I... I had to focus on you. The children. Protect you. But now I know that we were the ones you needed protection from. We wanted our school. Our program.
Dr. Alma Cortez worked in the Avatar Program on Pandora. She was one of the original 20 avatar drivers and was part of The Ambassador Program (TAP). She is currently resisting the Colonization of the Western Frontier, and is an operation leader of the Resistance.
Biography[]
Alma working for TAP 23 years ago.
Alma was a brilliant xenoanthropologist back on Earth, specializing in the study of alien cultural development. She was interested in the Na'vi, believing she could study them up close and bring them a better future. Her co-worker John Mercer manipulated her into believing they were simply primitive savages, but she would eventually realize they were peaceful and more complex than he claimed.
In the late 2130s, she worked for TAP; she was not a mere teacher but also co-founded it with Mercer. She thought the program could create a measurably better life for the Na’vi, though she was also motivated by ambition, wanting to be the first to study their culture up close.[2] The goal of TAP was to raise young Na'vi and teach them human ways in order to hopefully improve Na'vi-human relations. In a note, she mentioned, "They don't know what human culture could do to elevate them and all Na'vi kind."
However, TAP's purpose would become darker over the years; Mercer planned on taking Na'vi children and using them to win the admiration of the RDA through any means necessary.
Alma resolves to protect the Sarentu children after the massacre.
In 2138, Alma assisted John Mercer and Angela Harding with trying to take the children from the Sarentu Clan, as she believed the former's propaganda. However, the Sarentu refused to give their children over, so Mercer ordered Sec-Ops to use violent force and killed nearly the entire clan. Corrosive acid was used by Mercer to cover up this misdeed which in turn created a poisonous gas that prevented anyone from investigating, leaving both the RDA and other Na'vi clans unaware of what had happened to the Sarentu. Alma was one of the few people to know the truth and would harbor great guilt from the incident, later resolved to spend her life trying to protect the children to make up for her guilt.
Despite this, she is claimed by Nor to have had rather a passive role when it came to Mercer's and Harding's physical and emotional abuse of the children, not taking much action to prevent it from happening. Alma was also deeply affected when Aha'ri was murdered by Mercer in 2146, yet she kept being involved in TAP.
Alma prepares the students for cryosleep.
In 2154, with the outbreak of the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains the program was interrupted and John Mercer gave the order to execute the children. She saved her students, rebelling against her associates and killing the soldiers, then put the Na'vi children into cryosleep hibernation to hide them. While leaving, she witnessed an explosion at the TAP facility since Mercer wished to cover up evidence of TAP, and she assumed the children had died. While she admits she was pretty certain, a part of her considered they could be alive. She admits she was scared of facing the children again due to her role in TAP.
She then traveled to Hell's Gate and eventually met Jake Sully, and hoped she could unite the Na'vi and humans. Jake granted her request to stay on Pandora. She kept her role in TAP from him, and thus Jake is unaware of program's existence. She began to heavily use her avatar form, even to the degree some people have never seen her human form.
After the RDA returned to Pandora, Jake left Alma in charge of Resistance efforts for the Western Frontier region.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora[]
Alma is seen in the prologue, caring for the children. She wakes up the protagonist and the rest of the children around 2169, then heads to the Resistance HQ with them. There only the protagonist and Teylan learn from Alma that they have been in cryosleep for almost fifteen years.
After the Aranahe Clan agrees to join the Resistance, the Sarentu meets Alma in her human form. This form amazes the protagonist, and Alma confesses that she rarely leaves the connection unit, as she prefers to communicate with her students in avatar form.
Nor confronting Alma about her passivity with Mercer's abuse.
Long later, during the joint celebration of the Resistance and the Zeswa clan after the destruction of the mining facility, Alma asked the protagonist to talk to her privately. Alma expressed her pride in what both of them had become, but a moment later Nor joined the conversation, glad he has a memento of their clan back. When Alma said, "It is back with us", her usage of "us" offends Nor, saying the two of them are not the same. Nor began to accuse Alma of never standing up for the children whenever they were victims of physical or psychological abuse by Mercer and Harding. Suddenly, Alma heard a message from Priya Chen, warning headquarters was about to be bombed. After the attack, Alma managed to escape, although her avatar was seriously injured. Together with the rest of the survivors, she hid in a hideout in the Clouded Forest.
