yeah Iroh is telling Zuko how to heal from a childhood of trauma and low threshold parenting, in language a 12. year old can absorb.
respect to this show for that,.

The “who are YOU, and what do YOU want?” speech honestly makes me think of Iroh regretting not following his own heart sooner, before his son died.

He probably went down the same path of following his dad’s wishes and expectations of him as the “heir”, keeping his own opinions and wants to himself… until Lu Ten died, and he realizes that he lost his son because he went along with someone else’s idea of “his destiny”, even though he knew better .

I don’t think Iroh was ever like Ozai or even Azula. I think he was like Zuko from the start. Except he’d done a better job of hiding his true feelings earlier on because he was more diplomatic than Zuko.

Later Aang said this to Korra: "Sometimes when you are at your lowest, you are open to the greatest change".

When Zuko questioned the pointless death of soldiers as a kid, leading to hus scar, he proved he was already wirthy of Iroh training him.

People keep forgetting that Iroh met Ran and Shaw and the Sun warriors well before Ba Sing Se ever happened, and chose to learn from them instead of trying to slay them like the Fire Nation honor tradition expected of him, and then told everyone he killed the last dragons just so they’d be left alone.

We know this because he already has the “Dragon” title that the Fire Nation gave to royals who were known to have killed a dragon. It also tells us that he had the Sun Warrior philosophy of firebending (Fire is life and warmth) instead of the corrupted “violence and domination” philosophy Sozin had pushed.

Iroh may have not officially abandoned the imperial project until Lu Ten died, but his rejection and quiet rebellion against his Nation’s philosophy and expectations of him started well before that. He probably thought he could “change the system from the inside” if he played their game, and didn’t realize the human cost of the game till his own son became the human cost so young. And then suddenly he realized that he’d led his son to give his life to a cause he didn’t even fully believe in, just to protect his status quo.

Zuko "I know what yer going to say uncle. She's my family and I should try to get along with her..."
Iroh "No. I was going to say she is crazy and she needs to go down!"
For Uncle Iroh of all people to say that truly means something.

The moment Mei and Tai Lee betrayed her, is the day her mental breakdown and spiral happened

Bro Iroh is truly 110% the coolest uncle ever.

Man, these 3 seasons are a masterclass of everything: character development, multi genre storytelling, animation, cinematography, music...
Also, teenager us: "I can fix her..."

The best moment about iroh Is when zuko comes back. I was never angry with you. I was sad Because I was afraid you lost your way

She actually killed Aang
Katara brought him back
Iroh was never like Ozai. He might have believed the cause was right as he was raised for it, but he was always a more honorable man than Ozai, he wasn't obsessed with harming and domination, their dad saw it, Ozai is a menace. In fact, his punishment was something other frowned upon.

There is a Film Theory that says that Iroh was honorable even before his son's death.  After losing the throne to his brother, he saw more clearly how corrupt the fire nation has become.

I think Azula had a curse, her mother saw her as a monster and feared her, her father saw her as a monster and used her. The girl was actually crazy, and just wanted someone to accepted her, Ozai did It in the most nefarious way

Like the man himself said, “She’s crazy and needs to go down.” Even he acknowledges that she needs to be stopped before she hurts anyone else.

Getting banished is probably the best thing that could've happened to Zuko, especially when there's someone like Iroh who volunteered to go into exile with him. At the same time, it's also probably the toughest path he ever had to take in his life. Because, figuring out what you want and choosing your own destiny is one of the hardest thing one needs to in life, especially when your past has been about living up to someone else's expectations. On surface, it seemed like punishment through exile. But it was this exile, accompanied by some wise advises, that allowed him his freedom.

How would I describe Azula? Terrible, yes! Strong, yes!  Insane, yes! Scary, yes, terrifying more accurately!

I 100% believe that Iroh would have forgiven her.

i love this analysis so much ! I never made the connection of the rigidness with Azula vs learning to be flexible with all the elements. So good and incredibly on point ! Thinking about it further, I don't think Azula was left behind purposely, though. I think a lot of people hold that against Iroh. The reason why Iroh tells Zuko "Azula is crazy and she needs to go down," is because he knows once you're at the top of that machine/system, its almost impossible to hear any voice of reason. Up until the point where Ozai discards Azula, the system was working for her. She received praise, she got what she wanted, the system was feeding her just as much as she was feeding it. Why would she let go of something that is working for her? Iroh was once in Azula's shoes. Maybe not as extreme in character, but still in a position of power at the top of the machine. It took him his own son's death to finally stop him from perpetuating the war. Iroh knew a rock bottom moment like that was not in the cards for Azula to force herself to look inward, so in that moment, there was no way to reach her or talk sense to her. In a way, Zuko's exile was a blessing, because it allowed him the space needed away from the system, at the bottom of the machine, to question it. I think that's why Iroh took this opportunity to nurture his nephew, he saw the way in which he would be given time to guide him. It is a tragedy for Azula. There was no way to really help her. This is why many people feel sorry for her at the end of the show, but ultimately, she was a danger to everyone because of her indoctrination. Iroh was definitely correct, and contrary to what I see many people say, I don't think it was out of character for him to say they gotta take her down. He was just being realistic about it all. And if I could offer an acorn to the people that think Azula was just left to suffer: this rock bottom of her's will allow her to potentially find herself, too. (I never read the comics or anything but realistically, she would have that choice.) Thank you for this video!!! 20 years of this show and there's always something more to learn from it !

The one thing that I think the show misses, utterly: Azula didn't have to be like this. She just was rewarded for it. Nobody ever told her she could be another way. Nobody ever stood up to Ozai for her. In Azula's own words "My own mother saw me as a monster". And lets be clear: Wise Iroh did it too.

The thing that makes me believe that even before Lu Ten death, Iroh was not as bad as Ozai is Ren and Shaw.
Iroh get his title of Dragon of the west because everyone believe he killed the last dragon but he hide them, and he have that title before Lu Ten death... And to make the dance of the dragons we needs to be two so probably Lu Ten was with him at this moment.