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Avatar the Last Airbender. An iconic show that cannot be described in a single sentence. There are so many positive elements from the show, such as the plot, characters, world-building, conflict, and everything else. It is almost perfect. If I wrote about all the good things in this show, we would be sitting here for the whole day. Instead, I am just going to talk about one character from the show I really admire, and that is good old Uncle Iroh.
“Perfection and power are overrated. I think you are wise to choose happiness and love”
Everyone who is familiar with the ATLA universe, whether you have watched a good amount of the show or are a hardocre stan, loves Uncle Iroh. Before we dive into Uncle Iroh and what makes him so special, here is a quick explanation of the Avatar the Last Airbender universe. In the show there are 4 nations: fire, earth, water, and air and a few people in each of the nations can “bend” each of the elements. This means they can manipulate or summon these elements and use them in combat, day to day life, healing, architecture etc. For an explanation of what bending is, you can watch this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIwxUDwH1J4.
The villain is the Fire Nation as they have waged war on all the other three nations in an attempt to establish their empire. Now Uncle Iroh is part of the Fire Nation’s royal family and is the uncle to the Prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko; however, Uncle Iroh is actually not a villain but rather someone who saw through the Fire Nation’s wickedness, through his experiences in the past, and wanted to get away from it. He decided to channel his energy into helping his nephew Zuko discover his own destiny and purpose. Uncle Iroh is shown as the comedic, wise and caring old figure who enjoys cracking mediocre jokes and drinking tea and feels like a side character. However the more you get into the show and realize his challenging life and emotional backstory you really start to feel for him. You understand his intent, his advice, and his purpose. You really establish a soft spot in your heart for his character. For those of you who have watched Avatar, and are familiar with the episode Tales of Ba Sing Se: The Tale of Iroh and “Leaves from the Vine”, know how emotional that scene is. Uncle Iroh is the person we all strive to be when we are older. The person who anyone can rely on, is content with their life, has a knack on comedy and gives purposeful advice.
Some of my favorite words of wisdom from him are “Perfection and power are overrated. I think you are wise to choose happiness and love” or “ good times make for good memories but bad times make for good lessons” an another one “ pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame.” Uncle Iroh draws on his experiences to help others and gives advice. Some of my favorite sciences involve him giving advice to Toph, forgiving Zuko (watch the show to understand), his Ba Sing Se tale and all of his comedic yet bada** moments. Uncle Iroh is the character where once you get to know him, it's practically impossible to hate him. He represents what it means to be human. Flawed and imperfect yet developing, wholesome and humorous.