IMO Azula actually WAS better than everyone else except Toph and fully-realized Avatar Aang/Avatar State Aang. And that never stopped being true. Peak Azula beats literally everyone else except Aang and Toph.
Her failure came about because she tried to emulate the power dynamics she witness as a child with a sociopathic/megalomaniacal father as her role model. And that wasn't psychologically sustainable for her.
The problem is (and I know this is up for debate) that Azula isn't a sociopath like Ozai. Ozai's only relationships were relationships of power. He only cared about having power over people and he thrived in those kind of situations. And Azula idolized her father's methods and interpersonal style and thought this approach was the only approach to being an effective firelord.
So she tried to adopt that style. But because she's not a true sociopath, she couldn't psychologically sustain herself with relationships only defined by power. She needed the true love of her family and her friends, and not just their respect, deference, or fear. So, when she realized that she couldn't have their love and that her father's style wasn't leading her to success, she cracked. Her perception of reality, her definitions of power and success, were completely upended and she couldn't handle that. But that doesn't mean her bending genius was rivaled by Katara or Zuko or slowed down in any way. She just failed in other ways that caused her to lose her final fight.
Wow, I've never thought about it like that, but you're so right. I feel like you've just added another layer of depth to a character who was already so complex and interesting
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u/raijba Jul 29 '21
IMO Azula actually WAS better than everyone else except Toph and fully-realized Avatar Aang/Avatar State Aang. And that never stopped being true. Peak Azula beats literally everyone else except Aang and Toph.
Her failure came about because she tried to emulate the power dynamics she witness as a child with a sociopathic/megalomaniacal father as her role model. And that wasn't psychologically sustainable for her.
The problem is (and I know this is up for debate) that Azula isn't a sociopath like Ozai. Ozai's only relationships were relationships of power. He only cared about having power over people and he thrived in those kind of situations. And Azula idolized her father's methods and interpersonal style and thought this approach was the only approach to being an effective firelord.
So she tried to adopt that style. But because she's not a true sociopath, she couldn't psychologically sustain herself with relationships only defined by power. She needed the true love of her family and her friends, and not just their respect, deference, or fear. So, when she realized that she couldn't have their love and that her father's style wasn't leading her to success, she cracked. Her perception of reality, her definitions of power and success, were completely upended and she couldn't handle that. But that doesn't mean her bending genius was rivaled by Katara or Zuko or slowed down in any way. She just failed in other ways that caused her to lose her final fight.