Overanalyzing Avatar: The Puppetmaster 

If you like and comment on this video, that thing that you're worried about will work out. I bet. Probably.

I never got the impression that katara just magically "got" bloodbending. I feel like hama was carefully and sneakily teaching katara the basic technique and mindset of bloodbending during their stay. Hama was probably planning for katara to learn bloodbending that night, it just happened in a different way than she had planned.

Amon and Tarrlok are rumored to have mastered the art of realizing that the moon is always full in ATLA, granting them bloodbending powers the likes of which no one has seen before

When katara blocks the big attack, Hama is shocked because that’s not a water bending technique. Water bending is about redirecting and turning your opponents energy back on them. What katara does is an earthbending move. Just another time where they show that when you combine the four elements, combine multiple views, you get something even greater than the sum of its parts.

If I had a penny for every episode of this show where the Gaang is taken in by some mysterious stranger they met in the wood, who Katara trusts but Sokka is immediately suspicious of, and Sokka is eventually proven right after said stranger exploits Katara's waterbending for nefarious deeds, I'd have two pennies. Which isn't much but it's strange it's happened twice.

Its also amazing that during the fight, Katara’s stance when she blocks the water totally throws Hama off because normally waterbenders use the “turn defense into offense” method of fighting. However katara takes a very earthbender like stance and straightforwardly BLOCKS the water. Its a moment of “WAIT THATS ILLEGAL” for Hama and its amazing.

I like to believe when Katara says she she’s stronger she means technique wise, especially in that one shot where instead of redirecting the water she stands strong and blocks it like how you would normally see an earthbender do

7:06 I nearly died of laughter. No, literally--I was eating and started choking because I didn't expect her to be all like "bLoOdbEnDiNg" right there

I've heard a lot of criticism about the ending of this episode, specifically that Katara learns bloodbending unrealistically fast. It's certainly not the strongest scene that the show has ever produced, but I thought that it worked, and actually fits reasonably well into the narrative. Here's why: I think that her picking up bloodbending so quickly is not intended to be reflective of Katara's skill/talent/work ethic as a bender (which are admittedly significant in their own right), but rather demonstrates an ability gained through a change in perspective. Take Toph and metalbending for example - she's never shown practicing or really trying to metalbend for the majority of her first half on the show, mostly due to a preexisting dogma that it "isn't possible". But she is basically able to do it right away when she broadens her perspective, and starts to think about/concentrate on the fundamentals of the bending itself - that there is still earth contained within metal, and that that earth can still be bent. And with this perspective in mind (alongside an impetus to learn it in the form of being in a metal cage), she is able to metalbend. I would argue that she learns it basically as quickly as Katara does (a small portion of screentime at the end of the episode), but nobody I saw every really complained about it. // (On a side note, I think that people don't complain about Toph learning metalbending too quickly is that people just like her more and she's set up more as a "prodigy" than Katara is, but that's a different story). Going back to Katara though, I think that the same general principle applies. She was never lacking in skill/talent to do bloodbending, but until this point she had never been opened up to the perspective that it was possible. Then, in the setting of her fight with Hama, she was presented with the same factors as Toph - perspective and impetus. When she learned of the possibility of bloodbending, she was able to do it, because she needed to do it in order to save her friends. And narratively, I feel like this fits with the fluid nature of bending as not simply a fighting technique, but a mental/spiritual practice as well, wherein the limitations of the practice of bending are more often related to what is not known about it.

I once heard that Katara blocking Hama's water and it making a big splash was from her taking an Earthbender stance, which shows that it isn't just Aang learning multiple elements.

Seeing Katara break down after blood bending was a really emotional moment, I wish you mentioned it.

It’s probably common head cannon that the moon is full so often because Yuei knows that the fuller the moon is, the stronger water bending is, and she wants to assist the people of her tribe by granting them strength.

The “my bending is more powerful than yours” moment makes sense in that Katara is bending her own blood to resist Hama, and in a way immediately learning how blood bending works, so her using it a moment later checks out.

