Ashes Of The Academy - Blog Posts

I have questions

Welp....

The more I think that new ATLA comic the angrier I get.

Aside from stupid retcons like Mai never really liking Azula and only befriending her because of her father despite how she acted in the series. Yk, Mai, who was actually happy to see Azula... She definitely faked it! No, no, you see, Mai, who as a kid willingly expressed her anger at Azula when she played that game with her and Zuko just really wanted to suck up to her. Yeah, expressing anger at a girl you are trying to suck up to - good retc... I mean writing! (especially since it was the only time we actually got to see little Mai and little Azula interact in the cartoon)

But Azula... oh God, where do I even start. Aside from obvious demonisation (at this point they could just replace Azula with literal demon and nothing would change, she is given 0 humanity) I just hate how the bloody comic tried to paint "Everyone will betray you" as something not only she already believed as a child but also as a common belief in Fire Nation????

I am sorry but what? Look, I get royals advising their children to be wary and all but aside from that.... this is so wrong on so many levels:

A) "Trust noone, even your friends will turn on you" is something that so deeply resonated with Azula because of who SHE was and because of HER life circumstances. She felt as if her mother, whose love she desperately wanted, loved Zuko far more and even disappeared from HER life forever just to protect her brother (an ultimate act of showing favoritism - at least according to Azula), her uncle also preffered Zuko over her, her brother, who she deeply loved, betrayed both her and her nation AFTER SHE ESSENTIALLY GAVE HIM THE THRONE and in the end one of her friends betrayed her for her brother (who her mother and uncle already "chose" over her) and the other betrayed her for said other friend. "Everyone betrays me" is Azula's theme, giving her this ideology before she goes through any of the events that show her (according to her) that she is unloveable, imperfect and unable to control others just undermines the whole point of her character, her perfectionism, using fear as a means of control and her eventual fall into madness.

B) This just sucks from worldbuilding perspective. Yes, royals advising their children to be wary of some other kids makes sense. But being wary of every single other kid all the time is nonsense. Assuming it were truly a FN value that war wouldn't be fought for 100 years. Yes, Fire Lord is the most important person who makes all the decisions but that level of mistrust among royals in court would be disasterous. Also, it just isn't in the spirit of militarism. Fire Nation is supposed to be highly militaristic nation - you know what is in complete opposition to that? The message of "Don't trust your comrades!"

And finally... an Agni Kai. Look mate, if an Agni Kai was fought every time a child insults other child's honour, it would be fought 10 times a day and not "3 times while I was a student". There was a reason it was such a big deal in the series and why Zuko fighting in one as a child was so cruel (also cos Ozai was his dad), if it is also used to settle down arguments between 8 year olds because one called another's father a traitor it would just be both stupid and highly impractical.

Also personal but I really wanted more Maiko....