My favourite thing about Zuko joining the Gaang is how seamlessly he assumes the position of:
sleep-deprived
over-aggravated
strict
parent, forced to play bad cop, to keep the children on task.
And my absolute favourite (without missing a beat):
Which is a pretty accurate approximation of daily conversations with a toddler.
THAT’S JUST IT ABOUT ZUKO. He became the missing piece the gaang sorely needed because he IS the central father figure taking care of the toddlers.
This is a character who’s been prepped for leadership for years. He knows he could potentially rule the firenation one day. His uncle has been secretly grooming him while aboard the battleship WHICH Zuko runs. He’s the leader of a small batallion of fire nation soldiers. He’s a prince. He understands what it means to be a leader. He understands sacrifice. Can you imagine from his perspective exactly what it was like to join the Gaang? The people who’ve thwarted him all this time, really ARE just children.
He finds out Aang really IS a literal child. Sokka is mostly self taught as all paternal figures he could have had teach him left for war at a young age. So he’s very much Junior as to what it means to be a leader. Toph led a very sheltered life of female nobility, learning to be seen not heard. And she lashes out in full blown preteen angst. Katara has the mom of the group part down because by god SOMEONE had to step up and be an authoritative figure to the babies!
So here comes Zuko thinking the Gaang might just be as war worn as he is. They’ve got all their shit together and must be, like him, mature for their ages. DING DONG HE WAS WRONG. He’s a practical adult with a lot of life experience trying to wrangle children in to saving the freakin world. No wonder he’s sleep deprived, aggrivated, and strict. He thought he was dealing with professionals. Like what he’s used to. Instead he just adopted 3 kids and is sharing custody with Katara.
