here's a very sad time loop for you guys. mentions of violence and death, imperialism, no explicit descriptions.
Lu Ten dies. He sees what follows. He's at peace.
Lu Ten time loops, as one does.
Lu Ten lives a long and horrifying life in which his jolly, tea-loving dad lays waste to Ba Sing Se. Iroh isn't an idiot, unlike Ozai. Iroh understands what it takes to subjugate a territory.
Ozai grabs power in the Fire Nation. Iroh lets him pretend for a while while he settles matters, before leaving Lu Ten to tend to the Earth Kingdom. He heads for the homeland, with a quick detour at Pohuai.
(Lu Ten hears that his uncle tried to challenge Iroh to an Agni Kai. He always was an idiot.
After the Yu Yan archers were done, all of Ozai's ministers and generals and admirals suddenly realized that they'd been deceived by a traitor.
Most of them were only banished.)
The years pass. The Avatar is sighted and quickly captured. Cousin Azula is caught trying to free him, which Lu Ten can't figure out (or maybe he can), and earns herself a lifelong house arrest.
The Avatar isn't killed, of course. Iroh just tells him that the war is over and that the tragedy that befell his people was of course a terrible crime, but this new world is as it is, and it would disturb this new balance if the Avatar started making trouble. There's been so much death and suffering. Now is the time to rebuild.
It only takes a few months for Aang to believe it. Children are impressionable, and Iroh is... impressive.
Sozin's Comet sees the fall of the Northern Water Tribe. You see, there were been raids and provocations and they'd been gathering weapons for a mass invasion. That is the official story. The Avatar is, as it happens, helping with the "rebuilding" efforts of the Southern Water Tribe, and doesn't find out about it until months later.
Lu Ten participates in a thousand friendly acts of imperialism at his seat in Ba Sing Se. A million polite atrocities. Uncountable crimes. The green around him is being choked by waves of red. He can't breathe.
The Fire Nation reigns supreme.
Eventually, Iroh dies. Lu Ten is crowned. The rest goes worse - civil war as Zuko and Azula try for the throne, rebellions and uprisings, the Avatar turning on the Fire Nation. By the time someone finally gets lucky, there isn't much left.
Lu Ten time loops, as one does.
He has to die, so he does.
He has to believe that each death births a new world which sees a true peace and reconciliation. (He swallows bitterness and bile and poison as he sees Zuko take his throne and his father, time and time again.)
Perhaps, he thinks, he's paying for the sins of his nation. Just as Zuko was destined to redeem them, maybe he's destined to suffer for them. And after he's finally paid for every life the Fire Nation has cut short over the past 100 years, he'll... be free.
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But because they're both dumb and bad at communicating basically anything, Zuko assumes that because Jet asked him on the date, that he'd be the one paying (because, like duh. That's usually how that goes). And Jet assumed Zuko would pay, because he's a rich daddy's boy (like, why wouldn't he right? He seems nice enough. Not usually his type, but this one seems cool).
So neither of them actually brought their wallet (and in all honesty, Jet didn't have the money to begin with), and have to dine and dash. They secretly return later to leave the waitress a fat tip because they felt bad.
Rewatching Book 3 of ATLA and cringing at how dumb the Iroh fanservice plot twists are:
"Iroh lied about killing the last dragon before Zuko was born because he wanted to protect them! They actually deemed him pure of heart and worthy to learn the truest form of firebending🥰" .......... even though he continued to be a violent general in an evil genocidal empire long after that...? I'm questioning the dragons' wisdom now.
"Actually Iroh and all the other old guys in the show are senior members of a super secret society working for the good of the world!!" ..... even though one of them flat out refused to teach the Avatar waterbending for misogynistic reasons, another refused to teach the Avatar firebending for personal reasons, and Iroh was an evil war general barely 6 years ago so I suppose he's only a recent member?
I love AtLA as much as anyone, but yeah it is, uh. Pretty abundantly clear that the White Lotus didn't exist in the writers' room until at least season two, and they didn't have a full idea of its role in the narrative probably until season three. The timeline on Iroh "Did A War Against All The Rest Of You" Azulonson joining and being trusted so high in the membership is also. Very questionable.
Which is all to say I think it would be perfect if we got to the season three end game and realized Iroh was actually still an errand boy initiate in the White Lotus. And Piandao pulls aside the main tent flap to reveal our Supreme Grand Lotus:
Gran-Gran
Canonically traveled the world without Committing A War, thus reasonably having met and networked with most of these other people in a positive way? Check
Saw the Avatar and told her only grandkids to go help that kid ASAP, don't worry Gran-Gran's just going to stay riiiiiight here while you're gone and definitely not relive the excitements of her youth? Check
Would recontextualize Pakku's constant sour grapes face (and his reaction to seeing Katara's necklace) to "my ex left me and now she's my superior, if I don't train her grandkid she will mobilize a global movement to Kick My Ass"? CHECK
You are Iroh, you finally land a job in your new field. This is the first time in your life you’ve ever had to work your way up. This time, this time you will succeed or fail entirely on your own. No weight of expectation bears down from your father, no brother waiting in the wings, salivating for you to slip up. No legions of men looking to you with trust and hope and faith shining in their eyes. You feel… free, hopeful, ready.
Then your kid assaults your new boss.
Or not really your boss, more like your boss’s boss’s boss.
And it turns out everything is really really hard when everyone around you isn’t trying to curry your favor or affirm your ideas. Outside of the fire nation people don’t just nod and go along with you. They ask follow-up questions and instead of adopting your plans and automatically beginning to work on adapting and generating solutions they instead point out flaws that you hadn’t considered. Nobody is troubleshooting for you, nobody stands ready to spin anything that goes wrong in a favorable light. You are repeatedly written off at best and criticized at worst.
Turns out you kinda suck at this new thing you’re trying, and while it’s a novel experience you do kind of want to ask Agni why you had to be so GOOD at destroying the world and so BAD at uniting it. Why will nation and sons alike follow you so readily towards certain death, but not turn back with you towards peace and life? Were you ever the leader you imagined yourself to be or have you always been a fool riding a mighty riptide and believing yourself the fastest swimmer.
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