Voiced by: Dante Basco
Show: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a gem of a show that tells the age-old story of good versus evil with nuance and sincerity. At the heart of it are multifaceted, lovable characters who work remarkably well together and grow throughout each season. Prince Zuko is one of the show’s most complex characters and has one of the most excellent redemption arcs ever written in fiction.
His journey throughout the three seasons is nothing short of amazing. For many, he’s a fan-favorite character because of his growth and innate goodness that gets muddled by the propaganda he has been exposed to and his abusive father. Zuko internally struggles between good and evil throughout the show until he realizes his true destiny.
Zuko: Son of a Tyrant
Growing up as the Fire Nation’s crown prince, Zuko had a distorted view of his nation’s place in the world. He believes in honor, and he is kind. His mother, Ursa, shaped him the most during his childhood. His sister, Azula, grew up more under their father’s wing, leading to her own twisted ideas of love and fear. However, Zuko was not as talented as a firebender or as ruthless as Azula, and he knew Ozai was not nearly as proud of him. Azula teased him about Ozai wanting to kill him. And even if Zuko didn’t have confirmation of that at the time, it plants a seed in him that he buries.
Zuko holds the ideal of honor close to his heart and believes that if he follows that, he can make his father proud. Yet, the honor Ozai believes in does not match Zuko’s. In the first war meeting Zuko attends, he cannot stand by the injustice of sending recruits as bait, so he speaks out against his father about the plan. Zuko doesn’t want to hurt the people he loves, even as his father challenges him to an Agni Kai. Ozai twists Zuko’s love into something awful, leaving him scared and banished because he refuses to fight Ozai. Zuko’s innate sense of honor wasn’t something the ruthless Fire Lord would ever see as a strength. He wants Zuko to suffer in a last attempt to mold him into Ozai’s own image.
The Banished Prince
Ironically, during Zuko’s banishment, the only thing that gives him hope is the Avatar. If he captures Aang, he can restore his honor in the eyes of his father and the Fire Nation. He is resourceful and determined, never waning over the course of the first season. He will do anything to find and capture Aang, often acting like a true villain to do so (like burning the village on Kyoshi Island and holding Katara and Sokka captive).
It appears that Ozai’s punishment works to harden Zuko. He lashes out because of how conflicted he is inside. Zuko has his father on a pedestal and believes that is the way he should act as the crown prince. But, his honor sometimes wins, giving the audience a glimpse into the real Zuko. After yelling at his crew and saying cruel things to them, he will endanger himself to save them. Even after Admiral Zhao attempts to kill Zuko, he still tries to save Zhao from the Ocean Spirit.
The saving grace in Zuko’s journey is his Uncle Iroh. He shows him true familial love and is there for him every step of the way, traveling with him in his banishment. Zuko, as brash as he can be, loves and needs Iroh. Even at his worst, in his search for Aang, Zuko puts his uncle first. When he could have followed Appa, he chose to prioritize Iroh. His sense of honor is rooted in his family, which is another reason he struggles to see what is truly right when he wants to be the loyal son of a tyrant.
The Blue Spirit
Zuko uses the Blue Spirit to escape the circumstances around him. He has anonymity and freedom in this guise to do what he wants, including treason, such as going after Aang when Zhao captured him before Zuko, theft, and breaking into secret headquarters.
On two occasions, his selfish actions inadvertently led to him helping Aang. And both times, he questioned his place in the world. Aang questioned whether they could have been friends before the war, but Zuko didn’t want to hear it then. Seeing first-hand someone who had friends beyond their nation’s borders gives him something to think about and further lays the foundation for Zuko’s redemption.
Metamorphosis
After failing to capture Aang in the North Pole, Zuko and Iroh are wanted by the Fire Nation. Zuko is at his lowest, on the run, and losing any hope in his future. It’s one thing to be banished, and it’s an utter betrayal to be wanted by his own country when he had been loyal after his father’s cruel punishment.
As much as he suffers on the run, it opens his eyes to how the Fire Nation has hurt many people. As refugees, they go to Ba Sing Se, which is a life so different from where he grew up, and he learns a new kind of fear: being discovered as a Firebender. Once again, fate brings Zuko close to team Avatar. Ever resourceful, he finds Appa before them. But Iroh stops him from a half-baked scheme and confronts him to look inside and see who he wants to be.
Zuko frees Appa. He takes Iroh’s words to heart and to an extreme, blocking out his past rather than considering it and moving forward. He accepts his situation and makes the best of it. He has changed for the better but still does not know his destiny. He’s still the wanted prince on the run, with his agency taken from him.
Betrayal and Regression
He thinks he’s changed, but given the opportunity to have what he used to want (and still kind of does want), he jumps at it. It doesn’t help that Iroh partners with Aang to find him when he and Katara are imprisoned. It feels like a betrayal. As much as he changed, he did not confront the possibility of his past coming back and how it would affect him. So, Zuko betrays his uncle and Katara. After, he knows he made the wrong decision, which is why the guilt Zuko feels when Iroh is taken away is palpable.
