The Interview With Aaron Ehasz About Aang And Katara Relationship:

The interview with Aaron Ehasz about Aang and Katara relationship:

“We decided to do that in symbolism and actions instead of words”

In short words, the writers have been showing Aang and Katara romance in all series with actions, not words.

Oh, and Aaron ships Sokka and Toph.

And Aaron supports Kataang with this:

I find it really funny when people say that Azula hallucinating her mother saying she loves her is proof that Ursa really did openly love her and that the way Ursa is in the hallucinations must be the truth, because it reminds me of this music video by Tooboe where a mother is in a poor situation and remorsefully but deliberately abandons her daughter to be abused so the mother can start anew and make a new, better family with a new daughter and forget about the yoke of the old one. And the music video is framed in this split screen of the first daughter fantasizing/hallucinating about an alternate world where her mother didn't abandon her in order to help her cope with how awful the life she's been left with is. But the imagined scenario there isn't something that was ever going to realistically shake out or show how the mom actually felt about her, it's just a coping device.

The idea that the framing device of a fantasy/hallucination during a mental spiral must necessarily be a interpreted as a reflection of the objective truth of reality is pretty strange.

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Azula the Scapegoat

I've talked before about how the Fire Nation in the comics were heavily whitewashed. How any and all moral ambiguity and their crimes are swept under the rug as all the characters are presented in the best light possible. The fact that they did any wrong doing in the past is gently brushed aside about how much progress and prosperity they brought to all that they...uh..."touched".

Thing is, you can't exactly have a post-war canon where there's no conflict. And since the Fire Nation were clearly the aggressors in the war, we can't exactly have them be squeaky clean morally either.

...not without a scapegoat.

In order to create conflict yet keep the Fire Nation morally white, Yang designates Azula as the scapegoat. The person that's responsible for all of the Fire Nation's woes as opposed to the natural consequences of a literal century of warfare. She's the old remnant. The enemy. The last vestiges of the old order that needs to be destroyed for the Fire Nation (Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, Ursa, etc.) to fully redeem themselves.

And to make sure she becomes that much more of a tempting target, her insanity and instability are brought to the forefront as all other characteristics and sources that made Azula her are quietly retconned into oblivion. Can't have squeaky clean heroes if their villain might be sympathetic after all.

Neither is she alone since her entire posse is made up of girls who were broken out of an abusive mental institution:

Let me repeat that.

A group of mentally ill teenage girls who were likely the victims of a system that the narrative keeps trying to push as squeaky clean...are the bad guys.

To give you an idea of how horrendous this is, we see the same story in the real world. Whenever there is some societal ill or upheaval, the mentally ill are almost ALWAYS used as the scapegoat. Even though in reality it's usually the ones on top or the system who are to blame. It's just people who have been historically stigmatized are almost always the first target. Granted this treatment is not exclusive to the mentally handicapped (I mean there's racism, antisemitism, etc.), but I don't think it's a coincidence that Yang tried to play up Azula's insanity in order to make her a scapegoat.

Especially when instead of addressing the actual issues with the Fire Nation (inherent colonialism, rampant militarism, the amount of power the Fire Lord wields), they'd rather blame somebody else instead of helping themselves. That doesn't exactly make the post-war Fire Nation people you want to root for.

The true reason why Ozai banishes Ursa from their family and the Fire Nation!

Ozai most certainly didn't want Ursa influencing Zuko and Azula especially. Azula is the perfect tool and heir for the Fire Nation as a genius and later on, becomes a perfectionist. Azula's natural skills and abilities far supersede expectations and that of her older brother. Ozai doesn't want Ursa to make Azula "soft" hearted. Ozai wants Azula and even Zuko to be ruthless, vicious, cruel Imperialistic enforcers for the Fire Nation and his reign.

Ozai probably had some role of involvement in HYW and probably served as Fire Lord Azulon's Wrath and ruthless enforcer. Ozai probably had to burn and slaughter villages in Azulon's name if they defied Fire Nation's Imperial rule and conquest. I can see Ozai being the Grand Admiral of Fire Nation's Navy Fleet just like Iroh would be the Supreme Commander of Fire Nation's Army.

I can see Ozai leading Fire Nation Blockades during the Seige of Ba Sing Se given that manpower and war supplies are needed during a 600-day seige. I could see a Teenage Ozai leading and commanding the Southern Raiders during his Avatar hunting years as a mission to bring glory and receive recognition, respect, and reward in Agni and Azulon's name!

Unfortunately, Ozai cares more about the Fire Nation's imperialistic ambitions than the happiness of his wife and children. At the end of the day, Ozai doesn't understand and value the unconditional and pure love of a parent because he probably has never gotten to experience it with Fire Lord Azulon probably being butthurt over Fire Lady Ilah's death in childbirth! (headcanon/theory)

Ozai never wanted Ursa's morality to "infect" their children considering they are supposed to be ruthless, cunning, manipulative, and cruel imperialistic overlords for the Fire Nation. Also, Iroh is the Black Sheep of their family ironically morality-wise. Whereas, Ozai is a brainwashed imperialistic fanatic warmonger just as Fire Lord Azulon desired and wished for him to become during his childhood. Ilah probably instilled morality values into Iroh's youth in comparison to Azulon who obviously doesn't care about morality in war which he inherited from Fire Lord Sozin. Ilah probably managed to break the ruthless, cruel, and aloof imperialistic personality in Iroh which passed on to Lu Ten as well! Unfortunately, without Ilah's guidance, Ozai became a carbon copy and a small degree worse morality-wise in comparison to his forefathers (Coldness in regards to pursuing and usurping Iroh's birthright and throne post-Lu Ten's death...granted Azulon order his innocence grandson Zuko to be murder by his own father!) because of a lack of love in his youth.

CHUBBY BABY BRUCE

WE HAVE A CHUBBY BABY BRUCE