Uncle Iroh is a complex figure. As a general, he waged war with legendary skill. Yet as
Avatar: The Last Airbender concludes, he's become a mild-mannered tea shop owner. Here's
the full backstory of General Iroh, though beware of spoilers if you haven't seen the
show.
Iroh was born into the Fire Nation royal family, the firstborn son of Fire Lord Azulon. From
the day he was born, he was heir to the throne of the imperialist nation — and for a while,
he lived up to its bloodthirsty ideals.
Iroh was born to a world already at war, decades removed from Fire Lord Sozin's genocide of
the Air Nomads. As such, Iroh was immersed in the Fire Nation's propaganda from a very
young age: As Aang would encounter himself in a Fire Nation school, Iroh learned that
the Fire Nation was "civilizing" the world by bringing its greatness to the farthest
reaches of the globe. While he was always possessed of a casual demeanor, and frequently
balked at his younger brother Ozai's naked aggression, Iroh dutifully followed through
on what was expected of him. He became an incredibly talented firebender and joined
the army, eager to prove his prowess.
Iroh had become a legend by the time he marched on Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Nation.
In addition to his accomplishments on the battlefield, he'd become known as "The Dragon
of the West," as he was widely believed to have slain the last living dragon. Although
Iroh had secretly let the dragons he encountered live, his renown was such that no one had
reason to doubt his story. Thus he was entrusted to lead the siege of Ba Sing Se. Iroh led
his forces to the city's outer wall and began a siege that lasted for 600 days. Iroh was,
in fact, able to breach the city's outer walls and lead his troops into the city's farming
district.
However, the breach came at a terrible cost. Iroh's only son, Lu Ten, was killed by Earth
Kingdom forces. Devastated, Iroh ordered a retreat, ending the siege for good.
Iroh's power-hungry younger brother Ozai saw an opportunity in Iroh's tragedy. Ozai met
with their father, Fire Lord Azulon, and argued that he should be made next in line for the
throne.
"You must have realized, as I have, that with Lu Ten gone, Iroh's bloodline has ended."
Azulon was so offended by his son's lack of compassion that he ordered Ozai to kill his
own firstborn son, Zuko, so that he might know Iroh's pain. To protect Zuko, Ozai's
wife, Ursa, hatched a plan to kill Azulon and place Ozai on the throne. After it was
carried out, she was banished for treason. Ozai became Fire Lord, and Iroh accepted his
new role without a fight.
Rather than return to a capital where he was no longer needed, Iroh traveled the world
in search of greater meaning. He returned to the Fire Nation a changed man ... only
to find his nephew walking the same violent path he himself had once traveled.
Raised to believe in the never-ending glory of the Fire Nation, and desperate for his
father Ozai's approval, Zuko refused to learn from Iroh's new philosophy. He saw his uncle
as an old fool, someone who had quit on the Fire Nation out of personal weakness. To Zuko,
obsessed with proving himself worthy against his brilliant younger sister, Iroh represented
his greatest insecurities.
Despite this, Iroh held a soft spot for the young prince, doting on him as if he were
his own son. Foolishly, Iroh caved to the preteen prince's request to sit in on a war
council with the Fire Lord and his generals. There, Zuko spoke out against a particularly
bloody battle plan that hinged upon the intentional sacrifice of Fire Nation battalions. To pay
for his insult, Fire Lord Ozai demanded his son engage in an Agni Kai, a traditional Fire Nation duel.
Believing that he was going to face the general, Zuko eagerly agreed to the match. When he
arrived in the dueling arena, however, he was shocked to find his father facing him.
Zuko might have criticized the general, but by doing so in Fire Lord Ozai's war room,
he had most grievously insulted his father. Terrified, the prince refused to fight. Ozai
viewed this as further disrespect, branding his son a coward before burning his face and
banishing him from the Fire Nation.
Ozai told Zuko that he could return to the Fire Nation on one condition: That he find
and capture the long-lost Avatar. Iroh, grasping the sheer cruelty of his brother's actions,
offered to go along to help his nephew on this seemingly impossible quest. Iroh spent
the next several years urging Zuko to cool his heels, rightfully noting that Zuko had
the rest of his life to search for the Avatar.
"You know, Prince Zuko, destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going
to work out."
Iroh and Zuko did eventually find the Avatar in the South Pole, where he had been trapped
in ice for 100 years. As the Avatar fled to the Northern Water Tribe in order to find
a waterbending teacher, Zuko and Iroh followed close behind. However, they weren't the only
ones; another Fire Nation soldier, Admiral Zhao, was also looking to nab the Avatar
himself.
Zhao and Prince Zuko had clashed several times, with neither one gaining the upper hand. Eventually,
Zhao attempted to assassinate Zuko — but Zuko was able to escape, and stowed away on
Zhao's ship. Iroh, aware of Zuko's survival, played the bereaved uncle and traveled with
Zhao to the Northern Water Tribe. During the attack on the North, however, Zhao very nearly
threw the entire world into chaos, when he killed the mortal embodiment of the moon spirit.
As waterbenders become more powerful at night when they are aided by the moon, Zhao decided
that destroying the moon spirit would end this advantage forever.
Believing that Zhao had doomed the world, Iroh attacked him and his crew. Still a warrior
of legendary skill, Iroh was able to incapacitate all of Zhao's soldiers. Though the moon spirit
was restored by the actions of Princess Yue and the Fire Nation forces were turned back
by a massive show of Aang's power, word spread of Iroh's attack upon his own countrymen.
This made Iroh and Zuko fugitives from the Fire Nation.
