prince zuko got you all out here thinking every dark haired antagonist boy is gonna do right in the end when zuzu was the exception not the rule
I really wish it weren’t though? I think it’s really telling that a lot of people like redemption arcs because we want to see people be good despite their pasts. The fact that there are so little redemption arcs in media is very upsetting because it just sends the message that people can’t change which we know is not true. I absolutely don’t mean this for characters like Kylo Ren though lol
Redemption arcs are hard and Zuko’s was successful for a couple of reasons:
1) Zuko wasn’t the worst character in the Fire Nation. From really early on it was shown that, compared to Zhao, Azula, and other Fire Nation leaders, Zuko was consistently more noble. He tried to be a good person and do the right thing, even when doing so led to him suffering for his actions.
2) Zuko suffered for his mistakes. He suffered when he turned away from Iroh, he suffered when he betrayed Iroh, and he suffered even after his face turn. There were consequences for his mistakes; he didn’t get off scot free because his childhood was hard. He was still held accountable by the narrative and made to take responsibility for the wrongs he did.
3) Zuko made tangible amends to the people he hurt. He rescued Hakoda, helped Katara get closure, and became Aang’s firebending master. He put in work to make up for the things he did and rebuild bridges with his new allies.
Most redemption narratives fail because the guilty party is guilty of much greater crimes than failing to capture the hero, never works to make amends, and never suffers for their mistakes. You wanted to see Zuko redeem himself because he had the capacity, wanted to do the work, and paid dearly for his mistakes.
I feel like this breakdown, while entirely correct and valid, doesn’t put quite enough emphasis on the first point.
When a redemption arc works, it’s because the character has been consistent throughout the narrative. The character that started out as the villain had those qualities that made him heroic–or even just “not a monster”–when it counted from the very start.
The seeds were there, and when choices came, he made the ones that were most right, because he rarely got the chance to make a truly right choice. Unlike the heroes, Zuko frequently was faced not with choices between right and wrong, but with choices between suffering for others or suffering for himself, or choices between letting go of his hate and letting go of his family.
Redemption arcs that require a character to start doing things completely differently are lazy and not genuine. It’s why no matter how they do it, somebody like Kylo Ren is never going to be truly redeemed. At best, they could pretend the previous two movies never happened, and everyone around him could forgive him for the thousandth time for being a complete asshole who made self-serving choices every single time he was given a choice, and he would suddenly start not making self-serving choices every single time he was given a choice.
But he never once avoided making the selfish choice or doing the horrible thing when he had the option not to. He turned away from offers of help over and over again, and he murdered the closest equivalent he had to an Uncle Iroh.
Zuko’s redemption works because it acknowledges that he was always a good person, and that all he had to do to prove it was get away from the horrible circumstances that wouldn’t allow him to be. He suffered after his turnaround because he acknowledged how many times he’d failed those who supported him, and he focused on making amends at the same time as moving forward.
In short, Zuko was allowed to become independent and grow up, and he did that by choice.
(via upallnighttobedbucky)
