Every Potterhead, who has completed J.K. Rowling’s classic work of literature is aware of how Draco Malfoy had all the makings of a legendary redemption arc. He could have easily transformed from a privileged, brainwashed kid, into a grown up realizing his family’s ideals are rotten. But sadly, Rowling had different plans.
While this redemption arc could have been a perfect setup for Draco’s dramatic, tear-jerking betrayal of the Dark Lord, J.K. Rowling instead, decided to make him slightly less awful than his father. So, what could have been Draco’s Zuko moment from Avatar: The Last Airbender, ended up becoming a missed opportunity in the Harry Potter franchise.
Draco Malfoy—the redemption arc that never was
Throughout the Harry Potter books, if there was one thing that kept recurring was Draco Malfoy’s scope for redemption. While the character was shown struggling, torn between the impossible expectations of his family and the horrors of Voldemort—Draco was also offered multiple opportunities to redeem himself.
Whether it was the deadly mission of killing Dumbledore (that he secretly didn’t want to), or helping the Death Eaters invade Hogwarts (that he could have easily evaded), J.K. Rowling had created multiple perfect opportunities to give Draco a defining moment. But despite every possibility, Rowling seemingly pushed Draco to stand with the darkness within.
In the books, Draco could have secretly helped Harry, betrayed his father, or refused to be Voldemort’s pawn. Could you imagine if instead of just hesitating at the Malfoy Manor or lowering his wand at the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco actually turned against his family? Goosebumps, right?
But J.K. Rowling chose Draco to remain stuck in a moral limbo. While she never turned Draco into a monster like his father Lucius Malfoy, Rowling never truly made him brave enough to break free, either. So in the end, he doesn’t change from the rest of his family—he just becomes a slightly less terrible version of Lucius.
You can call it maturity with age, but not a redemption arc!
J.K. Rowling missed out on Draco’s Zuko moment
So now, fans are frustrated on Reddit over the repeated missed opportunities for Draco Malfoy’s redemption. One user even pointed out how the Harry Potter character could have had his own Zuko moment from Avatar: The Last Airbender—but instead, J.K. Rowling left Draco to linger in the gray zone—neither fully redeemed nor truly lost.
u/ArtificerRook commented,
Draco never actually changes, but imagine if he had. Draco turning on his family could have been another Zuko moment. Instead Draco goes on to just be slightly less shitty than his father.
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Zuko had one of the best redemption arcs in all of fiction. He was initially introduced as a villain, the exiled son of Fire Lord Ozai, who sought to capture Avatar Aang to regain his father’s approval. However, with time Zuko began questioning everything—his father, his nation, and his very identity.
This led him to make a choice. As Zuko realized he had been on the wrong side all along, he actively turned against his father, joined the Avatars, and worked to redeem his past mistakes. Now, J.K Rowling could have tapped into this arc for Draco, leading him to defy his family and stand against Voldemort.
But unfortunately, Rowling left Draco to remain a coward who backed off when things got too intense. So while the author gave us a hint of his internal struggles, she never let it fully unfold. So, while Draco’s Zuko moment was right there, waiting to happen, Rowling refrained from letting him leap.
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