The penultimate episode of Secret Invasion sets the stage for the final battle, as all the pieces move into place and the stakes get higher for Fury. It’s all leading up to the finale, so let’s see how it all falls into place and what new insights we can gleam from our cast.
1. Gravik’s Losing his Grip
It seems that the Marvel series on Disney+ almost always need to push their villains to a point where they become completely unhinged, regardless of whether they started off as sympathetic or antagonistic. We’ve seen examples of this with The Clandestines in Ms. Marvel and the Flag Smashers in Falcon and Winter Soldier, where they’re either introduced as sympathetic characters who quickly turn villainous, or as villains who reveal that they have sympathetic motives… before becoming even more villainous. That way our heroes can beat them up without worry, and no need for moral ambiguity.
Well, now it’s Gravik’s turn to go off the deep end, as he continues to execute his own soldiers and threatens to have his own people attacked. Let’s be clear: he was always a villain, that was never in question. We can feel sympathetic for other Skrulls, who are just looking for a new home to live in peace, but Gravik has been shooting named characters and blowing up civilians from the get-go; this latest episode just further separates him from the other Skrulls, so we can view him as the bad guy while letting the others remain more redeemable.
But considering Gravik has a tendency to murder his own followers for failing him (or sometimes even questioning him), it doesn’t exactly instill loyalty in them (there’s much to be said for good leadership skills, and public executions are bad for morale). It’s no wonder that his own team jumps him and tries to kill him, but they probably should have come better prepared for taking on a Super Skrull.
2. G’iah and Priscilla
This episode also takes a little time to develop G’iah and Priscilla. G’iah brings Talos’ body to Priscilla for a proper Skrull burial (how she got his body off the battlefield, I can’t say), while Priscilla chooses to remain and defend her home from the attack squad she knows Gravik is sending, rather than go on the run.
This actually works well for both the characters, as it gives us three important things:
1. A moment where they connect and commiserate over the loss of Talos and their own losses,
2. A moment that lets them serve as foils to each other in terms of ideals, experience, and being accepted in their own skin,
3. A fun action scene where they get to team up and shoot their attackers.
So the scenes they get together serve their characters well, and continue to build on what we know of them. It works well for pacing and development, while continuing to move G’iah towards the endgame.
3. Sonya’s Assault
Throughout the series, Sonya Falsworth has continued her own personal crusade against the Skrulls, and this episode brings her path crossing with Fury’s again. We’ve seen her in action before, and she’s always come across as in-control, in-the-know, and far too cheerful about the concept of shooting, torturing, or otherwise inflicting paint on any Skrulls who get in her way (and even those that aren’t in her way, just kind of in the same general vicinity as her way).
In that way, there’s something frightening about her. The casual glee with which she inflicts pain to the Skrulls is chilling in its own way, even if they are working for Gravik. (Just because they’re not human doesn’t make them less than human.) Although it is satisfying when she realizes she was played by corroborating Rhodes’ story without realizing he was a Skrull, and then again in her being surprised by learning that Fury’s wife is also a Skrull.
At any rate, she serves as a sort of extreme end of the human side of the conflict, as a counterpoint to Gravik. While Gravik wants to wipe out humanity, Sonya practically takes delight in killing Skrulls, while Fury is in the middle, trying to find a non-genocidal solution.
Continued belowAlthough I must also give her credit for the “Cake or death?” reference.
4. Why No Avengers?
There’s one question many characters and viewers have been asking: why hasn’t Fury called in the Avengers? While we as viewers know it’s because bringing on any of them would cost the studio a lot more money, the show does attempt to address it.
In this case, Fury explains that they can’t keep relying on superheroes to come in and save the day every time something goes wrong. The world needs to be able to defend itself without depending on a small group of heroes, and he has to be able to rely on his own abilities.
In-character, this makes sense. After all, Fury might have been the one to assemble the Avengers in the first place, but they were always meant as a special group to handle the threats that the world otherwise couldn’t. They’re the glass to break in case of emergency, not the people you call every time a cat gets stuck in a tree.
Besides that, this is also a show about Fury getting his groove back. And considering the responsibility he bears for everything reaching this point – training Gravik, disappearing on everyone post-Blip, and the nature of the Harvest itself – it stands to reason that he feels the need to clean up his own mess.
But it’s also because the Avengers actors don’t come cheap, even for a cameo.
5. The Harvest
At last, we learn what exactly the Harvest is and why Gravik is after it. We know that the Skrull are collecting DNA samples to power themselves up with, and that Gravik has sent agents to potential Harvest locations only for them to come up empty, so the true nature of the Harvest is… completely unsurprising.
Yes, it’s Avenger DNA. Fury sent agents to clean up after every big battle where super-powered blood was spilled, including Skrulls under his command. Between all the bloodstains, they’ve collected the DNA of every hero on the planet (and even more than a few from off of it), making it a superpowered cocktail for any Skrull looking to splice their genes with a bit of extra power.
And somehow it all fits into a single clear vial. You’d think they’d have individual hero DNA sorted and labeled separately, but a vial makes a better MacGuffin.
Although it’s worth noting that not every hero has super powers in their blood. Sure, you’ve got heroes like Thor and Valkyrie, who are absolutely super-powered down to their DNA, and we’ve seen what Hulk blood can do to a person. Those who gained their powers, like Captains America and Marvel, also make sense. Spider-Man? Listen bud, he’s got radioactive blood.
But there are also heroes with no superpowers, just training and tech. Tony Stark’s DNA isn’t going to let the Skrulls construct a suit in a cave with a box of scraps, and I doubt Hawkeye’s impressive archery skills go all the way down to his genetic code.
Does that make the Harvest any less valuable? No, there are still plenty of powers to plunder within. But not all heroic blood will have the same benefits.
As for the fate of the Harvest itself, not to mention Gravik, Fury, and all the Skrulls on Earth, we’ll see what happens next week for the finale.
