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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Prince Zuko from ATLA (Avatar The Last Airbender) has the best redemption arc in TV & Movie history and I'm going to convince you why.
#avatarthelastairbender #zuko #atla
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I also love how he really didn't just redeem himself on his own. He first needed to see the damage the fire nation was doing to the rest of the world, combined with his uncle's unconditional love and understanding. Having a great role model allowed Zukko to realize there is a path to redemption, and gave him a goal to aspire to.
Seeing Iroh embrace Zukko when they reunite in the white lotus camp was the strongest emotional moment in the seires, highlighting how important the two are to each other.
That moment always makes me cry...
And uncle iroh didn't need to die to see it.
Well iroh son did die to show Iroh redemption
Really it's Zuko's story. The show's title and protagonists were strategically chosen to avoid spoilers.
I love this take!
Me too cause I associate myself with zuko more than any of the Avatars.
He ends up being the leader of the new world when you think of it. I think you are definitely on to something. He’s at least the second most impactful character if not the most.
It's a rough buddy.
I politely disagree, but I totally understand where you're coming from
0:10 "Hello, Zuko here" 😃👋
Out of context sounds like he's awkwardly starting an apology video, in context that's exactly what's happening
Fr he literally can't _NOT_ be awkward about it because he knows how much wrong he's done to the hero group, and therefore doesn't have any idea how to introduce himself as a trustworthy reformed good guy. Zuko probably thought to himself that _he_ wouldn't have forgiven and trusted himself if he were in Aang's shoes there.
This guy just disgused an entire psychology class as an ATLA review. This video can and should be applied to each of our personal lives imo. Mad respect! (I rarely comment btw, this video was impossible not to comment)
The more I watch avatar, the more I realize just how good Zuko’s character arc is. Truly one of the most fleshed out, well written and amazing characters not just in animation, but in all of fiction.
Zuko is one of my favorite characters ever, he is the most genuine "good guys" in TV. He's not good because its a part of his personality, or because he was raised to be good, but at a young age he's clear minded enough to find his way to good and choose it no matter what happens. Its the purest kind of good that comes from a soul brave enough to express it. It makes him the most likable.
I actually feel bad for azula- unlike her brother she was so messed up but didn’t wish to acknowledge it
And she had no one helping her unlike Zuko who had Iroh
Oh she knows. She knows she's a monster. She admitted it
@@xJayhawkFANx The problem is that Azula didn't _want_ to do anything about it... which is _actually worse._ Zuko looked inside himself and also saw a villain - someone who tried to appease their tyrant father and helped to hurt and oppress so many innocent civilians for a cruel empire - but unlike Azula, Zuko actually bothered to _change himself_ for the better. He stopped looking up to their a**hole father, learned to view people around him as equal friends, and shifted the Fire Nation into a better country.
Azula has the stronger firebending. Zuko has the stronger will. Looking inwards and admitting it to yourself means nothing if you're not going to do anything about what you find staring back, especially for the sake of others.
I almost didn't watch this because I don't know anything about the airbender or who zuko is but this turned out to be such a good video and so much more interesting than if it had just been about the ark itself. So many "analysis" channels just recap things with a bit of commentary. You really did this topic justice and I love it! Thank you.
well uhh have you watched avatar the last airbender yet? please watch it. It's got very good story, and characters. Have you watched it?
Yes you should definitely watch the show. So good
Please watch the show homie, no matter how good the video is nothing will show you how insanely good the show it
Something i notice is the economic way they use zukos arc to accomplish multiple functions throughout the story.
He begins antogonistic while also being a perspective character for the firenation showing the audience the progress team avatar needs to make in order to stand a chance at stopping firelord Ozai. practically we also see him as a solution to many of the problems the avatar finds himself in as hes a more manageable evil then some of the other antagonists they face. basically offering the avatar a way of getting out of things he wasnt ready to overcome yet.
As he becomes more human and empathetic he functions as a way showing what an outsider experiences living in a war torn world. he shows the pleights that everyone else is going through because of his familys actions. he also shows us the dangers of being alone in this world and how much the characters will need to trust each other if they hope to succeed.
Then finally we works as a window into the ideology behind firebending and enabling aang to progress on both the stated goal of mastering the elements and the internal goal of reconciling his wrath and a sense of justice.
if the writers had chosen an "easy" way out these parts of the story and these perspectives would have either been lost entirely or would have been fragmented amongst multiple character lessening their effectiveness. As much as its a masterful redemption arc, its also a masterful use of hiding exposition and worldbuilding in character.
Great points about Zuko's arc informing different parts of the narrative. Especially the way he teaches Aang firebending (and relearns for himself) wouldn't have worked well if they went the easy way.
