Viewer Log: Secret Invasion ep 6

Skrulls v Humans, who will win? 

Last time on Secret Invasion, Gravik had to deal with a couple small… coups. Pagon, frustrated by Gravik continually having the chance to but not actually killing Fury, calls him out on that and gets his heart ripped out instead. The other Skrulls feel like this was a step too far and a group of them including Beto attempted to kill him via suffocation, but he overpowered them and executed them all. He orders Raava, the Skrull impersonating Rhodey, to convince the president that the Skrulls are working with the Russians and to attack New Skrullos. This is the pressure he decides to put on Fury, knowing that Fury won’t want innocent Skrulls killed for no reason, to get him the Harvest. The Harvest being the name for a collection of DNA samples that the Skrulls under Fury’s orders collected of the various super beings during the Battle for Earth. Sonya Falsworth, meanwhile, uncovers the Skrull directing SIS and replacing him and nabs Dr. Dalton, the Skrull working on the Super Skrull program. G’iah went to Varra to bury her father in the Skrull way and the two of them fight off the hit squad sent to kill Varra. Fury and Sonya meet up and head to a Graveyard in Finland. Fury set up dummy graves for himself around the world to hide the Harvest. He retrieves it and his iconic eye patch and trench coat before heading out to face Gravik.

 

Ep 6: Home

 

The episode opens with Varra returning to her home, bodies still all over the place, and getting a call from Fury. She jokes that that’s the first time he’s called this number in years, and Fury points out he’s dialed it a million times but has only hit send once. He’s not sure if he’s going to be coming back and just wanted to hear her voice once last time, it seems. They hang up and he marches off. Later, Fury somehow moves his empty car toward New Skrullos’ front gate and kill the two gate guards while they’re distracted.

 

Back in London, Raava attempts to manipulate the president towards focusing on the motorcade attack and the Russian/Skrull connection. An Admiral attempts to be the voice of reason, asking the president to slow down and give them time to investigate, but Raava keeps on attacking verbally. They demand that the Admiral do what she was summoned to do, giving the president options for what happens when they strike New Skrullos. An aide arrives and gives Raava more ammunition, satellite footage of Russia moving tanks toward the Ukrainian/Finland boarder. They go over to Ritson with remarks they’ve prepared for him to address the nation. They pressure Ritson to make the call.

 

Fury heads into New Skrullos. He passes the body of Beto and sees the cafeteria where the Skrull operatives were slaughtered. He starts coughing heavily and takes out a pocket radiation detector, it’s really going off. He pops some radiation pills and goes in deeper into the facility.

 

Sonya calls Raava and lies to them that Fury is headed to get the president. Raava is just freaked out enough by the legend of Colonel Nicholas Fury that they seem genuinely shaken by Sonya’s lie and goes to look in on their security.

 

Fury finds Gravik in his enhancement machine. He asks where everyone is, and Gravik says they were locked away. He offers Fury a drink and he takes it.

 

Raava moves Ritson and orders their men to start hunting Fury. As they move the president, someone knocks out guards and pulls them out of view.

 

Gravik mocks Fury, asking him if he has any sort of back up plan for this situation, any heroes to come rescue him or if he’s going to die from Radiation sickness. Fury accuses him of playing dress up with Fury’s face too much Gravik reveals the origin of his Human form, saying that his human face is that of the firsts man he killed on Fury’s orders. HE says that the man had a wife and kids, but he did it to impress his hero. He killed that man and so many others for Fury. He calls Talos weak, and because of him, a noble warrior race became a race of beggars. He is furious with Fury and says that he will kill him and then take a flamethrower to humanity. Fury admits that he failed the Skrulls and that after a few years of searching he knew he couldn’t find them a planet out there. That the only way he could keep his promise was to build the Skrulls a home on Earth. Gravik asks him why he didn’t do it then, and Fury replies that it’s easier to save the lives of eight billion humans than it is to change their hearts and minds. Then the Blip happened. Fury says that the last thing he felt before disintegrating was relief, relief he could stop fighting, that he’d been given a way out. He says that he came back to Earth for Gravik, that he should have taught the young, impressionable Skrull on his team that you never give up the fight. Fury says that because he failed Skrulls, he’s going to give them what they want. In exchange, the Skrulls take their new powers and leave Earth now. Gravik says that he thinks the radiation is eating his brains. Fury starts coughing harder and dropping to his knees.

 

While this is going on, we’re shown scenes from the hospital as Secret Service agents are taken out by a mysterious force. Ritson is given a gun by one of the Secret Service people and Raava heads out to search. We’re shown a military base where a soldier is given a classified document.

 

Gravik puts the DNA into his device and checks it. The device confirms the Harvest has the DNA and Gravik chuckles that Fury did really want to die.

 

Back at the hospital, Raava clears a room, only to have Sonya appear and scold them for not checking behind the door. She holds them at gunpoint and orders them back into the hall. Sonya takes them over to Ritson.

 

Gravik switches on his machine, Fury also inside it and empowers himself. When the field dissipates, he’s buffed out significantly. He slaps Fury aside and he hits the ground hard. He picks Fury up and goes to finish him off with a punch, but Fury grabs the fist, his arm hulking out and he punches Gravik away and into a smokestack. As he gets up, it’s revealed that “Fury” was in fact G’iah in his form. The real Fury is at the hospital with Sonya and helped tranquilize most of the Secret Service.

 

Gravik and G’iah play rock paper scissors with powers, finding different combinations to try to kill each others. We see Jotun ice manipulation, different muscled arms and so on. G’iah stabs him through the heart with an ice blade.

 

Fury meanwhile lays out the Skrull situation to Ritson, telling him that Rhodey is a Skrull and unless the President calls off the air strike, he’s going to kill the real Rhodey and dozens of innocent people.

 

Gravik frees himself by busting out some Ebony Maw telekinesis and throws her around.

 

Raava tries to convince Ritson to stay the course. Fury puts his gun down and tells Ritson that if he goes through with this the rebel Skrulls win. Sonya and Fury tell him to just delay the strike, Fury even saying that he’ll gladly go to prison if he’s wrong.

 

G’iah and Gravik both bust out the Captain Marvel power and fly into the sky. They grapple, G’iah grows Mantis’ antenna and puts Gravik to sleep. He hits the ground with a huge crash. He wakes up, though and starts blasting at her. G’iah rushes him and grabs him by the throat. Gravik says she’s just like her father, just like them, before she blasts Gravik through the stomach, killing him.

 

Raava goes for Sonya’s gun, gets it, but Fury grabs Ritson’s and blows his brains out. When dead, Raava reverts to their natural form. Ritson asks for the phone and makes the call.

 

G’iah heads into the New Skrullos to try to free the captives. She powers down all the machines and starts freeing them from their ‘pods.’ Including the real Rhodey and Ross. Ross asks Rhodey how log he’s been in there. From how stiffly he’s moving and his hospital gown, it might be from as far back as when he broke his back in Civil War.

 

President Ritson, shaken by these events, in an address to the nation reveals he sent a bill to congress for immediate vote. It designates any non-human resident off Earth an enemy combatant and he threatens to kill them.

 

Fury visits Varra at home. He apologizes for not being there to help her. She claims that she knows who she is when he’s gone, but when he’s here its where she’s confused. He asks for one last chance and reveals he’s leaving tonight. She says that means this is goodbye. Fury puts his ring in the dish and leaves, saying that she knows where to find him.

 

Sonya tracks down G’iah and offers her a deal. She’ll give the Super Skrull all the resources she needs to protect her people from Ritson’s hunting for them, and in exchange she’ll ask for a few favors. They agree to not repeat the situation of Fury and Talos, keep affection and loyalty out of it. They’ll use each other and together will keep the planet safe for both humans and Skrulls.

 

Fury calls Ritson and scold him for the witch hunt he insighted. We’re shown footage in the background as he talks of vigilantes killing public figures, some of them being Skrulls, some not, and some Skrulls fighting back and killing them. We also are shown a chamber filled with Skrull pods, to drive home how many people have been abducted over the years. Ritson tells Fury that the old him would know how this is going to end. He warns Fury to get the Skrulls off Earth if he really cares about them. Fury walks toward his teleporter back to SABER. A car pulls up. He tells them to hold a minute. Varra gets out and walks up to him. He tell her that the Kree have reached out to SABER and say that they’re willing to negotiate with the Skrulls. Fury wants her help in negotiating the peace. She agrees to help, but saying she’ll only help him start and that she’ll need to get back to her work. She returns to her Skrull form and says that she loves him as who she is and Fury agrees. They board the ship and the credits roll.

 

This show had a few good ideas but I think it was just bogged down in places. It feels… messy. Like, getting background on Nick Fury and his interactions with the Skrulls? Interesting. Super Skrulls? Interesting. But mashing them together undermines them both. Gun to my head, I think this would have worked better as a pure political thriller. Fury working against the Skrull disguised as Rhodey to stop World War 3. It’s all spy moves and counter moves, maybe with a few Skrull double agents on both sides. It’s only after Fury beats Rhodey Skrull that Gravik decides to leave him. He’s seen what fighting humans head on will get them and yet knows we can’t coexist after all that and sets about making Super Skrulls. Yeah, now that I think about it, it’s the same issue I had with Ms. Marvel, it was two seasons of TV stitched together in a haphazard way.  I think Ms. Marvel handled it better, by the way, but that was my big critique of the show. I’m so glad that the Writers Strike happened and that they’ve forced Disney to switch back to the more expensive show models, with show bibles and additional staff writers. Maybe Daredevil: Born Again can get some things ironed out before things begin. It seems like the majority of the CGI budget was used up with the shapeshifting Super Skrull fight and that is so disappointing. Both because introducing a character with power on par with Captain Marvel is rather world breaking, and because the battle was just uninteresting. Too many powers, many of them duplicates (really, Hulk and Abomination?) and the real only creative use was busting out Telekinesis in a fist fight. There’s a reason why Kl’rt, the original Super Skrull, only has four powers, well five including his natural shapeshifting. Combining the powers of the Fantastic Four makes him an incredibly dangerous opponent, but also keeps his powers reasonable. He can shapeshift, stretch, become superstrong and nearly invulnerable, make himself invisible and hurl invisible bullets, and fly and shoot fire. It’s a lot of power, but doesn’t tip into a situation where it’s unreasonable for his heroes to fight. All I’m saying. This show was a mess and I hope that it and Loki are the last of this messier breed of Marvel shows. I hope The Marvels makes me feel like it was ultimately worth it. Have a good night, everyone!

