Avatar: The Last Airbender (2003–2008): Season 3, Episode 8 - The Puppetmaster - full transcript

Creepy things are afoot when the gang meets a mysterious old innkeeper with a secret.

katara: water...

earth...

fire...

air.

long ago, the four nations
lived together in harmony.

then everything changed
when the fire nation attacked.

only the avatar,
master of all four elements,
could stop them.

but when the world
needed him most

he vanished.

100 years passed and my brother
and i discovered the new avatar

an airbender named aang.



and although his airbending
skills are great

he has a lot to learn before
he's ready to save anyone.

but i believe aang
can save the world.

[♪...]

iroh: previously on "avatar."

you're looking at
the only waterbender
in the whole south pole.

this ship has haunted
my tribe since gran-gran
was a little girl.

it was part of
the fire nation's first attack.

woman: the legends say the moon
was the first waterbender.

our ancestors saw how it
pushed and pulled the tides

and learned how to
do it themselves.

katara: i've always
noticed my waterbending
is stronger at night.

toph: what are you doing?

katara: i'm making my own water.



[♪...]

[crickets chirping...]

suddenly, they heard something
down the hall, in the dark.

♪ ooh... ♪

it came into the torchlight.

and they knew the blade
of wing-fun was haunted!

♪ ah-ah... ♪

i think i liked "the man
with a sword for a hand" better.

water tribe slumber parties
must stink.

no, wait, i've got one.

and this is a true southern
water tribe story.

is this one of those
"a friend of my cousin

knew some guy that
this happened to" story?

no, it happened to mom.

one winter, when mom was a girl

a snowstorm buried
the whole village for weeks.

a month later, mom realized
she hadn't seen her friend nini
since the storm.

so mom and some others
went to check on nini's family.

when they got there,
no one was home.

just a fire
flickering in the fireplace.

while the men
went out to search

mom stayed in the house.

when she was alone,
she heard a voice.

"it's so cold,
and i can't get warm."

mom turned and saw
nini standing by the fire.

she was blue,
like she was frozen.

mom ran outside for help,
but when every one came back

nini was gone.

sokka: where'd she go?

no one knows.

nini's house stands empty
to this day.

but sometimes, people see smoke
coming up from the chimney

like little nini is still
trying to get warm.

[gasps]
wait.

guys, did you hear that?

i hear people
under the mountain,
and they're screaming.

pft, nice try.

toph: no, i'm serious,
i hear something.

katara: you're probably just
jumpy from the ghost stories.

toph: it just stopped.

all right, now
i'm getting scared.

woman: hello, children.

[screaming]

sorry to frighten you,
my name is hama.

you children shouldn't
be out in the forest
by yourselves at night.

i have an inn nearby, why don't
you come back there for some
spiced tea and warm beds?

yes, please.

thanks for letting us
stay here tonight,
you have a lovely inn.

aren't you sweet?

you know, you should be careful.

people have been
disappearing in those woods
you were camping in.

what do you mean, disappearing?

when the moon turns full,
people walk in

and they don't come out.

who wants more tea?

don't worry, you'll all be
completely safe here.

why don't i show you
to your rooms, and you can
get a good night's rest?

[wood creaks]

[grunts]

[wood creaks]

[gasps]

i know, momo,
this place is creepy.

i don't know if i'm
gonna be able to fall asleep.

[snoring...]

[birds chirping]

hama: wakey-wakey.

time to go shopping.

that mr. yao seems to
have a thing for you.

maybe we should go back
and see if he'll give us
some free komodo sausages.

you would have me use
my feminine charms

to take advantage
of that poor man?

i think you and i are
going to get along swimmingly.

you won't have any
ash bananas till next week?

well, i have to send the boy
to hing-wa island to get them,
and it's a two-day trip.

oh, right, tomorrow's
the full moon.

exactly, i can't lose another
delivery boy in the woods.

people disappearing
in the woods

weird stuff during full moons

this just reeks of
spirit world shenanigans.

i bet if we take
a little walk around town

we'll find out what these people
did to the environment to make
the spirits mad.

and then you can sew up
this little mystery,
lickety-split, avatar-style.

helping people,
that's what i do.

hama: why don't you all take
those things back to the inn?

i just have to run
a couple more errands.

i'll be back in a little while.

this is a mysterious,
little town you have here.

mysterious town
for mysterious children.

that hama seems
a little strange.

like she knows something,
or she's hiding something.

that's ridiculous.

she's a nice woman who took us
in and gave us a place to stay.

she kind of reminds me
of gran-gran.

but what did she
mean by that comment
"mysterious children"?

gee, i don't know.

maybe because she found
four strange kids camping in
the woods at night?

isn't that a little mysterious?

i'm gonna take a look around.

sokka, sokka,
what are you doing?

you can't just snoop around
someone's house.

sokka: it'll be fine.

aang: she could be home
any minute.

sokka, you're gonna get us
all in trouble.

and this is just plain rude.

i'm not finished yet.

