The Horror of Bloodbending & The Hama - Ozai Parallels | Avatar the Last Airbender: Puppet Master

Today at the Mystery Shack, we return to the world of Avatar to look at the more explicit side of horror the series dabbles in - the disturbing art of bloodbending and Hama's story as the puppetmaster. From some spooky parallels between Hama and Ozai to some cheeky foreshadowing - this one's got it all!
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Timecodes
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00:00 - Introduction
00:40 - The Night Before the Full Moon
05:04 - Enter - Hama
07:20 - Grocery Shopping - Spirits, Cabbages & Mysteries
09:51 - The Puppets & The Comb
11:41 - Hama of the Water Tribe
12:35 - An Old Master
14:39 - The Fire Lilies
15:35 - Old Man Ding
16:20 - The Dark Side of Water Bending - Blood Bending
17:32 - Hama and Ozai Paralels
19:04 - Every Nation and Every Element CAN be Evil
21:33 - Waterbending & Firebending Portrayal
22:05 - Katara Corrupted
24:47 - Outro
#avatarthelastairbender #avatar

[@MollyWolfArt]

I also like how Hama's statement of Katara now being a bloodbender also feels like another horror trope of how a Curse is not ended, but passed on to someone else. Just adds a final sinister edge.

[@zero1188]

Then she uses it on the man who killed her mother

[@nicholaspeterman9111]

@@zero1188 Actually, she used it on the guy who replaced him as the head of the Southern Raiders. Which just makes it worse. While he was hardly innocent, she chose to use bloodbending and didn't even have the right person.

[@iceluvndiva21]

The creepiest thing she's ever said in my opinion? "There's water in places you never even think of". This is a more subtle way of saying "Where there's life, there's water. Rats where just water in skin." It really makes me wonder what the darker side of Air and Earth bending would be. I mean Lighting for fire, Blood for Water...

[@MollyWolfArt]

@@iceluvndiva21 Well the darker side of Airbending was portrayed by Legend of Korra's 3rd Season villain who took out the Earth Queen by removing the breath in her lungs. Otherwise, with air being abundant given we need it to breathe...I'm sure there's a lot of natural storms one could make with it if they really let loose. And Earth is a tougher one to come up with but some metal, or really iron, is also inside our bodies already so those could theoretically be manipulated from up close to like...shoot out of the blood streams. Otherwise, encasing people in stone is probably the darkest it could get on a personal level.

[@ayangul7194]

​@@MollyWolfArtpersonally the darkest airbending technique I've heard of is sound bending, being able to increase the sound so much that it could deafen someone

[@ficialintelligence1869]

One theory on why the Fire Nation was no longer taking water benders alive is _because_ of Hama's escape. If so, Hama was indirectly responsible for Kya's death...which makes passing on blood bending to Katara even more twisted.

[@VZZVW]

I’ve been an ATLA fan from the start and never heard this theory and god damn it fucked me up 🤯

[@ficialintelligence1869]

@@VZZVW Thanks, but this is not my theory. (I wish I could tell you the original source of the theory. It did come from somewhere on KZbin.) When I heard this theory, however, it made sense. And yeah, it's _every_ Crayola Color of fucked up.

[@thalmoragent9344]

Oof

[@thalmoragent9344]

​​@@ficialintelligence1869 That's a good one, Crayola Crayon Colors of fucked up 😅

[@iri02802]

I have heard of that theorie too.

[@grahamdamberger7130]

The way Hama smirked when she discovered bloodbending was the same smirk on Ozai's face when he saw Azula's firebending ability on display. Ozai raised Azula like a puppet in his own way.

[@controlman7490]

I'd smirk too if I could control other people. That's a broken ability.

[@calipeixoto930]

I mean. I can empathize way more with Hama than Ozai. Someone is literally greedy and mean by default while Hama was pushed way far her breaking point.

[@the_real_idoit8166]

@@calipeixoto930doesn’t matter she’s crazy

[@alejrandom6592]

Holy sh*t. Don't know if they did this on purpose but if they did that's some amazing storytelling

[@alejrandom6592]

​@@controlman7490ur name is literally "control man"

[@MeredithHagan]

Something must have happened to set Hama off. She’d lived in the Fire Nation for decades, and presumably in that village long enough to have a successful business, and then suddenly she snaps and starts attacking people. My theory? The death/resurrection of the Moon Spirit. As a waterbender, she would have felt that loss like all of the others. She felt her god die, she felt the loss of her power and the sudden return, something in her broke even worse than it was before, and she started bloodbending again.

[@orishahar]

that makes so much sense it’s no canon in my mind

[@yourshoulderdevil5229]

That makes a lot of sense. I was wondering why there weren't a lot of people underground and why the town was only mildly upset despite people disappearing. If it was only recent it makes so much sense.

[@royceroyce7715]

I liked this comment more than the video tbh, I think you answered all the questions I had left about her

[@toning338]

I feel like the opening sequence was made scarier by the fact that while Toph sensed the people in the mountains screaming, she weirdly didn't notice Hama approaching her. It sort of subtlety puts you on edge because someone who can sneak up on Toph is very much a terrifying prospect

[@HuskerHornet3145]

It probably happened because Toph was focusing on the mountain, and Hama approached them to redirect their attention to her at the right moment

[@toning338]

@@HuskerHornet3145 Still, it made Hama really scary, like sneaking up on Toph? That's rare for anyone to do.

[@nelsondnazariotorres8732]

Also adding to the fact that Toph had shoes on as part of her fire nation attire. She could tell walk around barefoot lest her risking suspicion and it wouldve affected her “vision”

[@hellboy19991]

@@nelsondnazariotorres8732 I believe her having soles in this particular shot is an editing error. She kicked out the soles when she got the shoes and in almost all other shots she is shown with her bare feet showing.

[@alejrandom6592]

Maybe she bloodbent her seismic sense out of her

[@juliankanzuki2013]

People really under estimate Hama, she is the ONLY water bender we have ever seen pull water out of the air, that level of skill is intense. Her control over blood bending is by far the best we see, Yakone could paralyse a full room sure but that was raw power not skill, Hama meanwhile was puppeting Aang and Sokka while also water bending, again her skill level surpasses any other water bender we ever seen. And finally, she actually wins her fight against Katara.. it wasn't a physical battle, it was a battle of minds and principles, and Hama won. She never wanted to kill Katara, Katara was her legacy. The fight ended with Hama laughing and gloating and Katara on her knees in tears. Katara did not win this fight.

[@yrbelite8450]

Imagine prime Hama😮‍💨 she must’ve been hella strong.

[@renzguitche3736]

Wbk when Hama knew that Katara was a waterbender her goal shifted into passing on bloodbending to Katara

[@freescape08]

That's not true, Katara could've done it if the desert wasn't so dry.

[@juliankanzuki2013]

@@freescape08Katara never did it, you're jsut asuming she could because you like her with no evidence to back it up.

