one of my personal favorite dichotomies in atla is how iroh, once the top strategist and highest-ranking general of the fire nation, now directs all his energy and considerable tactical experience towards attempting to keep his teenage nephew from throwing himself into life-threatening situations AND IROH REGULARLY FAILS TO PREVENT HIM FROM DOING SO.
he lead a six-hundred day siege and now iroh can’t keep up with a sixteen-year-old armed with two swords and a passionate deathwish. zuko’s motto is “act first, think never” and he’s running rings around his uncle. it’s like!!! who’s gonna come out on top, iroh’s west point education vs. zuko’s deep and abiding commitment to always choosing the stupidest possible course of action, and zuko manages to win every single time
y'all are straight up EVISCERATING that boy in the tags
Not to downplay just how committed to self destructive stupidity Zuko is, but Iroh still managed to keep him alive and in one piece. He lost literally every battle but he won that war.
Not to step on the knife, but also figuratively losing every fight as long as it means the child who is like a son to him is alive is the exact opposite of literally winning every battle and losing his son which is what he did when he was young so that’s probably why he keeps so chill 90% of the time around the Zukoness of it all.
Stepping on the knife? Reading that was stepping on a RAKE made of FEELINGS and being SIDESHOW BOBBED by my own EMOTIONS
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