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Prisoner of War, Ch 13: Escape Artist

Read chapter 13 on Ao3 HERE!

As they walked hand in hand, Spider poured all his energy into studying his surroundings, searching for anything he could use to distract Kiri long enough to run. He spotted a rocky ledge several yards ahead of them and felt an idea forming.

“Do you feel her?” Kiri asked after a few minutes of walking.

“Feel who?” Spider murmured distractedly as he eyed the ledge.

“Eywa?” Kiri prompted with a frown.

“Oh, right!” He mentally kicked himself for slipping up. “Um, no, I don’t feel her yet, but I have a really good feeling about this place. Let’s climb up there to get a better look!”

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So if they're not romantically involved does that mean we're getting some tulkun found family 👀👀👀

The June 2025 Empire UK issue is here and with it another article about Avatar: Fire and Ash. And this one is all about Payakan! Source

Payakan gets a lady friend named Ta'nok in the next movie, but she is not a romantic partner, as the article stresses out. So I guess there goes our ship :(

The article also mentions that Lo'ak will not leave Payakan, so I guess he's gonna stay with the Metkayina, or at least near the ocean in the future. Not really surprised about it, I mean even Tsireya is adapted to the ocean, so it'd make sense for him to stay there anyway.

There's more tulkun characters coming up, including the Matriarch and Patriarch, and there'll be a council meeting and a rite of passage type ceremony (that we may have seen the concept art of before) with the tulkun. I can't wait to learn more about their society!

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How do you think Varang and the Ash People will view humans?

So we know Varang and the Ash People going to be antagonistic to other na'vi, and by extension would probably be antagonistic to the na'vi allied humans like norm and max, but what about the RDA?

Will they admire them and want to form an alliance with the RDA? Or will they look down on humans for their physical weakness and only cooperate with them long enough to get their weaponry and then stab them in the back? I can totally see a scenario where Quaritch tries to play the Ash People into fighting the RDA's war for them with the promise of getting land or weapons or whatever else they want (lite beer and blue jeans maybe), and Varang goes along with it, but she ends up playing him instead.

For humans who are now in na'vi bodies, like Quaritch and Jake, will they view them as unnatural "demons," or will they find them fascinating, since they combine a na'vi's natural strength with human knowledge?

And what about the outlier among humans, Spider? It seems likely that Varang will have an alliance with Quaritch at some point, and folks have speculated their alliance could even blossom into a romance. If Varang is going to work closely with Quaritch, regardless of if its romantic or not, surely Quaritch will make a point to ask her not to hurt Spider. So would she see Spider as a potential weak spot she could use to manipulate Quaritch? Or would she just look at him like, "well, if my new boytoy cares about you, I guess I'll let you live, you weird little blue human."

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Awa'atlu is divided into Before and After

Getting emotional thinking about how Lo'ak, Kiri, and Tuk's memories of Awa'atlu will always be divided into Before and After; divided into when Neteyam was there and when Spider was there.

Arriving in Awa'atlu was supposed to be a brand new start, a beautiful new world to explore and adapt to with their big brother, but it was always made bittersweet by the fact that they didn't know if their best friend was dead or alive. And then, after the battle of Three Brother's Rock, they get the joy of showing their best friend their new home, but the happiness will always be overshadowed by the painful hole their big brother left behind.

They'll reference something funny that happened with Neteyam at the reef to Spider, and when Spider has to ask for context, they'll recall that if Neteyam was there, then Spider wasn't. Years later, they'll reminisce on a happy memory with Spider at the reef, and absently wonder where Neteyam was when it happened, only to suddenly remember that if Spider was there, then Neteyam wasn't.

Neteyam will never get to see Spider earn his Metkayina chest guard and his first tattoo. Spider will never get to see how happy Neteyam was when he rode ilus and chased his friends and siblings through the reef.

Thanks to the RDA, Lo'ak, Kiri, and Tuk never got to experience their new home with their big brother AND their best friend, and Neteyam and Spider never got to experience the reef with each other. The reef is divided into Before and After.

Do you get what I'm saying? The tragedy of having their happy memories split in two?

@dirtytransmasc I know YOU get it

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I feel like the opposite is gonna happen too though

Some people have spent the past 3 years imagining a scenario where Spider gets kicked out of the Sully family, joins the RDA, fights with Lo'ak, and is then killed by Lo'ak or Neytiri and the Sully family celebrates the death of the "traitor." I remember seeing this one tiktok a long time ago captioned "the Sullies when Spider finally dies in Avatar 3" and it was all clips of them smiling.

