On Writing: Mentor Characters [ Iroh l Obi-Wan l Cersei l Lupin ]

My longest OW video ever! Thanks so much to the patron who suggested it (come join the community! patreon.com/hellofutureme) :D Though I did cheat because of the review at the end of Campfire. Go check them out: www.campfiretechnology.com/ ~ Tim

Iroh isn't some wise man. Iroh TRAINS wise men.

Tim: "I promise I won't spend the whole video talking about Iroh" Me: cool, I wonder what other shows he will talk about Tim: "A good example of this is Toph from the last airbender "

IROH IS THE GREATEST CHARACTER TO EVER EXIST. FIGHT ME

Iroh has the best character arc of all time, Zuko is second. His arc is summed up on his 3 trips to Ba Sing Se. First he was a conquerer, then a refugee, and last a liberator.

"Pride is not the opposite of shame, it is it's source." I was having regular arguments with some one who was a friend for almost 5 years, and this was the advice that made me finally understand what was wrong and break through to them. It didn't magically fix our friendship, but it made us stop just yelling and start genuinely talking about how we were hurting each other. Iroh is a god damn hero as far as i'm concerned, because he actually actually made me a better person, and saved an important friendship.

hears a second of Brave Soldier Boy Starts tearing up

People: no character can be universally loves Iroh: would you like some tea ? People: nevermind

“...and killing mentor characters.” concerned whine

There's another way a mentor can fuel a negative arc: By having the protagonist realize and accept his truth, but in a negative way. For example, "letting your past go" becomes "let the past die, kill it if you have to".

Iron has been through so much in his life. What killed me was how everyone in the fire nation always brought up his past, as if it was something to be ashamed of, but In reality those men could never have the strength to do what Iroh did and make the decisions he made.

15:03 we interrupt this video for an emotional intermission. You may cry for 10 seconds

You could say Anakin Skywalker was between two mentors, and Palpatine was more effective for whatever reason.

HelloFutureMe manages to talk about avatar at least once in every one of his videos. At least for on writing.

The interesting thing about Ed and Al is that they trained with Izumi for 6 months BEFORE they attempted Human Transmutation (HT). She told them to never try it. They also studied on their own before trying it, and all the books they read cautioned against it and said it was forbidden. It's not a case of "they didn't know/weren't warned beforehand", but a case of desperation, arrogance, and vanity. They were so desperate to have their mother back, and were so Prideful that they didn't HEED the warning. It wasn't until they tried HT and it damn near killed them that they finally understood why it was forbidden. Even afterward, Ed harbored a belief that he just got the formula wrong (a belief Izumi also had about her own failed HT). It wasn't until he and Pinako dug up what Ed thought was "Trisha"'s remains that he realized it was never going to work, no matter what he and Al used or did.  In this case, Ed had to discover the hard truth about the futility of HT on his own.

15:04 NOPE *skips 5 seconds ahead* You’re not about to send ME to the field of feels

Ned Stark's sexuality: "Duty" 🤣

Iroh mourning his son is one the most heartbreaking scenes.

A wizard did it.

It broke my heart to listen to Iroh's song again