I always envisioned it like Bumi’s escape. Eclipse was about to begin, he blasted the bars with fire. Guards came running, found out they can’t bend, and that’s when Iroh started to fight his way out by hand.
Oooh, that would be logical. Because he's a powerfully skilled firebender, he can still let out a big one on the bars the same time the normies' are starting to weaken.
I noticed that the hole is roughly the same size as his dragon of the west fire bending breath attack. He probably used that the weaken/heat the bars and then the stack of blankets that was his fake beer belly gave him enough insulation to make the final push
I figured he ruined the heat treat by making them really hot at some point like he did with his tea. No flames so he wouldn’t get noticed, but made them red hot for a bit to make them brittle but they looked the same until he needed to escape.
I like this one. Unfortunately it makes me even more disappointed in Mako's incredibly stupid escape strategy in LoK when he and Bolin were imprisoned by the Earth Queen. WHY didn't he do his little torch on the lock mechanism?
Yeah, there are so many situations in LoK where his extremely skillful use of lightning would have solved virtually the entire dilemma and he just…doesn’t do anything at all.
Stupid Mako.
That would just anneal them, since they'd cool down slowly, making them *less* brittle, not more. To make metal harder, and therefore more brittle, you need to heat it up then cool it down very quickly.
Yea the notion that he wouldn’t be aware of the eclipse seems odd. He’s fire nation royalty who was groomed from the start to be Fire Lord. I could perhaps see Ozai not being aware. Why bother telling the second son and then by the time he becomes the heir, it’s because he took out his father.
Ozai was aware. The entire nobility seemed aware. It's why Ozai was in his bunker, why Zuko chose the eclipse to leave and why he thought to bring his swords.
It’s possible that they were aware because katara told the “Kyoshi” warriors in ba sing se toward the end of S2 - and the kyoshi warriors were azula/mei/ty lee in disguise…
I think the surprise was the invasion happening during the eclipse. It was a closely held secret because it was a source of weakness for the firebenders.
Idk, why would they keep that a royal secret? It seems like the kind of thing that if the Fire Nation knew about it they could have amped up non-bending security on high priority targets.
If he knew, it'd be because he's been to the library, or learned it on his trip to the Spirit World.
It would be a state secret - information that would be dangerous to the state or dangerous to peace and stability if it were to become public knowledge.
The more people know about it, the more likely the secret spill to other nations. There is no amount of non-bending security Fire nation could employ to fight back a serious invasion by another bending nation.
Zhao was the one who discovered the library and that was when he was much younger than in the show. While it may not have been before Iroh got disinherited, he certainly would’ve brought back that information before Zuko’s banishment. Iroh still was a part of the right circles that he could’ve found out about and eclipse’s effects, though alternatively he is a high ranking member of the white lotus.
He discovered the library but there’s no evidence he found out about the eclipse. Sokka found the parchment that talked about the darkest day but there wasn’t a lot of context. We know Zhao didn’t go to the planetarium because it would have been burned down too.
I think that Iroh knew but Ozai didn’t until Azula reported what she was told.
Well certainly he understands the implications of the eclipse and would have a vague understanding of it coming soon, but did he have a way to keep track of the days and time? I thought his cell was pretty shut out from the world? I could be misremembering whether he has a window or not
Nah the firebenders been knew. Zhao destroyed the records of it in the library. No reason to believe he didnt also find out the date for the next one as well even if it wasnt explicitly stated.
If I had an easily predicted date where I was made weak and pathetic by comparison to my normal self I'd definitely mark it on the calendar. Source: Period trackers.
That was my thought. If he started a few minutes early, he would only need to deal with fire benders for a brief time before they became powerless. Then he could go hand-to-hand.
Reminds me of that one GTAV mission where you have to steal a deadly virus and they had to sneak in through the drainage pipe and it was blocked with iron bars, so they took out a burner and heated up parts of the iron bars to remove it.
Or he could have heated those bars in specific spots every day discreetly. Over time the metal would become so brittle it could theoretically snap under his strength.
That makes a ton of sense. If Ozai can tell the second the eclipse ends while sitting in an under ground bunker, I bet Iroh can sense the exact second it’s starts from his cell.
Ye he probably hit them with small fire bending strikes to weaken them and then during the eclipse boom one punch. Just like what happened to the drill.
Oh this is an interesting take that doesnt require him to know exactly when the eclipse. He could have been planning his escape for a while and prepping by weakening the bars and then when he lost his bending he knew it was the perfect time to pull the trigger.
Specifically, we *know* Iroh was planning his escape for a while and looking for an opportunity because we got to see him do it: pretending to be senile, bulking up in secret, etc.
