WARNING: SPOILERS - IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH
The subject of this post is the relationship between Jake and Lo’ak in Avatar Fire and Ash. We need to try to understand both sides while watching this movie. Otherwise, there's no point in watching it.
This is a long text, by the way...
I often come across comments that harshly criticize Jake as a father. I get the impression that most people see only Lo’ak’s suffering and either didn’t watch the film carefully or simply didn’t want to notice everything. I’m a Jake fan, he’s my favorite character in the entire Avatar universe, but I also like the other members of the Sully family, so I’ll say it plainly and focus on what is actually shown in the film between father and son.
Even in the new Avatar Fire and Ash visual dictionary, it’s mentioned that Jake loves Lo’ak deeply, even though their relationship is difficult at the beginning, because the son is a strong reflection of the father. So the fact that Jake loves Lo’ak is obvious and there’s no room for doubt here.
Both of them are struggling with grief after Neteyam’s death. Both blame themselves for his death, and this is stated clearly in the film – Lo’ak says it outright, while Jake admits it during a conversation with Neytiri, carrying a sense of guilt for his decisions.
Jake is not a bad father, as many people claim. They notice only the way he speaks harshly to his son, but seem unwilling to see the good moments. Jake chose the Na’vi side – he is not only a father but also a leader, he is Toruk Makto, which is why other Na’vi respect him. For 15 years, while raising his children, there was peace, but when the humans returned to Pandora, the war began. He lost his firstborn son because the Sky People wanted to capture him. As a father, he tried to protect his children, but they kept getting into trouble, mostly because of Lo’ak. And this brings us to the first issue: the mutual resentment between them – Jake toward Lo’ak, and Lo’ak toward Jake.
Jake resents his son for constantly getting into trouble through disobedience and breaking orders, which Lo’ak clearly does. There is no doubt that Lo’ak does not fully take the current situation seriously. He acts from the heart, doing what he wants and what he believes is right, but in doing so he also puts himself and others in danger (this is probably what Jake looked like in his youth). To be clear, Lo’ak is not responsible for his brother’s death. He did the right thing by trying to save Spider, but he is also disobedient and impulsive in his actions. We know from the beginning of the film that Jake was not pleased that the children ended up on the ship at all. It’s clear that Jake will remain irritated by Lo'ak’s disobedience for a long time and we can see this in first confrontations with son.
Lo’ak wants to be like his father, he wants to fight at his side, and this is his deep desire. It was already visible in the previous film, but now we are shown this directly.
In this scene, when Jake returns from escorting the caravan and Lo’ak comes back from his solo flight, he tells Jake about his idea to fly together with gun, because he knows what he’s doing. Jake, however, reproaches son for not wearing comms, which means there is no communication with him, and in a nervous manner reminds his son that comms is rule number one. Grieving Jake is tense, irritated and full of anger, which affects his relationship with son.
After this conversation, he quickly realizes that he went too far, but objectively speaking, he was right. If Lo’ak wants to fly alongside his father, he must follow safety rules, such as staying in constant communication with others by wearing his comms – the consequences of neglecting this rule will soon follow.
When I watched that scene, I felt like I was watching a real recording of a conversation between a father and son, forgetting that it was special effects. It’s so real!
During the Ash clan’s attack on the Windtraders, Jake gives Lo’ak the order to protect his sisters. Lo’ak answers “yes, sir”, but despite this he does not carry out the task. He takes his father’s gun and takes to the air to shoot at the aerial pirates. When he tries to shoot, he realizes that it is not as easy during the flight as he thought and struggles to stay on his ikran. An Ash warrior shoots at his ikran, and his reckless flight ends quickly. When he loses his ikran, it becomes clear that he is not ready yet, and as long as he does not follow Jake’s orders during battle, he is putting himself in serious danger, and there are consequences. Lo’ak quickly receives a painful lesson from fate: through disobedience you lost your ikran and next time, it could be you who dies.
As we know, Lo’ak did not wearing his comms during the Ash clan’s attack. He remembered this rule too late, because the comms was burned. When they landed in the forest, Jake desperately tried to call his wife and son, but neither answered him. If Lo’ak had put on the comms earlier, Jake would have found them faster, and they might have avoided encountering the Ash clan.
Now Lo’ak. He has grievances against his father that Jake doesn’t listen to him, doesn’t see what he sees, didn’t stand up for him when it came to Payakan’s fate, and of course for blaming him over not following orders. Is Lo’ak right here? Yes, partly. Jake, consumed by grief, doesn’t truly see his son. He believes he cannot trust him, even if he wanted to (he ordered son to protect sisters). He looks at Lo’ak through the lens of an ongoing war. At the end of Avatar 2 he acknowledged his son, but now the war continues and Jake fears an RDA invasion.
Jake reproaches Lo’ak for his disobedience a second time and said: "When you disobeyed orders people get killed".
After a brief discussion with son, he adds: "He's a loose cannon [Payakan]. He's just like you. In fact, if you hadn't gone to him in the first place, if you hadn't disobeyed orders, then your brother would still be…"
Was Jake right here? Yes and no. He was wrong to say that Lo’ak is responsible for Neteyam’s death, but he was right that Lo’ak does not follow orders.
