I dunno… I think if it had been Aang, Katara, and Sokka trapped in the fog instead of Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi, once they'd escaped Katara would have insisted on saving everyone else who was trapped in the fog as well, and Aang would have at least seriously considered it until Sokka talked him out of it because they…

Sure. But the point, I think, is, for people to make money on an original movie, they have more incentive to putting effort into making it good—good writing, good chemistry between cast members, good direction—which is what gets perceived as "soul" or "magic". In making a sequel, people put less effort into those…

Rot13 for spoilers: Fur tbg onpx gbtrgure jvgu ure byq oblsevraq naq unq ure zrzbel jvcrq ol n fcvevg.

I think that was part of the purpose of the story, actually: Zuko, in finding his mother, realizes that she's a human being too, who made bad decisions and did things she would regret, just like anyone else.

Also, it's not in dispute that he *did* make an illicit deal with the Triad members to provide muscle for an off-the-books operation.

I feel like I have to note that many of Jason's observations about lineage in the Prydain books are just flat-out wrong here. Taran's lineage is *not* "gradually revealed to both him and readers"; he and we never learn it. Coll and Dallben don't "know the truth, or at least strongly suspect it" about Taran's…