Film Theory: Is Uncle Iroh ACTUALLY a War Criminal?! (Avatar the Last Airbender)

After watching this, you may NEVER see Uncle Iroh the same ever again! Yes, we're putting the lovable firebender from Avatar: The Last Airbender - and a bit of The Legend of Korra - on trial for his crimes. No, we're not just talking about stealing an extra cup of tea from Aang, Toph, Sokka, Katara, and Zuko; we're talking about REAL crimes... war crimes! Is Uncle Iroh really a war criminal? Or should we set him free?
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
*Credits:*
Writers: Brett Turley, Forrest Lee
Editors: JayskiBean, Alex "Sedge" Sedgwick, Nick Cramer, AbsolutePixel
Sound Designer: Yosi Berman
Thumbnail Artist: DasGnomo
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Need Royalty Free Music for your Content? Try Epidemic Sound.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Is Uncle Iroh a War Criminal? (0:00)
Dishonorable Tactics (6:12)
Weapons of Excessive Pain (9:16)
Destruction of Property (12:05)
Killing Civilians (14:22)
Iroh's Other Crimes (17:34)
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
#Avatar #AvatartheLastAirbender #Iroh #UncleIroh #LegendofKorra #TheLegendofKorra #Nickelodeon #Theory #FilmTheory

[FilmTheory]

🔥 Do you think Uncle Iroh is a war criminal?

[tylerblack]

What I always find funny is that Sokka is technically a war criminal since he rode in the War Balloon branded with the fire nations insignia

[Ivaylodr]

The dagger did show again. In the episode Zuko alone he gifted that dagger to the little boy, who lated used it against the bandits, but got caught and Zuko had to rescue him

[balzor_]

11:12 i liked how you said Bolin instead of toph because then it wouldn't be true😂😂

[NoahSimons-stez]

I love the fact that in the intro it says
„ made by Mathew Patrick“
A small reminder that he‘s still here with us❤️

[DerpKarp]

Iroh is like that uncle who is very cool but has a VERY disturbing background.

[EpicDave]

What I remember from Mat Pats war crime video on Game Theory is that the side that wins decides what a war crime is and whether to charge said person if they wanted to.

[Buzz]

I always thought we were supposed to understand that he was a reformed war criminal, and that his growth is what gives him the wisdom to help Zuko with his own redemption. I kinda assumed as a kid that Iroh would've done a repeat of what happened to the Air Nomads if his siege of BSS was successful and only losing his son made him realize the human cost of war.

[everythingigothere]

Not so fun fact, Sokka is officially a war criminal because at the northern air temple he use the insignia of the fire nation for surprise, balloon attack, which is specifically against the Geneva conventions

[novacorponline]

That last bit feels like a bit of a cop out. "You fought the war honorably in all ways but you were on the villain's team, and that's worse than any other crime that could be committed."

[atlasprime]

People often say there should be more people like Uncle Iroh, but what they often forget is that it took walking down the path he did to become what he is. The only thing remarkable about him is that he was able to see his wrong doing and not fall into despair and hatred when the most common people would. THAT’S the moment we should strive to be like Iroh. The rest of his good quality came from that one decision.

[chanceycakes]

"a question that's rattled Avatar fans for decades" is a sentence that made my knees ache
I can't be THAT old 😢

[louislamp]

I know it's just going over the basics of war crimes and similar, there is so much of this that translates to the real world right now. Thank you.

[xxspookshowxbabyxx]

"Avatar wouldn't show war crimes, it's a kids show!"

Avatar: *shows skeletal remains of Air Nomads in temple on screen for many seconds immediately after a flashback*

[matthewhalo]

thats part of why we love him and his character development. It took his son dying from his own war effort to fully realize that what he was doing. And from that we got the wise tea loving uncle we all know and love

[xDecimatedDreamx]

Thank you guys for creating such a relevant video in such a channel friendly way. I appreciate your continuing efforts in educating not only current theorists, but also teaching the next generation to think critically, research everything, never take things at face value and to always logically analyse the evidence.

[matityaloran]

12:39, the Outer Wall is explicitly there for military defence whereas the Inner Wall is the one that’s a cultural symbol

[mudnabowl]

Video(s) Idea:

so 4 years ago when the live action Avatar show was first announced Matpat made a “the Science of Waterbending” episode about how you could waterbend and talked about how each element is possible in real life, but he never made any follow up videos.

Now the show’s out and Lee can make them, but instead of just making the rest Lee can make a “the Science of Earthbending” as earth comes right after water in the Avatar cycle.

Then years later when Lee passes the channel to a new host they can tackle the science of Firebending. Then when they pass it on the next person can do Airbending completing the Film Theory Host Avatar Cycle [FTHAC if you will]

[abrahamedelstein]

I think Sokka and Azula are the only confirmed(as in, shown on screen, unambiguously doing it) War Criminals in the series, Fighting under a false flag and perfidious surrender respectively.

[mkdemigodzillawarrior]

I mean… the war has been going on for a century, so I feel like his siege of Ba Sing Se wouldn’t exactly be considered “a surprise.”