[@DoremiFasolatido1979]

Yeah...when you have stupid principles, they'll always lose. Bloodbending is wildly useful. It only sounds scary to you people because your primitive brains are addicted to the illusion of free will. You'd be better off either actually being sapient (which none of you are)...or by just being puppets after all.

[@justinianflavius9571]

Of all the blood benders in the series, only Hama actually fully controls her target's limbs like puppets. All the others just twists and lifts their target. Yakone's line may be stronger but they don't have the same intricacy as Hama's control. Also on the fire lilies, Hama says they're her most favorite thing there... then she just destroys them afterwards.

[@BlazeWolf9511]

I think this is technically incorrect. Its can’t really just be chocked up to strength alone, right? Amon and Yakone utilized an even higher level of intricacy over people with their blood bending. Amon was essentially able to do what Hama could as a child. We see how easily he could control animals. Yakone even more so since he could control a whole room to an almost psychic level. While Amon and Tarlock did have an edge genetically, its very clear that their intricacy with the art is much more impactful then what Hama is capable of. So much so that we as an audience will probably never get to see it again in the Avatar world. I mean, Amon literally stole benders abilities through blood bending alone. If they could utilize their bending to immobilize or lift a target completely, theres no need to twist a person around the way Hama did. But, theoretically, I’m fairly positive they could have done so just as easily. I think it’s just more of a framing issue then incompetence on their part.

[@blooxylips]

hama is weak-

[@controlman7490]

Yakone and his son's never used the puppet technique like Hama did because there was no need. Hama used it on Sokka and Aang specifically to force Katara to fight her friends in hopes that Katara would blood bend her and she could pass on the skill. Yakone and his son's have always either been trying to escape or subdue people, which doesn't require making them fight. You can just knock them out or slam them into walls.

[@westanstuffcuzperiodt.]

@blooxylips girl if u were a firebender or airbender or earthbender or even a waterbender you can still be easily defeated in a fight with hama, Aang *the literal avatar* couldn't even defeat her unless he enters the Avatar state which still requires a huge amount of strength as shown in the legend of korra. You have to be a bloodbender to defeat a bloodbender. Unless ur the Avatar ofc which is still quite hard to do. If u don't read all this idec

[@blooxylips]

@@westanstuffcuzperiodt. girl katara beats hama bye

[@rekaesmate3733]

When you compare the destructive fire bending with the destructive waterbending another interesting parallel for me is that destruction in firebending comes from a moment's rage. But in waterbending it comes from years, decades of hard work and desperation. Just like how water can destroy a mountain one drop at a time (This ep also always reminds me of Doctor Who's Waters of Mars, another very creepy water episode in a "kids show")

[@Seth-Fire]

I really like this way of describing it

[@zashgekido5616]

There's a sort of cold, simmering hatred to bloodbending when we saw it in the last airbender; the antithesis of firebending almost, and I think that makes it all the more fascinating. You can at least see it coming when a firebender wants to rock your shit, a waterbender gets creative.

[@thalmoragent9344]

​@zashgekido5616 True. Fire has its ups and downs. You almost always know where it's coming from (unless they draw some from another Fire source around you, like a brazier, to distract you) and they bend from their limbs. Waterbending, particularly Bloodbending, would be more unpredictable in practice, just as it's base usage.

[@FriendlyGhost-rf7tq]

uncontrolled fire that comes in moments is destructive once you control and master it it becomes useful and it can still be dangerous if you make one mistake

[@lordaldo3273]

this is an amazing analogy

[@toxicperson8936]

I know what she did was wrong & her actions aren’t defendable, but I still can’t help but feel a small amount of sympathy for Hama. She was stolen from her home, for literal decades, kept in a solitary cell without even being able to drink water freely. Anyone in those conditions would go a little crazy. I don’t think she should be let out of prison, but at the same time, I feel horrible about her having to spend her final years in prison AGAIN. If none of that had ever happened to her, she would have never harmed those civilians.

[@iri02802]

I do too. Hama is not a good person but she is a victem of the war. She was friends with Katara's and Sokka's grandmother for god's sake.

[@kellyrush4928]

She basically gave katara no choice,she would have killed both aang and soka, she had her use that power knowing, it's a kinda taboo, forcing someone to do something without their consent, bending assault

[@Ashbrash1998]

If it helps Hama did come up in like the RP book, where it was stated tha Zuko let go of ALL water bending prisoners the fire nation had, including Hama. But due to her danger and ability, the Southern Water tribe took custody of her and put under like a house arrest. If I remember the main rule was that swhe had to stick within a certain area and that if she tried to escape, they would put her back in prison.

[@yerd1511]

gotta do what you gotta do, fuck em

[@toxicperson8936]

@@Ashbrash1998 where did you hear that?

[@aless7038]

21:47 I would also want to point out the fact that in this scene Katara used an earthbending technique against Hama, instead of rediregting the flow of water she blocked it (you can't see it in this footage) but Hama's expression after this is for a brief moment in shock because it put her off guard, not anticipating Katara to incorporate that fighting style

[@AlryFireBlade]

Wow I never thought about that, but you are correct. That was not a flow movement. It was, like Toph would say, stand solid like a rock. This is exactly how she blocked it. Details like this really show how awesome this show is. the "Magic System" is so well made.

[@aless7038]

@@AlryFireBlade I'm glad I could point this detail out :) I saw it once myself in the comments of an ATLA video. I like to think of this as the expression of Katara and Toph's bond and how them, in spite of their temperaments, ended up understanding and learning from eachother

[@thestarryeyedobserver]

I love how Zuko isn't the only one who learns the importance of incorporating aspects of other bending styles into your own (during his final Agni Kai). Really goes to show how right Uncle Iroh was about this.

[@segastars9802]

Wow, I never noticed that. I never even put that much thought into her blocking that water as an Earthbender, but you're right! That is epic.

[@ThePhreakass]

You stole that from the original video.

[@annieandelsieofarendelle3294]

The thing with Hama that is probably the scariest is that you can understand where she's coming from. She was also just a normal village girl, living a peaceful normal life with her friends and family that was all ripped from her in a single stroke. Alone, friendless, watching as the people she knew and possibly cared for died one by one until she was all that was left of the Southern waterbenders. Then she learns this talent, this ability that gave her her freedom once again, why shouldn't she continue to use it? Why should the Fire Nation villagers get to live their lives peacefully and happily while she and her friends were left to rot in a cage? Why shouldn't they hurt?

[@bcmoore671]

well, her friends/family didn't die. they were put in prison.

[@annieandelsieofarendelle3294]

@@bcmoore671 I think it’s implied they died in prison.

[@asadelfadillah8008]

​@@bcmoore671Hama outright said that before she escaped, she was imprisoned for literal decades. *Decades.* You legitimately think none of the Waterbenders would die out or (on the darker side) try to *** themselves while in prison?

[@asadelfadillah8008]

​@@bcmoore671Hama outright said that before she escaped, she was imprisoned for literal decades. *Decades.* You legitimately think none of the Waterbenders would die out or (on the darker side) try to *** themselves while in prison?

