AFS: The Azula Portal
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This page was last updated: June 4th, 2007
Behind the cuts:
Azula in Season Two
Mike & Bryan on Azula
Manipulative and Plotting
Bryan Konietzko, from this interview after "The Crossroads of Destiny:" Yeah...one thing that is genetic is [Ozai] and Azula. Manipulative, plotting genes swimming around.
Mike DiMartino adds later on: When we were coming up with Azula, we decided we wanted to have these two friends with her. We didn't want them to be firebenders . They wouldn't be as good as her, so why would she keep these other, lesser, firebenders around? So we decided that she would have basically picked out two people who had certain skills that she did not have. Ty Lee with her acrobatics and Mai with her super pin-point accuracy and quick draw skills.
Bryan adds: Azula, even as a child in the playground, was able to recognize people who were better than her in certain areas and keep them close until she either became as good as them or had need of them. She's always manipulating, always playing an angle.
Interview question: Can you speak at all to Zuko's decision in "The Crossroads of Destiny"? He'd agreed with Iroh that Azula was psycho and had to be taken down, he'd been burnt literally by her, and then 'boom' he betrays his Uncle.
Bryan replies: When you study Eastern philosophies, the ego is a really tough enemy or antagonist. Again, we like to treat our characters very realistically. In real life, people have moments of great weakness, usually tied in with the ego. Your siblings can push your buttons. I have four siblings, a brother and three sisters, and no one can get you like your siblings. Azula knew ALL the right buttons to push to play at his weaknesses, parts of his ego which were susceptible to her. She did it well, and it was a moment where he just tasted this thing which he's wanted and focused on, obsessed over, for so long. I think it was very realistic.
The Interviewer later comments in the ASN forums: Mike and Bryan danced around my questions about the fate of Azulon, and actually struck out what little they said on the topic. I suspect they did this in part because it left strong implications of a direction in Season 3. All I'll say on the subject is I am certain either or both of Azula and/or Ursa had a hand in Azulon's fate, that Ursa is more highly implicated than Azula due to the Y7 nature of ATLA, and that the subject will be covered in Season 3. This shouldn't be much of a shock given the other stuff floating around, but it is all I can say publically on the topic.
Please be aware this is based on my impression from the interview and not on an explicit statement of fact made by either Mike or Bryan. I could have read more into what they said than was really there.
The part I mention was cut out here was in part a re-emphasis about how manipulation is in Azula's (and Ozai's) genes (another DNA reference). How much more manipulative can you get than to play your mom into assassinating your grandpa?
(Note: The hanging question is my interpretation of ambiguous statements from Bryan).
Also, I can't give details, but before they had to tone it down, the scene with Azula holding the pearl-handled knife was even more clearly suggesting Azula's character. Azula may not always lie, but Azula ALWAYS gets what she wants. And she has very ambitious objectives...
Bryan in an interview with Beckett Pokemon Magazine (see here): She is such a great villain. Her cunning, coldness and pursuit of perfection make her a great foil for both Zuko and Aang. Anytime Azula's onscreen, you know something bad is about to happen.
An Arranged Marriage?
Bryan Konietzko, from this interview after "The Crossroads of Destiny:" We had talked about some ideas we never ended up doing for season three where Azula had an arranged marriage. It's not something we followed through with, though.
Note: See also the audio commentaries to "Siege of the North," where they mention Azula. If you have a transcript of what they say about her, please send me a note.
Azula: A Patriot on a Merit-Based System
(Or, Why her motivation is not personal ambition)
rawles, writing after "The Crossroads of Destiny:" The problem with reading Azula as deeply ambitious in light of the finale is that there was no reason for her to offer Zuko the chance to restore his honor. She didn't need his help to complete her coup in Ba Sing Se. In fact, her coup was already done. She could have just captured him the same way that she did Iroh instead of leaving Zuko there and giving him the chance to choose.
People assume some convoluted plan on her part to present Zuko to Ozai for his final rejection or whatever, but him having the distinction of having actually done something RIGHT in the Fire Nation's eyes by helping her, a distinction the she gave to him, isn't any sort of boon for that kind of plan.
