Tumblr crosspost (27 April 2020)
Jan. 24th, 2022 05:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anghraineAn anon asked:
Do you think part of the reason why Tarrlok antagonized Tenzin was envy because Tenzin still had his brother Bumi, while Noatak was (thought to be) dead?
I replied:
Hmm. On the one hand, I don’t imagine that Tarrlok typically went around antagonizing people for having living brothers (for other reasons! just probably not that), and I do think the personality/morality clash is probably sufficient to explain their general animosity.
BUT it’s also really hard for me to imagine that Tenzin’s family background wasn’t a factor for Tarrlok, given how tightly Yakone ties his abuse of Noatak and Tarrlok to Aang. I mean, he says outright that punishing Aang is the purpose to their existence, and he prepares them for doing it by making them torture animals for years until they snap, which results in the apparent death of Tarrlok’s teenage older brother. That is a LOT.
And, like … Aang’s children all live to adulthood (and are still alive!). Aang’s children had normal childhoods and are reasonably close. And Aang’s son is right there on the council lecturing people. I definitely imagine that Tarrlok’s needling of Tenzin is a tiny, tiny outlet for the nuclear rage he actually feels.
#basically i think that tarrlok's resentment of tenzin is driven more by aang than bumi/kya #but tenzin having two very alive and successful siblings #while tarrlok's died in the snow in childhood #as a direct consequence of yakone's plot to get revenge on aang #probably did not help!!! #honestly when tarrlok calls out tenzin for not living up to aang's defeat of tarrlok's own father by his refusal to take an aggressive stan #*stance towards amon #who is in fact tarrlok's supposedly dead brother #it's just like... nesting dolls of fucked up
Do you think part of the reason why Tarrlok antagonized Tenzin was envy because Tenzin still had his brother Bumi, while Noatak was (thought to be) dead?
I replied:
Hmm. On the one hand, I don’t imagine that Tarrlok typically went around antagonizing people for having living brothers (for other reasons! just probably not that), and I do think the personality/morality clash is probably sufficient to explain their general animosity.
BUT it’s also really hard for me to imagine that Tenzin’s family background wasn’t a factor for Tarrlok, given how tightly Yakone ties his abuse of Noatak and Tarrlok to Aang. I mean, he says outright that punishing Aang is the purpose to their existence, and he prepares them for doing it by making them torture animals for years until they snap, which results in the apparent death of Tarrlok’s teenage older brother. That is a LOT.
And, like … Aang’s children all live to adulthood (and are still alive!). Aang’s children had normal childhoods and are reasonably close. And Aang’s son is right there on the council lecturing people. I definitely imagine that Tarrlok’s needling of Tenzin is a tiny, tiny outlet for the nuclear rage he actually feels.
#basically i think that tarrlok's resentment of tenzin is driven more by aang than bumi/kya #but tenzin having two very alive and successful siblings #while tarrlok's died in the snow in childhood #as a direct consequence of yakone's plot to get revenge on aang #probably did not help!!! #honestly when tarrlok calls out tenzin for not living up to aang's defeat of tarrlok's own father by his refusal to take an aggressive stan #*stance towards amon #who is in fact tarrlok's supposedly dead brother #it's just like... nesting dolls of fucked up