Understanding Some of the RDA's Motives (SE Scene)

[Human No More]

Originally Posted by Woodsprite

Gonna have to separate...


I... don't think that's what he was saying.



So... then why were you acting like it wasn't before?



Well, the growth rates appear to be the same. Mo'at looks old. So does Eytukan and many of the others who look older. So given that reference, I think I can safely make an assumption on how old Neytiri looks, because Mo'at and Eytukan are obviously older than 50. Neytiri thus looks (very much) like she's about 24 or 25.

Yet for all you know, Mo'at COULD be 100, or older. There's no basis for comparison other than it being mentioned that Na'vi have similar lifespans to humans (meaning 22nd century humans)

So... destroying a sacred area is equivalent to actually murdering someone?

Did I say that?
No. What I said was that it was still an attack on a place they consider important, on a sentient lifeform, and on their very way of life. Any ONE of those is justifiable for retaliation in my opinion.

How do you know that? Maybe not families with children, but what about grown families, who've been there for 20 years?

The RDA is essentially military. Space and resources are limited, including the ISVs to carry people to and from Pandora and supplies to Pandora.
Either way, in the Na'vi takeover of Hell's Gate (which did happen mostly offscreen and with part in the script), I doubt they would do such things, particularly as Jake wanted to send the survivors back to Earth rather than just execute them - in a way, to show how they were better than the RDA, as such an action WOULD have made them almost as bad, I freely admit.

Give me a break. Trudy, actually, is proof of what knowledge can do to change your opinion. The rest of the mercenaries didn't know what they were really doing, except thinking they were killing off native savages that didn't have feelings. Trudy traveled with Grace and her team all the time, and she had a knowledge base in the science being conducted on Pandora. That's why she ultimately decided, "Screw this," because she knew exactly what she was doing if she pressed that "Fire" button.

Perhaps, but everyone would now they are sentient still... Truthfully, Trudy is NOT the same as the rest of the marines, who are idiotic Wainfleet types who actually ENJOY killing, hence signing up to be paid to kill beings in the first place. Trudy didn't sign up for that.

In my humble opinion, with just the knowledge of Trudy, I believe if other members of the RDA knew what was really going on, whether they be miner, mercenary, or just a plain pilot, they would've had the same reaction as Trudy, and would've stepped down. Think about it, please.

Like the Dragon gunship pilot who was laughing?
Some people ARE simply terrible examples of humanity with absolutely no redeeming qualities. There always have been such people, probably always will.
To even the average person, a sentient species who VERY strongly physically resemble humans would trigger any number of responses... amazement, interest, compassion, love, maybe even some fear... but not "hmm, I wonder if I can kill them".

...But they weren't defending their home. They were attacking out of revenge. The attack on the mining team was not an attack to defend anything. It never was. It was a vengence ploy.

And not stopping them to limit the damage?
Sure, vengeance is part of it, but that's justified considering what they just did. Anyway, many of those responsible were at Hell's Gate and put on a shuttle back to Earth, so did not get what they deserved in the end anyway.

They knew what they were getting into, and the destruction of the trees of voices was really just the last straw for them. It was an outrage to the Na'vi. If it happened to me, I'd be mad as hell. I'd want to do something about it... but would I go all out and pull a Michael Corleone, shooting down my enemies in hot blood? No. And neither would you... hopefully.

You don't know me.
If someone hurt my family (yes, I said family because if anything, Eywa is closer with the Na'vi's connection to Pandora), then I definitely would want vengeance, I'd want to make them suffer for what they did and prolong it for as long as I could.
When you clearly shouldn't do something in the first place, saying you didn't know it specifically is no excuse.

The Na'vi's attack was all they knew how to do. It's all they could do, and I sympathize, as I said. But that still doesn't change the fact that it was an attack that was uncalled for, and was too severe. They could have just destroyed the equipment.

And the marines would have let them do that, I assume?

They could've left everyone alive. But they didn't. It's understandable, yes, but still unacceptable.

How exactly? An action like that takes some time, it would not be possible to without harming people unless it was left unguarded.

Again, keep looking at it from the RDA's perspective. Don't just look at it from yours.

I understand their motivation, I just could not disagree with it more completely.

See, that's where you're blowing things out of proportion again. I knew you'd make a comment like this, which is why I wrote the two sentences afterward:

They had no idea what they were destroying, or what they were really doing, to know why they were being attacked. The Nazis knew what they were doing. So did the Red Army under Mao. So did the enforcers under Pol Pot. The miners didn't want to kill anyone. "I got a native doing a funky chicken, here. He's blocking my blade." If the guy was truly guilty, he would've deliberately tried to kill Jake. The only truly guilty ones are the mercenaries.

Then why didn't that make him stop and think? Why didn't he consider WHY the Na'vi would stop him from destroying it?
If that didn't, why did Jake taking a rock and destroying the cameras not do that? Why did he not realise he was causing them to respond?
Anyway, you could see he was considering it, he just wanted to ask first. Selfridge tells him to, but he doesn't stop. He doesn't object. He doesn't refuse to. He doesn't even just give Selfridge the console and say 'do it yourself.'.