We know Jake's behavior – it is not in his nature to say unnecessary words, even if he is sad or mad. Before he says something, he thinks it through. In this scene, his irritation with Lo'ak's behavior spilled out, and spoke in a way that was contrary to his nature. So we learn that these are not words he would normally say to Lo'ak.
Jake is grieving, and as mentioned before, he truly blames himself for Neteyam’s death, but he vented his sorrow and anger onto Lo'ak. He should not have done that, this is obvious, but unfortunately he did. The words were spoken because his suffering clouded his mind.
When Lo’ak shouts back that it wasn’t his fault, Jake’s expression changes, and you can see that he regrets what he said. We later get confirmation of this during his conversation with Neytiri (but despite this, Jake does not apologize for his words):
Go to him, Jake, or you will lose another son.
I've got nothing to say to him.
Do not blame Lo'ak. You said you could protect this family. That you could do.
Yeah, I thought we would be safe here.
Our son is dead, Jake.
I was wrong! What do you want me to say? That every decision that I made for this family is wrong? I killed our son?
Right after the confrontation with his father, Lo’ak wants to end his life, but fortunately he gives up on that. Shortly afterward, he sets out to search for exiled Payakan, which symbolizes his own path and transformation. Before setting out after Payakan, Lo’ak repairs Neytiri’s bow, which helps heal her grief. She notices son's strong heart.
When Jake was searching for Lo’ak, Neytiri showed him the bow repaired by their son, but Jake still doesn’t fully believe in Lo'ak’s abilities, he is afraid to trust him, but still worries about son when he learns that he set out alone into the boundless ocean. Neytiri asks him to trust Lo'ak.
Lo'ak's transformation
Lo’ak seems to return from this journey changed – gained humility and strength, and it is evident in his later attitude.
He returns with Payakan (and Ta'nok) and they stumble upon a tulkun council. Then he manages to persuade the elders to fight, something even Jake, as Toruk Makto, is unable to achieve. After Lo’ak’s speech, Jake finally opens his eyes to his son. And this is where we see the beginning of the culmination of their improving father-son relationship.
As they prepare for battle, Jake hands Lo’ak a gun. Lo’ak immediately asks if that means he’s riding with him, but Jake replies that he needs him here. When he sees his son’s disappointment, he quickly adds that he can’t fight if he isn’t sure the children are safe, and orders Lo’ak not to leave his post. Lo’ak looks as if he understands why his father is leaving him there, accepts father's decision with humility and answers "let me try it, sir" (interestingly, he doesn’t answer “yes, sir” like he usually does). In the end, Lo’ak rises to the occasion and this time truly tries to follow the order.
Jake’s behavior clearly shows that he is now proud of his son. While giving him ammunition, he taps the magazine with his hand and walks away, a faint smile visible on his face 😏 and a moment later, Lo’ak also shows a small, satisfied smile - so beautiful moment!
Unfortunately, Lo’ak leaves his post when Kiri runs off and jumps into the water to ask Eywa for help. But this time, he didn’t want to do it, his sister’s actions forced him to do that.
In this scene, Lo’ak apologizes to his father for leaving his post. This time, Jake has no reproach for him, he forgives and, taking the opportunity, immediately wants to praise his son. Jake knew that his sons are trying to live up to his expectations (Neytiri mentioned this in Avatar2), which is likely why this conversation unfolds the way it does. Jake praises Lo’ak for meeting his expectations to calm him down.
Lo’ak impressed him by convincing the tulkun to fight, and Jake uses that here. You can see the change in Jake's eyes when he looks at his son now.
Lo’ak’s expression says everything! it’s more than just an apology.
Lo’ak realizes his mistakes and begins to change and starts following orders, something that had been a huge concern for his father.
Jake finally sees his son’s potential and strenght.
This is where the repair of their relationship reaches its climax – through working together, like their test: Jake's trust in his son and Loak's obedience to orders.
Seeing that he can now rely on his son, Jake invites him to fight by his side – something Lo’ak had always dreamed of! 💪🏻💪🏻
Lo’ak receives what he had long desired at the moment when he is no longer desperately chasing it. His gestures show humility, satisfaction and some doubts, but seeing how much Jake needs him, he agrees to accompany.
They set out for the ship to rescue Neytiri and Tuk, who have been captured by Quaritch and Varang. In the scene where Jake orders his son to cover him, Lo’ak fully follows the orders this time, exactly as father instructed. As we see here, Jake finally listens to his son.
Even when Jake follow Quaritch, he orders Lo’ak to take care of his mother and get her off the ship, and Lo’ak does so without protest.
To sum up, we have a beautiful culmination of their mended relationship – acknowledging each other’s perspectives and fulfilling mutual expectations.
Watching their journey together was very satisfying for me. It’s my favorite character dynamic in the entire film. Another one is the dynamic between Jake and Quaritch.
I hope I’ve helped at least a little to clarify what happened in the film, because placing all the blame on Jake is unfair, and he certainly is not a bad father. When he realizes he was wrong about something, he tries to make up for it quickly, and when the opportunity arises, he corrects his mistake.
I wish in the next film we’ll see their relationship on a completely different level: already as warrior to warrior.
