Don't know who to trust

Good inside him isn't enough. Why don'tcha come back when it's outside him, too, okay?

Before they actually spend much time together, Sokka is quite frequently the one badmouthing Zuko (even to Iroh's face—though Iroh, because he is awesome, takes no offense). Once the two are thrown together due to Zuko's side change, there's a bit of awkwardness as they struggle to figure out how to treat each other.

Zuko's obviously Sokka's straight man for the most part, being all dour and grumpy in response to Sokka's kooky ridiculousness. But it really doesn't take long for Zuko to see and respect Sokka's skills as a warrior, particularly when the two team up to save Suki and Hakoda from the Fire Nation prison (S03E14-15, "The Boiling Rock"). Zuko didn't have to help Sokka out on this, but as soon as he realizes Sokka's going to go to the Boiling Rock, Zuko refuses to let Sokka go on his own. The two actually make a pretty good team: Sokka has the ideas, Zuko forces him to follow through on them. And Zuko displays a surprising amount of empathy regarding Sokka's desire to make up for getting his dad imprisoned.

Sokka and Zuko ultimately come to begrudgingly respect each other, even though they are very different, personality-wise. By the end of the series, Sokka is fully counting on Zuko as part of the team, and Zuko is willing enough to follow Sokka's plans. There's still some awkwardness there, but the two work surprisingly well together.


←  back