Can we talk about how much of a hero Spider is?
At 16 years old this boy is kidnapped. Taken by people he is taught are the incarnation of evil. And Spide agrees, they are evil and he hates them, and more importantly he loves the Sully's and the Omatikaya clan and all of Pandora. He loves Eywa herself, he worships her.
He knows that anything the RDA has in store for any of them is not good, especially not with the four of them being Jake's children. So he gets them all in front of him. He makes himself a target. If they were to capture anyone it would be him. And it works far to well.
He gets taken, captured by Quaritch and his fellow soldiers and taken back to their base. He quickly makes peace with what this means for him. He'll die before he tell the RDA a damn thing about the clan and their home. He'll be killed brutally before he becomes the reasons hundreds will die.
He knows there will be no rescue team sent out. He knows there is no holding out for hope, that he will not see the outside of this base ever again. He may taunt Quaritch every now and then, but he knows the truth. Jake won't plan a rescue for him, there is no getting out of this. He'll die before he gives them up.
His plan is chugging along. He's being tortured and it's the worst thing he's ever imagined. He has never been in so much pain. It is melting his brain very slowly according to the general. It speaks up every time he fights against the machine, so he fights harder. The sooner he dies with a melted brain the better. No one will ever have the satisfaction or sorrow of saying he betrayed the Na'vi, that he betrayed Pandora.
He plans to die in that room, at only 16. He plans to die protecting his friends, and a clan that has never, and will never accept him. Protecting people who will only ever see him as Quaritch's son. He'll die loyal, but at only 16.
Then he lives. And he is on a boat in the ocean, and he is watching there horrible things happen. He is watching Tulkun be killed and he prays for them. He is dragged village to village and forced to translate for Quaritch and his men. He begs them to spare people.
He begs, with tears in his eyes that Quaritch not kill all these innocent people. He begs, freshly tortured, still a captive, and only 16, that Quaritch spare them all. At only 16 he convinced a monster to spare hundreds of Na'vi he otherwise would have killed on any other day.
He at 16 tells the Tsahik he is sorry. He sobs as Quaritch burns their homes and shoots their animal. He watches in horror as he tries to tell the Tsahik how sorry he is as the RDA destroyed the homes of hundreds. Yet no blood was shed. No Na'vi died that day. At 16 he asked they be spared and they were, with Quaritch's clear disappointment. At 16 he saved hundreds.
At 16 he allows Neytiri to hold a knife to his throat so they can save Kiri. He knows Neyteme is dead, he knows she might actually kill him. But Quaritch is no a man who is merciful, and he has a knife to Kiri's throat. He loves kiri with all that he us, and Neytiri cutting him for her safety is an easy trade off in the moment.
Less than a year later, still 16, Spider kills a full grown Na'vi, and spends time on a burning ship protecting Tuk and Kiri. His spare mask is inaccessible. He'll die without it, he should be conserving his energy and oxygen, but there is no time for that. They are in danger, and that is the threat at the moment.
That is his priority, keeping them safe and alive. His mask is gone, they don't have a third. If it melted in those flames he is going to die. But that doesn't matter, the Sully's will be alive.
Still at 16 he gets Kiri safely out of the woods even when he himself is captured. He knows that once again no one will be coming for him. He sees Jake and know his plan to once again die before selling anyone out has now changed. Someone will come for Jake, all he has to do is make sure the rescue plan succeeds and he hitches a ride.
So he does. He breaks out of his cell, he steals clothes from who knows where, blends into the crowds and finds a way to Jake. He jumps in front of a gun to save Jake's life. He knows they're been ordered not to shoot him. He hopes this soldier doesn't receive different orders soon.
It works, they don't get shot and he hitches a ride with Neytir and Jake to leave this place. At 16 years old, and a captive himself, he saved Jake's life and got al 3 of them out safely.
Then, still 16, he convinces Quaritch on several occasions to spare the lives of the Sully's, his enemies, just because Spider asked. He traded himself, and his subsequent captivity for the Sully's once again. He knew no one would come for him, he'd been proven it twice over. He'd stay and find a way out himself again.
He is a hero, and he always will be. I just feel not enough people discuss this.