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Viewer Log: Secret Invasion ep 5

Gravik's getting greedy. 

Last time on Secret Invasion, Director and Dr. Fury faced off. Nick Fury’s wife, Pricilla Davis aka Varra, was given orders by the Skrull posing as James “Rhodey” Rhodes to kill her husband. They met back at their home and had a little verbal face off that ended with both trying to shoot each other but missing by at least a foot. They part ways on good terms, Varra asking if Fury would have loved her had she not “become” Pricilla Davis, to which he said, “I guess we’ll never know.” Fury meets with Rhodey Skrull and seems to try to get his job back by Blackmailing them with the info that he knows Skrulls are in the Government. Rhodey Skrull tells shows him the tape they have of Gravik as Fury killing Maria Hill and tells him to back off. Unbeknownst to the Skrull, the real point was to get them to drink some bourbon with a liquid tracker inside. Fury and Talos follow the signal to the President’s motorcade being assaulted. They back up the Secret Service agents and get some more troops in the form of the UK Army. Talos is shot in the attempt to save President Ritson, and then murdered by Gravik before the Skrull General escaped. Fury was able to drive away with the president. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Ep 5: Harvest

 

We open with Fury rushing President Ritson into surgery with several doctors. He dos his best to tell the injured and unconscious Ritson what happened, the Russians didn’t attack him and not to trust Rhodey specifically, but he’s pulled away into surgery. On the news, Fury sees that they’re reporting about footage of Gravik and natural form Talos, and speculating on the nature of the shapeshifting aliens. Fury sets a chair in front of the OR and sits with his gun out.

 

At New Skrullos, Gravik and his men return to base. He orders the operatives to be assembled. Pagon tries to earn brown nose points by saying that they killed Talos, but Gravik is angrier about the president surviving the attack. He is getting desperate to set World War III in motion. He blames Pagon for not getting something he ordered him to find, and that’s the last straw for Pagon. He starts yelling at his boss about how he keeps failing to kill Fury; Telling Varra to do it when he knew she wouldn’t, not shooting him when he had the chance and so on. He says that Fury has what they need, and we finally learn what the Harvest is. According to Pagon, it’s a registry of the DNA of the Avengers that Fury procured, for some reason, before hiding it. Pagon begins to question why they’re following him, and Gravik executes him with a root arm. He reminds his people that they’re nameless, faceless agents of his will. He orders Varra killed and the soldiers head out. All except Beto, who lingers a few moments before following. Gravik when alone calls Rhodey Skrull and tells him to keep Ritson alive and to tell him that this was a joint mission by Russia and the Skrulls. Rhodey Skrull, who we learn is named Raava, tells him that that’s nuts, but Gravik believes this’ll give them leverage over Fury.

 

Raava comes in and is immediately apprehended by Fury. Fury tells Raava that he’s not going to let them anywhere near the President. Raava tells him that they sent the video of Gravik murdering Maria Hill to the news outlets and he’s about 60 seconds away from becoming the most wanted man in the world. Fury hits him in the head and heads out, but not before Raava calls in their hit squad and warns Fury he’ll get the “full show” if he comes near the president again.

 

In London, Sonya Falsworth goes into see he boss Derrik Weatherby. He is watching the footage of the attack on President Ritson and asks her if she thinks Skrulls are everywhere. She does and puts a gun to his Skrull head and asks him for the location of Dr. Rosa Dalton. She shoots him in the thy when he doesn’t react, forcing him to revert to Skrull form. She warns him that there’s no policy on killing Skrulls so he best tell her what he wants to know before she decides.

 

Beto tries to confront Gravik about what he did to Beto. He plays it off by saying he failed them. He gets a call from Raava confirming that the President is coming out of surgery and that they’ll order an airstrike when they’re ready. Beto and all the soldier Skrull suddenly attack Gravik and try to kill him. They do a good job, getting a plastic bag over his head and trying to suffocate him, knowing that he’ll regenerate from any other kind of injury, but he overwhelms them with his powers. Beto is the last to survive, calling him a monster before getting his throat cut.

 

Fury returns to his safehouse and meets with G’iah. She’s already aware that her father died, she claimed that she left him because she knew he’d lose. Fury says he chose the path of struggle, he didn’t lose. He asks her about the Super Skrulls. She reveals that Talos only has a few kinds of DNA, Cull Obsidian and Groot, but says he’s still looking for the “Harvest.” She asks for time to bury her father, Fury giving her the keys to his car and saying to take Talos to Varra who will know what to do. He runs as sirens start blaring, someone having tipped the cops off to his safehouse. He tells G’iah he’s headed to Finland.

 

We shift over to Sonya, who has tracked down Dr. Rosa Dalton and her husband, or more accurately their Skrull impersonators. They try to threaten her with a shotgun but her own goons arrive and have them at gunpoint. She interrogates them on what they’re working on, telling her to not leave out a decimal point. Later, she has the lab torched. Victor Dalton Skrull grabs a gun and threatens to shoot Rosa Dalton Skrull’s brains out if they’re not released, saying he’ll kill her before letting her betray Gravik. Sonya believes him and nonchalantly blows his head off before he can react.

 

G’iah arrives at the Fury house and breaks in looking for Varra. She finds her in the kitchen and they both have guns out. Varra asks if she’s here to kill her, and G’iah tells her she’s here to get help burying her dad.

 

At the hospital, Raava enters the President’s room. They tell Ritson about he Skrulls and lies about how Russia is working with them. They show him blueprints of New Skrullos and says that they need to do a strike, now, and that England is for sure backing them and the rest of NATO will fall in line. Ritson says that this will start WWIII and Raava says that they’d rather face that than a Skrull invasion.

 

On the drive to Finland, Fury gets a call from Gravik. Gravik tells Fury to bring him the Harvest, if he does, he’ll make sure Ritson’s attack on New Skrullos is called off. He also tells him to bring Iodide pills, as the reactor can be aggressive. Fury boards his small plane and relaxes for a minute. Rick Mason, the guy who helped Natasha out in Black Widow, comes out from the cockpit to give Fury a fake id and tell him that it’s impressive that Interpol put him on a red tag list. Fury misses his Helicarrier and Mason points out those have all been mothballed. He advises Fury to take a nap before they head out, saying he looks sleepy.

 

Varra and G’iah prepare Talos for cremation. G’iah believed her father, as their general, deserved more than this. He deserved a full funeral procession, but Varra says he wasn’t much for pageantry. G’iah gives the body an offering, a ring from her mother and lights him up as Varra makes a Skrull prayer. She ends it by saying “Travel well to your beyond, father’ in Skrullese. After, G’iah laments that she called him a failure. She asks what daughter says that to their dad. Varra says the kind that would try to make it up to him the next time she saw him. She goes onto say that her last words to Fury before the Snap were “If you keep spending all your time chasing aliens, you might lose the one you married.” G’iah asks what she did to put her on the hit list. She said insubordination, and G’iah is shocked that she’s following the order to stay in place to wait for said execution. She admits that it’s because she loves her house and doesn’t want to give it up. She says that she chose the house with Fury in mind, saying she picked it because It had the three things he cares about most, privacy, security and light. Varra admits she could lose hours just watching Fury read a book in the right light. G’iah makes a crass comment about if Fury ever admired her as a Skrull. She tries to walk it back, but Varra isn’t having it, saying that she did mean to offend because she’s young and doesn’t know what it takes to build a life with someone. She says that she wants to meet her executioner in the middle of her happiness than in running down a dark alley. They start getting shot at and the Skrulls fall back to her private garden where she stockpiled guns and gear. They kill the first hit squad but more drop in from the roof. They kill them too.

 

In Finland, an old white man goes through customs. It’s Fury in a wig and the “widow’s veil” that mesh that lets people change their face from The Winter Soldier. He joins up with Sonya. They drive off while listening to rap music, Sonya’s choice.

 

Back with Varra and G’iah, they part ways. Looks like G’iah’s got a plane to catch.

 

As Fury and Sonya drive, Fury ponders why Rhodey is in charge of this play. Sonya says that Rhodey asked for cooperation in investigating New Skrullos, Fury is incredulous that she gave that info to him, and only then drops the truth bomb that Rhodey has been replaced with a Skrull. Sonia makes a very apt comment, “Well, who in the hell isn’t a Skrull these days?” Fury knows that Gravik is doing all this to pressure Fury to give him the Harvest. Fury explains that the Harvest is a collection of DNA taken from Earth’s heroes and villains from the Battle of Earth. Even some Captain Marvel blood is mixed in with it. He had Skrulls go in and collect that DNA and claims the only one that knew about it was him and the collectors. Gravik lead the collectors and he believes that’s where he got the idea for the Super Skrull machine. Sonya points out this is all Fury’s fault, and he agrees, saying why do you think I came back. They exit the car and head into a graveyard. Fury leads her to the grave of Col. Nicholas J Fury. Sonya asks why he hasn’t called in a single Avenger for help, and he gives a speech about how they can’t keep relying on heroes with special powers to fly in and save the day. Sonya asks if he has other graves like this, and Fury says yes, that he has them all over the world. He chose Finland because this is where he had his honeymoon and Skrull’s like the cold. He opens his headstone, turns out it is in fact a high tech safe, and gets the vial. He then entered a mausoleum, opens a few more safes that look like headstones, and pulled out his trench coat, eyepatch, and gun. He radios into someone saying it’s time to finish this.

