Avatar the Last Airbender reaction Season 3 Episode 8 | The Puppet Master

[@theinspiredgamer1949]

Without a doubt, blood bending is one of the scariest powers in fiction. The fact that they managed to do this much in a "kids show" and it still looks incredibly messed up just makes me terrified of what could happen if the show was rated for an older audience.

[@Menno0183]

Can you imagine how they would tackle this in book 3 of the Netflix show? It’s gonna be 10 times darker than this

[@Golems_victory]

It’s dark and awesome tho. It’s like idk just very dark XD

[@destroyerblackdragon]

Harry Potter had Crucio and Imperio. Two spells that cause pain and violate peoples free will.

[@reggielacey2235]

No its not.

[@Selloca]

Being able to pull out the air from people is pretty crazy too lol

[@ryanakers1372]

This episode shows some really good continuity in our characters. Sokka was suspicious of Hama just like he was of Jet because he is very good at subconsciously identifying a person's character. While Katara is very good at subconsciously identifying and empathizing with a person's pain.

[@TheAdamSmasherMultiverse]

"Water tribe." 💧

[@AeroWraith901]

It is chilling that even once she got handcuffed in the end....Hama got the last laugh with having taught Katara blood bending.

[@headhunter179]

I love how Katara uses a very typical earthbending move by holding her ground and stopping Hama's attack instead of what is typical for waterbenders and redirect the opponents attacks. Shows that Toph has had some impact on how Katara fights

[@breadtoast1036]

icebending is a form of earth bending, makes sense

[@earendilthemariner5546]

​@@breadtoast1036 icebending doesnt exist. That's not a thing

[@DuIstalri]

@@earendilthemariner5546 In the sense of waterbenders manipulating ice, it is, though the term is never used. It seems to be standard enough that it's just considered part of normal Waterbending. That being said, when Waterbenders manipulate ice their movements are often more like Earthbenders, which is a neat detail.

[@earendilthemariner5546]

​​@@DuIstalri i disagree. Ice is still water. It's not a sub-skill like metal or lavabending. The only difference between ice and water is the rigidity of the structure.

[@breadtoast1036]

@@earendilthemariner5546 you right just ignore, every single waterbending episode, actual npcs without a single real thought i swear "nuh uh thats not true because i dont believe it"

[@JediMasterRevenantMADNESS]

I'm sure someone else has mentioned it, but it's theorized that Hama discovering blood bending is the reason they didn't take Katara's mother as a hostage, instead opting to eliminate her out of fear that another southern water tribe bender could figure out the same power.

[@Lupinemancer87]

That, and the fact that Hama is originally from the Southern Water Tribe and she escaped, so they were likely looking for her.

[@JediMasterRevenantMADNESS]

@@Lupinemancer87 I recall it being said they had reports of a water bender, so if they thought it was Hama they wouldn't have gone for Katara's mother. They'd have known who it was, and wouldn't have had to ask.

[@mikaranta5840]

Creators said it is just a fantheory though.

[@JediMasterRevenantMADNESS]

@@mikaranta5840 Yeah. I said theorized. That means it's a theory. Get it?

[@mikaranta5840]

@@JediMasterRevenantMADNESS unsound theory. Get it?

[@rickyhilder1514]

The only episode without at least a glimmer of hope or happiness at the end

[@joelsasmad]

The thing is that if Hama had focused on trying to get back to her tribe or joining up with the forces fighting the fire nation she could have done far more to actually punish those responsible for what happened to her, and she could have been a powerful ally to the good guys. Heck she probably would have become a mentor to Katara like Iroh is for Zuko. Instead she is focused on petty revenge against people who have nothing to do with what happened to her and ended up nearly killing the avatar, which would doom the world to fire nation conquest.

[@Vejitatheouji]

“Congratulations, Katara. You’re a blood bender...”

[@sexybeastslackers]

One of my favorite moments of “You beat me, but you didn’t win” in all of fiction.

[@dragonsvideos6737]

Proceeds to evil laugh while Katara cries

[@hellowhat890]

"We've got you outnumbered!!" "You've outnumbered yourselves." Goosebumps... everytime I hear it. 😮👀

[@MarisuSedai]

“It’s like my brain has a mind of its own!”

