15 details you should remember before watching 'Avatar: The Way of Water'

15 details you should remember before watching 'Avatar: The Way of Water'
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  • "Avatar: The Way of Water" hit theaters on Friday.

  • The first film was released in 2009. If you don't remember every detail, we have you covered.

  • Insider has rewatched the first film and previewed the sequel. Here's what you should know.

Pandora is a distant moon that's of interest to Earth because of its natural resources.

Avatar the moon of Pandora
These are the floating mountains of Pandora.20th Century Studios

A non-governmental organization called the Resources Development Administration (RDA) is interested in the jungle moon for a mineral called unobtainium. In the first film, we're told a kilogram of the superconductor is worth $20 million.

Pandora is also home to a group of humanoid creatures called Na'vi.

Na'vi in Avatar
The RDA refers to the Na'vi as "savages" and "hostiles."20th Century Studios

The over nine-foot-tall beings have a strong connection to every living thing on Pandora.

They're in opposition to the RDA mining and destroying their home for the moon's unobtainium. They refer to humans as "sky people."

The Na'vi can physically bond with other animals and plants to share a mental connection.

Jake in Avatar bonding with animals
The Na'vi term for this bond is tsaheylu. Jake connects with a direhorse and his banshee in the first film.20th Century Studios, Kirsten Acuna/Insider

The Na'vi can connect a cluster of neural tendrils from their hair with those of other beings in order to create a deep bond where the two essentially become one. The connection allows the two to feel each other's pain and their heartbeats.

It also allows the Na'vi to guide an animal wordlessly while riding it. One of the main creatures they ride are banshees, called ikran by the Na'vi, who only pair with one rider in their life.

Certain plants, like the Tree of Souls, allow the Na'vi to connect to a network where they can upload memories and communicate with the dead.

The first film primarily focuses on the Omaticaya clan.

Avatar neytiri
Jake is seen with Neytiri in "Avatar."20th Century Fox

The group was led by Eytukan, who is killed by the end of the first film, and their spiritual leader, Mo'at. Their daughter, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), is one of the central characters of the franchise who is supposed to eventually take on the role of her mother in her clan.

A few other clans are introduced late in the first "Avatar." We'll meet another clan, the Metkayina, in the sequel.

Humans cannot breathe on Pandora.

Avatar humans
Some of the RDA's military recruits are seen at the start of "Avatar."20th Century Studios

They need to wear masks otherwise they'll die in about four minutes.

The RDA commissioned the Avatar Project which allowed humans to link themselves with expensive remotely controlled human/Na'vi hybrid bodies.

Jake Sully in Avatar
The Avatar Program allowed some humans to explore Pandora naturally without masks by taking on the role of a Na'vi.20th Century Studios

The Avatar Program consisted of developing human and Na'vi hybrids called avatars which allow a human mind to connect and control a Na'vi (avatar) body as their own. The avatars are grown from human DNA mixed with DNA of Na'vi.

The project was supposed to develop communication between humans and Na'vi so scientists could learn about their culture while also teaching them English. But some in the RDA wanted to use the program to gain intel and spy on Pandora's natives for personal gain.

The Na'vi refer to the avatars as dream-walkers and devils since they're engineered.

In the sequel, humans have found a way to upload a person's consciousness into an avatar without needing a physical host.

Grace Augustine is a scientist who was in charge of the Avatar Program.

Sigourney Weaver in Avatar
Sigourney Weaver in "Avatar."20th Century Studios

Grace established a school within the Omaticaya clan that ran for 10 years where she helped teach the Na'vi English before it was shut down. Unlike the RDA, Grace's interests in Pandora and the Na'vi were pure. She simply wanted to study, connect with them, and write about them.

Jake helped her peacefully reconnect with the clan in the first film.

Late in the movie, Grace is hit by a bullet from Quaritch. The Na'vi try to transfer her mind into her avatar body before she succumbs to her wound, but are unsuccessful.

Despite dying in the first film, Weaver will return in the sequel voicing the daughter of her avatar. (If that sounds confusing, it's also a bit of a mystery in the sequel.)

Colonel Miles Quaritch was head of security of the RDA in the first film.

