Mo'At has called on her clan to assist her with prayers at the Tree of Souls, after much persuasion by Joe White; Mo'At almost forcibly, and against her own doubt and skepticism, agreed to offer her prayers to Eywa for the saving of his soul. Joe has determined that he must attempt to cross through Eywa from his real body and return to his avatar body; permanently, like Jake once did, it is his only chance to live. For now, his thoughts of revenge towards Sully have all but vanished. Just a few hours back, on board the ISV, Jake told him a story he could not readily believe; now, he stands in front of the tree and with an opportunity to save his life, to become potentially "eternal". In Joe's view, who could have imagined that after all, and ironically, the idea of eternity would in fact lie in "The Heavens".
The tree for now only reflects the mild glow of the sky, in which by now, a dark Polyphemus is clear in everyone's view. Joe White walks into the tree area, he's naked, only wearing his exopack gear as he
approaches the higher ground where Mo'At stands waiting. At a short distance stands Neytiri, with the Pervert still close to her and pointing his gun.
Joe climbs on to the natural platform, he approaches Mo'At, he does not speak, he is understandably in a sort of mental haze, resulting from the severe anxiety of knowing that he may be about to die, that this whole thing may not work. The extreme adrenalin has drove him temporarily insane, he is paled and breaking a very cold sweat still, like a terrorist about to commit a suicidal act.
Mo'At says to Joe as he approaches: "I will ask you one last time, are you sure you want to put your fate in the hands of Eywa?". Joe stays quiet, looks around him with an almost saddened face, looks back at Mo'At, tells her in a very nervous tone: "I've come this far, I can't turn back". Mo'At replies: "Very well, you must understand then that regardless of how much effort me and the people -Omaticaya- put into this, no matter how much we plea to her, at the end, it is only her will that prevails". Joe looks at her, and after a brief moment replies: "her will is my destiny". Mo'At looks at him in a skeptic way for she is almost certain he will go to Eywa and stay there; since in her view Eywa only returns souls for a purpose, for which apparently, Joe has none.
Mo'At instructs Joe to lay on the ground, he proceeds to lay there quietly, looking up onto the tree and slowly closing his eyes, the tree still barely glows. The Omaticaya sit around and slowly begin their ritual praying in darkness. After a brief moment, Joe's pilot is seen entering the tree "temple", he is carrying the body of the Old Man, Joe's real body. The Old Man has been naked, and is now near lifeless. The pilot carries with him a small electronic box where all the wires and catheters from the Old Man's body connect to, the Old Man also wears his exogear.
They walk onto the higher ground, Mo'At notices the Old Man clings on to his life support portable box, with all the catheters still connected. Mo'At approaches them, she tells Joe's pilot: "If any are to trust the power of Eywa, they must do so fully, otherwise, Eywa will not respond, she will not grant". Mo'At points with her eyes to the life support box that holds the "Old Man" alive. The pilot looks at Mo'At, he then looks at the "Old Man" who appears nearly dead, struggling to breathe, he tells Mo'At: "If I remove these he will die within minutes!" Mo'At responds: "Well then I guess is not really in Eywa's hands, I'm afraid then Eywa can't help you".
The pilot stays quiet, Mo'At turns around. Suddenly, the Old Man, who as sick as may look, apparently can sense and hear his surroundings, begins to lift his arms, his hands are terribly shaking from his debilitating disease, he slowly reaches one of his catheters, and begins to pull it out, he proceeds to pull others out ,one by one. The pilot, who has by now noticed, grabs the Old Man's arm and stops him, he tells him in an almost whisper tone:" it's okay, I'll do it"; he carefully proceeds to take the rest of his catheters and wires off his body, some of the catheters drip excess fluid as they are removed, its orifices begin to slightly bleed .
The pilot stands back from the Old Man, wondering if at some point he will need to reinsert life into him by plugging everything back. Mo'At approaches Neytiri and the Pervert, she tells the Pervert she will need her daughter's help during the ritual. The Pervert understands her, he lets go of Neytiri but continues to point his weapon at her and stays near and within reach, with a suspicious look on his face.
Mo'At, Neytiri, and the clan initiate their praying ritual on to Eywa, at first, there does not seem to be much energy through the tree, it is still dark. Mo'At, whose skepticism by now has grown, continues her
prayer, the pilot looks on to the Old Man, who by now looks very pale and appears to be breathing harder and harder by the second, as life quickly draws away from him. It's been at least a few minutes and there is no sign yet of any energy being sparked on to the tree, its roots on the ground still appear motionless, and it is still very dark.
Mo'At begins to slowly cease her praying, the pilot signals to her with his arm as he yells: "enough!, enough!, we're losing him!", he runs towards the Old Man to check if he has a pulse, Mo'At by now has settled on believing there's no hope for the Old Man, this is not the right time to be counting on miracles from Eywa, she lies on her knees on the ground looking at him, it is still very dark. Just as the guard nears his hand on the Old Man's neck, a sudden spark of lightened tree roots appears on him, so bright; the guards face lids up from the glow. The Omaticaya immediately yell and mumble in amazement and cheer, for they sense Eywa is finally responding. The guard stands back, looks up, Mo'At and Neytiri now prey out loud and shake their bodies almost violently, the Tree of Souls is now beginning to glow, the Omaticaya now begin to fill with excitement, the Pervert and his guard stand there in amazement and wonder, but weary at the Omaticaya's growing euphoria. For now, Eywa reacts, no one yet is sure of what her will could be.
The Old Man lies there, his mind suddenly goes into a retrospective journey, he sees his parents caressing him as a small boy, his graduation from sixth grade, his first kiss, tragedies within his family, his teenage rebel years, at times he got in trouble with the law. He now sees his first college experiences, the parties, the all nighters, his sweetheart, his thesis, the struggle, his marriage, his children , his first day working for the mining company, his first orbital trip, a trip to mars, his slow rise on to the corporate ladder. Dr. Augustine, his doctor, the diagnosis, the pain, the depression, the hopeless dream, a very bright light now absorbs him.
Now he begins to see in his mind foreign thoughts and visions, he sees Toruk Makto, the fighter, he sees the first ships to arrive at Pandora, the first meeting with the Na'vi, he sees Grace teaching them. He then sees and senses images of anguish and pain, he sees his own Alliance men inflicting pain, torturing, a gun shot, he sees Parker yelling and screaming in anger, the Colonel aiming his gun and firing, he finally sees and feels Jake, for just a brief moment, the Old Man becomes Jake.
The "Old Man" opens his eyes, everything feels different, he looks straight up into the tree and the sky, he's quiet. He raises his arm as he notices he now carries the body of his avatar. The Old Man has successfully crossed through Eywa and has returned. He gets up, stays thoughtful and serious, there is no cheer, no smile. He promptly walks away from the tree, in a rush, he doesn't even bother to look back at his old self or at anyone else; his eyes are now more than ever the eyes of the Colonel, they look determined, as if his new life has a predetermined well defined purpose. Mo'At, Neytiri and the clan remain there wondering about the Old Man's reaction. At the sign of light on the tree, wild Ikrans and birds begin to fly around it, as they desperately search for light and normalcy.