Ten years after the events of Avatar, James Cameron takes us back to Pandora with Avatar: The Way of Water and follows Jake Sully and Neytiris family, along with the Omaticaya clan. Their eldest is Neteyam. Then there is Loak. Their youngest is Tuk. Their adopted daughter, Kira, is born of Dr. Grace Augustines Avatar. In addition to that, theyve adopted a human named Spider, who was abandoned in Hells Gate after the evacuation of the Sky People. Their peaceful life is interrupted by said Sky People who are back there to not just re-colonize the exoplanetary moon but also to destroy its water bodies. And with the return of Quaritch and his entire platoon as Recombinants (Avatars that are loaded with the characters memories and skills) who are out for revenge because of their previous defeat, the Sullys are forced to run to the Metkayina clan and seek refuge.

Major Spoilers Ahead

In Avatar, Quaritch tasked Jake Sully with knowing everything that he could about the Navi and reporting back to him so that he could take his army and decimate their Home Tree, thereby allowing the RDA (Resources Development Administration) to get all the unobtanium they wanted. Jake Sully obviously betrayed him, as he sided with the Omaticaya because he respected their lifestyle and fell in love with Neytiri. During the final moments of that film, Quaritch nearly killed Jake Sully by destroying the link unit (the device that allows a human to link up with their Avatar) he was in. But Neytiri shot Quaritch up with arrows and killed him, saving Jake Sully. Now, while Jake entered his Avatar permanently during the events of the first film, Selfridge sent the genetic coding of Quaritch and his crew to Earth so that their Avatar could be ready for deployment in the off chance that they died. Since they did die, Quaritch wants to use his mission to pacify the hostile parties who are attacking RDA trains and helicopters to exact revenge against the couple.

When Sullys kids sneak up on Quaritch and his team, he captures them to bait the Sullys. Jake, Neteyam, and Neytiri manage to rescue Loak, Tuk, and Kiri. However, Spider falls back, and Quaritch uses his familial ties with him (yes, Spider is apparently Quaritchs son) to coerce Spider into helping him track the Sullys. He learns the ways of the Navi to become more like Jake and Neytiri and beat them at their own game. By doing so, Cameron and his team of writers expertly contrast Quaritchs arc in this film with Jakes arc in the first film. You see, both of them are jarheads, and they want to learn more about the Navi. But while Jakes educational process allows him to empathize with life on Pandora, Quaritch doesnt. He just sees it as a means to an end. And that proves that putting a person in an Avatar and teaching him about indigenous culture isnt necessarily going to make them a rebel. That quality has to be in their blood and psyche, which can then be amplified with some guidance. If you are blinded by your bigotry, youll be nothing more than a wolf in sheeps clothing.

See More: Avatar: The Way Of Water Characters, Explained: What Ideologies Do The Sullys, Quaritch & Metkayina Have?

The Metkayina are an ocean-based Navi tribe who live on the shores of Awaatulu in huts that are interconnected with webbed passages. They have a chief leader, Tonowari, and a Tsahk, Ronal, who look over the clan. Their hue of blue is lighter than that of the Omaticayans. They have a Spirit Tree, much like the Tree of Souls or the Tree of Voices. Their hands are broader, and their tails are like fins to help them swim swiftly in the water. The Omaticayans use horses and the Metkayinans use a creature called the ilu for short-distance travel. The Omaticayans have the ikran, and the Mekayinans have the Tsurak, which have the ability to fly for short periods of time and then swim at high velocities in the water. Theres a wing-shaped fish in the waters that can latch onto a swimmers back and allow them to breathe for longer periods of time. And then there are the whale-like creatures called the Tulkuns, which migrate in herds and serve as soul siblings to the Metkayinans. However, since these Tulkuns are being hunted by the Sky People, they arent coming to Awaatulu, which the Metkayinans probably see as a bad omen. Since Jake Sully and his family, with the exception of Neytiri, are technically hybrids and not really Navi, they are treated harshly. That said, Jake reacts to it in a humble fashion and tries his best to win Tonowari and Ronals trust.

Coming back to the Tulkun, the reason they are being hunted by the Sky People is that they have a special gland in the base of their skull that secretes a serum that stops aging in humans. So, you can only imagine how valuable it is. And the serum is called Amrita. Now, that term may seem random. However, if you have knowledge of South Asian mythology, youll know that its a reference to the drink of the gods, which apparently gave them immortality. When they were cursed by the sage Durvasa, the gods took the help of their rivals, the asuras, and churned the ocean to attain a pitcher of this amrita. The asuras tried to take it, but the Hindu god Vishnu attained the form of the siren called Mohini to prevent that from happening. Mohini was given the task of distributing the amrita, and she used that opportunity to behead the demon Rahu, give all the nectar to the gods (to help them reclaim their immortality), and then battle the asuras. In Sikhism, amrita is the liquid thats drunk by Sikhs to become a part of the Khalsa. Theravada Buddhism defines amrita as the nectar that frees one from natural processes like birth, death, grief, etc. Chinese Buddhism sees any blessed water or food as amrita. And in Vajrayana Buddhism, amrita is an important part of all religious rituals. That means two things: James Cameron and his team have done mythological research, and out of all those definitions, I think those that describe amrita as the anti-aging juice are the ones that are relevant to The Way of Water.

