Taking the Plunge

This scene picks up during Jake's first visit out into Pandora as his avatar. He is exploring the new land when he is confronted by various threatening creatures. This clip comes in right as he is being chased through the forest by a thanator.

Many things are conveyed by this scene. While everything looks beautiful and welcoming, we are quickly introduced to the dangers that are ever-present. The creatures are large, aggressive, and intimidating. This makes the viewer uneasy about what may lurk out of sight.

As Jake is chased by the thanator, it crunches through trees almost entirely unimpeded. Trees are understood to be solid and unyielding but the thanator makes short work of them. This shows the strength and size of the thanator, making it very imposing. Jake seemingly has nowhere to run to and nowhere to hide. It seems to be very hopeless.

After finding brief refuge under the roots of a tree, Jake is snatched up by his backpack. However, he slips out and continues running. This offers a glimpse of his ingenuity and battle skills and offers us hope.

Eventually he comes to the top of a waterfall and with nowhere else to go he jumps to the water below. Jake is safe from the thanator and we all sigh a breath of relief. Unfortunately this is short lived. He has "taken the plunge" and is all alone in this dangerous and exotic land.

On the surface this is just an exciting chase scene, but there is more to be taken away from it than that. Like Jake, this is our first time out in the "wild" of Pandora. It quickly becomes apparent that it's not just some beautiful safe haven, but instead a dangerous place that needs to be respected.

Originally Jake set out with a crew of others, but by the end of the scene he is not only separated from them but has a physical barrier (the cliff/waterfall) preventing him from backtracking. He has reached a point of no return and will be forced to spend more time alone in what we now know is a dangerous and unfamiliar place.