She waited many breeding cycles to have this calf. The clan was so happy for her. What is this, Tonowari? What is this?!
Ronal regarding the death of her spirit sister Ro'a.
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Ronal is the Tsahìk of the Metkayina clan and mate of Tonowari. With her husband, she is the mother of the free-divers, Aonung, Tsireya and an unborn child. She also is the spiritual sister of the tulkun, Ro'a.
While Jake Sully, Neytiri and their children work with Ronal's family to learn the ways of the Metkayina, Ronal spends her time with Neytiri, instructing the Omatikayatsakarem on how to live in harmony with the ocean. When the RDA tracks the family, Ronal fights to protect her clan on the battlefield.
When the Sully family seeks refuge with the Metkayina clan, both Ronal and her mate make the difficult decision to provide it. She seems almost offended by their request for asylum. Unlike Tonowari, who values Jake Sully as Toruk Makto and a formidable warrior, Ronal is very apprehensive and particularly direct. She also criticizes the Sully children and makes Kiri uncomfortable when she shows her hands and Lo'ak's to the clan and claims they have "demon" blood. She and Neytiri initially don't get along because Ronal tries to undermine Jake's accomplishments, prompting Neytiri to defend him. Although still reluctant, Ronal finally agreed with her partner's decision to give the Sully family uturu.
Although rarely, Ronal accompanied and assisted the Sullys as they learned the ways of the Metkayina. Together with her daughter, Tsireya, she taught the children how to use gill mantles, and also showed Tuktirey how to pluck shellfish from the bottom of the sea. During this, Ronal witnessed Kiri's mysterious powers with the marine life and was impressed.
Ronal assisting a comatose Kiri.
Later when Kiri falls into a coma as a result of a seizure from connecting to the Spirit Tree, Ronal went to help her. However, seeing scientists Max Patel and Norm Spellman help her with specialized medical devices for it, she was disheartened and outraged, saying they do not need her help. Neytiri convinced her to help and ordered the scientists to get out and let her work since the scientists' methods were ineffective. Ronal helped Kiri wake up using her medical practices, thanks to which she regained consciousness.
Ronal angered at her daughter Tsireya.
When the tulkun returned to Awa'atlu, Ronal greeted her spiritual sister Ro'a happily. They exchanged memories of the last months, paying special attention to their children. Ro'a had had a son while away, while Ronal's pregnancy entered an advanced stage. After the migration, she learned of Lo'ak and the tulkun Payakan's friendship. Ronal became furious at her daughter for allowing Lo'ak to bond with the outcast.
Soon after, tulkun hunters operating near Awa'atlu, led by Mick Scoresby, organized a hunt and targeted Ro'a. When Ronal discovered the dead body of her spirit sister and her calf dead, she fell into despair. The death of her spiritual sister and her baby caused the Metkayina to plan to retaliate with weapons, which Jake tried to stop them from. However, when she learned from Jake that her children are in danger, Ronal prepared for battle. Tonowari tried to convince her to stay in the village due to her pregnancy, but she was determined to fight alongside the rest. With their warriors, they mounted their skimwings and set off to face the Sky People.
Ronal fighting on her swimwing.
Arriving at the Three Brother Rocks, they were stopped by Miles Quaritch, who ordered Jake to surrender, threatening to shoot his children and Tsireya. When Jake admitted that the entire conflict stemmed from his personal feud with the colonel, Ronal accused him of bringing the war to her clan. Jake humbly accepted her words, then set off alone for the SeaDragon. However, with Payakan's unexpected and arbitrary attack on the ship, the Metkayina enter the war. Ronal personally killed at least one tulkun hunter.
Neteyam's Funeral[]
Ronal at Neteyam's funeral.
After the battle ended, Ronal led the funeral with Tonowari and the rest of the clan for Jake's son Neteyam, who was killed in the battle. After the funeral, she did not protest when Tonowari decided to accept the Sully family as full members of the Metkayina clan.
Personality[]
Ronal body shaming Lo'ak in front of her entire clan.
Ronal has a wise and strong personality as a warrior which makes her clash with Neytiri. She greatly respects her husband Tonowari, trusting his decisions even if she disagreed with them. Ronal is described as being fiercely independent.[2]
She is far more cautious than her mate, being the most critical of welcoming the Sully family during their arrival. She does not look out for only her own family, but her community as a whole, hence why she is highly critical and suspicious about letting the Sully family stay. She may be more forceful and protective, calling for war and the Sully family’s exile after Ro'a and her child were killed by the RDA.
Abilities[]
Ronal riding a skimwing underwater.
As the Tsahìk of the clan, Ronal is responsible for spiritually instructing and leading their ceremonies. However, she also assists in other areas, whether it be fighting, gathering or cooking. Despite being pregnant, she does not let this stop her from entering the battlefield and doing whatever she can to help protect her family and clan. In addition, she has keen knowledge in traditional Na'vi medicine. Her expertise was displayed after Kiri's seizure as she performs a ritual, resulting in Kiri gaining her consciousness back, which humans with well-developed technology failed to do.
