*WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Avatar: The Way Of Water*
While it may have been 13 years since the release of 2009’s Avatar, fans of the film still think fondly of main characters Jake Sully and Neytiri.
As a result, when some of the trailers for the sequel teased that a member of the Sully clan might die when his adopted daughter Kiri spoke of hearing a woman’s heartbeat, it caused quite a stir with some believing that Zoe Saldana’s Neytiri could die.
But what happens to the characters in Avatar 2 and who among them dies in The Way Of Water?
Avatar: The Way Of Water release date and plot preview
Avatar: The Way Of Water splashed onto cinema screens on December 16, 2022.
Set more than a decade after the first film, The Way Of Water begins in a time of relative peace with Jake Sully and Neytiri raising a family that includes their sons Neteyam and Lo’ak, their daughter Tuk, and adopted daughter Kiri.
But their life on Pandora is thrown into chaos when humanity returns to colonize the planet, led by a resurrected Colonel Quaritch whose memories have been imbued into an Avatar body.
Seeking to keep their family safe, Jake and Neytiri seek shelter with the water-dwelling tribe known as the Metkayina.
Who dies in Avatar 2: The Way Of Water?
The only major character to die in Avatar: The Way Of Water is Neteyam, the eldest son of Jake and Neytiri.
His death comes in the latter stages of the film after Quaritch had taken Lo’ak, Tuk and a Metkayina girl named Tsireya prisoner.
With two of his children taken hostage, Jake is left with no choice but to surrender to Quaritch but the whale-like tulkun, Payakan, attacks the human vessel, triggering a fight onboard and causing the ship to start sinking with the Na’vi hostages still trapped.
Jake orders Neteyam to stay out of harm’s way but he follows his father anyway and helps to free his siblings and Tsireya.
However, while making their escape, Neteyam is shot and dies in tear-jerking fashion shortly afterwards with his family present.
A close call for Quaritch
Avatar 2 almost features a second major character death in the form of Colonel Quaritch.
In the film’s final confrontation, Jake faces off with the villainous Quaritch and strangles him into unconsciousness before leaving him aboard the sinking ship.
Quaritch would have perished if not for his own son, Spider – the human who had been living with Jake and Neytiri, who pulled him to safety.
However, while he may have saved his father, Spider renounced Quaritch after seeing his cruelty first-hand, leading him to reunite with the Na’vi by the end of the film.
Avatar: The Way Of Water is out now in cinemas after releasing on December 16, 2022.