In my experience with fandom, some fans can get really really attached to a certain idea and then when canon doesn't follow it they get all pissy about it. The most recent example I can think of is The Owl House, which featured two characters, Hunter and Edric, who had never met each other but had similar personalities. Before the last season, people speculated the two characters would meet and become a romantic couple due to their common traits, and while it started off as fun speculation, people quickly got attached to the idea of them becoming partners and even found "evidence" supporting their idea. So when the last season came out, and Hunter fell in love with a different character, a lot of people got pissy about it even though there had been no real evidence suggesting the two would become a pair. Thankfully, it was just a small, loud minority who were upset about it and most fans understood it was just a fun fan speculation that turned out to be wrong.

I have a feeling the same situation is going to happen with Spider. A small but loud minority of people who have been waiting to see Spider die as a villain are going to be sorely disappointed when Avatar 3 comes out and complain about it. Just like I've seen with other fan communities, there's going to be people who say "it ruined the movie" and "the writers only changed it because they didn't want to make his fans mad" and "they're bad writers for writing the story that way." The best thing to do is just ignore it. James Cameron and everyone who worked on the movies know Spider's importance to the narrative, and they're not changing anything just because of people complaining about him.

I'm sure there will also be people who completely switch up, like @dirtytransmasc predicted, but honestly that doesn't bother me so much. It will be nice to see him get more appreciation if other fans do change their tune on him.

calling it now. Spider is gonna "prove himself" in the next film, and the Haters are gonna realize their arguments on hating him are baseless. and half of them are gonna become fans and repeat what we've been saying for years like they're Einstein s d I'm already ready to crash out over it.

been seeing theories posted places that have been said for years that are just straight up common sense by people who previously despised him before the trailer leaks came out.

the next couple years are gonna be rough for us true Spider fans

[cyren-myadd]

Excerpt from "Nature Morte" by Joseph Brodsky

My literal translation!

[cyren-myadd]

hi I'm so so sorry but are you gonna make another part of spider getting adopted by the navi? The Jake mecaller race traitor thing? Oh it was called Prisoner of War

Yes, I just posted it! Chapter 12 is up on Ao3, and you can read it HERE

[cyren-myadd]

Prisoner of War, Ch 12: The Cold Hard Truth

Read chapter 12 on Ao3 HERE!

“You are lying!” Spider repeated furiously.

“I’m not,” Sully said. “You’re a smart kid. Think about it; you’ll realize I’m not.”

Spider’s chest heaved with every breath and he scrambled for a logical argument to disprove Sully’s lies. When he couldn’t come up with anything, he settled for yelling, “my dad didn’t do stuff like that! You’re just trying to justify murdering him!”

Sully sighed heavily. “See? I told you you weren’t going to like what I had to say.”

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I'm so excited to learn more about tulkun society! I bet they're going to continue the theme of nonviolence versus justified violence. I imagine the tulkun leaders condemning Payakan and Ta'nok for fighting and killing the Sky People, but then they'll see the new ship slaughter tulkun and they'll realize that sometimes violence is the only option and join the fight! It would fit nicely with Jake's arc in the last movie of trying to avoid conflict only for Neteyam to die anyway.

This month's Empire Magazine Avatar 3 special is all about Payakan and tulkun.

His upgrade means new allies – yes, he’s still “forever bonded” with Lo’ak, but there’s fresh tulkun back-up too. Payakan now has a female tulkun friend, Ta’nok, “another outcast,” according to Baneham. “There’s a really great dynamic between them.” Plus there’ll be more insights into tulkun societal structures, with the introduction of clan leaders Matriarch and Patriarch. “Matriarch is a very interesting character,” says Baneham. “She’s in full regalia. We’re using rings and tattoos as a way to suggest [history] beyond what we’re seeing.” Get ready: Payakan – and friends – will make an even bigger splash this time around.

I suspected this month's Empire Magazine Avatar 3 special will be about tulkun but I didn't expect all this information about new tulkun characters. The teased it was related to the cover picture (of Jaws 🤣)

I knew Payakan will be in the next film - with his prominence in last film, Cameron love of cetaceans and his connection to Lo'ak he's not going away anytime soon.

I assumed there will be more tulkun since working title of one of the sequels was Tulkun Rider and then we got this concept art it made sense we are getting more tulkun lore.

But I didn't expect Cameron going all in on making sure we all remember tulkun are people too with their own socla structure and beliefs. And that Payakan will be getting a love interest.

