Avatar: The Way of Water Ending Explained.

Ten years after the events of Avatar, James Cameron takes us back to Pandora in Avatar: The Way of Water, following the family of Jake Sully and Neytiri and the Omaticaya clan. The oldest is Neteyam. it’s Lo’ak. The youngest is Took. Their adopted daughter Kira is born to Dr.Grace Augustine’s avatar. In addition, they adopted a human named Spider who was abandoned at Hell’s Gate after the  Sky People were evacuated. repopulate the exoplanetary moon, but also destroy its waters. And with the return of Quaritch and his entire platoon as recombinants (avatars laden with the characters’ memories and abilities) seeking revenge for their earlier defeat, the Sullys are forced to run to the Metkayina clan and seek refuge.

Image Credit: 20th Century Studios

The Conflict Between Quaritch, Jake Sully, And Neytiri

In “Avatar”, Quaritch hired Jake Sully to learn and inform Sully about the Na’vi so he could take their army and decimate their home tree in order to give the RDA (National Development Administration) resources to get all the unobtanium they wanted. Jake Sully obviously betrayed him when he sided with the Omaticaya because he respected their way of life and fell in love with Neytiri. In the final moments of this film, Quaritch nearly killed Jake Sully by destroying the link unit. (the device that allows a human to connect to their avatar) he was on. But Neytiri shot Quaritch with arrows and killed him, saving Jake Sully.

When Jake permanently invaded his avatar during the events of the first film, Selfridge sent the genetic coding of Quaritch and his team to Earth so that their avatar would be ready should they die, Quaritch’s mission is to “pacify hostile factions” and attack East German trains and helicopters in order to take revenge on the couple. When Sully’s sons sneak up on Quaritch and his team, he captures them to lure the Sullys out. Jake, Neteyam, and Neytiri manage to save Lo’ak, Tuk, and Kiri. Spider backs down, however, and Quaritch uses his family ties to him (yes, Spider is apparently Quaritch’s son) to force Spider into helping him track down the Sullys. Learn the ways of the Na’vi to become more like Jake. and Neytiri and beat them at their own game. Cameron and his writing team skillfully contrast Quaritch’s arc in this film with Jake’s arc in the first film. You see, they are both jarheads and want to learn more about the Na’vi.

But while Jake’s educational process allows him to empathize with life on Pandora, Quaritch doesn’t. He only sees it as a means to an end. And that proves that putting a person in an avatar and teaching them about indigenous culture doesn’t necessarily make them rebel. This quality needs to be in your blood and psyche, which can then be reinforced with guidance. If you’re blinded by your fanaticism, you’re nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Image Credit: 20th Century Studios

Metkayina And The Significance Of The Tulkun And The “Amrita” 

The Metkayina is an oceanic Na’vi tribe who live on the shores of Awa’atulu in huts connected by woven walkways. They have a chief leader, Tonowari, and a tsahìk, Ronal, who watch over the clan. Their shade of blue is lighter than that of Omaticayans. They have a spiritual tree very similar to the tree of souls or the tree of voices. Their hands are wider and their tails are like flippers so they can swim quickly in the water. Omaticayans use horses and Metkayinans use a creature called “Ilu” for short-distance travel. The Omaticayans have the “Ikran” and the Mekayinans have the “Tsurak” which has the ability to fly for short periods of time. Time and then swim in the water at high speed. There is a wing-shaped fish in the water that can cling to a swimmer’s back, allowing them to breathe longer. And then there are the whale-like creatures called tulkuns. who wander in herds and serve them as soul mates the Metkayinans. However, since these Tulkuns are being hunted by the Sky People, they do not come to Awa’atulu, which the Metkayinans probably take as a bad omen. Since Jake Sully and his family, with the exception of Neytiri, are technically hybrids and not actually Na’vi, they are treated harshly. Jake responds modestly and does his best to gain Tonowari and Ronal’s trust.

Coming back to the Tulkun, the Sky People hunt them because they have a special gland at the base of their skull that secretes a serum that prevents the aging process in humans. it is. And the serum is called “Amrita”. Well, this term may seem random. However, if you are familiar with South Asian mythology, you know that it is a reference to the drink of the gods that apparently gave them immortality. Having been cursed by the sage Durvasa, the gods enlisted the help of their rivals, the “Asuras”, and scoured the ocean to obtain a jar of this “Amrita”. The “Asuras” tried to take it, but the Hindu god Vishnu took the form of the mermaid named Mohini to prevent this. Mohini was given the task of distributing the “Amrita” and he used this opportunity to behead the demon Rahu. , giving all the nectar to the gods (to help them regain their immortality), and then fighting the “Asuras” in Sikhism, “Amrita” is the liquid drink of the Sikhs, said to become part of the Khalsa. Theravada Buddhism defines “Amrita” as the nectar that releases one of the natural processes such as birth, death, pain, etc. Chinese Buddhism regards any sacred 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 did some mythological research, and of all those definitions I think those describing “Amrita” as the anti-aging juice are those relevant to “The Way of Water”.

