In 2170, Miles Quaritch's duplicated consciousness was put into a clone recombinant body under Project Phoenix and given the code name Blue One. He was chosen as the commander of the first recombinant squad. Upon arriving on Pandora, Recom Quaritch persuaded the on-world commander four-star General Frances Ardmore to allow him and his squad to hunt down and kill Jake Sully; the outward reason being for Jake's role as the leader of the Na'vi insurgency and the strategic raids he had been leading against the RDA, however the personal reason (spurred on by viewing deceased human Miles Quaritch's video log) was to seek vengeance against Jake for his betrayal fifteen-plus years earlier.
Before the death of his human body, two hours before Miles Quaritch went on a mission to destroy the Tree of Souls, his memories were backed up using a device known as a Soul Drive. A recombinant body for Miles Quaritch was engineered on Earth and was sent to Pandora in an amnio tank on the ISV Vindicator. On the roughly six-year transit, a daily dose of proprioceptive neuromuscular simulators conditioned, matured and strengthened his new body. His consciousness and memories were uploaded from the previously created backup on the Soul Drive.[1]
Quaritch is reborn as a recombinant.
As a result, the recombinant could only remember events that occurred before his original self underwent the backup process; possessing no memory of human Quaritch's death. He now serves as the commander of the 1st Recom Unit with Recom Wainfleet as his lieutenant, although he is outranked by four-star General Frances Ardmore. At the moment of awakening in his new recombinant body, Recom Quaritch is disoriented and aggressive as he attacks the doctors and his colleagues before being restrained by the latter. He soon collects himself and is then stunned by his reflection in window.
Recom Quaritch being briefed by his human counterpart.
Recom Quaritch views a recording made by his human self before the Battle of Ayram Alusìng, in which he tells his recombinant version to take revenge on Jake Sully. While still in Pandora's orbit, before boarding the shuttle and landing on the moon, Recom Quaritch conducts a briefing for his new squad, beginning with the same words he used to greet the newcomers in his original body: "You're not in Kansas anymore." He explains the objectives of future missions, paying special attention to the fact that they have been reborn in the bodies of their enemies, which, however, are better adapted to the environment of Pandora.
Recom Quaritch meets Frances Ardmore.
Aboard a shuttle, Recom Quaritch and the other recombinants arrive at Bridgehead. There, Recom Quaritch is greeted by General Frances Ardmore, the on-world commander in charge of the RDA's interests on Pandora. She informs him of the current goals of human operations on Pandora, which this time are focused on colonizing the planet to develop it into the new home for humanity as the Earth is dying. She further explains that one of the RDA's main objectives is to "pacify" the Na'vi so that they do not pose a threat to their operations. Ardmore shows Recom Quaritch footage of native attacks on RDA industrial and transportation facilities, including footage of the recent train attack by the Omatikaya Resistance led by Jake Sully. Recom Quaritch recognizes his old enemy and decides to find him, which becomes the main objective of his recombinant squad.
Recom Quaritch holding the skull of his original human body.
The team heads into the jungle, Recom Quaritch and his 1st Recom squad visit the Old Battlefield. There, Recom Quaritch grimly discovers his decomposed remains, pierced with Neytiri's distinctive arrows. He then orders Recom Wainfleet to retrieve the footage from the AMP Suit's camera. But before they do that, the recombinants discover and capture three of Jake's children, of which Recom Wainfleet notices Kiri's five-fingered hands. From this, Recom Quaritch then investigates Lo'ak's hands (also seeing five fingers) and deduces that Jake is his father. He then identifies Spider as the son of his human counterpart and is surprised they didn't send him to Earth, to which Spider says that babies cannot be put into cryosleep. Recom Quaritch then watches the dash cam video of human Quaritch's last moments, viewing the fight with Jake and subsequent death by Neytiri's arrows. Learning how his former self perished, Recom Quaritch proceeds to lift and crush human Quaritch's skull.
