Then do it. I would like to see examples of it.
As you wish.
Ty Lee: not hard to imagine her being redeemed, is it? With her cheerful demeanor and love of all things cute, she seems a bit out-of-place among denizens of the Fire Nation. She also seeks to brighten her aura: indicative of a desire to purify herself and live a fulfilling, happy life. And what makes Ty Lee happy? Innocent pursuits... performing in the circus, aiding her friends ( one of which is, in most respects than not, a bully who coerces her into doing unscrupulous things that no doubt gnaw at her conscience ), reading auras, chasing cute guys. She, unfortunately, hangs around the wrong company -- Azula.
Mai: a bit underdeveloped at this point in time, but with potential. Not emotionless -- she did possess feelings for Zuko in her youth, and it stands to reason that those feelings remain in some form, based on recent interviews with Mike and Bryan. So she
can care for others ( unlike Azula ); she's simply bored with life. Seemingly little things, too. When her mother sobbed over Tom-Tom's disappearance, she reached into her pocket and handed her a handkerchief. She didn't
have to do that. She also indulges Ty Lee to a point, allowing the cheerful girl to bear-hug her and prance around incessantly. Mai has the capacity to be good; I have hope for her.
Ozai: less to work with than the other two, but still more than his daughter. You like
Zuko Alone examples, so here's another one: the fountain-scene. Why was he there when Ursa left? Why didn't he answer Zuko when he asked where she was? He seemed... forlorn. Lost in his thoughts. If he didn't care about his wife, he wouldn't have stood in her favorite spot in the garden, staring aimlessly. He was about to be instated as the new Fire Lord -- shouldn't he be celebrating? The fact is, he was there when he didn't have to be, and his behavior was clearly off from what's expected of him.
Everything that we have seen from Azula's past has been from ZUko's POV I might like to point out. And she has been seen laughing and playing with him, like a normal child.
And yes you do need to see more. Everytime you see her is in relation to who she is suppose to be and what is set for her, or from someone else's perspective in remembrance to something that had an effect on them- which would be her lying. Which you don't even know if she was lying which might make Zuko's concept of her- "Azula always lies"- not completely true, which would make his perspective on her wrong.
So let me get this straight... she's a despicable tyrant and a murderer, for killing Aang, and possibly the Kyoshi Warriors (and why would she kill her mother? she was like eight) when others have tried to do the same? Just because she's powerful enough to actually succeed in doing her missions doesn't make her any more evil than those who have tried.
We saw what Zuko saw, and nothing more. This isn't like
The Great Divide, where two opposing sides conjured up stories in an attempt to disprove the other. We saw what happened during the Fire siblings' childhoods. Zuko didn't
say what happened, as in a fabricated story... we
witnessed for ourselves what happened, with an unbiased view and no commentary on his part. She laughed and played with him
once... I'm not impressed. I can name several more times that she bullied and berated him.
Again, I'll state that we saw into Zuko and Azula's younger years through an uncolored perspective. Zuko wasn't
telling the story in a narrative sense, so it really wasn't from his point-of-view, per sé. It was more akin to a projection of the past, like a homemade movie that parents tape of their children. Its main
focus was Zuko, but it wasn't told by him, nor did he fabricate events.
I didn't say the eight- or nine-year-old Azula killed her mother. I'd be skeptical of that, too. I'm suggesting, purely speculatory ( but so are your assertions of redemption ), that she possibly had a hand in Ursa's demise in the not-too-distant past. Remember Fire Lord Zuko's feverish dream? The Blue Dragon appeared to have "consumed" Ursa with the chilling words, "Sleep... just like Mother!" She
knows something about her mother's disappearance. Moreover, she might actually have had a hand in whatever happened. Based on her ruthless removal of obstacles in her path -- of which Ursa could have easily become at some point -- it isn't a stretch to say Azula is capable of matricide.
Now you've got me curious... who else has tried to kill Aang? Zuko and Zhao
never attempted murder; only apprehension. Zuko lacks a drive to kill, and Zhao was adamant about keeping Aang alive under orders from Ozai.
Who had more of an influence on her? Ozai. Ursa had the influence on Zuko. Azula was favored by Ozai. His views and influences are more likely to efffect her in this case, rather than Ursa
To a point, that's true. But Ursa is
still her mother, and, as a presence in her early life,
still should've had
some influence on her daughter.
I'm pretty sure every child resents disicpline. You can't say that makes her evil.
It's more than resentment, though. She said some downright
horrible things about Iroh... and when Ursa pointed out her callousness, she blew her off. She had no interest in heeding her mother's corrections. Those corrections would've helped her become a decent person.
It's not likely that she wanted nothing to do with her mother. She has been seen talking to her mother, without distaste or any resentment. Most of the times we have seen her with her mother was when she was being a brat.
Few-and-far-between. And it's as you said:
most of the time, she was being an irritable brat, leading the audience to believe this was a normal occurrence.