Avatar: The Last Airbender: 5 Episodes To Watch If You Miss Zuko & Katara (& 5 If You Miss Zuko & Mai)

Although all viewers know how things shook out romantically for the characters in Nickelodeon’s beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans unsurprisingly have their own opinions about who should have ended up together. The question of Zuko’s main love interest was an uncertainty for much of the show’s runtime and remains controversial more than a decade after its conclusion.

Governor’s daughter Mai was the show’s resident brooder, and perfectly matched Zuko’s angst with dry wit and deadpan humor. Katara, on the other hand, was a warm caregiver and wore her heart on her sleeve, contrasting Zuko’s obviously fiery nature. Thankfully for fans of Zuko, his complex and changing relationships with both Mai and Katara are beautifully fleshed out in some of the show’s best episodes.

10 Katara: “The Siege of the North, Part 1” (Season 1, Episode 19)

In the first half of this climactic two-parter, Zuko and Katara are equally matched for the first time and have one of their first-ever scenes alone. With Aang meditating in the Northern Water Tribe’s Spirit Oasis and attempting to reach the Spirit World, Katara is tasked with protecting his vulnerable body. But when Zuko finds them, she’s forced to engage the Fire Prince in a fierce battle.

It’s an epic fight to watch, especially considering how much Katara’s strength has grown thanks to her training with Pakku. This significant scene for the pair also foreshadows and contrasts their later battle against Azula in the show’s penultimate episode.

9 Mai: “The Awakening” (Season 3, Episode 1)

The third-season premiere is the first time fans see Zuko and Mai together as a couple. Although the burgeoning relationship could be cause for celebration, it’s overshadowed somewhat by Zuko’s clear ambivalence about his return to the Fire Nation.

In the couple’s only scene in the episode, Zuko hints at his discomfort with his sudden acceptance at home and the torrential emotional journey he’s experienced in the series thus far. While Mai is a support for him, she tells him to forget these feelings – a statement that contrasts her later betrayal of the Fire Nation in Zuko’s name.

8 Katara: “The Western Air Temple” (Season 3, Episode 12)

After rejoining the Fire Nation at the end of Season 2 and regaining his royal honor, Zuko has decided to double-cross his family and join Team Avatar’s fight for peace in this episode. To the shock of the Gaang, Zuko confronts them at the Western Air Temple and offers much-needed fire-bending instruction to the Avatar.

After Katara placed trust in him in the previous season only to be betrayed, she is stalwartly unimpressed by Zuko’s supposed redemptive quest. Zuko is finally accepted after saving the group from Combustion Man (whom Zuko himself hired), the group allows him in, but the episode ends with Katara issuing an ominous warning to the redeemed Fire Prince.

7 Mai: “Nightmares and Daydreams” (Season 3, Episode 9)

Although Mai and Zuko’s relationship isn’t the central focus of this third-season episode, it does feature the couple at one of their best times. After rejoining the Fire Nation, Zuko discovers the royal life and personal honor he’d been so desperately pursuing might not be all they were cracked up to be.

He is living the life, ordering any delicacies he desires and enjoying Mai’s company, until a routine war meeting makes him realize that sitting by his father’s side may not be his destiny after all. He confesses as much to Mai, and viewers are treated to a more emotionally supportive side of Mai.

6 Katara: “Sozin’s Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno” (Season 3, Episode 20)

In the show’s second-to-last episode, as Aang faces down Fire Lord Ozai, Zuko engages his sister, who is at this point more unhinged than ever. The siblings face off in a grueling Agni Kai as Katara reluctantly watches from the sidelines. But when she can’t defeat Zuko, Azula sends a bolt of lightning at Katara, and Zuko is forced to take the blast to protect his friend.

It’s a sacrifice that is a far cry from Zuko’s betrayal of Katara in Season 2, which allowed Azula to send a matching blast of lightning straight at the Avatar. Thankfully, in the following episode, Katara is able to outsmart and overpower Azula even with the latter’s powers being enhanced by Sozin’s Comet.

5 Mai: “Sozin’s Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang” (Season 3, Episode 21)

In the series finale, the many ups and downs that Zuko and Mai have experienced over the course of three seasons culminates in a joyous reunion. Although they enjoyed a pleasant relationship in the first third of the final season, Zuko was clearly conflicted about his place in the Fire Nation and his betrayal of the Avatar in the previous season.

After showing her loyalty to Zuko at the Boiling Rock, Mai is imprisoned but released in this episode once the Avatar’s forces defeat the Fire Lord. She and Zuko share an intimate kiss before she issues a characteristically stern warning to never dump her again.

4 Katara: “The Crossroads of Destiny” (Season 2, Episode 20)

After Katara’s kidnapping in the previous episode, she is being held in the catacombs under Lake Laogai in the second-season finale. To her surprise, Zuko is thrown into the cave with her after his capture by Azula and the Dai Li.

Over the course of their captivity, Katara and Zuko find unexpected solace in each other, bonding over the loss of their mothers in the course of Ozai’s warmongering. Katara is willing to use her spirit water to heal Zuko’s scar – a trait loaded with symbolism for the Fire Prince – but despite their connection, Zuko betrays her and Iroh to fights on Azula’s side in the episode’s climactic battle.

3 Mai: “The Boiling Rock, Part 2” (Season 3, Episode 15)

In this thrilling episode, Zuko joins Sokka on a mission to rescue those incarcerated at the Fire Nation’s notorious Boiling Rock prison. Although her uncle is the prison’s warden, Mai puts all her cards on the table when she sides with Zuko over Azula, allowing the fugitives to escape and proving her love is greater than her fear.

It’s a hugely significant moment, as Mai effectively ends a lifelong friendship by betraying Azula. This touching act demonstrates that Zuko’s quest for redemption has touched not only the Avatar and friends, but also his former Fire Nation allies back home.

2 Katara: “The Southern Raiders” (Season 3, Episode 16)

After his betrayal in “The Crossroads of Destiny,” Katara is understandably unwilling to trust Zuko even after he presents himself to the Avatar as a firebending teacher. Finally, Katara allows Zuko to prove himself when he reveals he knows who killed her mother. Zuko accompanies the accomplished waterbender on her revenge mission to find the Fire Nation soldier.

Although Katara decides in the end that the man isn’t worth the emotional toll it would take to kill him, Zuko proves to be a solid support during this traumatic experience. For fans of the pair, it’s satisfying to see Zuko finally live up to his potential on Team Avatar.

1 Mai: “The Beach” (Season 3, Episode 5)

Zuko and Mai tackle their issues in this one-of-a-kind episode that humanizes the Fire Nation’s most wicked foursome.

The couple, along with Ty Lee and Azula, vacation on Ember Island, a childhood haunt that brings back memories. The episode spoofs surfer culture as the Fire Nation royals attempt to fit in with average teenagers to little success. Fans of Zuko and Mai get to see the couple at one of their happiest times, as Zuko attempts to play the doting boyfriend and even gets jealous after Mai seems to express interest in another boy, but soon they get into a fight. It takes a heart-to-heart over a beach bonfire to get the pair to reconcile.

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