The fact of the matter is, Zuko was dead-to-rights in the eyes of the Fire Nation. If Azula had just captured him she would certainly never have to worry about him threatening her place in the line of succession again. She's put him back "into play" so to speak of her own volition, an action that is completely counterproductive if her main motivating factor is actually Fire Lordly ambition. Which means, even though it shakes my initial reading of Azula to the core as well, that we should perhaps consider the possibility that it's not her main motivating factor.
And, mind you, I'm in no way saying that siding with Azula wasn't a dangerous decision because even if she is pleased with him now, Zuko's just not in the same place as her ethically and that's no doubt going to come to a head. But there remains that vague possibility that, in the moment, Azula really was doing Zuko a favor by offering him a last chance to finally do something right. There's a possibility that it wasn't in the interest of Zuko's destruction just because there was a much easier way to ensure that at her disposal and now all such plans are shaky and convoluted.
I find the idea that she offered Zuko that chance in order to split him from Iroh unlikely just because...yeah, Zuko's weaker without Iroh, but...Azula has never acted the least bit threatened by Zuko regardless of whether he's allied with Iroh.
There's no reason why, if she wanted to, she couldn't have taken them both and imprisoned them on separate ends of the city if she was worried about their alliance being a danger to her. (Which, again, she's never seemed terribly concerned about before.)
Someone replies: Zuko represents everything she hates: she's SECOND on the throne (so no "divine right to rule") she's a girl, she's better than Zuko but if he weren't such a screw up he'd get all the attention. She may value how painful it is for him to live with such a decision.
Rawles replies: There are a lot of problems with these things as motivators for Azula. The first being the the divine right to rule is a belief about all royalty. It's a necessary precept for monarchies as it refers to the idea that this family, people of this certain blood, have been touched by diety-of-choice and that's why they're in dominion over all others. The divine right is enjoyed by everyone in the line of succession, not just the firstborn or else there wouldn't be a line of succession because as soon if the firstborn died there'd be no one else worthy of taking his place. That's what she explains to Long Feng. She has the divine right to rule, not because she's currently at the top of the line of succession, but because she's royalty. Long Feng pulled himself up and into a position of power (not unlike her own father did as secondborn), but because he's a commoner, he still doesn't have the right to be in that position by Azula's estimation, where, of course, her father does.
We've never been given any indication that there's any prejudice against Azula because of her gender. Why on earth she would care about the idea that Zuko would "get more attention" if he didn't suck when he does, in fact, suck, and she's the clear favourite is beyond me. And it also, again, makes no sense in light of the fact that she just assisted him in doing something orchestrated to WIN him favor. And while I wouldn't put it past Azula to enjoy Zuko's torment, given that she actually tried to comfort him at the end of CoD, it doesn't seem like she's particularly interested in savoring this one.
Someone replies: Now she's free to use him as either cannon fodder or an excuse to daddy when she loses the city... ("oh I was gonna win but my stupid brother interfered") or just ship him off home on a "get more troops" errand and never see him again.
Rawles replies: Not that I don't think Azula would hesistate to throw Zuko on the grenade if it came to that...but when has Azula ever seemed like someone to expect failure? And like beyond that, when have we ever seen her make an excuse? On the rare occasion that Azula fails, she just tries another tactic. Indeed, she has been shown on various occasions to despise the passing of blame/making of excuses in others.
Azula strikes me as someone who, above all else, likes things to be effective and expedient. In The Avatar State, before Iroh and Zuko were aware of what was going on, the most expedient method was to get them to come along quietly. That failed and Azula was utterly undaunted. The thing about all of this plotting you're attributing to her in CoD is that it's not at all expedient.
Why would she need to go through all of this trickery to ensure Zuko's capture? Iroh's, sure. Iroh's a lot more powerful than Zuko. Except Iroh's too smart to fall for that so she just uses force. So there she is, with Ba Sing Se under her control, Iroh captured, and the Avatar on the run. Azula can kick Zuko's butt at will. If she really wanted to capture him, there's just no reason for her to bother with some convoluted plot wherein she keeps him free so he can second-guess and doubt himself and possibly cause her more trouble, when she could just smack him around and lock him up in five minutes flat then go about her business none the worse for wear.
I do think her change of heart about how to deal with Zuko came when she went down into the cave. I think she overheard Iroh telling Zuko that it was time for him to choose, finally, for real, and she knew that Iroh was unsalvageable, but that Zuko wasn't. She basically says as much. And I do think it was a genuine as she's capable of just because there's no logical path for duplicity here.
