The face-to-face connection ends in one of the film’s more shocking moments: When Kiri is zapped back to her corporeal body, she suffers a near-death seizure.īut how did Grace’s avatar become pregnant? The ending of Avatar, now shaded by Weaver’s human-self cameo, suggests that asking who Kiri’s father is - as the Na’vi kids do in the film! - might be the wrong question. ![]() Partway through the movie, Kiri - who is not only a huge nerd who loves nature, but seems to possess a supernatural connection to the ecological systems of Pandora - bonds with the underwater equivalent of the Tree of Souls and “meets” her mother (Weaver again, sans CGI) for the first time. Image: 20th Century Studiosīased on what the audience and Kiri witness in The Way of Water, it’s reasonable to conclude that Grace’s spirit missed the avatar boat and instead zipped through the neural network of Pandora. Miles Quaritch’s persona was preserved for later cloning, either no one on the human side cared enough about the scientists to give them a full consciousness download or the scrappy human faction on Pandora wasn’t equipped to help her, so there’s no Grace Brain filling an avatar clone in The Way of Water. But before Grace crosses over, she tells Jake, “I’m with her” - referring to Eywa, Pandora’s deity, whom the Na’vi believe connects all living things. In case you do not recall the details of the now-13-year-old Avatar: Grace is mortally wounded during an escape from the human military base on Pandora, and to save her life, Jake and Neytiri attempt to transfer her consciousness to her avatar body using the power of the Tree of Souls. ![]() And Cameron doesn’t really crack it! Instead, Kiri’s conception and roots blossom into The Way of Water’s weirdest plotline. The notion that Grace’s comatose Na’vi body conceived and birthed a child while floating in an avatar holding chamber is, uh, a tough world-building nut to crack. Grace Augustine (Weaver) while she’s in suspended animation. Along with their three biological children (two sons, Neteyam and Lo’ak, and a young girl, Tuk), they now care for a surrogate human son, Spider, and Kiri, born from the avatar of Dr. Years after the events of Avatar, The Way of Water sees Jake Sully and Neytiri happily bonded and caring for a blended family. And the Avatar series is no different, with Avatar 2 raising the burning question: Who is Kiri’s father? The film’s context clues and Weaver’s own commentary shed light on what will likely be a key question in Avatar 3 and beyond. Parentage questions tend to be fun preoccupations for franchise storytelling - consider Star Wars’ obsession with Luke Skywalker’s or Rey’s parents, or Game of Thrones’ endless teasing about Jon Snow’s mother. Weaver’s new character, Kiri - Jake Sully’s teen Na’vi daughter - becomes the central mystery to the past, present, and future of Pandora. Part of the drive for Cameron was working with actors he loved even though the characters played by Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang both “died” (we’ll get to that) in the 2009 Avatar, they both return in the sequel in new forms. Additionally, where most creatures on Pandora have two nerve clusters on their heads, the Na'vi have only one, hidden in their ponytails.James Cameron’s elastic world-building creates endless possibilities for how his sequel Avatar: The Way of Water brings viewers back to the alien world of Pandora and prepares them for a journey that will span Avatar 3, 4, and maybe 5. ![]() The wildlife on Pandora is shown to have six limbs, four eyes, and breathing holes just below the neck, but the Na'vi have none of these things. On Earth, most vertebrate animals have the same basic design - from humans to salamanders to velociraptors, two eyes and four limbs are standard. Related: Avatar 2's Concept Art Highlights How It Can Beat The First Movieĭespite being heavy-handedly coded as indigenous people, the Na’vi still feel slightly out of place to many viewers. Scientists have noted that the Na’vi do not match other creatures on Pandora in many regards (via Smithsonian Mag). However, the movie also contains strong messages of anti-imperialism and decolonization, sharply contrasting the symbiotic relationship the Na’vi have with their home against the destructive and exploitative mentality of the human colonizers (though sequels are likely to include Na'vi villains too). This caused Avatar to have a divisive reception among audience members, with many criticizing Cameron for playing into a distasteful white savior narrative, ending with outsider Jake Sully as the leader of the tribe. It’s no secret that Cameron very deliberately chose to make the Na’vi an allegory for the Native Americans here on Earth, and their treatment at the hands of European colonizers.
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