[@emmagarcia4289]

exactly like the fire nation villagers are very much colonial settlers getting to live happy life while the genocide of all benders is still going on, I would also turn bitter like that

[@HolyknightVader999]

The one thing that baffles me is that Hama had the power to make any Firebender neck himself under a full moon, yet she never made an attempt on the lives of the Fire Nation royal family or its top military leaders. She could've won the war single-handedly for the Water Tribes, yet she restricts herself to menacing civilians, which wouldn't do anything in the long run to cripple the Fire Nation.

[@supersonicgamerguru]

As an old woman she wouldn't have had a chance against a large enough group of soldiers.

[@chrisrubin6445]

​@@supersonicgamerguru thats only IF she gets caught

[@segaman4275]

She was probably insane, so she probably didn't think of that

[@HolyknightVader999]

@@segaman4275 She was still talking about winning the war. She could've won the war by making the Fire Lord and his family neck themselves.

[@HolyknightVader999]

@@supersonicgamerguru They'll outnumber themselves and kill each other.

[@KitKatHexe]

I'd love to see a morally grey blood bender, whether as a protagonist or an antagonist, that justifies their use of blood bending with something along the lines of "an enemy you force to kneel before you, is one you needn't put to the sword." Basically valuing the sanctity of life over the free will of those lives.

[@HuskerHornet3145]

That’s a good idea! Although I personally would like to see a researcher bloodbender who seeks to use animals and recently deceased people (not caused by him) like lab rats to study bloodbending. He would also struggle to resist the madness that comes from using that power, and therefore deliberately avoids psychic bloodbending if he knows of it. Not because it’s bad, but out of fear of *accidentally* harming someone with a thought. He may also use it for muscle augmentation, similar to how Hama used it to make her blood vessels bulge, in order to enhance his own abilities. He would believe that bloodbending alone isn’t evil, only illegal, you can truly master bloodbending by conquering the urges to use it for evil, bloodbending should be used for combat (and advanced medical treatments, after 4-6 years of on-and-off study under full moons), knowledge shouldn’t be suppressed as long as it isn’t innately evil, and people simply like to think bloodbending is innately evil. Also, if he goes to the spirit world to learn that Katara is a bloodbender, he’d be pissed at the literal hypocrisy.

[@Shapoufiiie]

Ngl, I would do that fr if I could.

[@Marky-Mark1337]

I could see a vigilante could fit the role in a land hostile to waterbenders. But bloodbending has to be an "unknown" thing

[@JusticeForChuuu]

@@Shapoufiiie thank god you don’t

[@crackey3852]

For real, I feel like that made bloodbending "inherently bad" just for the plot as it would have been OP. You could use it to peacefully arrest someone, or stop someone from harming themselves or others. Whereas water bending could drown people or kill them by other means. Kinda like in Harry Potter how the killing curse is "unforgivable" but you could explode a ceiling, crushing people under rubble which is more painful than a quick/painless death by killing curse.

[@guifdcanalli]

About Katara bloodbending and Hamma "winning" at the end, we have to remember the Avatar World is deeply spiritual, heck Aang himself is a sacred bridge between physical and spirit And even tho culturally the air tribe was more connected with spirits, the waterbending is BY FAR the bending most connected with the Spiritual nature, being able to heal someone is as pure spiritual and physical something can be, and Katara knows that, she felt that again and again during their travels And thats where bloodbend enters, it is a complete upside down of the pure and almost ethereal nature of water, you are not connected with Yue, youre not speaking with La through the movement of the tides, youre not guiding the flow of water You are forcing your will, breaking someones free will over their body through sheer control, thats nothing more mundane, malicious and unholy than to use bloodbend even with the best of intentions, because deep in the core its simple nature is utterly profane So when Hamma made Katara her hostage, making her having no choice but to use bloodbend in order to save her friends, she not only corrupted Katara, she violated her in a way, her pure connection with the spirits, with her bending abilities (Something Katara cares deeply) were severed forever In a way she was forced to lose her innocence, that cry at the end was because she felt abused, psychologically and sacramentally abused, bound to a bitter story she didnt deserve and bound to a vile use of the bending she revered so much For me this is worst than any spooky story, thats psychological terror at its purest form

[@hadrianhexe9603]

And how is that different from spirit brnding which was literally described as putting your will against someone else and then taking them over?

[@guifdcanalli]

@@hadrianhexe9603 First of all spirits are not people, they are literal forces of nature Qlso the spirit bending is not about forcing your will, its about changing their negative and positive energies, not controling them or ordering them to do anything

[@hadrianhexe9603]

@@guifdcanalli First of ya'll, spirits clearly are still beings that have thoughts and feelings so i have no idea why on earth you think that changes anything. And two, i meant to say energy bending, aka when you take someone's bending away.

[@jplayzow]

​@@hadrianhexe9603It's not really forcing your will in energy bending as you need to be pure for it to work. They did it as a last resort Ozai could not be reasoned with and the alternative was murder. Bloodbending as used here was taking over someone else against their will and not stopping them from doing evil. Even if you consider it evil to energy bend there's not a lot of alternatives in its situation.

[@hadrianhexe9603]

@jplayzow You're exerting your will over someone. And I never said it wasn't a last resort, but the fact is, it's still essentially crippling someone, so it's highly unfair to think that it's ok while bloodbending isn't as though Katara didn't also use to stop the Psycho from murking them. The reason she reacted like that after was because it went against her personal beliefs and the situation she was in prompted her to think of it as evil when it's not, it's literally just bending, Hama was the one who had bevone evil

[@Ross-cecil]

never apologize for over analyzing tiny moments. Literally why I keep coming back, you're actually providing high quality analysis

[@iceluvndiva21]

seriously, those puppets look eerily similar to the captives....Yikes!

[@arthurstephenson869]

have you ever watched the over analysing avatar channel. you'd probably enjoy it lol

[@clayongunzelle9555]

Jeong jeong is probably the most underrated character, he had been pushed so far that he sees fire as being only destructive to the point where he never shoots for from his arms or legs if you watch closely he moves like a water bender. His philosophy is flawed but having that kind of mental fortitude is respectable

[@yoloswaggins7121]

Yeah he is my favourite character. I love the idea of a master who gets things wrong. You never really see that in fiction. You would expect Jeong Jeong to be correct in his philosophies and the idea that fire is destructive and almost inherently evil is an easy narrative given the nature of fire and the fire nation being the antagonists. But Atla goes above and beyond and shows you that nobody is perfect. Even great masters and wise old men do not have all the answers. Everyone is a product of their environment and experiences and Jeong Jeong is no different.

[@clayongunzelle9555]

@@yoloswaggins7121 you said it more eloquently than I ever could

[@nurainiarsad7395]

He represents the person who does learn from other nations, but rejects his own, and therefore still an unhealed person.