I'm beginning to think that Azula is hard to read or seems contradictory in some instances because we've all been making the mistake of looking at her largely in terms of absolutes. She's so ruthless and seemingly sociopathic that we go: pure evil.
So it becomes difficult to parse her actions that don't immediately seem to be pure evil.
Like as mentioned, she does play happily with Zuko in the flashback [when they were playing chase and they both seemed perfectly happy]. And if she just hates his guts and always has, there's no real way to explain that. Yes, she's pleased when Zuko fails, but then there is sibling rivalry. She taunts him because she's outperforming him and she's vindicated when he tries to outperform her and can't. It's certainly not nice by a long stretch, but is it evil? Does it actually indicate a seething hatred for her brother or just the fact that she's a cold, cruel little girl? She's mean to Ty Lee and Mai, as well, but do we think that she hates them? And, in addition, if they ever did anything to turn on the Fire Nation, do we think that she'd hesitate for a second to dispatch of them?
I think that Azula is a patriot, much like Zuko. I think she has the Fire Nation's best interest at heart. She's never actually expressed any desire to rule the Fire Nation and when she's pulling for Ozai to be made Fire Lord and deriding Azulon and Iroh, both times it's on the basis that they're not fit for it. (And mind, if Ozai becomes Fire Lord at that point then it's Zuko who's going to be the heir apparent.) Azulon isn't a powerful Fire Lord in her eyes anymore because he's old and frail. Iroh isn't going to make a powerful Fire Lord because he's "kooky," his temperament and his priorities are wrong in her estimation. These are faults can't really be rectified.
When Azula mocks Zuko in The Avatar State and calls him a miserable failure while she's fighting him with the intent of arresting him, at that point he is a miserable failure and at that juncture there was nothing he could do immediately to rectify the situation. But not so in CoD.
I think, in the end, it's as simple as this: Azula works on a system of merit. She had nothing to lose (or nothing she cares about, apparently) by giving Zuko a last chance to redeem himself. And when she does give him that opportunity he actually comes through and she's pleased about that. If she really does believe in the divine right, then she believes that Zuko has it too, and maybe, just maybe, she has an interest in him not squandering it like Iroh did.
The more I talk about it the more I believe that her approval was completely genuine and that it makes sense with what we know of Azula.
Someone replies: Yes but why is Zuko no longer a miserable failure in COD because he sided with her?
Rawles replies: I don't think it's because he chose to side with her. I don't think intention means that much to Azula. Clearly, the fact that he's still loyal means SOMETHING to her inasmuch as it means that he'll consider before he throws it all away for good; it means that she can appeal to his loyalty. But I think action is more important.
When I say that there was nothing he could do to rectify the situation in The Avatar State it's because he'd already failed and the Avatar was nowhere to be found. His loyalty isn't particularly meaningful without anything to back it up. Basically, at that point, it was too late. In The Chase, he's still loyal and trying to capture the Avatar, yes. BUT in his efforts to do this he's impeding Azula's efforts to do the same. He interrupts Azula. He fights both her and Aang, which is counterproductive to the cause of either of them capturing the Avatar for the Fire Nation. At the end of that battle he tacitly sides with Aang against her. He was more interested in defeating her than he was in helping the Fire Nation.
But in CoD, this is the first time he actually does something substantial to help the Fire Nation. He isn't toothless and without opportunity like in The Avatar State. He doesn't make the mistake of prioritizing his own desire to be the one and the one alone who captures the Avatar over the greater good like he does in The Chase (and recall, Zhao, another patriot, got pissed at Zuko for this exact same thing in season one). She has a plan for the glory of the Fire Nation and Zuko played his part. In Azula's eyes, he restores his honor by not just jabbering on about how he is the Prince of the Fire Nation, but by acting in a way worthy of that position.
To me it's basically a Occam's Razor thing.
Sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one.
I just don't see any reason to ascribe all of these convoluted (and in many cases logically unsound) plans to Azula as motivation for her to offer Zuko the chance to restore his honor and come back into the fold, when it could just as easily be that she did it because she genuinely wanted him to restore his honor and be back in the fold.
