comradekatara:

do the tides command this ship? 

azula’s opening monologue does such a fantastic job of immediately establishing her character. we see the terrifying dominance she exerts over people; the absolute authority she assumes within herself, even over nature (zhao killing the moon provides another example of this mentality among the fire nation); and crucially, her hubristic confidence that she can use fear to control others at all times, which ultimately proves her downfall. 

she claims that she is more powerful than the tides, as if she no longer considers herself a mere human being. while her ship is lucky enough to bypass the tides and dock safely in the harbor, as is always her way, her luck will run out soon enough. this monologue not introduces her character, but also her ending: katara, unlike azula, can command the tides, and she uses her control over water—an element azula was always raised to believe was inferior to fire—to ultimately defeat her. 

there you are, filthy peasant!

note azula demeaning her and asserting her perceived superiority over katara in the same moment as she plays right into katara’s hand as she deals the winning blow. 

azula’s imperialist supremacist doctrine she had internalized since birth was her inevitable ruin. as we see in her first proper introduction in 2x01 “the avatar state,” even from the start, her influence was a facade; her power was always hollow.