[@HuskerHornet3145]

I feel like now that Katara is a bloodbender, she can relate to Jeong Jeong. She’s a master who’s ideology about bloodbending is wrong, she likely considers bloodbending to be a bleeding curse similar to a burning curse, and she also rejects her own kin’s teachings of condensation and siphoning water from plants.

[@hellboy19991]

Funfact, Jeong jeong and most main firebender characters have signature moves. Jeong Jeong has the wall of fire. Azula has lightning and blue fire Iroh has his dragons breath Zuko has his fire daggers Zhao can dive through fire (when you see it, you can't unsee it) Cyclops has his explosions Ozai has brute force no-movement bending there are probably more I can't think of right now.

[@RedNiel100]

There's one small thing I wish this episode would have done differently: In Old Man Ding's story, he says he was able to escape thanks to the sun rising. To me this indicates this was one of Hama's earlier kidnappings, which is fine, but part of me just wishes that the reason he escaped was because of the moon spirit's death in the book 1 finale. That is was pure, unforseen luck that builds on an established event in the canon... idk, it just would have been nice.

[@Cansu_LMK]

True!!! Gotta agree with you on that.

[@yourshoulderdevil5229]

There's another theory in the comments on this video that theorizes that Hama had stopped blood bending after escaping the fire nation because she didn't need to, but she started again after feeling the moon spirit's death. She felt the loss and remembered her lack of control which re set her on her path for destruction. I think it makes the two stories fit together very nicely.

[@Bolpat]

The man who killed Kya, Katara's mother, was in the end such a pathetic individual, letting him live with his really awful mother is more of a punishment than (quick) death.

[@eeg-rh7jv]

He was a war hero who served his nation loyally. No wonder a show like this would vilanize bravery

[@DMasterChifu]

@@eeg-rh7jv what?

[@yrbelite8450]

@@eeg-rh7jvwhat are you saying? Lmao

[@lexezlao]

​@@eeg-rh7jv he was a war criminal, you on drugs mate or just generally unintelligent?

[@enderguardian7443]

@@eeg-rh7jvfire nation propaganda bot

[@Angel-Dust-The-Prostitute]

I actually have a case that blood bending could be used for good in the Avatar universe for medical application. It could mend small cuts and produce scabs, to mending large lacerations by creating gauze-like scabs. An soldier with an otherwise fatal injury, about to die in a few seconds, could be saved via blood bending. It could be used to stop blood flow in an artery to perform surgery, or reconnect arteries so a limb can once again breathe, to drawing out infections in the body. Blood bending never got the chance to be used altruistically, because it was always used for control. But if the taboo was lifted, it could help water bending doctors worldwide. I would implore a council hear out my case if there was one.

[@KrazyStargazer]

I remember my mind racing with the posibilities bloodbending offered when this episode aired. It was a game changer and a indication that Benders can be very creative and lethal with thier powers if they give it some thought. Also...bloodbending really does lend itself perfectly to the motief of witches and werewolves. On a full moon a waterbender becomes a monster~

[@controlman7490]

I instantly thought of Skarlet from MK. Draining the blood from the body. With blood bending you could also cut open someone's abdomen and pull all their digestive organs out, you could crush their brain, or make their heart explode. and my personal favorite idea, freezing their blood, which would make them stiff as a statue.

[@and0210]

I wonder if the reason as to why Hamma was eavesdropping on the gang was because she wanted to add more puppets into her collection, but stopped when she heard them talk about the water tribe

[@laurenevers8644]

It wasn't a full moon yet, so she couldn't have blood bended them even if she wanted to. Maybe she was out there because while everyone else in the village feared the night at that point and has stopped even leaving their houses for the most part Hama of course knew that she could walk around with impunity.

[@PancakeTheKat]

One thing I realized about bloodbending and water bending is that you might be able to stop all blood flow in the body with blood bending, killing the person. Or like, if you’re powerful enough, you could raise the heat of the water so high it’s fatal or even *_TAKE THE WATER OUT OF THE PERSON._*

[@rowantic6539]

That would make imhotep from the mummy a water Bender 😂

[@G3NTOK1]

I don’t think waterbenders can heat water like how firebenders can heat themselves up. I mean with practice someone probably can discover how to do it

[@devonm042690]

@@G3NTOK1 Considering waterbenders can freeze water and melt ice, can bend ice and snow, and as Hama demonstrates, can condense atmospheric water vapor, there's no reason to believe a skilled waterbender couldn't learn to boil water, attack with steam, or even pull water from animals the way Hama taught Katara to do with plants. The pulling of water from animals would just be to 'conventional' bloodbending what Hama's technique of pulling water from plants was to the swampbending Katara mentioned that led to the demonstration of that technique.

[@FriendlyGhost-rf7tq]

@@G3NTOK1 well if they can turn water in to ice it makes sense they could do the opposite and fire benders would be able to bend electricity that flows true human body any temperature

[@pantsonparade]

Or taking the water out of people's eyes, making them go blind.

[@SpammytheHedgehog]

Yue gave Katara the ability to Blood bend. Confirmed.

[@danielwesley5051]

She getting revenge for what happened at the North Pole.

[@Mother_Of_Gays]

@@danielwesley5051😂😂😂

[@lilytheoverlander]

YUE 😡😡😡😡

[@rami3164]

Not confirmed and that just takes away from kataras power. Also she does it later maliciously so why would yue help her?

[@HazbinCovenWitch]

20:08 Like what Aang said after learning from Roku's story: Roku was just as much Fire Nation as Sozin was. The Fire Nation is capable of great good and great evil. This applies to all the nations. Since we didn't see any "evil" airbenders in this show because Aang was the only one. We see it in Korra though. Zaheer was an Airbender.

[@Markus2E5I6]

I think an evil side of airbender since Zaheer wasn't an actual air nomad is them sticking to their philosophy so much. If Aang didn't learn energybending what was his plan? Let Ozai live?

[@HazbinCovenWitch]

@@Markus2E5I6 Idk. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@laurenevers8644]

Zaheer is a good example of the exploitation of the darkest aspects of airbending even though he wasn't an actual air nomad, but there have been a scent few evil airbenders. Avatar Kyoshi's mother was an air nomad who became a criminal boss, but because she lost her spirituality her bending got so weak she needed fans to enhance it. Zaheer wasn't a weak air bender, unfortunately, because he wasn't materialistic and was in a way very spiritual, even though he was so damn twisted in his beliefs.

[@rayf6126]

The thing about Hama is that she blends in every day in the fire nation village. She was starting to heal and become the potential healer that she might of been if she hadn't been taken prisoner. Then every month the ability that both protected her and empowered her negatively came back. That's part of the reason for the different tones of the episode.

[@MarcHatePage]

Katara is such a good and complex character

[@rickyronny4019]

Yeah and I feel she isn’t as appreciated as the other characters in the series

[@ponchobosque5019]

One thing that seems to be always in the episode are the trees. The forest always seemed lucious and green, but when we see the Gaang in the woods, it always looks as if they were hands stringing their movements. Like you could see all of the branches as hands and fingers, when in theory it shouldn't the forest was green, it was spring/summer.

