And Goddamn It I Want Neytiri To Be Heard And Go On The Path Of Healing - Blog Posts

I've been thinking it might be Jake who brings up the idea of adopting Spider, but Neytiri flat-out refuses. The whole adoption debacle becomes a major source of conflict between them, on top of the fact that Quaritch is still alive and Spider is now breathing Pandora’s air (if the leaked scripts are correct). Neytiri would see this as a danger to her family, because humans would inevitably come after Spider to unlock the secret behind how he's surviving the toxic atmosphere. That would put her children, and especially Kiri, at risk if it's confirmed she's the reason behind it.

Jake, being Jake, would want to protect Spider. But Neytiri would begin to feel resentful and unheard by her own mate, possibly even going so far as to take matters into her own hands, only for Kiri to stop her. That confrontation would spark a huge family argument that ends with Neytiri having had enough of Jake constantly choosing Spider over her. She either leaves to lead the Ash Na’vi after Varang's defeat or distances herself from Jake and the family until he comes to his senses.

This is all just my personal theory, but honestly, I think it would be better for everyone if Jake didn’t go through with the adoption, or if he does, Spider refuses without even flinching. Jake’s never truly cared before, so why now? Things are way too tense. Neytiri is grieving, traumatized, and not in the right headspace to be asked to accept or care for a child she's hated for most of his life. From her perspective, it would feel like a slap in the face, like Jake is trying to replace Neteyam.

She might even feel betrayed by Kiri for giving Spider the ability to breathe Pandora’s air, especially if she believes Kiri acted without understanding the danger. Grief has a way of tearing open old wounds and making people lash out at those they love the most. Whatever happens, it’s going to get ugly before it gets better. And Jake might face real backlash, both in-universe and from fans of Neytiri, for not respecting Neytiri’s boundaries. I can already smell the “Divorce AU” fanfics now, with Neytiri breaking the mating bond (if that’s even possible) and ending up with some OC beefy Recom or Na’vi warrior. I jest, of course, but you never know.

Personally, I want Spider to grow beyond the Sullys and refuse Jake’s offer to adopt him, not because he’s bitter, but because he finally realizes his worth isn’t defined by whether the Sullys accept him. I want Neytiri to finally have some peace in her life without constantly being forced to swallow her pain for Jake's comfort, and maybe even receive some healing of the mind.

What do you think will happen to Neytiri and Kiri's relationship in Avatar 3?

Zoe Saldana has repeatedly alluded to Neytiri and Jake having some kind of conflict in Avatar 3, and the stuff we heard about in the cinemacon teaser gave us further details. Attendees described a scene of Jake telling Neytiri "we can't live like this, we can't live in hate." From the dialogue and Saldana's hints, it sounds like their conflict will center on Neytiri becoming more and more consumed by anger and vengeance due to her grief over Neteyam while Jake tries to talk her down.

I also believe Spider is going to be a huge point of contention between Neytiri and Jake. In Avatar 2 Neytiri threatened to kill Spider to avenge Neteyam (it wasn't just to save Kiri, it was also partially motivated by revenge, remember she said "a son for a son" not "your son for my daughter") but later Jake embraced Spider while his internal monologue also said "a son for a son," implying that he wants to "take Spider under his wing" as the late Jon landau described their relationship. Clearly, Jake and Neytiri have very incompatible views on how to handle Spider that will only get worse whenever they learn about him saving Quaritch. Plus, there is also a scene from the leaked script where Neytiri and Jake are arguing and Neytiri says "if it's so dangerous, we should just kill him" and Jake freaks out. It's unclear because only a fragment of the script was visible, but it seems very likely they were talking about Spider since the previous page had the infamous leak about Spider, and I can't think of any other characters who would make Neytiri and Jake react so differently.

With all this in mind, how do you think this is going to effect Neytiri's relationship with Kiri? Out of all her kids, Kiri is the most humanoid. If what the old script said was true about Neytiri harboring some "secret shame" about having mixed kids, Kiri would probably be heavily effected by that. Plus, Kiri is the closest with Spider. If Neytiri continues to take out her anger and grief on Spider, Kiri isn't going to be very happy about it.

Me personally, I think Jake and Neytiri are going to try to keep their disagreements, especially ones about Spider, private from the kids to avoid upsetting them, but eventually, Neytiri is going to lash out at Spider for something and it's going to damage her relationship with Kiri. Just like what I predict with Neytiri and Jake, Neytiri and Kiri will go through a rough patch, but ultimately I think James Cameron will give them a happy ending and they'll make up, and since Jake and Kiri seem adamant on keeping Spider around, making up is going to involve Neytiri and Spider reaching some kind of peace with each other.

But that's just my guess, I want to hear what other fans think 🤔