and Iroh. It seems like normal villain stuff but it has some elevated details that develops her character further.
The person she is attacking for one is her brother and uncle. Another aspect that she adds is that she would hurt these soldiers herself if they dared to hesitate. This showcases two things.
For one, Azula disregards relationships of any kind if she can reach her goals. It does not matter if Zuko is her brother. He is in the way and a challenge set by her father to move closer to her goal.
Next up, she needs power. Her adding the emotional weight of hurting the soldiers proposes a leverage onto them. She does not care as established and just needs these goons to bow down to her. We see more of this when the captain could not board the ship to port due to the tides only for him to be roasted by her. She even makes an emphasis on her being a figure he should fear rather than the natural oceanic tides giving herself more power over nature.
In another scene, we see that she is practicing her lightning bend. She did all the moves right and was near perfection. Near but not perfect all due to a strand of hair sticking out. Azula would proclaim to not be perfect and try again. This one line was enough to give us context as to why she is the way she is.
“Almost perfect! One hair out of place.”
From the start, it seems like Azula is a power-hungry narcissist who yearns for control. However, this one line proves that she yearns for perfection. Now where does this desire for perfection come from? Her father, Fire Lord Ozai. Perhaps Azula is a victim of the never ending parent’s expectation trap.
Seeking power
In that same episode, we would see Azula confronting Zuko. The first thing she did was call him Zuzu which instantly triggered him. Without knowing, this one word was as a dog’s whistle for her to belittle Zuko and make him feel powerless. That is what she does. She would do all these little tricks to either leverage someone or belittle and force them to do her bidding. We would see this trait more clearly in her next major appearance.
Her next appearance would have her recruiting Ty Lee to face the Avatar. Everything starts off well and nice. Ty Lee greets her and is happy to see her as a good friend. Azula also seems to be happy for her despite not being impressed by the things she is doing. Ty Lee’s expression changed though when Azula was going to watch her show. Everything seems fine and innocent as Azula does not leverage or belittle Ty Lee as she does for others but she only uses another way for her to get what she wants.
During the circus act, Azula constantly requests for more dangerous situations to be put on Ty Lee. This of course makes her scared and is even afraid to do what she enjoys. Azula burned away something that she had loved. This friend that came by did not just burn it but also instilled fear into her, making her remember what it was like to be scared. Ty Lee never wanted to join Azula. She joined because she fears. Azula does not seem to think that way. It seems she genuinely believes that Ty Lee joined for her; a lie she would tell herself.
Lies
In the same scene where Azula confronts Zuko after her belittling him, we see that she initiated something else for his capture. She lied. She lied about how their father had forgiven him and wanted him to return home. This lie was a very cruel one. We know at this point Zuko had done everything to capture the Avatar just for his father. He was banished and did everything to redeem himself for him. His father was a pretty big deal so lying about something like that was just sickening for Azula’s part. However, that was not the only lie.
Later on, we see that Azula constantly backstabs and betrays the people who work with her. It first happened when she infiltrated Ba Sing Se dressed as a Kyoshi warrior whom she captured in the other episode. Her disguise remained unknown to everyone until the Dai Li figured it out. But it was all a giant ploy for the Dai Li so she could use their power to take over the city. What is more, she knows that Long Feng was the one who controlled them so she had to take advantage and gain his trust first. When she had taken over the city, she betrayed him one last time and officially took over as the leader of the Dai Li.
Everything we have seen from Azula is that she belittles and forces others to her will to establish power and that she would lie in a heartbeat just to attain her goal. She did all this just to impress her father but with all her lies was she that good at it or was it too good to even fool herself?
Vulnerability
When we look at Azula’s characterization, season 3 episode 5: The Beach is the best episode to look at. In this episode, Zuko, Azula, and her friends are sent to a vacation on their childhood island. With this change in environment, it was a fresh new perspective on how these characters would act outside of their formal and professional outlet. How do they have fun? How do they bond with one another? It’s fun to see them up close and personal.
Instantly we see the emo couple of Zuko and Mai along with Ty Lee’s attraction to guys. It was nice and wholesomely expected. However, for Azula things were different. Just like back home, she treated every little thing very seriously and competitively. This makes up for some funny and clingy moments with her especially when she tries to flirt with a guy. Despite that, the most jarring aspect I found was that Azula genuinely got quite vulnerable in a way not any other episodes except the finale would show.