[@samuelcarvajal9769]

Haven't watched Avatar in a bit, but my guess is that's where the water came from, could be completely wrong though

[@niemandzuhause4897]

In the Avatar novels by FC Yee bending and its limits and lore are explored further. Airbenders can drain the air out of a whole room or buildung suffocating everyone inside. Waterbenders can freeze your internal organs. Kids stuff.

[@DisKorruptd]

I mean, Waterbenders can canonically freeze water on demand, and can bend blood, just mix the two concepts together and boom, it's kinda a given

[@HuskerHornet3145]

In an Information Age, it would be a given, but people often like to memoryhole information, and trick others into doing the same, when they don’t want others to think about that information. In other words, they rely on stupidity instead of only physical concealment of information.

[@Philipp3022]

I mean Zaheer killed the Earth Queen with such a bending method. He literally drained the air she was breathing out of her

[@Tar_Pick_Piano]

If my blind friend said they could hear scream under a mountain I would run to the other side of the planet

[@alejandroguerra9413]

Important to note on all these Avatar/Korra videos. All the bending movements and their philosophies in a way are based on specific stiles of Kung Fu: Water bending is Tai Chi Quan, Air bending is Baguazhan, Fire bending is Shaolin quan, Earth bending is Hung Ga, and Toph's "Metal bending" is Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis. Whith that in mind, Tai Chi is heavily influenced by "the ways of water" so it comes full circle. Water bending can be so destructive because Tai Chi is a style specifically known to be spiritually enhancing, physically reconstructive and life extending AND when used as a martial art properly, absolutely ruthless

[@7Write4This9Heart7]

I LOVE the bloodbending! I wish it would have come up more 'cause it's just so interesting! Zuko's wide-eyed stare at Katara bloodbending in "The Southern Raiders" is so awesome! He is ABSOUTELY thanking his lucky stars she's on his side, like you said! lolol.

[@mutanttepig4759]

Honestly I will say that even though Hama is not a good person... she's a true master at waterbending. Everything she teaches Katara is a masterful use of waterbending. However it also is somewhat twisted in a way if you think about it. She demonstrates the ability to gather water from stray watervapor in the atmosphere by pulling it out of the air and immediately forming the water into ice claws meant to hurt. She pulls water out of plants that she previously described as being the most beautiful plants she's ever seen whilst they are still living and also rips water out of the trees during the fight causing them to both explode and rot away at the same time and how she performs bloodbending is like controlling people as if they were puppets she was manipulating by threads. All of these actions are so creepy and cruel that it unnerves you to no end. At the same time however all of those things are masterful usages of waterbending in very unconventional and hidden ways. It is almost as if she's a wicked witch who's an expert in magic, but all of it is innately twisted and horrible. Hama is a thought provoking character not because of the fact that she's a bloodbender, but because of the fact that she specifically subverts the traditional usages of waterbending in ways that are inherently twisted and maligned. Even bloodbending if you think about it is a subversion of the healing that waterbenders can do.

[@ashleypanzica2696]

I've seen reactors comment on how blood-bending could be helpful, but I have a hard time seeing it anything but horrific. Katara says it best, you're literally reaching inside someone and controlling them. And they have no control. I'd say being a puppet is way worse than getting a fire ball thrown at you, at least then you may have time to react to it. I can see maybe one good blood-bending could do, (in case of a fight where someone's injured the blood could be bent to remain in the body to prevent blood lose) but that's it!

[@hadrianhexe9603]

Again I pose the question. How is that different from spirit bending, that is you exerting your will on others or air bending someone's breath out of thier lungs like Zaheer did or even just a firebender torturing you with fire. All the elements have evil capabilites so it's irrational to say that one is more evil than the others.

[@monicavelazquezrodriguez3035]

I think that use of bloodbending is very drastic and using it to deviate attacks from the enemy or just immobilizing them can be just as limitating/violent as freezing them.

[@monicavelazquezrodriguez3035]

In other circunstances, ok breaks the will of other people, but in a fight, the opponent wants to break yours, forever. I don't think using bloodbending in self-defense is violent, as well you use it to stop the opponent and don't hurt them. Hamma was deprived of free will in a cage. Maybe can be used to avoid a person to fall, imagine all the deathscenes where characters fall of a cliff that would be avoided with one second of bloodbending.

[@MachinaOwl]

Personally I don't get why giving the person who could end your life a better chance to hurt you is inherently a good thing. "But it's fair for them to have a fighting chance!" is not something I'd worry about if I was trying to end a century long war and my opponents were men who destroy or control everyone they interact with. I don't see how that's much different from binding a criminal up and throwing them in prison. They also have their autonomy taken away from them. I know this is a kid's show and the worst we've seen is Zuko's scar, but have you actually SEEN a burn victim with disfiguring scars before? That's way worse to do to someone on the opposite side of war rather than just restrain them.

[@hadrianhexe9603]

@@MachinaOwl And that's the issue that arises with these arguements, People love to act as though if you're heroic, you shouldn't do certain things as if everything is black and white but theres a difference between a hero toturing someone for fun and them restraining/killing someone who is going to kill or hurt them. No one realizes that things like killing or restraining are simply actions, and it's your reasoning for why you take that course of action that makes something evil.

[@vit.budina]

Regarding Sokka's difficulty falling asleep, occasional insomnia can be tied to the full moon. Although this discomfort is often attributed to lowered melatonin production caused by more light reflected from the Sun, studies have shown that even people sleeping in dark rooms experience worse quality sleep on full moons, suggesting that there are other factors at play rather than just melatonin inhibition. Still, the effect of tidal forces, Earth's magnetic field and other areas of lunar effect on the human body haven't been thoroughly explored yet.

[@rekaesmate3733]

I always feel like Nini's story is completely made up, potentially by Katara on the spot. Otherwise wouldn't Sokka know about it? Katara says "Nini's house stands empty to this day with smoke coming out of the chimney" i think something like that would definitely stand out in the 5tent village they lived in in the first eps. And if it was a common watertribe horror story, Sokka would have heard, no? It is a spooky story, esp the way she tells it, but the descriptions don't sound right with the way the watertribe actually lives, even in the shots when the men were still around. For me, and I would think for many young viewers the story paints a little wooden house with a hearth connected to a chimney

[@nicolaridolfi6510]

Now imagine using bloodbending to freeze blood. I don't know how much people thought about it, but the possibility to do this is actually terrifying

[@meowmachine9147]

Wow, I didn't think of that. That's truly terrifying and what a horrible way to torture and eventually murder someone

[@LokiToxtrocity]

Fun fact: the small waterbending details of Hama pulling water from the air, or the plants themselves are all build up to blood bending, Hama seemed to have streamlined the learning curve to make it so if you can pull water from somewhere you cant see, then you can easily learn blood bending, because youre basically making the body form a muscle memory on that technique, once youre able to control water at such a microscopic level, blood bending becomes easy to do.

