Talk:Iroh/@comment-4909590-20120309024545/@comment-1454424-20120316181229

Once Ozai became Firelord, Zuko was the Fire Prince and the heir-apparent. Zuko didn't fight Ozai but fought Azula to stop her from usurping his throne. So Zuko vs Azula could be interpreted as Zuko standing-up for this right. Plus Iroh becoming Firelord would have simply delayed Zuko's succession as Iroh had no other children.

Although, I recently read a fanfic that presented Iroh's REAL reasons for not becoming Firelord because he was General Iroh, The Dragon of the West etc, etc. He came with a lot of baggage. Including enemies in the Earth Kingdom, against whom he had fought. Zuko on the other hand was pretty much a fresh face and a clean slate. Not to mention a person who had never formally been part of the Fire Nation Army. Making him a better person to be one the throne post-war. I thought this was good reasoning and probably what Iroh was driving at when he told Zuko "Someone new should take the throne."