Sharon Carter Is Not The Power Broker

Or; The Return of Hydra, Sorta

So there’s a lot of talk that, in the new Disney+ Marvel TV series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, a mysterious villain known as the Power Broker is actually Sharon Carter, a former Agent of SHIELD and currently disavowed CIA agent.

Not only is this completely misguided and utterly wrong, it’s easy to counter with a simple, oft-forgotten truth: the simplest explanation is usually the likeliest one. And the simplest explanation is that Baron Zemo is the Power Broker, as well as the primary villain of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. And, more importantly, that he has essentially resurrected Hydra in all but name. There are clues about this dropped all throughout the three episodes so far, and here I’ll explain them and further elaborate on what’s really going on and why, of all things, Hydra is key.

The first, and most important clue, is in the very first episode, during Bucky’s therapy session, where recounts how he “crossed a name off the list of my amends” by confront “Hydra pawn” Senator Atwood who he, as Winter Soldier, helped. He says “after Hydra disbanded, she continued to abused the power I gave her” but he doesn’t talk about what it was she did specifically. During the flashback, we see Atwood talking to her aide, saying “if Congressman Lockhart wants to speak up, silence him for good”. I don’t think this is as much of a throwaway line as it seems but more on that later.

But what Bucky says next is much more interesting: “All I did was give some intel to the aide to convict her.” It’s easy to assume that the intel was based on Bucky’s memories of what he did as Winter Soldier, but thinking about that even a bit more deeply, it makes no sense: the Winter Soldier can’t just walk into the DOJ and say “That well-established, respected, powerful senator is a former Hydra agent” and they’ll just arrest her on the spot. No, Bucky needed evidence, the “intel” he specifically mentions. So where’s he getting that intel, if not from his own recollections as Winter Soldier? Again, I’ll come back to this soon enough.

What I really want to focus on is this: Hydra might be, as Bucky says, “disbanded” but clearly, as Atwood’s importance indicates, they are still actively malignant within the US government and they’re up to something. Again, remember Atwood threatening Lockhart. This, alone, establishes Hydra, or its remnants, as a major player in the MCU, post-Blip.

This is all purposefully overshadowed by Sam’s action in Tunisia against a new threat known simply as LAF. The show actually goes out of its way to completely avoid any kind of explanation as to what LAF actually is, but we do know that they’re targeting a US “military liaison” named Vasant. None of the names are important but the question it does bring up is: how does LAF have the resources to mount such an effort? More importantly, what information does Vasant have that LAF wants? When we first see him, he’s getting socked by Batroc but he’s clearly still alive and is kept alive by Batroc and his team throughout the battle. So… why? Batroc is no slouch as mercenaries go and even though the whole battle is relatively small scale, it still places the vaguely ominous LAF in the upper tier of threats in the post-Blip MCU. But we are never given any impression of their goals, simply that they’re a high-powered criminal organization. So what would Vasant know that would be valuable to them? I have an idea, but let me bring more context to bear.

The next clue we get is the first appearance of the Flag Smashers. It’s a short, simple scene: Torres, Falcon’s Air Force pal, gets his ass kicked trying to stop them from robbing a bank in Switzerland. This scene is clearly designed to establish Flag Smashers as the show’s antagonist, but viewed objectively, it’s Torres who makes the mistake of operating as lone wolf and interfering with a terrorist group whose aims are, as we discover later on, not villainous. It’s a red herring designed, immediately, to make the audience forget both Senator Atwood and the LAF. It’s almost transparently designed to do so, to the point that it draws attention to the very fact of it. By that merit, and as a result of many later scenes, the Flag Smashers are immediately ruled out as the show’s antagonists. And, in my opinion, they’re the show’s true heroes.