Sokka's scream at the end of his ghost story is still one of my favourite jokes in the show and I have no idea why it's not amazing or anything I just find it hilarious

"Congratulations, Katara, you're a bloodbender" I actually do really love that Hama openly outs Katara in front of a group of Fire nation civlians and they don't react to it. For them, I'd say those citizens let Katara off the hook becuase they just wanted the nightmare to be over. Its subtle but it makes for great head canon.

I love the setup for bloodbending. It’s ironic that waterbending, one of the gentler bending arts, created the most frightening bending.

I think Katara learning blood bending pretty immediately isn't actually detracting from her. I think Katara, in all rights, is a water bending master by this point. She's diligent in practicing, and she's a fast learner. Also Hama I feel like has been teaching her all the little things she needed to know to get it. "There's water in all things, you can control that, watch me do it to these flowers. Now you try." And having Hama use blood bending on her, she sees the moves.

When Hama killed all those Fire Lily's, I always took it as an allegory. One where the flowers represent innocent fire nation citizens that she is apathetic towards killing to "survive" as she puts it. Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but if they meant to do that, then I think its cool.

I love that katara uses an earthbending stance to block against hama, you see how much it unnerves hama. Aang isnt the only one picking up techniques from different bending styles. Great video once again

11:26 My interpretation of that line was just that Hama was a frail old woman in comparison to Katara. Nothing to do with power levels or anything crazy like that.

I feel like the “more powerful” was her strength of will. Possession is usually a battle of willpower. How hard can you fight before giving in? It’s a little twisted and scary. Bloodbending between Hama and Katara reminds me somewhat of the scene in which Aang takes the firelord’s bending. I believe they were both a battle of inner strength, a battle of souls as they are in this universe, their essential forms. I also believe the “power” of their bending derives from this inner strength, and Katara won out in that moment.

This episode lowkey gave me nightmares as a kid

It's possible that the underground screaming was too loud to Toph for her to notice an extremely quiet old lady

2:03 I like to think Hamma only snuck up BECAUSE Toph could hear screaming. If I heard people screaming underground in the middle of the woods i'd be a little distracted too. She probably still should've noticed but it always at least made sense.

I also love the detail of all Hamas techniques before blood bending looking very violent. Like she pulls the water out of the air and that's really cool, but then she turns it into sharp claws made of ice. And then she pulls water out of the flowers and immediately slices a rock into chunks.

This is the creepiest episode no doubt

You should have talked about the ending! always creeped me out how Katara cries and Hama laughs after she accomplish her goal, to pass bloodbending to another master.

One key thing to note is that when Katara was a beginner Waterbender, she was able to bend water out of Aang when he swam with the Unagi in "The Warriors of Kyoshi" episode. Also considering the mindset of what Hama was teaching Katara such as there's water in places you wouldn't expect, it adds more to how Katara was able to Bloodbend without doing it before she had to use it on Hama.

STOPPP the "how did you get away?" "BLoOdBenDinG" made me BURST OUT LAUGHING

Honestly, at the end of this series you should host a huge Kahoot with random trivia questions that even some hardcore avatar fans would have trouble with

I never realised this, but just like how everyone had a life changing trip with Zuko this season, everyone also had a significant tutor/upgrade in skill this season. And Toph misses out on both...

momo’s face when hama says “hello children” is priceless 🤣

I feel that Katara being wildly naturally talented is well-telegraphed throughout the show. The way her bending can far surpass its usual strength when she is extremely angry or upset is shown from episode 1.

Momo can pick up on social cues, that's something tons of animals do.. if everyone else is scared, he gets scared. This is a great episode with lots of well thought out logic, but it's also the episode where, both in the present and in backstory, _ludicrous_ measures are taken to keep prisoners in a situation where, realistically, they would be executed. but can't because Nickelodeon.