[@aishutoon4553]

You know something weird I realized the more I thought about it? Theoretically bloodbending could be used to help someone, such as by keeping a person from bleeding out from a wound, or by keeping the blood flowing in an area to keep someone from going into shock. I know healing using waterbending is already a thing, but still…

[@pandahead2241]

It feels strange saying this, but being the puppet of someone else, especially when you don't know who, it's petrifying. Watching yourself move without any control, I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Your probably wondering how the heck I know how this feels, and it's because I have epilepsy. Sometimes I have no control over my body, to the point where I pass out. Sometimes I just can't move but I can see and talk just fine. It's like I'm the puppet being pulled away from my free will. Sometimes it's scary, but I've adjusted to it. As a kid I thought that would be a cool thing to learn, make my sister do my homework for me, but now the episode is just so relatable in a scary way for me.

[@lukebeich]

I always had a beef with this episode making bloodbending somehow "evil" by nature in a world where people literally crush people to death with earthbending or burn them alive with firebending. I understand that due to the tone of the show and age-restriction, you need to often hint at things and left them unsaid. Bloodmagic is generally an evil power in fantasy and obviously with bloodbending you could do very disturbing things, so it's understandable that people would try to restrict it. However, even with all of that, I think that with in-world logic, the cast shouldn't have reacted so bad to bloodbending or Katara being that disturbed to have learned that, after all it's up to you how to use it. But the reason why I have a problem with the cast "sealing away" bloodbending is that, in reality, bloodbending is the ultimate PACIFIST weapon because you can defeat and restrain anyone virtually without shedding blood, ironically. In the context of the plot, Aang should've been almost OVERJOYED by the discovery of this power. This was THE answer to the his dilemma of "how do I defeat the firelord without killing him?".

[@kevinolivares8793]

Great take.

[@Flipitmixit]

Doesnt matter what you do with it. Its the most unethical form of bending because you're accessing a persons body without consent. I dont think I need to explain what thats a possible real life parallel to. No other form of bending is that personal or violating

[@floreroafloreril1458]

@@Flipitmixit I'd say spirit bending is far more personal and violating, yet it's portrayed as the greatest victory in the show.

[@Koroto]

We kind have plenty of that irl too though - I think it all comes down to rationality and practicality vs ethics and morals. This absolutely isn't the greatest of examples (I still haven't had my morning coffee 😅), but it's the first one that popped into my mind - take surveillance. Rationally, why would you be against surveillance absolutely everywhere, on every device and in every form possible if you never had the intention of doing something bad? Practically speaking, it's meant to protect you from someone else with less pure intentions, right? Despite that, we still care about privacy and many are against it. Same for bloodbending - practically, it's the perfect solution, but I think taking away someone's free will is just too much of a burden. I think it just feels far more inhumane than actually fighting someone because there at least you can convince yourself that they are fighting back and have agency in their own life, whereas bloodbending takes all of that away. Also also - I think if Aang were to bloodbend Ozai, it kind of takes away the message of the final battle imo, as it's less so Aang subduing him and more so forcefully stopping the war, though I'd have to think about the implications of that a bit more.

[@Flipitmixit]

@@floreroafloreril1458 I see spirit bending as the equivalent of paralyzing someone which is fuktup but not as bad as say r@pe or murder. But to each their own interpretation. Spirit bending at least in atla is also dangerous for the user which brings an element of self sacrifice to it, bloodbending is just ..evil.

[@SpammytheHedgehog]

Katara forbade Bloodbending so that she wouldn't end up like Hama. Corrupted with power.

[@KingOpenReview]

Hama wasn't corrupted by power. She was corrupted by a need for vengeance.

[@Wyatt_Riley]

I feel like a question a lot of people who sympathize with Hama never ask is, why didnt she free the other waterbenders during her escape? She easily could have freed them all but chose not to. Just food for thought

[@antanasyouknowwho6855]

When the video about 1 episode is longer than that episode you know it’s a good episode

[@jaybugo]

Love your analysis. This episode really stands out in my memories as i watched ATLA as it was airing. And I will never forget how painful it was to watch arguably the most fucked up episode being centered around the show's heart. The ending scene with Hama saying something like "Congratulations, Katara. You're a bloodbender." and Katara breaking down with the gang consoling her always makes me choke up a bit.

[@HuskerHornet3145]

I love it too. Also, 1: Hama giving her “congratulations” statement is a mental trap to trick Katara into thinking she’s just like Hama, even though she used it on villains and not the guiltless. And 2: Another fucked up thing might be is that Aang can try to console her, and other people can manipulate Aang, but he will never know exactly how personal it was for Hama to manipulate Katara, because there are no air nomads to manipulate him. I don’t even think Gyatso treated Aang the way Hama treated Katara

[@SlimeyZockt]

The biggest ting I love about avatar is that all nations and bending styles have their each personalities. Water is full of acceptance and restoration of the body, yet can be cold and has the power to kill easily. Fire is furious and destructive, but also can be focused and controlled. Earth is stubborn and rough, but also caring and protective. The only exception to this is Air, but that was used by nomads that have kept their lives to stay true to the good side of their bending.

[@TenNoOkami]

Speaking on every Element having potential for dark and and light...Earth bending could be just as terrifying...a lot of minerals that compose the human body are literally just earth and metal...calcium for exemple, the stuff that makes up people's bones...its just rock, its a crystal, a mineral...a Dark and invasive take on Earth bending could be...Bone Bending, THAT sounds like a terrifying ability bordering on Necromancy.

[@royceroyce7715]

That's one of the first things I thought of. Could a sufficiently advanced earthbender snatch my teeth straight out from across the way, like they were being pulled by a cartoonishly giant magnet? Make my skull just jump and separate itself from the spine from 50 yards away? All without shedding blood, for this is a kid's fiction? 😮

[@bunnydasnowman]

Something I’ve thought about when it comes to blood bending is that it could honestly be used for good such as with healing but also could be taken a step further in the opposite direction . A blood bender could quite literally restart someone’s heart, fix blood clots, stop internal bleeding, help oxygenate the blood, stop heart attacks, stop aneurysms, or even revive dead limbs. Hell they could even take venoms and toxins out of the blood before it becomes lethal. Of course having said that, a blood bender could actually induce a heart attack, stroke, kill off limbs by restricting blood circulation or even pull all of the blood out of the body like a juice box. It’s possibilities are equal parts horrifying and amazing

[@kittyykatie]

i never seen zuko so shocked when he saw katara blood bend

[@ieatrainbows0956]

i always thought nini passed away and froze to death, never thought about her coming back as a spirit lol. nope, just with blue-pale cold lifeless skin :P

[@Choleloverofdancemomsandmaddie]

I think one of the most interesting aspects of Hama backstory is that fact that she makes mentions that she was put in chains and was not allowed water they practically put water benders in concentration camps and prisons that are similar to how Germany dealt with the Jews in World War One and two and the holocaust amongst other traumatic experiences Hama in her way was trying to make the fire nation pay for destroying her country and culture and I find it interesting that their so called sister tribe didn’t even reach out to help their sibling tribe during these attacks when they needed it I love how Hama despite her trauma she obviously cared enough about her tribe to teach Katara everything she knows because despite what amazing teacher she already had in paku katara really wanted to learn about her heritage that makes Hama manipulation of katara so good she offered katara everything she wanted at age 14

[@mariapazgonzalezlesme]

Honestly, love your essay and analysis, the AOT grabbed my attention. Leaving an kudos to support your channel. 👏

[@diy_cat9817]

22:35 And they end this episode with Katara crying. Brutal.

