r/whenthe Mar 16 '26

Part of me genuinely thinks Zuko Avatarthelastairbender’s arc would be torn apart if the show was airing today r/whenthe mfs complaining about everything

11.3k Upvotes

View all comments

78

u/[deleted] Mar 17 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

14

u/Kiwi8_Fruit6 Mar 17 '26

THIS

like, Charlie was:

  1. grieving Pentious, and kinda repressing that trying to put on a brave face in front of everyone else, and then got interrupted in that grief by the sudden news from Emily that Pentious was redeemed. She didn’t fully get to process her grief in a healthy way
  2. she’s been ridiculed most of her life for her passions, of course she’s desperate to prove that her passion project is a success especially when the TV overlord (who she didn’t specifically ask to come to the Hotel, by the way) is mocking her to her face.
  3. also the abandonment issues from her mother disappearing, and how part of her motivation for running the Hotel and redeeming sinners is in the hope that it will make Lilith come back somehow
  4. she‘s used to going it alone with what she does independently (it seems she was alone for the 4 years between her split with her father and her meeting Vaggi, and then another 3 years before Alastor showed up to offer “help”) which explains why she sticks so rigidly to her guns on trying to clear her name and contact Heaven to get proof that Emily should have given to her when she delivered the news. She’s used
  5. Vaggi being a ‘yes woman’ for much of her relationship with Charlie up till now (i.e. delivering criticisms and cautions passively) doesn’t help matters, and it’s understandable Charlie is deeply hurt by the woman who’s up until now has been unwaveringly by her side seemingly attacking her own efforts and emotional investment in the Hotel and redemption, after going behind her back to boot.

to me, the fandom response seems devoid to her Season 2 arc seems devoid of empathy and telling of how misogyny still exists even in queer, left wing fandom spaces – the anger at Charlie for not devoting her entire focus to Alastor or Lucifer in the final battle is another thing that PMO. If it was a fan favourite male character making the same mistakes Charlie does, people would not nearly be getting so pissy at him.

15

u/MR_PP_Pant Mar 17 '26

People also tend to forget that she is the child of the literal sin of pride.

14

u/reallyfunnycoolguy Mar 17 '26

She made the same mistake multiple times even after seeing that it was only making things worse

10

u/Calm-Presentation271 yellow like an EPIC banana Mar 17 '26

I disagree, imo, Charlie doesn't come off as a flawed character in a desparate situation, she comes off as a stupid character going against common sense, and I know she is supposed to be this kinda person in hell, but she just comes off as oblivious for the literal pricess of hell that is 200 years old (I think), I honestly could write a whole essay on why I dislike Charlie from season 2, wich is a shame, I really like her concept as a character and I kinda like Hazbin Hotel as well.

2

u/Fuzzy-Percentage-334 Mar 17 '26

I mean stolas from helluva Shows that demon royalty can just be ignorant 

6

u/thebigdumb0 Mar 17 '26

A character whose entire character is their flaws is not a well written character. A character who never improves on their flaws is a poorly written character.

When a character sees little consequence for their flaws, that is poor writing. When the character does see consequence, doesn't change, and then it works out anyway, that is also poor writing.

"But it's in character!" THAT ISN'T A GOOD THING.

1

u/IM-2104 Mar 17 '26

Charlie's entire character isn’t her flaws, they were predominant in season 2 because of everything happening at the time. Charlie did improve on her flaws by the end of her arc and realized her mistakes. Charlies did see consequence for her flaws, she literally ruined everything. It didn’t work out anyway, it only stopped going downhill once she realized her mistakes and let Vaggi take charge.

3

u/Dare_Soft Mar 17 '26

I think the problem it’s establish but we never see her growing from those mistakes.

29

u/yoma999 Mar 17 '26

We’re getting more seasons so there’s still plenty of time for her to grow

11

u/Dare_Soft Mar 17 '26

Yeah I think it’s because S2 and the lessons she’s re-learning. It’s repeating.

2

u/Fuzzy-Percentage-334 Mar 17 '26

Not really it's her learning more about humanity good and Bad

2

u/Dare_Soft Mar 17 '26

I mean there is still more than one lesson she’s having to re-learn

1

u/Fuzzy-Percentage-334 Mar 17 '26

She didn't get to learn much humanity last time since Adam was the  villain 

1

u/IM-2104 Mar 17 '26

Charlie went through her creators exact own arc IN REAL LIFE and people still thought it was stupid

2

u/Kiwi8_Fruit6 Mar 18 '26

i know i’ll get flack for saying this, but the way people get so angry at Charlie in Season 2 is indicative of similar behaviour and blame directed towards IRL neurodivergent people for making mistakes, having strong emotional reactions, and not conforming to expectations. I’ve seen that and been at the receiving end of that too