Everything to Remember Before ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

After waiting 13 years for James Cameron to release a second Avatar, a mere three years for the third one is nothing. Nevertheless, there’s a good chance that even if you saw and liked Avatar: The Way of Water back in 2022, maybe you don’t remember everything about it heading into Avatar: Fire and Ash, which opens on December 19. We’ve got you covered.

What follows are all the important things you have to remember about the world of Avatar going into Avatar: Fire and Ash.

The basics

Just in case you haven’t watched an Avatar movie ever, or in a very long time, here are the super basics. The series is set on the distant planet of Pandora, which is inhabited by beings called the Na’vi. They’re tall, blue, and very in touch with nature. Like, they can literally use their body to connect to nature, which is run by their deity, Eywa.

Of course, humans then come to Pandora to attempt to claim it for themselves. To communicate with the locals, the humans created a system by which a human consciousness can be transferred into a body that looks like the Na’vi. This Avatar program (hence the title) allows them to move around the planet freely, because the planet’s air is poisonous to humans.

Enter Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a disabled Marine who takes to the Avatar program so well, he falls in love with a Na’vi woman named Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and turns his back on his military buddies, siding with the Na’vi to drive the humans away. In the end, the Na’vi are successful, the majority of humans leave, and Jake permanently becomes part of the Na’vi. Later, humans do return, but more on that in a bit.

Loak and Tsireya – 20th Century Studios

The children

In the second film, The Way of Water, we learn that Jake and Neytiri have now started a family. They have three biological kids, two boys and a girl. Neteyam and Lo’ak are the boys, and Tuk, the girl, is the youngest. They also have a foster child named Kiri, who is the biological daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), the pioneer of the Avatar program. She died, but somehow, her Na’vi avatar had a child. The four Na’vi children also pal around with Spider (Jack Champion), a young human boy left on Pandora. More on him in a second as well.

RIP Neteyam

At the start of The Way of Water, humans return to Pandora with a new purpose: to take over the planet and the Na’vi. The film ends with another big battle, which results in Sully’s oldest son, Neteyam, being killed. It’s a grief that hasn’t been fully dealt with at the start of Fire and Ash.

From the forest to the ocean

Neytiri, and therefore Jake and their children, grew up as part of the Omatikaya tribe of Na’vi. They lived and thrived in the forest. But in Way of Water, with the humans back and searching for Jake, the family leaves and moves in with the Metkayina. They’re a more ocean-based society. And while there is some friction to start, by the end, the Sullys have fully become people of the Ocean.

Kiri – 20th Century Studios

There’s something about Kiri

As previously mentioned, the Sully family’s adopted child, Kiri, is the daughter of a human woman’s Avatar. We don’t know who her father is, but we do know that she has a special connection with the deity of Pandora, Eywa. Why and how is that possible? Hopefully, we’ll find out.

The bad guy and his boy

The main antagonist in the Avatar movies so far is Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Quaritch is the head of the military that brings Jake Sully to Pandora, only for Jake to change allegiances once he realizes their evil intentions. This is viewed as betrayal and infuriates Quaritch and the rest of the humans. In the end, Jake kills Quaritch. Only, we learn later that Quaritch’s consciousness was saved and transferred to a Na’vi Avatar. So, now, basically a copy of him as a Na’vi returns to Pandora to hunt Jake.

Before he was killed, though, Quaritch had a son named Miles, who was forced to stay on Pandora after his father died because he was too young to travel back to Earth. He quickly becomes friendly with the Sully kids, who call him “Spider,” and eventually he becomes aware that a new version of his father has returned to Pandora.

Why are humans on Pandora?

Humans are on Pandora for a few reasons. One is because it’s 120 or so years into the future, and we’ve destroyed Earth. So, we’re trying to find a new home. Pandora seems worthy because it’s rich in valuable resources. One is a mineral called Unobtanium, which is important in the first film but largely ignored after. But also the Pandoran version of whales, the Tulkun, have a substance in their bodies called Amrita, which stops human aging. It’s very, very valuable, and acquiring it allows the humans to continue their pursuit of Pandoran dominance.

Jake and Neytiri – 20th Century Studios

Can humans survive on Pandora?

After losing the war with the Na’vi in the first film, most of the humans go back to Earth. But, about 10 years later, they return even more gung-ho about taking over the planet. Which is odd because humans cannot breathe the air on Pandora. They have to wear masks at all times, which becomes a huge problem for Spider because he’s always spending time with the Na’vi.

Spider-problems

An inability to breathe is just one of Spider’s problems. He’s also conflicted about his “father” now being back, and he’s resented by Neytiri because her sons saving him is what resulted in Neteyam’s death. They considered him a brother, but she does not consider him a son. Especially after that.

Payakan and the Tulkun

Because the whale-like creatures, the Tulkun, have that Amrita in them, they are hunted down by humans on Pandora. But they are a peaceful species and don’t fight back. One time long ago, one did fight back, though, and he was outcast from his species for it. That creature is named Payakan, and he ends up meeting Jake and Neytiri’s middle child, Lo’ak. The two bond and form a brotherhood. It’s a bond that many members of the Metkayina have with various Tulkun.

Payakan is ready for his close-up – 20th Century Studios

Human allies

Though most humans left Pandora after the first war with the Na’vi, led by Jake Sully, several stayed because they were loyal to the Na’vi. We didn’t get to see a lot of them in The Way of Water, but they are back this time. Mainly, it’s Dr. Norm Spellman (played by Joel David Moore) who worked on the Avatar program with Dr. Augustine and Dr. Max Patel (played by Dileep Rao).

One wildcard in this category is Dr. Ian Garvin, played by Jemaine Clement. Garvin is a marine biologist who works with the people hunting Tulkun but seems to be sick about it. It’s unclear what side he’s officially on.

Lots of Loss

In addition to Neteyam, Jake and Neytiri have lost many friends and family along the way, especially in the war with the humans that we saw in the first film. This is important to remember because the Na’vi believe that they all live forever in Eywa.

Toruk Makto

The Na’vi were initially able to defeat the humans because Jake Sully rose to a very prestigious and rare rank within their culture. It’s called Toruk Makto, and it’s when a Na’vi tames the largest creature on Pandora, an almost dragon-like creature called Toruk. Only five Na’vi have ever done this, and it’s been so inspirational, it unites them all. It’s a reputation that follows Jake everywhere.

Got it? You are now ready to sit down for three-plus hours back on Pandora in Avatar: Fire and Ash when it opens December 19.

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