On the beach, Azula and her friends wanted to play a matchup in volleyball. By the end, she won of course but it was all at the expense of her not truly having fun. She only wanted to win and sought the match as if she were commanding a warship.
At night when she and her friends crash Chan’s party, Ty Lee ends up confiding her on her boys problem. Azula though just straight up bullied and wrecked her confidence and made her cry. If this were any other person, she probably would have been happy with the results but the unimaginable happened for Ty Lee. Azula got vulnerable. She told her that she was jealous of her and even comforted her. This was most likely the first time we saw this side of Azula. A side that makes her feel human. We would have forgotten that she is a maniacal, power-hungry, liar who sought only for victory. She was awkward around guys and she was well…a girl. Of course, that did not last long when she messed it up with Chan.
By the end of the episode, the climax was a showcase of everything that was built up from each character. Everyone there finally burst out with all their issues and got vulnerable. This very scene felt raw and made everyone feel human. Out of everyone who burst out, Azula was the calmest and only had one line. That one line was more than enough.
“My own mother thought I was a monster. She was right, of course, but it still hurt.”
This one line was enough to sum up everything about her character. She is a genuine human who cares. She knows about her issues of lying and needing power and validation but to have someone as close as her mother calling her out was something that genuinely hurt her. It may have even traumatized her to a point where she could not try to even maintain any sort of real relationship. It was the first time we saw Azula’s vulnerability. A time when her walls had come down but it made her more complex and understandable. Of course, you would need validation from your father as a show of love because she never got that from her mother who called her out to be a monster.
In the end, though her mother did play a role in her downfall but there was something else about her that struck it all.
More Lies
In the episode Day of the Black Sun, Aang and the gang found an underground base where Ozai was presumably held. They found a guy and he told them the way.
When they reached there, they did not find Ozai but rather it was Azula who sat on the throne. This perfectly encapsulates her desire but as the scene progresses another of her core trait is on display. Her lies.
“I Am a 400-foot Tall Purple Platypus Bear with Pink Horns and Silver Wings.”
Toph warned of her being able to detect her lies when Azula just calls herself a platypus bear. Of course, this was an obvious lie but not even Toph could have detected that. Toph could trace her lies from her heartbeat and blood pressure so not even having any sort of detection at all just shows that either she is telling the truth or she was lying to herself as well. In truth, a good liar does not just need to fool the people around them but also themselves. Could Azula have done that?
Lies on herself
When Zuko reminded himself that Azula always lies, it was a great way to comfort himself because it was true. Azula did lie all the time and there was no doubt about that as we had already seen. However, could that very line mean the other way around too? What if it was not only Azula lying to others but also to herself?
Her need to please her father was the first sign. In Fire Nation history, there had never been a female firelord at the time. So her initiative to please her father is more urgent and important. The biggest lie though was that given Ozai’s hunger for power it was doubtful that he would ever pass on the throne, especially to a girl. To him, she was merely a pawn.
Now remember when she wanted to recruit Ty Lee, she did not come on her own accord. Azula had to take drastic measures to get her. Ty Lee told her it was the universe’s calling when in reality she knew it was Azula’s doing. She was only joining out of fear. Azula thought that she joined because she was her friend.
In season 3 when Mai was in a relationship with Zuko, it was assumed that Azula planted it. There was a scene where she told Mai to go away and gave a side eye to her as if hinting that this was all part of some bigger setup. In reality that was not true. Mai genuinely loved Zuko and even made a bold move in the end for him.
That bold move was what ultimately led everything to crumble and fall apart. A move that shattered the lie that Azula created all her life. A broken lie that made her insane.
All crumbling apart
In the episode ‘The Boiling Rock’, Sokka wants to go to the prison and help his father to escape. Zuko tags along and they go on this adventure. By the time Zuko was caught, Sokka was still in disguise but somehow Azula and her friends had heard of this and came to the prison. Mai being Zuko’s ex-boyfriend confronted him. This scene just shows that her love for him is real or else she wouldn’t have come all this way for him.
By the end of the episode, Sokka, Zuko, and everyone were about to escape. However, the guards destroyed the railing and forced them to stop midair where Azula and Ty Lee could apprehend them. To everyone’s surprise, Mai came out and started to break free of the railing and allow it to move again, giving way for Zuko to escape. Azula was furious and apprehended Mai only for Ty Lee to betray her too. She chi blocked her and did not give Azula any way to move and held onto Mai so they could both escape. It was too late though when the guards had surrounded them.
