aspiringwarriorlibrarian:

gahdamnpunk:

When Zuko apologized to uncle Iroh in the tent cause he was so ashamed of his actions and what he’d done to the only person who unconditionally believed in his ability to do good >>>>>

Also no one “redeemed” him. He redeemed himself. He had good people around him, even enemies that were willing to take pity on him, but it was repeatedly shown that no one could take that step but him. And he stuck to that, even when the gaang understandably didn’t forgive him, where a lesser narrative would have had him relapsing and blamed the gaang for not accepting him quickly enough. 

Any “redemption” arc where someone else does the heavy lifting is at best bad writing and at worst apologism. As tempting as that fantasy is, you can’t change people, and trying will only get you hurt.