Many readers wondered why Tai Lung would agree to something so out of character. And they are right, the Tai Lung from the moment he first reincarnated would never have done this.
But the Tai Lung in the story is not the same person anymore. His mentality has been shifting slowly across the chapters.
Where Tai Lung Started
Tai Lung began as someone:
- bitter from his failure
- angry from the betrayal
- weighed down by self-doubt after his defeats.
When he became human, he carried all of this with him. Instead of confronting it, he buried it, numbing himself with training, clinging to a simple goal: become strong again and then the strongest.
Subtle Changes Shown Throughout the Story
- Alienation: He can't connect with people normally. He still sees humans as strange, and never truly feels part of their world.
- Displacement: He doesn't see himself as someone from this world. He was a kung fu master first, not a bender, and definitely not a citizen of the Four Nations.
- The irony of his purpose being fulfilled: He took down Ozai and Bumi, the strongest benders of their nations. He achieved his goal, but it felt empty, almost undeserved, because the chi he brought with him made it too easy. To him, it was cheating.
- Loss of direction: With his goal gone, he has no path left. Nothing to move toward.
- Self-doubt: Even back in chapter 1, he began questioning himself. He saw versions of himself in others, people who chose forgiveness where he chose anger. He realized that in this world, he is the lesser person. Circumstances didn't matter in his eyes.
Tai Lung's Emotional State Now
He is empty. He is depressed, not in the "sad all day" sense, but in the real psychological sense:
- apathy
- numbness
- lack of motivation
- not caring about consequences
- not caring about expectations
- not caring about himself
So actions he once would have rejected immediately now feel pointless to resist. Reputation doesn't matter. Nothing does. He only resembles the original Tai Lung when his rage momentarily takes control, that instinctive part of him that never died.
Why He Goes Along With His Father Now
He sees his father as the father who didn't betray him. And since he has no direction anyway, he simply follows the flow of his father's words.
He is drifting in this world aimlessly, traveling around in hope of finding something that gives him purpose again.
On the "Fake Avatar" Decision
People called it stupid in-world, but the logic makes sense from the characters' perspective, not the readers'.
-The Avatar has been missing for 98 years. Readers know he returns soon, characters don't. To them, He might appear next year, in another hundred or maybe never.
- If the Avatar reappears the next day, the Fire Nation loses nothing. It's propaganda. A tool. Not a replacement for the real thing.
- Why did Tai Lung tell his ship he would be the fake Avatar? Because he simply doesn't care.
- "The other nations won't believe it.". A man bending blue fire, hotter and larger than anything seen before, a rarity only ever associated with past Avatars (in terms of raw power) would absolutely spark fear and rumors. In their eyes, he becomes an evil Avatar who simply favors fire.
TL;DR: Checkout symptoms of depression and try to compare it to the "Out of Character" behavior.