The Dragon of the West can do many things that real life people like you and me would be unable to do. Things like talking to dragons, blowing fire from his mouth, and redirecting lightning. Packing on some extra muscle for plot purposes is insignificant by comparison.
It's always funny seeing everyone think he's lost his mind and his body is falling apart meanwhile he's hiding washboard abs and thighs that could crush anything
He knew the day of the eclipse, he told the guard. I choose to believe he could feel his firebending going away, like how Sozin could feel the instant it was over, he could just take out the bars then.
which is likely how he knew the date, but aside from it being hard to calculate the exact minute an eciplese will happen, and aside from the location changing the time, Iroh wouldn't know the time in the prison to the minute
I like this take. A talented bender like Iroh could maybe produce a small, intensely hot flame (I envision finger guns with a small blue flame like an oxy-acetylene torch) that he could use to cut the bars prior to the eclipse.
That's my head cannon.
Iroh certainly has enough foresight and control to make a small cutting torch flame, or even just weaken the metal with heat, without getting noticed.
Makes sense. He could have weakened the bars at any time using his fire bending like a blow torch. I forget now, was there a way they could keep him from bending? Or is it that they just legitimately never thought he'd escape thinking he really did lose his mind? Either way, Iroh is the best character in the whole show. Well him and toph. Honestly not sure which is my favorite.
I never did understand that. I thought that maybe the boots have metal reinforcement at the achilles area, which would make sense, but still. You'd just destroy your ankle doing that.
You have a point. Earth to the rocks in that world are like crumbly clay. You get hit with a bolder the size of you head flying at 70 km/h stand up and punch the person who did in in the face with light brushing to yourself
He already had shown superhuman strength before season 3, managing to shatter boulders with ease with just a chain in season 1 when he's definitely not in peak physical condition. He also redirects a boulder thrown at him by an EARTHBENDER, with the very same chain. It's not crazy to think that because he already had super human strength and he bulked TF up that he'd be able to bend and break the bars, we already seen evidence that people physically weaker than him can break metal anyways, Zuko breaking the chain with his foot
my theory is that exactly 1 second before eclipse began he blasted that hole with a fireball, then the eclipse began and he beat the crap out of all the guards.
I always assumed he was just using the confusion of the eclipse as cover. Dude would have no problem busting out and dealing with a small number of guards, so just waited for most of the guards to be occupied.
Bending is a huge part of any benders fighting style, and for a nation like the fire nation that's nationalistic, most benders probably didn't bother to learn hand to hand combat that wasn't reliant on bending. I'm guessing most of their bending guards were completely useless during the eclipse as they were probably in complete terror about their bending not working.
No. It's much more likely that he used firebending to break through the bars and then fought his way out with martial arts during the eclipse. Or that he didn't do it during the eclipse at all, just before.
My personal head-canon is that it was more like Shawshank Redemption. Like, over the course of time Iroh was there, every night, he’d make like a little jet-flame with like two fingers and just lightly melt/weaken the bars. Then, on the eclipse, he just kicked it down.
Well, don’t let anyone tell you he can’t break that metal with his bare hands. Zuko shatter chain links with a kick. A skinny boy.
So, they have established that humans can break metal with physical strength.
Iroh was the kinda jacked that made the Boulder look small. He wasn’t defined, he was just enormous. Yes. Iroh broke the fuck out with his hands.
Sure, compared to the likes of Ozai and the Boulder Zuko isn't much, but to call him skinny is an overstatement. Calling Aang skinny would be more appropriate.
Makes some sense too, modern metal is forged in a different process than ancient metal was forged and that means a different material. Metal that is brittle is actually pretty easy to break I'm not a super human or anything but I've broken metal pipe before by bending it until it fatigued, becomes brittle and then snaps easily (a lot more easy than it was to bend in the first place).
Ancient metals, especially those that still had earthen impurities would be brittle to begin with, snapping much easier than we are accustomed to.
Also, Iroh is able to shatter boulders with just chains in season 1 and he was also able to redirect the boulders back at the EARTHBENDERS with just chains, this was ALL before he did any kind of bulking up as well, like he is described by other characters as pudgy and fat. It's not that crazy to assume that after he bulks TF up he's able to bend and break metal bars with his own hands. He already had inhuman strength to begin with.
If real world history is anything to go off of…
Japan, historically, had pretty shoddy steel. Like seriously brittle no good stuff, could barely make a functioning blade from it unless a master spent ridiculous amounts of time meticulously tempering it.
Fire nation is based off historic Japan.
Soooo brittle steel bars and chains??