[@lighttheshadowreaper5102]

Correct Ken. This episode is Avatar's Halloween special. And BOY does it have some worldly implications! This episode has a lot of fun facts. I'll try to keep them brief. Fun Fact 1: According to the creators, Hama got the inn when the former owner mysteriously disappeared. Fun Fact 2: That bracelet was Toph's meteorite fragment. An awesome piece that doesn't nearly get as much creative use as it should. Fun Fact 3: The reason why Aang reacted so negatively to the phrase "Sea Prunes"? That's what he ate back when they met Bato... he didn't have a good reaction then either. Fun Fact 4: The ships that attacked the South Pole comes from a group called the Southern Raiders. The specific ship seen encased in ice in the flashback? That was the one from the first episode that Aang and Katara explored. Fun fact 5: They took the waterbenders because they were the Fire Nation's biggest threats. Hama was the last waterbender until Katara. So that's 50 years without benders! Fun Fact 6: The prison Hama was kept in was specifically designed to hold waterbenders. Much like how the earthbender prison was kept isolated from the land. The Final Fun fact is a bit hard to condense into a quick statement. So, I'll just copy the Avatar Extras quotes: "Bloodbending is considered a dark form of waterbending. Bloodbending is sometimes referred to as the "puppetmaster technique". Fact: Those who practice this technique open themselves up to madness. ... In other words, they go crazy with power. Yikes! In the writer's room, this technique was jokingly referred to as the "stop hitting yourself" technique."

[@Sinewmire]

Fact 5: they took water benders because the next avatar would be born into the Water Tribe. They weren't aware Aang had survived, and as he hadn't appeared in the last 40 years, they must have killed him without realising, with the rest of the Air Nomads.

[@zacharyrae8243]

What’s greater than humanity’s ingenuity is its desperation to survive. In the most difficult of times people will make use of any skill or resource to live, no matter how sickening and inhuman it may seem. Katara didn’t win that fight, she never would’ve. She’s cursed with an ability that will burden her for the rest of her life…

[@filipvadas7602]

EASILY the scariest episode of the entire show. Blood Bending is an absolutely terrifying, albeit logical, extension of Water Bending. And what's really dark about Hama is that , not only did she technically win by passing on her knowledge to Katara; a very DARK artform that the latter feels almost violated for having to learn just to win, but its quite possible that her escape scared the Fire Nation so much that they just outright started executing Water Benders because they were THAT terrified of another Blood Bender. Which included Katara and Sokka's mother. Meaning that them encountering her was *pure karma* at work.

[@zexalcommander7036]

Which actually makes me wonder, I mean, this is spoilers for TLOK, if Katara was only one taught by Hama, who taught Yakone to blood bend or did he teach himself through similar discovery?

[@filipvadas7602]

​@@zexalcommander7036 most likely the latter. Its really not some "secret" technique. With how Hama explains it, its all about simply recognising that you can do it, training it and being willing to cross the line of using it on people.

[@IamnotJohnFord]

@@zexalcommander7036 I don't know how bending works. But, I wonder do benders turn it on like speedsters turn on their abilities but turn them off when they want to interact with others? So, let's say they have to turn them on. I imagine they concentrate and can sense their element around them. Then, they connect with it and manipulate it. So, if you thought about it as a bender your mind could easily go to the fact that organisms are mostly water. Masters probably understand it exist and how to blood bend in theory. But, they choose not to pursue, and teachers don't mention it when students inquire about taking over a body. I imagine it's a lot like the dark side of the Force in the Star Wars universe. If a bender starts down that path you nudge them in a different direction. If they persist you warn them that some techniques are considered taboo.

[@ahedjehad8514]

if ATLA had to have a horror episode, this is definitely it. also, fun fact: it's first name at production was first "stop-hitting-yourself" technique, which was said as a joke. also, Hama shares the same voice for Dot from Animaniacs, which is both awesome and creepy to think about.

[@joshthomasmoorenew]

Good thing this lesson was given to Katara and not a Watertribe version of Azula, this is the most powerful Bender ability we've seen and the damage it could do in the wrong hands. (Also the additional material on Kyoshi does show us another powerful Waterbending tribe that allows someone to freeze someones heart)

[@nathanielreik6617]

4:50 in "Bato of the Water Tribe" Aang tried sea prunes, didn't enjoy them at all. Even Momo hated them.

[@nathanielreik6617]

This episode was meant as Avatar's Halloween episode and aired in the UK right before Halloween and in the US right after Halloween.

