bonesbuckleup:

The Sokka and Zuko dynamic is too good because their individual character arcs run directly parallel with one another. Neither of them had friends their own age growing up (Sokka due to the warriors leaving, Zuko due to Ozai being a, y’know, actual monster), both of them have super-powered little sisters who actively make their lives harder (Katara on accident, Azula on purpose), both of them have everything to prove in a world that generally seems to be actively pushing back against them. They bond quickly and instantly because they get to hang out with someone whose life is as batshit crazy as their own, as well as from the sheer novelty of talking to another guy the same age. “The Boiling Rock” works as an episode because we get to see them acting and reacting more like the other one–Zuko tries to plan ahead by accompanying Sokka to the prison, and Sokka’s trying to wing it by taking things one step at a time–but ultimately they work together best when Sokka builds a plan (use the cooler as a boat!) and Zuko wings the details (getting thrown into the cooler.) Suki, meanwhile, is the custodian of all of the trio’s braincells, a point I’ll return to later on. In this paper I will–