I think Zuko could kill, but not in cold blood. When he's fighting Jet its very much a heat of the moment thing (I mourn the loss of your moment, but Jet needs to survive to be brainwashed) but in the Zhao fight, he was in a case where he could choose-and he chose to let him live. So superninja!zuko is also a round-table-esque knight at heart.
I think the whole firebending frenzy thing is based partly on Azula. She's a prodigy-Zuko's father makes a big deal of this, so Zuko feels like he needs to surpass, or at least equal her, in order to gain his approval. Also, the fact that Zhao refers to Zuko's swords as 'antiques' suggests that the Fire Nation doesn't have much use for them-I suppose one-on-one swordfighting is less useful in a war than mass-homicide machines and fire-blasts that can wipe out a village at a time.
Jet must have smuggled the grass-stick inside his hair. If Zuko had angled his swords right he probably would have unearthed half the Fire Nation's treasures inside that mop!
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Date: 2006-09-25 05:56 pm (UTC)I think the whole firebending frenzy thing is based partly on Azula. She's a prodigy-Zuko's father makes a big deal of this, so Zuko feels like he needs to surpass, or at least equal her, in order to gain his approval. Also, the fact that Zhao refers to Zuko's swords as 'antiques' suggests that the Fire Nation doesn't have much use for them-I suppose one-on-one swordfighting is less useful in a war than mass-homicide machines and fire-blasts that can wipe out a village at a time.
Jet must have smuggled the grass-stick inside his hair. If Zuko had angled his swords right he probably would have unearthed half the Fire Nation's treasures inside that mop!