Netflix Zuko isn't a Villain, and That's a Problem

ladies and gentlemen I am pleased to announce that unlike the other three main characters in Netflix's Avatar liveaction Zuko is not a lackluster Bland failure of a character oh he's hardly perfectly written and he suffers from some of the same flaws or rather lack of flaws as those other characters but we'll get to all that in a bit first it's worth noting that Dallas Leu did an excellent job in this role the only criticism you could possibly Levy against him is that he sometimes over but he's playing Zuko being a tad too dramatic and overly passionate is kind of Zuko's thing and Leu captures that passion excellently his performance along with his character actually having somewhat consistently passably good lines makes us believe that Zuko really really does care about his quest to capture the Avatar and return home he is held back a bit by one critical character Choice the shunner has made but again we'll get to that later for now I want to focus on the good and in this case that actually includes a couple of addition they made to Zuko's character something the writing team failed to do for Ang qara or Saka Zuko's notebook is one such notable addition seeing his collection of Avatar figures his sketches and of course the aention notebook on the former avatars is a great way for the audience to understand that Zuko's Quest means a lot to him but it's almost worse now that I know he's close because now the chance to go home is real that he is incredibly dedicated to completing it then this is far better storytelling than I like to play airball and eat banana cakes and goof off with my friends having A's theft of the notebook the representation of all of Zuko's hard work over the past 3 years be the thing that makes him lose control and omashu furthers this character point and again it shows us rather than shoving it into our ear holes this same quality of character building is present when the show depicts Zuko's strict adherence to acting honorably he rants angrily about Ang's cowardly escape from his ship he ran the Ultimate Warrior he's a coward he reprimands Lieutenant mutton chops for gossiping about three times did I ask for your opinion he expresses disgust at the thought of Fire Nation spies bombing omashu that's not right Warriors don't hide their faces in a fight and of course he speaks out against the sacrifice of new recruits in order to win a battle soldiers are going to die and for what it's Unworthy of a fire nation officer this tradeit of Zuko works so well because it is his link to his homeland he acts as he believes a fire nation Prince should even in Exile if he were to act otherwise he would lose that connection to his home that he want so badly to keep intact banished from setting foot in his own country zuku clings to whatever reminders and vestiges of the Fire Nation that he can and demands that his men do so as well it makes logical sense for and adds depth to his character his flashback scenes with Ira also do a suitable job of adding to his character Lieutenant's funeral scene was genuinely heartfelt and aside from Mr and Mrs Exposition at the beginning is it true he abandoned The Siege yes after his son was killed come on quite well written Zuko sharing the story of Len's gift to him and his returning of said gift to iro and then sitting at his uncle's side lends flavor to their relationship even for longtime viewers of the original show who takes said relationship for granted when Zuko twice in the same episode chooses to pursue his captured Uncle rather than go after Ang it shows the audience that there's more to zuku than his mission no surprised to kep this bit from the original we'll talk about that later so where do the problems come in I'm going to be honest if every character in this adaptation had been written as well as Zuko I might not have made this video oh I would have covered the show but without the travises that are qara and Saka not to mention Ang himself I likely wouldn't have been quite this critical of each character but well those characters are how they are and they made me take a closer look at the other characters in the show hence this much more nuanced discussion of how Netflix made Zuko too good a discussion of a character like Netflix Zuko requires nuance and careful thought so I think it's appropriate that the sponsor of this video is ground news if you don't already know ground news is a website and app that shows you the bias behind news stories breaking down the topics you care about by political bias factuality and ownership behind each reporting Source it helps you decipher the Maze of partiality and slant inherent in modern news media and form a more well-rounded well-informed opinion of Any Given topic for example let's take this story on President Biden warning Israel about the Iranian attack over 220 sources reported on the story story 39% of those being left leaning Outlet compared to 35% right leaning and 43% Centrist notably only 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the complexity and Nuance of different issues without feeling defeated by the emotionally manipulative nature of modern media I hope you'll check them out and take advantage of this amazing offer again that's ground. newsmaster Sam for 40% off thank you so much to ground news for sponsoring and now back to Zuko that is to say while it's less notable in Zuko's character writing he is after all an antagonist his liveaction version still suffers from the same fault and character development that plagued the members of Netflix Team Avatar he doesn't have enough of it he doesn't have the potential for enough of it specifically he doesn't have the flaws that were apparent in the original Zuko at least not to nearly the same level this is a trend throughout the show as I just mentioned Saka isn't sexist prideful or arrogant on Kyoshi Island qara doesn't have to overcome her insecurity that forms when Ang shows her up at water