I always thought that him siding with Azula in "The Crossroads of Destiny" was the key to Zuko's redemption arc actually being as high quality as it is. We saw him go from being a major antagonist in Book 1 to wandering the Earth Kingdom and being humbled in Book 2, which helped him grow and understand more about his wrongdoings and the wrongdoings of the Fire Nation overall.
It wouldn't have necessarily been bad to have him join Team Avatar in "The Crossroads of Destiny", but it would've been really predictable and not as satisfying as what we got. Having him get accepted by his father and brought back to the Fire Nation gave him a full perspective of things and allowed his redemption to be much more honest.
Great video! I also love how Zuko's path is characterized by suffering, difficulties and mistakes. No growth can be believable for a "bad guy" unless the process costs him much. And no one would blame Zuko for having it too easy in ATLA
As a kid you’re so conditioned to the good guy bad guy trope. When someone like Zuko breaks that binary its a really confusing experience but it rly teaches you a lot.
18:46 That having been said, I do appreciate the moments where Zuko still has emotional highs or his temper flares up but not the degree it was before & he manages to calm down & (unlike before) talk things through, meaning he doesn’t lose core aspects of his personality that we grew to love & this honestly feels how a person would organically grow. This also happens with Catra from She-Ra - another character similar to Zuko whose creation honestly feels very inspired by him.
wow i really like that sentiment about male characters saying sorry. its like its the bare minimum but society just expects that its not normal for men to express themselves, thus, saying sorry is seen as "enough" and "it must've taken a lot to do that. be grateful". ive heard this in my own life about my dad, because he never said sorry. one time i tried to take my dog off his leash to go inside but he ended up running the other way into the street instead. my dad screamed at me with the most anger id ever seen in my life, it was actually terrifying, because hes usually the "slowly boiling with rage" type of angry. i had been screamed at many times in my life but that is the one time that will always be seared into my memory because of how traumatic it was. i ran up to my room crying, but the key was that i witnessed our family friend, my dads college best friend who is also my "god father" wide eyed at the sight of what he just saw, opening his mouth to try to speak but i rushed upstairs too quickly to listen. and soon after, my dad came into my room, and for the first time ever, apologized to me. he sounded genuinely remorseful, and so i tried to forgive him. but one thing stuck out in my mind which was the fact that his best friend had witnessed it all happen. i began wondering if he only apologized because he felt pressure to do it. my dad has since gotten a little better at apologizing, but he still considers it a "personality trait" to be stubborn and never admit hes wrong. he even proudly states "im always right you know". my dads rage still gives me nightmares and he is also the reason i cannot drive because his road rage left me emotional scars that give me chronic panic attacks so it is very dangerous for me to be on the road. if only everyone could redeem themselves like zuko, the world would be a much better place.
I completely understand and relate to you, my dad is the exact same way. I honestly don't even see it as scary, it's just pathetic that a grown man choose to have little-to-no control over his emotional reactions. And I definitely think the apology was cuz there was a gust who saw what he did, thats what my dad does, all about appearances. There are times when he sorta backtracks on his yelling and disrespect, but it's either cowardly with him pretending he didn't mean it/lies like he didn't say it (when he absolutely meant it to hurt me) or he perceives me as weak and like I'm some baby who got offended...when that's not the case, nobody likes being spoken to like that. I'm just sick of him and his childish mindset & communication. He does the same thing where he's like, "oh you guys think I'm a bad guy", when no, we actually think you're a loser who is desperate for power so you disrespect people you deem as below you. I live with him now, so I am just tolerating his behavior, but I absolutely have plans to go and never communicate with him. I'm grateful for what he does, but I just don't the energy to engage in conversation with him, maybe as a little visit. Sometimes I feel bad to think negatively of him and genuinely don't want that to be our future relationship, cuz I guess he does try and feel bad, but it is for the best. But he just brings a lot of negativity and judgement, I have NEVER been the type of person who yells, genuinely don't get how I am his son, we walk through life so differently, and he actively judges me, so there's really no point. I am glad to see characters like Zuko who are able to learn from their behavior. It's funny cuz my dad is a Sagittarius, which is a fire sign, and Zuko is from the fire nation, at least I know fire people actually can grow
I’m the same way except it’s my mom that never wants to admit wrong. Her saying “sorry” seems so unnatural.
Thank you for this story
What I also find interesting about what the show did with Zuko’s character was make his story arc the antithesis to his sister Azula’s: While he started out having it rough, being disgraced and told he wasn’t good enough, Azula was (on the surface) “living her best life” - in other words, having all the privilege and natural talent to have a prosperous life within the Fire Nation, it isn’t until the final season that the roles eventually reverse, with Zuko overcoming his difficulties and gaining a much easier life afterwards, whereas Azula 😒 began to get in over her head and gained a life of strife that she unfortunately bought on herself 😔😭.
