The Duality of Miles Quaritch Explained | Avatar: The Way of Water Explained

I'm still stuck on the fact that theres a big chance that Neytiri may have been the one that killed Spider's mom

I feel like Spider was joking about the blue stripe thing. I think Eywas immune response is smart enough to tell which humans are friendlies. I think Spider only painted on blue stripes because he sees himself as a Na’vi or he just wants to fit in more with Jake’s kids. Edit: Also I agree. Quaritch 2.0 is way more interesting and I’m exciting to see his character develop alongside Spider.

Quaritch's face when spider laughs at him for trying to Tranquilize an Ikran Is The best face expression he has.

One of many reasons why I love Spider is that he constantly shoves Quaritch out of his comfort zone. Recom Q is bending backwards trying to keep the kid by his side. He stops Ardmore’s torture, despite the fact that they could have gotten to Jake faster if he cracked (though he wouldn’t). He spared the lives of reef Na’vi to appease him and then saved his life, both gestures that could have brought Miles closer to Jake if he wasn’t so focused on Spider. He’s not a good father by any means, but he’s *trying*.

I am SO glad someone else pointed out Quaritch's facial expression in the amrita scene. It's so subtle yet so telling! Stephan Lang smashed it. I'm so hyped to see where Quaritch's story goes.

Quaritch is by far the most underappreciated villain in cinema right now. I strongly believe he has the potential to be this generation's darth vader, given how many parallels there are between the two characters in Avatar 1 & 2 + A New Hope & Empire Strikes Back. Both characters started out as very one dimensional doing nothing more than stomping round and being scary before they were explored more deeply in their second movies.

About not breaking the glass though - you also gotta look at an angle. In the tree bombing scene na'vi were shooting from the ground at an angle, while in the final battle and also ever since, they shot through the glass when facing it straight forward. This is the same reason why throwing a rock into water makes it sink immediately, but when you throw it at a low angle, it can skip several times from the surface. At an angle, there's just not enough momentum to arrows/rocks to break the tension. After all, sharp edges of arrowheads DID leave a scratch at the glass so it's not like it was made from something else, that was obvious right from the start. I'm telling you, medieval arrows were also known for being able to blast through plate mail when hitting it right on. I have never seen this as a flaw at all. If anything, then it makes sense that na'vi learned this angle trick from Trudy when she was explaining them how to take out rotors of gunships.

I also thought it was interesting when Quaritch interrogated Spider. He referred to his original body, in third person. Mentioning stuff like "I am not your father" even though he had the memories and overall consciousness of the man who actually was Spider's father. Which I found rather interesting. We also see that when Neytiri held Spider at gunpo-I mean knifepoint, Quaritch looks genuinely scared, but tries to hide it under words like "He's not my son, we're not even related" which from a scientific standpoint, is true. But Quaritch still had the memories and consciousness of the person who WAS Spider's father, giving Quaritch the exact same emotional connection to him. So when Neytiri showed she was absolutely willing to kill Spider, Quaritch gave in because of that emotional connection. I will admit, when I first figured out they brought Quaritch back as the antagonist of Avatar 2, I was really skeptical. Flashing images of "Somehow Palpatine returned" made me scared of what that could do with this sequel. Yet, when I watched the movie, the way they brought Quaritch back made sense, and fit perfectly to the story and world-building. So I am happy they managed to actually pull it off like this. Can't wait for the 3rd movie. ^^