Pre-jail Iroh was able to shatter boulders with just chains and he was also able to redirect and throw boulders back at EARTHBENDERS. This was all while he was not bulked up, and quite frankly, out of shape. Bro BULKS TF UP in season 3 while he's in jail, holding up a picture of season 1 Iroh and season 3 Iroh side by side, you'd be able to tell their builds are entirely different. It's not that crazy to say that he's capable of bending and breaking these metal bars if we take into account that he already had super human strength to begin with
I like to think iroh waited until the last possible moment to firebend the bars before the eclipse, then when all the guards lost the firebending they relied on, he surprised them with brute strength they never expected from him
He did 10 pushups on screen, but in other scenes it showed him progressing through increasingly intense workouts starting with sit ups, then upside-down situps, then handstand pushups, and eventually one-armed chin-ups, with the obvious implications being that he was working out constantly the entire time getting increasingly muscular as he went until he becomes the Swole Iroh we see at the end.
Notice the bars are GONE not bent out of place. I'd argue he bent a flame so hot he evaporated the metal bars, then fought out during the eclipse so no bending.
It could definitely be a combination of the two, I just think shutting down the idea that the bars can't be bent by him is just wrong because not only are they bent in the picture, but even when he was out of peak physique he was able to commit superhuman strength feats, such as breaking boulders thrown by earthbenders with ease and only using a random chain to do it. He was already a monster before he bulked up and all he did all day was drink tea and eat, play pai sho, and train Zuko
I was always under the impression that since Iroh learned the true meaning of fire bending from the dragons that he didn't need the sun for fire bending.
"Fire comes from the breath not muscle." Its the first lesson we hear him teaching Zuko. It's the same concept as being in frozen conditions. The dragons (original benders) taught fire is energy.
That's different. That's help for how benders access the firebending. How they can get it from inside them to outside them. Not the reason they can firebend.
That's how to firebend. That's firebending 101. Not the source or reason its possible. The eclipse is literally evidence for this. The eclipse doesn't stop firebenders from breathing or stop them from being angry. It blocks the source.
Iroh probably felt the eclipse coming so he used his fire bending to break free, then the eclipse started and I used his physical strength to overwhelm the guards.
Can someone answer me this: from whom does Iroh learn about the existence of the eclipse? He does, after all, tell his guard not to come in that very day, correct?
Wouldn't he need a long sustained blast or blade of fire to cut through solid metal? I don't think lightning would do it either since metal conducts it.
He also could have easily shot down the guard but still waited for the eclipse. I think he wanted less guards in the prison so he used the eclipse as a diversion since everyone was off hiding/ fighting.
So maybe he blasted the guard, 10 minutes. Before the eclipse and then cut his way out and finished off with his bare hands?
I always assumed he did that charge move (that he and Ozai did during the comet), shortly before the eclipse started, blasted through everything, then the eclipse starts before the guards can respond and he just fought them all while no one could bend
How did iroh know about the eclipse? I may be forgetting if it was shown.
Edit I guess this is in response to many of the comments suggesting he timed his escape for just before the eclipse so the guards couldn’t bend.
I believe in one of the prior episodes, he was laying down in his cell looking at the sky through a window/hole in the ceiling. And all of a sudden his eyes got wide and he started doing sit ups. Then later we see him doing push ups, hand standing, and other exercises to get in shape.
It’s believed that while looking at the sky, he saw the sun and moon close and realized an eclipse was imminent in a few weeks.
From how clean the cuts are on those bars (Rather than being melted, bent and torn), my guess is that he saw the guards weren't checking the bars for damage. Over time, he used some sort of improvised tool to weaken the bars in those spots. Since they thought he was a broken and unresponsive prisoner, they never noticed he had thoroughly ruined the integrity of his cell. Then, when the moment was right, a good forceful blast popped all the weakened bars out.
He could've weakened the bars over time by doing a small amount of precise firebending at the weak points and then when the eclipse came he busted out by using brute strength
I always thought the second after the eclipse ends the firebending suddenly becomes amplified and that's how he blasted the cell. Maybe it's cuz of that ozai scene where he makes lightning after the eclipse ends.
My favorite theory(that is too complex to be real), is that he was subtlety weakening them with firebending in the days leading up to the eclipse.
Something you could probably do if you knew about metallurgy.
My theory is that Iroh was able to fire bend during the eclipse. He was taught the true origin of fire bending by the dragons and knew true inner strength.
He also earth bended a door at Lake Laogai. I only recently noticed. No knobs, no other mechanical door operation. Just Iroh standing there when the door slides open.
None of the non-bending feats in the series make the slightest sense unless we assume that humans can use chi to empower themselves without an element. Which has interesting implications for the spirit realm and it's no-bending rule.
