The Puppetmaster


 * This article is about the episode. For the character this episode refers to, see Hama.

Writer: Tim Hedrick

Director: Joaquim Dos Santos

Guest Stars: Tress Macneille (Hama), Stu Levin (Old Man Ding)

Overview
''The gang comes across a spooky village where many mysterious disappearances have occurred. They befriend an old innkeeper named Hama, who reveals she is a Waterbender from the Southern Tribe. She becomes Katara's mentor and shares with her the tragic story of her life as a prisoner of the Fire Nation. Katara discovers Hama is kidnapping civilians with a dark ability, Bloodbending, to enact her revenge. The resulting battle forces Katara to use the technique against Hama to save her friends.''

Synopsis
The group camps out in the woods for the night and sit around a campfire telling ghost stories. Sokka tells a horror story about a haunted sword which fails to scare the others. To darken the mood, Katara tells a frightening story about a little girl named Nini, a friend of her mother's who disappeared during a harsh winter storm in the Southern Water Tribe, but the villagers kept seeing smoke coming out of her chimney.



The story leaves the entire group jumpy. Toph suddenly claims that she can hear people screaming from under the mountain, frightening everyone. Out of the darkness, an old woman named Hama appears behind them and terrifies everyone, but she warmly offers them a safe place to stay for the night, which they accept. At her inn, they enjoy spiced tea. Hama warns them that people in the woods had been mysteriously disappearing on full moons recently. This concerns the group, but Hama reassures them calmly that they will be safe with her.

The next day they all go out shopping in the marketplace for food. Hama and Katara were becoming fast friends with Hama commenting that they were "going to get along swimmingly". Meanwhile, Sokka overhears some of the locals talking about the strange disappearances of villagers during the full moon. Believing the strange events to be the work of an angry spirit, he, Toph and Aang agree to scope the village to see if they can discover what the villagers could have done to anger the spirits. Hama sends her guests back to the inn, saying she had some errands to attend to. Sokka, becoming increasingly suspicious, remarks to Hama how mysterious her town is, causing her to grin oddly and tell him "Mysterious town for mysterious children?"

With Hama absent from the inn at that time, Sokka decides to investigate the house for anything suspicious, much to the protests of Katara. His searches uncover a cupboard filled with wooden puppets in a hallway and a locked door in the attic. Peering through the keyhole, he sees a box lying in the room beyond it, and uses his sword to pick the lock. After breaking into the room, Toph Earthbends her meteor bracelet into a key for the box. Just before they manage to open it, Hama walks in and catches them in the act. However, she opens the box for them and pulls out a Whale Tooth Comb, revealing she is from the Southern Water Tribe.



Hama prepares a traditional Water Tribe dinner for them, explaining she knows they are from the Southern Water Tribe, too, as she heard them talking in the woods. Hama also reveals she is a Waterbender by bending their soup into their bowls. This delights Katara and arouses curiosity among the rest as to how she ended up residing in the Fire Nation. She proceeds to tell them the story of how she was taken from the south pole into the Fire Nation.

When Hama was young, the Fire Nation captured all of the Waterbenders during raids of their tribe, over time whittling down their numbers until Hama was the last remaining. She, too, was then captured sixty years ago, and among those taken was the only one who managed to escape alive. Katara is deeply moved by her tragic story and expresses her delight at having found another Southern Waterbender. Hama offers to teach Katara what she knows in order to carry on the tradition of the Southern Waterbenders. Katara is overjoyed at this and happily consents, wishing to learn more about her tribe's cultural heritage.



The next day, Hama tutors Katara explaining how water exists in all forms even in the air. She proceeds to draw water from the air to the fascination of Katara. She then leads her to a field filled with Fire Lilies and demonstrates that water can also be drawn from anything that's alive as well. With a swift motion, Hama pulls water from the flowers, leaving them dried and dead. Katara is amazed, but becomes sad upon realizing the lilies were killed. Hama dismisses her concerns quickly, reminding her that they were simply flowers, and that she must do anything to survive in this hostile land. She then tells Katara she has one more technique to teach: one that can only be used during the full moon when their bending abilities were at their absolute peak. When Katara expresses hesitance due to the rumors of disappearances, Hama reassures her, stating that two master Waterbenders under a full moon should be able to handle anything.