This singular betrayal breaks and cracks the lies Azula had created for herself. During her apprehension of Mai, she knew that Mai had feared her so she questioned as to why she still did it. Mai responded with her love overpowering her fear. This was enough to show us that Azula’s lies had already been broken. This hurt her and was the first step to destroying her mental stability as things were no longer under her control. Her friends were not really her friends. Her father would be disappointed in her.
In the very next episode The Southern Raiders, we get to witness Azula’s fleet ambushing Team Avatar’s base at an air temple but there was something odd about her this time around.
For one, she was alone. Sure, she had a fleet of fire nation warships but they weren’t people she knew. They weren’t friends. They were soldiers who merely listened to her orders. They were no Ty Lee and Mai.
Another factor is that she seemed different. Different as if she were a whole nother person. This does not feel like the Azula from our first impression who was manipulative and bestows power over herself. Instead, she feels like a half-baked general Zhao who launched an attack in desperation instead of having a calculative plan.
In the finale though, we really get to see how her lie had been broken and what it had done to her. Our first sign of her edging towards insanity is when Fire Lord Ozai declares himself to go out to the battlefield during the arrival of Sozin’s comet to officially take over the world. Finally, the moment had come forth. This was the validation she needed. The validation she had worked for all her life. She was even so confident that she was going with him. It was then that Ozai declared that she was not going. In that brief moment, Azula tried to argue with him but unlike against her enemies, she simply seemed like a child desperate to get a toy. She needed that validation. It couldn’t possibly be. She was not like Zuko or her uncle so why? Why must he do this? Hadn’t she suffered and sacrificed enough? That was when Ozai declared her as fire lord.
That calmed her down for a moment but not forever. Ozai himself then declares himself to be the Phoenix King. This was the last straw. This was the moment when Azula was broken. For all her life she lied, manipulated, and betrayed anyone to reach her goals. She finally had it. The title of the fire lord but that wasn’t what she wanted, was it? She never truly wanted to be the Fire Lord. She just wanted to be loved, to be seen by her father when everyone else only saw her as a monster. Now though, being the Fire Lord was nothing. It was just a title. One that wasn’t even the highest. Ozai is the Phoenix King and no one can ever be higher than him. That was it. It was over. Everything she had done for that stupid title only to be replaced by one more intimidating and feared. She was powerless. She was alone.
“You, you can’t treat me like this! You can’t treat me like Zuko!”
Upon her announcement, the very first thing she did was to gather a public coronation. This was of course a normal tradition for any kingdom but it was her flaws during her preparation that snuck out even more than they did so. For one her need to establish power is all the more obvious. When she accidentally had a cherry pit with a seed, she spat it out and scolded her servant. This was a small issue and I don’t think anyone would have known about it. However, the title of Firelord was no longer the most important or most powerful. The Phoenix King would soon establish an all-new dynasty. Being the fire lord would soon mean nothing. So she had to show power. That power is to banish this poor servant. In the past, her establishment of power was always for a purpose like gaining Zuko’s trust or whatnot but it was growing in desperation. Desperation to hold on to the lie she made and the idea of her goal being still alive.
Before the coronation, she would sit on her throne and meet various people just to banish them. She first banished the Dai Lee. This was a very strange move as these soldiers were taken away from their kingdom by her so this act seems like a contradiction against her initial intentions to recruit them. However, if you look deeper, it kind of makes sense.
The Dai Lee served as her protectors but these protectors were not from the fire nation. They were from another part of the world. Now let’s look back before Azula’s friends had betrayed her. They too served as protectors towards her and they were also from different parts of the world despite originating from the Fire Nation. Even then, they too had betrayed her and broken the lie she had created for herself. This act of banishing the Dai Lee is to represent that she no longer trusts anyone nor does she want to live in that lie anymore. A lie that forced her to use fear to gain trust and not true friendships. The Dai Lee were simply representations of her friends and their subsequent betrayals. This was even confirmed on her next banishment.
Then she wanted to banish her trainers Lo and Li. One of them mentioned that her mental state was not suitable for the coronation. This triggered Azula. The first thing on her mind though was not their banishment but rather her father. She conspired on whether it was her father who called them to talk to her. This shows her silent resentment towards him. How for all her life she had served and given him her all only to be left with a title that wouldn’t matter. She no longer had friends or any real relationship so she could please him but now he simply just tossed her aside with whatever scraps were left. This was simply painful.
