Everything that has happened so far in James Cameron's Avatar franchise ahead of Fire and Ash's release

The third film in James Cameron's Avatar franchise, Avatar: Fire and Ash, arrives at Cineworld on 19th December. 

Epic movies that span sci-fi, adventure, and drama, there's a lot to get your head around in the world of Pandora, from both the Omaticaya and Metkayina clans, to the Ikran and Tulkun. We've rounded up the story so far in both Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash's release. Get caught up below and get ready to book your tickets.

BOOK AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH TICKETS

Avatar (2009) plot

ARRIVAL ON PANDORA

• In the distant future, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic marine on his way to the distant planet of Pandora
• He's replacing his late brother who had initially been recruited for the top-secret Avatar program
• Avatars are genetically engineered bodies of the Pandoran indigenous population, known as the Na'vi
• Jake shares his brother's genetic code so he can take his place relatively easily
• However, lead scientist Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) isn't too happy with the swap
• Jake enlists in Grace's place to teach the natives English and warn them about the encroaching colonial forces
• With the assistance of the military, the Resources Development Administration (RDA) is mining Pandora for the priceless element known as 'unobtanium'
• The richest deposit of unobtanium is located beneath the Na'vi's most sacred tree
• Jake pulls double duty as an insurgent operative for Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) who demands he report back with intel on the Na'vi's movements
• If Jake completes his work for Quaritch, he promises to send Jake home and get his legs fixed

JAKE BECOMES ONE OF THE NA'VI

• Jake 'portals' into his Avatar body and sets foot in the lush (and dangerous) jungles of Pandora for the first time
• Stranded in the dense undergrowth, Jake barely escapes with his life when he meets Na'vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldana)
• Neytiri realises that the seeds of the sacred tree are intrinsically attracted to Jake, indicating the purity of his soul
• She takes him back to Hometree where he is regarded with suspicion by her father, mother, brother and the rest of the tribe
• Jake is schooled in the art of becoming a Na'vi warrior, including basic principles of strength and learning to co-exist with the landscape
• He's also taught to bond with his own ikran, a fierce flying creature that is an emblem of Na'vi strength
• In the process, Jake falls deeply in love with Neytiri and she becomes his partner for life

THE NA'VI ARE ATTACKED BY QUARITCH

• Suspecting that Jake is experiencing divided loyalties, Quaritch threatens all-out destruction on the Na'vi
• In desperation, Jake tries one more time to compel the tribe to move of their own volition
• However he fails in his aim and Quaritch's forces level Hometree to facilitate the mining of the unobtanium
• Back at base and in his human body, Jake escapes with the assistance of Grace and Trudy (Michelle Rodriguez)
• Grace is fatally wounded by Quaritch as the group flees back into the rainforest
• During a sacred ceremony to Pandoran deity Eywa, the Na'vi attempt to transfer Grace's soul into an avatar body

THE FINAL BATTLE BEGINS

• Enraged at Grace's death and railing against his former military cohorts, Jake re-enters his avatar body and rallies the remaining Na'vi members to fight back
• He inspires the tribe by taking control of the most fearsome ikran of all, the legendary Toruk
• Following the death of Neytiri's father Eytukan (Wes Studi), new tribal leader Tsu'tey (Laz Alonso), Neytiri's brother, endorses Jake to spearhead the assault
• The Na'vi assemble on their own ikran and lure Quaritch's forces into the gravity-free floating mountains where their radar capabilities will be disrupted
• The Na'vi succeed in wiping out most of Quaritch's forces, with the assistance of the ferocious Pandoran wildlife who answer Eywa's call and join the battle
• Jake and Quaritch fight it out in a fierce one-on-one battle before the latter is killed by Neytiri with a deadly poison-tipped arrow
• As Jake's avatar pod fails and his human body is exposed to the lethal Pandoran atmosphere, Neytiri bears witness to his natural form for the first time

THE CONCLUSION

• RDA and the remaining military forces are sent back to Earth
• Jake permanently transfers his soul into an avatar body via the power of Eywa

