It feels like prequel series are a dime a dozen these days, with barely a franchise that hasn’t dipped its hand into the origin story well. We know how Han Solo got his last name, how Poirot got his mustache, and soon enough, we’re probably going to find out how Gandalf got his hat.

It’s not just the frequency of attempts that makes them an easy target for derision, it’s the sweaty mania of making up origin stories for things nobody has ever wondered about the origin of. But it’s good to remember there are still good reasons to do prequels. There are franchises that can sketch out a setting vividly and lightly, leaving comfortable room for a toothsome and gripping story even though we all know how it ends.

So for me, there will always be room for at least one more prequel series — that is, until the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender finally sign off on a gosh dang Young Iroh series.

If you like Avatar: The Last Airbender, you like Uncle Iroh, who begins the series as a long-suffering voice of reason to the exiled Prince Zuko and gradually pulls back the curtain on his calculated, oafish facade to reveal the Most Interesting Man in the World.

Iroh is a man of contrasts: an advisor of genuine wisdom and a man who can’t tell tea from a poisonous plant except by eating it. Leader of a secret society of pacifism and a military genius. One........

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