bending Ang himself didn't actually run away from being the Avatar he just went out for a flight to clear his head so there's not really much guilt to contend with there just needs to go up where things always make more sense there seems to be this weird idea in the the showrunners or writers heads that we can't have good people doing bad things or even things that are just not ideal obviously with Zuko they couldn't avoid that entirely him chasing after a is shall we say rather important to the show's plot throughout the first two books it would be rather difficult to adapt avatar The Last Airbender without said Airbender being hunted by an Angry Young Prince so what was Netflix to do well first off they wanted to let us know that this absolutely is the zuka that you know and love we promise enough games burn the whole place to the ground yeah okay that's Zuko willing to do whatever it takes to reach his goal no matter who gets hurt but wait how exactly does that work with Zuko's sense of Honor if he doesn't approve of spies surely he wouldn't approve of want and burning of Civilian Villages no but see we haven't fully established that character trait of his yet and we need to show the fans of the original show that we know what they want to see out of Zuko we'll shape him as we desire later surely they won't notice again this bait and switch is a trend in this same scene Katara gives an emotional speech about the importance of Hope and Saka bravely steps out to face down the Fire Nation putting himself between his people and the oncoming danger and then those character traits of theirs aren't really built on throughout the rest of the show and in Saka case they are actively destroyed as soon as this scene ends Zuko's fanatical Reckless fool hearty passion for finding the Avatar will fade into the background hardly ever to be seen again with the focus shifted to his sense of propriety when it comes to being Fire Nation if Netflix wanted to play up Zuko's sense of honor and adherence to a strict code of conduct they should have established that right away his duel with Saka should not have been about Glory we overpower them it's no contest well where's the glory in that but rather about acknowledging sako's position and accepting an honorable duel and of course he couldn't very well order the arson of an entire Village unless of course the hunt for the Avatar is the one thing that can make him break from his honorable ways that having the last air bender just Out Of Reach is enough to make him discard his code in order to get what he wants that's an intriguing idea having Zuko struggle with his goal being unattainable unless he uses means that are abhorent to him but it's not really explored in this show Zuko seems just fine with sneaking about to nashu he just despises the idea of fire na spies bombing buildings the only other time it really comes up is when they hire chune she's a mercenary her loyalty is bought and sold how can you trust someone like that and Zuko's objections are really more practical than than they are ethical also io's counterargument is really quite bad if she fails she doesn't get paid and she doesn't eat I mean yeah I wrote that's how mercenaries work if the Avatar just paid her more she'd piss right off and You' never see her again also if he doesn't trust June why doesn't he just go with her yeah she captures Ang within fire nation borders but he didn't know that's what was going to happen between this scene and the one where they meet up with Jun and the captur D we just have two brief scenes of Zuko on his ship he doesn't do anything meaningful in the meanwhile if he cares so much about finding the Avatar and he doesn't trust the mercenary he really should be with her the whole time so why isn't he well because the script needed him to be back on his ship so he could yell at Lieutenant mutton shop some more which honestly is quite deserved since the man is disobeying orders I you can't really blame the guy for not wanting to refuse xiao's orders but you also can't exactly fault Zuko for being mad that Xiao took over command of his ship either and all of this leads to iro eventually telling Lieutenant to mutton chops about Zuko's past and how he came to be banished it's worth noting that the flashbacks and IR was retelling of them are the only parts of the original episode the storm that this show keeps which is to say the least unfortunate why well in the original the storm focused on how the paths of Zuko and Ang have shaped who they are now and how they will have to reckon with their past actions in order to grow Ang has to face down the reality that he fled from the responsibility of being the Avatar that he ran away from his home and everyone he had ever loved leaving them to be massacred by San and his troops of course in the adaptation they can't do that because Ang didn't really run away from being the Avatar he just made a little oopsy and took too long of a head clearing flight and got stuck in a storm Zuko has to reconcile his duty to the men aboard his ship with his assumed Destiny to capture the Avatar with the mission that has consumed him for the past 3 years he starts out the episode willing to sail through a violent storm if it means closing the gap between him and a and telling iro the safety of the crew doesn't matter when some concern is expressed as to the wisdom of his plan this is not an isolated incident for Zuko when the Avatar is in view he tends to charge in head first with no regard for the potential Fallout should things go sideways just a few episodes earlier he forced the crew to sail Through the Fire Nation blockade an event that is noticeably absent in the adaptation we'll get to the crew in a minute but first let's cover the main issue here Netflix Zuko isn't nearly as rash and Reckless as is his animated counterpart in this he is much like his fellow adapted characters his chief vices Stripped Away leaving him with far less character growth to accomplish