Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most beloved and best animated shows of all time. Despite the entire series being consistently strong, fans have their favorite episodes, with “Zuko Alone,” “Tales of Ba Sing Se,” and the series finale, “Sozin’s Comet – Part 4,” being among the show’s best. But, Mae Whitman, who voiced Katara in the original series, has her own favorite episode, and it’s one of the show’s best… and darkest. During an Avatar: The Last Airbender panel at MegaCon Orlando (via CBR), Whitman was asked which episode of the show was most impactful to her and Katara. Katara goes through a lot across The Last Airbender‘s three seasons, but, in Season 3 she regretfully learns the darkest waterbending skill: bloodbending.
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Katara was forced to learn the technique to defeat her and immediately hated herself for it, vowing never to use bloodbending again. The episode was one of Katara’s defining moments, as it strengthened her personality as the show’s beacon of hope and optimism, alongside the childish Aang, self-obsessed Soka, and mischievous Toph. Whitman goes on to detail the ripple effect this episode had on her following its production, and the impressions it can leave upon viewers among the rest of Avatar: The Last Airbender’s offerings.
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Mae Whitman Discusses “The Puppetmaster” Episode
Discussing Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3, Episode 8, titled “The Puppetmaster,” Mae Whitman discussed the surprisingly dark tones in this memorable installment:
“I remember the bloodbending episode was so big for me,” Whitman said, “because it’s tackling the complexity of trying to control people and outcomes. I remember being young and being affected by that and the darkness of it.” The Season 3 episode “The Puppetmaster” is easily the darkest and creepiest in the entire show.
The Gaang met Hama in this episode, an old waterbender who was once a prisoner of the Fire Nation. During her incarceration, she developed the taboo skill of bloodbending, which she used against the local Fire Nation residents and Team Avatar.
[RELATED – Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Live-Action Toph Will Be Different From Original Version]
Could Netflix’s Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender Feature Bloodbending?
Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender wasn’t quite the breakaway hit the streamer was hoping for. But, it did gain enough fans for Netflix to grant it a proper ending, with the live-action series coming to an end after its next two seasons. Despite having the same number of seasons as the original series, Netflix’s The Last Airbender has already cut some content from the original show’s first season to fit its shorter episode count. So, will bloodbending make it to the live-action series, or will it be left on the cutting room floor?
It makes sense for Netflix’s series to include bloodbending. After all, the new live-action adaptation is discernably darker than the original series, targetting a slightly older age demographic than Nickelodeon’s animated show. The creepy mystique of bloodbending would fit perfectly into the darker aesthetic established in Season 1 of Netflix’s version. Additionally, a bloodbending fight would look amazing in live-action. If bloodbending does feature in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, it will most likely be in the third and final season. After all, it’s an incredibly overpowered ability that Katara only uses in desperate situations. To introduce it too early would kill the stakes of the show’s other fight scenes.
Season 2 of Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender hasn’t been given an official release date, yet. Fans are expecting the new season to drop sometime in 2026, as the show has already entered production for Season 2.
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