Zuko: I donāt have Uncle around anymore so Iām gonna fumble my way through new friendships and get into some shenanigans Katara: why? Zuko: heās like, 90% of my impulse control
Okay, this is true, but to be fair Zuko is also 75% of Irohās impulse control. Zuko is impulsive as all get out, but is able to get his shit together when everyone else around him is drinking Dumbass Juice (The Boiling Rock, Sozinās Comet, etc.). Iroh is kind of the same way in that he took the liberty of āAngsty Nephew Wranglerā for the majority of season 1 and 2, but Zuko did his fair share of carrying the brain cell between him and Iroh:Ā
Example 1: Iroh is a shopaholic Stuff Gremlin and the fact that he was probably in charge of the shipās funds should be very concerning.Ā
Iroh: *takes a nap for ten fucking years and is way too comfortable being naked in public*Ā
Zuko: please act like a human, Iām begging youĀ
Example 3: almost immediately after becoming fugitives, Zuko was the one trying to find food and be productive while Iroh made the Big Smart Brain Decision to make a might-be-but-might-not-be poisonous flower on the off chance that it would make some dope ass tea.Ā
And did he learn from his mistake?????Ā
Example 4: āWhat are you doing firebending your tea?!ā is a good fucking question, ZukoĀ
What Iām saying is, that yes, Iroh was full of sage wisdom and did function as Zukoās impulse control a good 90% of the time, but Zuko had to get his impulse control from somewhere.Ā
(bonus: In which Iroh conveniently ignores his nephewās crime addiction because it gets him snacks)
Iroh:Ā āmy nephew is obviously stealing these things and not talking about his issues, this habit heās developing will lead him down the wrong pathāĀ
also Iroh:Ā āokay, he can crime a little bitāĀ
Jet: Hey, whatās good? Wanna Be Bi(tm) Do Crimes(tm)?Ā
Iroh, internally:Ā āZuko do it, Zuko DO IT, IāM HUNGRYāĀ