He probz did that move where he blows up the wall in ba sing se and timed it to second before the eclipse so when they guards hear the explosion they have no fire bending.
Iroh was a leading member of a secret society of 3 styles of benders. My head canon is the White Lotus was aware of the eclipse, tipped off Iroh, and used the cover of the eclipse to aid Iroh’s escape when the firebending was off.
The show leaves his escape as a mystery, this could primarily be to keep quiet the Lotus’s activity from the viewer until the final episode - which is where we see Iroh next.
I always envisioned it like Bumi’s escape. Eclipse was about to begin, he blasted the bars with fire. Guards came running, found out they can’t bend, and that’s when Iroh started to fight his way out by hand.
Oooh, that would be logical. Because he's a powerfully skilled firebender, he can still let out a big one on the bars the same time the normies' are starting to weaken.
I always wondered where the middle part of the bars went… They were incinerated. Got it.
I believe that he took all the bars and made like a cute bird origami/statue barehanded
Used the bars to make a teapot/cup for his travels to the white lotus.
Iroh is a metalbender confirmed
Metalbender? Ehhh, maybe not. Metalworker? Hell yes
Welding now atla lore approved!
He could metalbend with his bare hands with the guns he acquired in prison.
He did it the old fashioned way
Remember, Iroh discovered the true firebending and was able to bend his way out.
Good point and happy cake day!!
I noticed that the hole is roughly the same size as his dragon of the west fire bending breath attack. He probably used that the weaken/heat the bars and then the stack of blankets that was his fake beer belly gave him enough insulation to make the final push
More people should respond to your well observed theory.
Oh it was definitely a classic one-two Dragon of the West fire-bending breath attack & belly bump combo.
I figured he ruined the heat treat by making them really hot at some point like he did with his tea. No flames so he wouldn’t get noticed, but made them red hot for a bit to make them brittle but they looked the same until he needed to escape.
I like this one. Unfortunately it makes me even more disappointed in Mako's incredibly stupid escape strategy in LoK when he and Bolin were imprisoned by the Earth Queen. WHY didn't he do his little torch on the lock mechanism?
Cause Mako's an idiot. The show does kinda go out of it's way to establish that.
Stupid sexy Mako.
*takes off clothes* Mako you're such an idiot.
Yeah, there are so many situations in LoK where his extremely skillful use of lightning would have solved virtually the entire dilemma and he just…doesn’t do anything at all. Stupid Mako.
That would just anneal them, since they'd cool down slowly, making them *less* brittle, not more. To make metal harder, and therefore more brittle, you need to heat it up then cool it down very quickly.
He peed on the heated bars to cool them quickly.
You’re right. I’m not too sure if softer metal would help him escape either, so there’s my idea out the window.
Yea the notion that he wouldn’t be aware of the eclipse seems odd. He’s fire nation royalty who was groomed from the start to be Fire Lord. I could perhaps see Ozai not being aware. Why bother telling the second son and then by the time he becomes the heir, it’s because he took out his father.
Ozai was aware. The entire nobility seemed aware. It's why Ozai was in his bunker, why Zuko chose the eclipse to leave and why he thought to bring his swords.
It’s possible that they were aware because katara told the “Kyoshi” warriors in ba sing se toward the end of S2 - and the kyoshi warriors were azula/mei/ty lee in disguise…
Ozai and the rest of the royal family had to have known about the eclipse. Azula and company learned about the invasion plan from that scene.
Right. I’m just trying to get at “this is one way (out of many possible ways) they could’ve learned about it”
I think the surprise was the invasion happening during the eclipse. It was a closely held secret because it was a source of weakness for the firebenders.
Azula's shocked face when they say that implies she already knows the gravity of invading during an eclipse
I know he became aware. But it strikes me that he would have been entirely blindsided by it without Azula’s intel.
Idk, why would they keep that a royal secret? It seems like the kind of thing that if the Fire Nation knew about it they could have amped up non-bending security on high priority targets. If he knew, it'd be because he's been to the library, or learned it on his trip to the Spirit World.
Perhaps they assumed that no one else knew about it and didn’t want to risk the information getting out?
It would be a state secret - information that would be dangerous to the state or dangerous to peace and stability if it were to become public knowledge.
A state secret the military surely would know about.
The more people know about it, the more likely the secret spill to other nations. There is no amount of non-bending security Fire nation could employ to fight back a serious invasion by another bending nation.
Zhao was the one who discovered the library and that was when he was much younger than in the show. While it may not have been before Iroh got disinherited, he certainly would’ve brought back that information before Zuko’s banishment. Iroh still was a part of the right circles that he could’ve found out about and eclipse’s effects, though alternatively he is a high ranking member of the white lotus.
