Zuko bothered me a bit too.
First he's bad, but devoted to catching the avatar.
Then his uncle starts to fix him. He starts to open up to new ideas.
Then he starts to see the other side of things first hand as a refugee in earth kingdom.
Then he heel turns, but in an unconvincing way.
Then he realizes that there is more to life than earning his father's respect and that the fire nation is not > all.
Finally fully commits to being good.
I don't know something in particular about the half hearted way he heel turns irks me something fierce. He had a decision to make, side with his Uncle or side with Azula. With his uncle having worked on him for 2 seasons already in terms of seeing the world differently it just didn't make sense to me that he would side against Iroh unless he was resolved in his choice, which wasn't the case at all. He could have chosen then and there to be a good guy and it could have been awesome. Or he could have accepted his choice then and there to pursue the avatar at all costs despite his uncle's teachings. And that would have been amazing too. But that point in the series he had both paths laid on in front of him VERY clearly and I just couldn't see any reason for him to not be ready to dedicate himself to one or the other.
And then it was 'cool' when he was a good guy at the end and the whole Zuko vs Azula dynamic was sweet too, but I just didn't like how they handled his choices at that particular point. Maybe it would have been better if it didn't seem like his uncle was being extremely effective in bringing Zuko around. Zuko could have been more resistant maybe and it would have felt more true for him to do what he did.
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