Fire and Ash’ has once again confirmed who the true hero of the saga is and it is neither Sully nor his family

the saga ‘Avatar’ is, without a doubt, one of the most important works of James Camerona monumental science fiction epic into which the filmmaker has poured decades of ideas, obsessions, and narrative ambitions. With an immense mythology and several narrative threadsthis saga has always been more than the story of a single hero and ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ is the film where this statement becomes something impossible to ignore.

Set after the events of ‘The Sense of Water’, the story shows the Sully family again in a critical situation. This time they are pursued by both the RDA – which continues to ravage Pandora – and a radical group of Na’vi determined to destroy faith in Eywa. The result is the most narrative-laden installment of the entire saga: a dazzling religious, political and family epic that also dares to explore more uncomfortable terrain.

Be careful, from here on there will be spoilers for ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

A giant bug with a lot of heart

‘Fire and Ashes’ makes it clear that James Cameron’s saga It no longer just revolves around Jake Sully. Although he remains the visible face of the franchise, the focus shifts to a new generation that seems destined to lead the future of Pandora. Lo’ak assumes the role of narrator, while Spider and Kiri establish themselves as almost mystical figures, loaded with symbolism. Cameron thus broadens the horizon of the saga and emphasizes that this It is a choral story, designed to go beyond of its original protagonist.

In this shift of protagonism emerges with unexpected strength Payakanthe tulkun who already stole our hearts in ‘The Sense of Water’. If in the second film he was a symbol of empathy and tragedy, in ‘Fire and Ashes’ his narrative arc is one of the most powerful. Punished and exiled for defying the laws of his species after aiding the Metkayina against the GDR, Payakan becomes the film’s true hero, a leader who dares to question sacred traditions when they relegate his people to extinction.

Through Payakan, Cameron introduces the boldest idea of ​​the entire saga: pacifism is not enough in the face of annihilation. ‘Fire and Ashes’ is the most violent film in the saga, and also the most explicit in its call for armed resistance against imperialism. Here, The Na’vi struggle is not presented as an outbreak of hatredbut as a legitimate and necessary response. The film does not ask for understanding for the colonizer or apologize for the war, but rather presents it to us as an inevitable last resort when all other options have been of no use.

The apparent repetition of elements seen in ‘The Sense of Water’ is not a mistake, but a deliberate decision. Cameron revives certain themes and conflicts to show the dangers of clinging to cycles and traditions when the enemy does not respect them. ‘Fire and ashes’ talks about an older generation that realizes this too late and a young generation that dares to change the rules to survive. In the end, although Jake Sully remains the face of ‘Avatar’, Pandora’s true hero is Payakan, the tulkun who dared to lead when no one else wanted to.

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