[@Jenna-hu7mp]

I wonder how things would have turned out if Iroh or Jeong Jeong had rescued Hama and she had joined the White Lotus.

[@thalmoragent9344]

Overall, blood-bending was definitely quite the introduction to the extra sub-Elemental capabilities of the main 4 Elements. Though I'd say Katara using it later on does place a heavy indication of her personality and emotions at the moment. She's often headstrong, so her heightened emotions in the moment she thinks she's found her mother's killer makes sense to see expand into stubbornness and uncaring of past consequences. She uses bloodbending, without so much of a second thought. And shoot, she didn't even bother to question harder on the matter, which led her to bloodbend the wrong person entirely. So not only is she breaking her initial reaction and principal in regards to bloodbending, but she's just using it casually and callously.

[@TheDylPickle]

I always had a thought that if Aang died from Azula’s lightning, while the new avatar would be raised in one of the water tribes, eventually the gaang would still find Hama. Leading to a Katara v Azula, and HAMA vs Ozai the first sign of a full moon before the comet. The last southern water benders bringing the Justice would also be gratifying but we all know how that would’ve been, not pg-13 lmao

[@yoloswaggins7121]

If Aang had died there then there would be no new avatar because he would have been killed while in the avatar state

[@mill2712]

​@@yoloswaggins7121 Not to mention, Hama's old. She would never be able to be involved with the next avatar. Even if he didn't die in the avatar state but still died.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Horror works best not when you show the Monster but show the Audience enough of the Monster for them to Fill in. This is why limitations in Kids shows work really well with Horror. Because you show the Audience just enough for them to understand what is going on. And make them regret it.

[@Coufu]

This is one of my favorite episodes. Love how you dissect and analyze it. It’s just such good storytelling how Katara is forced to learn a power she wanted nothing to do with. And the satisfaction from the grandma even though she was taken away is just so freaking sinister and magical.

[@JoeFanik]

Just imagine how useful Bloodbending could be for medical purposes. It could fix dislocated limbs, heal blood clots, and maybe even revive someone by making their blood flow properly

[@odasengoku7314]

At 21:34 I would say she equally bad as the Fire Nation and not worse since she to was an innocent civilian when the Fire Benders came for her

[@awesomeswifter1138]

Watching this gave me a good idea to fix some of the riygh storytelling of kora S1, what if instead of Deus Ex Machina villain was born with bloodbending, katara had to pass on the knowledge to someone who seemed trustworthy, not out of necessity either but to never forget that it coukd exist, someone needs to know it exists and how to do it in case someone else comes along and attempts to use it, mutually assured destruction. However, backfiring into the situation Kora had, such a small writing change, but i think it would feel like a better call back. Katara wouldn't be passing on the knowledge without a reason nor to someone that she doesn't trust, so to see it turned around again because of that person personal views just goes to show how the power could corrupt you. While seasom 1 doesn't have many mistakes, i think this would still amp up the storytelling better than what was presented

[@Somegoy]

Power corrupts , absolute power corrupts absolutely

[@Angelina-oo2iz]

Avatar the last Airbender was the first show i've seen bring out the full potential in water . Water in most medias is always second best to fire because how destructive and vast it is but avatar not only goes against that but takes it a step further with the entire concept of blood bending. The fact that blood is literally water and can be a ultimate form against human beings yet in most media it is never used as the ultimate form of water which (good or evil is almost ) always ice .

[@niklas6270]

Koroto, after watching all of your aot-videos so far and now seeing this one, i had to finally comment. I LOVE your videos and the way you analyze the episodes. Your way of editing feels so smooth and easy to watch. Every time a new aot-video is uploaded i have to make room to watch it just to enjoy the episodes even more. Thank you for your continued efforts and videos!

[@Sly-Moose]

That meme, with the microscope and "how ATLA so good", will NEVER get old. 😂

[@ashleeramey]

I wonder how she was able to hide the comb from the fire nation , especially when she was in captivity?

[@kaytlinjustis5643]

In her hair. The directors said this specifically.

[@ashleeramey]

@@kaytlinjustis5643 oh interesting 🤔

[@dretaylor7148]

Definitely the creepiest episode of Avatar, and my favorite

[@silentdrill8917]

The way you perfectly discribed all the aspects and scenarios in that Episode is just beyond perfect I love your philosophical pov on this and all your interpretations are spot on, nice work!!

[@clayongunzelle9555]

One of my favorite scenes in when they were opening the box and katara was pretending line she didn't care😅

[@toxicperson8936]

Yes! But as soon as it opened, Katara was right there! Hahaha

[@pwfan3818]

Waterbending can be a gentle, free flowing element. It can also turn into a much darker form of waterbending. The power of... *BLOOD BENDING*

[@purplegrapejuice6399]

I'm wondering how Toph didn't sense Hama walking in the woods

[@kaytlinjustis5643]

She did. Toph was the only one who didn't scream when Hama said 'Hello, children.'

[@X_Raven_Volar_X]

Imagine Blood bending then freezing all the blood to ice dropping them into the cold embrace of death on the spot... Blood bending could be so much more deadly then we give it credit for.

[@j.a.4315]

This episode resonated so much with me as a kid when I saw it. I loved horror movies, so it sat comfortably with me in that way, but the commentary it made on both desperation in war as well as on free will/control over others were themes that I hadn't thought about until Hama came along I loved how much this show made me, as a child, think about such high concept ideas and questions of morality beyond just the standard "lying is bad" lessons we usually got

[@Johnrich395]

Always figured that Katara did teach some students blood bending, in an attempt to use blood bending medically. I suspect that when korra was being rehabilitated, Katara used blood bending to help her initially.

[@yesthatmousyiris4887]

I wonder if you can heal someone using a move via bloodbending

[@Johnrich395]

@@yesthatmousyiris4887 I don’t see why you couldn’t. It’s kinda like saying “we’re going to slice you open.” If it’s said by a gangbanger in an alley with a switchblade drawn, then it’s a bad thing. If it’s said by your surgeon in a hospital, then it’s a good thing. I don’t think that blood bending is necessarily evil, it’s just easy to use it for evil purposes. You could even argue that it wasn’t evil for Hama to use it to escape the prison, or for Katara to stop Hama. But it is obviously extremely easy to abuse.