 

As far as penultimate episodes go, this is fine. I can’t help but feel that they haven’t built up to the points they’re trying to make land, though. Gravik has gone in an episode from respected leader to the dude that slaughtered most of his operatives. It feels like there was an episode or two between 4 and 5 where Gravik had a few more major setbacks that could have further pushed the Skrull operatives to rebel. The Harvest is definitely one of those items that feels like Fury should have known to destroy immediately for this very reason of “someone could try to manufacture superpowers from this.” Just seems dumb to keep it is my point. Also, it feels weird that this is the point of the whole series but we’ve only heard about it in a line or two of dialogue across four episodes. Granted, it was the master stroke of the plan, but at the same time it might have been nice to see Pagon going on a search for it with G’iah, maybe, or give us some other indications of why Gravik wants it so bad before now. The plan to force Fury to give him the Harvest or watch innocent Skrulls get killed is legit terrifying and heartless, I will give Gravik that. Oh, and I liked Talos’ funeral and the interactions between G’iah and Varra. G’iah has very much been struggling this entire season, so getting to talk with as levelheaded a person as Varra seems like it’ll only benefit G’iah. I’m curious to see how it’ll all end but I’m prepared to not be wowed. See you tomorrow. 

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Viewer Log: Secret Invasion ep 4

 One minute closer to Midnight on the 'ol Doomsday Clock.

Last time on Secret Invasion, we saw one of Gravik’s plans for global war. Using four Skrull infiltrators, three at the base and one Captain making the call. The plan was to launch a missile from the Neptune, a British submarine, to shoot down a UN plane and kick off World War III. Fury and Talos learn about it from G’iah, whom is the one working as a spy for her dad and go to intercept the Skrull impersonating Commadore Robert Fairbanks. They’re able to stop the missile launch by G’iah using the Skrull’s machine to call up the real Fairbank’s memory of the deactivation code. Talos tells G’iah to run for it now that her cover is blown. She runs but is intercepted by Gravik and shot. We also learned earlier that Gravik has begun a “Super Skrull” Program to give his people an edge against the Avengers and has at least given himself Extremis healing powers. Fury’s wife, a Skrull named Varra, leaves their private home, and gets orders involving getting a gun from a safety deposit box. She’s told to meet with Rhodey at St. James Church in an hour. They don’t say or show us it’s Rhodey, but that’s clearly Don Cheadle’s voice on the phone. So, the war is heating up. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Ep 4: Beloved

 

We begin with G’iah laying dead on the country road. We’re shown in parts a flashback of her scanning the captured Dr. Dalton’s mind to figure out how to use the Superpower machine. She got the DNA samples and powered it up, giving herself Extremis powers. In the forest she regenerates and sits back up. Thank goodness that this was a delayed reaction, else Gravik might have shot her again.

 

We slide over to Paris in 2012. Fury enters a restaurant and meets with Varra. She compliments Fury for getting the Avengers together and stopping Loki’s invasion. They discuss a book of poetry by Raymond Carver. They use the poem to flirt for a minute.

 

Shifting to St. James Church, Varra meets with Rhodey. She asks him why Gravik needs her to do anything if Fury has already been fired from SHIELD, but the Skrull posing as Rhodey tells her that what Gravik wants or needs isn’t important, that they’re the one telling her to kill Fury. We zoom out to learn that Fury planted a bug on Varra at some point and is overhearing the conversation. Rhodey Skrull tells Varra that one off the two residences of that country estate is catching a bullet today, and that Varra can flip a coin to decide who for all they care. Varra insists that Fury is broken, that he has been since the Blip. It must hurt to hear his wife say that. Rhodey Skrull tells her that if she keeps telling them what she’s not going to do, they’ll show her what they’re going to do to her.

 

On a landing strip, Gravik meets with his men and informs Pagon that G’iah was the mole and that she’d been taken care of. He tells his men that they want to make their next job look like a Russian job. They need to make it big and loud like they would.

 

Talos and G’iah meet at a public park. He apologizes for putting her in that situation, but she says she doesn’t need it. She claims that she’s figured out where she ‘belongs’ and that it’s with her family. She begs her dad to tell her what his plan is for finding them a new home, as Gravik is implementing his and his could work. He plans to for them to take down Gravik’s plan, and then go to Present Ritson and use the latest save as a bargaining chip to get help. G’iah doesn’t like this plan, but Talos insists that only by being helpful to Earth will they be able to get what they need. G’iah tells him he’s delusional and walks off.

 

Varra returns to the house and hears Fury in the kitchen. He offers her tea, and she notes that he’s not wearing his ring. He claims he came in the back and that he’s just stopping by before heading back out for work. They sit down for tea and have an awkward stare down. Fury calls her the ‘greatest mistake.’ That he ignored all the impulses in his head telling him to “stop” with her, but even now, knowing that she’s going to try to kill him, he’s not sure that he’d do anything different. They both pull out their guns, Fury first, and he asks her why she chose Dr. Priscilla Davis as her human disguise. Varra tells him that the original Dr. Davis had a congenital heart defect and didn’t want her friends and family to spend all their time around her hospital bed. Varra would visit her often, almost daily in the end, and on some level, she knew she’d seen that Priscilla might be the sort of person to get through Fury’s defenses. When she learned that Priscilla had only hours left, she’d asked her if Varra could assume her identity. Well, she phrased it as “how would you like to fall in love?” Priscilla made her make three promises, 1. Bury her at sea, 2. Continue to be a daughter to her parents, and 3. That she would never hurt Fury. They quote the Carver poem again and as they say the final line both grab their guns and shoot. They both missed by at least a foot, and Fury says if he’s not sure if this means they should get divorced or renew their vows. Fury tells her that the others will be gunning for her, but she says she’s a big girl. She asks if he’d have loved her even if she hadn’t changed herself into Priscilla, and Fury just says that he guesses they’ll never know.

 

We shift over to a Skrull showering off before assuming Rhodey’s form. Rhodey Skrull leaves their shower and finds Fury in their kitchen. Fury tries to play like he’s trying to bury the hatchet with Rhodey by sharing bourbon. Rhodey Skrull asks if they should be worried about poison, and Fury jokingly says no, but Nanotech, maybe. Rhodey says that maybe he should pour this out just in case, but Fury jokes that if he does his ancestors will rise from the grave and strangle him. They both knock back a drink and Fury tells them the reason that he’s there, that there are Skrulls in the US Government. Fury says that he’ll keep his mouth shut about it, though, if he gets his job back. Rhodey pulls out a recording of Gravik killing Hill. He says that he’ll keep this secret but that he can’t have Fury running around shooting people. Fury takes his coat and goes.

 

Outside with Talos, we learn that there was, in fact, a liquid nanotech tracker in the bourbon and they will use it to follow Rhodey Skrull. Rhodey Skrull meets with President Ritson and preps him for a meeting with the Russian. Ritson notes the alcohol smell on Rhodey Skrull’s breath and suggests he gets a large coffee for the road. The motorcade heads out. On the Road, Rhodey Skrull calls in where the President is in the motorcade. Gravik and his men attack with a pair of choppers, as Fury and Gravik pull up. They confirm the President “citadel” is alive and a firefight breaks out. Surely someone should be questioning why Rhodey isn’t War Machine-ing up right now, yeah? Fury and Talos take out the remaining attack chopper and attack Gravik’s men from behind as the rest of the Secret Service keep firing on the front. Gravik shows off another power that he encoded into himself, Groot’s stretching arms. They get some back up from UK special forces. They reach the President and Talos tries to break the glass to get to him. He gets shot by Pagon but uses his remaining strength to break the glass. Fury pulls Ritson out and promises Talos that he’ll be back for him. Fury gets Ritson to the car and one of the UK soldiers grabs Talos. Fury sensing a trick, tells him to put Talos down. He shoots the soldier when he doesn’t, revealing him to be Gravik. Gravik regenerates and stabs Talos, killing him.

 

Damn, I’m going to miss Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos. He was a fun character. And yet… I didn’t feel anything with his death. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I saw it coming because the series has been fairly paint-by-numbers in terms of Spy Thriller. Obviously, the partner is going to get iced towards the end of the series. And, again, I’m really questioning why Rhodey Skrull didn’t even attempt to suit up to protect the president. Like… War Machine works for the US government, I’d expect him to suit up at a moment’s notice. I will say, though, that making him the Skrull spy was interesting. Seeing Don Cheadle flex his acting muscles a little while being an evil Rhodey. The bit where they’re drinking the bourbon and it’s clear that Fury knows Rhodey is a Skrull and Rhodey Skrull seemingly counters his play with the Gravik as Fury murder tape, only to find out that Fury did in fact win by getting him to drink a LOT of liquid tracker was really well done. I also liked the bit between Fury and Varra. Charlayne Woodard is doing a solid job as the Skrull in love with a human. The bit where she reveals how she got her human face was well done and I liked the fake out where they both shot at each other and missed. Gravik’s power set at the moment seems to be Extremis healing and taking on Groot’s plant like powers for stretching. Feels like they wanted to do a nod to Kl’rt, as stretching is one of his main powers. So Talos is dead, Fury has Ritson and the world is one tick or so from the Midnight of nuclear war. Fun times. Next time, episode 5. See you then. 

