The Metkayina Clan Explained | Avatar: The Way of Water Explained

Im glad their is a content creator invested enough to dig and research for other Avatar fans the amazing world of Pandora! Thank you for all your hard work !

I know some people felt they were 'too close' to Polynesian culture, but as someone with Māori ancestry who is trying to reconnect with his culture (and people) I appreciated the positive community messaging with this particular tribe. Noble? Sure. Savages? No. They weren't perfect. They had their own hang-ups and mistrust (and downright bullying) of another tribe coming into their space. That's authentic. But what's also authentic is the acceptance of that other tribe. Taking them in. Giving them food. Training. And ultimately , respect. There's more nuance going on here that some people are missing. They are traditional (you could say to a fault at times), but they are about community. Family (whānau as we Māori say). And the Sully's became like family. That's totally authentic to the people that inspire this tribe and I thought Jim did a great job in giving them more dimension than simple "noble savages."

fun fact: the metkayina also have flares ribcages which would help them with their breathing and holding their breath -unlike the omatikaya

I am soooo excited to learn about the Ash people in the 3rd movie. People wonder how these movies are over 3 hours long, but when you consider how complex and thought-out the world building is for every location and clan, plus the actual story, it makes sense.

The reason the Reef Navi didn't help in the first was because of many reasons: 1. They don't use flying creatures. 2. All their versatile weapons and fighting is made for water combat. Not air and forest combat like the first war. 3. In the amount of time before the humans invaded any further sully had to recruit those closest with him in the shortest amount of time not traveling for a whole week to get fish people to run in the forest for them

I noticed something about the reef Na'vi that I thought was interesting. But it kinda looks like their shoulders are slightly smaller, and have more of a slope to them than the jungle Na'vi. I assume it's to help them move through the water better. But man, the amount of detail that has gone into this universe is amazing. I really don't understand how people can dislike Avatar.

Tulkun, being based on Sperm Whales, in the sense that they are quite inteligent, have sonars, complex language(of sorts) might even have names for each other, and are hunted by humans for an oily yellow substance in their heads

Maybe the water clans dont have land mounts or flying mounts to go fight on land. traveling by water can only get you so far before you have to continue on foot. They might not know how to travel through deadly forests either

I love how diverse the Metkayina Clan and the creatures and species that live nearby them are. I always felt interested in the songcord thing, only to be disappointed that it wasn’t a more notable thing in the movie, given how it was one of the first things I hear in the movie, giving me the impression it will play some major part in the story. While I have little to no knowledge with sign language, I love that this was being used in the movie.

If the end credits song of the next one isn't "Blue" by Eiffel 65, I'll riot

The attention to detail for the Avatar universe is legit next level.... an I agree there homes are freakin amazing....I would definitely love to live in one of those

Cameron: "You can't walk with webbed feet" Ducks: "Pathetic" 🦆

I speculate that Eywa accelerated the evolution of the Navi to explain how they can have such divergent physiology amonst the clans, but it's also possible that Eywa instead controls epigenetic development and inculcates one unified language and tradition into all of the different Navi rather than messing with natural selection.

Metkayina are so cute imo like they just love decorating things and being so peaceful and the way the protect their brothers and sisters is just ugh adorable

I think their disappearance might be explained from the 10 minutes of gun violence james camron said he cut from the film because he didnt want to glorify gun violence. It might have happened during that final battle. We might see it in the special features of the DVD

There are very few movie series I've ever watched that makes me so invested even after huge time gaps between sequels....Avatar is one of them and still feels like we're scratching the surface. Excited for what's to come and am sure all fellow Avatar fans are too.

Huh, I expected you to mention the influence of polynesian or maori culture as well, because of the tattoos or the haka elements when they wanted to go to war and the strong connection to whales, who are significant to the culture as well.

I feel like the story reason of the Metkayina didn’t help in the war (besides them not existing at the time lol) is because them and their animals would’ve been helpless in the forest and it would’ve been the same situation of the Sully’s learning to adapt to their home

Having watched the film a second time... I can say with certainty that the Metkayina abandoned the final battle (after their kid was rescued) because they were there solely for that, and to avenge the Tulkun. That means once that fight was over, they had no business being there. That fight was between Jake and Quarich... and considering how reluctant they were to take the Sully's in, as you highlight in your video, it actually makes a lot of sense.

An entire sequence where they regroup with the Metkayina during the final battle was shot, but ultimately cut from the film to stay focused on the Sully family. I suspect the original cut of TWOW was much longer, but had to be trimmed for theatrical release. Hopefully we’ll see some of those scenes put back in someday.