You can argue how he's not REALLY back in good standing unless she actually tells Ozai so and she's disconnected him from his only ally and whatnot. But in the end, it's just easier and safer to toss him in some cell, put a guard around him, and ship him back home than it would be to do anything else. The idea that OH HE MIGHT ESCAPE makes that an unwelcome option doesn't really make that much sense ESPECIALLY when the alternative is letting him wander around free when he's clearly conflicted about the choice he made and is actually in the position to do something about it.
Rawles writes in response to someone else: She implied that her grandfather was old and had lost his bearing and his power and thus he was no longer fit to be Fire Lord. She thinks that her Uncle was too "kooky" to be fit to be Fire Lord and considering what happened with Iroh, the weakness that he showed by giving up at Ba Sing Se, she was right. She did, however, think that her father, ruthless and focused, was fit to be Fire Lord. There's nothing to indicate that personal ambition has anything to do with any of that other your assumption that it does. Especially since Ozai becoming Fire Lord made Zuko the heir, not Azula. And there's never been any proof or indication that Azula actively plotted to get rid of Zuko prior to him proving himself unworthy at his Agni Kai. And even after that she hasn't plotted to be rid of him so much as follow her father's orders to apprehend him. Then the icing on the cake being the fact that she welcomed him back into the fold as soon as he proved himself worthy of being there.
Everyone can assume that Zuko's childhood mantra that Azula Always Lies is objective reality, but I sincerely doubt it's that simple. (Especially since when we're introduced to said childhood mantra it's wrong because Azula isn't lying.) I also sincerely doubt, just for the sake of logic and adherence to Avatar's storytelling conventions, that she's misleading him now because 1) it would be a completely unnecessary and non-sensical deception and 2) there's been no indication given to the audience that she is which is directly contrary to the other times she's lied (which, frankly, has only been once; twice if you count posing as Kyoshi warriors).
For more on this subject, please see the full fledged debates on "Azula and Zuko's Choice" here.
This page was last updated: June 4th, 2007
Behind the cuts:
- Table of contents to discussions of Azula in specific episodes (e.g. Azula and Zuko's choice in the season 2 finale).
- The essence of Azula's character: a patriot working on a merit based system... and of course, manipulative and plotting.
- Why Azula's primary motivation is not personal ambition and she does not see herself as Zuko's "rival" per se.
Azula in Season Two
- Azula and Zuko's Choice. What does the season 2 finale tell us about Azula's character? Was she being genuine in her offer to Zuko, and what were her motivations?
Mike & Bryan on Azula
Manipulative and Plotting
Bryan Konietzko, from this interview after "The Crossroads of Destiny:" Yeah...one thing that is genetic is [Ozai] and Azula. Manipulative, plotting genes swimming around.
Mike DiMartino adds later on: When we were coming up with Azula, we decided we wanted to have these two friends with her. We didn't want them to be firebenders . They wouldn't be as good as her, so why would she keep these other, lesser, firebenders around? So we decided that she would have basically picked out two people who had certain skills that she did not have. Ty Lee with her acrobatics and Mai with her super pin-point accuracy and quick draw skills.
Bryan adds: Azula, even as a child in the playground, was able to recognize people who were better than her in certain areas and keep them close until she either became as good as them or had need of them. She's always manipulating, always playing an angle.
Interview question: Can you speak at all to Zuko's decision in "The Crossroads of Destiny"? He'd agreed with Iroh that Azula was psycho and had to be taken down, he'd been burnt literally by her, and then 'boom' he betrays his Uncle.
Bryan replies: When you study Eastern philosophies, the ego is a really tough enemy or antagonist. Again, we like to treat our characters very realistically. In real life, people have moments of great weakness, usually tied in with the ego. Your siblings can push your buttons. I have four siblings, a brother and three sisters, and no one can get you like your siblings. Azula knew ALL the right buttons to push to play at his weaknesses, parts of his ego which were susceptible to her. She did it well, and it was a moment where he just tasted this thing which he's wanted and focused on, obsessed over, for so long. I think it was very realistic.