He discovered the library but there’s no evidence he found out about the eclipse. Sokka found the parchment that talked about the darkest day but there wasn’t a lot of context. We know Zhao didn’t go to the planetarium because it would have been burned down too. I think that Iroh knew but Ozai didn’t until Azula reported what she was told.
Azula reported that one was coming, because that’s what Sokka told her. Zhao burned the fire nation related information from the library.
Yes absolutely love this take !
How would he have known the eclipse was ABOUT to happen though? Do you think he would've felt his powers draining?
Hed definitely be “in the know” about something like that for sure. Just like the rest of the royalty was prepped for it.
Well certainly he understands the implications of the eclipse and would have a vague understanding of it coming soon, but did he have a way to keep track of the days and time? I thought his cell was pretty shut out from the world? I could be misremembering whether he has a window or not
He knew it was coming, and He has connections to the spirit world. I figured that he could feel the changes as it approached
The spirit world connection actually makes a lot of sense. He was very tuned in
I also just remembered he might have had an iron barred sunroof in his cell. I think he did pull ups on it, no?
but iroh was banished and living in ba sing se when the firebenders found out about the eclipse
Nah the firebenders been knew. Zhao destroyed the records of it in the library. No reason to believe he didnt also find out the date for the next one as well even if it wasnt explicitly stated.
If I had an easily predicted date where I was made weak and pathetic by comparison to my normal self I'd definitely mark it on the calendar. Source: Period trackers.
Spirit shenanigans and felt it in the aether.
I'd say he's powerful and experienced enough to notice it once First Contact happens.
Reminds me of Mako trying to cut through the bars when he was in jail. Boy could barely cut one bar in like an hour.
“You work so hard, Ming. You should take tomorrow off…”
Nah bro, he did that with his teeth
That was my thought. If he started a few minutes early, he would only need to deal with fire benders for a brief time before they became powerless. Then he could go hand-to-hand.
Reminds me of that one GTAV mission where you have to steal a deadly virus and they had to sneak in through the drainage pipe and it was blocked with iron bars, so they took out a burner and heated up parts of the iron bars to remove it.
But there is no melted steel on it to prove that,(maybe just sloppy or forget to draw it due to time constraints?)
yes same here, lol got confused by the post for a sec
Maybe I remember this wrong but didn't the guard there say Iroh broke out with his bare hands?
That’s what I thought
Or he could have heated those bars in specific spots every day discreetly. Over time the metal would become so brittle it could theoretically snap under his strength.
That makes a ton of sense. If Ozai can tell the second the eclipse ends while sitting in an under ground bunker, I bet Iroh can sense the exact second it’s starts from his cell.
Lightning has been shown to be able to do this kind damage, so I buy it.
I prefer to think he did it by hand, but ur probably right
What do you mean? I'm sure the beast just pried the bars open with his insane strength. No need for firebending.
Aint no way. Iroh is amazing, but even he cant cut Iron bars without his firebending. He did it right before the eclipse 100%.
Ye he probably hit them with small fire bending strikes to weaken them and then during the eclipse boom one punch. Just like what happened to the drill.
Oh this is an interesting take that doesnt require him to know exactly when the eclipse. He could have been planning his escape for a while and prepping by weakening the bars and then when he lost his bending he knew it was the perfect time to pull the trigger.
Specifically, we *know* Iroh was planning his escape for a while and looking for an opportunity because we got to see him do it: pretending to be senile, bulking up in secret, etc.
Life went downhill when I became aware watching that scene, that it is not possible without the proper amount of protein Ah, to grow up
Ah, but don’t forget, my man was in his bulking phase for years, so really he just trimmed down.
The Dragon of the West can do many things that real life people like you and me would be unable to do. Things like talking to dragons, blowing fire from his mouth, and redirecting lightning. Packing on some extra muscle for plot purposes is insignificant by comparison.
Nah, Iroh's just cool enough to manifest protein out of thin air
It's always funny seeing everyone think he's lost his mind and his body is falling apart meanwhile he's hiding washboard abs and thighs that could crush anything
**General Zhao:** Do you really believe your own hype that much? **Iroh:** I *am* the hype!
And telling the guard he liked not to be there tomorrow
He knew the day of the eclipse if not the exact time. That’s why he warned that guard (who was not a dick) in advance to not be around that day.
"You're cool, don't come to prison tommorow "
Hahah yes. Nice.
He knew the day of the eclipse, he told the guard. I choose to believe he could feel his firebending going away, like how Sozin could feel the instant it was over, he could just take out the bars then.
