Great mix of showing more of Zuko's backstory and his present day character development.
Zuko's better nature is starting to become more prominent with him looking more to do good in the world. We see this in his reluctance to steal from the couple on the road at the beginning and willingness to help the family he meets in the village. We would have never seen this from season 1 Zuko - great character development.
The flashbacks give great insight into how he came to be destructive and selfish (as we first saw him), when it's clear his nature is to be more empathetic. He is under constant pressure to show his strength and power to earn the approval of his father and grandfather. Similar theme to the previous episode with Toph of how destructive family expectations can be, though this time in reverse - where Toph was restricted as her family expected too little, too much is demanded of Zuko. Clear to see how he goes down the wrong path without his mother to bring out the best in him.
Other details that I liked were the continuations of social themes that have been so prominent:
The only thing that holds this back from being a 10/10 for me is that Azula largely comes off as one-dimensional with how naturally evil she is in all aspects as a young child. Just found it quite jarring especially in contrast to Zuko who's given so much more depth. Perhaps they could have focused more clearly on how the sexism she faced is what drove her to be so cruel since it's only vaguely hinted at in this episode.
Overall, loved the great character showcase for Zuko - maybe the best arc of the whole series and episodes like this are exactly why.
Zuko's better nature is starting to become more prominent with him looking more to do good in the world. We see this in his reluctance to steal from the couple on the road at the beginning and willingness to help the family he meets in the village. We would have never seen this from season 1 Zuko - great character development.
The flashbacks give great insight into how he came to be destructive and selfish (as we first saw him), when it's clear his nature is to be more empathetic. He is under constant pressure to show his strength and power to earn the approval of his father and grandfather. Similar theme to the previous episode with Toph of how destructive family expectations can be, though this time in reverse - where Toph was restricted as her family expected too little, too much is demanded of Zuko. Clear to see how he goes down the wrong path without his mother to bring out the best in him.
Other details that I liked were the continuations of social themes that have been so prominent:
- sexism experienced by Azula seen when Iroh only thinks to send her a doll whilst giving Zuko a weapon
- destructive impact of war and power both through the conflict it creates in Zuko's family (which is suggested to lead to Zuko's father killing his grandfather) as well as on the normal soldiers and their families
- nuance in who is good and bad. Whilst the fire nation are clearly worse overall, we see the corruption of parts of the Earth kingdom army
The only thing that holds this back from being a 10/10 for me is that Azula largely comes off as one-dimensional with how naturally evil she is in all aspects as a young child. Just found it quite jarring especially in contrast to Zuko who's given so much more depth. Perhaps they could have focused more clearly on how the sexism she faced is what drove her to be so cruel since it's only vaguely hinted at in this episode.
Overall, loved the great character showcase for Zuko - maybe the best arc of the whole series and episodes like this are exactly why.