Image Credit: 20th Century Studios

How Does Kiri Use Her Link With Eywa? Does Lo’ak Surpass Jake Sully’s Expectations?

Why is all that stuff I just said about Quaritch and Jake and the Metkayinans and the Tulkun relevant to the ending of the movie? Well, because it shows how important it is to have perspective. Quaritch treats the Avatar and sees the ways of the Na’vi as a means to get at Jake and kill him. Jake respects his Na’vi status and does everything in his power to protect his family, even if it means relinquishing the position of chief and following the orders of others. The people of Metkayin regard the Tulkun as one of their own and the Sully as outsiders, despite the similarities they share. The Skymen treat the Tulkun like commodities and treat them with the same disrespect as the Na’vi or Pandora. Then there are Kiri and Lo’ak, who rebel against all preconceived notions and find new aspects of  Tulkun and Metkayinan’s habitat that probably no one knew about. The reason for this is pretty obvious. Lo’ak feels like an outcast on his own because he doesn’t live up to the expectations of Jake, who wants him to be more like his eldest son, Neteyam. Kiri’s mystical connection to Eywa makes her appear stupid, distant, and weak. However, they don’t let themselves be defined by others’ perceptions of who they are. They choose their own path.

Lo’ak befriends a Tulkun named Payakan who was unjustly ostracized for killing other Tulkuns. Payakan uses the gland that the sky people use to trick the “Amrita” into joining Lo’ak and showing him the real culprits. (Yes, it was the humans that killed the other Tulkuns, not Payakan). This proves to be a turning point, because when Quaritch kidnaps Sully’s children and Tsireya (Ronal and Tonowari’s daughter) and puts them on a manta ray-like ship, Payakan arrives to turn the tide in favor of the Na’vis. But it’s not enough to really get rid of Quaritch and his crew. Than Jake, Neytiri and Neteyam actively attack the ship. Neteyam is the one who manages to get Lo’ak, Tsireya, and Spider out of there but gets shot in the process. Her death spurs Lo’ak to action. and saves his father after his fatal fight with Quaritch. When Kiri becomes separated from Neytiri and Tuk, who are trapped in an inescapable part of the ship, he takes advantage of his connection to Eywa, who obviously had all of that. time.

With the help of the glowing fish, he can create an escape route and bring his mother and sister to safety. The editing of this scene conveys the message that a parent’s sole purpose shouldn’t be to protect them because that sounds exhausting. Instead, they must learn to let go of control and let their children protect and guide them through their darkest hours. that Neytiri doesn’t treat him like one of her children when it matters. He meets up with the Sullys, however, where  Kiri and Jake welcome him.

Image Credit: 20th Century Studios

Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Ending Explained

Neteyam is buried according to the Metkayina culture, where his body is consumed by a seaweed field. Jake Sully goes to Tonowari to tell him that he and his family will leave Awa’atulu the next day, knowing that Quaritch will come after him and destroy everything around him. The Oceanian Na’vi tribes whose houses were burned did not reveal Jake’s whereabouts because the Tonowari had forbidden them to do so. And Jake definitely doesn’t want  that to happen again. But Tonowari says it is now part of  Metkayina and he and his family are more than welcome to stay. This decision may have been motivated by the Tonowari’s longstanding neutrality, which has allowed the Sky People to invade the seas and their recent discovery that they are not safe unless they face no one. 

Tonowari knows that Jake Sully and Neytiri have faced and defeated the Sky People before. So if they are to defeat the last wave of human colonizers,  Metkayina will need their leadership. The family also just lost their son. You can’t just tell them to run away afterward. And yes, Jake and Neytiri take up Tonowari’s offer. They use the Spirit Tree to meet Neteyam one last time. and decides to oppose the sky people from there. Unlike “Avatar,” “The Way of Water” ends with a personal battle between Quaritch and Jake Sully. What we saw in “Avatar” was the final phase of years of colonization. In “The Way of the Water” we see the early stages of the recent uprising. So it makes sense that James Cameron and his team focused on establishing a core rivalry and giving us a taste of what it would take to defeat the enemy. Apart from that, the sequels will probably solve the mystery of the surroundings of Kiri’s father, who must be very powerful spiritually. 

As far as I know, Dr. Augustine was never shown power to manipulate Pandora’s surroundings. Therefore, Kiri’s powers must have come from his father. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics of Neytiri, Spider, and Quaritch play out. Jake has accepted Spider as his son. However, Neytiri was and remains indecisive, especially after trying to kill him. And that will inevitably have an impact on Spider’s psyche. He will play a big role and maybe try to win Spider over to his side, which will further complicate the rivalry between heroes and villains. But hey, who wants to see simple things? James Cameron is free to add as much complexity as he and his team can muster.

Read More: The Recruit Season 1 Ending Explained.