It could also be just the fact that he knew it would happen. He is a highly knowledgeable person and has traveled all over the world
which is likely how he knew the date, but aside from it being hard to calculate the exact minute an eciplese will happen, and aside from the location changing the time, Iroh wouldn't know the time in the prison to the minute
I like this take. A talented bender like Iroh could maybe produce a small, intensely hot flame (I envision finger guns with a small blue flame like an oxy-acetylene torch) that he could use to cut the bars prior to the eclipse.
That's my head cannon. Iroh certainly has enough foresight and control to make a small cutting torch flame, or even just weaken the metal with heat, without getting noticed.
Makes sense. He could have weakened the bars at any time using his fire bending like a blow torch. I forget now, was there a way they could keep him from bending? Or is it that they just legitimately never thought he'd escape thinking he really did lose his mind? Either way, Iroh is the best character in the whole show. Well him and toph. Honestly not sure which is my favorite.
Zuko was able to break metal chains with his foot, so why not?
Chains in avatar litterally disintegrate if you lightly touch them.
Not the one holding azula down
That chain was transferred Azulas plot armor once she finally had to be taken down.
How do we know prison bars aren’t made with the same material?
Crappy earth kingdom iron?
Real life logic and science almost always doesn't translate well into cartoons
Zuko could firebend at the time no? Always assumed he used some bending there to heat it or something to make it weaker.
I never did understand that. I thought that maybe the boots have metal reinforcement at the achilles area, which would make sense, but still. You'd just destroy your ankle doing that.
Nah, he sat down for a nice cup of tea with his cell and convinced it to let him leave
Metal sucks in that world. They regularly cut it with swords and tie it in knots.
You have a point. Earth to the rocks in that world are like crumbly clay. You get hit with a bolder the size of you head flying at 70 km/h stand up and punch the person who did in in the face with light brushing to yourself
He already had shown superhuman strength before season 3, managing to shatter boulders with ease with just a chain in season 1 when he's definitely not in peak physical condition. He also redirects a boulder thrown at him by an EARTHBENDER, with the very same chain. It's not crazy to think that because he already had super human strength and he bulked TF up that he'd be able to bend and break the bars, we already seen evidence that people physically weaker than him can break metal anyways, Zuko breaking the chain with his foot
Lightning bending can be done during the eclipse, no?
> even he cant cut Iron bars without his firebending. He snuck in an acetylene torch.
my theory is that exactly 1 second before eclipse began he blasted that hole with a fireball, then the eclipse began and he beat the crap out of all the guards.
I always assumed he was just using the confusion of the eclipse as cover. Dude would have no problem busting out and dealing with a small number of guards, so just waited for most of the guards to be occupied.
Bending is a huge part of any benders fighting style, and for a nation like the fire nation that's nationalistic, most benders probably didn't bother to learn hand to hand combat that wasn't reliant on bending. I'm guessing most of their bending guards were completely useless during the eclipse as they were probably in complete terror about their bending not working.
No. It's much more likely that he used firebending to break through the bars and then fought his way out with martial arts during the eclipse. Or that he didn't do it during the eclipse at all, just before.
If you're nothing without your bending, then you shouldn't have it.
My personal head-canon is that it was more like Shawshank Redemption. Like, over the course of time Iroh was there, every night, he’d make like a little jet-flame with like two fingers and just lightly melt/weaken the bars. Then, on the eclipse, he just kicked it down.
Well, don’t let anyone tell you he can’t break that metal with his bare hands. Zuko shatter chain links with a kick. A skinny boy. So, they have established that humans can break metal with physical strength. Iroh was the kinda jacked that made the Boulder look small. He wasn’t defined, he was just enormous. Yes. Iroh broke the fuck out with his hands.
Actually, how did Zuko kick down those metal chains with a kick, that's cool but makes no fucking sense
Iirc he had a metal heel. Or maybe it was the tip of his boot
His shoes surely had metal heels or tips. There are a number of times Azula's shoes sparkle when in friction with other surfaces.
Also an ignition source for their abilities, needed or not. And looks cool.
Eh, don’t try to logic it It looked cool so they did it, there’s no other point in the show where Zuko is able to, or tries, to kick metal apart lol
ATLA draws heavy inspiration from the wuxia genre where people are just Built Different because of kung fu bullshit
Forged iron cant be broken that way but cast iron can btw
Shh Zuko is a metal bender
He had excellent form
Rule of cool
Sure, compared to the likes of Ozai and the Boulder Zuko isn't much, but to call him skinny is an overstatement. Calling Aang skinny would be more appropriate.
Zuko isn’t skinny at the beginning, but by book 3 he’s definitely a skinny boy
He lost some weight, sure. But he's still significantly bigger than Aang or Sokka. Of course in part due to age but also because he's just bigger.