The masculine urge to yell at the full moon like a werewolf

Hey, did anyone notice that Hamma only appeared to the group (peacefully I might add) after Katara's "True southern water tribe" story about "Mom"? Hamma mentions in the very next scene that the group should've been careful, since people have been disappearing in those woods, and we know from hindsight that those are her hunting grounds. But even though they're wearing Fire Nation clothes and the moon is almost completely full, she probably could've bloodbent them if she needed to, but as she listened, she realized she needed to meet them. I never noticed that before this watchthrough of Overanalyzing Avatar, honestly, not even the series itself, because there's at least a minute of pause between the scenes where they appear on screen.

something i love about bloodbending is that when people normally waterbend its flowing, free and majestic but with bloodbending its rigid, clunky and crude things like this is why i love this show you could potentially never notice things like this

I feel like Katara getting blood bending came when she learned how to take the water out of the plants. It's about being able to control the water within a living object so it makes sense to me.

Something I like is how it can be concluded that it's because of Hama that the Fire Nation stopped taking Waterbenders alive and started killing them, meaning that Bloodbending scared them, which no shit it scared them, but also ended up getting Kya killed since she claimed she was the Waterbender, getting her killed. All that to say that Hama is the main reason for Kya's death.

I remember watching this as a kid on Halloween when it premiered… man, that was something else. Truly stunning episode.

This episode scarred me as a child and still gives me slight chills when I watch it

I always wrote off the moment she just “picked up” as ok because it was unlocked by an intense rush of emotions. We’ve seen other moments in the show where high emotions results in more intense or powerful bending-although more reckless too.

The bending move Katara uses to block Hama's attack is actually more like earthbending (hold your ground) than like waterbending (redirect). I really like that in such moments the writers apply the 'combining bending techniques make for better bending' philosophy that Iroh mentioned earlier with Zuko and lightning bending!

12:09 Hama looks surprised at how Katara blocks her attack, something waterbenders don’t usually do

I’ve always seen it as Katara’s bending being from her being younger and not as worn out. I’ve also always though that she was “ressisting” bloodbending by blood bending her self after her own will as a counter. This would have given her practice in blood vending ahead of that final moment

I have to say this is probably one of my favorite episodes in the whole show it’s just so creepy and awesome to watch

"When the moon turns full..." Like... every night!

The mention at the beginning of Momo reacting to human speech is explained by the fact that he has above average ear size, and likely hearing, so he probably heard the screaming for himself. This also explains why he was the first to notice Azula’s convoy in The Chase.

I think the reason katara was able to bloodbend so fast was because she could feel the technique being used on herself and she understood it due to her own anger and hatred since thats where this technique draws its power (nice parallel to shooting lightning since that requires complete peace of mind) since she had so much bottled up anger and anger toward hama she was able to blood bend herself free and bloodbend hama

I really LOVE the fact that not only does it make sense story-wise to wait with teaching Katara these skills but it also makes sense lore-wise. Why would the people in the watery, snowy, constantly surrounded by water in all its forms area even begin to wonder if they could potentially learn how to take water out of plants/the air. They would have no need for it since they always have so much water around them so that thought probably didn't even cross their mind. We see swamp benders ofcourse bend the vines but they live in an area where the plants are so full over water that it makes sense that they would have figured it out after a while but I honestly don't remember if they all do it or if it is only the guru kinda dude that does it...and he mostly seems to have done it in order to scare the ever living shit out of potentially harmful people. Katara had no real reason to learn it from her master and didn't have the time to even think about being taught by the swamp benders but now she have been in a few situations where water isn't constantly at her disposal so ofcourse she would begin to think about it by now.

I think Toph was too focused in on the people underground trying to get more information which is why Hama snuck up on her

5:14 this frame goes hard

I absolutely love how Sokka's VA hits the same note as the BGM at 0:53. I am deeply curious as to whether it was intentional on someone's part or a happy little accident.

About katara getting bloodbending immediately: It might just be that she needed to hear that it could be done. She has been bending water mixed with other components, like soup, for a while. Additionally she’s been shown to bend water which she cant see but only knows she’s there, such as in a water pouch. In essence bloodbending is no different than doing these two things. I guess the hardest part of bloodbending would be doing it for an extended period of time without seriously harming the internal organs/interfering with the circulation of blood. If while bending hama she does not care about this, she could theoretically bloodbend in a very rough and unrefined way.

