15 details you should remember before watching 'Avatar: The Way of Water'

Pandora is a distant moon that's of interest to Earth because of its natural resources.

A non-governmental organization called the Resources Development Administration (RDA) is interested in the jungle moon for a mineral called unobtainium. In the first film, we're told a kilogram of the superconductor is worth $20 million.

Pandora is also home to a group of humanoid creatures called Na'vi.

The over nine-foot-tall beings have a strong connection to every living thing on Pandora. 

They're in opposition to the RDA mining and destroying their home for the moon's unobtainium. They refer to humans as "sky people."

The Na'vi can physically bond with other animals and plants to share a mental connection.

The Na'vi can connect a cluster of neural tendrils from their hair with those of other beings in order to create a deep bond where the two essentially become one. The connection allows the two to feel each other's pain and their heartbeats.

It also allows the Na'vi to guide an animal wordlessly while riding it. One of the main creatures they ride are banshees, called ikran by the Na'vi, who only pair with one rider in their life. 

Certain plants, like the Tree of Souls, allow the Na'vi to connect to a network where they can upload memories and communicate with the dead.

The first film primarily focuses on the Omaticaya clan.

The group was led by Eytukan, who is killed by the end of the first film, and their spiritual leader, Mo'at. Their daughter, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), is one of the central characters of the franchise who is supposed to eventually take on the role of her mother in her clan.

A few other clans are introduced late in the first "Avatar." We'll meet another clan, the Metkayina, in the sequel.

Humans cannot breathe on Pandora.

They need to wear masks otherwise they'll die in about four minutes.

The RDA commissioned the Avatar Project which allowed humans to link themselves with expensive remotely controlled human/Na'vi hybrid bodies.

The Avatar Program consisted of developing human and Na'vi hybrids called avatars which allow a human mind to connect and control a Na'vi (avatar) body as their own. The avatars are grown from human DNA mixed with DNA of Na'vi.

The project was supposed to develop communication between humans and Na'vi so scientists could learn about their culture while also teaching them English. But some in the RDA wanted to use the program to gain intel and spy on Pandora's natives for personal gain.

The Na'vi refer to the avatars as dream-walkers and devils since they're engineered. 

In the sequel, humans have found a way to upload a person's consciousness into an avatar without needing a physical host.

Grace Augustine is a scientist who was in charge of the Avatar Program.

Grace established a school within the Omaticaya clan that ran for 10 years where she helped teach the Na'vi English before it was shut down. Unlike the RDA, Grace's interests in Pandora and the Na'vi were pure. She simply wanted to study, connect with them, and write about them.

Jake helped her peacefully reconnect with the clan in the first film.

Late in the movie, Grace is hit by a bullet from Quaritch. The Na'vi try to transfer her mind into her avatar body before she succumbs to her wound, but are unsuccessful.

Despite dying in the first film, Weaver will return in the sequel voicing the daughter of her avatar. (If that sounds confusing, it's also a bit of a mystery in the sequel.)

Colonel Miles Quaritch was head of security of the RDA in the first film.

He was a little too power-hungry and didn't care how many of the Na'vi he killed or what he destroyed in order to acquire Pandora's unobtainium.

Quaritch led the attack on the Omaticaya's home, destroying the giant tree they lived inside for its abundance of unobtainium.

Jake Sully was a 22-year-old paraplegic marine veteran in the first film.

Jake was invited to go to Pandora in place of his twin brother, Tommy, a scientist who was killed a week before his trip by a mugger. Jake took his place because he shared Tommy's genetic makeup and could link up to his very expensive avatar. 

The RDA also liked that he had experience as a marine. Because of his training, at the film's start, Jake was assigned to gather intel on the Na'vi for Colonel Quaritch. In exchange, Quaritch promised Jake the use of his legs again when returning home to Earth.

Neytiri was going to kill Jake until she received a sign from Eywa, the deity who the Na'vi worships.

When a group of woodsprites, spirits from the Na'vi's sacred tree, land on Jake, Neytiri considers it a sign and brings him back to her home. 

As a result, Neytiri is ordered to teach Jake their ways. Little does she know, he's purposefully trying to infiltrate the group.

Jake winds up falling in love with Pandora and its people, and bonds with Neytiri.

Jake's mission takes a turn when he falls for the Na'vi leader's daughter and the pair mate. In Na'vi culture, when you mate with someone, you're bonded for life. 

Afterward, the Na'vi discover Jake was acting in part as a spy for the RDA, which led to the destruction of their home, and disown him.

 

Jake becomes a respected member of the Omaticaya clan, becoming known as Toruk Makto.

In order to gain back the trust of the Omaticaya, Jake sought out a legendary predator, Toruk, both feared and revered in Na'vi culture. 

Jake became the sixth Na'vi to successfully ride one of the creatures and, as a result, was given the title of Toruk Makto. Jake used the title to unite the Omaticaya and 14 other clans to wage war against the RDA and save Pandora.

After winning the war against the humans in the first film, Jake said Toruk Makto wasn't needed anymore and released the creature, but he still goes by the moniker.

Jake left his human body behind to fully integrate with his avatar.

At the end of the first film, Jake becomes the leader of Omaticaya's warriors and has his consciousness merged into his avatar form.

Colonel Quaritch is killed by Neytiri and Jake at the end of the first film.

However, a version of the character will return in the sequel and he'll likely seek revenge on the two.

The Na'vi sent every human back to Earth at the end of the first film except a handful they selected to stay.

Dr. Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) and Dr. Max Patel (Dileep Rao) are two of the humans we see left in Pandora at the end of the first film.

Before you see "The Way of Water" you should be prepared that the sequel jumps forward over 10 years into the future.

"The Way of Water" frustratingly never mentions what year it takes place. 

According to the film's production notes, the sequel takes place "more than a decade" after the end of the first film and will follow Jake, Neytiri, and their four children as they handle the fallout of the return of the "sky people" to Pandora.