The Interviewer later comments in the ASN forums: Mike and Bryan danced around my questions about the fate of Azulon, and actually struck out what little they said on the topic. I suspect they did this in part because it left strong implications of a direction in Season 3. All I'll say on the subject is I am certain either or both of Azula and/or Ursa had a hand in Azulon's fate, that Ursa is more highly implicated than Azula due to the Y7 nature of ATLA, and that the subject will be covered in Season 3. This shouldn't be much of a shock given the other stuff floating around, but it is all I can say publically on the topic.
Please be aware this is based on my impression from the interview and not on an explicit statement of fact made by either Mike or Bryan. I could have read more into what they said than was really there.
The part I mention was cut out here was in part a re-emphasis about how manipulation is in Azula's (and Ozai's) genes (another DNA reference). How much more manipulative can you get than to play your mom into assassinating your grandpa?
(Note: The hanging question is my interpretation of ambiguous statements from Bryan).
Also, I can't give details, but before they had to tone it down, the scene with Azula holding the pearl-handled knife was even more clearly suggesting Azula's character. Azula may not always lie, but Azula ALWAYS gets what she wants. And she has very ambitious objectives...
Bryan in an interview with Beckett Pokemon Magazine (see here): She is such a great villain. Her cunning, coldness and pursuit of perfection make her a great foil for both Zuko and Aang. Anytime Azula's onscreen, you know something bad is about to happen.
An Arranged Marriage?
Bryan Konietzko, from this interview after "The Crossroads of Destiny:" We had talked about some ideas we never ended up doing for season three where Azula had an arranged marriage. It's not something we followed through with, though.
Note: See also the audio commentaries to "Siege of the North," where they mention Azula. If you have a transcript of what they say about her, please send me a note.
Azula: A Patriot on a Merit-Based System
(Or, Why her motivation is not personal ambition)
rawles, writing after "The Crossroads of Destiny:" The problem with reading Azula as deeply ambitious in light of the finale is that there was no reason for her to offer Zuko the chance to restore his honor. She didn't need his help to complete her coup in Ba Sing Se. In fact, her coup was already done. She could have just captured him the same way that she did Iroh instead of leaving Zuko there and giving him the chance to choose.
People assume some convoluted plan on her part to present Zuko to Ozai for his final rejection or whatever, but him having the distinction of having actually done something RIGHT in the Fire Nation's eyes by helping her, a distinction the she gave to him, isn't any sort of boon for that kind of plan.
The fact of the matter is, Zuko was dead-to-rights in the eyes of the Fire Nation. If Azula had just captured him she would certainly never have to worry about him threatening her place in the line of succession again. She's put him back "into play" so to speak of her own volition, an action that is completely counterproductive if her main motivating factor is actually Fire Lordly ambition. Which means, even though it shakes my initial reading of Azula to the core as well, that we should perhaps consider the possibility that it's not her main motivating factor.
And, mind you, I'm in no way saying that siding with Azula wasn't a dangerous decision because even if she is pleased with him now, Zuko's just not in the same place as her ethically and that's no doubt going to come to a head. But there remains that vague possibility that, in the moment, Azula really was doing Zuko a favor by offering him a last chance to finally do something right. There's a possibility that it wasn't in the interest of Zuko's destruction just because there was a much easier way to ensure that at her disposal and now all such plans are shaky and convoluted.
I find the idea that she offered Zuko that chance in order to split him from Iroh unlikely just because...yeah, Zuko's weaker without Iroh, but...Azula has never acted the least bit threatened by Zuko regardless of whether he's allied with Iroh.
There's no reason why, if she wanted to, she couldn't have taken them both and imprisoned them on separate ends of the city if she was worried about their alliance being a danger to her. (Which, again, she's never seemed terribly concerned about before.)
Someone replies: Zuko represents everything she hates: she's SECOND on the throne (so no "divine right to rule") she's a girl, she's better than Zuko but if he weren't such a screw up he'd get all the attention. She may value how painful it is for him to live with such a decision.
Rawles replies: There are a lot of problems with these things as motivators for Azula. The first being the the divine right to rule is a belief about all royalty. It's a necessary precept for monarchies as it refers to the idea that this family, people of this certain blood, have been touched by diety-of-choice and that's why they're in dominion over all others. The divine right is enjoyed by everyone in the line of succession, not just the firstborn or else there wouldn't be a line of succession because as soon if the firstborn died there'd be no one else worthy of taking his place. That's what she explains to Long Feng. She has the divine right to rule, not because she's currently at the top of the line of succession, but because she's royalty. Long Feng pulled himself up and into a position of power (not unlike her own father did as secondborn), but because he's a commoner, he still doesn't have the right to be in that position by Azula's estimation, where, of course, her father does.
