Iroh is one of the most beloved characters in the Avatar the Last Airbender series. In the show, he represents this sense of wisdom and guidance for Zuko, which allows him to become the amazing character he is. While this is what makes his character great, it also overshadows him as a person and how truly incredible his philosophy and ways of life are. So in this article, I hope to help you better understand how great of a character Iroh truly is.
Iroh is first introduced to us in season 1 episode 1, where he shown to be the uncle of prince Zuko of the fire nation. In this first episode, we don’t get a great sense of his character, and he is shown as a peaceful, fun, tea loving old man who is travelling with his nephew to capture the Avatar. Later in the series however is when we honestly see how well thought out his character was. When in Ba Sing Se, we see that Iroh once had a son who died while he was leading a takeover of the city. This left Iroh distraught and made him go back to the Fire Nation to recover from this loss. This made him lose face in the Fire Nation because it looked like a cowardly move. This allowed his brother Ozai to become Fire lord instead of him. During this sequence when we learn of Iroh’s past, we see all the pain he has felt through his life. In a touching moment, Iroh breaks down crying in front of his son graves while singing a song from his past that reflects his feelings of wanting his son to “come home” or in other words, still be alive.
During this time, Iroh is also trying to teach Zuko how to implement techniques used by other nations. We find out that after his failure to capture Ba Sing Se, Iroh traveled the world trying to understand the other nations and their cultures, values, and fighting styles before returning home. This allowed him to create the technique known as lighting redirection, derived from a water bending style. During this time, he also encountered the last dragons alive. The species was thought to have gone extinct after the Fire Nation hunted them for sport. When he returned from his travels, he claimed that he had killed the last dragons and therefore he gained the nickname Dragon of the West. Although, we later find out that he in fact did not kill the last dragons and instead learned how to use fire bending without hatred to fuel his flames. This wasn’t something that people thought was possible because people saw fire as the element of power, while it was originally supposed to be the element of energy and life.
After Zuko trains more, he has another attempt to capture the Avatar, this time with the help of his sister Azula. Iroh finally intervened and discouraged Zuko from chasing the Avatar anymore and looking for purpose outside of what his father told him was his purpose. Unfortunately, this leads to Iroh being captured and seen as a traitor to the Fire Nation for allowing the Avatar to escape after fighting Zuko, giving the Avatars team enough time to grab him and retreat. This doesn’t discourage Iroh though, as he begins training in jail so when he escapes he can fight the Fire Lord and bring peace back to the four nations.
Even after all this time, Iroh has not been shown to be an incredible fighter, so his plans of fighting Fire Lord Ozai seem to be in vain, until we see Iroh break out of prison during a time when fire benders had no power. During this scene of him escaping, he manages to beat multiple guards and rips through solid metal bars to escape his cell. When Zuko arrives at the prison, planning on helping his uncle escape, he sees the scene and realizes that he needs to find the Avatar to teach him fire bending. During this character arc for Zuko, we don’t see much of Iroh. Although, we do see that Iroh’s wisdom has somewhat rubbed off on Zuko, with Zuko often trying to give advice to help the team.
While preparing the Avatar to fight the Fire Lord, Zuko and the team arrive at a White Lotus camp. Here he realizes that the White Lotus is a secret organization planning on restoring peace to the four nations. He also finds Iroh again and realizes that Iroh had been one of the founding members of the White Lotus. While discussing the plan for how to take down the Fire Nation, Iroh reveals that he never planned on taking over the throne when Ozai was defeated, rather he wanted Zuko to takeover the throne to represent a new era in the Fire Nation. After this dialogue, Zuko and Iroh have a heart to heart in which Zuko apologizes to Iroh for betraying him and Iroh reassures him that he was always sure that Zuko would do the right thing and help the Avatar.
During the fight against the Fire Nation, Iroh displayed the true potential of fire bending and was able to destroy a supposedly indestructible wall that was miles away, with a singular attack. After this amazing attack with the help of the White Lotus, Iroh was able to take back Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation. This was a major shift in the battle, allowing for the Avatar to fight Fire Lord Ozai without having to worry about the city. Even if the Avatar was to fail, Iroh was considered the second choice to fight him, proving how strong Iroh truly is.
After the final battle, the story of Iroh doesn’t really continue. However, the effect he had on the story was significant and Zuko wouldn’t have his legendary redemption arc if Iroh hadn’t been created. Iroh was a perfect example of someone who is able to change, and by far had the greatest fire bending technique in the entire show. Iroh’s strength and his effect on the story often overshadows how truly astounding his character is. Iroh had the opportunity to inherit the Fire Nation and rule the world in tyranny like Ozai, but instead he decided that even if it meant him losing all of his power and influence, it was worth it for a world without discrimination, murder, and fear. Without Iroh, the Avatar world would not be at peace and his sacrifices led to a better world for everyone.
