What Is Eywa? – ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’s God Explained

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The latest Avatar film, Fire and Ash, explores the world of Pandora and delves deeper into Eywa, the powerful deity of the Na’vi people. Eywa has been a key part of the Avatar story since the first film, and despite some criticisms, the franchise has actually developed a notable cultural presence – evidenced by the popular phrase “Eywa has heard you!” becoming a viral meme. The new film reveals more about Eywa’s abilities and overall purpose, and also shows that not all Na’vi share the same reverence for the planet’s consciousness.

Eywa, a central figure in the world of Avatar, draws inspiration from various myths, including the concept of Mother Nature, the Māori goddess Papatuanuku, and the Norse world tree Yggdrasil. Similar to how the Force connects everything in Star Wars, Eywa is a powerful, all-encompassing force on Pandora. While it might seem complex, the films clearly explain Eywa and its importance to the different tribes who worship it.

What Is Eywa?


20th Century Studios

In the movie Avatar, Norm explains Eywa to Jake, describing her as their god, their creator, and the source of all life – essentially, everything they hold sacred.

Eywa is the central deity worshipped by the Na’vi people. Considered the Great Mother or All-Mother, she’s believed to be the source of all life and everything around them on the planet. The Na’vi believe that when something dies, its energy returns to Eywa. The comic series, Avatar: The High Ground, details three core principles governing Eywa’s influence.

  • You shall not set stone upon stone – This forbids building structures out of non-organic material or elements naturally occurring to the planet that also will decay and be replaced, as opposed to stone structures, which are meant to last. This explains why the Na’vi have no traditional buildings but instead build their homes in naturally occurring elements, like the Home Tree.
  • Neither shall you use the turning wheel – The Na’vi don’t have the wheel. They use manual labor or animals to transport material, and they themselves are attuned to nature to swim, fly, or move through Pandora’s jungles.
  • Nor use the metals of the ground – The Na’vi are not supposed to take or use metals from the Earth. This one is partially expanded upon in Avatar: Fire and Ash, where Jake’s use of guns is meant to symbolically “poison” the heart. This is why only Jake, his sons, and later Quaritch and the Ash Na’vi, who are shut off from Eywa, use machine weapons.

For the Na’vi people, Eywa is the life force present in all living things on Pandora, and they, in turn, are part of Eywa. Pandora itself is essentially Eywa’s physical form. Eywa isn’t just a legend, though—it’s a real, living being connected to the planet. This connection allows the Na’vi and all native life to link with each other through a neural network. Eywa also functions as a vast memory bank, preserving the Na’vi’s history, culture, and the memories of those they’ve loved.

The trees on Pandora are interconnected in a remarkable way, communicating through electrical signals much like the neurons in a brain – and they have even more connections than a human brain! This glowing network throughout Pandora functions similarly to neural pathways, suggesting the entire planet is, at the very least, aware of its surroundings. This awareness becomes clear when Pandora’s creatures actively defend themselves against those who threaten it.

The Na’vi believe that Eywa guides all significant events, both good and bad. When Neytiri first encountered Jake, she intended to kill him, but a sacred spirit touched her bow, causing her to hesitate. Then, when spirits gathered around Jake, she interpreted this as a message from Eywa to bring him to her clan. This single act set in motion the entire story of Avatar, ultimately securing the future of Pandora against the humans. In fact, every major event in the films can be linked back to this moment orchestrated by Eywa.

WARNING: SPOILERS for ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ below!

How Eywa Factors Into ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’


Walt Disney Pictures

In Avatar: Fire and Ash, Eywa is central to the story of Kiri (Sigourney Weaver). The film explains that Kiri is genetically identical to Grace Augustine’s Na’vi Avatar from the first Avatar movie. Kiri was born without a mother; instead, Eywa created her as a seed when Grace and her Avatar were connected to the Home Tree. Essentially, Eywa planted Kiri as a unique life form.

Later in the film, we learn Kiri’s special role: her unique connection to Eywa, the guiding spirit of Pandora, lets her give Spider (Jack Champion) the ability to breathe on the planet. She essentially connects Spider to Pandora with a network of fungal-like growth that changes his nervous system permanently – it can’t be removed without being fatal to him or the new system. Because of Kiri, Spider becomes deeply connected to Pandora and Eywa, making him, in a way, an extension of the planet itself – fitting, since Kiri is considered Pandora’s “daughter.”

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However, Avatar: Fire and Ash also reveals that not all Na’vi share the same beliefs. The Mangkwan Clan, or the Ash people, don’t worship Eywa, Pandora’s goddess, famously stating, “your goddess has no dominion here.” They believe Eywa failed to protect their village and families from a devastating fire. Now, they’re focused on controlling fire themselves, and in a way, destroying Eywa by potentially burning the entire planet.

At the peak of Avatar: Fire and Ash, Kiri, Spider, and Tuk connect with Eywa – Pandora’s spiritual network – through an underwater tree in the Cave of Elders. They briefly see Eywa’s form, which appears as a massive Na’vi face (though the audience only sees it in profile). Kiri’s statement about calling on the “warrior mother” signals that Eywa and Pandora must defend themselves, just as they did in the original Avatar. This connection allows Eywa and Kiri to rally Pandora’s creatures and drive back the human invaders and the Mangkwan Clan’s forces.

During the film’s ending, Spider communicates with the spirits of those who have passed and is accepted as a true member of the Na’vi people, becoming a child of Pandora. The camera then pulls back to reveal a glowing network across Pandora from space, illustrating how Eywa connects everything on the planet. Future Avatar movies will likely delve deeper into Eywa’s power and its connection to both Kiri and Spider.

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2025-12-21 22:19