liveaction Zuko doesn't challenge ziao to anagni Kai doesn't run a blockade and violate his banishment by entering Fire Edition Waters he doesn't attempt to sail through a massive thunderstorm in pursuit of the Avatar he doesn't capture Ang in the North Pole with no plan as to what to do next those were all incredibly important moments for Zuko's character as they showed the audience just how badly he wanted to return home with honor how he was willing to full-heartedly risk everything time and time again for the smallest hope that he would accomplish his goal the only risky decision they kept was his invasion of xiao's Fortress as the blue Spirit which is good they kept the 100% crucial moments the bones of Zuko's unyielding desire to capture the Avatar but they left out a good many other moments that fleshed out that desire and gave it life honestly that's a great metaphor for this show as a whole it has the bones of the original and it assembles them more or less correctly but a skeleton is by nature lifeless I just don't know how you do Zuko's Arc without him having that level of fanatical Devotion to his mission these moments are the setup for the emotional payoff in bossing say as he chooses to leave behind the quest he believed to be his Destiny a decision that we see wreak havoc on his mind and body and one that when reversed and destroyed still leaves behind a sea that will eventually Blossom isuku chooses to finally leave behind his home and father all that to say Netflix Zuko does work as a character he has a sensible Arc that logically follows the events we see him experience but he's just less than he was before without his major flaws impulsiveness rashness single-mindedness fool heartedness Etc the Redemption of Netflix Zuko simply won't be as impactful as it could and should be this is especially true due to the overarching change that Netflix made to Zuko they wrote him as far less bad less of a villain this was accomplished in three ways first in how as just described Zuko's major vices are largely Miss missing in the adaptation second by severely downplaying or removing Zuko's villainous actions and conflict with Team Avatar after the initial encounter between Zuko and Saka and Ang Netflix pulls the rug out from that storyline almost entirely Koshi Island where Zuko burned down half the town in pursuit of Ang Xiao does that now though zuku does go after qara pretty hard but that's really just so she can show him up to the North Pole and we can see what an amazing water bender she is now it also shows that Netflix seemed to want to elevate Xiao as the primary antagonist to team Avatar instead of Zuko which just was not a good choice because they did a very poor job with Shia but I'm not getting into that now we miss out on Zuko beating up Saka and suuk too lessening the emotional impact should they face off again in the future Zuko does not shoot any hot stinkers at Team Avatar prior to running the blockade because that whole sequence doesn't exist Zuko doesn't capture qara in the water bending scroll because that episode was asked Zuko doesn't join June on her hunt and thus doesn't attack the perfumer village which also isn't a thing team Avatar or one of its members anyway meets him a grand total of four times in the adaptation by my count they have their initial encounter when he captures Ang he and qara briefly duel on Kyoshi Island they all run into him in omashu a fight scene I generally liked because it was actually creative and then he meets qara and a at the North Pole oh and while we're talking about the North Pole Zuko has literally no effect on how all of that plays out he's just there for qara to display how she's her own Master now he doesn't even make it into the room where Ang is meditating and I guess encounter number five he rescues Ang as the blue spirit with the exception of that time in the First episodes all those events are just so much less impactful than were their conflicts in the original so much less important to the story and the characters I mean Saka literally sees Zuko twice in the whole season this guy again in the original Zuko was a constant thorn in the gang side all of their sides persistently popping up again and again making their lives difficult and interfering with their plans on numerous occasions that made him feel like an actual villain it's hard to paint someone as an antagonist if they just don't do much antagonizing and I think that was the intent here the final method of making Zuko not so villainous was accomplished by Netflix painting Zuko as a good and honorable young man you've always believed there is a right and a wrong way of doing things who was not at fault for his deplorable actions because he is a victim of his father's cruelty and Malice but wait isn't that just how Zuko was in the original well yes but not to the level that Netflix lays out I think this point is best made by analyzing the one change to Zuko story that seemed to Garner near Universal praise among fans of the original but is a change that I maintained significantly weakens his character Arc by Framing him in an undeservedly positive light that changes of course the adaptation having the 40 first division the ones who are going to be given as a sacrificial offering in order to win a battle against the Earth Benders be the crew of Zuko's ship I have a few problems with that first the 41st division is an army division why would they be assigned to sail a Navy ship and even if oai was just like figure it out guys you'd think that would have sparked some questions about what in the name of San's comment is going going on here and why this is happening leading to that reveal much much earlier than 3 years into their journey I haven't had a ton of problems with the logical consistency of this Show's narratives but seriously come on you can't just throw soldiers on a boat like every military role is interchangeable second why does oai give Zuko the 41st oh I know he says a reason and