Avatar: The Way of Water Plot Synopsis
Avatar: The Way of Water aka Avatar 2 is the much-awaited sequel that follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their kids as they live a happy life on Pandora. However, an unexpected threat returns when the human corporation RDA brings back Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) who has an old score to settle.
The Sullys must leave their home and find shelter with the Water People and hope that their enemy cannot find them.
Who are Spider’s parents?
After the events of the first Avatar movie, all of the Sky People aka the humans who sided with the RDA, are sent back to Earth. However, Spider aka Miles, an infant is stuck on Pandora as he is too young to be put in cryo. He is raised by the lab guys and as he grows up, he starts hanging out with the Sullys.
While Jake first sees him as a stray cat and Neytiri is wary of him, he is considered family by the Sully kids. It is later revealed that he is the son of Colonel Miles Quaritch and a woman named Socorro.
How is Kiri different from the rest of the avatars?
Turns out Grace was pregnant when she died. In Avatar, it seemed that the Navi had failed to transport her soul to her avatar when she died. However, since she could feel Eywa, it appears they did succeed partly, as her avatar continued to full term and gave birth to Kiri.
Kiri is adopted by the Sullys and like the avatars, she has 4 fingers. While the rest of the Sully kids struggle to breathe underwater when they find shelter with the Water People aka Metkayina, Kiri has no issue. She is also able to communicate with those in the water, as well as hear Eywa’s breathing.
When she communicates with Metkayina’s Spirit Tree, she is able to meet Grace and ask why she is different from the rest. But before Grace can answer, Kiri gets a seizure and the lab guys think she has epilepsy and forbid her from communicating with the Spirit Tree anymore. But it is Ronal (Kate Winslet), the spiritual leader of Metkayina who helps her recover through acupuncture.
Later, during the climax of Avatar: The Way of Water, Kiri is able to control the spindly underwater creatures who kill the humans after them. And when Jake, Neytiri and Tuk are stuck underwater, she controls illuminating underwater creatures to guide them back to the surface.
What is the story of Payakan, the outcast tulkun?
When Aonung, one of the Metkayina kids leaves Jake’s youngest son Loak alone in the middle of the sea as a prank, he is attacked by a sea beast. Just as Loak loses hope, Payakan, a one-finned tulkun saves him and gives him a ride back home. They strike a friendship, but the Metkayina warn Loak to stay away as Payakan is a murderer as it supposedly killed its kin and a Navi tribe which makes it an outcast. But Loak continues to hang out with Payakan as he refuses to believe that it is a killer.
One day they get linked and Loak finds out the truth. Apparently, the human hunters who kill tulkuns for their ‘amrita’ that stops human ageing, killed Payakan’s mother. Out of anger, it gathered its kin and Navi tribe to attack the hunters, but it turned into a massacre as everyone was killed except Payakan.
When the Navi start warning the tulkuns that Quatritch is targeting them, they deliberately don’t tell Payakan, which forces Loak to go out alone to warn it. As his friends try to stop him, Quatritch spots them and traps Payakan. However, the kids are able to free it and tell it to run.
But it returns when Quatritch takes the Sullys hostage and starts attacking the warships. In a moment of karma, it also ends up killing the tulkun hunters. When the Sullys are stuck underwater after the warship topples, Payakan finds Loak and helps them get to the surface.
How is Colonel Miles Quaritch still alive?
Last we’d seen, Colonel Miles Quaritch, the human officer of RDA’s military was battling it out with Jake and Neytiri before the two killed him. However, in Avatar: The Way of Water, it is seen that Quaritch had a backup plan. Back on Earth, they had been growing avatar clones of his squad including himself, if they were ever killed.
All of his memories and personality are copied into a chip and put in his avatar, creating a successful Navi clone of himself. The Navi version of Quaritch speaks and feels exactly like he does which is seen when he unintentionally starts bonding with Spider, the original Quaritch’s human son. When Neytiri threatens to kill Spider as he holds Kiri hostage, Navi Quaritch gives in and frees her.
In the end, when Jake renders him unconscious, he floats underwater and gets stuck under the toppled warship. While looking for Jake, who is similarly stuck, Spider comes across Quaritch. Unable to leave him, Spider saves him and brings him to the surface. When Quaritch comes to, he asks Spider to come with him but the boy refuses and goes back to the Sullys.
How does Quaritch trap Jake?
Hell-bent on getting revenge for human Quaritch and stopping the Navi resistance which is led by Jake, Navi Quaritch’s plan revolves around killing his former subordinate. He first comes across the Sully kids and decides to use them as bait when he finds human Quaritch’s remains. His squad captures Spider, Loak, Kiri and Tuk, the youngest Sully and while waiting for transport Jake, Neytiri and their eldest son Neteyam attack. They free the Sully kids but Spider is taken hostage.
Later, while searching for Jake, Quaritch decides to lure him out by attacking the tulkuns as he knows the Navi will not idly stand by the murder of their animals. This becomes a catalyst that eventually leads to Loak going all alone in the sea to warn Payakan. The rest of the Sully kids, Aonung and his sister Tsireya follow him as they try to stop him. Unfortunately, they see that Payakan has already become the hunters’ target.
As they try to remove the tracking device from the tulkun, Quaritch appears on a warship. As the RDA get closer, the kids and Payakan split up and go underwater in hopes of escaping them. Unfortunately, Loak, Tuk and Tsireya are caught and tied to the ship’s rail. Quaritch uses Loak’s comms to strike a deal – the kids for Jake.
As Jake is heading to the warship alone, Payakan attacks and in the chaos, the rest of the Navi attack. While the RDA are busy defending, Neteyam hops aboard and frees the hostages. Unfortunately, as they are trying to escape, Quaritch’s squad catch Kiri and Tuk. When Jake gets on board, Quaritch threatens him with a knife to Kiri’s throat.
How do the Sullys escape the Sky People?
After the Metkayina attack the Sky People aka the RDA and destroys their army, they scatter leaving the Sullys alone. Whilst mourning the death of Neteyam who was shot while saving Spider, Quaritch tells Jake that he will free Kiri and Tuk in exchange for him. Jake and Neytiri storm the warship and take out all of Quaritch’s squad except him. As Jake frees Tuk, he sees Quaritch using Kiri as a shield.
Quaritch tells Jake to cuff himself but Neytiri finds Spider and threatens him. At first, Quaritch acts unaffected and tells her to kill Spider but when she does cut the boy, the colonel lets go of Kiri. As the Sullys are about to leave, Quaritch goads Jake and tells him that he will never leave him alone until one of them is dead.
Jake gives in and attacks Quaritch underwater while the rest of the Sullys try to escape. However, Tuk is caught in a current and Neytiri goes after her. Spider and Kiri are left alone and they split up to find everyone. Kiri uses her connection to Eywa to find Neytiri and Tuk trapped under the toppled warship and leads them to the surface.
Meanwhile Loak leaves Neteyam’s body with Tsireya and finds Jake who is on the brink of passing out after defeating Quaritch. They follow Kiri’s illuminated creatures to get out of the warship and from there, Payakan finds them and takes them to the surface. They are united with the girls and Spider and tearfully hug each other.