The culmination of the first episode reveals a new Captain America, appointed by the Department of Defense and, according to Alphie Hyorth, the government official who introduces him, the President. This, my friends is bad news. Not a single person watching this show would assume benevolence on the part of anyone proposing to replace Captain America. Now, most folks are simply assuming this is a benevolent but misguided action. I, on the other hand, fully believe Hydra, or one of Hydra’s highest ups in the US government, is responsible for engineering John Walker’s ascendance. Episode 2 provides, eventually, the most damning evidence for this accusation.

But first things first: we meet John Walker’s “wife” Olivia Walker. There’s a whole conversation between them in a locker room about his history that’s supposed to humanize John Walker for the audience… but for me it’s such a weirdly throwaway moment it makes me suspicious, if anything. Olivia is a total cipher who shows up once and is never seen again. Why? Just so we know Walker has a wife and grew up somewhere and has insecurities about being Captain America? I don’t buy it. There’s a lot of other ways to humanize Walker but the thing that really throws me off is that ass Olivia leaves, she has a weirdly familiar interaction with Walker’s army buddy Hoskins. They know each other in a surprisingly friendly, comradely way. Why? What is up with Olivia Walker?

But who cares, because the real humdinger of a clue is right there as Walker is chatting with Hoskins about the things he’s been obligated to do as the new Cap: “A lot of handshakes, a lot of suits, a lot of speeches and senator meetings.”

Since when has Captain America ever had meetings with senators? I ask you, did the original Cap ever even give a single crap about senators of any stripe? Sure, you say, but this new guy is a political animal, created by the government… Are you starting to see it?

“Time to go to work,” Hoskins says.

“Time to go to work,” Walker repeats. Go back. Watch this scene. Watch the subtle but obvious way Wyatt Russel’s expression goes from the signature cocky grin to something… dark.

During Walker’s TV interview afterwards, the interviewer states “the government did a study of your body at MIT, and you tested off the charts in every measurable category.” What the hell kind of doubletalk is that? It says nothing about whether Walker’s abilities are natural, at all. But okay, let’s assume it means they wanted to make sure Walker’s abilities were natural. But why the phrase “in every measurable category?” Why even bring it up? For good reason, actually, and I’ll answer why later on (I promise!)

In the next scene, Bucky confronts Sam as he’s leaving to investigate the Flag Smashers. Bucky opens with “You shouldn’t have given up the shield” but this is a deflection on Bucky’s part, somewhat. He’s a spy. Like, a Nick Fury class spy. It’s instinctive for him. No way is he going to tell Sam why he’s really there: to try to intercept Sam from his investigation. Bucky wants Sam at home, to remain oblivious to what Bucky’s been up to, but more importantly, he believes Sam could throw a wrench in the gears of Hydra’s plans by reclaiming the shield and forcing Hydra out of the shadows. He had been counting on it and because Sam refused, and because he’s now going after the Flag Smashers, Bucky has to reluctantly deal with Sam potentially interfering. But with what?

Now you might be thinking: Why wouldn’t Bucky just have shown up to gripe at Sam about turning down the shield then chose to go along out of spite? Consider that Bucky shows up literally at the exact hanger where Sam is prepping to leave for Munich. That’s not in any way a possible coincidence. Bucky’s been tipped off about Sam’s plans and he’s pissed about it. This is further supported by the way Bucky responds to Sam revealing his awareness of the Flag Smashers. Instead of being surprised or even interested, Bucky’s response is simply “And?”. A full on dismissal, but as usual with Bucky (a great spy but a terrible actor) he ends up just inflaming Sam further.

But snuck into this conversation, quite subtly, is a clue that Sam is being manipulated into going after the Flag Smashers. When Sam says that Redwing, his drone/intel suite, tracked them to a warehouse outside Munich, Bucky says he doesn’t trust Redwing. And he’s right not to, as we’ll discover later on.

While at the Flag Smasher warehouse in Munich, Sam tells Bucky he thinks the Flag Smashers are smuggling weapons. Bucky, who knows better, doesn’t want Sam to know where the Flag Smashers are going (it’ll all be clear soon enough) so he makes himself Sam’s biggest problem, insisting that they attack right away. Watch the scene closely and you’ll see how Bucky’s constantly, purposefully, trying to sabotage Sam and help the Flag Smashers escape.