I wonder if Matriarch and Patiriarch will have to deal with the tulkun hunting by RDA and how their policy of non-violence means extinction because humans won't stop unless stopped.

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Payakan's getting a lady friend in Avatar 3 👀👀👀

Payakan now has a female tulkun friend, Ta’nok, “another outcast,” according to Baneham. “There’s a really great dynamic between them.” SOURCE

Another Tulkun character! I can't wait to meet her and learn how she became an outcast! I'm also a bit scared at them introducing a new character in this already huge cast when we know Avatar isn't afraid to kill off characters... especially when this movie will also feature a ship designed to hunt, dismember, and process Tulkuns on an industrial scale 😬 Payakan and Ta'nok better watch each other's backs!

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The bitter “Spider will die in the third movie😜” bitches are boutta be so pissed by this new era and I’m living for it.

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So it looks like the people at the CinemaCon saw the beginning of Avatar: Fire and Ash. Including the new title look of fire and ash:

It looks like they saw a lot of the film opening and that a lot of the concept art (and some screenshots from filming) we saw so far is just from this part (there is nothing about Jake being taken prisoner by RDA and Factory Ship).

It starts with all the kids hanging out - both Metkayina and the Sullys and Spider - and watching Windtraders come in while Jake and Neytiri are flying to meet them.

The descriptions of all the kids hangin out togethers seem so cute. And we had picures of Tsireya and Spider and Spider on the back of Payakan.

And then the Ash Na'vi attack.

It seems like some of the fight with Ash Na'vi attacking the Windtraders will happen in the floating mountains or some similar place so there might be more than one of those as I don' think anywhere near Awa'atlu has a bit of this terrain but not in the amounts and size like shown below. So this might be later - maybe after escaping Mangkwan and Ash Na'vi are chasing them here as that chase is supposed to happen in the forest.

The Ash Na'vi kill people and destroy some of the Windtraders ships. And it seems like they kidnap the kids so Jake and Neytiri go to Ash Na'vi land to save them. Since Jake seems to travel to Ash Na'vi village that's probably means the script about the batle there are also correct.

That's when Neytiri fights with Varang and gets injured. The wound is mentioned in the leaked script and Collectors Edition of ATWOW had this concept art with a healed shoulder with stiches still visible.

It looks like either, or most likely both, Neytiri and Lo'ak will channel their grief into hate of humans and wanting to fight them at all cost. It's understendable but it also dangerous. Jake seems to be worried about the cost of that hate and the danger they put themselves in. It makes sense in both cases. Jake at tthe end of A2 understands Lo'ak more and he probably understands why he would want revenge but it's not worth losing another child. Lo'ak doesn't have the experience to think of consequences.

Neytiri has lost so much that it's almost impossible not to go on a warpath. She tried to leave the fight and let go and skypeople hat had followed her and took her child. How could she not want to burn them all of her world. So it seems like such a great foil to make her main antagonist be another Na'vi. The enemy that challenges her view of this conflict. She firmly rejects Spider no matter what so maybe him proving anything about humans or even himself is not the way for her to question her stance. Maybe it's having Na'vi be antithesis to everything she stands for. Some of the descriptions have Varang say “Your goddess has no dominion here” to Neytrir not Kiri after all.

I'm so excited for more Neytiri in A3 and I can't wait to see what her arc is going to be like. This beginning sounds awesome already.

Bu I also like the option of Varang saying that to Kiri because I need to see Kiri's arc too. I'm just not sure Varang is going to know anything about her powers that early on. I don't think anyone really does, not even her, even after she saves Spider but the leaks made her journey of self discovery look super exciting.

We basically get confirmation that Spider will need to be saved. It looks like they will be escaping the Ash Na'vi in the forest and his mask will get damaged, he loses consciousness and falls of a cliff (sounds terrifying but at least we know Jake gives him a hug). And then leaks shows Kiri gives him ability to breathe without it.

It looks like Jake is there with the kids so this also confirms the leaks which in turn means that Quaritch is also there. Maybe he wasn't helping them escape. Maybe he was chasing them. And then Spider gets hurt.

Because now it's very clear Quaritch will ally himself with Ash Na'vi. He is wearing their paint but also his tactical gear and it looks very menacing. So all of this is for sure happening and Quaritch is all in on the fighting with Mangkwan not against them.

