The season finale of ‘The Falcon And The Winter Soldier’ explained: what’s to come in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Sam Wilson taking on his role of ‘Captain America’ with the signature vibranium shield given to him by Steve Rogers. Disney+ and Marvel Studios/Courtesy

Warning: this article contains spoilers for the Disney+  Marvel series, ‘The Falcon And The Winter Soldier’

Kicking off just two weeks after the “Wandavision” season finale, “The Falcon And The Winter Soldier” excited fans as they were greeted once again by their favorite Marvel heroes. With six episodes, audiences started their weekend by watching Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes on a mission to defeat the Flag Smashers every Friday. 

The season finale starts off showing Wilson finally taking on the role of Captain America, with the beloved shield given to him by Steve Rogers. As the episode continues, we see Wilson and Barnes fight head-to-head with the leader of the Flag Smashers, Karli Morgenthau, who was holding political leaders hostage.

As Morgenthau consistently tries to kill people with little-to-no involvement in her anti-nationalist group, Wilson and Barnes try to put an end to the chaos once and for all. To the audience’s surprise, anti-hero John Walker appears to work with them to defeat the group. However, Walker appears to be helping out of vengeance for his friend Lemar, who a Flag Smasher killed in an earlier episode. 

As the final fight between the two Avengers and the Flag Smashers continues, former agent Sharon Carter is seen talking to Morgenthau, persuading her to stop the fight and work for her “again.” Shortly after, it’s revealed that Carter is the “Power Broker.” In the M.C.U. comics, the Power Broker is essentially someone who does dealings of hero-like powers. In this case, Carter was making deals by obtaining super soldiers. 

Morgenthau refuses to work for Carter again, and tension between the two arises, resulting in Morgenthau shooting Carter (not fatal). Wilson interferes with the altercation, which sets off an anger bomb in the Flag Smasher leader. The anger results in her attacking Wilson, urging him to “fight back.” While Wilson tries to reason with her, audiences hear a gunshot, and Morgenthau falls. 

The scene cuts and shows Carter holding her gun, aimed at the fallen group leader.

Morgenthau’s death essentially ends (most) of the fight. Wilson carries her body to the political leaders, freed of hostage by Barnes. As her death may come off as a relief to the government, Wilson had some words to say about the cause she was fighting for. 

Throughout the show, Wilson deals with the hardships of being a black man in America, which is essentially the reason he didn’t fully accept the shield from Rogers. This was brought up again with his talks with Isaiah Bradley, a Korean war veteran and super-soldier from the 1950s. Bradley discusses that the government erased his whole identity, which draws him to the conclusion that “they will never let a Black man be Captain America.” 

This is what motivated Wilson throughout his touching and tear-jerking speech to the political leaders, who told him that he wouldn’t understand why people give labels like a thug, terrorist and refugee. 

“I’m a Black man carrying the stars and stripes. What don’t I understand?” Wilson responded to the senator. “Every time I pick this thing up, I know there are millions of people out there who are going to hate me for it.” 

His speech continues with him defending the main “villain” of the show. He claimed her death should not be forgotten and that the world’s leaders should ask why her cause was worthy enough to die over in the first place. 

“I mean, this girl died trying to stop you, and no one has stopped for one second to ask, ‘Why?’” Wilson concludes. “You’ve gotta do better, Senator. You’ve got to step up. Because if you don’t, the next Karli will, and you don’t want to see 2.0. People believed in her cause so much that they helped her defy the strongest governments in the world.”

Even after the fight, the action was far from being over. As Bucky leaves the scene to get Carter aid for her bullet wound, Wilson is called to save another man affected by the fight. The scene then cuts to show a group of super-soldier Flag Smashers gets blown up in a vehicle. 

As for who blew up the vehicle, it was someone who worked for “Captain America: Civil War” character Zemo, whose main mission was to end all super soldiers. After all, he got his happy ending, even after being taken to a high-security prison by the Dora Milaje. 

The episode ends with the typical M.C.U. cliffhanger scenes with both Walker and Carter, characters that seem to bring trouble wherever they end up. The cliffhanger scenes are later followed up with Wilson and Barnes enjoying their time at a cookout with Wilson’s family and hometown residents. With all concluding scenes in mind, it is safe to allude that there will be more to come with this lineup of characters. 

Unlike the “Wandavision” finale that left audiences making even more theories, the calm ending to the action-packed show was a refreshing way to say a temporary goodbye to Wilson and Barnes. 

Now that Wilson has taken on the role of Captain America, it’s more than likely that audiences will be seeing more of him. As for Barnes, he has finally crossed off all the names of people on his list of amends. With the newfound freedom of his years as The Winter Soldier and the bond formed between him and Wilson, it almost makes it a no-brainer that he will be by his side on his next mission.

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