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Viewer Log: Secret Invasion ep 3

 Super Skrulls are on the way.

Last time on Secret Invasion, things started to escalate. Fury and Talos escaped the bombing and headed west.  They parted ways on bad terms when Fury learned that Earth had become the second largest concentration of Skrulls in the known universe without his knowledge. Gravik, meanwhile, capitalized on the success of his bombing by forcing a coup in the Skrull council on Earth and being named their General. G’iah, suspicious of the events of the last few days, looks into a private area and learns that Gravik is having his number two looking for something called the Harvest and that there are Skrull scientists doing DNA research. Quite scary DNA research as their database has Groot and Cull Obsidian on their list. Sonya Falsworth took over the interrogation of the Skrull AAR plant and got the name “Dalton” and learns Gravik is working on something to make them stronger. She escapes when the Skrulls come to free him, and he’s executed later. Fury dealt with the unfortunate task of telling Maria Hill’s mother what happened to her. He then goes onto London where he attempts to get Rhodey’s help dealing with the Skrull, but is instead fired for not stopping the Moscow bombing. Fury, furious, leaves. He grabs an old Jeep, drives out into the country and heads to a Skrull woman’s house. It’s revealed that this woman is his wife just before the credits roll. Damn. Enough Recap, let’s get to it.

 

Ep 3: Betrayal

 

We begin with some Skrulls outfitting themselves for a fight. Well, an older man looking Skrull and Beto, the recruit from the first episode. Beto asks if they think this will actually work, bringing Chaos and all that. Pagon asks why he joined the resistance, and Beto said that he doesn’t want them to have to keep running. Pagon says that he really joined because he has faith in their future and that future is built on risk. They’re each given folders on new cover identities and head out.

 

Gravik enters the backroom and looks at the big machine. He’s joined by the Skrull Council. He reveals to them his plan for taking Earth. He sent the three Skrulls from earlier to infiltrate the Royal Navy and to execute a strike on a key UN target. The Heroes of Earth will react to that, and that, he says, the only way to counter that is to become super themselves. He wants to turn them into “uniquely programed weapons of mass destruction.” Super Skrulls. Somewhere, Kl’rt is feeling really offended he’s not involved in this. … He’s the OG Super Skrull, the one that has the combined powers of the Fantastic Four. Gravik says that they’ll let the humans be at each other’s throats and then they’ll break our backs. While he’s explaining, we see the three infiltrators take their positions in Navy base and prep for war.

 

We jump back to 1998 New York. Fury arrived in at a dinner and meets with Varra, the Skrull woman from the last flashback. She’s given him intel on how to stop a man named Draykov. Fury compliments her new face, and the two flirt. He initially says that there are rules against fraternization between operatives, but Varra points out that their unit doesn’t exist and that she doesn’t really work for him.

 

We jump to the present at the Fury house while Fury is making breakfast. He’s watching a broadcast from that weird Carlson looking Skrull, Chris Sterns. Varra joins him and they have a nice domestic moment. She asks what sort of calamity must have happened to bring him home. She admits that while she knew that Fury had to go out into space, what hurt her was him staying away for years. Fury says he retired, she asks what he’s doing with his downtime, and he says he never cared for golf so he may take up revenge. He grills her about Gravik, asking if she’s spoken to him recently. She counters by bringing up how badly it hurt her when he was killed in the Blip and how that hurt her so much more when he vanished again voluntarily. Pretty classic “how dare you think I’d hurt you?” maneuver. She says that she became “me” the person she was before she met Fury. She gets a call and answers it. She gives a weirdly mechanical response and tells Fury it wasn’t important before heading out. Fury looks hard at her phone.

 

Shifting back to Skrullos, G’iah is awoken by Gravik, whom wants to have a conversation about Brogan, the Skrull that was executed last time. Someone told the cops where they were headed, and she’s one of only four people who knew where they were going. She says that Brogan must have made an educated guess when he was under torture, simple as that. He accepts the answer, saying that they’ll be headed out early tomorrow.

 

The next day they land. On the drive, Gravik tells her that they’re meeting her father and going to discuss her. He gets a call and says that the UN plane will be at the Neptune’s coordinates at 2200 hours. They reach their destination and Gravik heads out to the meeting. While alone, G’iah texts someone the info about the Neptune. Talos and Gravik meet in front of an oil painting in a museum where Gravik gets to rant about he’d rather be a soldier remembered for blood spilt than a statesmen remembered in an oil painting. They head to the museum diner to parley. Talos asks Gravik to stop killing innocent people, and smug Gravik says that he’d be doing him a favor to kill him now. Talos says he’d face him in a duel of honor if he just says the word, but Gravik says that wouldn’t look right, a general challenging a subordinate. He mentions G’iah is in the car and Talos warns him to be very careful with his next few words. Gravik tells him to be grateful he hasn’t sent her back in a body bag yet. Talos goes for him, but then every other person in the cafeteria gets up and shapeshifts into Gravik’s human form. Gravik gives them the signal and they back down. Talos accuses him of bringing their people to the brink of extinction with this war with humans and Gravik counters by saying all we know is murder. Talos says he doesn’t know the first thing about humans, that we’re at our most dangerous when we have a common enemy. Gravik asks if he’s forgotten how they fight, and Talos threatens him by saying he won’t let Gravik keep up an anonymous campaign against us. Gravik says that he’ll be the one to wipe them out. Talos says he’ll show humans the difference between Skrulls infected with Gravik’s “sickness” and himself. Gravik says that G’iah will stay with him then, regardless. Talos gets up, stabs Gravik through the hand and chokes him for a second, saying to keep her name out of his mouth until the end of time and storms off. Gravik pulls his hand free from the knife and regenerates. The effect looks like he’s a got Extremis. Interesting… Talos heads out and a mysterious old man covertly gives him a phone before slipping away. Gravik comes out and tries to follow him but is cut off by a truck.

 

We jump over to Talos having breakfast when Fury joins him. They argue for a bit before Fury I forced to ask Talos for help uncovering a high ranking Skrull in the US government. They head out and Talos reveals the info that G’iah texted him. Fury, knowing that Neptune is a British sub, he calls Sonya. She demands an apology for him planting a bug on her owl. An owl that she’s redubbed Nicholas Fury, since she gave it a little eye patch to cover the camera. He tells her about the Skrulls on the Neptune and asks for her help stopping it. She says she can’t as she’s dealing with her own internal leak as someone told the Skrulls about the butcher shop. She does tell him the captain of the sub is Commodore Robert Fairbanks, and even sends them his address.

 

On the drive over, they have an argument over who has cleaned up the most of the other guy’s messes in their 30-year relationship. Talos, rightly, points out that Fury did benefit lot from having 20 shapeshifting spies under his command. He says that he doesn’t even need a thank you, he just wants the courtesy of not rewriting their history in front of him. It’s only then that he realizes that they arrived at Fairbanks’ house. They head in. Talos infiltrates the house as Fairbanks but is immediately discovered to be a Skrull by security. Talos heads into the house and Fury takes out several Skrull guards. Fury enters the house and calls for a status on Talos. Talos tells “Nick” which room to go to. Fury does so, only after grabbing Fairbanks son and informing the captain that nobody calls him “Nick.” They release hostages and Talos is sent to get something to tie them up. Fury sees on Fairbanks computer that the strike is imminent.

 

On the Neptune, they get the orders to shoot the plane down.

 

They try to get Fairbanks to listen, but he’s loyal to Gravik. Fury asks Talos to just shapeshift into Fairbanks and call off the strike, but Talos point out Fairbanks is the only one who knows the actual codes. Fury, running out of patience, shoots Fairbanks in the leg to try to pressure him. Fairbanks insults G’iah and a pissed off Talos kills him. He calls G’iah to try to get the termination password from her.

 

As the Neptune prepares to launch, she breaks into their holding cells and uses their tech to scan the real Fairbanks’ mind for it. She figures out that the code is Fairbanks’ son’s name and tells Talos. He’s able to abort the launch at the last minute. He tells G’iah to run.

 

Fury and Talos clean up the bodies. Fury asks if it’s hard for him to not side with Gravik. Talos tells him that the reason he didn’t side with Gravik is because he’s with Fury.

 

G’iah tries to escape on her motorcycle but is intercepted by Gravik. She tries to play it off that she was going to help exfiltrate their men after their failed mission. Gravik says that the mission didn’t fail, as while destroying the plane would have been helpful, finding the traitor was essential. He shoots G’iah and leaves her for dead.

 

At the Fury house, Varra gets a text, grabs a key and heads out. She travels to a bank and opens her safety deposit box. Inside is a gun. She makes a call and is told to meet the man on the other side at St. James church in an hour. She says she wants to talk to Gravik, but he says she’s talking to him.

 

…

 

The episode tries to play it coy, but it’s clearly Rhodey’s voice on the other end off that phone.

