interesting that iroh says this to zuko in an episode that deals explicitly with authority brainwashing. also interesting that i’m depressed now!
also interesting that this is the angriest we’ve seen iroh yet, and the closest we’ve come to him calling his brother out.
i mean, sure, some of the anger is obviously him being afraid that his second son nephew will literally stubborn himself to death. but the crux of the argument, the emotional heart, is him pretty much explicitly telling zuko “your father did not do well by you, and it hurt you in the past, and it’s still hurting you now.”
iroh is fucking furious with his brother and at this point he’s barely even hiding it
wait god this makes it so much better when zuko asks if iroh thinks he should try to get along with azula because she’s family and iroh is like “uh no she’s the worst.” it’s like
zuko: you’re gonna tell me that family’s important and i have to love her because she’s my sister, right?
iroh, who is trying to gently help zuko realize that his brother is an absolute moral chemical fire of a human being & doesn’t deserve zuko’s devotion:
I’ve touched on it before but, one of the things Avatar does really well is subvert tropes to give charactere agency. While the Gaang tries to go by the book by getting people to rebel, and rise up, they always fail, with it being the job of the characters that they are trying to inspire to rise up, rebel, and fight, and to do so for their own reasons.
It would have been so easy to just have people like Yue, the guys from “Imprisoned,” Toph in “The Blind Bandit,” and Mai in “The Boiling Rock” and “The Beach” listen to Sokka, Zuko, Katara, or Aang, but they don’t. They’re all allowed to make their own decisions, on their own time, for their own reasons.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Katara doesn’t just forgive Zuko because he wants her to. She’s allowed to take her time.
The people in “Zuko Alone’ don’t just forgive Zuko because he did a good thing. No, they’re still very much prejudiced. This consequently ties in well with Zuko’s arc since he doesn’t get to be viewed as some kind of Fireman Savior–an image of the Fire Nation created by Fire Nation imperialists like Sozin.
This is in contrast to the people from “The Painted Lady.” While the villagers reject the Gaang at first because of who they are, they eventually warm up to them. But again, it’s not automatic. They change their minds gradually, and they’re allowed to do it on their own.
one of my favorite things about a:tla is that everyone knows uncle iroh. everyone. the blind girl you just added to the gang? had tea with him once. that flower seller? yup. your ten-ton six-legged five-stomached flying bison? probably. that girl on the streets of ba sing se? he sent his nephew on a date with her. a whole tribe of thought-to-be-extinct sun warriors? nbd. your cranky waterbending master? they go way back. that dramatic deserter? your bro’s sword instructor? your 112 year old nuthouse friend? the next avatar 54 years later? sure
midnight-in-town 