Ronal has deep respect for her husband and she trusts his decisions even if she disagreed with them. Tonowari is a loving companion and tries to prevent Ronal from participating in the battle while pregnant. Together they raise their children with great discipline, expecting the best of them.
Their mother-son relationship is not explored deeply. It is certain that Ronal cares for her son, but she is also visibly strict with him, being harsh on Aonung for endangering Lo'ak's life.
Other than a serious conversation with Lo'ak, during which Ronal berated her daughter Tsireya for letting him bond with the outcast, the mother-daughter relationship was not explored further. Tsireya can be seen assisting Ronal with medical procedures. When the children were attacked by the RDA, Ronal rushed into battle with no hesitation, despite her pregnancy. Upon hearing that Tsireya had been captured, Ronal hisses and showed signs of distress and concern for her daughter.
Ronal devastated by the slaughter of Ro'a and her calf.
Ro'a was Ronal's spirit sister.
According to Ronal, Ro'a was a composer of songs and the two sang together and that she had waited many mating cycles to have her calf. Ronal was so loving to her spiritual sister and was very happy for her when she had her baby. But when Ro'a was killed by the Sky People and her baby died as well, Ronal was left very devastated, wanting to avenge their deaths.
At first, Ronal had a tense relationship with Neytiri. The relationship between Ronal and Neytiri was tense since both have strong and similar personalities. Neytiri was offended by Ronal touching her children, and was exasperated by Ronal's claim that her children have "demon" blood. When Ronal began criticizing Jake, Neytiri defended him and began listing his merits, pointing out Jake was Toruk Makto and that he helped save her people.
Over time, however, both found a thread of understanding, derived mainly from the common title of Tsahìk (Neytiri would inherit it in the future). According to Avatar: The Way of Water: The Visual Dictionary, Ronal was instructing Neytiri how to live harmoniously with the ocean. Later on, when the scientists from High Camp came to help Kiri, Neytiri was disgusted by how easily Ronal felt like giving up on helping Kiri awake from her coma. A frustrated Neytiri reminded her, "You are Tsahìk!" This convinced Ronal to help Kiri, and Neytiri told the scientists to get out so that Ronal could perform her medicine. After Ro'a's death, Neytiri felt sincerely sorry for her as Neytiri knew what it was like to lose Seze. Ronal eventually helps Neytiri hold a funeral for Neteyam.
In the original script, Neytiri is greatly offended by Ronal touching her children without their consent, finding Ronal's behavior extremely rude.
She wears her songcords integrated into her skirt, which also happens to have either other songcords or songcord-like strings, showing her bond with her clan.[1]
Ronal doesn't smile much in the movie. It is only seen when greeting Ro'a, her spiritual sister.
Ronal's pregnancy can be seen throughout the film. She barely has a belly when first introduced, but is heavily pregnant during later scenes. This is because The Way of Water is set across several months.
Kate Winslet was impressed upon hearing that Ronal would be a fierce pregnant Na'vi because she felt pregnant women are often not represented enough in media despite that many women will become pregnant throughout their lives, and even if they are represented, they are often portrayed as being merely passive baby carriers who do little to nothing to impact the story.[5] In The Way of Water, Ronal saves Kiri's life and helps out on the battlefield.
Ronal's decision to fight while pregnant has received a divided reception among viewers; some feel it is reckless and endangering her baby's life. Others feel her decision is important for the clan's strength and morale, pointing out that the RDA could have executed her and the Metkayina if the clan lost. Nonetheless, this can be seen as an example of the film exploring complex morality and the idea how there is not always a clear right or wrong choice.
In the early script, it is mentioned pregnant Na'vi give birth to babies in pods which nourish the baby after birth. While it is unclear if this is still canon, this may have factored into Ronal's decision. As long as she was not hit in the abdomen, it is possible that if Ronal died, her child could be removed from her body and survive in its pod which could act as an incubator.
Ronal had an additional line near the end of The Way of Water that did not make it into the film for unknown reasons, with even the CGI for this moment being complete. When Tonowari accepts Jake Sully as a Metkayina, she was originally supposed to say, "Now you must stand with us." [6]
In the original script, when Neytiri successfully hunts, there is a line showing Neytiri's attitude towards Ronal: "Serve that up for dinner, reef bitch."
In the original script, Ronal tries to frame Kiri's seizure as evidence Eywa has turned her back on the Sully family. This may have been removed because it can easily be seen as a low blow towards a family with one of its members in a coma, and making Ronal too unlikable would make viewers sympathize with her less when Ro'a is killed.
During the filming of The Way of Water, Kate Winslet beat (by one minute) Tom Cruise's record of six minutes underwater.[7]