[@Fenrislokisonsuncut]

Fun fact there is no holiday episodes in avatar (no irl holidays) but this episode was made to be a would be halloween special but without halloween involved

[@Hawk_of_Battle]

Oh boy here we go at last, one of the best episodes of the show, and one most people look for on any reaction. Fans had speculated on blood bending since the first season, and as we got introduced to more and more sub-bending types many wondered if this was possible. We finally got our answer, and it's way darker than anyone suspected. Also, another peak Katara episode for the season. Blood bending, as metal as it sounds, may just be the most, if not the only, evil bending art around. Whilst lightning bending requires a total absence of emotion (which is why it's so easy for a sociopath like Azula to generate) bending someone's blood is far more invasive and requires going to an altogether darker place. A blood bender can pretty much *feel* what's being done to their victims, and still has to be willing to continue using the ability despite that. Worst of all, there's pretty much no fighting it if you're not also a bloodbender. It can literally be an instant-win button, against almost anyone. Absolutely terrifying. On the matter of Toph bending the iron in someones blood however; this is highly unlikely, for several reasons; 1) Incomparable percentages. A human body is comprised of about 70% water. For iron, a human body contains about 4 grams, or 0.005%. Considering how obviously difficult and unknown bloodbending is (Hama literally invented it, and even at her peak, can only use it at the height of a full moon when her power is at it's greatest) it would be ridiculous to say even Toph could manipulate that small of an amount of iron spread through someone's entire body, and that's assuming she even knows it's there (they probably don't have such great knowledge of human biology at this time.) 2) Toph doesn't *actually* bend pure metal. She bends the *impurities* IN the metal. Most metalbending we see Toph do is probably either iron or steel, of which contains about 2% carbon, with cast iron also containing as much as 3% silicon. Not huge numbers, but way more than that 0.005% that's in a human, and clearly enough for Toph to work with. Toph would have a better chance of ripping you apart by grabbing all the carbon in your body instead, which makes up about 18% of a human body, still far less than all the water Katara or Hama can use. Also, obligatory mention to Katara's move where she shattered Hama's water strike rather than simply re-directing it again. If you watch closely, you'll notice she was using a Toph style earthbending stance when she did that, another throwback to what Iroh talked about last season about learning from other elemental styles and how he invented lightning re-direction. Katara stood her ground like an earthbender and completely surprised Hama, who was expecting another counter. Lastly, can we take a moment to pity Katara at the end there. I feel like a lot of reactors overlook her breakdown here. This is a girl who, about 6 months ago, was just learning about bending, was happily but slowly coming into her power and then rapidly grew into a master bender. The mother of the group, who learned how to use her powers to heal and protect others, even to the envy of a master firebender.... and then along came Hama, who forced her into becoming a bloodbender against her will. She took all that innocent and joy and discovery and violated it, teaching Katara a skill that removes a persons free will and can be used only for torture and pain and manipulation. It's clear Katara is disgusted by what she's now able to do, and she can *never* unlearn it. Even if she chooses never to use it again, she will forever be capable of it.

[@GreenOfFields]

Under ordinary circumstances an adult human only has enough iron in their blood to make a single nail. So no, a Metal Bender could make a hell of an assassin but no puppeteering.

[@Liesmith424]

I wanted to comment about how this is such a fantastic episode, but I'm too distracted by how adorable that zonked puppy is.

[@robertlocke2926]

"kinda wanna know what evil katara look like". oooh if they just know :D

[@Noneofyobusiness123]

If you notice it when the gang try to open the box toph makes a funny face at the end

[@darknessunknown4384]

As scary as they portrayed blood bending, you can see beneficial uses of it too; like stopping someone from bleeding out or improving their blood flow. Too bad it only works on a full moon...

[@zexalcommander7036]

Or so we believe…(iykyk, in case they check comments, I don’t wanna spoil)

[@king-vs4sv]

This is my favorite episode in the series

[@benwilliams5863]

So Toph cannot bloodbend as she bends the impurities and remnants of earth within the metals and not the actual metal itself. Hope that clears it up

[@DarkLordSyn]

One of my favorite Halloween episodes of any show made

[@caitlinbrooks1085]

There is actually a fan made alternative universe comic where Katara and Sokka are evil and trying to hunt Aang and zuko and azula are good

[@MrGBH]

Next to Appa's Lost days, this is the most fun episode to see reactor watch. It's just so much darker than anybody expects. One thing they don't really outright explain about Bending is that to Bend a material the bender needs to move their Chi into it. (Firebenders move the Chi into the heat they produce inside their own bodies). However, from what I can gather, people have innate control over their own Chi. To take control over the Chi of someone else requires immense power and control, hence why Bloodbending can only be done during a full Moon. Logically, a Firebender could take control of the heat inside someone else's body and siphon it away, similar to how Roku cooled lava.

