smoking out there? They’re just.
Goddamn. Trees.
GRACE
You need to wake upParker. The wealth
of this world isn’t in the ground -- it’s
all around us. The Na’vi know thatand
they’re fighting to defend it. If you
want to share this world with themyou
need to understand them.
QUARITCH
We understand them just fine. Thanks to
Jake here.
Jake shares a look of alarm with Grace as Quaritch selects a
NEW CLIP on the main monitor --
TIGHT ON MONITOR -- VIDEO-LOG IMAGE of Jakelooking haggard
and borderline derangedrambling in a late-night monologue.
JAKE (RECORDED)
They’re not going to give up their home --
they’re not gonna make a deal. For what?
Lite beer and shopping channel? There’s
nothing we have that they want. We’re a
horror to them. We’re the monsters from
space.
101.
JAKE watches with a growing dread as his words condemn the
people he has grown to love.
JAKE (RECORDED)
They’re never going to leave Hometree.
Quaritch FREEZES the recording.
QUARITCH
Since a deal can’t be made -- it gets
real simple.
(to Jakeicily)
So thanks. I’m getting all emotional. I
might just give you a big wet kiss.
GRACE
Parkerwe have to talklike rational
people.
SELFRIDGE
WellI’d cherish thatbut unfortunately
you’re out of here on the next shuttle.
All of you. I’m shutting down the Avatar
Programeffective
now.
ON JAKEGRACE AND NORMspeechless.
SLOW DISSOLVE TO:
A WALL OF FIRE. Silhouettes of direhorse riders cross in SLOW
MOTIONspears and bows held high.
INT. OPS CENTER - MORNING
MONITOR SCREEN IMAGE -- WAINFLEET pans a camera across the
smoldering hulks of BURNED DOZERS. The toppled remains of a
charred ampsuit. Dead troopers bristling with arrows.
WAINFLEET
They hit with banshees first. Set the
ampsuit on fire. Driver’s toast.
Quaritch and Selfridge look on grimly.
QUARITCH
The rest of the squad?
WAINFLEET
Six bodies -- that’s all of ‘em. And the
equipment is totalled.
SELFRIDGE
Christ.
102.
INT. SELFRIDGE’S OFFICE - DAY
Selfridge is stares soberly as Quaritch outlines the plan.
QUARITCH
I can do it with minimal casualties to
the indigenous. We’ll clear them out
with gas first. It’ll be humane. More or
less.
Selfridge sighs and rubs his face.
QUARITCH
Heydon’t go limp on me now. This is
exactly the incident we needed.
SELFRIDGE
Alrightlet’s pull the trigger.
CUT TO:
INT. BIO LAB
MAX and the lab staff are glumly packing files and equipment
under the watchful eye of armed SEC-OPS TROOPERS. JAKE
GRACENORM stare bleakly at each other.
GRACE
They bulldozed a sacred site on purpose
to trigger a response. They’re
fabricating this war to get what they
want.
NORM
I can’t believe that.
JAKE
Yup. That’s how it’s done. When people
are sitting on shit you wantyou make
them your enemy. Then you’re justified in
taking it.
TRUDY RUNS into the labbreathless. She’s wearing full
flight gear and carrying her helmet.
TRUDY
Sec-ops is rolling the gunships. They’re
gonna hit Hometree!
JAKE
When?
TRUDY
Now. We’re spooling up now! I gotta go.
103.
GRACE
My God.
Jake pumps furiously toward the doorGrace following.
INT. OPS CENTER - DAY
SELFRIDGE surveys the airfieldwhere crews swarm over the
gunshipsloading ordnance. He turns as JAKE and GRACE
charge toward him.
GRACE
Parkerwait.
Stop! These are people
you’re about to --
SELFRIDGE
They’re fly-bitten savages who live in a
tree! Look around -- I don’t know about
you but I see a lot of trees. They can
move.
GRACE
For God’s sakethere are children in
there. Babies!
JAKE
Look Selfridgeyou don’t want this kind
of blood on your hands. Let me try to
talk them out. They trust me.
ON SELFRIDGEconsidering this.
CUT TO:
INT. LINK ROOM
SELFRIDGE and an escort of armed TROOPERS accompany Jake and
Grace to the links. The two enter their unitsas NORM and
MAX prep the system.
SELFRIDGE
You’ve got one hour. Unless you want
your girlfriend in there when the axe
comes downyou get them to evacuate. One
hour.
Jake lowers the upper clamshell. Norm starts the sequence.
CUT TO:
INT. COMMONS -DAY
The entire clan is gatheredwith Eytukan and Mo'at
presiding. Jake looks aroundfeeling the gaze of the People
upon him. He steels himselfand speaks in clear Na’vi --
104.
JAKE
(subtitled)
EytukanI have something to sayto
everyone.
EYTUKAN
(subtitled)
SpeakJakesully.