[grunts]
come on...

[screams]

aang: ok, that's pretty creepy.

so she's got a hobby.

there's nothing
weird about that.

sokka, you've looked enough.

hama will be back soon.

[sokka grunts]

just an ordinary, puppet-loving
innkeeper, huh?

then why does she have
a locked door up here?

probably to keep people like you
from snooping through her stuff.

sokka: we'll see.

it's empty except for
a little chest.

[gasps]
maybe it's treasure.

sokka, what are you doing?

you're breaking into
a private room.

i have to see what's in there.

we shouldn't be doing this.

maybe there's a key
here somewhere.

oh, hand it over.

come on, come on.

this isn't as easy it looks.

aang: guys, i don't know
about this.

this is crazy, i'm leaving.

suit yourself, do it, toph.

hama: i'll tell you
what's in the box.

an old comb?

it's my greatest treasure.

it's the last thing
i owned from growing up
in the southern water tribe.

you're from the southern
water tribe?

just like you.

how did you know?

i heard you talking
around your campfire.

but why didn't you tell us?

i wanted to surprise you.

i bought all this food today
so i could fix you a big,
water tribe dinner.

of course, i can't get all
the ingredients i need here, but

ocean kumquats are
a lot like sea prunes,
if you stew them long enough.

[gags]

great.

i knew i felt a bond
with you right away.

and i knew you were
keeping a secret

so i guess we're both right.

[grunts]
but i'm sorry we were
sneaking around.

apology accepted.

now let's get cooking.

omo chirps]

i'd steer clear
of the sea prunes.

i thought they were
ocean kumquats.

close enough.

who wants five-flavor soup?

you're a waterbender.

i've never met another
waterbender from our tribe.

that's because the fire nation
wiped them all out.

i was the last one.

so how did you end up out here?

i was stolen from my home.

it was over 60 years ago
when the raids started.

[laughing]

[man screams]

hama: they came again and again.

each time, rounding up
more of out waterbenders
and taking them captive.

[breathing heavily]

we did our best to hold them off

but our numbers dwindled
as the raids continued.

finally, i, too, was captured.

i was led away in chains.

the last waterbender of
the southern water tribe.

they put us in terrible prisons
here in the fire nation.

i was the only one
who managed to escape.

how did you get away?

and why did you stay
in the fire nation?

i'm sorry.

it's too painful to
talk about anymore.

we completely understand.

we lost our mother in a raid.

oh, you poor things.

i can't tell you
what it means to meet you.

it's an honor, you're a hero.

i never thought i'd meet
another southern waterbender.

i'd like to teach you
what i know

so you can carry on
the southern tradition
when i'm gone.

yes, yes, of course.

to learn about my heritage,
it would mean everything to me.

hama: growing up
at the south pole

waterbenders are totally
at home surrounded by
snow and ice and seas.

but as you probably
noticed on your travels

that isn't the case
wherever you go.

i know, when we were
stranded in the desert

i felt like there was
almost nothing i could do.

that's why you have to
learn to control water
wherever it exists.

i've even used my own
sweat for waterbending.

that's very resourceful, katara.

you're thinking like
a true master.

but did you know you can even
pull water out of thin air?

you've got to
keep an open mind, katara.

there's water in places
you never think about.

aang: this has gotta be
the nicest, natural setting
in the fire nation.

i don't see anything that would
make a spirit mad around here.

maybe the moon spirit
just turned mean.

the moon spirit is
a gentle, loving lady.

she rules the sky
with compassion.

and... lunar goodness.

aang: excuse me, sir.

can you tell us anything
about the spirit that's been
stealing people?

only one man ever saw it and
lived, and that's old man ding.

where does old man ding live?

katara: wow, these flowers
are beautiful.

hama: they're called
fire lilies.

they only bloom
a few weeks a year

but they're one of my favorite
things about living here.

and like all plants,
and all living things,
they're filled with water.

i met a waterbender
who lived in a swamp

and could control the vines
by bending the water inside.

you can take it even further.

that was incredible.

it's a shame about
the lilies, though.

they're just flowers.

when you're a waterbender
in a strange land

you do what you must to survive.

tonight, i'll teach you
the ultimate technique
of waterbending.

it can only be done
during the full moon

when your bending
is at its peak.

but isn't that dangerous?

i thought people have been
disappearing around here
during the full moon.

oh, katara.

two master waterbenders
beneath a full moon?

i don't think we have
anything to worry about.

aang: old man ding?

eh, ow...

aw, dad blame it.

what?

can't you see i'm busy?

got a full moon rising.

and why does everyone
call me that, i'm not that old.

