hi guys i'm back on my avatar shit
idc what anyone says spider absolutely needed to gain a kuru and be accepted by the ancestors
"no no no!" they say "spider's a human and hasn't done anything to earn acceptance from ronal, tsu'tey, or any of the na'vi ancestors!"
spider is important to the growth of the na'vi characters and our perception as an audience in the exact same way that the mangkwan are. here me out.
avatar '09 and avatar twow both follow this good guy vs bad guy story telling tactic.
from 2009 to 2022 we knew the navi were good and the humans (with the exception of norm and other navi-loyal scientists) are bad. spider does challenge that narrative in twow by being the son of like the worst person ever quaritch. however it isn't enough to fully change our perspective.
the mangkwan change that. they become the yang to spiders yin. spider is an active representation that humans can be good despite their origins, and the mangkwan show that the na'vi aren't all inherently good and peaceful. neither party is fully good or fully bad. they both serve to add complexity to the avatar world and break out of the us vs them framework.
you might also argue that avatar became too spider centric and we're losing out on jake's plot.
i'm going to bring in another jack champion film franchise to help me make my point. this being scream.
scream 7 failed partly because sidney's story just won't end. sometimes it's just time to pass the torch. screams 5 and 6 (jack champions scream if you're interested) worked because the torch was temporarily passed to melissa barrera's character sam carpenter. but because the producers are stupid and fired her sidney came back. but franchises fail when they lose sight of what made them good and honestly sidney's arc is done.
how does this relate to avatar? great question.
the first 2 films of the avatar franchise are jake sully centric. granted, there is also a decade+ gap between the first and second installments. it makes sense that by the third movie some of the focus would be shifted. namely onto lo'ak and the other kids.
lo'ak and spider are mirrors of their fathers, albeit indirectly. lest we forget that jake and quaritch had a relatively positive relationship up until jake betrayed his cause in favor of the na'vi people.
lo'ak is a mirror of his father; reckless, adventurous, and defiant. spider is an example of everything quaritch could've been. and the pasts of their fathers were bound to impact them eventually. the story is simply evolving with the cast as it gets larger. the next film could be neytiri and kiri centric idk.
i'm losing my point here but i love spider socorro and you will never convince me otherwise