JAKE
(subtitled)
A great evil is upon us. The Sky People
are coming to destroy Hometree. They
will be here soon.
A murmur of fear and anger goes through the crowd.
JAKE
(subtitled)
You have to leaveor you will die.
MO'AT
Are you certain of this?
JAKE
They sent me here to learn your ways. So
one day I could bring this messageand
you would believe it.
NEYTIRI
What are you sayingJake? You knew this
would happen?
He is unable to meet her eyes.
JAKE
Yes.
(anguished)
At first it was just orders. Then
everything changed. I fell in love--
with the forestwith the
Omaticaya
People --
(he looks at her)
-- with you. And by thenhow could I
tell you?
Neytiri can barely breathe. She is shaking with the enormity
of ither voice cracking with rage and pain --
NEYTIRI
I trusted youJake!
105.
JAKE
Neytiri. PleaseI only wanted to --
NEYTIRI
You will never be one of the People!
NEVER!
TSU’TEY yells to his HUNTERS --
TSUTEY
(subtitled)
Bind them.
They grab Jakewho doesn’t resist. Others seize Grace.
Both are driven to their kneesand their arms bound.
CUT TO:
EXT. RAINFOREST - DAY
SCORPION GUNSHIPS darken the sky as they come over the tops
of the trees. At the head of the formation is one much
larger shipa monster 150 feet long -- the GENERAL DYNAMICS
C-21 DRAGON GUNSHIP.
Quaritchnext to the pilot of the Dragonsurveys the world
below like Napoleon astride his horse.
EXT. HOMETREE
JAKE and GRACE are lashed to posts at the front entrance to
Hometree. The People look up as --
THE DRAGON and its escort of GUNSHIPS arrive over the trees.
The DOWN-BLAST from their rotors creates a maelstrom of
flying leaves and debris.
IN THE DRAGON COCKPIT Quaritch watches a targeting screen --
a telescopic image of Jake and Grace tied to posts.
QUARITCH
WellI’d say diplomacy has failed.
TSU’TEY and another HUNTER hold knives to the throats of the
two avatarsglaring defiantly at the gunships.
QUARITCH
I think they mean to cut their throats if
we don’t back off. Make sure you get a
nice close-up of that. I can tack it onto
the after-action report.
JAKE YELLS to NeytiriTsu’teythe others gathered nearby --
106.
JAKE
You have to get out of Hometree! Run to
the forest! PleaseI’m begging you!
EYTUKAN scowls at Jakethen GRABS TSU’TEY and yells --
EYTUKAN
(subtitled)
Take the ikran! Attack from above!
Tsu’tey grabs some hunters and runs up the roots of Hometree.
IN THE COCKPIT Quaritch grows impatient.
QUARITCH
Alrightlet’s get this done. Give me
forty millimeter gas roundsright in the
front door.
GUNNER
Roger. CS forties. Going hot.
QUARITCH
Fire.
On the Dragon’s stub-wings the 40mm ROCKET LAUNCHERS open up
with a BARRAGE of leaping fire which FLASHES down and --
K-WHOOM!K-WHOOM!K-WHOOM! -- the inside of Hometree ERUPTS
with multiple EXPLOSIONS of TEARGAS.
THE GAS rolls across the confused villagers. They begin to
cough and gag.
Eytukan and the remaining HUNTERS bravely fire at the
gunships with their longbows.
IN THE DRAGON’S COCKPITQuaritch laughs as arrows CLINK
against the armored windows.
AMID CLOUDS of teargasthe Omaticaya runstumblecollapse.
EYTUKAN
(yelling/subtitled)
Everybody outside! Go to the Forest.
The villagers pour out of Hometree. Everyone is yelling.
Piercing SCREAMS in the boiling gas.
JAKEeyes streamingstruggles with his bindings.
KA-WHOOM! An INCENDIARY ROUND explodes inside the Commons.
FLAMES ROAR through the base of Hometree.
107.
INSIDE HOMETREE it is a burning smoky HELL. Flames roar up
the inside like a chimney. STRAGGLERS scramble outside
coughing and dragging wounded with them.
High up in the trunkTSU’TEY and his hunters leap rapidly
from spoke to spokeclimbing barely ahead of the fireball.
OUTSIDE the fire is driven by the rotor-wash toward JAKE and
GRACE who are still bound tightly to the posts.
Out of the smokeMO’AT appears in front of Jake. She raises
a KNIFE and --
SLASHES DOWNWARD. Jake looks downsurprisedto see his
bonds falling away. He meets her eyeswhich are filled with
horrorbut also something else. Call it
faith.
MO’AT
You are one of us. Help us!
Jake takes the knife and cuts Grace free.
JAKE
We’ve gotta move! He’s gonna blow the
columns.
As Grace realizes what he meanshe grabs her and they RUN.
Around them the Omaticaya flee in horror and confusion.
IN THE COCKPITQuaritch watches as the Omaticaya stream away
from the Great Treerunning along roots and branches.