The protagonist's investigation leads them to the Circle of Songs; it discovered that years ago, at the meeting place of the Sarentu, Mercer had kidnapped the Sarentu children for the purposes of TAP. This discovery gave closure to the protagonist, but at the same time helped exonerate Anufi, the tsahìk of the Kame'tire clan, who was falsely accused of poisoning her allies by Mokasa. Anufi forced Mokasa to reveal his true memories. In his memories, Anufi saw that Mercer initially wished to take the Kame'tire children for TAP's purposes, but Mokasa, wanting to protect his clan, betrayed the location of the Sarentu camp, thus condemning them to extermination.
Nor stabs Alma after discovering her secrets.
The protagonist asked Anufi for medicine for Alma's avatar. However, when Anufi went to the Resistance hideout to administer it to Alma, she recognized her from Mokasa's memories. After hearing from Alma the story of Sarentu's betrayal and murder, Nor, in a fit of fury, stabbed Alma with a knife, mortally wounding her avatar. Alma, in her dying avatar body, decided to share her memories with the protagonist and Ri'nela, so they take her to the Circle of Ancestors, where all three of them connected with each other through the sacred tree and Eywa.
Alma's avatar dying beside Ri'nela.
Alma's memories confirmed that she participated in the Sarentu kidnapping and murder, but she was unaware that Mercer and Angela Harding aimed to kill the Na'vi until the very end. Alma watched, shocked at the soldiers' actions, while hugging and comforting one of the kidnapped children. After transferring her memories, Alma's avatar died, and Ri'nela decided to bury the avatar.
During the next conversation with the protagonist, Alma said that she still wanted the best for the youths and would always be available needed.
After defeating John Mercer and destroying his drilling base, the protagonist, Teylan, Ri'nela and Alma met on a hill overlooking the ruins of the base. Alma hopefully asked the children if they could continue their adventure as a new family, but Teylan and Ri'nela reacted to the offer with obvious reluctance. Ri'nela said they followed Alma's path long enough, but it was now time to follow their own. Ri'nela noted that she and her friends must find their own way among the Na'vi. Alma said she was proud of them and glad she got them this far. Ri'nela told Alma the scars of the past will not shape their future, but allies will always be welcome. The protagonist, Ri'nela and Teylan leave Alma, but the four of them do the "I See you" gesture as they depart.
The Sky Breaker[]
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Alma after her torture.
Alma is present at the Great Games, and has an awkward encounter with Mokasa.
Later, she is abducted by the RDA and is tortured by Harding using a NeuroSect. She gives into the torture and Harding obtains a brain scan.
Quests[]
- Awakening:
- Penance: In this side quest, Alma visits the burial site of her avatar, finding it strange. Ri'nela, however, reveals she holds a lot of resentment towards Alma herself.
Personality[]
Alma Cortez as a human.
Alma is a complicated woman. While she is good-natured deep down, she can be perceived as selfish or cowardly which can make her do immoral things which she harbors guilt over. Alma can be considered a strong example of inner strength gradually being built in someone whose psychology and values are shaped by every tragedy and truth they face. For every hardship and mistake she has been involved in, Alma becomes more disillusioned and less of a wishful thinker.
Alma was a kind and patient teacher who treated her students well, but only on one-on-one interactions. For a long time she did not stand up to John Mercer, who lied to the children about their pasts and sometimes used violence against them. She also did not intervene when Mercer and Angela Harding used harsh methods on the children, with Nor viewing her as a passive bystander such as when his fingers were broken by Angela Harding.
Additionally, she apparently never tried to expose what happened to the Sarentu clan to the RDA, likely out of fear what would happen to her. She also became close to the children and believed that if she revealed she was partially responsible for killing their parents, the children would distance and even hate her for it. In her mind, she seems to have underwent mental gymnastics that she could prevent the children from further exploitation, and had to be some sort of mother figure to the orphaned children who deserved one, as her lack of questioning and protest back in the day resulted in the deaths of their real mothers.