I like Katara’s power line. Basically, she was saying, “you can’t knock me down!” Which echoes her stand up to Paku moment. From that moment, she was basically reverse blood bending herself so she could move. By the time she bloodbends Hama, she had been practicing the whole fight. At least that’s the way I see it.

6:43 Mans is vibin in the back on the ice self to the left. Love to see it.

Always amazing. I wish you had touched upon Hama's final jab at Katara, because it really sours the gangs victory.

My head canon about the “my bending is more powerful than yours” nonsense is that katara has subconsciously done what Zuko learned from iroh - to take wisdom from different bending styles. In this instance specifically the stubbornness of earth bending, we see that with her character and interactions with toph at first she was very much like water, being diplomatic and such but she learns to stand her ground more.

I swear ever since Katara used bloodbending on that southern raider, the thought of her claiming revenge always scared me. She was basically stronger than Aang without the avatar state. Imagine if she became an actual killer.

One other time we get an indication that benders have differential raw power is when Katara is teaching Aang basic waterbending techniques (I think in The Waterbending Scroll?) and he immediately surpasses her. That's because he's the Avatar, of course, but it shows us that different benders have different power levels.

11:45 it might just be that katara has better form or will in this moment we've been shown that benders are more powerful when they have strong emotions but this isn't even worth defending the poor writing

avatar animating team:puts reflection in raindrops also avatar animating team: has full moon almost every day of the week

Honestly I don't mind that Katara picks up bloodbending quick. At this moment she was already a waterbending master and had more of a 'feel' for water than some other waterbenders. so Doing bloodbending (though not very precise) would make sense for her to do. Also she had experience with healing magic, which would most likely have a similar touch as bloodbending

Can't believe you didn't mention Hama's reaction to Katara directly blocking an attack. Katara followed earthbender ideology with that move and it took Hama by surprise.

I’ve always loved the way Hama is animated when she talks about why she does it

I feel like the barrier to blood bending would largely be the knowledge that it can be done and being willing to do it.

I feel like Katara in particular has taken significant amounts of efforts to bend in unusual fashions. In particular, the concept of bending unseen water is onw she has had for a while, which she had to learn all the way in book one, to follow through with Jet's plan to cause the geyser's to flow. She has bent many forms of very impure water, including that of the drill's outflow and yes, the river of the Painted Lady episode. She's been heavily tested in terms of unusually specific liquids and unusual actions. It's definitely not handled well in terms of "I know kung fu", but it's certainly not a stretch to see her first understand blood bending enough to overpower Hama's influence on her blood leads to then bending Hama. Change what's said and I think it would work.

3:44 not going to mention the excellent subtle sound design? katara has a slight "in a tunnel" sound effect, and then in the hallway its a little dampened.

2:30 I think he loves shopping in general and he just feels down because he gets bad vibes from Hama

I don't like how when Toph is like "people screaming underground", they don't immediately snap into action. When the screams suddenly stop and Hama shows up, they're just like "what were we just talking about?"

Katana blocking the water instead of earth bending is very “earth bender.” The dynamic styles of the gaang is a massive part of what makes them so powerful

1:32 maybe he’s just really good at reading the room

Momo might not be able to [clearly] understand human speech, but animals can smell your emotional state. Also, I think Katara being so concerned with Sokka snooping around might have something to do with Hana reminding her of Gran Gran. Maybe Sokka was subconsciously reminded of her too, which is why he wasn't as enthusiastic with shopping as he was last time.

That “How’d you get out of there?” “BLOODBENDING” edit had me howling 😂😂

So funny story: Today is a full moon, and when I looked up at it I thought ‘oh look, it’s the stupid full moon again! It’s always there!’ Then a split second later I realized that it’s natural and not a flaw from any writers. Haha I watch these shows too much! These are great! Keep up the good work! 👍

I like the idea that Katara's put so much work in that she's not only a really powerful bender, something I've heard people say in reference to other people in the show, and is able to adapt so quickly to using new water bending techniques on the fly. I imagine she's the best water bender at that point.

