I Can't Believe Avatar: The Last Airbender Hid Iroh's Love Interest for So Long

Everyone loves Uncle Iroh, but he's one of the few characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender to never find love on the TV show – the canon Avatar comics, however, tell a different story. On television, Iroh solidified himself as the best uncle ever, but it was only in the comics that his romantic side was explored.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Bounty Hunter And The Tea Brewer – written by Michael Dante DiMartino, Faith Erin Hicks and Bryan Konietzko, with art by Peter Wartman – expands on the romantic connection between Iroh and June the bounty hunter, who first appeared in the Season One episode "Bato of the Water Tribe.

In the episode, Iroh controversially made unwanted comments toward June, but the potential romantic feelings behind this were never explored. When she returned in the comics, more light was shed on Iroh's love life – not with June, but with another character, Li-Mei.

The "Avatar: The Last Airbender" Comics Follow Up On Uncle Iroh's Romantic Side

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Bounty Hunter And The Tea Brewer – Written By Faith Eric Hicks; Art By Peter Wartman, Adele Matera, Richard Starkings, and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt

The graphic novel spin-off The Bounty Hunter And The Tea Brewer takes place after the The Last Airbender's finale. After letting Zuko become the Fire Lord rather than himself, he opts to run a tea shop out of Ba Sing Se instead. The tea shop in question, the Jasmine Dragon (with Feng as his waitress), is running low on supplies as deliveries become irregular thanks to the Wuyi Tea Cartel. It is then that he is confronted by a friendly face in June, although she doesn't reappear under friendly terms, as she intends to collect a bounty on his head.

...Iroh confirms in the comic that he's been dating Li-Mei, but the hard-edged hitwoman does grow soft toward Iroh.

Upon capturing him, she is determined bring Iroh to the person who put the bounty on his head, but during their travels, they grow surprisingly closer. Not too close, as Iroh confirms in the comic that he's been dating Li-Mei, but the hard-edged hitwoman does grow soft toward Iroh. It's soon discovered that June's client was Keung, who used to have Iroh as his commander officer in the Fire Nation army during the war. He took offense to Iroh becoming a changed man post-war, so he put a bounty on his head.

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One key moment in the story that creates a turning point in June's feelings towards Iroh is that, shortly after kidnapping him, Iroh apologizes for his perverse behaviorduring their TV episodes together. Their TV interactions are often a point of contention and controversy for the community online. Otherwise, Iroh lusting after June in these scenes would be brushed off by audiences as a running gag with comedic purposes. In either sense, the comics mark the first time that an attempt has been made to reconcile with these moments.

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Through a certain lens, those gags don't age well for some audiences. The comics allow Avatar canon to find a way to expand that moment into something pivotal for both Uncle Iroh and June. On the one hand, Iroh recognizes how he disrespected a colleague and learns to change upon apologizing. On the other hand, it allows June to see Iroh as more than just a stereotypical sex-crazed elder and, instead, the first step in them becoming genuine friends. The Avatar: The Last Airbender comics not only expand the universe, but add layers to its cast of characters.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Breweris available now from Dark Horse Comics.