r/ATLA • u/CTYankee1788 • 7d ago

Discussion I've always wondered about this scene.

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The way Azula worded herself made it seem like disobeying her and waiting for the waters to calm was the smarter decision. If they went against her orders, they'd have a chance of survival, but if they followed her orders, they'd die for sure. Maybe the captain figured that Azula's wrath would be worse than death, which is believable. Iroh and Zuko thought that too. But Azula didn't imply that in this conversation. She only brought up chances of survival.

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u/BlackRaptor62 7d ago edited 7d ago

(1) Do the tides command this ship?

(1.1) Azula is in charge of the ship, not "the tides". So Azula makes the decisions, not "the tides"

(2) And if I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?

(2.1) If the Captain "fell into the water", would "the tides" be merciful and not kill him? No, they wouldn't be.

(3) Well then, maybe you should worry less about the tides who have already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who's still mulling it over.

(3.1) So rather than listening to "the tides", who have already decided to kill him if he "fell into the water", listen to Azula, who has not yet ordered him to "fall into the water", where the tides would them kill him.

(4) The actual logistics of bringing the ship into port aside, it seems pretty clear to me.

(4.1) Listen to Azula and you might live.

(4.2) Listen to "the Tides" and you had better hope that you can swim back to the Fire Nation.

I think you've got it backwards mate.

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u/MissinqLink 7d ago

Do the tides command the ship?

Yes they do actually. Anyone who has spent any amount of time at sea will tell you. If you are really not sure then look at what happened to Zhao.

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u/Anomandaris36 6d ago

I've always seen this scene as kind of a nod to Zhao's end. Like Azula saying to the audience " Yeah the last villain got killed by the tides (moon and ocean) but I'm way deadlier than them". Cool intro for the new villain.