Could future Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes include bloodbending?

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender ends with plenty of questions left to answer, but could bloodbending be included in future episodes?

Avatar: The Last Airbender is the latest animation series to be given the live-action treatment by Netflix, with fans concerned by the many proposed changes as soon as the show was announced.

The original cartoon series ran for three seasons from 2005 to 2008, with the live-action remake only beginning to scrape the surface of the initial plot and possibilities.

Season 2 will no doubt already be in the minds of fans — but could bloodbending be a part of future episodes? Here’s what we know,

Could future Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes include bloodbending?

Though nothing is confirmed as of yet — including a bonafide second season — there’s nothing to suggest that bloodbending won’t be included in future episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

During a recent interview with Dexerto, Princess Azula actress Elizabeth Yu revealed that she would choose bloodbending as her own personal bending power, explaining “If you want to go dark, there’s bloodbending — it’s very versatile.”

According to the original narrative, bloodbending is a rare variant of waterbending, and is considered to be a highly specialized skill. It’s the most powerful and feared out of all available bending techniques, and is the only art known to endanger the user’s mental state.

However, after Hama — who discovered how to use it while being imprisoned by the Fire Nation — passed his knowledge on to Katara, the practice was outlawed altogether. Not only would bloodbending introduce new characters into the live-action version — such as Amon, Hama, and Tarrlok — but it would also enhance the existing story, with both Aang and Kara resistant to such bending attacks.

In addition to this, fans have been developing new bloodbending theories in the run-up to Netflix’s release of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

“Back before we had science and medicine, we used to think that mental health problems were the results of demons, humors, bad blood, etc. Then we learned better,” one such theory reads. “In Avatar, someone sees a waterbender controlling someone and comes to the conclusion that they’re bending blood. I think if the Avatar universe had more modern science, they would realize they’re controlling the water in people’s muscles and tissue, NOT blood.

“The reason I believe this is because if Katara or anyone were ACTUALLY bending the blood in someone’s body, they would instantly have a heart attack and/or stroke and most likely die as a consequnce. This is because, presumably, to pull the blood powerfully enough to physically move someone would disrupt the flow of blood through the heart and to the brain,” it continues.

“I DO believe, though, that a waterbender could study over time and be able to reach the water in the blood and move it without killing someone if they were very, VERY delicate. Like… surgically precise. I agree that if someone reached that level of refined skill, they might he able to help with blood clots, at least, and poison in the early stages of its spread. Due to Katara’s ban on bloodbending in Legend of Korra, it can’t be studied or understood except in secret, so of course the science behind it likely won’t be understood for many generations to come.”

Given the potential links to real-world medicine, could we be seeing bloodbending included in Netflix’s back catalog sooner than we thought?

All episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender are now available to watch on the streaming platform.