I got the sense that he was a great dad…he was just in deep with the fire nation propaganda. Lu Ten’s death snapped him out of it so much he abandoned his place in succession, yielding it to his younger brother. Not having an heir of his own kinda made

I got the impression that he took Zuko under his wing because he wanted to get a second shot, knowing that losing his son to the war wasn’t worth it. Zuko, before the exile, was the rightful heir to the throne. I think his spiritual awakening made him realize that de-brainwashing Zuko was the only way to restore order