Karnack and Gorgon take on Auran and her minions.  Medusa and Black Bolt look for Crystal.  A shocking death rocks the Royal Family.

Behold… The Spoilers

At Least Medusa Took Locus’ Plea to Heart…

As Louise tracks Crystal’s arrival on Earth, Auran calls Locus’ commlink which Louise fixed.  Auran divulges she is still at the lab with Sammy and Declan as hostages.  Not wanting to leave their human friends out to dry, the family splits up once again.  Karnack and Gorgon head to the lab to rescue Sammy and Declan while the others search for Crystal.

The king and queen argue over what to do with Maximus once they return to Attilan.  Black Bolt wants to obliterate his brother much to the displeasure of Medusa.  That would be something his father would’ve done, she warns.  Medusa pleads with Black Bolt to give Maximus a fair trial and let their people see they are objective rulers.

Good and Bad Humans

Crystal and Dave’s romp around the island has worn down Lockjaw prompting another visit from Audrey.  Freaked out over Dave’s infatuation with another girl, Audrey attempts to report Crystal to the Inhuman registry.  The princess burns up Audrey’s cell phone and the ex-girlfriend promises “this isn’t over” as she storms away.

Dave takes Crystal to the highest point on the island where the element controlling Inhuman summons lightning to catch the attention of her family.  Louise notices the freak storm and reunites Medusa with her sister.  The group return to Dave’s barn just before Audrey arrives ranting about a dangerous Inhuman and a giant dog to the cops she brought with her.  Dave delays the authorities outside while Lockjaw teleports the family away.  The cops only find Louise in the barn who tells them Audrey locked her inside because Dave moved on with her.  The police shrug it off as a domestic situation and vamoose.

“My people love me no matter what”

On Attilan, Bronaja (the Inhuman with visions) is apprehensive about his father traveling to Earth and helping Maximus.  His father has no such worries, he is happy to help his new King and gain freedom.  As he and the others travel to Earth, Tibor expresses his concern to Maximus over the people’s reaction to recruiting non-combat trained minors.  The crazed-eyed Inhuman brushes off Tibor’s trepidation.  If Black Bolt kills them, “that’ll make the rest of our citizens hate him all the more” Maximus quips in earshot of Bronaja.

Tibor requests to meet the new king in private and discuss the group of Black Bolt sympathizers he has heard about.  At first, Maximus is disbelieving of the rumors.  His people love him, why would anyone want to kill him.  But Tibor plays into Maximus’ paranoia and gets the private meeting so he and the other resistance members can kill the pretend king.  The resistance members arrive to the meeting, but Maximus saw right through Tibor’s plans and slits his throat as the royal guard takes the others to be executed.  Angry and a little cracked, Maximus paints Bronaja’s face with Tibor’s blood as he has the young boy pledge “long live King Maximus.”

Lost Cousin

Karnack is still wary of attacking the lab blind of his powers, but Gorgon cleverly points out Auran and the rest don’t know about Karnack’s blow to the head.  The hoot-footed Inhuman knocks out the power to the lab while Karnack brazenly walks right in and gives Auran a hell of a fright.  Gorgon and Karnack knock out Flora, Mordis, and the minors one by one.  Karnack frees Sammy and Declan as Gorgon takes down Auran.

Mordis starts to gain consciousness to the realization he is going back to prison.  He starts to lift his helmet, Gorgon holds him off and yells for Karnack to get everyone out.  Gorgon stomps his hoof down and collapse the facility on top of the two.

Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, and Lockjaw arrive as Karnack finds Gorgon in the rubble.  “He’s gone,” Karnack confesses.  “Gorgon’s dead.”

Thoughts

The demise of Gorgon is incredibly upsetting.  He is the most likable character and his chemistry with Karnack was one of the best things about Inhumans.  This loss is a huge blow to the family and a massive shake up to a series in desperate need of a jolt.  I don’t think this was the bombshell needed to give Inhumans the high stakes tone needed to overcome so many self-made obstacles, but at least it is something.

There is a possibility Gorgon could be resurrected.  Declan brought up Auran’s regeneration abilities.  While the conversation was more of a warning to the fighter her powers are not infinite (prompting her hasty surrender to Gorgon), the geneticist mentioned her DNA tests.  Before the facility collapsed on itself, Declan grabbed his suitcase with his research inside.  If Declan can crack the sequence which allows Auran to bring herself back, he could do the same for Gorgon.

Looking through the rubble, Black Bolt finds Mordis’ helmet, but not a body.  I’m not so sure we should assume the most obnoxious villain in the history of the MCU is dead and gone, but my fingers are crossed.

Maximus’ dream to start the episode is thought-provoking.  In it, the returning royal family accuses the traitor of murdering his and Black Bolt’s parents.  A flashback during the pilot episode showed Black Bolt accidentally using his powers on the former king and queen, but the dream suggests Maximus may have had a hand in their demise.  If Maximus was the real cause of death for his parents, this could be absolution for Black Bolt who has kept himself guarded in fear of unintentionally affecting carnage.

The penultimate episode sees the royal family returning to Attilan.  How will the people react to their return and how will Black Bolt handle Maximus after the death of Gorgon?

Till Next Week!

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The Nerdling was born in the majestic land known as Texas and currently resides there after several years of journeying through Middle Earth in a failed attempt to steal the one Ring from that annoying hobbit, serving the Galactic Empire for a time, and then a short stint as a crew member on the Serenity. Since moving back to her homeland, Nerdling flirted with a hero reputation. Saving children from the dangers of adoring domineering, sparkly vampires (champions with souls are the only vampires worth loving) and teaching normals the value of nerdom, all while rooting for her beloved Dallas Stars. Then came the Sokovia Accords and her short spell of saving others came to an end. With Darth Vader’s reputation rightfully returning to badass status, Nerdling is making her way back to the Empire. They do have cookies, you know. You can find her on Twitter @nerdlingstale.