As the recombinant squad awaits extract, they are ambushed by Jake and Neytiri; Recom Quaritch recognizes Neytiri's arrows. He asks if it is her by referring to her as Mrs. Sully and exclaiming that they have "unfinished business" between them. When Neytiri is shocked that Quaritch was reborn as a recombinant, she calls him a "demon" and vows to kill him as many times as she has too, to which he tells her that she and Jake have sired an entire litter of half-breeds. Although Jake and Neytiri manage to rescue their children, Recom Quaritch kidnaps Spider while he escapes with his team.
Recom Quaritch watching Spider being tortured.
At Bridgehead, RDA scientists attempt to coerce information about Jake from Spider via mental torture but he resists. However Recom Quaritch, moved by the boy's suffering, stops the torture and convinces Ardmore to allow him to change tactics, but she reminds him that he is not his son. Recom Quaritch approaches Spider and tries to act like a father figure towards him, asks for his aid in understanding the Na'vi and their culture in exchange for avoiding further torture. Although initially uncooperative, Spider does grudgingly agree to assist. Recom Quaritch and his remaining recombinant squad set about learning the Na'vi language, though they fail miserably, to which Spider laughs. The Colonel also comes up with the idea of using their new bodies' natural adaptations and taming their own banshees.
Recom Quaritch decides to tame a banshee like Jake did.
To this end, they go to the banshee rookery in the Hallelujah Mountains. Recom Quaritch wants to use tranquilizers to make the animal easier to tame, but Spider speaks of his ambition by saying that even the Na'vi can handle the banshees with their bare hands. However, he fails to mention that a banshee catcher is often used during the Iknimaya ritual, and Recom Quaritch rushes to meet the ikran chosen completely defenseless. He fights with the ikran for a long time, who finally throws himself off the cliff with Recom Quaritch. The recombinants are convinced that the colonel is dead, but Recom Quaritch emerges a moment later, already with his queue connected to the ikran's.
Later, Recom Quaritch learns that Jake and his family have retreated to a Pandoran archipelago when the Bridgehead staff picks up the presence of a rogue Samson on radar. Recom Quaritch then convinces Ardmore to allow him to go to the archipelago. He commandeers the crew of the SeaDragon, a whaling vessel that hunts tulkun led by Mick Scoresby, to help him find Jake. Scoresby initially tries to object, saying that he can't waste time on unprofitable trips, but Recom Quaritch successfully intimidates him. Recom Quaritch arrives at the Ta'unui clan and interrogates the villagers for information on Jake using brute force, but fails to get any information because they all hide his location on the orders of Tonowari, the leader of the Metkayina clan. Recom Quaritch threatens to kill the Tsahìk but he is influenced by Spider's pleas. He lets her live but orders the entire village to be burned.
Recom Quaritch and Scoresby hunting Ro'a.
Realizing that this may lead Sully to run away once more, Recom Quaritch proceeds to have the whaling crew hunt down the tulkuns to lure Jake to him. Scoresby and fellow scientist Ian Garvin demonstrate the tulkun hunting process to Recom Quaritch. After killing the female tulkun Ro'a and transporting her aboard the SeaDragon, they drill into her skull to obtain amrita. Scoresby explains that this substance stops human aging, and that it is now the main export product that allows them to pay for the activities of the RDA.
Recom Quaritch staring uncomfortably after learning about amrita.
Upon learning the RDA had shifted its focused on amrita instead of unobtanium, and listening to Mick Scoresby gloat about amrita's monetary value and asking him "So that's what this is all about?". Recom Quaritch seems to have an expression of disbelief and discomfort, as if he does not have the same reservations about this resource compared to unobtanium. He felt it was worth dying for unobtanium to safeguard humanity's future, but appears uncertain after learning amrita is the next big thing. With the death of Ro'a, who was the spirit sister of Ronal, the Tsahìk of the Metkayina clan, they managed to attract the wrath of the clan.
Threatening to kill Lo'ak, Recom Quaritch orders Jake to come alone.