Did she bring it on herself? There's the question. Azula is as much a victim of Ozai as Zuko. Her breakdown at the end came from the pressure she felt to be perfect because if she wasn't perfect, Ozai's disdain would turn to her. I'm not excusing her actions, but I have tremendous empathy for her. She's a 14 year old girl who grew up with a monster of a father and no positive role model. Iroh couldn't reach her, and Ursula clearly wrote her off as a monster even if she would never have said so. "My own mother saw me as a monster." "What is wrong with that girl?" Children pick up on that stuff. Azula is what Zuko could have been without Iroh. She bears some responsibility for her fate, but I wouldn't say she brought it on herself. For one, it feels victim blame-y. For another, she was a literal child raised by an ab*sive father with no healthy adults in her life. Azula is a tragedy more than she is a villain.
Zuko does show positive emotion to iroh in season one, he picks iroh over aang when he gets captured by the earth soldiers and when iroh gives him a teary goodbye in the north even before he gets tell him he thinks of him as a son he immediately says "I know". For someone who has always suffered abuse that was his way of being affectionate. but watching his personality develop over time, become more verbally and physically affectionate, how he eventually helps all of the team will always be one of my favourite things about the show. And the quote "that's rough buddy" is something season 1 zuko never would have said.
I don't think there is a redemption arc in fiction quite like Zuko's. I mean I love Arthur Morgan and Joel Miller but damn Zuko was done just so perfectly.
I just rewatched all of ATLA just to re-experience Zuko's redemption arc, finished the last episode 30 min ago and this video came out literally yesterday?! Anyway I think you nailed why it's such a satisfying journey to witness. It also makes him by far the most interesting and well developed character imo
Zuko’s redemption is the message that REPENTANCE, turning away from evil or bad behavior, is necessary for redemption.
The redeeming sacrifice is one of the most used solution to a villain/antagonist (hell, even a friendly character that's important to the main story) that outlives their purpose in the yakuza series that it's not even funny anymore. I really wish they knew another way to make a character redeem for their actions without randomly killing them. That makes cases like Zuko all the more wonderful and satisfying. Already great video.
And it stinks because the Yakuza games, as a whole, are very entertaining. If they could up the story just a little it would be golden.
@@lypreila7913 this and the way they write female characters. Saeko was a good step toward well written female characters but.. yeah, not there yet. I adore the yakuza games so much but those two things always rubbed me the wrong way.
I really love how his arc is more like a spiral where you can see him moving in the right direction, backsliding, almost getting there- straight up falling, more importantly picking himself up, and finally achieving redemption in Iroh's tearful embrace. It's wayyyyyyyy more meaningful than, for example, Darth Vader at the very end having his lightside points shoot up into the stratosphere over one good deed. I love the ending of Return of the Jedi as much as the next man, don't get me wrong- but it's just funny when the 'dumb kids cartoon' can portray such a powerful theme so much better than most media.
Zuko is the secondary protagonist
Its great to see you again going at it on the things you are passionate about
Thank you ❤
❤👏🏾Fantastic use of the concept of the deuteragonist. One of the best examples of symbolism is that Zuko is a descendant of the previous avatar, Roku. Iroh’s reveal and line about how that struggle and turmoil in him is the product the struggle between Roku and Sozin gives yet another layer and foil to his connection to Avatar Aang.
I really hope the Netflix live action version doesn't butcher this serious, ive seen both things that get me excited and things that worry me about the changes made in production.
I'm definitely very worried - no animated to live action transition has ever been good in my memory
@@TheSoak sadly that is true
So far it’s improved upon the animated arc. Hope it keeps up the good work.
I was just thinking that no one talks about it. A few weeks after it premiered, as the avatar, it vanished
@@majorlazor5058 No. It was a lazy travesty cash grab. Even the creators walked away. This is a series that could only be done with animation, does not translate to live action...
absolutely amazing. So glad you made a video around Avatar
Wow bro.. this video is beautiful man.. the commentary especially man. The Avatar music in the back also hits .. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
This is masterfully done thank you, this show was my childhood, and glad to see in-depth breakdowns of what was done well in Zuko's redemption arc
Zuko is without a doubt one of best characters I've ever seen in Film/TV. He frequently makes mistakes until he puts in the work to redeem himself. It's a true human experience. Whenever I feel I'm in a spiritually low point, I try to remember Zuko's arc to pick myself back up. How many characters can do that?
Amazing video man, thank you so much. Love your takes. That reunion scene with Zuko and Iroh still hits a little too close to home lol
Absolutely, makes me tear up everytime! Was hard editing it haha!