Still, he doesn’t feel right once he’s back in the Fire Nation and has everything he’s wanted. He wonders if his destiny is what he thought it was all along, fighting for the Fire Nation and capturing the Avatar. But he didn’t capture the Avatar; he only got the credit for killing him, and he knew there was a way for Aang to survive. In his desperation to keep what he thought he wanted for so long, he sends an assassin after Aang. Yet further proof is that he wants to be accepted and loved by his family, especially by his father. But the man who’s shown him true unconditional love, he betrayed. Zuko is lost.
On Ember Island, he vocalizes how angry he is to Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. Mai, at times, feeds into his regression, but she is there for him when he really needs it. She is someone who knows his tortured past and still accepts him wholeheartedly. Zuko has seen the truth and cannot share these treasonous doubts with her. He wishes he could cling to what he grew up believing because it is easier. It’s safer than putting himself against his family and friends to seek acceptance from the people he wronged.
A New Destiny
Later, Zuko learns that his other great-grandfather is the previous Avatar, Roku, echoing the war within him between evil and good. This only adds to his conflicted feelings. After finding this out, he’s finally invited to a war meeting. During it, he was the perfect prince, but he wasn’t himself. Being there was necessary for him to come to this realization, and as much as switching sides in Ba Sing Se would have been great, Zuko needed to actively choose to do the right thing and forsake his family’s rule.
Zuko also needs to confront his father. He needs that closure. Zuko’s journey leads him to that pivotal moment: standing up to Ozai for himself and for what is right, claiming his honor and breaking free of any of the power Ozai still had over him. He knows his true destiny now: helping Aang restore balance to the world.
Joining Team Avatar
Joining Team Avatar is not an easy task, but as bad as Zuko is at being good, he owns up to every terrible thing he did. He never shies away or offers excuses. Zuko’s journey brought him to the group as the best person to teach Aang how to Firebend, which gets him tentatively accepted into the group. Zuko actively helps each of them to make amends and heals himself along the way. His internal struggles lead him and Aang toward finding the source of Firebending, which enriches both of them. Now, Zuko no longer needs to rely on his anger as the source of his power. He understands that fire is not just destruction, which gives him hope.
Zuko helps Sokka find his dad in prison and helps Suki escape, making up a little for how he burned her village. At the prison, Mai and Ty Lee stand with him. Unfortunately, we don’t see much of his reaction to this, but it’s rare for people to choose him over Azula. It is another sign that he is on the right path. Zuko’s mission to help Katara get closure on her mother’s death helps him with his struggles with his own mother’s disappearance. Her decision to let go of revenge was vital for him to witness. These adventures solidify Zuko on Team Avatar. He finally has people (besides Iroh) to truly be himself around — people who make him better and who he can support.
A Hero
Zuko’s mission on the Day of Sozen’s Comet is to fight for the future of the Fire Nation. A country that he knows does not want him. During the Ember Island Player’s theatrical, he sees that first hand. But it doesn’t sway him from fighting for them. Once Zuko reunites with Iroh, his forgiveness and belief in Zuko are what he needs to face Azula. And with Katara by his side, Zuko comes full circle from the previous two finales when they fought against each other. They go into the battle together and confident in their mission. Zuko takes the lightning Azula planned to level at Katara, showcasing that he would stop at nothing to keep anyone from getting hurt by the Fire Nation again.
But it’s a bittersweet ending after Katara heals him; they witness Azula’s tantrum, reminding us that she is only fourteen and has demons. I think Zuko would have liked to have a good relationship with Azula, but instead, they had been pitted against each other their whole lives, culminating in this final battle.
Fire Lord Zuko
As Iroh says, Zuko is the perfect person to become the new Fire Lord. Zuko learned that only he can restore his own honor and forge a new path free from the pain of his past. And he now has to do that again for the Fire Nation. Zuko’s change from the angry, entitled, banished prince, to the open minded, humble Fire Lord who strives to start a new era of love and peace is nothing short of phenomenal. Zuko has been determined from the first episode, and we know when he puts his mind to something he will not stop. And knowing he, along with all of Team Avatar, succeeded in The Legend of Korra makes it all the more sweeter.
As Iroh says, Zuko is the perfect person to become the new Fire Lord. Zuko learns that only he can restore his own honor and forge a new path free from the pain of his past. And he now has to do that again for the Fire Nation. Zuko’s change from the angry, entitled, banished prince to the open-minded, humble Fire Lord who strives to start a new era of love and peace is nothing short of phenomenal. Zuko’s been determined from the first episode, and we know that when he puts his mind to something, he will not stop. And knowing he, along with all of Team Avatar, succeeded in The Legend of Korra makes it all the more sweet.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Nickelodeon