#motives

Santa Fe expresses Jack’s desire to go to New Mexico, we all know that. But how Santa Fe is built up to distinguish the two Jacks very clearly. It will get messy, so bear with me.

Each time Lumine sees her brother, who ditches her, the emotional pain that follows is heart-wrenching. This becomes more apparent after a few encounters, as Lumine’s emotional burden is evident. After the most recent quest, she sought solitude due to her brother.

Lumine’s unwavering belief in seeing the end of her journey and seeing her brother is a testament to her strength and determination. However, after the latest quest, it’s understandable that she has begun to harbor doubts. This realization marks a pivotal moment, as she confronts the harsh truth that the brother she once knew is gone.

It’s uncertain whether Aether is aware of the pain he has caused Lumine and vice versa, depending on whether you chose Aether or Lumine as the Abyss Sibling.

The Abyss siblings’ awareness of the pain they inflict on their sibling is a complex and nuanced, with evidence suggesting both a lack of full understanding and a degree of deliberate choice. Their actions, especially their leadership of the Abyss Order, have caused significant suffering to their sibling and all of Teyvat, yet their motivations and level of awareness regarding the consequences remain unclear.

I speculate about the future, when Lumine will have to decide between her brother and the friends and meaningful connections she has formed in Teyvat. Whenever they meet, the tension and distance are noticeable and difficult to ignore.

1. At the beginning of the film, when the Na'vi are unloading cargo from the RDA transport, Lo'ak disobeys his father's orders to only observe and warn if the humans are coming to attack them. Lo'ak goes down to the ground to get the weapons; his brother Neteyam tries to stop him, but fails. The Na'vi are attacked by the humans, and Lo'ak and Neteyam are nearly killed in an explosion. Neteyam is injured.

2. Lo'ak had the idea to go to the old location where Jake and Colonel Miles Quaritch fought in Avatar 1, despite his father's orders not to go there. He took his sisters and Spider with him, and because of this, his family almost died during the rescue, and Spider was captured by Quaritch.

3. Lo'ak got into a fight with the teenagers from the Metkayina clan because he couldn't control his anger and impulsiveness when they mocked Kiri, even though Neteyam resolved the situation without physical confrontation. His older brother had to intervene to help him.

4. When Lo'ak went to look for Payakan, his brothers followed him because they were worried about his safety. They were all found by Quaritch. He also had the idea to save Spider, and his brother Neteyam decided to help him. They didn't ask any adults (Jake or Neytiri) for help to rescue Spider, and Neteyam ended up dying on that mission, the culprit being the Quaritch soldier who shot him.

Neteyam's death is very sad! I think Jake placed too much responsibility on Neteyam to control Lo'ak's impulsive behavior.

I believe Cameron's narrative decision regarding Neteyam's death is intended to show Jake that running away from the fight forever doesn't guarantee the protection of his family and home, but I wish Neteyam had survived.

1. What is your perception of Jake's relationship with Neteyam?

2. What is your perception of Jake's relationship with Lo'ak?

3. In Avatar 3, do you feel that Lo'ak learned anything from his actions?

4. What kind of attitude do you think Neytiri should have had towards her children and the way Jake disciplined them?

Truly, I haven’t analyzed Lo’ak’s journey much. But I’ll try to answer your questions!

Jake’s relationship with Neteyam seemed to be like that of a stereotypical military-dad-and-his-firstborn. He loved Neteyam, Neteyam was his first experience with having a child of his own, so there was something special about all the “firsts” that came with that. First time Jake could teach somebody the ways of the Na’Vi the way it was taught to him. First hunts, first words, first steps. But at the same time, Jake held Neteyam to a higher standard than the others when war broke out, because as the oldest, Neteyam has the most responsibility. He is physically the largest and strongest, he is the most experienced, and he was taught everything from family values to how to live life first, before the others. And, Jake has a background as a warrior, a marine. So, he knows that chain-of-command is vital in every aspect of life, and is instilling the values of authority and personal accountability into Neteyam just as much as he is his other kids—but again, it’s down to Neteyam to get it right first. Always. Because naturally, what he does, his younger siblings would (logically) do too. If you’re asking me whether I think Jake was “too hard” on Neteyam, no. I don’t. I think he was hard on Neteyam in order to make Neteyam stronger, knowing that strength is another layer of armor around the son he loves in a time of war. I think it was good and right for Jake to scold Neteyam for letting Lo’ak push him into anything. Why? Because what’s happening when Lo’ak pushes him? Psychologically, what’s happening? Neteyam is either doing what Lo’ak wants to do because he’s trying to avoid a fight with Lo’ak, or because he’s wants to be seen as “cool” by Lo’ak, or is trying to prove himself when Lo’ak teases him or questions his guts—or, Neteyam is doing it because he wants to do all the dangerous reckless things Lo’ak likes, too. All three of those things are bad, and Jake should scold them out of Neteyam whenever he can. Pushover, insecure, or selfish—all three of those motives for Neteyam not putting his foot down and going along with Lo’ak’s schemes are inexcusable. Do I see some sympathetic reasons Neteyam might have joined Lo’ak’s schemes? Yeah, obviously. Maybe he was going along with him to try and keep him safe—“if I can’t stop him, I can at least go with and jump at any opportunity to protect him.” For example. But from Jake’s point of view, that motive is still stupid, because there’s options A) and B). A) “If I can’t stop him, dad can, I’ll run and get dad before Lo’ak gets himself killed.” Or B) “If I can’t stop him—wait, I can stop him, I’ll tackle him and hold him down until the opportunity to put himself in danger has passed.” Either of those two things would be better than going along with Lo’ak, so Jake’s right to scold Neteyam and hold him accountable.