[@slothniel8881]

Nah

[@jumpscare101]

This video was so well put together

[@raylordofkhalah28]

something I never see anyone talking about but is super obvious due to being trained in it: Bloodbending pulls a lot of similarities to Hakko Denshin Ryu Ju Jutsu. The move Katara uses to drop the firebenders to the ground is from the Spine of the Dragon in multiple techniques, the joint lock ups are also similar to how their joints move while blood bending. But with these similarities there is an opposite. The artform is one of control of another to prevent injury to both parties, while bloodbending is the sublimation of your target's will, to torment them and potentially kill them if you wish. Its just THERE and its so cool to see it even if its unintentional

[@randomnerdythings9094]

Sorry, I haven’t watched the entire video yet, so I don’t know if you cover this, but my dad pointed something about this episode out to me. When the old man is talking about how he was being controlled, and then the sky turned red, and he was released, that was the night where the moon spirit was killed, right?

[@shinyy8918]

That makes sense.

[@lachlanmillett1491]

awesome videos man, keep it up

[@atrumluminarium]

Honestly apart from taking her anger out on innocent firenation citizens, Hama was right about everything else in my opinion. You do whatever you can to survive in hostile environments, the power exists within you whether you like it or not so it's pointless and detrimental to ignore it, and it should be used against the firenation defensively if they are threatening your community. I think the siege at the north and the raids on the south would have gone very differently if every waterbender was able to bloodbend

[@bestianegra3725]

Really felt back for katara in this episode. Seeing hama win in making katara a blood bender and katara being helpless

[@gray7433]

I love this episode. Hama isn't complex to me. She was radicalized by the crimes of the Fire Nation and haunted them for it, and that's understandable. Katara suffered as well, but she doesn't see all of the Fire Nation as her enemy. Knowing that one's own culture can inflict damage to itself (Paku/waterbending being gender segregated), Katara never lost her empathy for anyone in need. Bloodbending really is the most abhorrent subsect of bending. Reaching into someone's body and manipulating all the liquid within with no regard for that person's bodily autonomy against their will would make me want to vomit too. But yet, when she was at her most angry during the southern raiders, before they found the guy who killed her mom, she was bloodbending somebody that she thought was him with no qualms or compunction. I wonder what was her thought on blood bending then?

[@Marion_MyAnh]

Great video! And the Gran Gran cabbage was unexpected and I really laughed out loud. 😂

[@georgiykim1593]

Thank you so much for doing this video of my favourite episode of Avatar❤️ I really appreciate it)

[@Koroto]

My pleasure 🙇‍♂️

[@FlorianWendelborn]

Great analysis, earned a subscriber

[@MsHoneyBBQ]

i LOVED this episode... like, SO much. i do gotta say tho, that eventho i could totally understand why/how Katara felt so horrible, she was NOT, Hama's puppet. she made her own choice. to use bloodbending for the greater good. by not letting her brother and aang be killed. after that, she STILL had a choice of what to do with it, and she still chose only to use it for the greater good.... fast forwarding to Korra's timeline, didn't see advocate to have bloodbending abolished or something?? making it illegal? from what a remember, she still was making her CHOICE not to use it... this, in my eyes, does not make her a puppet, but the Master of her own Life. for some reason, this made me think of what we call "generational curses". and it was even explained in this video, that altho Katara and Hama came from the same tribe, etc etc, they had very different lives and chose different paths.... at the end of the day, i believe that INTENTION is the most important thing behind our actions. what is fueling your choices, love? or fear?

[@TheRandomYoYo]

It really seems to me it's more of a gateway, which causes Katara to break down crying. Now that she's done it once, there is no more barrier. If she is not careful she might end up relying it, and the damage that could do is insane.

[@luciddreamqueen812]

I got into avatar because of this episode. It was on the tv when visiting a family friend, and it stuck in my mind until I was able to get the full dvd set of the series

[@arriannaniv]

They could definitely rip the water out of a person. Instant mummies

[@namedrop721]

Puppets

[@meowmachine9147]

It reminds me of how Airbenders murder the queen in Korra by pulling all the air out of her lungs. Terrifying

[@aldgate]

16:15 I only just realised that that image is showing Cthulhu as a dad with a beer belly

[@jnort95]

Great Video!

[@Nemo-Nihil]

I never understood why bloodbending and other forms of blood magic in other fantasy stories are labeled as evil. Same with necromancy. Bloodbending could be used for medicinal purposes. Finding internal damage and bleeding and healing that.

[@japoniano]

Love the part about Katara's braids as a child when her mother did her hair

[@mmmaryj]

I love your videos!

[@Unhappytimeaper]

Hama to me is the reflection of what it means to have the past control you, she might be a 'puppet master' but she also is nothing more than a puppet to the past. In this episode Katara is disgusted by Hama. She hates the idea of becoming a blood bender and the idea of taking someone's control away from them, even crying knowing that she has done it and can do it. But later in book 3 when her anger and hatred and pain comes to the front at the idea of facing her mother's killer she is willing to blood bend [something she clearly hated not long ago] in that same feeling of pain and loss that Hama felt. Hama is a great parallel to what Katara could have become if she let her negativity consume her-- she is a reflection of the 'could have been' to letting the grief, hate, and the past control yourself and that's ultimately what Blood bending in ATLA reflects and that's what Katara needed to unlock. When facing her mother's killer she was stuck in the past in the same way Hama was, and I think understanding killing him is her knowing that the past can't control her and how she deals with the pain/grief like Hama either.

[@Philipp3022]

It is a lesson in how the boundaries of morality shift during a war as a result of the trauma inflicted.

[@scepticalhyenas5750]

She threw that in katara's face with so much venom, with such a vicious phrasing. It very much hits a _"you were good and kind and pure, but now? I've made you just as fucked up as me"_

[@lianxie5582]

I love your analysis!

[@Koroto]

🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️

[@welkijken]

This might just be my favorite episode

[@chtal64147]

I love how, after Hama got what she wanted. After she gave her knowledge to the next generation, she just let herself being captured. I mean she could easy escape. It was still full moon. Even though Aang is a waterbender, he didn't stand a change against her. Not without his avatar state at least. The only one who could stop her was Katara, but with so many people Katara should protect around them, she could easy force her way out of it. But she just let the people place handcuffs on her and we don't see or hear from her again so she probably never tried to escape prison again. Her goal is done. She is old and can find peace, knowing she corrupted Katara and gave her what she needed to survive and stop the firenation.

[@Aven_On_Average]

Ok I know blood bending is super dark and sadistic buuuut a paralyzed water bender using blood bending to walk it’s so gosh darn sweet 🥹

[@BorchikYes]

Hama is just the Avatar version of Palpatine.

[@ethanhanover3263]

17:00 true, what's way scarier than being hit by powerful attacks is to lose absolute control over your body and be used as a puppet against your will. At least with powerful attacks, you have the bodily autonomy to dodge or block it.