Although, it isn't all like that from the beginning so maybe that's later and first he gets imprisoned and the Varang tries to get into his head and all the other stuff comes later. The photo right above certainly seem like it came from the later part of the film (it might Jake as prisoner on board of Factory Ship).

He doesn't look like he has the paint on here yet when the kids are taken prisoner but then some versions of concept art of the attack have Quaritch there so who knows. Maybe he is alrady with them. Maybe it's a different attack and they teaming up for the Factory Ship attack.

Tonowari is daunted by the prospect of fighting aliens and I suppose this will be how a lot of Na'vi will think (comics showed that too). And it's even worse with humans and Ash Na'vi making an alliance but they cannot avoid this. One thing we know that's probably from the end of the film is that the Factory Ship fleet is coming and the battle cannot be avoided.

The sources with the details under the cut

This is io9 description of the trailer

Cameron wasn’t there in person, but he put the presentation in the capable hands of Neytiri herself, Zoe Saldaña. The footage began with the water tribe, the Metkayina, as characters swim through some kind of wreckage (maybe from the end of the last movie?), followed by scenes of the kids like Lo’ak, Kiri, Tsireya hanging about.

“The strength of your ancestors is here,” Tsireya says to Lo’ak as she touches his chest.

The Wind Traders show up, and all of the Metkayina are excited. It’s friendly. People are cheering, and some of the younger characters like Kiri and even Spider are riding with them. Cameron films these scenes with a real love for these people. These are basically flying pirate ships with sails made up of almost translucent material. Members of the tribe bark out orders around the ship like you’d see in an old pirate movie but the ships just keep gliding along. This is peaceful. This is beautiful. This is nice.

The ships slowly float through the mountains with some other Na’vi, like Neytiri, riding alongside on her Ikran. Spider playfully dangles his foot off the side. Again, everything is quiet and calm. But not for long. Neytiri spots something watching them from the sky and screams for Jake. It’s the Ash tribe and they have a much more menacing presence than the Na’vi people we know, thanks in large part to the bright red war paint they wear and the sparks coming off the back of their Ikrans.

The Ash tribe swoops down and attacks our heroes in a massive midair battle. Jake fires his gun. Neytiri fires her bow and arrow. But the Ash tribe shoots arrows with fire, which start to burn down the Wind tribe’s ships.

We see Jake seemingly trekking across Pandora by himself, walking by massive volcanoes and eventually arriving at what looks like the gate of the Ash tribe with his hands in the air, giving himself up. He and Neytiri are having problems with Lo’ak and tell him, “You can’t live in hate!” They hug him.

Tonowari, leader of the water tribe, says that they can’t defeat enemies that come from the stars. We then see the Ash tribe seemingly teaming up with Quaritch and the rest of the human army.

Neytiri is in the hospital and screams for her children. A raid is happening. There’s a quick shot of the eye of a Tulkun. Things end with a massive battle that’s happening on what looks like floating rocks. They seem to be in the middle of some kind of floating wreckage from a battle that’s still happening. Neytiri and the leader of the Ash tribe, who we’ve seen throughout the trailer, are fighting but Neytiri’s snarls come up against her flame thrower type weapon. “Your goddess has no dominion here,” the Ash woman says, confirming they don’t believe in Ewa. And that’s the end.

So you have the serenity of the Wind tribe, the kinetic energy of the Ash tribe and in the middle, the water people, which now includes the Sully family. We have a feeling not everyone is going to make it out alive.

Here is the Discussing Film one:

Exclusive Footage Description: CinemaCon 2025 showed audiences the first ever footage from Avatar: Fire and Ash in the form of a sizzle reel. The first footage we see is the water tribe floating on a strange jellyfish-like ship. The detail is out of this world, with the high frame rate photography looking genuinely cinema-redefying. The next scene involves an aerial attack on Jake, Neytiri, and their clan by the Ash people, who have red paint on their mouths to indicate their tribe. We then transition to more of a traditional trailer.

The Ash People are a vicious tribe, pushing the Water Tribe out of their home. One of the biggest threads is a rage growing in Neytiri, which Jake calls out in a harrowing moment. Jake hugs Spider. There’s a tense confrontation between Neytiri and the leader of the Ash Tribe. Similarly, the leader of the Ash Tribe tells Kiri that “her God has no dominion here”. Spider at one point has his mask smashed. The last thing we see is hints of a massive action sequence in the sky, with platforms surging up to towards the top of the sky. The footage is completely unreal stuff, delivering on more than expected.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Here's confirmation about Quaritch's new look and alliance with Asn Na'vi:

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AVATAR 3 TEASER RELEASED AT CINEMACON!!!