[@dragonsvideos6737]

That’s an earth ending skill. Also he used air to cool the lava

[@idimentio9317]

Let's not forget, Toph bended a piece of meteorite

[@GirlofCulture]

Many fans talked about this fact.. that Waterbending should be the most powerful thing in this world cause you could bend the water in a human body.. but so they invented Bloodbending into the series..and.. this is kind of a darkside of the force skill if you ask me.

[@joelsasmad]

Outside of a really weird exception in the sequel series, I'm really glad the put the limit that blood ending is only possible on a full moon.

[@jamesalexander5559]

Ken is right about Toph. Like the guru said Toph bends the earth within the metal not the metal itself. Korra goes more into specifics so I'll leave it at that so i dont spoil more. Since you mentioned it, there's a web comic where Katara is evil. The Water Tribe takes the place of the Fire Nation and colonizes the earth. In it Hama is Katara's teacher and Katara is somewhat of a stand in for Azula. Instead of using fear to control people though, she uses faux compassion and empathy to get what she wants. For example in the scene where Azula uses fear to get the ship captain to go on despite the tides, Katara instead boosts the captain's morale by saying that she believes entirety in his abilities and that he shouldn't doubt himself.

[@ulmario]

I highly recommend reacting to Lydia the Bard! She has villain songs of Disney characters that are amazing like Alice's "I Only Paint in Red Now", Tinker Bell's "Fall Little Wendy Bird Fall", and other songs that are just phenomenal. The reason I bring this up is because she wrote a song for Katara to further reflect on what she believed would have been an inner turmoil for the bloodbending she now posseses. The song is called "What Have I Become" and it's beautiful!

[@nathanielreik6617]

13:36 Toph can bend meteorites and technically the metal in our bodies comes from nutrients we eat so in a way it comes from the earth. So maybe?

[@dumodshorts9766]

In some of the books (they might be fan made) there is an earth bending subclass called bone bending. Some people think king Bumy uses it to keep himself alive.

[@filipvadas7602]

I like that it was Sokka that *immediately* became supiscious of Hama. Granted, its not like she tried *too hard* to hide how suspicious she is but it still fits with his character. Like how he suspected Jet. Shows just how good he is at reading people whereas Katara tries to see their good qualities and sympathises with their plights a little too readily.

[@GirlofCulture]

And here we go.. the "so called" Halloween Episode of ATLA ... and woof..what a great episode. This episode marked a major turning point in the Avatar mythology with the introduction of bloodbending. Katara's storyline here was also solid, as she learned the ways of "Southern Water Tribe-style" waterbending, which of course just turned out to be Hama's own twisted version of it. That said, it did clarify some suspicions we had about waterbending, like waterbenders' ability to extract liquid from plant life, or even the humidity in the air. It's interesting, though, because we never really saw waterbenders conjure up their own water out of essentially nothing, which leads me to believe that particular trick must be difficult to pull off. Another great aspect of this episode was Hama's origin story, which we saw through flashbacks. In addition to showing us how she was captured by the Fire Nation and later developed bloodbending, it also did a good job of making her a sympathetic character. While her actions were clearly out of line -- namely, kidnapping innocent Fire Nation civilians -- you could understand where she was coming from after being locked away for so many years. She even made some good points about the morality of bloodbending and how using it was not a choice but a necessity: "The power exists, and it is your duty to use the gifts you've been given to win this war." Of course, the highlight of this episode was the final showdown between Hama and Katara, which dovetailed nicely with Aang, Toph and Sokka's investigation into the "Full Moon spirit." But I think my favorite part was Hama demonstrating her bloodbending on Katara, and Katara rising above it adding, "You're not the only one who draws power from the Moon." This, followed by Katara's own mastery of waterbending, which far exceeded Hama's amateur skill level. Regardless, Hama accomplished her mission -- to pass on the art of bloodbending to another waterbender -- thus concluding the episode on a noticeably dark note.

[@Rwhalt]

Ahem ☝️ *Spoilers!