We've never been given any indication that there's any prejudice against Azula because of her gender. Why on earth she would care about the idea that Zuko would "get more attention" if he didn't suck when he does, in fact, suck, and she's the clear favourite is beyond me. And it also, again, makes no sense in light of the fact that she just assisted him in doing something orchestrated to WIN him favor. And while I wouldn't put it past Azula to enjoy Zuko's torment, given that she actually tried to comfort him at the end of CoD, it doesn't seem like she's particularly interested in savoring this one.
Someone replies: Now she's free to use him as either cannon fodder or an excuse to daddy when she loses the city... ("oh I was gonna win but my stupid brother interfered") or just ship him off home on a "get more troops" errand and never see him again.
Rawles replies: Not that I don't think Azula would hesistate to throw Zuko on the grenade if it came to that...but when has Azula ever seemed like someone to expect failure? And like beyond that, when have we ever seen her make an excuse? On the rare occasion that Azula fails, she just tries another tactic. Indeed, she has been shown on various occasions to despise the passing of blame/making of excuses in others.
Azula strikes me as someone who, above all else, likes things to be effective and expedient. In The Avatar State, before Iroh and Zuko were aware of what was going on, the most expedient method was to get them to come along quietly. That failed and Azula was utterly undaunted. The thing about all of this plotting you're attributing to her in CoD is that it's not at all expedient.
Why would she need to go through all of this trickery to ensure Zuko's capture? Iroh's, sure. Iroh's a lot more powerful than Zuko. Except Iroh's too smart to fall for that so she just uses force. So there she is, with Ba Sing Se under her control, Iroh captured, and the Avatar on the run. Azula can kick Zuko's butt at will. If she really wanted to capture him, there's just no reason for her to bother with some convoluted plot wherein she keeps him free so he can second-guess and doubt himself and possibly cause her more trouble, when she could just smack him around and lock him up in five minutes flat then go about her business none the worse for wear.
I do think her change of heart about how to deal with Zuko came when she went down into the cave. I think she overheard Iroh telling Zuko that it was time for him to choose, finally, for real, and she knew that Iroh was unsalvageable, but that Zuko wasn't. She basically says as much. And I do think it was a genuine as she's capable of just because there's no logical path for duplicity here.
I'm beginning to think that Azula is hard to read or seems contradictory in some instances because we've all been making the mistake of looking at her largely in terms of absolutes. She's so ruthless and seemingly sociopathic that we go: pure evil.
So it becomes difficult to parse her actions that don't immediately seem to be pure evil.
Like as mentioned, she does play happily with Zuko in the flashback [when they were playing chase and they both seemed perfectly happy]. And if she just hates his guts and always has, there's no real way to explain that. Yes, she's pleased when Zuko fails, but then there is sibling rivalry. She taunts him because she's outperforming him and she's vindicated when he tries to outperform her and can't. It's certainly not nice by a long stretch, but is it evil? Does it actually indicate a seething hatred for her brother or just the fact that she's a cold, cruel little girl? She's mean to Ty Lee and Mai, as well, but do we think that she hates them? And, in addition, if they ever did anything to turn on the Fire Nation, do we think that she'd hesitate for a second to dispatch of them?
I think that Azula is a patriot, much like Zuko. I think she has the Fire Nation's best interest at heart. She's never actually expressed any desire to rule the Fire Nation and when she's pulling for Ozai to be made Fire Lord and deriding Azulon and Iroh, both times it's on the basis that they're not fit for it. (And mind, if Ozai becomes Fire Lord at that point then it's Zuko who's going to be the heir apparent.) Azulon isn't a powerful Fire Lord in her eyes anymore because he's old and frail. Iroh isn't going to make a powerful Fire Lord because he's "kooky," his temperament and his priorities are wrong in her estimation. These are faults can't really be rectified.
When Azula mocks Zuko in The Avatar State and calls him a miserable failure while she's fighting him with the intent of arresting him, at that point he is a miserable failure and at that juncture there was nothing he could do immediately to rectify the situation. But not so in CoD.