What he doesn’t count on is Sam mistaking Karli Morgenthau, the Flag Smasher’s leader, as a hostage. When Sam tells Bucky this, Bucky realizes he has to find a way to save the hostage and prevent Sam from following them, so he races to the trucks and reveals that they’re not stealing weapons but medicine. But unfortunately for Bucky, Karli doesn’t know he’s on their side and he doesn’t know Karli is their leader.

Note that Karli smashing Redwing right off the bat is yet another tip-off that Redwing is a spy for Hydra.

Then, out of the blue, Walker shows up. Just… appears, at exactly the right time. Right after Karli smashes Redwing.

Surely that can’t be written off as coincidence, yeah? Walker has had zero interactions with Sam or Bucky. The fact that Walker knows exactly where to be is, at the very least, undeniable evidence that someone is spying on Bucky and Sam. But “at the very least” doesn’t even factor in because when Walker confronts Bucky and Sam later, he bold-faced admits he’s been spying on them!

But that conversation has even more details that dovetail neatly into the theory that Walker is a Hydra agent working for Zemo. During the ride, Walker completely and totally downplays the fact that the Flag Smashers were transporting medicine and drills down on the fact that they’re super soldiers. That’s his primary concern and he knows that by highlighting it, he can distract Sam from the fact that the Flag Smashers not only did not have a hostage but weren’t moving weapons either. And, as I said, they admit they’ve been spying through Redwing.

The big, super important detail isn’t any of that. Walker brings up the post-Blip “problems” and mentions the GRC (Global Repatriation Council), who he implies are “trying to get things up and running smoothly”. “Reactivating citizenship, social security, healthcare. Basically just managing resources for the refugees who were displaced by the Blip.” When Sam questions their involvement with the GRC, Hoskins explains that GRC “provides the resources and we keep things stable.”

Walker adds “violent revolutionaries aren’t usually good for anyone’s cause.”

Hoo-boy. Lots to unpack there. First: why the HELL is the GRC even necessary? Isn’t in the job of national governments to do what GRC is supposedly doing? “Managing resources” for the refugees is some real grade A doublespeak. And this fully falls in line with what we learn about the GRC in episode 3, but that’s getting way ahead of ourselves. Either way, what’s very important here is that Walker, Hoskins and their backers in the US government are working with, if not under the guidance of, GRC. For now, that’s all we know about the GRC. For now.

In the meantime, everything has changed for Karli and the Flag Smashers. Her identity, thanks to Sam and Bucky, is now public and it’s no longer just Zemo and Hydra searching from them but international agencies.

Karli says something very meaningful during this scene: “We can’t let the same assholes who were put back in power after the Blip win.”

What does she mean when she says “back in power”? The sentence implies that someone took control, at least in some parts of the world, after the Blip. Someone not the normal national governments, presumable ones that had collapsed post-Blip. But what does she mean, back? That these people were in control once before? But that couldn’t be the national governments that were in power just before the Blip, that makes no sense at all. But if you consider the events that occurred not long before the Blip, it makes more sense: the defeat of Hydra.

Her statement, to me, implies that Hydra, or its remnants, seized upon the dissolution of many nations after the Blip as their chance to regain power. Remember, both Bucky and Sam were snapped. They didn’t experience the world before the Blip, so they might not have even a clue of who was in power. And you can bet that, if they were Hydra, the second that everyone was unsnapped, their masks went right back on while they try to hold on to the power they’d regained during the Blip.

Her following statement is more worrying: “The GRC care more about the ones who came back than the ones who never left. We got a glimpse of how things could be.”

On face value, there’s one meaning to these statements: the GRC doesn’t care about us and things were better for us during the Blip, therefore we should become terrorists who want the world to be how it was during the Blip.

