Why Iroh is the Heart of Avatar: The Last Airbender

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] there is a moment in book 2 episode 20 of Avatar The Last Airbender the crossroads of destiny where Aang and Iroh two characters who don't interact all that much share a lengthy conversation Aang is second-guessing himself upset that he chose friendship over gaining more strength as the avatar Iroh replies simply protection and power are overrated I think you are wise to choose happiness and love I will admit that this is a really simple line and it's given as a quick word of encouragement to our young hero not something the show really chooses to linger on but I've always thought it was a really poignant moment and in a way I think this line sums up iroh's entire philosophy of life it may not be complex but looking at the Fire Nation as a whole and especially what his family specifically believes it's easy to see how bold of a philosophy it really was for him to embrace it's a way of life that he's had to fight for and it's basically what he's been trying to impart to Zuko since the very first episode of the show I think that's pretty much all there in the show's writing but unintentionally adding to the quiet power of this moment for me is something they never could have planned for sadly it just so happened that the crossroads of Destiny was the very last episode to feature Mako in the role of Iroh as he died from cancer less than five months before it aired the actor had a long and successful career in TV film and even video games that all started way back in the 1950s so I don't want to reduce his legacy down to just avatar but I do think there's something really appropriate and if I'm being super earnest here kind of beautiful about the fact that Iroh stated his beliefs as plainly as he ever would in Makos last episode for Iroh being born into the world of Fire Nation royalty choosing happiness and love over power is something that almost certainly didn't come easy and if there's one thing I want to explore in this video it's the life of Iroh and all the regret loss and love that the character embodies there's nothing new about the concept of the old wise master mr. Miyagi Yoda splinter you could sit here in lists examples all day the older figure that imparts lessons to younger characters with their own idiosyncratic unique perspectives it's an enjoyable trope but pretty standard stuff if that's all uncle IRA was I seriously doubt I would be making the YouTube videos about him over a decade later I think there's two things that really set him apart here his backstory and who exactly he's mentoring let's start with that last part Zuko is definitely not the Ninja Turtles or Luke Skywalker at the beginning of the series it's pretty clear that he doesn't have much respect for Iroh or think there's much the old general could teach him unlike Luke he's not looking for guidance there's a scene in early book 2 where Zuko lashes out at Iroh in anger he tells him he's a quote lazy distrustful shallow old man who's always been jealous of his brother now I don't think Zuko actually believes this he's just really upset with Iroh in that moment but I do get the sense that Zuko is basically just repeating what his family and maybe even most of the Fire Nation think about Iroh after having a vision that he could conquer bossing say he led his troops to defeat and his own son to his death this not only changed how I reviewed himself and probably the imperialist nation of the Fire Nation but how the Fire Nation viewed him as we see throughout the show the leadership is absolutely cutthroat and his brother was able to take advantage of this usurping his older brother and ascending above him so to his own people he's a failure and to a lot of the rest of the world he's probably just another Fire Nation monster that's where we find IRA at the getting into the show even if the viewer doesn't know it at first a lot of conflict and sadness is hiding just under the surface of the character in those early episodes which I think actually makes them a lot better on re-watch even if the show didn't really kick into high gear until halfway through season 1 or so I've already made an entire video about the tales of Ba Sing se and Iroh is very short but powerful segments in it I will try to remember to put a link to that in the description in case you want to check it out but I think I still have to talk about Ba Sing se a bit here because I ro has a very interesting connection to it when IRA lights his incense and sings leaves from the vine he's wandered outside the city walls to the spot where his son died in battle a battle of course of IRAs own making there's a reason that the character ends the series running a humble tea shop in Ba Sing se I think in some small way he's trying to find some peace in what he did to this place and what it did to his son setting up a tea shop and serving the people of the city is not a grand gesture but it's a very IRA one pleasant enjoyable and unassuming in short the simple life being the firstborn son of a powerful nation he never really had that and as he's gotten older and suffered losses it's clear that that's what he now values the most one of the things I like about Iroh is how completely bored he is by the world-spanning ambitions of people like his brother and early Zuko Wars that cause needless suffering the constant backstabbing and palace intrigue I wrote abandoned all of that only staying active in it at all I think because he saw the potential in his nephew to become a better person and great see avatar the last airbender was never gonna end with Iroh taking the throne that's just never who the character was and his brother used that to his advantage in the end though that was clearly for the best Iroh even as a younger man invading bossing say always seemed to have a conscience something his brother and doula clearly lacked and without him Zuko would have kept doing everything in his power to repress his own and be the cold blooded war machine that his family expected him to be Iroh changed all of that so he may have lost the throne but he pretty clearly ended up winning war and he did it by caring about tea and a good meal more than warfare and most importantly happiness and love more than power maybe that's a bit corny but in this context I don't think so because I rarely stood on a soapbox and delivered big speeches instead he just cared about Zuko and refused to stop even when Zuko lashed out or acted like a childish jerk in the end it was that love something Zuko never got from his father or a sister that won the day and changed the Fire Nation for good proving once and for all that Azula and especially the Fire Lord himself definitely underestimated the old man plus now he just gets to follow his dreams and make the best he in all of Ba Sing se so I don't think anyone won out bigger than Iroh we've got a new apartment new furniture and today's the grand opening of your new tea shop things are looking up uncle so we all know things are a little crazy right now which is why it's never been a better time to follow iroh's example and try to help people out a great and easy way to do that is by going to the link in the description and downloading tab for a Cause tab for a cause is a browser extension that donates to a charity of your choice every time you open a new tab without costing you anything that means that you can help people get clean water through water org just by browsing as you normally would which is pretty amazing tappers have now raised more than four hundred and fifty thousand dollars for charity through tab for cause there's a ton of great charities on there and it's super easy to get started you can find everything you need in the description below here's a special tip for the fellas and girls who have not already joined Captain midnite new 1940 play patrols you'd better hurry up and join at once because there's a big adventure ahead the thing to do now is to get started because we're going to have not only barrels of fun but loads of free gifts and prizes

Channel: captainmidnight

Views: 323,619

Keywords: Avatar, Avatar the last airbender, the last airbender, iroh, uncle iroh, aang, captain midnight, zuko, ba sing se, tales of ba sing se, fire nation, nickelodeon, cartoon, review, recap, leaves from the vine, little soldier boy, captainmidnight, azula, book 2

Id: hfaOC5VbNKo

Length: 8min 54sec (534 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 16 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/WanHohenheim]

"Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Light Iroh the Wise?"