In Universe: Quaritch's actions make more sense when you remember the arrows in the truck wheels. The Na'vi have been using the RDA for target practice so much that they don't even bother to take the arrows out any more. How often do they miss and kill someone? How often do they NOT miss and kill someone? Quaritch says they are very hard to kill. How would he know except via clashes wherein the Na'vi are being pretty damn violent? His conduct makes a lot of sense as a decades long slow burn, watching his soldiers die around him, and always having to hold back due to PR. If that were true, I would be utterly unsurprised that hew view Hometree as an opertunity to finally pull out all the stops, and teach the Na'vi why Bullying The Dragon is a stupid idea. Future film? If the humans actually want to settle Pandora, they will want to terraform it, which will mean changing its atmosphere. (It would make much more sense to use the same tech to fix Earth, but nevermind.) Since the second film introduced the idea that na'vi can't breath human safe atmospheres, and Quaritch is now stuck as an atavar, he's now on the same count-down timer as everyone else. Something something overcome their differences to defeat a common foe something. Though personally I'm also hoping for a 'let Ewya decide his fate' moment, and having to come face to face with the memories of Dr Grace Augustine... :P

Quaritch as a recom is a far more nuanced and enjoyable character. He's still an asshole, but he's given a chance to grow and branch out as a person. He's not as invested in the RDA's bullshit as he was as a human. Partially because he's no longer a human. I think he knows this. And the hunting of the tulkun for amrita for rich people to become immortal just doesn't resonate with him as much as the unobtainium did in the first film, as the unobtainium was more geared towards helping humanity as a whole, whereas the harvesting of amrita is just immortality for sale for whatever rich dickheads can afford it. And Quaritch, having already died, crushing his own human skull in his bare hands, doesn't have much respect for people who fear death to the point where they're willing to put people up to the arduous task of harvesting this literally golden substance for their own interests. Hell, the idea of amrita in general doesn't interest him much at all. Plus, he can't use it to halt his own aging, so there's no real benefit to him at all. Quaritch is hungry for revenge, and the RDA's bottom line and their agenda just doesn't mean as much to him anymore. Also, his journey with Spider is a very interesting mirror to Jake's journey with Neytiri from the first movie. There's something in him that just wants to do right by his kid since he was an absent and neglectful father the first time around. He's tapping more into what it means to be alive and to connect to others. Maybe I'm just overthinking this.

I think New Quaritch will have a really big role to play in the up coming films more than what we have seen so far

Quaritch in the first film was a bitter old boot from a dying planet. Who’d only been trained as a hammer. Who was fighting to save the earth. In the second film he’s a man with a thousand regrets, with paralysing fear from seeing Netyri’s arrows. Also he genuinely sees Spider as his son. From the very first moment in that interrogation. It wasn’t an interrogation. He never interrogated spider. He gave him a deal impossible to refuse to save him from having his brain microwaved. The first film has left quarritch disillusioned with what the hell he’s doing and who he is. But he sure isn’t a grunt who’s only trained to kill anymore. He’s learning a new culture, new language, new world. With all the wisdom of his last life and none of the restrictions and bitterness. He’s 100% going to die redeeming himself. Likely with Jake in the third film. Or he’s going to kill jake and then realise it was never about Jake i

Cupcake is the most underrated villian’s mount in cinema right now

He better have massive and important role. Literaly obsessed with him as recom. As human he was interesting. But basic toxic guy. But recom? Maaan potential AF

I’m absolutely obsessed with Quaritch in The Way of Water. His relationship with Spider grows so subtly in most of their scenes together, that it’s hard to notice with just a couple viewings. This relationship, along with the fact that he’s a fucking Na’vi clone of himself, makes him such a more interesting villain. I’m so excited to see more of him in Avatar 3. Will he get punished for causing so much damage and failing his mission in The Way of Water? Will he get lost and survive in the wild for a little bit? How will he confront Jake again? Will he become a better person in any way, and/or become a better father for Spider? I’m so excited for Avatar 3 lol Plus most people have forgotten the fact that at the end of the film, Spider still has a GPS built into his mask for Quaritch to track at all times.

As a military guy having a commander like him makes him endearing to grunts like me. I’d rather have a commander that will not bullshit me and actually gives a damn about the men under his command.

We appreciate your insights. You’re detailed with everything.

Which is higher: Threat Condition Red or Threat Level Midnight?

They pierced the glass because the diving attack gave their arrows the velocity necessary to pierce the glass

He’s definitely on his way to becoming a good guy