7:07 this really captures the horror vibes the reveal of blood bending gave

It always baffled me that Hama remained in the fire nation. It took her a while to get out of prison obviously, but staying behind enemy lines just for revenge is interesting. Some interesting old people in this show.

This episode is wonderfully shot, Hama looks so menacing with the moon in the background. It’s also sad that she draws energy from the moon to do horrible things.

That line from hama underscores the literal mind fuck trauma inflicted on katara further experienced/shown when she breaks down in tears. Hamas laugh at the end just makes me realize wut a sadist she truly is.

This is one the best episodes of the show, absolutely love it. Amazing writing all around

In my opinion, Katara saying her bending was "more powerful" just comes across as her bending being better, which tracks with what we've seen. I get his point about the writing, but I saw this as a confirmation of her training and instincts rather than something that discredits her work ethic. Also people can do amazing feats in moments of extreme need. That's real life cannon.

you should have mentioned the part at the end when Hamma said to Katara "you're a bloodbender now" and Katara starts crying, realizing she is changed by this ability, and will never be the same again. its both very creepy and it makes Hamma impactful even though she was defeated. I really liked it.

0:59 man door hand sword car door. I cant believe no one in the comments caught this super deep cut joke. I couldnt stop laughing for like 5 minutes. Well played!

4:37 yes! We can see her wearing the metal breaslet in the comics so probably also in the rest of the show

When you think about healing and bloodbending are two sides of the same coin. Both deal with the body but operate differently, and Katara is deemed a master healer. I think her getting bloodbending quickly makes sense

I always just interpreted "more powerful" as just being better, in both technique and practice. Hama is a mostly self taught bender, the resourcefulness she gained to survive taught her some tricks that many other water benders may not know but Katara is a master of the art and has a lot more experience bending in fights. I always assumed that Katara figured out the general premise of bloodbending when fighting against Hama's grip on her, since it was her own blood she had more minute and easier control and since she knew the basics she could apply it to Hama drawing on her experience and intuition to figure it out. She could do all this because she's a master, her bending is stronger so applying existing skills in a new way will come more naturally. Sorry for the ramble just some thoughts I had on the finale.

1:33 I think he can pick up the vibes of human emotions and just mimicked his humans’ reactions

Toph did sense Hama coming, she wasn't scared like the rest of the group Momo doesn't talk, but like most pets he picks up on the vibe of the owners

I like to think Katara nailing it was more of a "In the moment" kind of deal rather than her just perfecting it. Similar to parents being able to lift cars if their children are in danger

I think another reason Hama can pull water out of thin air is the fire nation, being a volcanic archipelago, is likely HUMID AS BALLS.

8:13 you could argue that the Gaang see mostly high-income or rich towns since their destination is the capitol

I think Katara picking up bloodbending so quick is directly due to her hard work and mastery of her element. Once you gain a high enough mastery in a skill it becomes much easier to pick up skills in a similar discipline. Like if you're a master clarinet player it's much easier to pick up sax than a beginner would.

I always thought that when Katara said her bending was more powerful than Hamma's she had already learned Blood Bending, just didn't wanna use it. By the time she actually did, she didn't even notice she did. She did it out of instinct to protect Sokka and Aang. Das just my personal view ig

8:39 Funny how this Fire Nation guy has Sokka’s haircut or an equivalent

Idk if someone alredy pointed this out, but at 6:41 i think the guy that did the sick dance in the secret dance party is on the the very left, on top of the iceberg. Things like this is why i keep watching these videos.

I really like Homma’s voice actor, she does the perfect job of being sweet and nice or creepy and threatening

Just tried to explain to myself, that maybe the Avatar-Earth moon might have some weird orbital mechanics and that's why it's full most of the time. Well apparently that is not the case.

During Hamas speech about how she was taken away, when all the water benders are stanced next to each other one of the tribe members in the background was drawn overtop of her in the front making her look massive for a few frames

I haven't seen it mentioned about the overall story writing brilliance here. They take a set genre, the ghost story/horror story and nail the beats perfectly. I wonder if this was released in October