His redemption arc is almost biblical. It's so good. Its what draws my back to the show. I've watched it so many times and will never get sick of it
I’ve watched a lot of videos on the topic but I really enjoyed your discussion of avoided tropes
Great video! ❤Zuko is a fantastic example of real redemption and his arc is the hands down the model writers should look to when they want to redeem a character.
I couldn't agree more!
Avatar the last air bender… so awesome. Can’t believe it came out so many years ago. (Getting old…lol)
Yeah seeing it's air dates made me cry a little of old age
Great Video about a great series.
Zuko definitely one awesome character. I remember when the series first aired on german tv and i watched the first few episodes out of boredom, i got hooked on the episode when he chooses not to further chase Aang for now, in fabour of keeping his ships crew alive. Kinda foreshadowing, that he isnt the big bad evil he kinda shows to be. I might've been young back then, but i could appreciate this type of character.
great analysis as always! hard agree no redemption arc hits as hard as zuko's
Thank you!
So good to see you back at it on this channel. This was masterfully done.
One of the greatest anime show, 3 commons tropes, the great analysis: this video has everything to pop off!
I love Zuko he’s my favourite character in the show and I just love his redemption arc is the best one I’ve seen besides Scrooge from a Christmas carol and took me a few episodes to start liking him and to get used to him and by the end of the he was my favourite character
New soak video the day is good
My day is good if you watch and enjoy it!
Not me fighting back tears as I hear the music in the background. I have never experienced the level of pride for a person as I did watching Zuko be crowned Fire Lord. My favorite part of his redemption is that Zuko didn't realize he was wrong and then became a better person. He questioned whether he was wrong, flip-flopping on it. Once he decided he was not on the path he should be and began trying to do better, he screwed up. Constantly! "Why am I so bad at being good?!" His growth was not Point A to Point B. It was a meandering path full of going off course, repeating mistakes, failing and trying again over and over. This is what growth looks like in real life. You don't decide to be better and magically are better. It takes time and mistakes.
Ikr When they said " ALL HAIL FIRELORD ZUKO" I've attained my enlightenment ❤
This is such a well-made video, and I LOVED your whole analysis. Looking forward to seeing more of your content! :)
Mad respect for doing all the research and making an amazing video!
A moving video, and I agree that his redemption was deeper, more believable and true to life than any other that comes to mind. I think it helps so much that Iroh kept showing up, being the real father figure Zuko needed in order to get in touch with his heart and conscience. The relationships in Avatar (and especially Iroh and Zuko) and how they help the characters develop and grow is another amazing aspect of ATLA.
Its always "they're a jerk but they're actually just sad so therefore its not they're fault" and never "they're a jerk, i recognize and sympathize with the abuse they go through but i still do not support their actions" lol
With hindsight and rewatching this show, I think personally what Zuko's character showed, is that all people are capable of acts of good and evil, and labels never show the complete picture. Even in season one, we see that Zuko has some moral compass, where a flashback shows him calling out a general for sacrificing green soldiers. In the same episode, we see him save a sailor who he had beef with.
In season 2, as he travels alone, he saves a village from a group of earthbending thugs, and sacrifices his privacy (that he is a firebender) and risks the prejudice of the people in the village to save them. He doesn't retaliate or expect thanks after that. The end of season 2 shows him turning his back on his uncle just so that he can be by his father's side again.
It's a bit of a roller coaster of actions that eventually stabilizes near the end of season 3. While it is true that none of Zuko's good deeds invalidate his bad ones, it is also true none of his bad deeds invalidate his good ones.
Another thing that is rare in media is the cost paid for the redemption arc. Zuko experiences loss multiple times to redeem himself. Most notably his status in the Fire Nation and his relationship with Mai. Zuko willingly gives these up to atone for himself rightfully.
Uncle Iroh my favorite character (ever) in part because his support of Zuko is essential for this amazing character arc.
I like how he didnt just turn into another charecter.
I've seen that before, and it get's annoying.
He's still stubborn, tunnel-visioned, determined, and curagious.
But these traits have evolved.
