 Hey, hey, hey, welcome back. Today, we're gonna talk about everyone's favorite Saturday morning grandpa or uncle I guess would be more appropriate. That's right We're gonna finally dive into the sagely wisdom of Uncle Iroh and the immense spiritual knowledge that he teaches the main characters and Us in the process. So sit back grab your tsungi horn Heat up some jasmine tea and one more thing before we get started on the subject of wisdom We do a live event every full moon every month called the wisdom moon And the next one is coming up soon use the link below to see how you can join our live event And I hope to see you there now for those of you who haven't seen the show and don't get me started with you I mean it's on Netflix Iroh is the oldest main character that we follow actively throughout the series and is pretty much your Lao Tzu or mystical Buddha kind of guy He was a general of the Fire Nation and one of its greatest warriors having the title the dragon of the West After laying siege to the earth capital but retired after his son Luten was killed in action And he became disillusioned with the war effort when we first meet him though Iroh is introduced simply as the uncle of Zuko and acts as a father figure to him as well as a moral compass Giving him great advice which Zuko often ignores and accompanies him on his hunt for the avatar Slowly teaching him to accept his true nature and become more in balance with himself Despite the Fire Nation origin though. He's not actually a bad guy In fact, he's probably one of the beating moral hearts of the show who in stark contrast to Zuko is easy-going Friendly and dryly good-humored. Let's face it aside from Sokka He's probably at the top of the list for most people's favorite characters growing up Seriously when I'm old and gray I want to be just like Iroh and Gandalf and Dumbledore Anyways right from episode one we see Iroh's greatest virtue and wisdom Patience Iroh doesn't really have it easy on the show for in the beginning Zuko treats him really poorly Ignoring his advice and shouting at him a fair bit yet Iroh is there for him No matter what as he understands the importance of family and of being there for the people who matter Undoubtedly coming from the loss of his son as the series progresses and he gets more screen time We start to see the real wisdom behind his actions But season one really sets his groundwork up as embodying patience serenity and mindfulness Unlike most of the Fire Nation He's a man who sees beauty in the simplest aspects of life treating himself in post exile almost like an extended vacation to See the world as Colin McCannon points out Iroh is a great man sure But what makes him truly wise and believable is his journey He didn't start out as a mystical Buddha with life all figured out He was broken having lost the thing that mattered most to him his child The best part though and ultimate lesson is that Iroh let it define him in the best way He could have become bitter and angry But instead chose to live the remainder of his life to the fullest in an attempt to avoid the mistakes and regrets from earlier in his life In fact in tales of bossing say one of the best episodes ever It's suggested in that section where he sings little soldier boy that some of that great Optimism and generosity that he's known so well for are a form of post-traumatic growth from the loss of his son Like the waterbenders he embraces the concept of flow and learns to move with the tides of life rather than stay stagnant and bitter Speaking of waterbenders this brings us to some of his best attributes that countless people have learned from his quotes of everything He's probably best known for his words of wisdom as he freely advises most of the characters throughout the series One quote in particular is often brought up as one of his best when teaching Zuko in season 2 about lightning bending Iroh explains that it is important to draw wisdom from many different places If we take it from only one place it becomes rigid and stale Adhering to this philosophy is what eventually led him to develop lightning bending a technique never before seen by studying the push and pull Waterbending equally he tries to convince Zuko that Understanding earth bending is just as important when he's fire bending to develop a true understanding of the element Which amazingly Zuko then carries on to Aang during his training later on One of the best parts of season 3 is when we learn that Iroh lied about killing the last dragon to protect the ancient dragon masters Ren and Shah and even be their student through his compassion He was able to drive his firebending powers from vitality Compassion and life force rather than from rage as most of his contemporary firebenders did thereby gaining a power none of them had for us the wisdom is essentially the same when applied to any aspect of life if you learn about something from only one source Then you'll pick up all of the biases and influence from that source and never form your own opinion But if instead you look in different places for the inherent wisdom you'll end up being a much more whole and balanced individual I think Iroh's wisdom here stems from his understanding of the four nations as Balancers of each other his nature and the course of his life have brought him to a philosophy that embraces peacefulness harmony and mutual understanding rather than conflict But what's more it seems like he would much rather see the four nations live in mutual peace as opposed to a single fire nation rule as Each one brings something unique to the table people often compare him to a Buddha like figure I think that a much better comparison is Buddha