SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
I have so many questions after the end of this episode that I don’t even know how to sort through them. I did not see that coming. At all. But before we get to that, let’s talk about everything else leading up to it.
Stick double confirmed that Danny is the “key” to the Hand’s plans, which the Defenders didn’t seem to have gathered already. Even though they don’t know exactly what the Hand wants Danny for, Alexandra has twice tried to capture him alive, the second time saying right in front of them that that’s what she was trying to do.
I also don’t understand why Danny finds it so hard to believe that he’s more than just weapon and that his power can be used fro more than that. He’s already seen fro his interactons with Stick that he wasn’t told everything about the Hand or even K’un L’un. I think it’s that he doesn’t want to believe it. Especially when it means he will be taken out of the fight, He’s waited his entirelife to take down the Hand and the rest of the team wants to keep him away from them; rob him of the opportunity to when it’s so close.
I did not know that I wanted Matt and Danny to fight until it happened They are the only two people on the team who are trained fighters and they have more less the same skill est (I’d imagine that the Chaste’s training isn’t much different from that at K’un L’un aside from the chi). I think that that was the best that Danny’s fighting has looked so far. Finn Jones looked to be about as good as Charlie Cox and there weren’t any quick cuts to hide anything.
Matt really needs to sit down with everyone and ell them everything that happened when he last face the Hand. To the smallest detail. Because knowing that the giant hole from Daredevil season two was under Midland would have been a very useful thing to know a good long while ago. I knew that he was looking for something in the piano when he asked about it and the building plans for Midland were tucked away safely inside it. The plans only confirmed my theory that the door Danny has to unlock is right at the bottom of the hole.
I did not expect that Stick would try to kill Danny. I never even thought of it as an option for stopping the Hand. It would be a quick and easy solution but it wouldn’t be a permanent one. There would be an Iron Fist to replace him eventually.
Elektra showing up and being the one to stop Stick was also unexpected. Stick had the perfect opportunity to kill her and he didn’t. I don’t think he could bring himself to. He did just say that she was family. But she had no qualms about killing him. I didn’t want Stick to die and was hoping that Matt showing up and her clearly recognising him meant that he would have been able to stop her from doing it. And now she has Danny.
I never really had any thoughts or ideas about what the door led to, only that whatever was on the other side of it be what the Hand needs to complete their goal; immortality. I don’t recall it being said before this episode that they also want to return to K’un L’un. Alexandra pretty much confirmed my theory that the city had not been destroyed. So I think that perhaps the door will lead them there. It could even be one they can use at any time without waiting every fifteen years for the entrance to open.
If the door does lead to K’un L’un, Alexandra won’t be going. Elektra killed her. Her memories have fully returned now and she is the new leader of the Hand. Just as she was reclaiming her power after being ousted in the last episode – and thanks largely in part to Elektra bringing in Danny no less – Alexandra lost it all. I…didn’t see that coming. When Alexandra got Elektra from the graveyard it looked like she had regained full control of her by manipulating her with the idea of their deaths. Elektra even looked concerned by the idea of Alexandra dying. I suppose she had been playing a part then, because by that point she’d fully recovered her memories (if her dream about Matt was any indication).
Random thoughts:
- Alexandra went from looking defeated to looking determined.
- Oh. The dead people that Cole went to clean up after were Chaste.
- Ha! Stick sent Sowande’s head to the Hand.
- Murakami was right about what…?
- The Luke and Danny bonding continues!
- She hit Luke hard enough to knock him out!
All eight episodes of Marvel’s The Defenders are currently available for streaming on Netflix.
