Can a Quaritch redemption arc actually be pulled off? (Spoilers for Avatar 3)
In Avatar 3 it is made very clear that Quaritch is going to get a 'redemption arc'. And while I find the idea intresting. And if pulled off well, it could definately become the highlight off all the movies but I have some scepticisims.
The good part is that the two characters who are the main supporters of this change, Jake and Spider. Have believable reasons for wanting Quaritch to be redeemed.
Jake sees himself in Quaritch. And Quaritch is Spider's dad. Even if he is only a clone of the original Quaritch. He is the only parental figure the boy has expressed that he wants him (with out almost killing him before hand.) Yea, their dynamic is very abusive and toxic. There is also some affection thrown in. It doesn't make it better. But it does explain things.
There is groundwork for this. It isn't impossible. But they're approaching it from the direction that Recom Miles Quaritch. The blue and much taller clone of the antagonist from the first movie. Are not the same person.
They lay the groundwork for this in the second movie. Where Quaritch and Spider first talked within the RDA base. After Quaritch stopped Admore from nearly interrogating Spider to death, by telling her that he could work it from a 'personal angle'.
"Colonel Miles Quaritch. Deceased. Killed in action. I’m not that man, son. But I do have his memories -- enough to know he wasn’t always the best father. That’s not an apology. I’m not your father. Technically, you and I are nothing to each other. But I can help you."
And in Fire and Ash. Both Spider and Jake both echo this sentiment back to him. And while I do see the point in this. Neither of them are addressing the things Recom has done ever since he has woken up as his current self.
The villages destroyed, The kidnappings, the threats, the attempted murders, the people he did kill, the homes, and villages destroyed.
I think this could work. But not with the way they are currently going at it. But I have some hope.
Redemption has been a part of the Avatar franchise since the very beginning. Jake, Grace, Max, Norm, all the scientists who sided with the Omatikaya at the end of the first movie started out at best passive to to horrors they were complicit to. And at worst actively contributing to it. Or in Jake's case provided information that made RDA's operation much easier.