[@GirlofCulture]

@@Rwhalt Yeah sorry. My brain is used to talk to people who have the full picture.

[@joelsasmad]

The thing is that if Hama had focused on trying to get back to her tribe or joining up with the forces fighting the fire nation she could have done far more to actually punish those responsible for what happened to her, and she could have been a powerful ally to the good guys. Heck she probably would have become a mentor to Katara like Iroh is for Zuko. Instead she is focused on petty revenge against people who have nothing to do with what happened to her and ended up nearly killing the avatar, which would doom the world to fire nation conquest.

[@illyahrthebard3303]

Something to remember: The Fire Nation came back and captured Katara and Sokka's mom because they were searching for an escaped water bender

[@lyrebirb83]

If you want to see what evil bloodbender Katara looks like, there's a great fan fiction there's one where the rules of the fire and water nations were switched. As were the siblings from the series. Evil Katara, Sokka, and Hakoda is horrifying.

[@girlwithoutafairy]

Toph can only bend metals that have bits of earth in them

[@MrEmiosk]

Metal bending does not actually bend the metal. But the impurities within it. The fragments of little earthy minerals left within the metal. Technically todays high grade steel would simply not be bent by earth bending, because it is too pure.

[@lonjas9191]

A Bloodbender is already in mortal kombat tho. It’s skarlet

[@faithrabbit4330]

Fans had speculated... and the show said 'yes'.

[@ryanakers1372]

I believe there was an official Avatar website the creators launched when this show first aired, and it listed Bloodbending but didn't give any details.

[@akashshetty5112]

Katara vs Subzero?? That’d be an interesting match up!! 😂❤

[@ShadowRyu]

This episode proves the writers knew exactly what they were doing. No scene, imagery, or story part is meaningless. Every move has a purpose, even the "filler" episodes

[@gatr2897]

Think about how much water is in the human body, or even just the amount of water in our blood alone, and even then this technique is only possible on a full moon when waterbending is strongest. Given there's way way less minerals than water in our bodies, and earthbenders also don't have a full moon equivalent, and it makes sense that earth bloodbending wouldn't be possible. You could maybe tug a little but you couldn't possibly overpower the persons own muscles. Bloodbending is quite possibly the most powerful bending technique there is, but it is also extremely limited. This would've been a great episode to watch on Halloween lol, in fact I'm decently sure that's when first aired? Nickelodeon definently isn't a stranger to horror but this episode is definently in the pantheon of nightmarish moments in Nickelodeon shows. The complete loss of control victims of bloodbending experience is a horror unparalleled, I think that type of fear is near universal.

[@mmxxiii9503]

11:31 Imagine if Katara was able to use blood bending with Zuko 👀

[@BigJT246]

Theres a blood bender in mortal kombat kind of, skarlet. She manipulates blood

[@RussTheMaster]

The idea of metal bending iron from the human body is impossible because Earth Benders always use physical contact with the earth and metal with their hands and feet. Earth benders would have to touch the iron inside the body to effect it. However a metal arm or other prosthetic would be affected by a metal bender as long as they can touch it.

[@joelsasmad]

I wonder if an earth bender could strike a person to bend their bones

[@Hawk_of_Battle]

There's also almost no metal in a persons body anyway (it's about 0.005%). Earth benders would stand a better chance of bending all of a persons carbon (about 18%) than the piddely little iron we have, and even that's a stretch, considering what it takes a bloodbender to do to control a persons water (which is more like 70%).

[@EmeraldKing6987]

The legend of korra makes blood bending even more powerful

[@Hawk_of_Battle]

Why say this dude? If they're ever gona watch Korra, you don't need to spoil.

[@devinburns2535]

Calcium is also a metal. Imagine toph ripping dudes bones out of their bodies

[@zexalcommander7036]

Someone else explained that actually Toph wouldn’t be able to bend the metal out of a person’s body because 1. It’s not the same type of metal that we use for construction and other stuff 2. Her metal bending derives from bending the impurities out of metal, the tiniest bits of raw earth still left within the metal. Give her the modern pure steel we have today and she won’t be able to bend it. No, the metal in TLOK is not pure enough.