At this point, it was clear that Azula could no longer lie to herself. She still cares so much for this coronation but deep down she knows it was all for nothing and that her whole life was broken. She then challenged Lo and Li to an Agni Kai. This again was just her establishing power as if she were her father and even then she failed at that. Her not being able to decide to get rid of both is kind of a representation of her feelings towards her father. She is conflicted about how he had betrayed and played her but at the same time, she still idolizes and sees him as a god-like figure. At that point, Azula no longer did anything with a purpose or a plan. She was doing it out of desperation and to conceal her lie.
The near-breaking point comes before her coronation. Azula no longer had any servants and was left to just do everything on her own. She tried to tie up her hair and it just wouldn’t do her any favours so what does she do? Her distrust of the world and her crumbling fueled her to see her hair as if it were her enemy. That strand of hair was in the way and could no longer be trusted. She cut it off.
Then the unspeakable happened. She was hallucinating her mother. Despite this hallucinating interaction that seemed like a very negative impact on her, it was actually just her longing, desire, and sadness to see someone who genuinely cared for her. She needed the only person who loved her at this tiring moment. Still, Azula would lie to herself just so she could feel better even if it was way worse. She thinks her mother sees her as a monster whilst she actually loves her. That line made her break the mirror and she crumbled apart. That was when the lie had been broken indefinitely.
“But what choice do I have? Trust is for fools. Fear is the only reliable way. Even you fear me.”
At that moment, she knew that every decision she made for her father had been a huge mistake. She used fear to conceal that lie but it was also her greatest fear that made her broken. The fear that she had been wrong and played all along.
The Last Agni Kai
The final Agni Kai was a testament to how broken Azula had become and it was the final blow for her sanity. Her desperation to be crowned just to please herself was withheld when Zuko and Katara came. We knew that Azula had always seen Zuko as a baggage and literal trash. At this point, killing him was one of the few things that kept up her lie and what satisfied her. This brings her to a faceoff in the form of an Agni Kai.
At this point, her desperation was palpable. No longer was she the master planner nor the one who faced everything with a purpose. She was simply burning away everything and creating the largest possible destruction. She wasn’t conceptualizing or planning ahead, she just wanted to beat Zuko. She just needed to prove that she was better. Even then she was beaten. Zuko got her but then she cheated.
This was the first time that Azula cheated. Sure, she lies but in a way, those were by the rules and were still fair game. Her lies were never the ones that broke the rules and made her win feely because of it. Here though an Agni Kai was a faceoff between two people. A faceoff that should be left that way instead she redirected her lightning towards a bystanding Katara. Her doing this was the biggest takeaway that she was finally broken.
In the end, she was defeated and Katara made her way to heal Zuko. They supported each other and there was a love of friendship between them. One that Azula desired. One that Azula wanted. One that Azula paid the price of. A price that was so high to a point where she no longer had anything left. Everything about her life was broken. She made all the wrong choices. She had tossed away her friends and family. All for a dumb title and being a chess piece for an evil man. The lie was gone. Her power was no more. She was empty. She was broken. Her sanity was no more.
A Tragic Tale of a Child’s Need for Love Over an Abusive Parent
To this day, people still debate whether Azula should truly be redeemed or not. In some ways though, Azula is a very different villain. Just like some of the most terrifying villains, she instills fear and power in those around her so they would do her bidding. It seems like she was truly evil and malevolent. I mean the entire time she tried everything she could to make Zuko feel as terrible as possible. However personally, I don’t really see her as irredeemable.
Homelander, Hannibal Lecter, and Anton Chigurh were villains who operated similarly to use fear and power to control. They did it to fulfill and overcome their personal desires and trauma. Azula though uses those traits to please her father. She used those traits to gain recognition and love from her father. She leveraged her power, violence, and fear because that was what her father had taught her. In reality, Azula was just a child. She was only 14 and had to face the backbone of all these misdeeds which villains like Homelander did.
Every teen has made a mistake, Azula made a huge one but that does not mean her whole life is over. At 14, her life had just begun and this whole endeavor can be seen in the future as a lesson to learn. Age is not the main factor of redemption; it would always be how you choose your future and what you are willing to do to gain redemption. We may not see it here but we do know that Azula is a victim. She is a victim of a propagandic and abusive teaching from her dictatorial father who used her as a chess piece. That was all she is.
A victim.
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