ITS AN EXCLUSIVE EVENT SO THE TEASER WON'T BE RELEASED PUBLICLY UNTIL MAY, BUT SOME OF THE FOLKS INVITED TO THE EVENT SHARED WHAT THEY SAW ONLINE AND HERE'S WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY...

🚨🚨🚨SPOILER WARNING BELOW THE CUT!!!🚨🚨🚨

I am so fucking excited right now, it sounds like everything I was hoping to get out of Avatar 3 and more!

-"We can't live like this, baby, we can't live with this hate," looks like the speculation about Neytiri having a character arc dealing with her anger towards sky people was right! Give this girl the character development she deserves 👏👏👏

-"there's a tense confrontation between Neytiri and the leader of the Ash People," yes please lets take a break from Jake and Quaritch constantly beefing and get a new arch nemesis! I bet Varang will be a narrative foil to Neytiri just how Quaritch is to Jake.

-We already knew the action and worldbuilding was gonna be jaw-dropping, but I'm just dying to see the windtrader ships, the aerial battles with the Ash Na'vi, and whatever happens in the final battle! I absolutely loved the water-based action in A2, but I'm dying to see more aerial stunts!! Hopefully something as grand as the battle of A1!!

-"Your goddess has no dominion here" kiri baby get behind me 😭 if the ash people are against eywa I'm scared they may target Kiri!

-Quaritch in Ash People paint!! Hell yeah 🔥🔥🔥 character development timeeeee

-"Jake hugs Spider" 🥹🥹🥹 please give that boy what he deserves Jake... though I'm a little concerned that it's mentioned right after the description of Jake confronting Neytiri over her anger. It makes me think the speculation about Jake wanting to take in Spider and Neytiri wanting to get rid of him are true, and part of the confrontation is because of Neytiri taking her anger out on Spider.

-And last but not least, the thing I'm most hyped about... "Spider is shown passing out with his helmet falling. He falls down a cliff."

ITS HAPPENINGGGGG THE LEAKS WERE TRUE! Spider's mask will break and Kiri will give him the ability to breathe (and possibly a kuru, but that one's still very much up in the air) Never thought I would be so hyped to hear about my favorite character falling off a cliff lmao, but that scene lines up perfectly with the leaks!

I'M SHAKING LIKE ONE OF THOSE LITTLE RAT DOGS IM SO EXCITED PLEASE KNOCK ME OUT UNTIL THE TEASER RELEASES I WANT TO SEE IT SO BADDDDD

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omg I'm DYING human Quaritch literally looks exactly like Nigel 😂

He even coerces a "monkey" into helping him

And there's a beautiful, intelligent redhead as well as a goofy nerd who try to assist the protagonists

It's the same movie

all of you making Avatar-Rio comparisons are wrong.

THIS IS NOT QUARITCH. Eytukan is Eduardo!!!! the father of the girl and leader of the tribe who is harsh and hostile towards the protagonist at first because of his human ways, but eventually warms up to him and accepts him.

Neytiri and Jake of course are Jewel and Blu. the beautiful girl from the rainforest who is very fierce and rooted in the ways of her people and who dislikes and mistrusts humans because they destroyed her home + the boy who was raised with human ways but eventually learns, thanks to the girl, how to follow her traditions (while still maintaining a lot of human traits) and whose human skills actually end up being helpful to fight and drive away the human invaders who are trying to destroy the forest for their own selfish economic gain

Tsu'tey is Roberto (childhood friend of the girl who seems like a possible love interest, but ultimately isn’t, he’s her father’s favorite and the better warrior who knows the ways of the clan/tribe, he’s at odds with the protagonist at first but ends up trusting him and fighting at his side)

the kids obviously (rip Neteyam i guess Rio predicted your death)

and this is Quaritch. it’s Nigel. the villain who is extremely skilled, proficient and cruel, who was believed dead at the end of the first movie, but returned to get his revenge (with a new gang) and followed the family into the jungle

yeah he doesn’t have white hair anymore. but it’s still him. look at the evil smile. same person

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Spider will be looking like this while the Sully siblings don't look a day over 30 😂

Hey so if spider makes it through everything and all that what’s the plan

Like are we just gonna have an elderly man one day chillin with his still-young little siblings on the beach until one of them smacks him for a snide ass comment and breaks him in half?

[cyren-myadd]

Me praying Neytiri gets more screentime in Avatar 3