I personally think Arbiter's redemption arc in the Halo trilogy is similar and on par with Zuko's. If you really think about it, they're more similar than you think. In their beginnings, they both received their mark of shame for their failures. Arbiter getting his burned on his body from Tartarus, chieftain of the brutes, and Zuko getting his burned on his eye from his father. Zuko then becomes devoted to getting his honor back by hunting the Avatar, and Thel Vadam(Arbiter) becomes the new arbiter in order to get his honor and respect back. When Arbiter kills the Elite heretic leader after he and 343 guilty spark told him the lies that the prophets were spewing, he begins to question his loyalty to the Covenant, and when Zuko finally got his father's respect after thinking he killed Aang after being told by Azula, he starts to question his loyalty to the fire nation and after betraying his Uncle. When Tartarus betrays Arbiter, it is similar to when Azula found Zuko and his Uncle to tell them that his father wants them to come back to the Fire Nation, but instead being told accidentally by her men that they were actually going to be prisoners. After the encounter with the Flood Gravemind along with Master Chief, he confronts Tartarus at the hall to activate the next Halo ring. He tells them the truth about what Halo really is, and I think it's similar to when Zuko reunited with his Uncle in an emotional moment. The 2 lines really resonated with me on how similar they are being: "Tartarus, the prophets have betrayed us." And "I was sad because I thought you lost your way." Arbiter is broken inside because his role in the covenant was all for a lie he didn't want to believe, and Iroh was sad inside because he thought he lost Zuko to help him become the man he wanted him to be. If you also think about it, Tartarus and Azula have some similar traits. The we're both jealous of their rivals. Tartarus hated Thel Vadam(Arbiter) because Brutes and Elites hated each other while also being jealous, and Azula was jealous because of Zuko getting more love from his mother when they were younger. They were both tools being used for a cause. Tartarus sadly didn't want to believe what he was doing was for a lie and had to fight Arbiter, and Zuko and Azula had one final Agni Kai battle to finish it once and for all to become Fire lord. Then once their arcs came to an end, Zuko became the Fire Lord and brought the war to an end, and Arbiter killed the last prophet and after his fellow Elites made peace with the humans and returned to their home planet. And those are why I think these 2 redemption arcs are similar to each other.
I've never played the Halo trilogy (only Infinite) but this sounds really great and compelling! Would love to go back to them some day!
Zuko’s IS the best character arc EVER!! Thank you so much for high lighting it and please let more people talk about it! More creators need take a step away from the Great Redeeming Sacrifice and start writing character arcs like Zuko’s
Love Zuko and thx again for this video 😊
Just found your channel but looking forward to future videos and I'm going to check out older ones honestly think this channel deserves more views and subs this video is pretty great and very comprehensive (and I agree zukos redemption ark is a great one)
You made me cry, I love Zuko so much
💖😭💖
Such a great story and such a great breakdown of why. Thanks for this!
Great video!! Thank you for making it
Thank you for watching!
ATLA is the best animated show ever made, and Zuko's character arc is one of the best ever written.
The scene in the black sun episode when he confronts his father was truly phenomenal.
i always liked zuko most the entire time even before his redemption began
"Sorry is enough" basically explains Bakugou and how I saw his 'redemption' from my hero academia. I get Bakugou changed a lot. But saying sorry doesn't undo the trauma and pain he put Izuku, his so-called childhood best friend, through and the suffering he caused towards everyone else. He's a bully and a spoiled brat. Sure, it took a lot for him to admit he was wrong, but that just says how proud and prideful he is. If it takes the world falling into a villain/hero war for you to apologize for ten years of abuse and suicide baiting that's not showing how much he's changed, but just that he's a prideful person whose been raised to believe that he was always right and if anyone disagreed they should expect an explosion to the face and happened to have one time he broke through that bratty exterior. Zuko was similar, but his redemption was better because team avatar didn't forgive Zuko until after MULTIPLE times he had proven to be on their side.
To be fair, even after the things Bakugou did and said to him, Deku still saw him as a close friend and didn't at all cut him off when he had every right to, in fact the case with Zuko and the Gaang was different circumstances, Zuko and the Gaang didn't exactly know each other inside and out like Deku and Bakugou has.
@@sonomni What you're saying is Deku was blind to the abuse he faced and was dependant on a abuser for friends.
@@starchildofthesun Well yes. Seeing as he clearly never talked to his mother nor Mitsuki (Bakugou’s mom.) about it
Really nice video, i watched it for the first time about a year never saw all the layers to it :)
"Like all bad things, it starts with Chris Pratt" made me CHOKE 😂😭😂😂
6:55
Bruh Vader never once expects anything of Luke during this sequence, he actually says, “it’s too late for me” it wasn’t supposed to be a moment of forgiveness but it was a redeeming moment for an irredeemable character.
I'm just here for a half hour of love for Zuko story arc.
Thank you for doing this video essay ✨
You're so welcome!
Another awesome video SVB! I hope you are doing better.
when i watched this video I have had not watched the series but this video convinced me that it was worth it. So I watched the series knowing from the beginnig on who Zuko is going to become and it did not at all lessen the magic of the series. I guess that without your video I wouldn't ever have considered watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.
To me Zuko always had a great character arc, but watching videos like these make me appreciate it more
Zuko would have been perfect if he ended up with Jin.
Edit:this analysis was amazing! I will be binging your content!