In another hunt, Recom Quaritch sees Jake's children who rescue Payakan, the outcast tulkun they marked as their next target. He captures Lo'ak, Tuktirey and Tsireya the daughter of the Metkayina leaders, and takes them aboard the SeaDragon as hostages. When Jake and the Metkayina clan arrive at Three Brothers Rocks, Recom Quaritch talks to Jake through Lo'ak's communicator collar, ordering him to turn himself in by threatening to kill his children, berating him for betraying and murdering his own kind. Jake agrees to give up and swims towards the ship alone.
However, the whalers are intercepted by Payakan which leads both sides to start a naval battle. In the ensuing confusion, Jake on his skimwing leaps out of the water, surprising Recom Quaritch by flying off on his banshee. The two end up in the water, but Recom Quaritch manages to escape by getting back to the ship. Lo'ak, Tuk and Tsireya escape with Neteyam's help, and upon seeing them Recom Quaritch and the recombinants open fire, mortally wounding Neteyam and recapturing Tuk with Kiri. Knowing that the boy has died, Recom Quaritch relays the message to Jake, who is still mourning his son, informing him that he has his daughters and telling him to report immediately before the ship sinks. Jake decides to confront Recom Quaritch and finally finish him off.
Recom Quaritch holds Kiri at knifepoint.
Once Jake manages to reach Recom Quaritch, he holds Kiri at knifepoint, demanding that Jake submit, Spider attempts to defuse the situation, but Recom Quaritch orders him to stay back, Neytiri, enraged by Neteyam's death, also holds to Spider as a hostage threatening to kill him. At first Recom Quaritch denies Spider as his son, only to desist when Neytiri cuts the latter's chest and about to kill him, he reflexively lets go of Kiri, betraying his weakness towards the boy. He lets Jake and his family go, however, he announces that the next time they meet, they will finish him off and he won't hesitate to kill the rest of his family.
Jake and Recom Quaritch engaged in a knife fight.
Jake decides to finish it immediately and launches into a fight with the colonel. At the same time, the SeaDragon sinks and they all get separated. Recom Quaritch and Jake fight underwater, mutually unarmed. They try to strangle each other, and Jake eventually succeeds in choking Recom Quaritch unconscious, letting his body sink into the water. However, he is found by Spider. At first he hesitates to save him but ultimately decides not to leave him and drags him out of the ship onto land. Recom Quaritch regains consciousness and begs his son to come with him, but Spider refuses and returns to the Sully family, leaving an injured and weakened Recom Quaritch to fly away on his banshee.
Personality and Traits[]
Quaritch as a Recom.
Upon becoming a Recom, Quaritch remained mostly the same in many ways. He did not seem to take much issue with his new body rather than be surprised and had adopted a few Na'vi mannerisms such as speaking their native language and bonding with an ikran. He believes that understanding one's enemy is key to victory and so he feels one step close to defeating them already. In rare instances, he also displayed a sense of mercy, as demonstrated when he spared the life of the Ta'unui Tsahìk and chose not to kill Kiri when Neytiri used Spider as a hostage against him.
After The Secret of the Spires DLC is completed, Quaritch's voice is heard in a radio message by Teylan. Quaritch says, "Your job is on the line here, I'm damn sick and tired of this. You understand? I don't want anymore shilly-shallying, you go in there and you do what needs to be done, because the whole damn frontier has gone to hell. I say it's high-time we bring in the big guns. Total elimination, Major, understood? You take that insurgency out."
Recom Quaritch attempting to convince Spider to ride along with him.
Recom Quaritch haa a rather complex relationship with the son of his original self.
When Spider first meets Recom Quaritch in the forest, he showed active distain for him, insulting him when he asked why he hadn't been sent back to earth. Later, Recom Quaritch frees Spider from the RDA's torture when his exposure to it risks real damage to his brain, a starting point for the complicated bond of empathy the two develop. He is also told by Recom Quaritch's Recom that him and the human Recom Quaritch are technically two separate people. Their bond begins to grow across the months as they explore Pandora together while Spider is made to help the recoms, and Spider notices how amusing some aspects of Recom Quaritch actually are, from his lack of knowledge of ikrans to his rough Na'vi language.