since you're so concerned with the 41st division take them with you but uh that doesn't make any sense for his character he's basically rewarding Zuko for his impudence and he's taking away the Cornerstone piece of the very plan against which Zuko protested that is why we sacrificed the 41st division that is what you must do why not have oai throw in a jab about you've saved their lives but I have no shortage of new recruits he should show zuku that standing up to the fire lord is futile and that he can't win even when he gets what he wants and he does get what he wants for some reason third and this is the crucial Point having Zuko save the lives of every member of his ship's crew removes the Nuance from how his character is viewed while adding nothing of substance to it and cutting out any potential for Zuko's in episode growth in the process in the storm iro related the tale of Zuko's banishment to the disgruntled Sailors telling them how Zuko stood up for the loyal Fire Nation soldiers whom he never met and how he refused to fight his father this led to the crew understanding how Zuko the boy who just that day said the safety of the crew doesn't matter did in fact care for the lives of men like them but that such compassion was the very thing that got him banished it adds depth and Nuance to how they view him letting them consider him as a more complex person than they initially thought in the adaptation it's just he saved your life so you should be grateful and you're all alive because of my nephew's sacrifice and then they all love him this change doesn't alter Zuko's character instead it changes how he is perceived by those around him and thus by the audience rather than iro letting the crew Ponder the depth of Zuko's character now that they know more about why he acts the way he does he essentially tells them they all owe Zuko a big one so they better shape up it's just so much less nuanced and interesting it gives the show's characters and US less to ponder about Zuko it basically just tells us he's a good person even while changing nothing about his character the only character who's actually different in this version of the story is oai and that change doesn't make a whole lot of sense as we just talked about in summary the original showed us how Zuko had to set aside the thing he wants most in the world for the sake of his men but the adaptation never gives him that opportunity to grow because he has apparently always cared about them and never lost that sentiment this change along with Netflix never having Zuko endanger his crew seriously reduces the amount of character work done on Zuko I'm sure a lot of you will disagree with me on this one I'm curious to see what you think if you liked this change please let me know why I failed to see what it added to the story other than framing Zuko as a better person because he saved the 41st lives even though he is morally speaking as far as this particular story be goes exactly the same as in the animated show by itself s this change isn't all that noticeable to be fair but it's part and parcel of the tonal shift taken by Netflix's writing team as they did all they could within the bounds of the existing story to tell us that Zuko isn't actually a bad person now Zuko was never truly unequivocally evil in the manner of oai or aula to be sure if aula came to join team Avatar that would be an even more remarkable Redemption Arc zuka always was more complex more honorable much closer to Redemption but Netflix's decision to play up his victimhood really weakened his eventual Redemption because there's just not that much that needs to be redeemed what do I mean by that so there is from my perview anyway this common sentiment in today's culture that if you are a victim you aren't at all culpable for your wrongdoings it's not your fault it's your dad's like suppose you could probably just say the same thing for oi right whatever they really emphasize this in the war room scene where Zuko is specifically invited instead of practically forcing his way in asked to give his opinion which is then coldly rebuffed didn't you hear the general they're protected by Cliffs on one side is open mocked little boys should know better than to play at War and of course is ultimately forced into an agne tie Netflix has ozai and the general will really pick on Zuko embarrass him because well because the audience is supposed to feel bad for Zuko and if you feel bad for someone how can you fult them when they go off the rails a little I'm not totally sure why the writing team felt they needed to have the audience view Zuko in this light and they absolutely do want us to know that the Zuko that chases after a isn't really who Zuko is deep down found io's monologue at the end of masks is pretty clear about that what's hard is knowing that sometimes the mask is who we really are again this is something I don't think I'd harp on quite so much if it weren't for them doing the same thing to a worse extent with Saka Ang andara stripping them of most if not all of their flaws and making them far less interesting characters in the process it's a testament to the strength of the original story that Zuko even when weakened by Netflix is still a solid character considering how the rest of the show turned out and despite the vast majority of this video being criticism rather than praise Netflix Zuko certainly could have been a lot worse I'm not sure whether that's to the credit of the Netflix writing team who put more care and attention into his character or to the credit of the original creators whose story reigned in Netflix forcing them to stay within an outline not allowing them to make Zuko a cardboard cut out like they did with the other three main characters there are a couple of other minor issues I wanted to highlight that didn't really fit into the rest of this discussion so I'll do that now first when Zuko and IR show up on xia's ship the commander tells them to come back in the morning for the