I love Zuko so much the whole time I was watching the show even in season one I just felt so sorry for him because all he wanted was to be loved and honored by his nation and family! It pisses me off to no end when his father had burned his eye and banished him like wtf 😳! Thank goodness that Zuko has his amazing uncle iroh who showed him how to be loved and how to help him find his way! Zuko will always be my favorite character of all time!!!!!!! 😊🥰❤️
I’ve been rewatching!! It’s so good!!
I've not seen Passengers, but after watching this video, I got thinking about the story and how to fix many things about it.
For starters: 1.) The ship's journey is not 100 years, but something more like several hundred or a thousand years. 2.) Chris' character is not some nobody incel who gets lonely, but he is a technician who is hired to work on the ship. Basically, the ship has a tech crew that it only wakes up in case of emergency to fix the ship, and then they go back to sleep until the next problem or until they reach the destination.
Now, Chris' character isn't the leader of this tech crew, in fact, he could be one of the last ones. But when he wakes up, it is done so by an elderly man who was one of the technicians. Basically, the ship had a malfunction several decades ago and woke up the head technician. However, after fixing the problem with the ship, a bug made it so the head technician couldn't go back into stasis. He spent the rest of his life trying to figure it out, but eventually he was getting old and had to wake up the next technician to continue the work. And so this problem continued for a couple of generations before Chris is woken up to be next in line for keeping the ship safe.
From there we can go on as the movie did: Chris is enjoying his life of a free pleasure cruise for a while, only having to work about one day a month at most, but eventually he gets bored, lonely, and depressed. In his isolation, he begins watching videos that the previous technicians had made, where he realizes that they all went mad from the isolation. Chris, beginning to see it happen to him becomes concerned that this will be his fate too.
To help himself cope with his loneliness, he goes to the passengers' pods, where he starts talking to the various passengers. He knows they can't hear him, but it's something to help him cope. Until eventually it isn't working. The next step is for him to start watching their video info stuff to learn about them. He starts calling them his "friends", and he will often act like he's conversing with them by responding to various things they say/do in their videos.
At the start, he could have a physical attraction to somebody else (not Jennifer Lawrence), but as he probes into her videos, he finds her personality a little off putting. But for Jennifer Lawrence's character, he feels a deep connection to her personally. As he becomes more attracted to her on a personal level, he wishes he could actually meet her, and so he works harder and harder to crack the code to figure out how to get back to sleep, so that he can wake up and spend his life with her. But to no avail.
Perhaps he spends a couple of years trying to figure out how to fix the program so he can get back to sleep, but he is losing hope. His depression is getting the better of him. He begins entertaining thoughts of waking up Jennifer, but keeps talking himself out of it, as the wrong thing to do, until he eventually breaks.
From there the story can continue per normal: he convinces her that it was a bug in the system that he's been trying to track, and gives her a false confidence that he will be able to figure out how to put them both back into stasis. They begin spending time together, fall in love, everything is great, until she finds out he lied, and that there is no way for either of them to re-enter stasis. She gets angry, and wants him to leave her alone.
At first, Chris does try to apologize and seek forgiveness, but with her anger, he eventually realizes that she won't forgive him, so he does leave her alone. He continues to try to figure out a way to get them both back into stasis, but still nothing. Perhaps over the months, they happen to run into each other on the ship from time to time, and although he acknowledges her presence, he leaves her alone unless she initiates conversation.
Eventually, Jennifer comes upon a new problem, perhaps an asteroid coming for the ship, or something deadly to the entire crew. She doesn't know how to solve it, so she seeks Chris out to tell him the problem. He does his heroic sacrifice where he thinks he's going to die, but lives. She welcomes him back. She accepts his apology, but that's about it. They continue going their separate ways, mostly ignoring each other for many more months.
Eventually, (perhaps years after they split up), Chris finally figures out how to fix the stasis machine, but it looks like it's a one time solution, -able to put only one of them back. Chris puts Jennifer back into Stasis, where she expects he will be long dead by the time she wakes up again. Perhaps she could give him a kiss at this point, coming to fully forgive him, -especially now that she has experienced what he was going through in the loneliness.
So Jennifer goes back into stasis, and the next thing we see is her waking up when the ship had reached the planet a couple of hundred years later. She doesn't even bother looking for Chris, but eventually he finds her in the crowd of people. He explains to her that he was able to fix the system fully. Furthermore, he programmed the software to wake him up about once every 500 days to check up on the well-being of the ship and its passengers. The movie then ends with them joining their new society in developing the new world.
