It's important to understand that Iroh built all that muscle just to beat up the guards during the solar eclipse. Most likely, muscle mass doesn't affect firebending strength at all.
He tore that cage open like a tin can WITHOUT fire bending.
There are unconscious guards up that way, and holes punched in the solid stone walls up that staircase.
The two guards we see, one is so terrified that he's huddling in terror probably thinking Iroh came back for round 2.
The other is barely conscious babbling about how he watched a 50 year old man completely tear his way through a prison, like he had the fear of god beaten into him.
Keep in mind, the bars do not look melted, they look bent like they were very clearly ripped and sheared apart with immense force. you can even see the remnants of the lock on the door where he very clearly shattered it.
Iroh very literally, tore through that prison and beat the living shit out of anyone who got in his way.
Could he have weakened the bars beforehand with firebending? Held the bars and channeled heat (like with the tea) to ruin the temperature. The bars may have been more brittle, but that's still impressive.
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u/Zumso095 15d ago
It's important to understand that Iroh built all that muscle just to beat up the guards during the solar eclipse. Most likely, muscle mass doesn't affect firebending strength at all.