information they want so they do and lo and behold Xiao is gone when Zuko wonders aloud what just happened a very helpful passer by Chimes inia he heard something about a flying cow near Kyoshi Island so he set sail at dawn when someone critiques a plot point is contrived this is what they mean or at least what they should mean this random dude has absolutely no reason to know a where xia went and B why he went there especially considering the fact that Xiao snuck away at dawn intent on capturing ing the Avatar as his own prize but apparently he knows both those things and is willing unprompted to share them because Zuko needs to get to Koshi Island there were so many better ways to get Zuko there he could have not trusted Xiao as he clearly already doesn't and simply sent his men to watch and make sure Xiao doesn't pull any funny business and then follows him when he does this moment was so absurdly contrived but it didn't remotely have to be it was literally just the easiest and laziest answer to the question how do we get Zuko to know that Ang is on Koshi Island and then in xia's final scene the now Admiral tells Zuko that the prince's quest to capture the Avatar was a sham that oai had simply been using him as motivation for Zula you were the fire in which her iron was forged which is nonsense Zuko's Mission being a wild goose chase makes sense in the original because oai was pretty much done with the kid Zuko was a total failure in his father's eyes all but completely Beyond Redemption and the only way back for Zuko was for him to accomplish an impossible task oai had nothing to lose and everything to gain from banishing Zuko in the adaptation the reason for banishment is far less final perhaps the demands of the world outside will prove to be a better teacher oai basically just wants Zuko to beef up his mental fortitude and become less compassionate that is in ozai's mind weak compassion is a sign of weakness if ozai's intentions were to strengthen Zuko since he apparently believes that he's allowed him to become soft in the safety of the palace why would he go straight to find the Avatar who hasn't been seen in over a 100 years instead of sending his son to lead a division of troops or if we want to be extra dramatic to succeed where iro failed and take bossing say or better yet send him to oversee the battle whose plane he so fiercely protested if you want to purge Zuko of his weakness and compassion toughening him into a hard-hearted leader who will achieve victory at any cost what better way to do that than to make him give the order to execute the terrible plan the punishment should fit the crime Netflix changed the purpose of ozai's punishment in an attempt to make him a more nuanced villain but in doing so they made that very punishment far less sensical which brings me back to Xiao telling Zuko your mission this a sham this is either a blatant lie on xiao's part or a character inconsistency with oai yes ozai is playing Zuko against aula it's not a particularly engaging storyline in my opinion but that is in fact happening however two things can be true at once just because oai is an opportunistic sop and has now discovered how to motivate aula does not mean that Zuko's was in fact a sham from the start it very much seemed not to be in that conversation with Zuko ozai only chooses to banish him after Zuko argues about weakness not inherently being bad not to mention if Xiao this miniature peon knows that Zuko is dead to his father surely the Crown Princess would know that as well and not be bothered by her father playing Zuko against her because she would know that Zuko isn't a real threat the only way ozai's PLO works at all as motivation for Ula is if Zuko's mission is not in fact a facade and Zuko's return is an actual possibility so I don't know what sh was going on about here anyhow that was all a bit of a tangent not really related to Zuko's character I don't plan to do an overall review of this show that's generally not what I do but those points bugged me so I wanted to talk about them honestly this might be my last video on this show if you want to see more let me know like the video leave a comment tell me what other characters you think are worth covering I thought about analyzing Netflix Ang or doing a video on the minor characters but I don't know let me know what you want to see as for Netflix well I can confidently say he could have been worse he gets an award the not as much of a cardboard cuted as you could have been award the character is mostly competently written is portrayed by an extremely talented young actor has genuinely heartfelt moments with Uncle iro and was even given a couple of additions to his character that work quite well it's unfortunate that he suffers from the same value washing as the other main characters his impulsiveness and foolheartedly him with no real faults to overcome other than those passed down to him for oai the poor kid this leaves us with a most solid character who sadly cannot match his animated counterpart in terms of depth and need for growth and Redemption were it not for my love of the original show I'm sure I would have noticed cared and critiqued far less perhaps you think that's unfair but well that's how things go when you adapt a beloved story if you want to count on original fans to return to the universe they love you can't exactly counter them to be apathetic when you reject parts of what made the original so wonderful believe me I'm more than capable of loving adaptations that completely fumbled the original material on occasion in the case of Zuko Netflix didn't totally miss the mark they just didn't quite hit the bullseye we all can't be Master archers I suppose anyway that was an unnecessary metaphor I don't have any more to say on the subject

Channel: Master Samwise

Views: 56,436

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Id: vISuT59HgY8

Length: 27min 7sec (1627 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 19 2024