Leaves From The Vine: Why Iroh is the BEST father figure

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a cartoon like no other. Uncle Iroh is a fan favorite and in this video essay, we'll dive into his fatherly relationship with Zuko and Lu Ten.
*Plays Little Soldier Boy on repeat*

[Liuss]

I was tired when I recorded this okay 😔
Gymnopedie no. 1 is the song name btw btw
Ty for 300k+ views <3

[mak]

That line: 'I was never angry with you, I was sad because I thought you lost your way' that is the very essence of what it means to be a parent.

[johnathonjordon]

Heres a sad fact:

The voice actor of uncle iroh had cancer well recording this and he knew he was going to die so really he was saying good bye to us and those were real tears not him voice acting.. true legend

[kenvaill]

Iroh lost one son, imagine how he felt when one came back

[annahovet]

Zuko and Iroh’s relationship is my favorite thing about the entire series.

[ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣΛΑΧΑΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ]

One more interesting facet of tales of ba sing se, is the three people he helps, is a baby that needs comforting, a bunch of kids that need to learn to take responsibility for their actions, and a young man needing guidance to face life.

He goes through the three stages of fatherhood, before reaching his dead son.

[TheNightWatcher]

I heard someone say once, “great fiction is when lies are used to tell the truth.” Iroh isn’t a real person, but the emotions within him are very real, and that makes him real to us all.

[Neutral_Tired]

Iroh has a flat character arc, an arc where, instead of the character changing, they change the people around them.

[Neutral_Tired]

The drawing of Lu Ten was a drawing of Mako, Iroh's VA, in his younger years

[Steelin_Gainz]

I feel like if Anakin had an Uncle Iroh, the whole Star Wars story would be different

[jessp]

I love that this “kids show” is still making us grown ass adults cry years later. Thanks for wearing your heart on your sleeve man! 💕

[bobowon]

I cried when zuko came back to iroh and iroh accepted him without any reservation. No judgement, he just accepted that zuko made some mistakes and had grown from them.

[redfireeverstar]

It takes great strength to save a city that took his son's life, very few could do that.

[Megacooler_]

Iroh is someone I wish I knew irl. One of the best written characters of all time.

[bbfssil]

My goal in life is to be an uncle like iroh. I want to direct my nephew to be the best person he can be. Despite how negative his mum is n how absent he's father is

[greatminds]

This made me tear up. Iroh stayed for Zuko because he wanted to protect the goodness that was already there. To prevent Zuko from becoming something that he was not.

[deematmok]

‘You don’t have to be a father by blood, to be a father that loves’

[luyandamngadi]

Iroh is a perfect example of handling Grief properly

[ChibiRyo]

"I don't need any calming tea" Zuko said calmly

[Zeknif]

Listening to you talk... it sounds like you are holding back tears the entire time you are trying to speak.