Recom Quaritch and Spider bonding.
When Recom Quaritch and his recombinants interrogate one of the reef clans, Spider is horrified by Recom Quaritch's ruthlessness and disgusted by the act, pleading with Recom Quaritch not to kill the Tsahìk of the Ta'unui clan. When Recom Quaritch still ends up shooting an ilu to make them talk, Spider's continuing pleas to not hurt them and calling him out on what he's doing cause him to reluctantly spar the Tsahik's life and burn the village instead, seemingly not willing to deteriorate their bond any further. When Recom Quaritch holds Kiri hostage, Spider begs Recom Quaritch not to kill her and Neytiri holds him at knifepoint, and seems visibly surprised that he releases kiri after Neytiri raises her knife to kill Spider. They both realize that Recom Quaritch truly cares about his welfare to the point where he is willing to give up any advantage he has to keep him alive. However, when Recom Quaritch threatens to kill the Sully family, Spider leaves Recom Quaritch to fight Jake to the death, chasing not to interfere in their battle.
Spider finds an unresponsive Recom Quaritch instead of Jake.
After returning to the SeaDragon to rescue Jake, Neytiri, and Tut, Spider stumbles across Recom Quaritch's unconscious body on verge of drowning. Despite trying to leave him to die, Spider swears at himself and reluctantly decides to rescue Recom Quaritch instead of searching for the others, using his life vest to help lift him to the surface.
Once dragging him to the surface, Recom Quaritch extended the offer for Spider to come with him and called him son for the first time. Spider hesitated momentarily, but then hissed at him and without a word, left Recom Quaritch to return to the Sullys.
It's clear he might be somewhat conflicted about this, but he does it because he knows that if he lives, he might still have a chance at a real father, a real family. Therefore, the real reason he saved Recom Quaritch was because Neytiri (and partly Jake) rejected him as a son.
Ardmore allowing Quaritch to try a softer approach.
Although Ardmore and Quaritch are new acquaintances, she is shown to respect him for fighting for humanity's side during the first Pandoran War, and was excited to meet his Recom when they met at Bridgehead. She has entrusted him with killing Jake Sully for her, though does not want Quaritch to be emotionally attached to figures such as Spider, as seen when she agrees to stop his torture at Quaritch's request.
Trivia[]
Recom Quaritch's awakening in his Recombinant body shares some parallels to Jake Sully's awakening as an avatar.
Both had a very excited awakening in their new bodies, though Recom Quaritch's was more violent compared to Jake. In both of these scenarios, doctors attempted to sedate them but did not succeed.
Both were astonished from examining their new forms and quickly adapted to them as well.
The scene in Avatar: The Way of Water in which Recom Quaritch discovers his human corpse and eventually crushes its skull was suggested by Stephen Lang. It was inspired by a famous scene in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, where the title character picks up a skull and says "Alas poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio." James Cameron liked the idea and added the scene to the script.[2]
„Well, ain't this a bitch.“- Seeing himself as a recombinant.
„Now, I know you're all asking yourselves the same question. Why so blue?“- To the recombinants.
„For our sins in our past life, we have been brought back in the form of our enemy.“- To the recombinants.
„Is that you, Mrs. Sully? I recognize your callin' card. Why don't you come on out, Mrs. Sully? You and I, we got some unfinished business. Guess you and the Corporal have been pretty busy, haven't ya? Got yourself a whole litter of half-breeds.“- Recognizing Neytiri's arrow.
„I'll be nice, once. Then I won't.“- To Mick Scoresby.
„I took you under my wing, Jake. You betrayed me. You killed your own. Good men, good women. I will not hesitate to execute your kid.“- Threatening to shoot Lo'ak in the back of the head.
„You think I care about some kid? He's not mine. We're not even the same species.“- To Neytiri regarding Spider.
„I owe you a death.“- Recom Quaritch swearing revenge against Neytiri for killing his original body.
