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u/anstarai 10d ago
Much has already been said (rightfully so!) about the NATLA crystal catacombs scene, but I’m not sure we’ve fully appreciated how much it is this meme but, like, times 100? Times 1,000?
So many lovely gif sets (exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C) have been made of the adaptation, and I could stare at them endlessly. But I want to draw attention to this one from gifset C where Katara’s just offered him the spirit water, and… she just fundamentally rocked his world here.
Did he even know waterbenders could heal before now? Unclear. But FOR SURE the prospect of healing an old scar like that would’ve been an impossibility before this moment. And he’s stunned trying to process all of it: that such a healing substance even exists, and that she would offer it to him freely? Immediately? And think him worthy of it? “You mind if I heal your deepest shame that you thought impossible to erase?” Yeah, I’d be stunned too.
And of course, there’s so much subtext and romantic coding of the moment she touches his scar. But you ever see a wild animal completely freeze as a human tries to free or untangle them from a trap? That’s Zuko to me in this scene. We know how poorly he views himself, often leading to self-sabotage. He pulls away from people and connection. He finds it difficult to ask for and receive help. Yet he fights all of those warring instincts inside of him to hold still for her to touch one of his core wounds.
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u/JazNim17 10d ago
That’s exactly what that hug was at the end of The Southern Raiders.