Note: The following article contains spoilers for Avatar: The Way of Water.Avatar: The Way of Water brings back Stephen Lang's murderous Miles Quaritch as its antagonist, but it does so in a rather disturbing manner. 2009's Avatar pitted Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) against the RDA and its vicious commander, Quaritch. The character waged war against Neytiri's people in Pandora - an attack that led to her father's death and the displacement of her tribe. The villain was ultimately killed by Saldaña's character during Avatar's final battle. That, however, did not close the curtain on the character, because Quaritch returns in The Way of Water. Things are vastly different for the commander, however.
In Avatar 2, Quaritch is no longer a human, having being brought back to life in a Na'vi body, known as a "Recombinant." The sequel also gives him an emotional anchor with the revelation that his infant son, Miles "Spider" Socorro, was left to grow up on Pandora after the events of the first film, and over the years became close to the Sullys. The nature of Quaritch's return was one of The Way of Water's most enticing developments leading up to its release. The movie provides a rather unsettling explanation for it, arguably making the character an even more intimidating threat than he was in Avatar.
The Way Of Water's Quaritch/Na'vi Clone Explained
The Quaritch in The Way of Water isn't the "real" Miles Quaritch; he is a clone of him, identified as a Recombinant in the Avatar sequel. The Na'vi villain is briefed by a video filmed by his originator, explaining that the RDA cloned their most efficient military officers in the event of their death. The organization copied their personality and memories and put them in Avatar bodies, effectively making the Na'vi Quaritch a backup. The clone doesn't remember his death at the hands of Neytiri, given that it hadn't happened when Quaritch was cloned and was therefore not part of his memory bank at the time.
He does, however, remember Sully and their mission on Pandora. Thus, Avatar Quaritch is seemingly aware of everything that happened in the first film, except for the movie's final battle. Quaritch's clone in Avatar 2 is physically much younger, which means he is a seasoned military combatant in the body of a Na'vi warrior in his prime. This makes him an extremely dangerous adversary, as shown when he tamed his ikran without prior training and when he went toe-to-toe with Sully (who at that point was fully accustomed to his Na'vi body) in the third act.
How Avatar 2's Quaritch Is Different From Avatar 1's Villain
Despite being a clone of Quaritch, there are two significant differences between the Recombinant and his human counterpart. The first one is their physicality. Though Quaritch was in great shape in Avatar, he was arguably past his prime. That isn't the case with his Na'vi version, whose young body makes him a significant physical threat for his adversaries. The other big difference is their attachment to their son, Spider. While looking for Neytiri and Jake, Quaritch finds their kids and captures Spider, whom he uses to track down the family.
The villain states he does not consider the boy his son, but that turns out to be untrue. In spite of his ruthless nature, Quaritch consistently shows attachment toward his human "son." When the boy is tortured to reveal his family's location, for example, Quaritch is visibly upset and quickly intervenes, convincing the scientists to allow him to get the information through different means. His affection toward Spider is something the original Quaritch likely did not have, judging by his characterization in the original Avatar.
How Na'vi Quaritch Evolves Across The Way of Water
Quaritch's character journey throughout Avatar 2 is akin to an A.I. developing consciousness. The character experienced a dual evolution throughout the film that juxtaposed his two sides. On one hand, his relationship with Spider seemed to allow his softer side to shine through. Quaritch opening up to his son and even showing him kindness (like when riding the ikran) teased the possibility of redemption for the Na'vi clone. However, this growth was directly countered by the evolution of his darker side, as he embraced the original Quaritch's worst traits.
Despite the initial differences between himself and his human counterpart, the Recombinant became progressively more like his predecessor. Early on in the film, he and his team made their way to the location of his last encounter with Neytiri and Sully in Avatar during its ending battle. There, he found Quaritch's skull and crushed it. Though that initially seemed to point to him forging his own path, destroying the skull ultimately appeared to be him accepting his evil side. Na'vi Quaritch became increasingly violent after that, to the point where he attempted to murder Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and threatened to kill Jake's entire family.
Why Quaritch's Story In Avatar: The Way Of Water Is So Disturbing
Miles Quaritch is, without a doubt, a full-on villain in Avatar: The Way of the Water. He is a despicable individual who brought death and destruction to not only Jake, Neytiri and their children, but also to the Metkayina. However, the complex nature of his existence potentially poses an interesting moral dilemma for the character. The creation of Quaritch's Na'vi persona is disturbing, but it's not only because of the idea of an organization keeping a genetic copy of their workforce to duplicate. The unnerving nature of his creation stems from his character journey.
Na'vi Quaritch begins the film intending to be his own individual, but gradually devolves into a new version of his human counterpart, complete with his hatred for Sully. His journey could be perceived as an unsettling allegory for clones not having free will in the Avatar franchise (which is expected to continue with Avatar 3, 4 and 5), and puts into question whether Na'vi Quaritch was simply like his predecessor from the start, or if he wanted to be better than the RDA soldier, but was fated to become him. Such a question heightens the complexity of both Avatar: The Way of Water and Quaritch as an overarching antagonist.