 

I mentioned this above, but again, it’s weird that this Secret Invasion plot with Super Skrulls is happening without THE Super Skrull. Sure, it’d be hard to explain Kl’rt’s powers in a Marvel Universe where the Fantastic Four might not be a thing yet… but come on, he is THE Super Skrull. And on that, I will also say that the plot of taking the DNA of heroes, aliens and other empowered MCU characters just feels less threatening in the MCU. Why? Because SO many powers are either magic (and thus non-replicatable) or tech based. Gravik showing off the Extremis glow suggests they’ve cracked the tech, but their grab bag of powers is otherwise pretty small. You’ve got lots of versions of super strength (Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, Groot), energy blasts (Iron Man, War Machine, Vision) and MAYBE Superspeed, if someone got Quicksilver in the brief time that he was active. The threat just feels less threatening without the plethora of Superpowers a huge Universe brings to the table. The spy stuff is pretty bare bones thus far. You’ve got G’iah feeding her dad information, child of the enemy being a double agent, that’s like grade 1 spy stuff. The idea that Rhodey might somehow be involved is better… but I’m not sure how I feel about it. We’ll see as that plot point develops. Fury being straight up married to a Skrull was not a plot twist I saw coming. I’m pretty sure Nick has been single for most of if not all his publication history. Connecting him to the Skrulls like that does suggest he was completely sincere with his claim at helping them get a new home as it would directly benefit the person closest to him… but also you could see him maybe dragging his heels on it in case it meant that she would leave. I’ll b curious as to what explanation they end up giving as to why the Skrulls are still on Earth 30 years after the fact. I mean, the MCU is just getting into space travel, but you’d think Fury might have asked the Guardians of the Galaxy if they knew of any uninhabited worlds that would be inconvenient for the Kree to get to or something. Gravik’s little speech at the painting was well done, a nice little bit of hypocrisy right there. He might see himself as “in the trenches” but he’s already the general calling the shots and not putting himself in any real danger. Case in point, the room filled with Skrull with orders to mimic him to help him escape in a meeting with Talos. He’s a smarmy little bugger. We’ll see where this plot goes in episode 4. See you then.

 

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Viewer Log: Secret Invasion ep 2

 Who can you trust?

Last time on Secret Invasion, Nick Fury is back after a few years out in space. It was discovered by Maria Hill and Skrull operative Talos that Everett Ross was in fact a Skrull. The Skrull was part of a new revolutionary group within the Skrull exiles on Earth working under a Skrull named Gravik that are trying to take Earth. This group had killed Talos’ wife Soren in the intervening years, while also radicalizing his daughter G’iah as a member. The trio learn of a plot to use Dirty Bombs in Moscow in the hopes of setting off a war between the US and Russia. They attempted to get their hands on the bombs first, but were too slow intercepting G’iah, who escaped. Talos though got to talk with her and seemed to convince her to stop the attack. She told Talos that they’d use three bombs and she’d mark them with infrared ink. On the day of the festival, they try to intercept the bombs but learn too late that the Skrull they were following only had decoys. Gravik sets off the bombs, and in the confusion assumes Fury’s form to get in close and kill Maria Hill. So not a great return trip for Fury thus far. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Ep 2: Promises

 

We begin in 1995. Fury gives us the general plot of Captain Marvel, Skrulls are invading Earth, they’re shapeshifting aliens that lost their planet in a war with the Kree and are looking for a new one. Two years later, 1997, in London, the Skrull are gathering and meet with Fury. He’s introduced to Gravik by Varra, another Skrull intermediary. Gravik’s family were killed in the last stand with the Kree, and he escaped on his own shuttle from behind enemy lines. Varra thinks he could be useful and just asks Fury to talk to him. Fury does talk with Gravik and agrees to take him on as one of their operatives. Talos starts the meeting, thanking the Skrull for gathering here on Earth, and promising that Nick Fury will find them a new home. Fury tells them that he believes that Humans and Skrulls can work together and hopes that the Skrulls will work for him while he and Captain Marvel look for a new home for them. All the gathered Skrull volunteer and Fury says that if they keep their word, he’ll keep his.

 

In the present, chaos is happening in Moscow. As Fury mourns Hill, Gravik and G’iah escape in a car. Fury is grabbed by a man and thrown in the back of a van, as is the Skrull pretending to be an American Against Russia member. It’s revealed a moment later that the guy that grabbed him was Talos in disguise.

 

We jump to a train. The Russian Army are looking for Fury. They interrogate a woman if she’d seen a large Black man on the train. The woman says that a Black American on the Moscow to Warsaw train seems less likely than finding an alien onboard. As soon as they leave, she shuts her compartment door, reverts to Talos and thus proves his hypothetical completely accurate. Fury slips out of the bathroom when he hears the coast is clear. He asks if he heard from G’iah, but Talos hasn’t. Fury is reminded of how he used to travel on trains from Alabama to Detroit with his mother. It wasn’t as nice as the modern train cars, especially because they’d had to take the “Colored” cars back then, but they had fun. He tells Talos about a game his mother invented called “Tell me something I don’t know,” and when he was a kid, his mother once asked him “Tell me something I don’t know about Nick and Suzie.” Suzie being Nick’s “friend” that he played doctor with behind a barn, if you catch my meaning. He said he lied to his mother about finding a polka dotted frog, and that in telling such an outrageous lie, he proved to her all she needed to know about him and Suzie. Fury asks Talos if he wants to go a few rounds, and when he says yes, Fury asks him to tell him something he doesn’t know about the destruction of Skrullos. Talos tries to tell him he knows everything, but Fury presses. Talos says that the Skrulls held out as long as they could, and when they couldn’t hold out anymore, the million or so survivors fled. Fury then asks about the Skrulls that fled. Talos says that those Skrulls that fled are on Earth. He mentions that there’s another Skrull colony, lead by someone named Emperor Drogge, and all the Skrulls not with him are one Earth. The two men start fighting, Talos airing out the years of frustration he felt since Fury disappeared and then came back before heading out into space. It sounds like he didn’t bring in the additional million Skrulls until the Blip. Talos says that he hopes Humans and Skrulls can coexist, and a furious Fury points out humans can’t coexist with each other. The train reaches the station and Fury tells Talos to get out. When alone, he holds his head in his hands at the insanity.

 

In London, we witness a body being put on a plane during a military funeral of some sort. Fury arrive and meets with a woman named Elizabeth. Elizabeth Hill. Crap. She demands to know what happened to Maria. Fury tells her the truth, that she was in Moscow and that she died because someone wanted to hurt her. Elizabeth, angry, says she doesn’t know why Maria died, but he better make sure it wasn’t for nothing.

 

We see some news footage of the attack on the news cycle. The attack killed 2000 people, and the Skrull that was captured is posing as “Martin Wallace” of the AAR. Tensions are high and war looks like it’s imminent.

 

We cut over to Gravik and G’iah driving. G’iah asks how Gravik knew that Fury would be there, Gravik lies and says he didn’t know but he’d hoped he’d be there. He says that not much of Fury is left, he’s down to vapors. He says he could have killed Fury there but didn’t because you don’t beat a man by giving him what he wants. He order her to rush him to the Skrull Council meeting, he wants to see their faces while Moscow is still burning. Gravik goes in, giving G’iah a gun and saying to kill one of the guards if he’s not out in an hour. The council, it seems, is made up of a lot of big wigs, the Secretary General of NATO- Skrull, this Sean Hannity looking talking head- Skrull, Prime Minister of England- Skrull, and two other unnamed Skrulls. Gravik immediately starts scolding the others for going native on Earth. They counter, saying that his actions are putting the peace the Skrulls have worked to maintain in jeopardy. They want to punish Gravik, but he claims that he was given the “right” to act thus when Fury failed to meet his end of the bargain to find them a new home. He promises to take Earth as the Skrulls new home. He thinks that humans were going to wipe themselves out regardless of them, he’s just speeding things up. They ask what he’ll do if the Avengers return, and he says he has a plan for that. Gravik’s ally, the Prime Minister, suggested they elect a “war time leader” for this time of crisis, which has “terrible idea” written below it in neon. She nominates Gravik as Skrull General. The Skrull capitulate and Gravik is named General. Only one Skrull objects, a woman in the guise of an Indian named Shirley, who chastises the group. She says they forgot their history, that they ended up refugees, not because they were unwilling to wage war but because they were too willing. She refuses to support Gravik. Gravik says if he had a hundred more like her he could rule the universe but lets her leave unscathed. Shirley calls Talos and lets him know what happened. He wants her to set a meeting between them and ays to tell Gravik that he wants to talk about G’iah.

 

Gravik leaves the meeting and takes back his gun from G’iah. They return to New Skrullos and he’s celebrated as a hero. G’iah follows Pagon into a backroom. He hears Pagon speaking with a scientist. He is scolded for not finding something called the “Harvest.” Without it, their plans are delayed, the scientist saying that it’s “back to scavenging,” and their DNA selection is limited. Pagon complains that he’d been told by Gravik of multiple locations for the Harvest but they’ve all been empty. She dismisses him and the science team powers up some kind of device.

 

We go to an emergency Security Council meeting in London. Rhodey is brought in and forced to try to explain what Fury and Hill were doing in Moscow. He says that if it’s true they were there, it was in their capacity as private citizens and claims any photos from Moscow are suspect. The Skrull Prime Minister asks why Rhodey is there instead of the US president, and Rhodey counters by saying he’s there as a courtesy. President Ritson is busy and won’t be coming to this kind of meeting without real proof. Rhodey leaves the meeting and gets a call from Fury. He wants to meet, and Rhodey tells him to meet at Burners Tavern at 1.