When Aha'ri was murdered and Mercer tried to cover it up in the school records, Alma let it be. However, she would eventually write an additional note: "I was too much of a coward to write this when it happened. But I'll write it now. For all the kids. [...] What started as a dream will haunt me forever. I will make this right. Let the record state: John Mercer murdered Aha'ri. In cold blood!" This shows she has grown a "better late than never" mindset.
Alma in her avatar as part of the Resistance.
During the assault on Hell's Gate, she finally took the opportunity to rebel against Mercer. She saved the lives of the students by killing the soldiers, thus openly opposing him. She then joined the Resistance, even keeping her past hidden from Jake Sully, and tried to fight for the Na'vi, hoping she could redeem herself and make things right, even if a higher power if one exists, or even the deceased Sarentu clan, may not ever forgive her. Still, Alma's lies-of-omission would result in the loss of her avatar body when an angered Nor said all she ever does is lie and lie, and he fatally stabbed her over it. While viewing her avatar's grave with Ri'nela, Alma does not express a belief that what Nor did was wrong.
Alma was ambitious, wanting desperately her dream of uniting humanity and the Na'vi, yet her actions ironically contributed to more conflict between the two species. She admits she was too ambitious, and in a note, she mentioned, "The institutions back home won't believe it. I'd be responsible for the greatest strides in Na'vi/human relations ever. I have to make this work. I have to." This suggests that benefiting the Na'vi was not her sole motivation, but she was well aware of the fame and recognition she herself would receive, and she was highly tempted by this appraisal of being a renowned anthropologist.
Audio Logs[]
Main Game[]
Alma's Personal Log: Back to TAP[]
Alma's Personal Log: Considering Ardmore[]
Alma's Personal Log: The Right Choice[]
Alma's Personal Log: Supply Chains[]
TAP Subject Log: Aha'ri[]
The Sky Breaker DLC[]
Alma's Personal Log: Aftermath[]
Notable Quotes[]
- „NO! Let me talk to them! What are you doing?!“ - Trying to prevent the RDA from killing the Sarentu clan.
- „I always said I didn't know. But I did. I hungered for glory. Recognition. At any cost. Our dream began with a massacre...“
- „I had to focus on you, the children. Protect you. But now I know that we were the ones you needed protection from. We wanted our school, our program. So we stole you. Your clan tried to stop us so we killed them. Even this death won't absolve me of the crimes I've committed here. I accept that.“
- „The avatar felt like my true self.“
- „It's ironic, really. If Mercer hadn't come back, the RDA would never have scanned for life signs at TAP. Priya would never have intercepted their call. So thanks, John. You saved the kids, in a roundabout way. I'm sure you're kicking yourself.“
Trivia[]
Karen Glave.
- Alma bears a high resemblance to her voice actress Karen Glave, making it possible this was intentional.
- Alma's name was kept hidden from the public until the time the game was released. While her name appeared in a section on the Pandorapedia, the name was not ascribed to any character visually. As such, those looking forward to Frontiers of Pandora simply referred to her as the teacher.
- Alma is hated by some players, viewing her as a liar and monster who does not deserve redemption, and they agree with Nor killing her avatar.[3]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
| Title | Format | Release date | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora | Video game | December 7, 2023 | Voiced by actress Karen Glave. |
| Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora — So'lek's Journey | Comic book | February 28, 2024 |
References[]
| Known avatars | ||
|---|---|---|
| Avatars from 2154 and before | Alma Cortez · Basketball Avatar (male) · Basketball Avatar (female) · Blonde avatar driver · Grace Augustine · Jake Sully (shared with Tom Sully) · Norm Spellman · Unnamed male avatar | |
| Reckoning (2170s) | Ashley Sloane · Cynthia · Eaton Roberts · Joe Santos · John · Kim Greene · Lily Reese · Moore · Nathan Gomez · Niya Hassan · Phil Bennet · Polina Sidorova · Raven · Raven's Father · Raven's Mother · Reid · Ruby Carr · Simona Costello · Titus McMahon · Trinity Harper · Victor Rogers · Vince Anderson · Will Murphy · Wolfe · Zeke Hodge | |
| Distant future | Jaclyn Ogden | |
| Non-canonical | Able Ryder · Anson Langley · Conrad Olson · Gregorius · Jerome Epstein · Molly Ossman · Moran · René Harper · Ryan Lorenz · Ryder Masterson · Zane Madaki | |