Jake’s relationship with Lo’ak is a little more difficult to explain. Lo’ak is still expected to be obedient and safe and protect his younger siblings, just like Neteyam, just like all Jake’s children. But because he’s the second son he doesn’t get to have as much clout for getting it right as Neteyam does. I guess I’d put it like this: Neteyam has high expectations placed on him as the firstborn, the leader of the kids, the next in Jake’s family-chain-of-command under the parents. That’s a lot of pressure. But it comes with a certain vibe, like “gosh my parents trust me,” and “I’m reliable,” and “they think I can do this.” Lo’ak doesn’t have that status because whatever he does in the line of obedience and duty to his parents, Neteyam already did it first, and Neteyam was expected to do it first. So to put it even more succinctly—Lo’ak has middle child syndrome and is always feeling like he has to prove himself. But paradoxically, he’s not going to get in as much trouble for doing something reckless when Neteyam is there, higher up in the chain-of-command than himself. So he has less to lose and more to gain in the family by taking risks. That’s pretty straightforward. I do think, technically, Neteyam’s older than Lo’ak and lived more life with Jake before war broke out. So Lo’ak has lived less life with a version of Jake that is free of the world-on-his-shoulders. You can just naturally assume that Jake has lost a lot of time and energy to waging war when he could’ve been building solid relationship with his own kids. So all of that to say, I think it’s very simply, “Jake loves Lo’ak and cares more about him than he does himself—but Jake’s attention is not always on Lo’ak, and is almost never on Lo’ak first. It’s usually first on Neteyam as the first-in-command of the Kid Group, or first on the war.” And then Jake obviously has to wrestle with all the confused and agonizing emotions that come up when Neteyam is killed, and it is directly tied to the consequences of Lo’ak doing the same fool thing he did over and over again before.

3. No. No, I don’t think Lo’ak has learned from his mistakes in the 2nd movie by the 3rd movie. At all. Avatar: Fire & Ash repeated point-for-point a lot of what they already established in the 2nd movie. It goes like this: “Lo’ak feels out of place and desperate to prove himself so he lives in a way reckless and different to the way of his own people -> Because he feels this way, Lo’ak finds it easy to befriend an outcast whale who lives life in a way that is also reckless and different to the way of its own people -> In doing so, Lo’ak defies the ways of HIS OWN people and creates conflict with his family -> Lo’ak doesn’t care he’s defying them and remains loyal to Payakun, at great personal risk, costing his own family dearly -> After all this, Lo’ak still expects to be treated with a trust and respect he has not earned.” So…no. Neteyam’s death does not make Lo’ak feel like less of an outsider in his own family, or less of a screw-up with something to prove. It drives him further into that mindset. Because he lets it drive him there. He continually fails to do things the way his father trusts him to do them, and then he wonders why his father won’t trust him. Keep your comms on. Quit openly defying the people who take us in. Keep your younger siblings out of danger instead of leading them into it. He doesn’t listen.

4. I think Neytiri’s attitude toward her own children is fine, and the way Jake disciplines them is fine, too. She acknowledges that he’s very hard on them when they’re alone together but she doesn’t challenge him or divide the family by defying him in front of his children. She is unified with him. She helps him make decisions. She argues with him and adds her two cents, sometimes really violently or angrily, when they’re alone. But when they’re not alone, Jake and Neytiri are a unified front. That provides stability for their kids, and for anyone following their lead or looking to them. If you want to say “Jake is too hard on Lo’ak and Neteyam—if Lo’ak didn’t feel the need to prove himself, he wouldn’t have gone to the boat, and if Neteyam didn’t feel the need to live up to his father’s expectations, he wouldn’t have followed Lo’ak and gotten shot!” well okay, but a kids’ disobedience doesn’t make the parents’ rules wrong. Their reasons for disobeying don’t excuse their disobedience. Jake said “stay here where it’s safe.” Lo’ak said, “I know better than you, I’ll never prove myself that way.” …and I’m over here asking, “prove yourself as what? A capable son? Capable of what? Not of being respectful to authority, which is another phrase for ‘trusting your own father and being humble.’ Capable of what? Not putting others before yourself, because you’ll happily endanger your siblings so you can fulfill some need in yourself.” And with Neteyam, Jake said “stay here where it’s safe and keep your siblings safe.” And Neteyam, for whatever reason, said, “I will keep my siblings safe but I don’t have to make sure they stay here, I can do it my own way.” And he was wrong. Which is why Jake said “stay here.” And so he died.

I’m not on the “blame the parents for the sins of their children” bandwagon. If a kid rebels against an authority that loves them and wants what’s best for them, that’s the kid’s problem. Am I saying parents are perfect? No. But I’m saying, individuals are responsible for their own actions, and there’s a chain of command for a reason.