Meanwhile, Aang, Sokka, and Toph, believing the disappearances to be the work of an angry spirit, carry out an investigation. After briefly exploring the area, Aang concludes that the town is surrounded by natural beauty and that the townsfolk have done nothing to disrupt the environment or anger the spirits. Questioning one of the locals leads the group to Old Man Ding, an elderly man who supposedly saw the spirit. That night, Ding tells the three that he never actually saw a spirit, but rather felt possessed and compelled to walk towards the mountain. Unable to control his own movements, Ding almost walked into a cave. But then, the sun rose, and he regained control of his body. Upon hearing this account, Toph realizes that she really had heard screaming coming from under the mountain, and concludes that the captured villagers must be imprisoned there.



Katara and Hama arrive in the forest with the full moon in the night sky. Hama remarks sinisterly she's never felt so alive. Aang, Sokka, and Toph discover an underground prison in a cave. Toph Metalbends the door open and crafts her bracelet into a key to free the villagers from their shackles. The villagers tell them it was not a spirit that captured them, but the innkeeper Hama. Sokka and Aang go stop Hama while Toph leads the villagers out.

Hama reveals to Katara the story of how she escaped. While imprisoned, she and the other Waterbenders were completely separated from any and all water. The guards pumped in dry air into the cells and made sure their arms and legs were tied before giving water to them. However, she eventually realized that water exists within all living things, and first began to manipulate water in the bodies of rats that crawled into her cage. This technique, Bloodbending, could only be used with the influence of the full moon enhancing her abilities. After years of mastering the technique, Hama took control of one of the guards, forcing him to unlock her cage, allowing her to walk free after decades of imprisonment.

Horrified by the idea of controlling another person's body, Katara has doubts about learning Bloodbending. Hama declares the choice is not her's, and that they must enact their vengeance on the Fire Nation for nearly wiping out their entire culture, saying Katara must avenge her mother's death. The outburst leads Katara to realize that Hama has been causing the villagers to disappear. Hama wickedly states the people of the Fire Nation deserve the same treatment that they gave to the Southern Waterbenders and that Katara would obey her wishes for her to learn the technique. Hearing these causes Katara to refuse to learn Bloodbending and she commands Hama to stop from further terrorizing the town. Enraged at being denied, Hama uses the technique to temporarily force Katara into submission.



Katara soon regains control of her body, reminding Hama that she too draws power from the moon, and is powerful enough to overcome Hama's technique. The two begin to battle, each drawing water from the grass and trees surrounding them, but it quickly becomes obvious that Katara is the superior combatant. When Katara appears on the cusp of victory, Aang and Sokka arrive to assist her--and succeed in doing little more than providing Hama with an advantage, as she uses Bloodbending to control them like puppets to attack Katara.



Katara evades their attacks and manages to freeze both Aang and Sokka to two separate trees to stop them, but this proves to be only a temporary solution. Hama frees them both and resorts to sending them flying at each other, with Sokka's sword pointing straight at Aang. At the last second, Katara desperately uses Bloodbending to subdue Hama and protect Aang. Toph arrives with the other villagers, who handcuff Hama and take her away, vowing to imprison her forever. Hama remarks that her work is done, as Katara has already willfully used Bloodbending, and therefore learned the technique. She cackles as she is dragged off. Katara breaks down in tears, with Aang and Sokka's comfort.

Series Continuity

 * In Hama's flashback we see Katara and Sokka's grandmother, Kanna. This younger Kanna looks considerably like what an older Katara might. Yugoda noted the family resemblance when she stated, "You're the spitting image of Kanna," in "The Waterbending Master".
 * We also learn from Hama's flashback that the Fire Nation Ship that Aang and Katara went into in The Boy in the Iceberg was trapped by the Southern Waterbenders.
 * The flashback also confirms (as was implied by Katara's reaction in "The Waterbending Master") that in contrast to the Northern Water Tribe, female waterbenders of the Southern Tribe fully participate in combat.
 * This is the first time Toph uses her bracelet, made from the meteor rock Sokka gave her in "Sokka's Master".
 * When Toph suggests that the moon spirit could be to blame for the disappearances, Sokka becomes rather upset and proclaims that the moon spirit is a "kind, gentle lady who rules the sky with compassion and... lunar goodness!". This is a reference to Princess Yue.
 * When Hama and Katara are in the field of Fire Lillies, Katara mentions meeting Huu from the Foggy Swamp Tribe when Hama talks of plantbending.
 * This is the first time Katara used Bloodbending on a person (Hama). The second time she used Bloodbending was in "The Southern Raiders" on Yon Rha because she thought he was the man who killed her mother, Kya.
 * This is Katara's second duel against another Waterbending master, and her first win. In her first duel, she lost to Master Pakku in "The Waterbending Master".
 * This is the fifth episode that doesn't appear on, "Previously on Avatar...". The others were: "The Great Divide", "The Fortuneteller", "The Northern Air Temple", and "The Painted Lady".
 * This is the second time that Katara had to fight someone she really trusted; the first person she fought was Jet.