Iroh and Zuko rid themselves of identifying clothes and insignia, even shearing away their
traditional topknots. Dressed like Earth Kingdom civilians and hiding their firebending abilities,
the pair traveled across the countryside incognito.
Unfortunately, beyond the fact that he was a fugitive from the world's most powerful
army, Iroh was being personally tracked by his terrifying and methodical niece Azula.
The heir to the Fire Nation throne was a sadist, and she inherited her father's cunning and
ambitious personality.
In a fight with Azula and the Avatar, Zuko was very nearly beaten. Iroh stepped in between
his niece and nephew and was badly wounded before Team Avatar and Zuko worked together
to repel Azula's attack.
Ultimately, Iroh and Zuko settled inside the city of Ba Sing Se, the very same metropolis
that Iroh failed to capture years before. They were able to sneak into the heavily guarded
city using fake passports that Iroh procured via his membership in the Order of the White
Lotus, a secret society that ignored the divisions of the Four Nations.
In Ba Sing Se, Iroh and Zuko began working in a tea shop where Iroh quickly gained renown
for his exceptional tea-brewing skills. Though the life satisfied Iroh, Zuko became increasingly
upset by what he saw as their stagnation. He wanted to get back to hunting the Avatar,
which was, he still believed, the only way to restore his honor.
Zuko did cross paths with the Avatar in Ba Sing Se, nearly stealing Appa, Aang's sky
bison, in order to lure him into a trap. But ultimately, he let Appa go after talking with
Iroh.
"You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured
the avatar at the north pole! You had him and then you had nowhere to go!"
At last, Zuko was beginning to understand that honor was not something to be bestowed
upon him by his father, but a quality to determine on his own.
Unfortunately, Zuko's sister, Azula, managed to track down Zuko, Iroh, and the Avatar in
Ba Sing Se. Well aware of her brother's insecurities, she tempted Zuko into attacking the Avatar
with the promise of their father's love — a temptation Zuko could not ignore. As Zuko
fought alongside his sister, Iroh fought against his niece and nephew, allowing Team Avatar
the time to make their escape. The Fire Nation received both siblings back with celebration:
The Avatar was presumed dead, Ba Sing Se had finally fallen to the Fire Nation, and Iroh,
the traitor, was behind bars.
But Iroh wasn't out of ideas. Locked away, he began a workout regime that would allow
him to escape. He also nudged Zuko, who furtively visited his uncle in an attempt to assuage
his own guilt, into studying his own ancestry. Slowly, Zuko pieced together the complex history
of his country — and the truth of his own destiny as a peace-maker.
Newly buff, Iroh managed to break out of prison. At the same time, Zuko, having finally realized
his rightful place at the Avatar's side, became Aang's firebending master. The end of the
war drew closer, eventually bringing Zuko and Iroh back together again. Zuko was overcome
with shame as he begged his uncle to forgive him — but as Iroh made clear, there was
nothing to forgive.
"I was never angry with you. I was sad because I was afraid you'd lost your way."
Free of his father's expectations, Zuko had at last become the young man his uncle had
always known he could become.
When Zuko suggested his uncle become Fire Lord, however, Iroh refused. Such an act,
he argued, would be seen as yet another ambitious power grab in a family history filled with
them. Instead, he suggested Zuko take up the mantle, providing a peaceful path forward
for the Fire Nation. As Aang set off to face Ozai and Zuko traveled to the Fire Nation
capital to duel his sister, Iroh and the other members of the Order of the White Lotus gathered
in a camp outside Ba Sing Se. At last, Iroh broke into the walled city, but as a liberator,
instead of a conqueror.
Following his nephew's coronation, Iroh remained in Ba Sing Se. There, he owned and operated
the Jasmine Dragon, the city's finest tea shop.
After the war, Iroh settled into his more peaceful life as Zuko worked on setting the
world to rights. Though he frequently wanted the advice of his longtime mentor, Zuko felt
it was best to leave Iroh alone. His uncle had finally attained the peaceful life he'd
spent decades striving for, and Zuko felt that bringing Iroh back into the politics
of the Fire Nation would be selfish.
However, Zuko taking the entirety of the Fire Lord mantle on himself did not sit well with
the still-young ruler. He exhausted himself and was brought to Iroh to recover. Iroh schooled
his nephew on how stubborn and foolish he was being, telling Zuko that he would always
be welcome in his uncle's home, no matter his reason for calling.
Zuko eventually called in that favor to an extreme degree. When Zuko set out to find
his long-lost mother, he asked Iroh to serve as interim Fire Lord in his stead. Fittingly,
Iroh's first action as Fire Lord was instituting a nationwide Tea Appreciation Day. He would
continue to help Zuko throughout his reign, serving as a decoy for the Fire Lord when
secret societies plotted against the new leader and acting as a Fire Nation envoy when the
homeland was too hectic for Zuko to feel comfortable leaving his royal seat.
Eventually, Iroh made the decision to leave the world behind and ascended to the spirit
plane, where he promptly set up a tea shop. There, Avatar Korra, the next incarnation
of the Avatar encountered Iroh while she was lost on a trip through a dark forest. Much
like he had done for his nephew, Iroh helped guide the young Avatar through her more complicated
emotions.
When Korra was at a low point and unsure of what to do, Iroh appeared again and explained
that the Avatar is not all-knowing. Just because she is a symbol of the world in harmony, that
didn't mean Korra was a god. Even when he was no longer on the mortal plane, Iroh remained
a wise mentor to those who needed him.
"Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights."
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