This version fixes a lot of the problem's with Chris' character. He's no longer a selfish stocker who dooms his crush to die alone on a ship with him; he came along on the ship to be available for being woken up in case of emergencies on the ship, -so we're getting self-sacrifice as an immediate trait of his character before he makes any mistakes. Secondly, he's not just stocking Jennifer because she's attractive, -his interactions with her (although still creepy) are more understandable, as he wasn't singling her out because he was attracted to her. Furthermore, his connection to her was not merely physical, but a personal connection he felt he had with her, which she likewise felt a similar natural connection to him. Also, he didn't wake her up solely because he was a lonely creep, but only did so in a moment of weakness as he was slowly losing his mind, and didn't want to end up like the other guys who went crazy from isolation.
So, instead of Chris' character being a selfish person who did one good thing and thus all was forgiven, instead he is a self-sacrificing character from the beginning who made one mistake under extreme conditions. Although what he did was very wrong and condemnable, it is understandable what drove him to that point, and his actions to correct his mistake are what make him good. At the end of the day, he is a flawed person, but very human and somebody with whom we can sympathize.
Zuko was my favorite character in avatar by far. Right there with iro obviously. Iro was the perfect guardian for him
Great analysis! When I watched Passenger I thought to myself: "Am I the only one finding this scenario still a bit weird/creepy?"
This channel deserves much more attention! :)
If you still like suggestions, I would like to see an analysis of Patrick Bateman (I know, I know, American Psycho is pretty old and I don't know your target audience... However, I feel like he is the most misunderstood character until today. There are so many tiktok clips and YT shorts about him as a role model with his discipline, success and "sIgMa-EnErgY". And it seems like everyone missed the fact that he is a satirical flawed figure. For example, he puts so much effort into his appearance yet nobody can remember his name because all his colleagues are all as empty inside and look the same. He is so insecure about his business card that he almost has a nervous breakdown because of some minimal design difference. He does not even do anything at his job aside from reading "magazines" and listening to music and yet he talks about success, prestige and hard work. He is completely desperate for attention and recognition but nothing he does has any positive impact or negative consequences... not even murdering people.
It is so baffling to me that kids today (and even old people) admire Patrick Bateman even though he is obviously such a comically flawed pathetic character.
Just like in Hazbin Hotel Charlie Morningstar said "It _starts_ with sorry".
11:39 this is one of the things that really sold me on zutara as a couple. unlike aang, who is judgmental and condescending to katara, zuko is empathetic and accepting, and lets katara decide for herself what she needs in order to get closure and process her trauma. the writers tried really hard to make zuko look like the bad guy, a toxic friend who brings out the worst in katara, but honestly he only did and said exactly what i hoped he would and what i would've done and said in his shoes. "the southern raiders" was written to destroy the argument for zutara, but it only made it exponentially stronger.
I don't think that's why the southern raiders was written
You didn't understand the episode
Katara was going through the same thing Aang was going through when he lost Appa, Aang understood what she was feeling, and told her that she should make this journey, but only to discover that she didn't need revenge to overcome those feelings, Aang gave her space to discover for herself.
9:45 Fighting off combustion man is also not why Aang accepts him. The fact that h mistakenly burns Toph and that mirrors how Aang once burned katara is.
A key part of a sincere apology is to accept that you might not be forgiven.
14:20
Barney: The Julie Mendoza Diagonal. She played jumprope with that line.
Came from the Overwatch channel and I loved the video! I'm a big ATLA fan and I'd love to hear some insights on Korra series aswell. That one was rather controversial on release but it ended up growing on me even though I believe it could've been better with a bit more "villain" development.
Zuko reminds me of Scorpion being relevant character in MKX.
TLA was definitely a story about Zuko, he was the hero that saved the world, he ended the hundred year war and brought the fire nation back into a united world, yea Aang was instrumental in achieving these goals but Zuko was the key to making it a reality.
No, the story is about Aang and Zuko, they are both the protagonists.
So excited to see another video here ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for watching!!
9:38 damn he looks so good here
Great video!
Great vid man
The thing i hate the most about "Passengers" Is that the set up is PERFECT setting for a HORROR movie.
Like??? It would be literally perfect if done as a horror!! Its insane why this film goes into the romantic drama direction and not the horror.
It is always about long and arduous consistency
I feel like Passengers could have gotten away with the fact he basically condemned this woman to death too if they had made him easier to connect with. If they hammered in the loneliness of being unable to speak to real people and made him react more conflicted at the prospect of bringing someone back at a horrible cost just so he could feel alive, the movie would have been so much better.
Zuko made me appreciate the element of fire. He represents it so well compared to his sister and father
"Sorry" is for mistakes that you couldn't reasonably avoid, but even then, just saying sorry isn't enough. If you do nothing to fix what you've done, being sorry doesn't mean anything
People forget that none of team Avatar saw any of Zuko's journey or know anything about him other than he wants to kill us.