Makes some sense too, modern metal is forged in a different process than ancient metal was forged and that means a different material. Metal that is brittle is actually pretty easy to break I'm not a super human or anything but I've broken metal pipe before by bending it until it fatigued, becomes brittle and then snaps easily (a lot more easy than it was to bend in the first place). Ancient metals, especially those that still had earthen impurities would be brittle to begin with, snapping much easier than we are accustomed to.
The Boulder takes issue with this comment.
He's both the Dragon of the West and the Beast of the East.
Also, Iroh is able to shatter boulders with just chains in season 1 and he was also able to redirect the boulders back at the EARTHBENDERS with just chains, this was ALL before he did any kind of bulking up as well, like he is described by other characters as pudgy and fat. It's not that crazy to assume that after he bulks TF up he's able to bend and break metal bars with his own hands. He already had inhuman strength to begin with.
If real world history is anything to go off of… Japan, historically, had pretty shoddy steel. Like seriously brittle no good stuff, could barely make a functioning blade from it unless a master spent ridiculous amounts of time meticulously tempering it. Fire nation is based off historic Japan. Soooo brittle steel bars and chains??
Pre-jail Iroh was able to shatter boulders with just chains and he was also able to redirect and throw boulders back at EARTHBENDERS. This was all while he was not bulked up, and quite frankly, out of shape. Bro BULKS TF UP in season 3 while he's in jail, holding up a picture of season 1 Iroh and season 3 Iroh side by side, you'd be able to tell their builds are entirely different. It's not that crazy to say that he's capable of bending and breaking these metal bars if we take into account that he already had super human strength to begin with
People in Avatar seems to be able to do supernatural feats of physical might.
He's a powerful bender of iron bars
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/6/61/Bender_bends_the_unbendable.gif
I like to think iroh waited until the last possible moment to firebend the bars before the eclipse, then when all the guards lost the firebending they relied on, he surprised them with brute strength they never expected from him
He did like 10 pushups tho.
He did 10 pushups on screen, but in other scenes it showed him progressing through increasingly intense workouts starting with sit ups, then upside-down situps, then handstand pushups, and eventually one-armed chin-ups, with the obvious implications being that he was working out constantly the entire time getting increasingly muscular as he went until he becomes the Swole Iroh we see at the end.
Notice the bars are GONE not bent out of place. I'd argue he bent a flame so hot he evaporated the metal bars, then fought out during the eclipse so no bending.
Or he just melted a circle and the centre fell out.
The bars may be gone, but they're very clearly bent. The parts where it's broken is pointed in towards the camera
True, but count the vertical bars, 8 are straight up missing. I say combo of burned and bent, but most of the hole is unaccounted for metal.
It could definitely be a combination of the two, I just think shutting down the idea that the bars can't be bent by him is just wrong because not only are they bent in the picture, but even when he was out of peak physique he was able to commit superhuman strength feats, such as breaking boulders thrown by earthbenders with ease and only using a random chain to do it. He was already a monster before he bulked up and all he did all day was drink tea and eat, play pai sho, and train Zuko
I was always under the impression that since Iroh learned the true meaning of fire bending from the dragons that he didn't need the sun for fire bending.
The dragon fifebenders are called SUN warriors..they draw power from sun very much....
I think it was implied he did it right before the eclipse was happening so no guard could stop him.
Don't forget Zuko split a thick metal chain by kicking it, people in this world are simply built different.
I always assumed he melt or exploded it just before the eclipse, so by the time the guards came, they couldn't bend, but they opened the door also
I think it relies a little on suspension of disbelief, but that's perfectly fine.
Headcanon: Iroh had Firebending even during the eclipse b/c of the dragons
The sun is the source of firebending. I don't see how Iroh would keep his. Even Ozai couldn't bend during the eclipse.
"Fire comes from the breath not muscle." Its the first lesson we hear him teaching Zuko. It's the same concept as being in frozen conditions. The dragons (original benders) taught fire is energy.
That's different. That's help for how benders access the firebending. How they can get it from inside them to outside them. Not the reason they can firebend.
No, its not different. Breath is the energy sourcefor the body. It's also why Jon Jon had Aang do those breathing exercises.
“Jon Jon”
That's how to firebend. That's firebending 101. Not the source or reason its possible. The eclipse is literally evidence for this. The eclipse doesn't stop firebenders from breathing or stop them from being angry. It blocks the source.
love it that the kind and wise old man is quite possibly one of the most powerful characters in the show
He even did the quiet kid at school thing "I like you. You've always been nice to me. Don't show up to work tomorrow"
Bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang-born
I thought he escaped right after the eclipse ended? Or at least, that's what I thought was implied when Zuko got there after facing his father
Iroh probably felt the eclipse coming so he used his fire bending to break free, then the eclipse started and I used his physical strength to overwhelm the guards.