 

Fury arrives at the meeting. Rhodey tells him that he’s real close to turning him over to Russia. Fury says he was there to stop the attack. Rhodey “congratulates” him for setting the stage for WWIII and for pushing their allies to Russia’s side. Fury asks Rhodey how much he knows about his security detail, before dropping the “truth bomb” about the Skrulls. Turns out, Rhodey already knew. He was part of a read only investigation fifteen years ago and was brough up to speed about the Skrull. Fury says that the invasion Rhodey had been warned about then is happening. Rhodey suggests calling in the Avengers, but Fury says no, that if they do that the Skrull will just start taking on their shapes and framing them for terrorism. Fury asks Rhodey to back him, but Rhodey refuses. He claims he used all his pollical capital getting Hill’s body back. Fury says that they need to back each other as successful Black actors- I mean spies, and how they both wrestled their positions from the mediocre Alexander Pierces of the world. Nice call back to the HYDRA guy from The Winter Soldier. Rhodey’s security guy comes over and says that Fury’s car is ready. Rhodey set him up with a trip. Rhodey “fires” Fury. The guard tries to lead Fury away, But Fury grabs him and dislocates his arm for disrespecting him. Rhodey says that Fury is out, and Fury counters by saying “I’m Nick Fury. Even when I’m out. I’m in.” He heads out to a back bench before collapsing with a gasp.

 

Sonya enters a butcher’s shop and asks where “he” is and is pointed to the back where a group of Russians are torturing the Skrull AAR man for information. She takes custody of him. Sonya says that she can be very persuasive and dismisses him. When alone she blocks the door, and when he threatens her, she cut off one of his fingers and it turns into a Skrull finger.

 

At New Skrullos, G’iah researches the Scientist she saw earlier, one Rosa Dalton. When she searches the name in the data base she gets a list of creatures that the Skrulls seem to have gotten DNA of. There’s Groot, one of those Ice monsters from Thor 1, and Cull Obsidian of the Black Order. Gravik interrupts her, asking what she’s doing in there. She says that she’s checking the progress of their newest recruit and says that he’ll be ready for a “face” soon. Gravik says that when she firsts showed up he was skeptical, thinking what sort of coward would send his daughter to do what he couldn’t, and then realized that she must be there on her own because I coward couldn’t do that. He says their man on the inside said someone’s identified Brogan and that they need to head out.

 

Sonya threatens the Skrull, Brogan, with an injection that will make his blood start to boil in his veins unless he talks. He refuses to talk so she injects him in the ass. Dark. The Skrulls head to intercept. She breaks Brogan, getting him to say that Gravik is working on a machine to “make them stronger.” The Skrull head in with military gear. She asks who is leading their science team and he says some married couple. He breaks, saying they’re named Dalton. The Skrulls begin their assault, sniping one of the Russians before slipping into the building. They start killing the Russians. Sonya says that Brogan’s ride is here and shoves his chair over as she prepares to escape. G’iah, who’d be left in the car, heads in to see how it’s going. Sonya escapes out a secret grate. G’iah calls someone and speaks to them in Russian when she’s out of sight. Pagon tries to take Brogan out, but Gravik stops him to ask what he told. Brogan says he just lied to them and Gravik lets him pass.

 

The Skrulls head out. They escape the city and head into the woods outside of town. Gravik orders them to pull over and gives Pagon a gun. He pulls Brogan out and executes him. They drive off.

 

Fury goes to an old garage and pulls a jeep out of storage. He arrives at a Skrull woman’s house. Inside, she tells him that he’ forgetting something. He slips out, grabs a ring, and slips it onto his finger. Fury was married to a Skrull this whole time? Huh. Oh, this is the Skrull Varra from earlier, she’s assumed the identity of a woman named Dr. Precilla Davis. Neat.

 

This was a fine continuation of the story. I’m really enjoying Olivia Colman’s Sonya Falsworth. There’s just something about a sweetly smiling proper lady that will cut your finger off at the slightest insult that’s just fun to watch. The weirdly cheery energy around her is just so off putting. Seeing the gravity of the situation here is kind of interesting. We find that Talos has been lying to Fury for a few years now and has quietly turned Earth into one of the two biggest concentrations of Skrulls in the universe. Fury definitely has a point that doing that behind his back was a bad call, but I also completely get Talos getting desperate and wanting to get as many of his people to a safe place as possible. The information that G’iah is looking into is interesting. The Harvest has something to do with DNA and it involves some pretty powerful creatures if Groot and Cull Obsidian are on their list. I like the implication that she’s starting to question her loyalties now, despite only having had that quick chat with her dad in the tunnels. I’m not sure if Gravik turned into the G’iah that met with Talos, or if another Skrull did, but it's clear by now that G’iah herself was not the one that got in the taxi with Talos. Which… like, surely the Skrull should have a means of identifying each other. A code phrase, or gesture, something to prove someone is who they appear to be. Or maybe taking on someone else’s form is extremely offensive in their culture. Who knows? I’ll also give the show credit for having a reasonable reason not to pull in any of the Avengers. Yeah, risking the Skrull retaliating by, say, shapeshifting into Captain America and doing a war crime would be a difficult genie to get back in the bottle. Still don’t buy this insistence that Fury is on his last legs though. Tired? Definitely. Out of practice? Yeah. But not old man on his last legs. I just can’t see Samuel L. Jackson as anything less than a powerful man, I guess. I’ll be curious to see where the stuff with Rhodey goes. Ya don’t fire Nicholas Fury without consequences, my man. But we’ll see where it goes. Next time, ep 3.

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Viewer Log: Secret Invasion ep 1

 Fury is back and he's as pissed as his name sounds.

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Viewer Log: Wheel of Time ep 16

Let the Dragon Ride Again on the Winds of Time!

Last time on The Wheel of Time, we learned the origin of Moiraine’s hunt for the Dragon Reborn. She and her basically wife Siuan stumbled upon Gitara Moroso, an old Aes Sedai with the power to see the future, just as she had a vision of the Dragon’s Rebirth. She told the two women to keep the news secret before dying from the stress of it. In the future, Rand prepared to meet with Siuan Sanche the Amyrlin Seat. With a pep talk from Lan about how to walk before the Amyrlin, Rand entered confidently, but that confidence was shattered by how outclassed he was power wise to Siuan. Siuan revealed that, after learning of Moiraine’s stilling, she’s lost confidence in their plan, so she’s falling back on Tower Law. Rand is going to be kept shielded until the Last Battle and then be unleashed to fulfill his duty. Meanwhile, Mat is kidnapped by a mysterious figure and brought to Falme. He’s held prisoner by Ishamael, who prepares for him a tea that will supposedly show Mat his past lives and give him “perspective” on things. Mat takes the tea and has a trippy vision where we learn his greatest fear seems to be betraying his friends and ending up like his dad. When he comes out of it, Ishamael tells him that he’ll end the suffering of the cycle of rebirth and Mat asks how. Perrin and Aviendha meet with her Spear Sisters, Bain and Chiad, and after beating Aviendha up to meet her “Toh” (Obligation) for failing to save their deceased fourth Spear Sister, they set off as a group to Falme. Egwene is being kept as a Damane by the Seanchan and is used in a weapons test of sorts to show how strong she is. While the other Damane made shockwaves big enough to move people in the field, Egwene’s could be felt all the way to Falme itself. Egwene braids her hair to remind herself she’s not alone and promises Renna, her Sul’dam, that she will kill her. Moiraine’s nephew Barthanes is revealed to be a Dark Friend, and with a heavy heart his mother Anvaere has him arrested. When he tries to tell her that he sold his soul for her and why would she give up their good fortune for Moiraine, Anvaere tells him that Moiraine knows the difference between right and wrong and how hard it is to do the former sometimes. Nynaeve and Egwene figure out how to open a collar, contact Loial to figure out where Egwene is being kept and then use a collar to trap a Sul’dam. Rand and Moiraine are freed from capture. In part by Rand going to the World of Dreams and asking Lanfear to do a distraction for them, and from Verin taking over as his “guard” and letting him go. They make it to the Waygate in the heart of Cairhien, meeting up with Lan who tells them that he learned from Logain that Moiraine was Shielded, with the Weave tied off, not Stilled. Rand breaks the Shield, but they’re then confronted by Siuan. Siuan uses Moiraine’s extra oath of obedience to make her close the Waygate. She’s attacked by Lanfear. Lanfear goes to kill all three people in the area not named Rand, but Rand stops her. They step through to the Ways and to Falme. Enough recap let’s get to it.

 

Ep 16: What Was Meant To Be

 

We open on a scene 3000 years ago where Ishamael has been captured by Lews and his 100 companions. Ishamael tells Lews that the others will free him, but Lews tells him Moghedian, Sammael and the other Forsaken have already been captured and sealed.  Ishamael begs Lews to let him break the Wheel, to make the suffering stop, but Lews is steadfast. Ishamael scoffs and says that they’ll just do this again in their next lives and to get on with killing him. Lews tells Ishamael that he won’t execute him, but seal him away, in a Seal so strong that not even the Dragon could break it. He goes onto say that they believe this will be like putting him into a never-ending sleep. Lews apologizes to his friend before the Companions seal him away.

 

In the present, a group of Whitecloaks are camped just outside of Falme in an oasis. Dain Bornhald joins his father, Lord Captain Geofram Bornhald, as he’s strategizing with Eamon Valda. Their plan is to rush in and take the tower that he’s sure the Seanchan will be keeping the “witches.” Until they’re dead, he believes there’s no hope in taking the city. There are 28 captive channelers according to Valda. Geofram says that no one said it’d be easy and dismisses everyone. Dain asks his father why he’s talking like they can win this. Geofram says that the “Watchers of the Waves” called for help from every monarch in the world and that they will help them even if no one else will.  Dain asks if he believes in the prophecy that the Dragon will return in Falme’s greatest time of need. Geofram tells him that Prophecies are just the lies of long dead witches.

