Avatar: The Last Airbender is getting a Netflix adaptation that will bring the fan-favorite series back into the live-action medium. The series about a young boy who must master all four elements in order to save the world was an incredible work of storytelling that featured heavy themes not commonly seen in children series such as war, genocide, colonialism, totalitarianism, free choice and cultural prejudice. It was also heavy in the tragedy and no two characters in the entire Avatar world were more tragic than Zuko and Azula. The children of Firelord Ozai, the siblings grew up together in the Fire Nation under their father's domineering thump but they had drastically different upbringings.
Zuko was introduced immediately in the pilot of the series. He was the primary antagonist for all of Book One: Water, following Aang and friends all over the world in order to capture and hand him over to the Fire Nation. His character was given a redemption arc in the following two seasons and even became an official member of Team Avatar, joining up as Aang's firebending teacher. Zuko ended the series on a happy note, having finally found his place in the world and his honor. However, the story didn't end as happily for his sister Princess Azula.
Unlike her brother, Azula didn't come into the story until Book Two: Earth. Her first appearance was technically in Book One, during the flashback showing how Zuko got his scar but she was just a nameless face standing in the crowd. It wasn't until later when audiences came to know who she was and it was even farther down the road when they realized that she was just as tragic a character as Zuko. It was her late introduction, however, that kept her in the villain lane. If Azula had been introduced earlier in the series, there's a chance that she could have received a redemption arc similar to that of her brother's.
First appearing in "Chapter One: The Avatar State," Azula arrived on the scene with lightning shooting from her fingertips. She was cold-blooded, manipulative, calculating and three times as powerful as her brother. Even Uncle Iroh was a little intimidated. Unfortunately, there wasn't any time to show her character beyond its role as the bigger and badder version of Zuko.
However, it wasn't until Book Three: Fire that Azula as a person was finally explored. She was a control freak without friends for a reason. The brutal truth about the Firelord's children was that they were both damaged by their father. Ozai's cruelty had been inflicted on them both, but the results were very different. Zuko took sanctuary in the company of his mother who taught him kindness while Azula remained alone. Zuko and their mother Ursa were kindred spirits with their sensitive natures and quiet personalities and though it might not have been Ursa's intention, it isolated Azula. Without a parent to love her, she ended up by her father's side where she learned to achieve affection through cruelty and ability. By impressing her father, she remained his favorite, leading her to become a single-minded conqueror.
Azula can be seen as a classic example of how expectations put on children can take a turn for the worst. She showed great potential in her firebending abilities at a young age, causing Ozai to show interest in her that he never showed in Zuko. He pushed her to serve as a model of the Fire Nation's pride, power and control. She ends the series imprisoned after being defeated by Zuko and Katara, but she had already met her end just a few episodes earlier when the cracks in her mind had begun to show. Isolation, power, and the pressure to succeed drove her to madness. There are several hints towards her fragile mental state throughout the series but because the analysis on her character doesn't happen in depth until the second half of Book Three, it can feel as if the show sprung it on the audience. If there had been more time, the madness could have been properly explored and her character could have been given a chance to heal.
The upcoming Netflix adaptation might benefit by introducing Azula earlier in the story. The show just needs to give her a chance to establish herself as the multilayered complex character with deep psychological issues that she always was but never got to properly show. Only then can she have some sort of happy ending.