This article contains spoilers for Avatar: The Way of WaterJake Sully has one big, semi-happy family. One of the main differences between thefirstAvatarand the sequelis the family dynamic that is shown with the Sully family. Jake is a father to five, and the audience might not be surprised to discover what type of father he is. He has an old-school mentality, placing the weight of his children’s safety on his oldest son, Neteyam.There’s been quite the amount of online discoursethat Jake is in fact not a great father, and he honestly has a lot to learn when it comes to treating his kids like actual children. The Sullys have five kids; Neteyam, Lo’ak, Spider, Kiri and Tuk. It’s Neteyam’s responsibility to keep all of his siblings in check, and if something happens, he has to face the literal wrath of Jake. So while Neteyam is balancing all that, here comes Lo’ak, the middle child, feeling sorry for himself, when most of the time, Neteyam has to take the blame for his siblings (mostly Lo’ak). Let’s get into how Lo’ak’s middle child syndrome affects him.
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His Relationship with His Older Brother
Throughout the highly anticipated sequel, it’s clear that Lo’ak lives in Neteyam’s shadow. It’s also clear that Lo’ak doesn’t feel appreciated by his father, so in return, he sees that Neteyam is getting attention, and resents him for it. Lo’ak feels like the outsider in his own family, stuck in the middle between his siblings; Neteyam and Spider being the oldest, and Kiri and Tuk being the youngest. Whenever he gets in trouble, Neteyam often takes the blame for his younger brother, standing in the way of Jake’s anger and disappointment. So even then, Neteyam doesn’t get the talk from his father, even if it’s not so great.Lo’ak is desperate for any sort of attentionhe can get from Jake, but since Neteyam is seen as the prodigal son, it only makes it worse for the younger brother.
When Lo’ak forms a bond with the Tulkun named Payakan, it’s like they both seem to understand each other and their roles in the family. Payakan is the black sheep of the Tulkun, traveling alone since he was perceived as a killer when it really wasn’t the case. Lo’ak can relate to Payakan; not understood by his family, and also feeling like he’s alone. It’s very full circle when Payakan is the one to save the day at the end of the movie, when Lo’ak is the one to feel an incredible sadness instead.
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His Father’s Disapproval
Like previously stated, Lo’ak is vying for his father’s approval throughout the entire movie. Half of that falls onto how theSullys are raising their children, especially Jake. When you put that much responsibility on your kids, especially when there are so many of them, your expectations are way too high. From the beginning of the movie, it’s clear that Neteyam is often picking up the pieces behind Lo’ak, often trying to get him to do the right thing, but the younger brother can’t seem to listen.
When the Sullys move in with the Metkayina tribe, Jake warns all of his kids to be on their best behavior, but of course, Lo’ak takes that as a challenge. He gets into so much trouble in such a short amount of time, and in every single situation, and Jake is there, making it even worse. When Rotxo and Aonung gang up on Kiri and call her a freak, Lo’ak goes from 1-100 fast, while Neteyam tries to keep everyone in check. After the fight, Lo’ak is once again looking for some sort of pride from Jake, but it doesn’t come. It’s disapproval on top of more disapproval.
The Eternal Guilt
The saddest thing that happens inWay of Water, is Neteyam’s untimely death. There are definitely a few people to blame when it comes to his death; the soldiers, Quaritch, Spider, and some people even say Lo’ak’s actions resulted in Neteyam being shot. That last reason might be an easy cop-out, because in all actuality, it’s clear that there was a lot of love between the two brothers. And on top of the terrible death, in a moment of fury (which he has several of), Jake blames Lo’ak.
Lo’ak is a mess; feeling extremely guilty and sick over Neteyam getting shot and killed, and he wants to go with his dad to fight Quaritch. Jake shakes him off, turning around and telling him that, “You’ve done enough.” It’s a sad moment that Lo’ak has to face, as he internalizes all that has happened. Jake sort of fixes it at the end, when they share another moment, and Jake tells Lo’ak that he sees him, which is something special between the Na’vi. Still, it’ll be interesting to see how Lo’ak takes this loss with him in the next movie.