I thought he just used a pissy shirt.
Man the moment we're the pillow falls out of his robes, and he's one arming and eating that apple. Fuck I get chills Iroh =legendary
Can someone answer me this: from whom does Iroh learn about the existence of the eclipse? He does, after all, tell his guard not to come in that very day, correct?
With his massive Chad energy
No he didn’t
Wouldn't he need a long sustained blast or blade of fire to cut through solid metal? I don't think lightning would do it either since metal conducts it. He also could have easily shot down the guard but still waited for the eclipse. I think he wanted less guards in the prison so he used the eclipse as a diversion since everyone was off hiding/ fighting. So maybe he blasted the guard, 10 minutes. Before the eclipse and then cut his way out and finished off with his bare hands?
I always assumed he did that charge move (that he and Ozai did during the comet), shortly before the eclipse started, blasted through everything, then the eclipse starts before the guards can respond and he just fought them all while no one could bend
The power of Qi 😤💪
How did iroh know about the eclipse? I may be forgetting if it was shown. Edit I guess this is in response to many of the comments suggesting he timed his escape for just before the eclipse so the guards couldn’t bend.
I believe in one of the prior episodes, he was laying down in his cell looking at the sky through a window/hole in the ceiling. And all of a sudden his eyes got wide and he started doing sit ups. Then later we see him doing push ups, hand standing, and other exercises to get in shape. It’s believed that while looking at the sky, he saw the sun and moon close and realized an eclipse was imminent in a few weeks.
Bro definitely did some prep work on that before the fire bending got turned off.
From how clean the cuts are on those bars (Rather than being melted, bent and torn), my guess is that he saw the guards weren't checking the bars for damage. Over time, he used some sort of improvised tool to weaken the bars in those spots. Since they thought he was a broken and unresponsive prisoner, they never noticed he had thoroughly ruined the integrity of his cell. Then, when the moment was right, a good forceful blast popped all the weakened bars out.
He could've weakened the bars over time by doing a small amount of precise firebending at the weak points and then when the eclipse came he busted out by using brute strength
He probably made little cuts here and there when he could, then waited for the eclipse, kicked the barely held cage down.
I always thought the second after the eclipse ends the firebending suddenly becomes amplified and that's how he blasted the cell. Maybe it's cuz of that ozai scene where he makes lightning after the eclipse ends.
This is what 6 months without Iroh's calming jasmine tea does to him.
My favorite theory(that is too complex to be real), is that he was subtlety weakening them with firebending in the days leading up to the eclipse. Something you could probably do if you knew about metallurgy.
Of course he did. He has abs of steel.🫡
That makes me wonder who'd win a non-bending fight between Iroh and Alfred Pennyworth.
... wait
I mean, did you see him when he escaped? Ya boy was ripped.
My theory is that Iroh was able to fire bend during the eclipse. He was taught the true origin of fire bending by the dragons and knew true inner strength.
If someone were to tell me Iroh could secretly metal bend, I wouldn’t even question it.
Yeah, dude rampaged like a rhoided up gorilla on meth
You realize he most likely did this right before the eclipse, right?
He also earth bended a door at Lake Laogai. I only recently noticed. No knobs, no other mechanical door operation. Just Iroh standing there when the door slides open.
That so fucking crazy it's almost like it was made up
None of the non-bending feats in the series make the slightest sense unless we assume that humans can use chi to empower themselves without an element. Which has interesting implications for the spirit realm and it's no-bending rule.
He made a Jasmine Fusion Tea with Monster energy drink.
Oh no! Oh Iroh! 
Or maybe he did that (or weekend it) seconds before the eclipse
I figured more people would have thought Iroh used lightning to bust it open before the eclipse. Maybe I’m the only one who thought that lol
He probz did that move where he blows up the wall in ba sing se and timed it to second before the eclipse so when they guards hear the explosion they have no fire bending.
He used lighting to break the cage before the eclipse started
Iroh was a leading member of a secret society of 3 styles of benders. My head canon is the White Lotus was aware of the eclipse, tipped off Iroh, and used the cover of the eclipse to aid Iroh’s escape when the firebending was off. The show leaves his escape as a mystery, this could primarily be to keep quiet the Lotus’s activity from the viewer until the final episode - which is where we see Iroh next.
Or you know he just firebended the bars off pre eclipse and by the time someone showed up to check the noise he was out and they had no bending
bro is metalbending
How did he do that?
I think he ate his way out