“Avatar 2: The Way Of Water” delights the majority of moviegoers, but one criticism can be heard again and again: where did the Metkayina go in the end? Now James Cameron has responded.
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When it comes to the final battle in the grand finale of Avatar 2: The Way Of Water, the Na’vi initially stand firm against their opponents. The entire Metkayina tribe of Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet) join Jake (Sam Worthington) and his family in battle…and eventually just disappear. In the end, the Sullys must go it alone – only Tsireya (Bailey Bass) is left, but she has to manage without the support of her parents.
“Have the Metkayina gone home?” the author of these lines wondered in an op-ed. In another article, we examined some social media complaints and tried to find an explanation for the logical gap. James Cameron has now personally taken over the matter – not substantively, but arguingly in terms of production technology.
More Metkayina was not well received by the test audience!
After a fan screening of Avatar 2: The Way Of Water, the director answered questions from the audience and asked for criticism along with producer Jon Landau to avoid repeating errors in Avatar 3.
James Cameron is actually asking for audience feedback. Wants to know if people were upset that some of the plot threads went unresolved at the end of the movie. #AvatarTheWayOfWater
—Andrew J Salazar (@AndrewJ626) February 17, 2023
As film journalist Andrew J. Salazar, who attended the screening, reported on Twitter, one fan didn’t even have to formulate his question and Cameron immediately knew what he wanted to know: “Where did you go?”
When the fan asked about Metkayina’s disappearance in the third act, Cameron saw it coming. “Where have they gone?” he said before the fan finished the Q. It seems like this was something they really went back and forth on during the editing and test screenings. #AvatarTheWayOfWater
—Andrew J Salazar (@AndrewJ626) February 17, 2023
According to Salazar’s report was aware of the problem with the missing Metkayina Cameron and a point that played a role in the various test screenings and finding a final cut.
The director revealed that he shot a scene where the Sullys and the other families were together. However, this scene was not well received in the test screenings.
FINALLY, James Cameron talks about the missing Metkayina in the third act. He says they shot a scene at the end with the Sulleys and the other parents regrouping with their children. Says it didn’t work well on test screenings #AvatarTheWayOfWater
—Andrew J Salazar (@AndrewJ626) February 17, 2023
So the reason for the logic hole is simple: including scenes showing where the Metkayina are trapped would probably have slowed down and weakened the finale. So Cameron decided to leave that open and make the finale faster. Success proves him right. In the end, most fans make it clear that they can overlook this minor flaw because the rest of the movie is good. The author of these lines feels the same way.
And when “Avatar 3” hits theaters at the end of 2024, James Cameron wants to build on it. At the end, according to Salazar, he explained to the test audience that after an hour of discussion with many critical questions and comments, they had “immeasurably improved” the third part.
“I want to assure you that you have all made an immeasurable improvement in Avatar 3” – James Cameron
It’s over guys. Cameron and Jon Landau just spent over an hour talking to fans, sharing stories and asking for honest feedback. #AvatarTheWayOfWater
—Andrew J Salazar (@AndrewJ626) February 17, 2023
