What are your thoughts on this moment from Avatar: The Last Airbender? For me, It's probably debatable whose side should I root for during this sequence.
Aang, Katara and Sokka's distrust and negative experiences towards Zuko are entirely justified given the fact that he has been their relentless pursuer and that he had betrayed their trust in Ba Sing Se during the episode "The Crossroads of Destiny", with Aang almost dying in the process (which was particularly traumatic for Katara, causing her to resent Zuko), but what Toph said about them letting their prejudice cloud their judgment was also true because Aang, Katara and Sokka are somehow also letting their negative history towards Zuko affect their thinking and their need to achieve their plan (which is Aang's need of a firebending teacher before Sozin's Comet arrives, an idea of which Aang was hesitant about after accidentally hurting Katara during his attempt at firebending before). Therefore, Aang, Katara and Sokka only view Zuko as a relentless enemy, but are largely unaware of his tragic past, his noble intentions, and his internal transformation. Largely because they are too focused on their negative experiences towards Zuko to listen to Toph and their plan, Aang, Katara and Sokka fail to consider having Toph use her lie-detecting abilities to Zuko to ensure if he truly was being sincere, partly due to Toph's seismic senses failing on Azula due to her being a master manipulator and expert liar.
While Toph has no prior negative history towards Zuko (something of which she does acknowledge), her ability to sense lies and her heartfelt conversation with Iroh allows her to deduce that Zuko was being sincere with his pleas and was not lying. Although Aang, Katara and Sokka are highly skeptical and overlook her statements, Toph practically (and reasonably) argues that they are letting their negative experiences towards Zuko cloud their judgment (which is essentially true), and tries to defend Zuko by reminding her friends that there are bigger stakes that they need to focus than their own personal feelings towards Zuko and that he is likely the only feasible option for Aang's firebending teacher, but she becomes frustrated when Aang adamantly refuses to let Zuko teach him (with Katara and Sokka siding with him for his decision), and they dismiss her further, prompting an angry Toph to storm off from the discussion (while calling them out by wondering who really is the "blind" one) to go find Zuko herself and prove them wrong. Even after Zuko accidentally burned her feet, Toph's perspective of him remains unchanged and knows what he did was an accident, not out of malice (while also acknowledging her role in the incident), which is also overlooked by her friends and they used this incident as "proof" that Zuko could never be trusted.
Toph's statements about Zuko's intentions, including her claims that Aang, Katara and Sokka are letting their prejudice cloud their judgment, ultimately proved to be correct because Zuko did prove his loyalty and willingness to change after saving them from Combustion Man, the same assassin that he hired to kill them (although it would take much time for Zuko to fully gain Team Avatar's trust and acceptance of him, namely Katara and Sokka due to their past trauma still weighing heavily on them), and that even completely understandable personal feelings can affect judgment in critical situations. Thus, while I completely understand that Aang, Katara and Sokka's distrust towards Zuko is essentially valid, I am more likely to agree with Toph and her assessment that Zuko's change of heart was truly genuine and sincere and root for her.
MarRms24
What are your thoughts on this moment from Avatar: The Last Airbender? For me, It's probably debatable whose side should I root for during this sequence.
Aang, Katara and Sokka's distrust and negative experiences towards Zuko are entirely justified given the fact that he has been their relentless pursuer and that he had betrayed their trust in Ba Sing Se during the episode "The Crossroads of Destiny", with Aang almost dying in the process (which was particularly traumatic for Katara, causing her to resent Zuko), but what Toph said about them letting their prejudice cloud their judgment was also true because Aang, Katara and Sokka are somehow also letting their negative history towards Zuko affect their thinking and their need to achieve their plan (which is Aang's need of a firebending teacher before Sozin's Comet arrives, an idea of which Aang was hesitant about after accidentally hurting Katara during his attempt at firebending before). Therefore, Aang, Katara and Sokka only view Zuko as a relentless enemy, but are largely unaware of his tragic past, his noble intentions, and his internal transformation. Largely because they are too focused on their negative experiences towards Zuko to listen to Toph and their plan, Aang, Katara and Sokka fail to consider having Toph use her lie-detecting abilities to Zuko to ensure if he truly was being sincere, partly due to Toph's seismic senses failing on Azula due to her being a master manipulator and expert liar.
While Toph has no prior negative history towards Zuko (something of which she does acknowledge), her ability to sense lies and her heartfelt conversation with Iroh allows her to deduce that Zuko was being sincere with his pleas and was not lying. Although Aang, Katara and Sokka are highly skeptical and overlook her statements, Toph practically (and reasonably) argues that they are letting their negative experiences towards Zuko cloud their judgment (which is essentially true), and tries to defend Zuko by reminding her friends that there are bigger stakes that they need to focus than their own personal feelings towards Zuko and that he is likely the only feasible option for Aang's firebending teacher, but she becomes frustrated when Aang adamantly refuses to let Zuko teach him (with Katara and Sokka siding with him for his decision), and they dismiss her further, prompting an angry Toph to storm off from the discussion (while calling them out by wondering who really is the "blind" one) to go find Zuko herself and prove them wrong. Even after Zuko accidentally burned her feet, Toph's perspective of him remains unchanged and knows what he did was an accident, not out of malice (while also acknowledging her role in the incident), which is also overlooked by her friends and they used this incident as "proof" that Zuko could never be trusted.
Toph's statements about Zuko's intentions, including her claims that Aang, Katara and Sokka are letting their prejudice cloud their judgment, ultimately proved to be correct because Zuko did prove his loyalty and willingness to change after saving them from Combustion Man, the same assassin that he hired to kill them (although it would take much time for Zuko to fully gain Team Avatar's trust and acceptance of him, namely Katara and Sokka due to their past trauma still weighing heavily on them), and that even completely understandable personal feelings can affect judgment in critical situations. Thus, while I completely understand that Aang, Katara and Sokka's distrust towards Zuko is essentially valid, I am more likely to agree with Toph and her assessment that Zuko's change of heart was truly genuine and sincere and root for her.
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 2