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When I was lying there in the VA hospital,

with a big hole blown through the middle of my life,

I started having these dreams of flying.

I was free.

Sooner or later, though, you always have to wake up.

In cryo, you don't dream at all.

It doesn't feel like six years.

More like a fifth of tequila and an ass-kicking.

Tommy was the scientist, not me.

He was the one who wanted to get shot light-years out in space

lo find the answers.

Are we there yet?

Yeah, we're there, sunshine.

We're there.

It's about your brother.

So, a week before Tommy's gonna ship out,

a guy with a gun ends his journey for the paper in his wallet.

You've been in cryo for five years, nine months and 22 days.

You will be hungry. You will be weak.

If you feel nausea, please use the sacks...

Yeah, Tommy was the scientist.

Me, I'm just another dumb grunt going someplace he's gonna regret.

Up ahead was Pandora.

You grew up hearing about it, but I never figured I'd be going there.

Your brother represented a significant investment.

We'd like to talk to you about taking over his contract.

And since your genome is identical to his, you could step into his shoes,

so to speak.

It'd be a fresh start on a new world.

And the pay is good.

Very good.

-Exo-packs on! Let's go! Exo-packs on! -Exo-packs on! Let's go!

Remember, people, you lose that mask,

you're unconscious in 20 seconds, you're dead in four minutes!

Let's nobody be dead today! Looks very bad on my report.

Hell's Gate tower, this is TAV 1-6 on approach.

Crossing outer marker. Mine is in sight.

One life ends,

another begins.

Harnesses off! Get your packs!

-Put it together, let's go! Let's go! -Harnesses off! One minute!

When that ramp comes down, go directly into the base. Do not stop!

Go straight inside. Wait for my mark!

Go, go, go, go! Get out of there! Keep moving! Let's go, let's go!

There's no such thing as an ex-Marine.

You may be out, but you never lose the attitude.

I told myself I could pass any test a man could pass.

They can fix a spinal, if you got the money,

but not on vet benefits, not in this economy.

Let's go, special case! Do not make me wait for you!

Well, well, ladies.

Look at all this fresh meat!

Back on Earth, these guys were Army dogs, Marines,

fighting for freedom.

Look out, hot rod!

But out here they're just hired guns,

taking the money, working for the company.

Check this out, man.

Meals on wheels.

Oh, man, that is just wrong.

I got two guys free in about 20 minutes!

Got it! Need them!

You're not in Kansas anymore.

You are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen.

Respect that fact every second of every day.

If there is a hell,

you might want to go there for some RandR after a tour on Pandora.

Out there, beyond that fence,

every living thing that crawls, flies or squats in the mud

wants to Kill you and eat your eyes for Jujubes.

We have an indigenous population of humanoids called the Na'vi.

They're fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin

that'll stop your heart in one minute.

And they have bones reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber.

They are very hard to Kill.

As head of security, it is my job to keep you alive.

I will not succeed.

Not with all of you.

If you wish to survive,

you need to cultivate a strong mental attitude.

You've got to obey the rules.

Pandora rules.

Rule number one...

There's nothing like an old-school safety brief

to put your mind at ease.

Excuse me. Excuse me. Jake! You're Jake, right? Tom's brother.

Wow! You look just like him.

Sorry, I'm Norm. Spellman. I went through avatar training with him.

...into the bio-lab.

We're gonna spend a lot of time up here. Hey! How you doing? Norm, avatar driver.

-Hi. -Hey.

Link... Here's the link room right here.

This is where we're connecting to the avatar.

Me and Norm are here to drive

these remotely controlled bodies called avatars.

And they're grown from human DNA mixed with the DNA of the natives.

-Hey. Welcome. -Hey.

-Welcome to Pandora. Good to have you. -Thanks.

Damn! They got big.

Yeah, they fully mature on the flight out.

So the proprioceptive sims seem to work really well.

Yeah, they've got great muscle tone.