 

In the Ways, Rand is traveling to Falme with his entourage. Lanfear says that everyone is being quite back there and if she should be worried. They reach a Gate and Moiraine asks if this is the one to Falme. Lanfear tells her to open it and find out. Moiraine tries to hide that she has her powers back, but Lanfear sees through her words, telling them that they’re alive only because she allows it and that they have a role to play till. Lan steps by Moiraine, Lanfear says that when the time comes to Raise the Banner, and opens the Gate and blows them through with Wind. They land on a beach in the middle of nowhere. Rand demands they go back for them, but Lanfear tells him that they’ll be able to travel faster without them and that she’s the only one who cares about him as a person. She tells him to close his eyes and they vanish as Machin Shin, the Black Wind arrives, summoned by Channeling.

 

On the outskirts of Falme, Perrin and co approach the city. Bain sees a fog bank in the distance and says that doesn’t belong there. Aviendha tells him that “many people will wake from the dream today.” The Aiel see life as a dream, so she means die. Perrin stops and tells Hopper to stay back, that it’s not safe and he’ll be back. He walks off, Hopper whining.

 

Ishamael is joined by Lanfear in his chambers. She tells him that she brought Rand to Falme. He says that they’re no where near ready. Lanfear tells him that she knows him and that he’ll be putting this off for years if she didn’t push this. Ishamael insists it’s too soon, that they don’t know who he’ll choose. Lanfear says he’s ready, and that she promised Rand she’d help kill Ishamael. Ishamael asks why he waked her, and she says because they balance each other. Ishamael rests his head on her shoulder and we’re shown the opposite side of his room, where the other six Forsaken Seals are on display. They look like manhole covers. Which I guess they kind of are?

 

Later, the Whitecloaks charge Falma and begin their assault. They use some boys waving incense, (somehow?) to spread the fog to cover their initial charge. They bust in and Geofram orders they take the tower.

 

At the same time, Nynaeve is in full Sul’dam gear as the commotion outside begins to pick up. Elayne says she looks good and then asks what they’re going to do about Seta, the Sul’dam they have captured. Nynaeve says now she’s going to tell them everything they want to know.

 

In the Kennels, Renna is preparing to take Egwene out to defend the city. She tells Egwene that she expects her to behave outside the cell, warning that the first punishment for defying orders is to take a Damane’s tongue, and the second her hands. She tells Egwene to stand, and when she doesn’t, she puts a dagger to her Egwene’s tongue and makes her stand. She sticks the gag in her mouth and then lops off Egwene’s braid, saying maybe that will hurt her worse.

 

In the castle, Padan Fain joins Ishamael. Ishamael tells him that Lanfear betrayed them and that he’ll have to remove her from the board. Fain asks him how, as the “Great Lord” gave her immortality, and Ishamael says that’s for him to worry about. He needs Rand to swear oaths to the Dark to break the Wheel and the only way to do that is to break his friends first. He resolves himself to wait for Rand’s next life if he has to. Fain asks if he’d like him to kill Rand, but Ishamael says that he knows who kills Rand and with what. Fain enters Mat’s room, unsheathes the Dagger and puts it in front of him. Oh no.

 

Back with Nynaeve, she’s using the collar to torture Seta for information. Seta begs to be released. Elayne asks Nynaeve what she’s doing, and Nynaeve explains that she can feel Seta’s mind in hers, a bundle of sensations in the back of her mind and all she has to do is push to make her feel pain. Seta says that Egwene will be taken to the Tower to defend the city. Nynaeve tells her that Seta will lead them there, and if she tries to betray them, she’ll make Seta rue the first kiss her mother ever gave her father. Dark, Nynaeve, dark.

 

As the guard’s scramble to fight the Whitecloaks, Rand is sneaking into the city. He sees Egwene pass with a group of Damane and tries to follow.

 

Mat hears the whispers of the Dagger. He asks Fain what makes him think he’s stupid enough to touch it again. Fain says that he knows he went back to the Tower, abandoning his friends to get it. He says Mat’s no hero from a Gleeman’s tale, and he should just embrace the Dark in him. Fain says that he will, leaving Mat alone in the room with the Dagger, saying he deserves it. When alone, Mat is clearly affected by the dagger but doesn’t grab it.

 

Lan and Moiraine are walking along the shore to Falma. Lan asks about their Bond. He wants it back, but Moiraine isn’t sure why he’d even want it. Lan says that he believes in her, in what she does and that while hearing her say they weren’t equals hurt him, he’s accepted it. Moiraine corrects him, saying that she was only able to say he wasn’t her equal, because from the moment they met she knew he was better than her. Moiraine reignites their Bond and they touch their foreheads.

 

Perrin and the Aiel enter the city looking for his friends. They find them almost immediately, Loial, Ingtar and Masema had escaped thanks to a “lady from Cairhien” and they recovered the Horn of Valere. Ingtar wants to run with the Horn, but Loial says he’s not going without Egwene. Ingtar says that the Horn will summon dead heroes to the aid of whomever blows it and that they can’t risk it. Loial, in a baller line, says “What about the heroes of today?” He goes onto say they’re the heroes of ages to come, and that it’s about time they start acting like it. They head out to save Egwene.

 

Egwene is brought to the Tower and made to take a post in the line with the other Damane. Th others start firing on the Whitecloaks and civilians but Egwene refuses. She hears the Whitecloaks screaming to take the tower and burn the witches, which seems to set her off and she launches a huge fireball at them.

 

Lord Turak is informed by his Voice about what’s happening in the city. He orders that the only thing that matters is getting the Horn back. Rand arrives and faces him. Turak notes that Rand has a Heron marked sword on him and want to know what it takes to earn a Blademaster’s sword on this side of the ocean. He draws and prepares to fight. Rand, in the most Indiana Jones moment that I’ve seen since Raiders of the Lost Arc, channels and cuts all their throats except the Voice’s. The voice says that he will follow Turak in death as in life and kills himself. Rand walks past them with a look of disgust.

 

Perrin’s group are lead by Bain through the tight streets, Ingtar noting that one man could hold off fifty here. A group of Seanchan arrive to fight them and Ingtar rushes ahead to hold them off. He kills several, but is cut down. I have complicated feelings about this, but more on that later.

 

On the shore, Lan notes that Moiraine is walking faster than she used to. Moiraine says that she feels like she’s gotten those buckets off her back. Lan asks why Ishamael only freed Lanfear. Moiraine thinks that the others were too dangerous to free. The Forsaken fought amongst themselves as much as the Dragon. But everything she’s read says that Ishamael, Lanfear and Lews were inseparable before the war of power. Best friends. They see the city in the distance and Moiraine says Lanfear planned this.

 

We cut to Falme, where Bayle Doman, the captain from episode 9, is gathering his wares before trying to run. Lanfear joins him and tells him that she has another task for him. She’s the one that sold him the Cuendillar shard earlier. She’s going to bring him six big Cuendillar disks that he will take into the ocean and drop them to the bottom. Doman says that would be a fortune that he’d be throwing away, but Lanfear says that she’ll make it worth his while.

 

In the palace, Lady Suroth is fuming about being kept from the battle. There’s glory to be won. Ishamael joins them, dusting off his hands and saying he had business to attend to. He asks if Egwene is in place and Suroth confirms. She says she should be there leading her people, as with Turok dead she’s in charge. Ishamael is shocked to hear Turak is dead and that the Horn was stolen. He tells them that Lanfear is working against them. He orders her to take the strongest Damane that she’d held in reserve to a ship and wait for his signal.

 

Mat is still in the room fighting the Dagger’s pull. He then has an idea. He uses a long pole to put the dagger in place and then ties it to the end, doing his best to not even touch it. Using his makeshift spear, he melts the lock on his door, shocking Padan Fain on the other side. Fain runs off, calling for guards. Mat makes a run for it the other way.

 

Egwene sees the common folk being hurt in their crossfire and refuses to keep fighting. She spits out her gag and says no to Renna. Renna pulls her dagger to “discipline” Egwene. Meanwhile, Nynaeve and Elayne approach. When they get to the tower, however, the Whitecloaks unleash their catapults. The rocks they hurl save Egwene from losing her tongue. The Whitecloaks rally the people of Falme and start fighting toward the tower. Seta is killed by an arrow, causing the collar to fall off her and the bracelet from Nynaeve and Elayne is hit in the leg. Damn. Egwene drags herself from the rubble and finds an a’dam from a dead Damane. Renna also survived and looks pissed.

 

Perrin’s group comes across Mat and they embrace. Seanchan arrive another brawl breaks out.

 

Renna starts torturing Egwene. She gets a little too into it, though and gets close. Egwene slams the a’dam onto Renna. She smugly says that the a’dam only works on channelers. Egwene says she knows, just as the shield forms around Renna. She explains that at first she thought that the a’dam worked like the Warder bond, but then realized that this is a form of Linking. The Sul’dam can channel, but they’re so weak in the power that the “Searchers” didn’t find them. Renna denies it and punches Egwene but drops as she feels the hurt twice over. Egwene says that the only way she’ll release Renna is if she frees Egwene first. Egwene hangs Renna by the collar for additional incentive using the power. Renna says that if she dies, Egwene dies. She holds out for several seconds but then frees Egwene. Egwene stands there and watches Renna choke to death. Damn. Egwene drops to her knees and gasps. Rand finds her kneeling there. She obviously thinks he’s a ghost or something.

 

Lore lesson for you. In The Wheel of Time, there are two types of Channelers. Some people, like Egwene, Nynaeve and Rand, will channel at some point regardless of other factors. They’re said to have the “spark.” The other kind are people who can learn to channel but need to be taught to embrace the Source as well. In Seanchan society, the Testing that the Searchers do finds all the girls that have the Spark and makes them Damane. The Sul’dam are the Sparkless. The A’dam lets them tap into power that they couldn’t touch normally and because of that it sort of… warps how their power works. They can’t channel on their own but can see the weaves and feel other channelers. It’s like they only get half the power.