So why is all this stuff that Ive just said about Quaritch, Jake, the Metkayinans, and the Tulkun important to the ending of the film? Well, because it shows how important it is to have perspective. Quaritch treats the Avatar body and sees the ways of the Navi as a means to get to Jake and kill him. Jake respects his Navi status and is doing everything in his power to protect his family, even if it means giving up the position of chief and following the orders of another. The Metkayinans see the Tulkun as one of their own and the Sullys as outsiders, despite the similarities they share. The Sky People treat the Tulkun as a commodity and treat them as disrespectfully as they treat the Navi or Pandora itself. And then theres Kiri and Loak, who rebel against every preconceived notion and find new aspects of the Tulkun and the Metkayinan habitat that probably no one knew about. The reason behind it is pretty obvious. Loak feels like an outcast among his own because he fails to live up to Jakes expectations, who wants him to be more like his eldest, Neteyam. Kiris mystical connection with Eywa makes her look air-headed, distant, and weak. However, they dont let everyones perception of them define who they are. They choose their own path.

Loak befriends a Tulkun called Payakan, who has been wrongfully outcast for killing other Tulkuns. Payakan uses the gland that the Sky People use to get the amrita to link up with Loak and show him the real culprits (yes, its the humans who killed the other Tulkuns, not Payakan). That proves to be a game changer because when Quaritch kidnaps Sullys kids as well as Tsireya (Ronal and Tonowaris daughter) and puts them in a Manta Ray-like ship, Payakan arrives to turn the tides in the Navis favor. But it isnt enough to truly get rid of Quaritch and his crew. So, Jake, Neytiri, and Neteyam actively attack the ship. Neteyam is the one who manages to get Loak, Tsireya, and Spider out of there but gets shot in the process. His death spurs Loak into action, and he saves his father after his deadly battle with Quaritch. As for Kiri, when she gets separated from Neytiri and Tuk, who get trapped in an inescapable section of the ship, she taps into her connection with Eywa, which she evidently had all this time. That allows her to create an escape route with the help of the luminescent fishes and take her mother and her sister to safety. The editing of this scene sends the message that a parents sole purpose shouldnt be to protect because that sounds exhausting. Instead, they should learn to relinquish control and let their children protect and guide them through their darkest hours. FYI, Spider does something similar by saving an injured and drowning Quaritch because he cares about their familial bond, and hes wary of the fact that, when push comes to shove, Neytiri wont treat him as one of her children. However, he reunites with the Sullys, where hes welcomed by Kiri and Jake.

Neteyam is buried as per the Metkayina culture, where his body is consumed by a field of seagrass. Jake Sully goes to Tonowari to let him know that he and his family will be leaving Awaatulu the following day because he knows that Quaritch will come after him and destroy everything around him. The oceanic Navi tribes whose homes got torched didnt give up Jakes location because Tonowari told them not to. And Jake definitely doesnt want anything like that to happen again. But Tonowari says that hes part of the Metkayina now and that he and his family are more than welcome to stay there. This decision can be motivated by Tonowaris prolonged neutrality, which has allowed the Sky People to encroach on the seas, and his latest realization that being non-confrontational wont keep them safe. Tonowari knows that Jake Sully and Neytiri have faced and defeated the Sky People before. So, if they want to defeat the latest wave of human colonizers, the Metkayina will need their guidance. Also, the family has just lost their son. You cant just tell them to go on the run after that. And, yes, Jake and Neytiri accept Tonowaris offer. They use the Spirit Tree to meet Neteyam one last time and decide to make their stand against the Sky People from there.

Unlike Avatar, The Way of Water concludes with a personal battle between Quaritch and Jake Sully. In Avatar, what we saw was the final stage of years of colonization. In The Way of Water, we see the earliest stages of the latest insurrection. So, it makes sense that James Cameron and his team have focused on establishing a central rivalry and giving us an idea of what itll take to actually defeat the enemy. Apart from that, the sequels will probably unravel the mystery surrounding Kiris father, who has to be very powerful, spiritually speaking. As far as I know, Dr. Augustine never exhibited powers where shed manipulate the environment of Pandora. Therefore, Kiris powers must have come from her father. Itll be interesting to see how Neytiri, Spider, and Quaritchs dynamic is going to unfold. Jake has accepted Spider as a son. However, Neytiri was and will be on the fence about it, especially after trying to kill him. And thats bound to have some kind of impact on Spiders psyche. Quaritchs newfound sense of humanity is also going to play a major role, and maybe hes going to try to bring Spider over to his side, which will make the rivalry between the heroes and the villains all the more complicated. But, hey, who wants to see simple stuff? James Cameron is free to bring on all the complexity he and his team can muster.

See More: Avatar 3 Expectations & Theories: Who Was The Seed Bearer? Will We See Frankenstein Uses Of Amrita?

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'Avatar: The Way Of Water' Ending, Explained: How Did Kiri And Lo ... - DMT