Avatar: The Last Airbender shows Sokka’s love life in a way that is both honest and open. It doesn’t make itself known. There isn’t a fake rivalry between two women who are both after the same boy that lasts for three seasons or a dramatic love triangle. Instead, what you see feels more like real life: a young man who falls hard, loses someone, and then slowly, almost without realizing it, finds something stronger and more real. Even though the cartoon is for kids, that’s a pretty grown-up emotional arc.
Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe is Sokka’s first real love interest. She shows up near the end of Book One, and the link between them happens quickly. For some viewers, it might be too fast, but grief doesn’t ask for permission very often. Yue is kind, thoughtful, and has already made a promise to someone else. It builds up in the background of every scene they share. When she finally gives up her human life to save the Moon Spirit, it is a real moment of weight. She can’t be saved by Sokka. Being helpless leaves a mark on a character who sees himself as useful, and the show doesn’t try to erase it right away.
What’s easy to forget is that Yue doesn’t go away when she dies. She comes back from time to time as the moon and watches over Sokka in a way that never quite turns sentimental. The writers of Avatar did a great job with this small detail, which is something that isn’t always given credit for.
Suki comes into the story much earlier, in the fourth episode of Book One. However, the story is more of a lesson for her at that point than a love story. Sokka shows up on Kyoshi Island with his usual mix of confidence and lack of knowledge. He makes some rude comments about female warriors and is then quickly beaten up by the group he thought was weaker than them. Suki is the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, and she doesn’t like to get angry. But she doesn’t let him off the hook either. The way she treats him with patience feels like it was earned, not planned.
Sokka and Suki’s relationship grows slowly in Books Two and Three, which is one reason why some fans don’t give it enough credit. Their main plot isn’t very interesting. They get things right every time. Sokka’s choice to break Suki out of the Boiling Rock, which is one of the Fire Nation’s most secure prisons, says more about how he feels than anything he says. He puts everything at risk. Words don’t always matter as much as actions.
Fans’ long-term preference for Princess Yue might have something to do with timing. Many viewers found Avatar during its first season and became interested in it right around the Northern Water Tribe arc. Right away, Yue’s story makes you feel sad, is beautifully animated, and is tragic in a way that sticks with you. On the other hand, Suki spends a lot of the story off-screen or in the background. People had already formed feelings for her by the time Book Three gave her real weight.
That being said, Suki may be the more fully developed character when it comes to Sokka’s growth. He is pushed in important ways by her. She can fight just as well as him, comes back faster than he usually thinks, and has no desire to get smaller so he can feel bigger. Before, Sokka told a group of top warriors not to feel bad because he was the best in his village. That person would not have been able to stay with her for five minutes without changing. It doesn’t have to in the later version.
When you watch the whole show, you get the feeling that Sokka’s girlfriend arc is more about what he learns than who he chooses. Yue taught him that he can’t always plan for losses. Suki taught him that showing respect doesn’t mean giving in. Together, they turned the nervous, strutting kid who first showed up on the ice into someone much more interesting.
He stays with Suki as his girlfriend until the end of the original series. It’s never clear if that went on into the years that The Legend of Korra covers; Sokka only shows up for a short time, and his personal life is never shown. There is a hole in the Avatar universe that was meant to be there. Fans can figure things out on their own. But from what we know about Sokka from the show, it’s hard to see him letting her go.
