19 Years Later, Avatar’s Most Terrifying Episode Changed the Franchise Forever

Nineteen years ago, on November 9, 2007, the television series Avatar: The Last Airbender introduced a terrifying new form of bending called bloodbending. This ability, which allows a waterbender to manipulate the water inside another person's body, was revealed during the episode "The Puppetmaster." The episode marked a turning point in the series, as it showed that even the most virtuous members of Team Avatar, such as Katara, could be forced to learn the most evil form of bending in existence under the right circumstances.

In "The Puppetmaster," Katara and her companions find themselves in a small town on the Fire Nation during a full moon. The town is plagued by disappearances, and a mysterious waterbender named Hama offers them shelter. Hama reveals that she is also a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe, and that she has been imprisoned by the Fire Nation for years due to the conflict between the two nations.

During her imprisonment, Hama developed the ability to bloodbend, using it to control rats in her cell and later apply it to her captors.

Hama explains that she has been kidnapping members of the Fire Nation as a form of revenge for the years of torture they inflicted on the Water Tribe. When Katara refuses to learn bloodbending, Hama engages her in an epic battle where both women must draw water from their surroundings to maintain their abilities. In the end, Katara is forced to use bloodbending on Hama to save Aang and Sokka from grave danger.

The episode ends with Katara crying out of regret for having learned such a dark and evil form of bending. However, her actions in this episode foreshadow the prevalence of advanced forms of bending in the future, as seen in The Legend of Korra. In that series, bloodbending is mastered by a crime family and used by the main antagonist, Amon, who has the power to strip people of their bending abilities without the need for a full moon or hand gestures.