i really love zuko avatar the last airbender but he also definitely influenced people into thinking all the villains in the world can and should be redeemed like. shut up. youre not zuko avatar the last airbender and you will never be zuko avatar the last airbender
The thing that made Zuko’s redemption arc so good was that is was long. It was hard on him. It was organic and made sense.
He did not just flip a switch in the final season like some other villains in other shows have done.
His redemption began at the beginning of the second season. Over the course of the story he was confronted with the real and tangible consequences of his father’s and his nation’s actions. He even experienced some of those consequences himself. He lived as someone on “the other side” for an entire season.
He was given a chance to switch sides and join the Gaang and he rejected it. Choosing to go back to his abusive father. Many would think this undid the character development he had over the course of the season. But it did not, it was another necessary step in Zuko’s redemption arc.
Zuko had to go back to his abusive family to see with new eyes informed by his experiences that what his father and his country is doing is objectively wrong. It had to happen that way so that Zuko could make the decision on his own, without anyone else pressing him into it, to leave the Fire Nation and join the Avatar.
No other villain redemption arc has ever taken as much time and shown as much care and attention to the character’s mental or emotional progression.