THERE IS BLOODBENDING!? Avatar: The Last Airbender 3x8 REACTION & Discussion

Sorry about my mic quality in this episode, it'll be better in the next!
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00:00 Intro
01:23 Reaction
13:39 Discussion
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[@MattReactsToThings]

Next episode is up on Patreon! Episodes 10 & 11 will be in one video!

[@Majin135]

I always had this theory that, that old man escaped Hama when Zhao killed the Moon Spirit so her Water Bending stopped working, I think it makes more sense than her trying to take someone so close to dawn.

[@MattReactsToThings]

Oooh I like that, would be awesome if that’s true

[@TobiasAdin]

This episode does a great job of portraying trauma: Katara and Hama are both victims, yet they chose very different paths.
Hama was abducted and tortured for decades, and chose a path of revenge. Her anger, while justified, was misplaced by targeting civilians. Meanwhile Katara, who lost her mother in the war, still chose a path of compassion. Hama embraced bloodbending, while Katara only used it out of desperation.

[@erachiiii]

Yup that was definitely gran gran in the flashback. It gives some heartbreaking context to her line in the second episode about not having had hope in such a long time. She must've lost it alongside her waterbending friends

[@somecallmetim2112]

Yep, it's Gran Gran.

[@mori1bund]

When this episode aired the first time it was the halloween episode. ^^

[@solonec.4285]

So you said you wanted us to share our strong opinions in the comments and I happen to have some very strong opinions on Hama.
Firstly, I think it's important to distinguish between the person and the behavior. This is especially true for characters whose lives have been significantly shaped by trauma like Hama and Jet. Hama the person isn't an evil monster but her actions are evil and monstrous. Remember that before her experience with the Fire Nation, Hama was that happy Southern waterbender who was close friends with Gran Gran (I'm inferring that they are close because Gran Gran had tears in her eyes as she saw the Fire Nation abduct Hama, the one and only remaining Southern waterbender left until Katara). It's hard to imagine but that's who she is at the core without the Fire Nation. She could have been a close aunt like figure to Katara's mother and eventually she would likely be Katara's waterbending master due to her connection through Gram Gran. Hama and Katara could easily form a close bond due to them both being waterbenders; a trait that Katara shares with no one else in her own family.
Secondly, I'm not going to go into too many details on this but I do want at least to mention that Katara's trauma of losing her mother would be considered acute trauma meaning it results from a single intense event whereas Hama's eventual abduction and years of imprisonment would be considered chronic trauma meaning it results from repeated events or prolonged exposure. Long story short, there are some clinical distinctions in how these are treated and the course of their treatment.
Anyway, speaking of Hama's years of imprisonment, there's something that the show seems to imply regarding the extent of Hama's trauma but it stops short of raising the question and providing hints at the answer (probably because it's a bit too disturbing to get away with on a "kids' show"). The question is, what happened to the other captive waterbenders? The hints are that Hama escapes alone and when she escapes, the other cages are empty. I think the show is implying the rest of them died while imprisoned. It's likely that Hama herself would have watched as her family, friends, and neighbors took their final breaths in those cages, Hama being helpless to try and take one final chance to heal them or even just to comfort them by their side in their final moments.
You may be thinking, 'okay, you've made your point that Hama is also victim who was broken and shaped by her trauma so how should they deal with her'. Because she is powerful and a credible threat to the safety of others, she needs to be confined away from other people. Either way, she is so psychologically damaged that she cannot function properly in society and there doesn't seem to be a way to treat someone who is as badly affected like her. That is what makes Hama such a tragic figure.
One last thing I wanted to address: why is Hama so obsessed with bloodbending and passing on that knowledge. Bloodbending represents two significant things to Hama: taking back control in a helpless situation and hope for the future. When Hama was imprisoned, she was a helpless victim with no hope for the future. Her discovery of bloodbending not only gave her purpose and the belief that there is hope but also the means of taking back control and of manifesting her hope. All of her suffering was for this- it was for her to uncover this secret weapon that could be critical in defeating the Fire Nation and ending the war. The only problem was that she's advanced in age and stuck in the Fire Nation with no one to pass this knowledge on to before she herself passes... until Katara showed up.
So before, I said that Hama is a "credible threat to the safety of others". Well, it just happens that this may not be the case any longer. When Hama was captured in the end, she was ecstatic because she was able to pass on this powerful weapon she uncovered. Hama could now accept her finality in peace knowing that she had finally fulfilled her purpose in life. What happened next was now up to Katara. However, besides it still be a risk to let Hama roam about freely, she still needs to face the legal consequences of her deplorable actions.

[@Pink-yeti23]

Oh boy; we’re almost there
You’re in for a RIDE

[@kohanu95]

14:02 Your airbending question is answered in Legend of Korra

[@RubyRider-et3fp]

Air is pretty straightforward but maybe Aang will learn fartbending