This has been on my watch later list since it first came out - absolutely worth it. Beautifully meaningful, does the exceptional show AtLA justice.
Have you been watching The Dragon Prince?
Watched the first (two) seasons I think? Enjoyed it a lot! Couldn't get into the flow of the latest season though I only sat through like half an episode, so maybe it's actually good!
Holy shit he was yapping on passengers for so long I forgot this was about zukos redemption arc
Passengers was such a huge let down. I love a good moral dilemma. I think it would have been really cool if as he was sacrificing himself she realized that would mean she would be alone and, even though she hated him, she hated the idea of isolation more. Then ACTUALLY GO THROUGH WITH THE SACRIFICE! Hollywood has this thing where they set it up but then take all the meaning away by getting the character out of it. But imagine if they went through with it. Then she is sad, goes through some of the same things he did, then at the end she is standing over a pod then cut to her talking to one of the robots saying, "I know how to wake him up." This redeems our character because when another character is placed in a similar situation, they come to a similar conclusion. It rather than showing that the character is 'good' or making up for the actions, it shows that maybe the actions were more reasonable or at least grey area than we previously thought. In this case, considering that facing the rest of your life alone, wouldn't most people do just about anything for just one person to talk to...
Gaara(naruto) is similar, him and Zuko are the only two that do this that i can think of off top. However, Zuko really is the Gold standard.
Great video and I rarely write so enthusiastically.
It starts with the fact that, although I have thought a lot about this series myself and have already seen a number of videos on the subject, it gives a new perspective.
The comparisons with the other series and films are really good and appropriate and here I would have to go into too much detail about how much I hate certain "dishonestly conservative series", as I call them. Just as one example of many and that is not the reason for the hatred, but just a thing that happens again and again in such series: "Step by Step" starts with a sister and a mother of the "main mother" who disappear without comment after the first season. Later a child also disappears without a trace... This is not only the case with such "perfect world families", but also with something like HIMYM. It shows how little respect is given to the characters and the whole world.
The real reason why I am writing now, however, is the part here with Katara's revenge and your description of Zuko's help.
I keep trying to explain what made Socrates so special, because most people only know him for his quote, which has also been passed down incorrectly, in which he was supposedly proud of knowing nothing. In reality, however, it was not about knowing nothing, but rather that he did not claim to know MORE than he actually did, while the majority of people still live like this today. This also applies in the context of this video, namely not pretending to be flawless, but being able and having to admit that you make mistakes in order to learn from them.
But now specifically to this revenge episode: Zuko wants to help Katara on HER path, not his. Of course, he also has an advantage, namely his goal of being accepted. But precisely because he would first support her in her revenge, but then also in it when she still doesn't do it, shows what I mean here, that his focus is not on achieving his own goal.
Since I don't want to go into this in more detail now, if you are interested, look up the Socratic method (maieutics) on Wikipedia.
I'm very happy to assume that I'm not the only person with 3 - 7 TV Tropes tabs open on my poor phone all day, every day, for some light reading :D
Haha well I tried to go through TV tropes to find the names for what I was looking for but none quite hit the nail right so I came up with my own names
I just started watching you, and man I like your voice XD
Really enjoyed this video, well done! Be interested in your views on other characters in the series !
And it's not to say that zuko doesn't have an apology/acceptance moment. He has one with Uncle Iroh. The difference is Uncle iroh knows zuko's internal struggle with morality and zuko recognizes the quick acceptance and even questions its validity for his wrong doings towards his uncle
16:00 I understand that very well. There are some idiots who don't get this. They expect things but aren't changing.
Excellent video
Thank you very much!
Great video
Zuko starts off as a character who’s only out for himself. It’s kill or be killed because he was raised to see the world. This way his father can manipulate him and he will always live in fear that if he does not prove himself he will be replaced. It’s scary because Zuko has all the potential to become a ruler as or more cruel and tyrannical than his father. However he is shown genuine love and affection from his uncle and this allows him to decide for himself what he will become
Zuko is shown to have always been "good" since he was young. But he saw how much his father loved Azula for her "bad" qualities so he tries his best to emulate her to earn his father's respect.
There is this great flashback scene that perfectly encapsulates this. Zuko is sitting with his mother and he say "wanna see how Azula feeds turtle ducks" then he throws the bread at them super hard.
He is basically trying to emulate Azula here, but he wants to test it on his mother first because that feels like a safer environment to him than it would with his father.
Also, his mother's last words to him were "never forget who you are Zuko". When he gets banished, he misinterpreted this as "never forget that you are the Prince and heir to the throne" and so he continually tries to act ruthless like he thinks the Prince should, because he knows to be welcomed back by his father he has to be like Azula.
But he eventually realised that his mother actually meant never forget that you are not like your sister because you are good.
Such a great character