[@dragonsvideos6737]

@@zexalcommander7036that’s why the platinum mecha suits were unbend able

[@zexalcommander7036]

@@dragonsvideos6737 I forgot about that Scratch that, they have pure metal then, but the metal the city police use is bendable

[@dragonsvideos6737]

@ yeah that metal wasn’t pure. Remember when Guru Pathik was explaining separation of the elements and toph first learned metalbending? It showed earth inside her metal cage that’s the way they bend metal. Cops metal isn’t pure like platinum so they can bend it

[@ferenchorvath8752]

Hama thought that she was the last waterbender. Judging by the look and age of the characters, it is quite possible that Kitara was born after Hama's escape. And the next time, the Fire Nation got information about a new waterbender, they decided to give up upon taking the waterbenders as prisoners... The series doesn't state it explicitly anywhere, but I think they were so afraid of the possibility of an another bloodbender, that Hama indirectly caused the death of Kitara's and Sokka's mother... ... which, in turn, resulted in the born of one of the strongest waterbenders, 'cause, you know, karma and stuff.

[@Arkayjiya]

To be fair that's one of the thing that isn't Hama's fault. She had every right to bloodbend those guards to get the fuck out. It's the stuff after that that's messed up xD But yeah, Judging by her look, she escaped between 30 and 40 years ago so long before Katara was ever born and the timeline does match up.

[@LycanFerret]

​@@Arkayjiya That's why people consider this episode a second Jet. Going after guards and corruption is fine, but innocent civilians is too far.

[@enadegheeghaghe6369]

​@@LycanFerretit's easy to make judgements but you have no idea how twisted your mind would be after decades of imprisonment and abuse

[@merlijnbal221]

theory the fire antion attacked katara and sokka's stribe when they where kids where they looked for an water bender but the mother got killed i say she said she was the bender but they looked for hama and because hama was so dangerous they didnt take her captive but killed her btw blood bending has a side effect on the person using it it corrupts the mind of the user

[@derykjames620]

I remember watching this episode on Halloween

[@bobbyhill2578]

There is a fan comic that tells of an alternate universe where Katara is an evil water bender queen and uses blood bending to get what she wants. There are some KZbin videos and shorts that you can find about this fan comic.

[@ifapollovisitedtajmahal5273]

Also on AO3 and FF, pretty sure theres a written part which the comic follow

[@bouboulroz]

The fan comics is based on a fan fiction. Avatar: Distorded Reality.

[@Luzarioth]

Our Skeletons are made of out Calcium, which is also a Metal

[@dragonsvideos6737]

Not that kind of metal

[@samuelclayhills3298]

Hama definatley the scariest villain in avatar. Azula is bad but the level of horror in this episode is next level. We can understand why she truned out the way she did even if any sane person sees that her actions have gone way too far. Now if she stayed and helped against the war effort then even though in universe this would definatley be a war crime we can at least understand the logic. Torturing and imprsoning civillians helps no one and well the gang clearly think that this is way too far for anyone to go. We also saw Katara and Sokkas grandmother or potentially great grandmother in the flashback and we see how the ship in ep 1 got stuck there. We also get a much more bitter than sweet ending as while Hama is stopped and probably imprisoned for life she still succseeded and tought Katara bloodbending. We just have to hope that Katara doesent use it.

[@whodat4lyfekris]

12:45 Ooowww brilliant Bethany, someone's getting a Tin Foil Hat

[@wolfs_dahye1002]

12:09 I think katara would be considered scarlet in mortal kombat if I think about it

[@Doublejbibbs]

Just a thought. I think it’d be pretty awesome if they cast Sissy Spacek as Hama in the live action show.

[@frenchynoob]

Maybe Im just overthinking all this, but the mental image I get when picturing Bloodbending gets me queezy. Like, it's not the same as traditional mind control where you tell a person "raise your arm" and their brain goes ahead and moves the arm. No, a Bloodbender _forces_ the blood to move in a certain spacial direction, and the blood itself pulls _whatever part of the body it happens to be in_ along with it: kinda like putting metal liquid in a balloon and then using a magnet to attract the metal, which would slip n slide n push underneath the surface of the balloon. And since I assume Waterbending cant be precise down to the molecular level, that means if you're bloodbended to raise your arm up, you're gonna have blood rushing away from your shoulder & forearm, and pooling at your fingertips. The idea of so much "stuff" squidging around underneath skin so unevenly makes me lowkey wanna vomit. That's why when people talk about "wow bloodbending is so cool whats the big deal everyone should be learning it", I cant help but get serial killer vibes from those people...

[@hermaeusmora424]

12:10 we already have bloodbending in mortal combat. The character is Skarlet.