[grunts]

aww...

well, i'm young at heart.

not ready to get
snapped up by some moon monster,
yet, at least.

sokka: we wanted to
ask you about that.

did you get a good look
at the spirit that took you?

didn't see no spirit.

just felt something
come over me.

like i was possessed.

forced me to start
walking toward the mountain.

i tried to fight it, but
i couldn't control my own limbs.

it just about had me
into a cave up there.

and i looked up at the moon
for what i thought would be
my last glimpse of light.

but then the sun
started to rise.

and i got control of
myself again.

i just high-tailed it
away from that mountain
as quick as i could.

why would a spirit want to
take people to a mountain?

oh, no!

i did hear people screaming
under the mountain.

the missing villagers
must still be there.

i can hear them,
they're this way.

hama: can you feel the power
the full moon brings?

[breathes deeply]

for generations, it has blessed
waterbenders with its glow.

allowing us to do
incredible things.

i've never felt more alive.

this is the place.

sokka: i can't see
anything down there.

toph: that's why you have me,
let's go.

we're saved.

i didn't know that spirits
made prisons like this,
who brought you here?

it was no spirit.

it was a witch.

a witch, what do you mean?

she seems like
a normal old woman.

but she controls people
like some dark puppetmaster.

hama.

yes, the innkeeper.

i knew there was something
creepy about here.

we have to stop hama.

i'll get these people
out of here, you go.

[owl hoots]

hama: what i'm about to show you

i discovered in that
wretched, fire nation prison.

the guards were always careful
to keep any water away from us.

they piped in dry air,
and had us suspended away
from the ground.

before giving us any water,
they would bind our hands
and feet so we couldn't bend.

any sign of trouble
was met with cruel retribution.

and yet, each month,
i felt the full moon
enriching me with its energy.

there had to be something
i could do to escape.

then i realized that where
there is life, there is water.

the rats that scurried across
the floor of my cage

were nothing more than
skins filled with liquid.

and i passed years
developing the skills
that would lead to my escape.

bloodbending.

controlling the water
in another body.

enforcing your own will
over theirs.

once i had mastered the rats,
i was ready for the men.

[grunts]

hama: and during the next
full moon

i walked free for
the first time in decades.

[man grunts]

my cell unlocked by the very
guards assigned to keep me in.

once you perfect this technique,
you can control anything.

or anyone.

but to reach inside someone
and control them?

i don't know if i want
that kind of power.

the choice is not yours.

the power exists.

and it's your duty to use
the gifts you've been given
to win this war.

katara, they tried to
wipe us out, our entire culture,
your mother.

i know.

then you should understand
what i'm talking about.

we're the last waterbenders
of the southern tribe.

we have to fight these people
whenever we can.

wherever they are,
with any means necessary.

it's you.

you're the one who's
making people disappear
during the full moons.

they threw me in prison to rot

along with
my brothers and sisters.

they deserve the same.

you must carry on my work.

i won't, i won't
use bloodbending

and i won't allow you
to keep terrorizing this town.

[screams]

[grunts...]

you should have learned
the technique before
you turned against me.

it's impossible to fight
your way out of my grip.

i control every muscle,
every vein in your body.

[katara gasps and grunts...]

stop, please.

[laughs...]

katara: you're not the only one
who draws power from the moon.

my bending is more powerful
than yours, hama.

your technique is useless on me.

[hama screams]

we know what you've
been doing, hama.

give up, you're outnumbered.

no.

you've outnumbered yourselves.

[aang and sokka scream]

sokka: katara, look out!

[grunts]

it's like my brain
has a mind of its own.

stop it, arm, stop it!

aang: this feels weird.

[aang grunts]

i'm sorry, aang.

aang: it's ok.

[sokka grunts]

[sokka screams]

don't hurt your friends, katara.

and don't let them
hurt each other.

[aang and sokka scream]

no!

[grunts and gasps...]

you're going to be
locked away forever.

hama: my work is done.

congratulations, katara.

you're a bloodbender.

[laughs...]

[katara cries...]