Our Intergalactic Nightmare Is Over — Payakan Is Back
In the 2022 movie, Payakan is shunned from his sophisticated space-whale community due to his quest for vengeance against cruel humans who murdered his mother, which he described as an unbearably painful memory. Despite going against the peaceful Tulkun Way, his rebellious and determined nature are what ultimately enable him to rescue his fellow Tulkun from treacherous whalers near the film’s end. Essentially, Payakan is like the underdog character Luigi but a whale. In Fire and Ash, viewers will encounter Payakan’s new ally, a female Tulkun named Ta’nok. Baneham describes her as another outcast and hints at an intriguing relationship between them, which seems to be the developing “it” pair on Pandora.