[@Sezenian]

Definitely Definitively one of the creepiest episodes!

[@BuzryHaproMandalorianHunter]

This was the scariest episode in the entire ATLA.

[@ΔημΣΚ]

Katara in 5 minutes defeated someone who uses bloodbending for her whole life every month.. and she clearly said her (water) bending is more powerful than hamas, so she countered Hama's bloodbending, and some still think there are stronger waterbenders than katara out there... Lol if she does that at 14 imagine at 30. Shes easily the most powerful and skilled waterbender in the avatar universe. Oh and don't forget she has just 1 year training in waterbending and she's self taught, unlike others from the other show (you know who I mean)

[@corgiluver9718]

Continue to enjoy your reactions, thanks.

[@josh_miester_x511]

If you want Blood Bending in Mortal Kombat, look at Scarlet's fatalities.

[@MatthewJamesKalasky]

Wonder if bloodbending could be used to freeze, boil, or evaporate a person's blood while it's still in their body.

[@eaglescott17]

I'm not sure if Toph bending the iron in the blood would be a reasonable thing, because it is relatively scarce, but I'm fairly certain she could bend bone. Edit: "...bending the iron *in the blood*..."

[@Topgun178]

Ironic, this episode first came out 17 years ago yesterday.

[@ernestozuniga5078]

To answer the question about toph and blood bending no she can't because when Toph bends metal she is really bending the earth in the metal like the guru said even the finest metals are impure and has traces of earth in them

[@RikThunder33]

yeah, I was never a fan of the phrase "my bending is more powerful than yours". what does that even mean.

[@whodat4lyfekris]

One of the best/darkest episodes 😏

[@Menno0183]

Here we go, ATLA’S darkest episode

[@ryanakers1372]

Spoiler. . . I think Southern Raiders is darker, but this is definitely very dark.

[@omarcordova4563]

I'd say when katara meets a certain bad man is an even darker episode

[@Lupinemancer87]

Hama is one of those people that you certain sympathize with, especially after what she had suffered through. But on the other hand, taking it out on innocent people is going too far.

[@CameronDThomas]

Team Hamma!!!💯😂 Katara was childish and irrational!!

[@krewl1252]

a scary Halloween episode in a kids show? how about that i am sure it debuted on Halloween so 3:26 yes your right ken

[@mountaingeko1232]

Wait so here i just realised something. When Hama in the end called Katara out for being a Bloodbender, should the village People not have realised that Katara is a Waterbender/Threat to the Firenation too and snitch to the army and try to capture them? Or perhaps they didnt think of that and felt thankful for being freed

[@dragonsvideos6737]

They were focused on the water bender who tormented them, katara was fighting her so she’s not their enemy

[@xentaza]

finally u guys made it to the best episode

[@michaelmavis731]

There are only 3-4 grams of metal in the hi,a body vs where as a 154lb man has roughly 42 liters of water.

[@Bardic_Knowledge]

So, the iron in blood is very much not the same as the iron in metal. It has some of the same element, but the way they're structured is very different. As to the Magneto assertion, the only people he's been able to bend like that have been those like Wolverine, because his skeleton is coated in a magnetic metal, and that one guard in X2, though that required Mystique injecting a liquid ferrous metal in him and rather than controlling him, Magneto just pulled the metal out. I did read a good fanfic a while back, though, that posited that where blood is the water of the body, bone is the earth of the body, so Toph would be able to bonebend if she really wanted to (and she doesn't want to).

[@AngelGuzman0925]

Jet and Hama. Similar characters. What a crazy episode. Also, keep in mind that one can only bloodbend when it’s a full moon. Can’t just do it anytime

[@ulmario]

Fun fact: you uploaded this episode on KZbin the same day the actual episode aired on TV 17 years ago. I just saw the post The Last Airbender channel posted stating this. Isn't that ironic?

[@tregnirit1278]

metal bending the metal that is inside our body would not work just bc metal bending is not even bending the metal it is just bending the unrefind chunks of earth within the metal

[@madhavmandava]

Don't you just hate it when a crazy old lady turns you into something that you didn't want to become 😮

[@XC11301991]

I really never liked how they designed Hama as an antagonist for this episode. They went too hard on the Halloween creepy theming and set her up too much as the obvious moustache twirling villain. You understand Hama's pain but they go about it in a over the top manner compared to like Jet.