Goofs

 * When the kids are telling ghost stories and Sokka puts his sword on the ground, it is shown back in his belt in the next couple of scenes.
 * When Toph asks where Old Man Ding lives, Sokka's sword strap is green, not black.
 * When Hama approaches the group, Sokka's sword is silver in one scene, not black.
 * When Hama first appears, she sneaks up on the group. It is unclear why Toph would not have been able to feel Hama's approach. Toph's shoes do appear to have soles in them, which may be deliberate - but if the shoes are meant to explain why Toph doesn't sense Hama, it simply raises the question of why Toph would put up with wearing shoes that obstructed her "vision".
 * When Sokka asks Hama about the disappearances, Hama isn't drinking her tea, but in the next frame she puts her glass down as if she just was. Then, when she asks if anyone wants more tea, her cup is missing altogether.
 * When Hama and Katara are talking in the marketplace, there is a woman and a child walking the other way behind them. The woman and child pass Hama, but not Katara. They simply disappear.
 * When Hama is getting her old comb out, her sleeve falls to her elbow, then in the next shot it is down to her wrist, then back to her elbow in the next scene.
 * When the gang approaches Old Man Ding, he has two boards on his window. However, in the next frame, both boards are on the ground. When Sokka begins to nail a board on the window, there was already another board on it.
 * When Sokka is hammering the board on Old Man Ding's window, he is nailing it into the window, not the wood frame around the window.
 * In Hama's flashback, she and Kanna looked over the view of the sea and there were 5 fireballs coming in. In the next scene there were four instead.
 * When Hama was serving tea to the kids, Aang was first holding his teacup with his left hand. In the next scene, it was in his right hand. In the following scene, it was back in his left hand again.

Trivia

 * After Katara returns from shopping with Hama, she starts to unpack. She is holding a cabbage when she remarks that Hama reminded her of her grandmother. Oddly enough, the cabbage she is holding looks like Kanna and even has clear lines to show her face.
 * This is considered to be one of the darkest episodes in the series, as this was a Halloween special released in October of 2007. It has many of the conventional elements of a horror film.
 * Hama's style of Waterbending is decidedly more aggressive than all other portrayals in the series. While other Waterbenders use their art to manipulate water (Huu being an exception), Hama uses it to gain control over others. And where others such as Yugoda use Waterbending to heal and give life, Hama has no qualms about destroying plants and killing small animals.
 * This was likely done to show a darker side to Waterbending, as previously Waterbending was only shown in a positive and favorable light, similar to how Firebending's good side was exposed later on.
 * This episode called into question whether the Avatar receives a boost to their power from the full moon like 'normal' Waterbenders, and by extension Firebenders with the Comet, as Aang could not break free from Hama's Bloodbending while Katara could. It is possible Katara was able to break free because of her superior understanding of and focus on Waterbending. This could also be because Katara knew more about Bloodbending than Aang did.
 * Although Katara uses Bloodbending in a later episode, this is the only time the technique is actually mentioned in the series.
 * While out shopping, Toph is seen carrying a basket on her head.
 * In Hama's flashback where we see a young Kanna surrounded by other villagers, one of them looks surprisingly like Toph. Another is a young boy with a Warrior's Wolf Tail hairstyle like Sokka's. Kanna herself is sporting Hair Loopies like Katara.
 * When Hama tells her story for how she and the other southern Waterbenders got caught, it shows that they didn't wear gloves most likely because they needed to use their fingers to Waterbend.
 * Aang's comment about "the man with a sword for a hand" may be a reference to the urban legend involving a murderer who has a hook for a hand, which has been around since the 1950's.
 * In Hama's story, as she was being lead away in chains by the Fire Nation, she looks back to see Kanna in tears. This mirrors when Aang was taken away from the Southern Water Tribe in "The Avatar Returns".
 * When Katara told Hama she met a Waterbender who lives in a swamp by bending the water inside of the vines, the person she was referring to was Huu.

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