I the Chinese monk who was often depicted as the fat or laughing Buddha rather than Siddhartha himself Ironically despite his carefree and detached attitude. He is something of a hedonist in his old age He likes fine pleasures fancy tea and seems to focus his life more around Relaxation and fun than he does around helping Zuko find a hang or engage in his nation's nationalistic war In fact, he often flirts with loads of girls in the series and is called handsome a couple of times and he loves it Maybe he watched a recent episode on materialism and took it to heart or perhaps more likely Maybe it's a natural result of his earlier years conquesting His soul has been liberated from war and now all he wants to be is Jolly Ironically though despite his focus on pleasure and relaxation He does remark that the best tea tastes delicious whether it comes in a porcelain pot or a tin cup Implying that it's what's nurtured inside that truly matters But he does also accidentally poison himself with a flower in that other episode too So when some you lose him the point is like the kids of avatar He doesn't take himself too seriously and takes the time to have moments of quiet in the face of a decision Now I was kind of joking before about him being like a big kid But the more you look at him he really kind of is and it's great While many of the series other major characters were maturing throughout the course of the show And of course, there's the 14 year old warlord to boot Iroh was already a changed man who already suffered tremendous loss and matured through it Reminding us that failure is simply a chance to start over anew this time only wiser Even when opening his tea shop He points out that there's nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity Advising Zuko to abandon his quest for honor But even then he never forces him because he knows that it has to be Zuko's decision to understand that on his own Speaking of starting things remember earlier how we explained that Iroh liked to draw wisdom from all of the elements rather than just fire A couple of fans have pointed out that his attitude towards tea is the perfect example of this While Iroh's love of tea is often played for laughs There's an underlying meaning and purpose and to some extent Lesson behind his love for Jasmine and Jin sing tea That's not often talked about in order to make an absolutely outstanding cup of tea All four of the bending elements are required You need clay for the teapots and cups and the leaves as well The water for the substance fired to heat up the tea and the air to blow on the hot tea to cool it So that you can drink it and even if you leave it out to cool naturally It would either get cold or be over steeped if you take just one element out The tea is either impossible to make or worse without it Iroh knew this just as he knew that the only way to defeat the fire nation was for all four elements to work together Iroh learned several things by watching other bending tribes He knew that understanding others was the only way to be whole Tea then is a perfect manifestation of these teachings on the surface Iroh's love of tea could be viewed as nothing more than a simple character trait But it also serves as a representation of his spirituality and calming nature in the context of achieving Harmony and balance among the four nations. It's a lesson on the value of tolerance Balance and listening that uncle Iroh passed on to Zuko and while this theory is kind of just reddit headcanon It's a deep and meaningful way to look at Iroh's love of tea in a new light He didn't enjoy any old cup only one that was truly and fully balanced with all of the elements working together in unison But the beautiful thing about Iroh is that as much as we can talk about and praise him for his peace and his jolly good nature Is that he also much like Gandalf in Dumbledore can stand for the intensity of the fiery element and knows Exactly how and when to use it He does this both with his wisdom as well as with his firebending One example of this is when he yells at Zuko under Lake Lao guy I know my own destiny uncle. Is it your own destiny or is it a destiny someone else has tried to pause on you And that's just when he's delivering compassionate wisdom with intensity He also liberates all of bossing say at the very end of the series after a getting ripped in jail montage It shows exactly why they call him the dragon of the West all in all Iroh's philosophy of flow is undoubtedly inspired by Taoist values and Really helps to bring profound spiritual wisdom to a younger audience And if you haven't seen it yet, I would recommend wholeheartedly going and watching this whole series even just for him alone We could have written this entire video made up of just his quotes and it would have been as equally great So I think Iroh really is a modern-day ascended master Even his bending forms are influenced by southern Shaolin dragon and form-intention styles of kung fu all of which match his personality pretty well Interestingly Casey Farrell pointed out in reviews that after the season 2 episode of Legend of Korra where Iroh appeared to her in the Spirit world Korra actually became a much more likeable character with the fans because she took Iroh's wisdom on board Even in death. He's bringing the fandom together. So with that, thank you so much for watching We'll leave a link to some of Iroh's best quotes and snippets of wisdom below so that you can check them out But otherwise totally go and watch Airbender because there's so much hidden wisdom inside of it And just please always remember above all else that being sick of tea is like being sick of breathing Doodles