I love how TLA's writers manage to do these amazing tidbits of cinematrographic psychology, but they end up wasting it because they don't execute it properly. Same deal with Zuko. His backstory reveals he supposedly cares about his people by opposing the asshole that wanted to use them as cannon fodder. But in reality his opinion was just a random contrarian insult because he felt freaked out and enraged by the offensive military suggestion to use their younger rookie troops as cannon fodder.
Same deal with him wanting to go back home, because he's a spoiled brat. We don't even get to see what's so great about going back home, what's his reason. His mother isn't waiting for him, his girlfriend is boring and soulless like him. His sister and father hate him and he has no strong feelings for them. Because if his objection have had any merit he wouldn't treat his crewmen like shit(which ended up selling him out to Zhao), he wouldn't have such a shit attitude towards everyone, he wouldn't disregard Aang's proposal to team up when he as the blue spirit saved him for selfish reasons(replying with a fireball attack, great plan Zuko). Zuko instead of courageously/consciously choosing his path, has to be constantly groomed by his Uncle and told his grandfather was avatar Roku to make him finally switch sides. After he already sent an assassin after Aang.
TLA has realistic behaviour and logic for the characters, but ultimately boring and unremarkable personalities, like most of the dialogue. Not to mention they sometimes destroy the complete suspension of disbelief by garbage like Azula taking over Ba Sing Se.
Ozai and Roku's unremarkable and rather pathetic backstory that just goes back to the idea that everyone is an average joe, a normal child, an average introvert, a boring grandpa, a tight mother wannabe, a rebellious child, a insincere happy person hiding her cowardice, a duo of psychopaths power-hungry losers pretending to be composed and calculated.