I agree and disagree with the various points above. I'll begin by saying that both Zuko and Azula are firebending masters - powerwise, they are stronger even than Jeong Jeong, the only people who could beat them are Ozai and iroh (and now Aang).

Whether Azula would have beaten Zuko if Katara had not been there is no easy question to answer, but I think that she could have. Her trickery showed that even though she was insane, she was still capable of thinking tactically, measuring her opponents and what they could do. If Katara had been elsewhere, Azula could still have done something smart like shooting the lightning into the ground directly at Zuko's feet - knocking him off balance and giving her an advantage. I am not saying that Zuko never had a chance, in fact he had an extremely good chance of winning the fight. But he allowed Azula to outsmart him, and that was what lost him the fight.

Would Azula have won if she was Sane? She won when she was flipping bananas! Of course she would have crushed Zuko if she was still sane in the extact same circumstances.

As we have seen in the Boiling Rock, the Southern Raiders, and now the finale, Azula's blue firebending and Zuko's original firebending are equally powerful. Blue flames such as the ones Azula generates are more powerful than regular flames, and equally powerful to regular flames produced with original firebending. the only thing that trumps both is the mastered intense flames that Ozai was making in quantities even greater than Iroh (safely establishing him as the ultimate master of firebending).

The comet gave Zuko and Azula the same amount of boost (the power of 100 suns, to be precise), for the same amount of time. If the comet hadn't been there, the fight would have had the same result, but would have been slightly less epic. On the subject of the comet, the extra power that it gave to Zuko may have been what allowed him to survive Azula's lightning.

I agree and disagree with the various points above. I'll begin by saying that both Zuko and Azula are firebending masters - powerwise, they are stronger even than Jeong Jeong, the only people who could beat them are Ozai and iroh (and now Aang).

Whether Azula would have beaten Zuko if Katara had not been there is no easy question to answer, but I think that she could have. Her trickery showed that even though she was insane, she was still capable of thinking tactically, measuring her opponents and what they could do. If Katara had been elsewhere, Azula could still have done something smart like shooting the lightning into the ground directly at Zuko's feet - knocking him off balance and giving her an advantage. I am not saying that Zuko never had a chance, in fact he had an extremely good chance of winning the fight. But he allowed Azula to outsmart him, and that was what lost him the fight.

Would Azula have won if she was Sane? She won when she was flipping bananas! Of course she would have crushed Zuko if she was still sane in the extact same circumstances.

As we have seen in the Boiling Rock, the Southern Raiders, and now the finale, Azula's blue firebending and Zuko's original firebending are equally powerful. Blue flames such as the ones Azula generates are more powerful than regular flames, and equally powerful to regular flames produced with original firebending. the only thing that trumps both is the mastered intense flames that Ozai was making in quantities even greater than Iroh (safely establishing him as the ultimate master of firebending).

The comet gave Zuko and Azula the same amount of boost (the power of 100 suns, to be precise), for the same amount of time. If the comet hadn't been there, the fight would have had the same result, but would have been slightly less epic. On the subject of the comet, the extra power that it gave to Zuko may have been what allowed him to survive Azula's lightning.

I'm not so sure about Zuko aiming for Ozai's feet. If you watch that scene closely, it looks like it was a direct hit, providing a precedent for powerful firebenders to be able to suffer lightning strikes from the front and survive, although with significant damage having been taken. And I seriously doubt that Azula would have shot the lightning directly at Zuko. Even if she didn't know before hand, Zuko confirmed for her with his bragging (which would imply that Zuko was the one who underestimated Azula) that he knew how to redirect lightning. Had Katara not been there to aim at, Azula would most likely have done exactly as you said Zuko did, and aimed for Zuko's feet, blowing him off balance and allowing her to gain an upper hand in the fight. And I definitely disagree with you that Azula underestimated Zuko. After BR and TSR she knew that he was an opponent to be reckoned with. if anything, it was Zuko who did the underestimating. I mean, come on. He had just told her that he could redirect lightning and he really expected her to shoot lightning directly at him? After spending all of book 2 getting his butt kicked by her, you'd think that he'd have a bit more respect for her than that.

First of all...Zuko is NOT a master of firebending. Iroh is a master...Ozai is a master...the firebender that lives in the woods is a master. Zuko is NOT a master of firebending, he is still learning. The only reason Azula was out of breath was because she was not thinking correctly. Had she been sane then she would not have been using so much energy. Plus, I already said this before but obviously I need to say it again, Zukos firbdening was ENHANCED by the comet! So was azulas, but Azula was going insane so the enhanced strength didnt help her much. It's pretty obvious that had she been in her right mind Zuko would hav been done for. Azula would not have been killed by zukos redirected lightning, for one Zuko couldn't even kill Ozai when he redirected his lightning. Two, Azula already knew he could redirect it so I doubt she would have just stood there amazed at the fact that he could. Ozai was blind sided by this when Aang did it because he didnt know he could redirect it, but Zuko's retarded self told Azula that he could redirect it, so it made her relunctant to shoot it at him. Plus, Azula would have never agreed to fight a battle that she knows she can't win, so she would have never fought Zuko and Katara at the same time. That's just common sense...

Here's my elaboration:

Had Azula been sane, that would mean that she was never betrayed by her friends, which means that Ty Lee would still be on her side. Mai would never agree to fight Zuko, but maybe Katara. Azula vs. Zuko and Ty Lee vs. Katara...that's how I think it would have played out. And with the added strength of the comet, Azula would have completely destroyed Zuko. I don't understand why people are saying he is a "master." he is nothing compared to Iroh and Ozai, who are TRUE MASTERS of firebending, especially Iroh. I agree Zuko has gotten more powerful since the dragon training, but strength is not everything when fighting Azula, which she has proven countless times. When she didn't even have ANY bending at all, she some how managed to out run and manipulate Aang, Toph, and Sokka. She would have no doubt tried this on Zuko as well had she been thinking straight.

The facts have been laid out countless times. Azula is probabaly the 4th most powerful firebender behind the masters I previously mentioned. She is a prodigy, and she gains skill faster then other firebenders, that's what a prodigy is, someone that is naturally skilled at something. I believe that had she been thinking straight, the outcome would have been VERY different...but she had to in order to complete her character story. We can speculate on this for the rest of our lives, but I stand by what I juss wasted my time typing because I doubt half the people here will read it. Plus Zuko is older then her, so naturally he would be stronger, but obviously this doesn't help him much because Azula is a prodigy. Azula is OVERALL more powerful then Zuko. When your looking for a quaterback you dont look for someone that can throw the ball far...you look for someone that can do that, has good vision, doesn't get injured easily, can think under pressure, and kills dogs in their spare time, That is pretty much Azulas description to the max!!!