This episode, we watched as Katara was given a choice about her self-identity, but does this episode solve the Bechdel Test?
Are there women in the episode:
- Katara
- Azula
- Toph
- Suki
- Kya
Do the women talk to each other:
- No
Do they talk about something other than men:
- No
This episode didn’t pass the Bechdel Test even though they had lots of women in the show, but it was interesting to see the journey that Katara took with determining her self-identity. Zuko told Katara that he can help her find the man that killed her mother when she was a child and she wanted to take revenge. Aang told her that violence is never the answer, but Zuko told Aang that she needs to have closure and forgiveness isn’t the answer this time. So Katara and Zuko do find the man and when the choice came to kill him for what he did to Katara or let him live, she chose to let him live as well as her self-identity. She was driven by anger and resentment towards this man and wanted to kill him for what he did to her family, but she couldn’t do it and started the process of healing from losing her mother. She could’ve chosen violence, but then she wouldn’t have been better than the man that killed her mother and did the decision that was harder to make and spare him. By doing this, she also helped figure out more about herself and her identity of not choosing violence as the answer and instead forgiving others. While Zuko and Aang might’ve given her advice on what to do in the situation, she made that decision on her own and it shows that even when people did something terrible to you, you can still be the bigger person and forgive. Which is something great to see in a show that was geared more towards kids so that they can have that life lesson be taught now instead of later in life when it can be harder to figure out what is the best choice to make.
Shared by: Gabriel Olsen
Image Credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xJk9WY