I think, in the end, it's as simple as this: Azula works on a system of merit. She had nothing to lose (or nothing she cares about, apparently) by giving Zuko a last chance to redeem himself. And when she does give him that opportunity he actually comes through and she's pleased about that. If she really does believe in the divine right, then she believes that Zuko has it too, and maybe, just maybe, she has an interest in him not squandering it like Iroh did.
The more I talk about it the more I believe that her approval was completely genuine and that it makes sense with what we know of Azula.
Someone replies: Yes but why is Zuko no longer a miserable failure in COD because he sided with her?
Rawles replies: I don't think it's because he chose to side with her. I don't think intention means that much to Azula. Clearly, the fact that he's still loyal means SOMETHING to her inasmuch as it means that he'll consider before he throws it all away for good; it means that she can appeal to his loyalty. But I think action is more important.
When I say that there was nothing he could do to rectify the situation in The Avatar State it's because he'd already failed and the Avatar was nowhere to be found. His loyalty isn't particularly meaningful without anything to back it up. Basically, at that point, it was too late. In The Chase, he's still loyal and trying to capture the Avatar, yes. BUT in his efforts to do this he's impeding Azula's efforts to do the same. He interrupts Azula. He fights both her and Aang, which is counterproductive to the cause of either of them capturing the Avatar for the Fire Nation. At the end of that battle he tacitly sides with Aang against her. He was more interested in defeating her than he was in helping the Fire Nation.
But in CoD, this is the first time he actually does something substantial to help the Fire Nation. He isn't toothless and without opportunity like in The Avatar State. He doesn't make the mistake of prioritizing his own desire to be the one and the one alone who captures the Avatar over the greater good like he does in The Chase (and recall, Zhao, another patriot, got pissed at Zuko for this exact same thing in season one). She has a plan for the glory of the Fire Nation and Zuko played his part. In Azula's eyes, he restores his honor by not just jabbering on about how he is the Prince of the Fire Nation, but by acting in a way worthy of that position.
To me it's basically a Occam's Razor thing.
Sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one.
I just don't see any reason to ascribe all of these convoluted (and in many cases logically unsound) plans to Azula as motivation for her to offer Zuko the chance to restore his honor and come back into the fold, when it could just as easily be that she did it because she genuinely wanted him to restore his honor and be back in the fold.
You can argue how he's not REALLY back in good standing unless she actually tells Ozai so and she's disconnected him from his only ally and whatnot. But in the end, it's just easier and safer to toss him in some cell, put a guard around him, and ship him back home than it would be to do anything else. The idea that OH HE MIGHT ESCAPE makes that an unwelcome option doesn't really make that much sense ESPECIALLY when the alternative is letting him wander around free when he's clearly conflicted about the choice he made and is actually in the position to do something about it.
Rawles writes in response to someone else: She implied that her grandfather was old and had lost his bearing and his power and thus he was no longer fit to be Fire Lord. She thinks that her Uncle was too "kooky" to be fit to be Fire Lord and considering what happened with Iroh, the weakness that he showed by giving up at Ba Sing Se, she was right. She did, however, think that her father, ruthless and focused, was fit to be Fire Lord. There's nothing to indicate that personal ambition has anything to do with any of that other your assumption that it does. Especially since Ozai becoming Fire Lord made Zuko the heir, not Azula. And there's never been any proof or indication that Azula actively plotted to get rid of Zuko prior to him proving himself unworthy at his Agni Kai. And even after that she hasn't plotted to be rid of him so much as follow her father's orders to apprehend him. Then the icing on the cake being the fact that she welcomed him back into the fold as soon as he proved himself worthy of being there.
Everyone can assume that Zuko's childhood mantra that Azula Always Lies is objective reality, but I sincerely doubt it's that simple. (Especially since when we're introduced to said childhood mantra it's wrong because Azula isn't lying.) I also sincerely doubt, just for the sake of logic and adherence to Avatar's storytelling conventions, that she's misleading him now because 1) it would be a completely unnecessary and non-sensical deception and 2) there's been no indication given to the audience that she is which is directly contrary to the other times she's lied (which, frankly, has only been once; twice if you count posing as Kyoshi warriors).
For more on this subject, please see the full fledged debates on "Azula and Zuko's Choice" here.