Zutara: Why Katara and Zuko Were Made for Each Other
While we wait for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender to release, we can’t help but reflect on the match made in heaven that never came to be: that between Katara and Zuko, two of the main gang of characters in The Last Airbender. The fan ship is so popular and vocal that there’s even a well known name for it: Zutara.
We are firm believers in Zutara and think that the story would have been even better had that sort of thing worked out.
*Spoiler alert (for real).
It didn’t.
Still, there are a lot of reasons in the story for why it would have made more sense for Katara and Zuko to end up together than they did.
Who does Katara end up with?
Katara has a mothering relationship with the main protagonist of Avatar – that being Aang. So it’s sort of weird when she ends up falling for him in the end. Of course, that’s in the original source material. Maybe Netflix will think twice before giving us that end and have her end up with Zuko instead.
Does Katara fall in love with Zuko?
Despite their obvious onscreen chemistry and the whole fire/water thing, Katara and Zuko don’t ever fall in love.
In this article, we’re going to cover why it is that they should have, though. And why it would’ve made a lot more sense if they had.
Why Zutara makes more sense than Katara and Aang
Katara and Zuko have more natural chemistry
There’s no doubt that Kataang have a very strong bond. However, it never really feels all that much like a love relationship. In fact, the whole relationship being romantic feels a bit forced. It would’ve been cooler if Katara could’ve just been allowed to be Aang’s mentor figure without throwing in the relationship stuff.
Contrast that with Zuko and it’s a whole different story. Their relationship is fiery from the start, with both constantly battling and challenging one another to get stronger.
Zutara share a lot of special moments
While Aang and Katara certainly have a few natural moments where their bond is present, often times it feels forced or more of a nurturing, mother/child sister/brother sort of relationship. Meanwhile, Zuko and Katara share many heartfelt moments in the series.
This video pretty much sums it up – but from the Polar North to the caves of Ba Sing Se to the final battle between Zuko and his sister, there are so many heated moments between the pair.
They are the same age
Katara has sort of the babysitter vibe going on with Aang, and that’s partly because she’s older than him. And it’s by a bit. Sure, the age difference is actually only two years, and that’s not very significant if you are over twenty. However, 14 to 12 is a huge, huge difference, especially given Katara is a girl and girls tend to mature earlier than boys.
Meanwhile, Zuko is the same age as Katara making him, in many ways, a better match for her from the start.
The fire/water thing made sense
Fire and water are the mostly tied elements in all of the Avatar universe. As Zuko says, he draws his power from the sun, whereas Katara draws her power from the moon. This opposites attrack and yin and yang aspect would’ve made for great storytelling and literary sense had the two wound up together.
Regardless how we feel about it, though, Katara and Zuko didn’t end up together in the show. At least not the cartoon. Fingers crossed for an alternate ending in the live action!
