Is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora canon with the movies?

And how the game fits in the timeline.

A character in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora faces off against a pack of Viperwolves.
Image via Ubisoft

The Avatar fandom can rest easy because Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will be part of the movie’s timeline but in a new part of Pandora, never seen before.

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Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will be an open world in the Western Frontier of Pandora, where you’ll be able to reconnect with the Na’vi culture and learn about flora, fauna, Na’vi customs, culinary, weaponry, and more.

Is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora canon with the movies?

Avatar character hiding behind a wall
The setting is in a new part of Pandora. Image via Ubisoft

Yes, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is canon with James Cameron’s movies. Ubisoft’s studio worked with James Cameron’s production company Lightstorm Entertainment’s creative team to create a part of Pandora fans haven’t seen yet.

The man himself stated that it has “an original story that coexists with the events of the Avatar films.” This means the game is canon even though it takes place in a “new corner” of Pandora. The game will expand the lore with an original story, new fauna, flora, and characters.

What is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora about?

From what we’ve seen from the trailers, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora‘s story is centered around the conflict between the Na’vi and the Resource Development Administration (RDA) once again. It follows a similar format to the movie but inverted.

Instead of a human learning the Na’vi culture, you’ll step into the place of a Na’vi who was captured in trained by the RDA in an attempt to eventually turn you against your people. The operation was interrupted by the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains, however, and you were saved by your teacher.

The only option for you and the other Na’vi children was to be put in a 15-year sleep in cryostasis. When you wake up, the RDA is gone and your path to learning your culture begins.

You might be free now, but the RDA returns with its disrespect for the local ecosystem and the Na’vi. The endless cycle of human greed repeats itself in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, where you can immerse yourself in the conflicts in first-person.

How does Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora fit in the Avatar timeline?

A character in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora riding an Ikran.
The RDA is back and disrupting nature. Image via Ubisoft.

It’s still uncertain when the game exactly takes place, but we can say it’s at least 15 years after the first movie since the protagonist was in cryosleep for that time and the event that put them to sleep happened during the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains.

The Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains refers to the attack in the war between the RDA and the united Na’vi clans that took place in the first movie when the RDA destroyed the Tree of Souls and the Na’vi retaliated.

The Way of Water producer Jon Landau said in an interview with Polygon that Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora “takes place in the timeframe after Avatar: The Way of Water opens but before the one-year time cut in the movie.”

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Image of Nádia Linhares
Nádia Linhares
Nádia is a Brazilian freelance writer who works for Dot since 2020. She has covered everything from Pokémon to FIFA. Video games are an essential part of her life, especially indie games and RPGs. You can catch her playing Overwatch in her spare time, but she writes better than she aims.