Last night, a fine and well written animated program, Avatar: The Last Airbender, came to a close. The finale did not disappoint. It was full of action and an outstanding musical score by the team of Zuckerman & Wynn, which in of itself was sufficient reason to watch the program. It wasn’t afraid to give fanservice and there was certainly a lot of that. But what I found absolutely fascinating was the fact that fifteen minutes into the finale I realized I was watching a different story than I thought I was going to watch.
I originally tuned in to see a young monk defeat a man who had been shown to be evil incarnate. What I watched, instead, was a warrior prince become a king; and a princess who slipped into madness seeking her parent’s love, only to discover that she could trust no one because she’d earned no one’s trust. I started out watching a story about a child airbender, but what I got was a story of family treachery and distrust worthy of Macbeth. The story was not about the rise of Avatar AAng, it was about the rise of the Zuko Dynasty. And I loved it because now the young prince must learn to rule. While I’ll never be Machiavelli, I hope the young Fire Lord will permit me to offer him some free advice:
“To the Most Honorable Fire Lord Zuko,
Please accept my congratulations on your victory. I know you wish to savor this moment, but fate requires that you act quickly and decisively or others will act against you.
I will be blunt, sire. You must kill your sister, Princess Azula, and your father, Ozai, as soon as possible. Every second you delay is a second of time you give your assassin to plan your death. You must not exile them or show mercy to them because they will not return it and they (and their numerous followers) will believe you to be weak for showing compassion. The Avatar did you no favors by letting your father live. Alive, Ozai is a beacon of hope to those who still see you as a traitor. Dead, he will soon be a fading memory and a passage of history that you can rewrite. And you must rewrite that history soon or you, yourself, will be history. You cannot allow Ozai and Azula to become rallying points that can sow the seeds of rebellion. Sire, the reality is, you do not have the support of the people or the army and without at least one of those two things you will not live long enough to watch your heir being born.
To correct this, put your Uncle Iroh in charge of the army, and then dismantle it if you feel your army is unnecessary. Why your uncle? He is a war hero, thus still loved by your populace, and he will not betray you. I would suggest to you that your army is still vital to your economy and must be kept intact, but you could make it smaller so as to not drain your now stagnant economy.
You must convert your militaristic nation into a welcomed trading partner. If done properly, your nation can be an economic powerhouse because it alone has the ability to move people and commerce via air, land and sea. If done poorly, your country will be the battleground for civil war and insurgency for generations.
Finally, sire, I would urge you to seek out the daughter of one of your most powerful generals and make her your bride. This will solidify your hold and standing with the army until your Uncle is able to implement your plan of force reduction. Your new father-in-law will not protest as long as he is assured that his daughter and family are protected, financially as well as physically. You may ask, why shouldn’t you marry the girl, Mai?
The answer is simple, sire. She subtracts from your sphere of influence. She is part of your days and history of being a traitor. A marriage to her would only reinforce that image. That is not to say that she cannot be your concubine, but a marriage to her will be seen as a sign of weakness and repayment for her support of the traitor. If you allow your heart to rule in this matter, you will have signed your own death warrant.
Finally, sire, your friend the Avatar will talk about balance and compassion. But he does not rule. You do. Your guiding principle must be the safety of your nation and the realization that compassion and balance must sometimes be sacrificed into order to achieve the goal of protection, not just for yourself, but for your nation as well. When given the choice of being strong or being compassionate, be strong. When you are perceived as strong, mistakes will be forgiven. The weak do not live long enough to ask for forgiveness.
May your dynasty rule for a thousand years,
Bill”