What you were changing me into

I need to capture the Avatar!

Zuko may be bad at being good, but he's also pretty bad at being bad. Sure, he does some completely wretched things, and his morality is certainly suspect for most of the series…but it's so very easy to see that, underneath all the bluster and angst and stupidity, he's really a good guy. Well. A real human being who generally tries to be—and sucks at being—a good guy.

Our first suspicion that this might be the case is actually in the second episode (S01E02, "The Avatar Returns"), when Zuko agrees to take Aang prisoner and leave the Water Tribe alone. Which he does. (Firelord Ozai or Zhao would totally have taken Aang and then turned around and destroyed the village as soon as Aang was secured.)

Borderline good guy status is later confirmed when, upon winning the agni kai with Zhao, Zuko doesn't kill him even though, as per the rules of the battle, he has every right to (S01E03, "The Southern Air Temple").

Let's get this straight: Zuko's not really a nice guy, and for a long time he's not a particularly good person, either. But even from very early on in the series we know that he's got his own set of rules which, while definitely in the gray area morality-wise, still involve "good" things like no unnecessary killing of people even if they are jerks and keeping your word to a prisoner of war even if he's the Avatar.

As the series progresses, Zuko's inability to be a "real" villain is further evident in contrast to his sister Azula's ruthless plotting and planning. While Azula has no problem betraying Iroh and Zuko time and again, Zuko shows a significant amount of guilt for betraying both Iroh (S02E20, "The Crossroads of Destiny") and Katara (S03E13, "The Western Air Temple"). And of course, ultimately, Zuko sides with Team Avatar to help take down his dad when he realizes the Fire Nation needs to get its act together already.

Ruthless villain, Zuko is not. But holy wow, does it take him a long time to figure out what he is.


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