QUARITCH
That’s how you scatter the roaches. Okay
switch missiles. Give me H-E’s at the
base of the west columns.
PILOTS (V.O.)
Copyswitching missiles.
IN TRUDY’S SAMSON -- she hears the other pilots acknowledging
Quaritch’s order.
TRUDY
Screw it.
She takes her finger OFF the fire-control and pulls her
aircraft out of formation.
PUSHING IN ON QUARITCHthe Hometree reflecting in his
glasses.
108.
QUARITCH
Bring it down.
MISSILES stream down from the DRAGON and the other gunships
and --
The base of Hometree VANISHES in a chain of HIGH-EXPLOSIVE
BLASTS. The massive PILLARS fragment into matchsticksand --
The Omaticaya watch in horror as --
HOMETREE GROANS and starts to MOVE.
In a cacophony of crackingsplintering rootsthe mighty
tree TOPPLES with agonizing slowness.
AT THE BANSHEE EYRIETSU’TEY and the other hunters spur
their mounts into flight. They swoop among the branches as
the treethe one fixed thing in their livesMOVES.
It CRASHES DOWN through the forest canopycrushing the
lesser trees in its pathFALLING PONDEROUSLY.
HOMETREE hits the ground like the end of the worldraising a
great cloud of dust and pulverized debris.
IN THE DRAGON cockpitQuaritch surveys the destruction.
QUARITCH
Nice work people. Alrightlet’s light
it up.
INCENDIARIES launch from the gunshipsEXPLODING into gouts
of FIRE in the debris of Hometree.
THE GUNSHIPS fan the flames through the trees like a fire-
storm. The Omaticaya retreat as a WALL OF FIRE advances.
JAKE SEARCHES for Neytiri amid swirling smoke and sparks.
JAKE
Neytiri! Neytiri!
GRACE is gathering crying CHILDRENand herding them away
from the fire-storm.
NEYTIRI stumbles through the burning wreckage at the edge of
the INFERNO. She sees --
EYTUKAN. A large shard of wood is driven through him like a
spear. He recognizes her as she kneels over him.
109.
EYTUKAN
(subtitled)
Daughter -- take my bow. Protect the
People.
In his last living moment he places his bow in her hands.
She collapses over himher face crumpling in grief.
JAKE reels out of the smoke. Kneels next to her.
JAKE
I’m sorry --
She shoves him away and standsscreaming at him as tears
stream down her face.
NEYTIRI
Get away from meJake.
Go away! Never
come back!
Jake stumbles back as she slumps down by her father’s body.
Sparks and smoke swirl around him. He watches as --
NETYIRI kneelsgrieving. Slumped overclutching her
stomach. Keening like an animal.
SLOW MOTION -- Jake staggers lost and alone through the
burning forest. Utterly shattered. Eyes vacant.
JAKE (V.O.)
I was a warrior who dreamed he could
bring peace. Sooner or later thoughyou
always have to wake up...
INT. LINK ROOM
SELFRIDGE watches a video feed of the destruction on one of
the monitors. Max and NORM stare in shock.
SELFRIDGE
Pull the plug.
A TROOPER crosses to the console and grabs the handle of the
MASTER BREAKER --
EXT. RAINFOREST
The strings are cut. Jake flops to the groundlimp.
Elsewhere in the smoky HellGrace slumps unconscious. The
crying kids pull at her. Mo’atleading a group of
Omaticayacomes upon the scene.
110.
She grabs the kids and pulls them awayleaving Grace’s
avatar helpless in the path of the flames. She hesitates
then --
MO’AT
(subtitled)
Bring her.
INT. LINK ROOM
BLACKNESS. Then the top clamshell of Jake’s unit is yanked
upwardand troopers grab himzip-tie his wrists as we --
CUT TO:
EXT. RAINFOREST - DUSK
ON A HILLSIDE -- a grieving Neytiri stands with Mo'at and the
Omaticaya refugees. Two hunters pull Grace’s avatar on a
travois.
They watch as the flames burn like a funeral pyre below. A
great pall of smoke darkens the landscape.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. LOCK-UP - NIGHT
JakeGraceand Norm are in a common holding cell. They
sitstaring in silence. Too wired to sleeptoo emotionally
drained to move.
GRACE
They never wanted us to succeed.
AT THE DESK OUTSIDEthe lone TROOPER looks up as --
TRUDY approaches along the corridorpushing a stainless
steel trolley.
TRUDY
Personally I think steak’s too good for
these traitors.
GUARD
They get steak? That’s bullshit. Let me
see that --
The guard bends to look into the hot cart and --
THE MUZZLE of Trudy’s pistol presses behind his ear.
111.
TRUDY
Oops.
(shoving him down)
All the way down
pendejo.
She WHISTLES and MAX trots around the corner.
Trudy binds the guard with one of his own zip-ties as Max