Stephen Lang in Avatar
Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch in "Avatar."20th Century Studios

He was a little too power-hungry and didn't care how many of the Na'vi he killed or what he destroyed in order to acquire Pandora's unobtainium.

Quaritch led the attack on the Omaticaya's home, destroying the giant tree they lived inside for its abundance of unobtainium.

Jake Sully was a 22-year-old paraplegic marine veteran in the first film.

Sam Worthington as Jake Sully
We never learn how Jake was paralyzed. Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully in "Avatar."20th Century Studios

Jake was invited to go to Pandora in place of his twin brother, Tommy, a scientist who was killed a week before his trip by a mugger. Jake took his place because he shared Tommy's genetic makeup and could link up to his very expensive avatar.

The RDA also liked that he had experience as a marine. Because of his training, at the film's start, Jake was assigned to gather intel on the Na'vi for Colonel Quaritch. In exchange, Quaritch promised Jake the use of his legs again when returning home to Earth.

Neytiri was going to kill Jake until she received a sign from Eywa, the deity who the Na'vi worships.

woodsprites are seen on Jake in "Avatar"
The woodsprites appear to choose Jake in "Avatar."20th Century Studios

When a group of woodsprites, spirits from the Na'vi's sacred tree, land on Jake, Neytiri considers it a sign and brings him back to her home.

As a result, Neytiri is ordered to teach Jake their ways. Little does she know, he's purposefully trying to infiltrate the group.

Jake winds up falling in love with Pandora and its people, and bonds with Neytiri.

Neytiri and Jake bond in Avatar
Neytiri and Jake bond with one another in "Avatar."20th Century Studios

Jake's mission takes a turn when he falls for the Na'vi leader's daughter and the pair mate. In Na'vi culture, when you mate with someone, you're bonded for life.

Afterward, the Na'vi discover Jake was acting in part as a spy for the RDA, which led to the destruction of their home, and disown him.

 

Jake becomes a respected member of the Omaticaya clan, becoming known as Toruk Makto.

Jake Sully in Avatar
Jake becomes the sixth Na'vi to hold the title of Toruk Makto in the first film.20th Century Studios

In order to gain back the trust of the Omaticaya, Jake sought out a legendary predator, Toruk, both feared and revered in Na'vi culture.

Jake became the sixth Na'vi to successfully ride one of the creatures and, as a result, was given the title of Toruk Makto. Jake used the title to unite the Omaticaya and 14 other clans to wage war against the RDA and save Pandora.

After winning the war against the humans in the first film, Jake said Toruk Makto wasn't needed anymore and released the creature, but he still goes by the moniker.

Jake left his human body behind to fully integrate with his avatar.

Avatar Jake Sully's transfer to an avatar body
Jake's bodies are laid side by side to transfer his consciousness into his avatar.20th Century Studios

At the end of the first film, Jake becomes the leader of Omaticaya's warriors and has his consciousness merged into his avatar form.

Colonel Quaritch is killed by Neytiri and Jake at the end of the first film.

Stephen Lang in Avatar
Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch in the first "Avatar" movie.20th Century Studios

However, a version of the character will return in the sequel and he'll likely seek revenge on the two.

The Na'vi sent every human back to Earth at the end of the first film except a handful they selected to stay.

end of Avatar 2009
Dr. Norm Spellman and Dr. Max Patel see the rest of the humans back off to Earth at the end of "Avatar."20th Century Studios

Dr. Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) and Dr. Max Patel (Dileep Rao) are two of the humans we see left in Pandora at the end of the first film.

Before you see "The Way of Water" you should be prepared that the sequel jumps forward over 10 years into the future.

Avatar: The Way of Water Neytiri and Jake's family
Neytiri and Jake's family in "The Way of Water."20th Century Studios

"The Way of Water" frustratingly never mentions what year it takes place.

According to the film's production notes, the sequel takes place "more than a decade" after the end of the first film and will follow Jake, Neytiri, and their four children as they handle the fallout of the return of the "sky people" to Pandora.

Want to do a full rewatch before seeing "The Way of Water"? Stream the original "Avatar" with a Disney+ subscription:

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