It'll take us a few hours to get them decanted,

but you guys can take them out tomorrow.

There's yours.

Hey. Dr. Norm Spellman.

-Dr. Max Patel. Great to meet you. -Good to meet you, yeah.

Looks like him.

No, it looks like you.

This is your avatar now, Jake.

And the concept is that every driver is matched to his own avatar,

so that their nervous systems are in tune,

or something.

Which is why they offered me the gig, because I can link with Tommy's avatar,

which is insanely expensive.

Is this right? I just say whatever to the video log?

Yeah, we gotta get in the habit of documenting everything.

You know, what we see, what we feel.

-It's all part of the science. -And good science is good observation.

Plus it'll help to keep you sane for the next six years.

All right. Whatever.

So...

Well, here I am,

doing science.

They're coming out!

Attention. Drivers coming out of link.

Oh, God.

Where's the lab coat? Where's the lab coat?

Who's got my goddamn cigarette? Guys! What's wrong with this picture?

-Thank you! -Grace Augustine is a legend.

She's the head of the Avatar Program. She wrote the book,

I mean, literally wrote the book on Pandoran botany.

Well, that's 'cause she likes plants better than people.

Here she is, Cinderella back from the ball.

Grace, I'd like you to meet Norm Spellman and Jake Sully.

Norm. I hear good things about you. How's your Na'vi?

-Grace? This is Jake Sully. -Ma'am.

Yeah, yeah. I know who you are, and I don't need you. I need your brother.

You know, the PhD who trained for three years for this mission?

He's dead.

I know it's a big inconvenience for everyone.

-How much lab training have you had? -I dissected a frog once.

You see? You see? I mean, they're just pissing on us

without even the courtesy of calling it rain.

-I'm going to Selfridge. -No, Grace,

- I don't think that's a good idea. -No, man, this is such bullshit!

I'm gonna kick his corporate butt.

He has no business sticking his nose in my department.

Here tomorrow, 0800. Try and use big words.

Scorpion Two-Hotel, Hell's Gate tower. You are cleared for south departure.

Hover taxi, Delta runway. Squawk ident.

-You see that? -Yes, Sir.

No, you didn't. You were looking at the monitor.

I love this putter, Ronnie! I love this putter.

Parker, you know, I used to think it was benign neglect,

but now I see that you're intentionally screwing me.

Grace, you know, I enjoy our little talks.

I need a researcher. Not some jarhead dropout.

Well, actually, I thought we got lucky with him.

-Lucky? -Yeah.

How is this in any way lucky?

Lucky your guy had a twin brother,

and lucky that brother wasn't some oral hygienist or something.

A Marine we can use.

I'm assigning him to your team as security escort.

The last thing I need is another trigger-nappy moron out there!

Look, look, you're supposed to be winning the hearts

and the minds of the natives.

Isn't that the whole point of your little puppet show?

If you look like them and you talk like them,

then they'll start trusting us.

We build them a school, we teach them English,

but after, what, how many years?

Relations with the indigenous are only getting worse.

Yeah, that tends to happen when you use machine guns on them.

Right. Come here.

I can't... I can't...

This is why we're here. Unobtanium.

Because this little gray rock sells for 20 million a kilo.

That's the only reason. It's what pays for the whole party.

It's what pays for your science.

Now, those savages are threatening our whole operation,

we're on the brink of war,

and you're supposed to be finding a diplomatic solution.

So use what you've got, and get me some results.

So, how much link time have you logged?

-About 520 hours. -That's good.

You're in there. You're here. How much have you logged?

Zip. But I read a manual.

Tell me you're joking.

This is cool.

Let's go.

Don't. I got this.

So you just figured you'd come out here,

to the most hostile environment known to man,

with no training of any kind, and see how it went?

What was going through your head?

Maybe I was sick of doctors telling me what I couldn't do.

-Biometrics are good. -Link three is ready.

Keep your arms in, hands in, head down.