1.) Azula is extremely intelligent. She is constantly planning ten steps ahead of everyone, using her brains to manipulate events and people to whatever she wants. She also is incredibly genre savvy, electrocuting Aang before he can go into Avatar state, among other things.
2.) As smart as she is though, Azula underestimates the chances of people acting "illogically" around her. She is so convinced that Mai will obey her out of fear that it never occurs to her that Mai would betray her to save Zuko. Immediately after, she was shocked that Ty Lee would betray her to save Mai.
3.) Azula is too emotionally damaged to properly form friendships or relationships with others. Her entire friendship with Mai and Ty Lee consisted of her threatening them into joining her on her quest.
4.) Deep down, Azula knows that her mother did love her. That was what the hallucination in the mirror symbolized. It was a manifestation of Azula's knowledge that her mother never considered her a monster. Because Azula built her vision of herself around that idea (that is, she defined herself with "My mother hated me because she thought I was evil"), she couldn't face the idea that it really was wrong and smashes the mirror to keep herself ignorant.
5.) Going off of that, Azula only keeps herself remotely sane through various "truths" in her head. Besides the "truth" that her mother hated her, there is the one that her friends really are loyal to her, or at least will never betray her. When that pillar is shattered, she begins to question everything else and, for Azula, that leads to becoming hostile towards everything.
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Date: 2012-07-19 02:36 am (UTC)1.) Azula is extremely intelligent. She is constantly planning ten steps ahead of everyone, using her brains to manipulate events and people to whatever she wants. She also is incredibly genre savvy, electrocuting Aang before he can go into Avatar state, among other things.
2.) As smart as she is though, Azula underestimates the chances of people acting "illogically" around her. She is so convinced that Mai will obey her out of fear that it never occurs to her that Mai would betray her to save Zuko. Immediately after, she was shocked that Ty Lee would betray her to save Mai.
3.) Azula is too emotionally damaged to properly form friendships or relationships with others. Her entire friendship with Mai and Ty Lee consisted of her threatening them into joining her on her quest.
4.) Deep down, Azula knows that her mother did love her. That was what the hallucination in the mirror symbolized. It was a manifestation of Azula's knowledge that her mother never considered her a monster. Because Azula built her vision of herself around that idea (that is, she defined herself with "My mother hated me because she thought I was evil"), she couldn't face the idea that it really was wrong and smashes the mirror to keep herself ignorant.
5.) Going off of that, Azula only keeps herself remotely sane through various "truths" in her head. Besides the "truth" that her mother hated her, there is the one that her friends really are loyal to her, or at least will never betray her. When that pillar is shattered, she begins to question everything else and, for Azula, that leads to becoming hostile towards everything.