 

 

Mat and Perrin’s group are fighting, the Aiel slaughtering Seanchan. Mat tells Perrin that Rand is here (He has shit hair) and will be headed to Egwene. Loial says that they need to get the Horn to Rand. Perrin says that they can’t even open the box, and Mat lets them know about his anti-metal spear.

 

Rand tells Egwene that he’d come to save her, but it looks l like she didn’t need it. Rand apologizes for lying to her and says they should get out of here, but then Ishamael arrives. Egwene prepares to fight but she and Rand are both knocked back by his weaves. He throws up a flare via channeling and Suroth’s Damane Shield Rand from their ships. Ishamael says that this is just like in his last life, that he tries to be so honorable, so proud. Rand says he’s not Lews and Ishamael says that maybe next time will be different. On the ships, Suroth says to keep the Shield on him until they get the next signal, and then they’ll Gentle Rand. Ishamael scolds Rand for abandoning Egwene and that he’s tired of fighting like this. He tries to get Rand to join him.

 

Meanwhile, Mat cuts the Horn of Valere out of the box. Mat takes it while Perrin and Loial fight off Seanchan. He runs off. In the brawl, Perrin finds Dain and he recognizes the Two Rivers man.

 

Nynaeve tries to channel to heal Elayne’s leg but can’t grasp the power. Elayne tries to coach her through the exercises, but Nynaeve says she can’t do it like that, it’s either there or it’s not.

 

Perrin comes across Valda. He has guards knock him to the ground and prepares to cut his throat, saying that now they’ll see what he really is. Hopper runs in and starts mauling Hopper. Geofram sees and kills Hopper with a stroke of his axe. As he dies, Perrin sees Hopper’s last sending, the wolf leaping to the sky. Perrin screams in rage, grabs an axe and kills Geofram.

 

Mat reaches the top of the bridge to the tower, a squad of Seanchan stand in front of him and charge. Having no other option, Mat blows the Horn. Time seems to stop as we’re shown everyone in their current predicaments. Mat says he “remembers.” The heroes arrive, there’s about a dozen of them, the only ones you need to care about Artur Hawkwing, the man to his right, Amaresu, the woman on his left, and Uno Flaming Nomesta, the man on her left. Mat says that they’re the Heroes of the Horn and that he’s one of them. Artur seems to confirm it, saying they’ve fought alongside each other many times, and then Uno says they need to stop Fecking standing around.  The Heroes get into a battle stance and Mat shouts “Dovie’andi se tovya sagain!” It’s time to toss the dice!  And they charge. It’s a pretty one sided battle, Mat’s the only one of the Heroes party that could be hurt, after all. They cut through the Seanchan and Mat races ahead.

 

Perrin slams his axe into Geofram again, Dain seeing him and attacking him. He’s knocked back by Uno joining them. He’s dragged off by the other Whitecloaks, shouting Two Rivers! at Perrin. Uno says to not look so surprised he’s a Hero of The Horn and then goes back to killing people. Mat make it through the fray and to the Tower.

 

Nynaeve still can’t embrace the Source, so Elayne just says to use what she knows. Nynaeve pushes the arrow through and out, not snapping off the fletching for some reason, and then helps her up. Elayne says to leave her, but Nynaeve thinks Egwene is going to need help channeling.

 

Ishamael asks Rand if he’ll serve. Rand says he won’t, that in a thousand lifetimes he hasn’t and will never. Ishamael says that Lanfear is right, and that Rand is very much like Lews, but different too. Mat reaches the top of the Tower and flings his spear at Ishamael… it passes through him and into Rand’s gut. Shit. Ishamael reveals it was an illusion and he’d been standing somewhere else the whole time.  Mat pulls the spear out and begs Rand for forgiveness for hurting him. Ishamael says that, if it’s any consolation, he’s truly sorry. Egwene, sick off this, gets up and hurls him back with the power. Ishamael tells her she can’t face one of the Chosen, but Egwene seems to do just that, blocking his attacks.

 

Moiraine and Lan come close to the city and she sees the weaves Shielding Rand. Lan asks what if it’s not Rand ant that those are ships of innocent people. Moiraine says she’d let thousands of innocents die to save Rand. Lan goes over and holds of the approaching Seanchan as Moiraine begins to weave.

 

Ishamael’s power forces Egwene back. She apologizes to Rand for not being strong enough, but then Perrin arrives and blocks more attacks with an actual shield. Nynaeve and Elayne arrive too, Elayne using her channeling to heal Rand. As the sun set’s behind her, Rand asks who she is and she introduces herself. Awww. She heals him, but the scar it leaves is nasty looking. Mat tells him he has to do something, but he can’t do anything due to the shield.

 

Moiraine attacks the ships with weaves of fire, blowing the first up and setting the other’s alight. No more shield.

 

Rand is freed and gets up. While Egwene keeps the Shield up, he channels and then rams his white-hot blade through Ishamael’s heart. His palms are branded with the Heron from the sword hilt. As he dies, Ishamael says that it’s beautiful. When Rand asks what, Ishamael says he sees nothing. Nothing at all. He then crumbles to dust.

 

Lan tells Moiraine that the Seanchan are retreating. Moiraine quotes the Prophecy about Rand being proclaimed over the Watcher in fire and channels some more. She weaves a serpentine dragon of flames that encircles the tower and breathes fire. The Dragon Reborn has been proclaimed. Aviendha also proclaims that Rand is the Car’a’Carn, the chief of chiefs the Aiel have been searching for.

 

After, Lanfear marches smugly to the room where Ishamael was keeping all the Forsaken seals. She enters to find all the seals shattered and someone waiting for her. This is Moghedian, the Spider, playing with a weave like it’s a cat’s cradle. Lanfear tries to intimidate her fellow Forsake, but Moghedian traps her in a weave of threads that are razor sharp. She tells Lanfear that the reason that Lanfear and Ishamael failed was because they were too close to Lews Therin, it made them loose perspective. She says that she and the other Forsaken will handle this and Weaves a Gateway to leave. When alone, Lanfear prays for Rand’s safety.

…

 

That line about Lanfear and Ishamael being too close to Lews is hilarious to me because at least half of the possible Forsaken released here hated Lews personally and most of the other half hated him professionally as well. No Forsaken is objective about Lews Therin Telamon.

 

This was a great finale, a vast improvement on last season. I liked seeing Mat have his big moment of victory. All season he’s been in pain and clearly second guessing if he’s a good person or friend. So, finding out that not only is he strong enough to resist the Dagger but also that he’s a Hero of the Horn is just fantastic. Side note, it’s theorized by some that all of the major characters are Heroes of the Horn, they’re just, ya know, alive during this conflict. Case in point, that woman, Amaresu that I mentioned? In one of the companion books to the Wheel of Time it’s revealed that she’s Rand’s opposite number. If the Dragon needs to be Reborn as a woman, it’s her ‘soul’ that gets spun out. I don’t love that souls are gendered, but if one Dragon is called by the Horn it only makes sense that the other is as well. Hopper’s death hit hard, but that’s because I like dogs. Fun fact, Perrin didn’t kill Geofram in the books, the elder Bornhald was killed offscreen in the big brawl, but his second Jaret Byar insisted that Perrin did it and that lead to Dain forming an everlasting hatred for the blacksmith. I think that Rand facing off against Ishamael on the top of the Tower works in theory, but I do wish Rand could have done more here. The show is held back by the simple fact that Rand has megatons of power to throw around right now, so that if he’s allowed to just channel, he’ll obliterate just about anything he comes across. The books just kind of nerfed Rand as the series went on, but I think the show is trying to show his strength but not rely on it, ya know? In the books, Rand and Ishamael had a solo duel that somehow projected onto the clouds above Falme and their fighting seemed to invigorate their side below. It’s a cool visual in the books, but I just don’t think it would have worked for the show. So beating Ishamael and then having a metaphorical “bannered in the sky” by having a Dragon appear and breathe fire is a better substitute. Plus, when other parties accuse Rand of being an Aes Sedai puppet, they won’t seem nearly as insane when they proclaim what he does as Tower meddling. My only real gripe is with Nynaeve and Elayne. I’m not entirely sure the show knew what to do with them. In the books, they are the ones that free Elayne who then punches Renna and leaves her to be caught with the a’dam on. Making all their research into the a’dam for naught and keeping them from joining the fight to early by injuring Elayne and having Nynaeve not have the anger to fix her just feels… off. Oh, and Ingtar… Spoilers in coming if you want to read the books and don’t want to know how the hero of house Shinowa is portrayed there. Okay… enough distance between the spoiler tag and now? Alright… in the books, just after Ingtar notes how the architecture would allow one man to fight dozens in Falme, it’s revealed that he is in fact a Dark Friend. The whole book was littered with clues about this, mentioning a Shienaran lord being at the Dark Friend social in the beginning, noting Ingtar had been away on a “hunting trip” just before the book started, his near feverish desire to find the Horn of Valere, all that and more. He reveals that he did it to try to save Shienar, believing that the land would be destroyed, as the south never cared about its unending battle with the blight. He realized that he’d be forced to do worse and worse after an accident getting them to Falme in time and wanted to atone for his sins by sacrificing himself to buy Rand, Mat and Perrin time to escape. Now… without all that, we just have a good dude getting chopped to pieces… because. I think the show wrote itself into a corner by having Ishamael openly ally with the Seanchan. With that, there was no good way to have Ingtar be a spy that would make sense, so we’re left with him just dying because. Those are my two big gripes. Other than that, solid finale. I can’t wait for season 3, hopefully some time in 2025. Next time, we’ll see what Nick Fury has been up to. See ya later. 

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