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Uncle Iroh is one of the wisest characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender as well as The Legend of Korra, returning to offer sage advice to Avatar Korra in the Spirit World. Although he initially follows his father’s and grandfather’s wishes to conquer the world, the death of his son transforms him from warmonger to philosopher.
Iroh spends most of his time hanging around Zuko, treating the banished prince with the respect he deserves, despite receiving constant backlash for his efforts. However, Zuko eventually comprehends the value of his uncle’s wisdom, leaving his title behind to follow the Avatar. To say that Iroh has a monumental impact on his nephew’s life would be putting it mildly.
10 Balance Is Necessary For Harmony
Iroh understands the necessity of balance, whether in one’s personal life, society, or the world at large. He orders Zhao not to harm the moon spirit Tui, claiming that even the Fire Nation needs the moon to survive.
Iroh’s knowledge of Lightning Redirection best exemplifies his comprehension of harmony, explaining to Zuko that to successfully redirect lightning without getting injured, one must channel the thought process of Waterbending. Iroh concedes that all four elements bear similar traits and that they help balance each other out.
9 The Answers To Life Don’t Exist
Iroh has taken a long time to accept his inability to change the past, especially after his son, Lu-Ten, dies, but his suffering transforms him into an incredibly patient man.
Moreover, he is happy to live life without demanding anything from it because his experiences have taught him that hope is a superior alternative to expectation. Although Iroh attempts to drill this concept into Zuko’s head, he also realizes that his nephew will gradually come to the same conclusion over the course of his struggles.
8 Destiny Is A Matter Of Choice
Zuko’s desire for honor is so intense that it is parodied within the series itself, particularly in the Ember Island play where the actor playing the banished prince repeatedly moans about his honor.
Iroh’s gentle words have no effect on Zuko for the first couple of years because the latter is simply unable to forget his public humiliation at the hands of the man he used to respect the most. However, Iroh allows Zuko to discover his destiny all by himself, thereby proving that a person’s destiny is in their own hands and nobody else’s.
7 Love Will Always Win Out
Zuko is rude and aggressive towards his uncle for a long time, partly because Iroh serves as a reminder of everything that he has lost. Zuko makes countless blunders, several of them terrible, but none so grievous that Iroh would push him away forever.
In fact, his uncle plainly states that there is nothing Zuko could have done that would make Iroh hate him because the older man believes in his nephew’s capacity for redemption. Zuko is in tears when he meets his uncle after the betrayal at Ba Sing Se, but Iroh merely expresses gratitude that his nephew’s emotional core is finally stable.
6 Patience Is A Virtue
Iroh is too old and too smart to succumb to the youthful thrills of instant gratification. Where Zuko demands an immediate solution to his honor problem, Iroh plays the extremely long game concerning his goals.
He tries to convey his philosophy of patience through Pai Sho, but Zuko doesn’t quite grasp the meaning behind his uncle’s abstract sayings until later. Iroh reveals his trump card upon the arrival of Sozin’s Comet, using his magnified Firebending to retake the city of Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation.
5 The Truth Is Always Subjective
Zuko’s hunt for honor is, in actuality, a search for the truth, to find his identity in a family that fails to recognize him for who he is: a compassionate soul who places the well-being of his citizens above cheap military tactics.
Because his father forces him into exile, Zuko mistakenly believes that his crown prince role is more relevant than anything else. Iroh helps his nephew come to terms with his new reality, opening up the young man’s perspective to include the entire world.
4 Rest And Relaxation Are Essential
Iroh is known for his casual approach towards any given situation, prompting Zuko to call him lazy and useless on dozens of occasions. Iroh doesn’t allow words to hamper his good mood, however, because he knows the importance of rest and relaxation.
In one scene, the old man even invites his nephew into a hot spring to “soak away [his] troubles.” Unfortunately, Zuko is wound up far too tightly to take Iroh’s well-meaning advice, at least in the first two seasons.
3 Battles Don’t Need To End In Death
The Fire Nation’s hostile philosophy impacts Zuko’s own perception of combat, explaining why his fighting style is geared towards dominating his opponent. Iroh, on the other hand, is a lot like Avatar Aang in the sense that both of them prefer to finish their battles without anyone dying.
Iroh always puts his money where his mouth is, using his martial techniques to disarm or incapacitate opponents rather than injure or kill them. Ozai refuses to learn humanity from his big brother, but Zuko doesn’t make the same mistake.
2 Dignity Comes In Many Forms
After Azula’s plan to trick Iroh and Zuko into captivity fails, the uncle-nephew pair are left stranded in the Earth Kingdom without much to their names. While his uncle has no problem “dancing for his dinner,” Zuko finds the entire experience utterly demeaning, which is why he begins stealing food and other items.
Iroh doesn’t let anything grind him down, going so far as pretending to lose his mind when incarcerated in the Fire Nation so he can secretly train his body to break out of prison on the Day of Black Sun.
1 Tea Is Love, Tea Is Life
Iroh’s fascination for tea borders on the gastronomic, and he is shocked when Zuko refers to his favorite drink as “hot leaf juice” and overhauls a tea shop in Ba Sing Se into the best in the entire city. The presence of tea in Avatar is largely symbolic, much like in the real world where complex tea ceremonies are an integral part of national cultures and traditions.
Iroh institutes a “National Tea Appreciation Day” in the Fire Nation when Zuko makes him the interim Fire Lord in the graphic novels, proving that a man’s love for hot leaf juice should never be underestimated.
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