So it was an interesting development when Weaver was confirmed to be returning. Eventually, it was revealed that her new role would be as Kiri, the adopted daughter of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña). She was born shortly after the end of the first film. Though Avatar: The Way of Water took so long to come out, its long absence from cinema screens allowed for an organic timeskip - by the time of the sequel, it’s been about 14 or 15 years since humans were driven off of Pandora.

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Who is Dr. Grace Augustine?

Dr. Grace Augustine was a xenobotanist in charge of the Avatar Program - she even has an Avatar of her own. She had grown close to the Na’vi and had taught many of them English, but her presence in their lives became strained as the RFD adopted a more militant stance against the Na’vi. Dr. Augustine didn’t believe in Eywa for most of Avatar’s runtime, but she did acknowledge that Pandora was alive and teeming with neural connections.

When she first meets Jake, she’s somewhat antagonistic towards him. He’s a soldier, while she’s a scientist, and the two groups have something of a rivalry on Pandora. As Jake warms up to the Na’vi, Dr. Augustine begins warming up to him. Eventually, she supports Jake when he starts pushing back against the top brass, and she tries to help him keep the Na’vi safe.

What happened to Dr. Grace Augustine at the end of the first Avatar?

At the end of the last movie, Jake and Dr. Augustine, alongside a few sympathetic scientists, are held in a prison due to their sympathies towards the Na’vi. Though they manage to escape, Dr. Augustine ends up grievously wounded in the ensuing escape. Jake manages to get Dr. Augustine to the Omaticaya Clan, and they attempt to transfer her consciousness permanently from her human body into her Avatar body. The process doesn’t work, unfortunately, and audiences presumed Dr. Augustine died. Mo’at, the tsahik or spiritual leader of the Omaticaya Clan, tells Jake that Dr. Augustine is ‘with Eywa’ now.

Dr. Augustine’s last words were, “I see her.” The implication appeared to be that she had finally come to accept the existence of Eywa, and may have communed with the Na’vi’s patron goddess. Other than Jake, she was apparently the only human to form such a deep spiritual connection with Pandora - and even Jake had to be in his Avatar body in order to commune with Eywa.

Much like Stephen Lang, who explained how his character returns, Weaver’s back in Avatar: The Way of Water. Unlike Lang, however, she’s not a Recombinant (a kind of Avatar that contains the memories and DNA of the original person). Instead, Weaver plays Kiri, the young, adopted daughter of Jake and Neytiri.

In the first few moments of the movie, it’s actually revealed that Kiri is Dr. Augustine’s daughter. Dr. Augustine’s Avatar body did not die - she’s brain dead, but alive. It was apparently discovered that Dr. Augustine’s Avatar was pregnant. The father is not known, and Kiri seems to feel hurt about this fact. Since Na’vi mate for life, the other characters appear to think her father may have been someone else in the Avatar program, but nothing’s confirmed. Dr. Augustine’s Avatar is on life support in a tank, and Kiri affectionately refers to her as “ma” (she refers to Jake as “dad”, and Neytiri as “mom”).

In an interesting twist, Kiri appears to have a special connection to Eywa - she quickly picks up skills that another Na’vi clan specializes in. Avatar: The Way of Water also shows off more of Pandora, and Kiri’s at the forefront of that exploration. She has an affinity for the plants and animals that goes far beyond any other Na’vi.

During a talk with Jake, she explains that she can hear the heartbeat of Eywa, and that it is “mighty”. And in a sequence that’s sure to deepen the confusion between Avatar and Avatar: The Last Airbender, Kiri takes control of some of the underwater plants and uses them to destroy a human submersible. The other Na’vi stare at her in awe, and it’s never quite explained why Kiri bares this connection.

It could be something as simple as Kiri being touched by Eywa when Dr. Augustine was connected. Another interesting possibility emerges if one examines the mystery of Kiri’s father (and this is purely speculation): it could be that Eywa was the one who started the pregnancy process within Dr. Augustine, and that she doesn’t have a father. This could make Kiri a sort of Biblical parallel, and it could mean that she’s a new type of Avatar. In Hinduism, an Avatar is the incarnation of a deity in human or animal form. Kiri would fit this bill exactly: she’d be an incarnation, or a piece of Eywa, given form. Of course, fans will have to wait for another Avatar before the mystery around Kiri is solved for certain.

Avatar: The Way of Water is now in theaters.

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