[@heykrazy5436]

Tbh each bending can do something crazy

[@VampTwinkie]

I agree with Hamma but dotn like how she went about it

[@ducksplain]

Oh boy, you're gonna love it when bloodbending reappears. It's a... it's a fucking doozy.

[@TERRELL_GASKINS]

Hama & Jet are perfect explains of why war makes good men mad

[@Great_Olaf5]

13:35 Beter thought die aan earthbender: bonebending.

[@lhhOriginalGrey]

Blood bending is horrific

[@spacemanspiff3014]

I see an Appa behind you, but why no Momo????

[@НурсейитТоктомбаев]

Hi Ken and Bethany when mortal kombat part 2 funny fatalities huh?

[@CameronDThomas]

❤️Mann I love you guys, you should definitely do Naruto series next! I’m here for it if you do, every episode. Wish we could see you more often, quit your jobs and be with us full time!😂😂

[@zlonglea]

I don’t judge hama AT ALL

[@infinitygaming588]

Day 2 of asking to react to bendy vs sans

[@danielramsey6141]

This power ONLY GETS SCARIER once Korra’s series starts up.

[@theinsurance2450]

Thanks for spoiling it.

[@Auron1Roxas2]

I honestly don't see Hama as an evil person, she's a victim of war and genocide. The fire nation kidnapped their waterbenders and tried to wipe out their whole culture. Like katara said, she'd never met another waterbender from their tribe, so she grew up not being able to learn southern water tribe bending techniques. And who's to say all of those villagers aren't just as evil as any other fire nation soldier or other military figure? Fire lord sozin had the fire nation indoctrinate propaganda that lasted for 100 years. Remember those kids in the school aang went to? That had been going on for a whole century. There'd be very few people who didn't think the way their government wanted them to. If any of them knew who Hama, or any of team avatar was, they'd of turned them into the authorities. Hama and Jet became what the fire nation made them to be, their actions are the consequences of the fire nations war on the world.

[@samuelclayhills3298]

Jet almost wiped out earth kingdom civillians so the point is already falling apart. The people of the fire nation have pretty much been fed propaganda for 100 years and hell even Iroh was activley a part of the war effort so I guess he is evil too. Next time you are in a war go to the government and nicely ask them to stop Im sure they will agree to you. Tldr this is pretty much a blatant racist take.

[@joelsasmad]

The thing is that if Hama had focused on trying to get back to her tribe or joining up with the forces fighting the fire nation she could have done far more to actually punish those responsible for what happened to her and her people, and she could have been a powerful ally to the good guys. Heck she probably would have become a mentor to Katara like Iroh is for Zuko. Instead she is focused on petty revenge against people who have nothing to do with what happened to her (brainwashed civilians are not responsible for the actions of the government or military at all) and ended up nearly killing the avatar, which ironically would doom the world to fire nation conquest.

[@metacat3106]

Being a victim doesn't mean you can't be an abuser. Hama is both. She got so lost in her own hatred that she didn't realize that by doing the exact same thing to the Fire Nation (capturing civilians and locking them up for a long time), she's become just as evil as they were, arguably even worse because she's experienced it and knows how bad it is and willingly puts other people through the same abuse.

[@Auron1Roxas2]

@@metacat3106 She's not an "abuser". She's the consequence of the fire nation's actions. She's completely justified in her actions and they don't make her any worse than the fire nation.

[@Auron1Roxas2]

@@joelsasmad The entire nation is responsible. For 100 years the fire nation has indoctrinated it's people with it's war propaganda and it's worked. It's people believe what they've been told and finding a citizen who wouldn't turn them in for being water tribe is pretty much not gonna happen. Think back to the painted lady episode. Despite everything katara did for them they still turned against katara when they found out she was water tribe. If she hadn't done everything she did for them they would of turned her in to the very people who were making their lives terrible. Hama and Jet is what happens when you commit genocide and take everything away from someone, and you can see examples of them in real life. I don't blame how victims of war and genocide react to war and genocide.

[@abarrazarios]

She went thru a genocide she was torture and abuse to the cruelest way possible probably rape too but this is a kids show .. but you get my point imagine that having to be ur life for years she was probably a teen when she got captured and spend at least 40 to 50 years in the worst plave in the world and its all cause of the fire nation .. i would be like hama too probably worst .. theres no humanity left in me after going thrub50 years of the worst kind of torture... just think about it for a minute ..