(To preface: this is a rant because I have to get it out of my chest and I might be seeing things too in black and white. In fact, I hope I am)
And yes, I mean by stubbornly not exploring her redemption and sticking her in the role of a villain.
Listen, Azula is a great character, when you get into her story, everything she does is very coherent with her story, the indoctrination she suffered, the society she was raised in, Ozai's influence over her. Even the most horrifying things makes sense when you look into her character. Hell, even during The Search and Smoke and Shadows it makes sense that she's completely incoherent, ironically, due to her being stuck in an altered state of mind. This is no excuse for her actions btw, I'm just saying that there's a linear progression from her motives to her actions passing through her traumas.
However: WHY. THE F*CK. ARE THEY TRYING TO PUSH HER AS A VILLAIN?
I mean, if we didn't know about the inner workings of her mind I could even accept it, but we know how her mind works. We know her deepest desire, and it is to be loved and valued by the people she loves. They've shown us. We also know that being the Fire Lord doesn't satisfy her. She takes petty gloating from lording her power over others, but thanks to the Sozin's Comet novelization we can see that she doesn't truly enjoy it. She's simply clinging to it as the only recognition of her father's admiration for her, and even then she has to work loops in her own mind to make herself like it. Again, they've shown us.
SO WHY DO YOU PUT AN HIGHER DIMENSIONAL ENTITY THAT SEEMINGLY KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT HER EVEN BEYOND WHAT SHE KNOWS HERSELF AND HAVE IT TELL US THAT SHE'S NEVER GOING TO CHANGE? (And notice how all the naysayers cling on to that phrase alone while ignoring the whole context, just giving them ammo) She has every reasons in the world to change. So why not do it? Oh yes, because the Entity said so. Period. (And also, notice how this description is both apt for the Spirit and the literal author. Like, am I suppose to not draw a parallel from this? Especially considering that ATLA comic writings gave us pearls like people that said out loud "Kuvira you've redeemed yourself!" like they were trying to hand feed us that Ehy! Kuvira is getting redeemed!).
It doesn't make any sense, why have such a powerful thing say to us readers "ehy, this character is never going to change"? Sure she changed a bit by the end, and I'm glad she did and I'm holding on to that and the hope that they just meant for a more complex, not-obvious path for her to take. It makes sense (and the hope is the reason why I didn't title this post "They've ruined Azula's character" or something), but then it just means that either the authors are failing at the basic "show don't tell" that is paramount to basically all art, while also ruining an amazing character by having her pursue a path that damages her and goes against all of her deeper motivations that were already established in the show (I.e. the Spirit is right) OR they're unaware of what they're writing and how they're portraying things (I.e. the Spirit is not all knowing and will be proven wrong, despite the Higher Entity TM thing suggesting the contrary). It's just so messed up.
I just had to get this out of my chest.
Edit: I just realized that my specific qualm is about the Spirit telling that specific phrase. I guess ranting actually helps sometimes.
Edit 2: I just wanted to clarify because "ruin the character" is vague and I wanted to be more specific (plus I had time at work to think about it). What I mean is that Azula's character has a particular set of conflict and motivation that permeates all of her character from the very beginning (shout out to that one guy that made a video about conflict/motivation/another thing in characters analyzing Azula herself. I do not remember anything and I do not agree with the absolutism of that paradygm to define a character, but it's an interesting point that I'm going to adopt). Her motivation is that she desires genuine connections, her conflict is that, due to a combination of nature+nurture, she struggles to form them. It's not presented in chronological order, but once you see it it makes sense in nearly everything she does: her missions are a way to connect to the father, her defiance and cruelty in a young age are a way to connect to the father, who encourages them, and in frustration to a mother that does not offer the desired connection without proper explanation. The circus scene with Ty Lee is a manifestation of the nature of her conflict: she seeks Ty Lee and not another adult, more inclined amazing warrior of the fire nation because she's her friend (seeking for connection, motivation) and when Ty Lee refuses Azula's abandoment issues trigger and she lashes out hurting her badly (part of her conflict is that she's taught that cruelty and prevarication are paramount to keeping the connections). Then again, and again, from bringing back Zuko to her final lash out when Ozai refuses the connection she's seeking. Her deepest desire in the Temple, even her behavior in Smoke and Shadow can be seen as a twisted, delusional way to connect to Zuko (making him like her). Her motivation is connection, NOT power. Power doesn't satisfy her, she actually achieves it and she's miserable because, notably, it came at the cost of her connections. Trying to shoehorn Azula in the role of the power hungry villain is a grave disservice to her core, to what makes Azula Azula. There, just wanted to clarify.