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) plot

THE RETURN OF THE SKY PEOPLE

• Set 16 years after the events of the first Avatar movie, Jake Sully is now chief of the Omatikaya clan and has four children with Neytiri
• Their children are sons Neteyam and Lo'ak, a daughter who goes by "Tuk", and the Kiri, who they adopted from the late Dr. Grace Augustine
• The son of the late Colonel miles Quaritch "Spider" also frequently visits while being raised by human scientists who remain living on Pandora
• The sky people (the Resources Development Administration) return to Pandora, establishing a new base called Bridgehead City in order to colonise and mine its resources
• It implants Recombinants, Na'vi avatars that have been given the memories of dead soldiers, lead by a recombinant that holds the memories of Miles Quaritch, and seeks to hunt down Jake Sulley as traitor to the humans
• Jake leads his own guerrilla warfare against the RDA, with Quaritch retaliating and capturing Jake's children
• While Jake and Neytiri manage to get their children back, Quaritch abducts Spider and attempts to bond with him in order to utilise his knowledge of the Na'vi people and get closer to Jake Sulley
• Jake Sully decides he and his family must leave the Omatikaya and seek safety in the aquatic Metkayina clan in the eastern seas

ACCLIMATISING TO THE REEF PEOPLE

• Lead by Chief Tonowari, initially, the Metkayina are hesitant to open their home to Jake and his family
• The Sully family must learn the ways of the water, learning to free dive and ride the water creatures, Skimwings
• Lo'ak forms a friendship with Tonowari and his wife Ronal's daughter Tsireya, while Kiri finds peace in the sea
• It is not all smooth sailing though, as Lo'ak fights with Tonowari and Ronal's son Aonung after he mocks Kiri
• While he reluctantly apologises, Aonung and his friends ask Lo'ak to join on a hunting trip and trick him into entering a sea predator's territory, abandoning him to deal with the fallout
• Lo'ak is saved by Payakan, a whale-like creature called a Tulkan, spiritual brethren of the Metkayina
• Rather than throw the blame on Aonung, Lo'ak takes the blame and earns his respect
• However, he learns that Payakan is an outcast of his species
• Meanwhile, Kiri connects to the spirit tree under water and has a seizure that means she nearly drowns
• She is diagnosed with epilepsy by one of Jake's human scientist friends, Norm Spellman and Max Patel
• Quaritch continues to try and track down Jake, getting a lead from Norm and Max's aircraft. He questions other clans along the way and begins burning them in an attempt to provoke Jake
• Lo'ak links with Payakan and learns he was outcast after he attacked the human whalers that murdered his mother. This goes against the Tulkan's pledge to be pacificsts

THE FINAL BATTLE

• Quaritch join a whaling voyage who are hunting the Tulkans in order to harvest their brain fluid for anti-aging serum
• Under the cover of the whale hunters, Quaritch manages to finally catch up to Sulley and his family
• The children go to warn Payakan of the approaching whale hunters and discover he has been marked for capture.
• While Payakan manages to escape, the children are captured in his stead
• Jake attempts to protect the Tulkan in the name of the Metkayina clan and retrieve his children
• Payakan attacks the vessel, drawing the Metkayina into a fight with the humans, while Spider sabotages the RDA vessel
• In trying to rescue the children from capture, Neteyam gets Lo'ak, Tsireya, and Sider out, but is fatally shot, leaving Jake and Neytiri enraged
• They attack the crew and manage to free Tuk
• Jake finds Quatrich holding Kiri hostage and Neytiri attempts to use Spider as a bargaining chip
• All trapped in the sinking vessel, Jake strangels Quaritch until he falls unconcious 
• The Sully family get out and Spider saves Quaritch from drowning, but chooses to return to Jake's family

THE CONCLUSION

• Jake and his family share their decision to leave the Metkayina people after Neteyam's funeral, though Tonowari shares that he considers the Sully family a part of the clan and hopes that they will choose to stay
• Jake decides to stay and accept their lives at sea

All caught up? Avatar: Fire and Ash is coming to Cineworld on 19th December, with tickets on sale soon!

BOOK AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH TICKETS