Fire And Ash’s Best Scene Echoes A Moment From Lord Of The Rings

The path of water has no beginning and no end, just like spoilers. This article discusses the main plot details of “Avatar: Fire and Ash”.

We often talk about the “Avatar” franchise as a spectacle, and for good reason. James Cameron’s sci-fi epic is a truly incredible achievement in terms of visual effects wizardry, animation and performance capture. Suffice it to say that this property fully deserved its place in the famous historical cinema montage of “Babylon” by Damien Chazelle.

However, all show talk aside, we shouldn’t underestimate the strong themes of this franchise. Using the language of blockbuster cinema, the “Avatar” films managed to tell a four-quadrant story that speaks radically to the environment and the military-industrial complex. Continuing, they have even gone so far as to recognize that pacifism is useless in resisting an enemy who wants to annihilate you and, as such, that violence is actually necessary to combat imperialism. Sure, their plots are quite simple and even derivative, but that’s so the audience can buy into the complex and expansive framework that Cameron and his team have constructed.

This is also what makes “Fire and Ash” such an important chapter in the larger “Avatar” saga. It is the film that most openly speaks about the importance of active resistance and shows nature itself fighting back. Indeed, the film brings this idea to the forefront by having Pandora’s Great Mother Eywa literally manifest before Kiri (Sigourney Weaver)allowing him to command alien octopuses and kill a group of humans. We also see it in the film’s best scene, which echoes an iconic moment from Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

I’m referring, of course, to the way the Toulkoun swimming toward war in “Fire and Ashes” echo the final march of the Ents in “The Two Towers.”

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” continues the Tulkun-hunting storyline from “The Way of Water,” in which the GDR kills these majestic space whales to extract a liquid from their glands that stops human aging. Unfortunately, the Tulkun have an ancient law that forbids them from violence, as they firmly believe that it will only lead to more violence and death.

This means that the Tulkun are completely defenseless and unable to react when humanity begins to hunt them…at first. It’s only when Payakan, the true hero of the “Avatar” franchise – with the help of Lo’ak (Great Britain Dalton) – manages to convince the Tulkun matriarch that their species will be wiped out if she does not react and that she finally changes her ways. This, in turn, pushes the Tulkun to join the war against the GDR in the climax of “Fire and Ash”, culminating in an emotionally charged and thrilling sequence where the matriarch leads her fellow space whales into battle.

It’s the way the Tulkan go from being extremist pacifists to engaging in a war they know they might lose (and that might get them all killed) that is reminiscent of “The Two Towers.” Specifically, this sequence is reminiscent of that film’s Ent subplot, in which the ancient tree beings decide not to get involved in the war for Middle-earth, believing that it simply isn’t their fight. It is only when their leader Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys-Davies) witnesses the destruction of the forests near Isengard and the betrayal of the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) that he rallies the Ents to war. Much like the Tulkun, it is only when war approaches their doorsteps that the Ents decide to get involved, even if it means walking to their doom.

As special and memorable as these scenes are, they also share a lot in common. They represent nature that wants nothing more than to be left alone, only to find itself in a struggle for survival because industrialization destroys everything it touches. In “The Two Towers”, the Ents are essentially retirees and widowers with no hope for the future, simply passing their time in whatever peace they can find as the world changes around them. It’s not that they don’t care what happens to Middle Earth; they simply feel that there is little they can do, believing that their role in the world has ended.

Likewise, the Tulkun are so strict about their moral code that they do not allow themselves to become involved in the world in which they live. They are aware of the atrocities happening around them and may even realize that they are also about to die. Either way, their moral code prevents them from getting involved, even if their own lives depend on it. Payakan may have saved many lives, but by simply helping the Metkayina fight back in “The Way of Water”, he is responsible for the death of every Na’vi and human.

With the final march of the Ents, “The Two Towers” examines how evil can run so deep that creation itself is forced to rise up against it. The Ents range from voting not to intervene to willing to disappear to defend what remains of the forests and avenge their fallen trees. There may be more Tulkun than Ents, but by rising up against the RDA, they too decide to risk everything to fight evil.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is now playing in theaters.