I don’t buy it. My interpretations is this: she means that the GRC is now, understandably, more concerned with keeping their true identity hidden from the returned superheroes like Sam and Bucky than they are with the Flag Smashers, or at least they were until the Flag Smashers stole the Supersoldier serum. And the line of “we got a glimpse of how things could be” sounds, in Karli’s admittedly awkward phrasing, like a sign of aspiration. But to me, I think she’s talking about how horrible things were during the Blip, when Hydra had taken power. And their goal, besides supporting the refugees, is to stop the GRC. Sure, they’re also leftist anarchists, but they have more specific goals that will be clarified in episode 3.

Karli also gets that text. You know the one. From the person they stole the serum from. The Power Broker, aka Zemo. “I’m going to find you and kill you.” This theory that Sharon Carter is the Power Broker? Does that sound like something Carter would say? To Karli, who we later learned worked directly with the Power Broker?

Licking their wounds, Bucky once again tries to convince Sam to retake the shield from Walker, hoping once Sam tries to do so, Hydra will be backed into a corner. But Sam refuses again, so Bucky decides to resort to desperate measures and we meet Isiah, the black Supersoldier.

But first, a quick aside: the responses to this show, so far, have been middling. I happen to like it a bit more than most because I think the writing is superb and what happens to Falcon in Baltimore is quite a bit more thoughtful than what you’d expect from an average Marvel story (especially considering how shallow WandaVision was). It starts with Sam basically trying to dodge his black identity after being called Black Falcon by a young fan. A well written scene that does a great job of elucidating some of the criticisms leveled at movies and characters like Black Panther; black is an identity, but it is one part of an identity and for Sam, who has always admired a hero whose skin color never mattered to him, it rubs him the wrong way to be identified primarily as a black hero.

But his experience with Isiah, a character that show explores as a symbolism of black oppression and discrimination in American history, not only thoroughly negates this, but Sam’s encounter with the police afterwards pushes it even further. None of it is ham-fisted; Isiah’s recounting viscerally recalls the Tuskegee Airmen story, but his dialogue with Bucky is even more painful and, to me, informs so much of what The Falcon And The Winter Soldier is about.

“You think you can wake up one day and decide who you wanna be?” He asks. He’s talking about Bucky, but it’s the writers talking about Sam, about the black experience. But I think there’s another implication in the way he says it to Bucky; Bucky can’t just suddenly not be Winter Soldier anymore. And Hydra isn’t just gone. The world hasn’t changed, and the world of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier isn’t afraid to show us, in a reflection of our own reality, that the world hasn’t changed for black people either, as a racist cop fully harasses Sam for being black. The show could’ve just hung its hat on Isiah and left it at that, but shy of having the cop full on shoot Sam on the spot, it doesn’t veer away from depicting the real life outcome of police interactions with black people.

Amidst all this, though, there’s a huge reveal that once again ties Hydra into the entire storyline. Isiah, confronting Bucky, talks about people running tests on him while he was imprisoned, as well as taking his blood but then he very specifically singles out Bucky’s past with Hydra, pointing at him and saying “even your people weren’t done with me.”

Given that Isiah still sees Bucky as a Hydra soldier, this statement doesn’t even imply that Hydra experimented on him, it fully admits it. So now we know Hydra, at some point, had full access to a Supersoldier like Captain America. So what came of it? How come Hydra had to use Winter Soldier to fight Captain America, instead of their own Supersoldier?

Later on in the episode we discover that Bucky’s therapist, Dr. Raynor, “did some field ops back in the day” with none other than John Walker, Captain Hydra. It implicates Raynor and my theory is that her job is to be Bucky’s “handler”, letting him weed out the less desirable holdovers from old Hydra while preventing him from doing too much damage to the overall operation. This would explain, when Walker liberates Bucky both from jail and from Raynor, she asks “who authorized this” which Walker indicates is his own initiative. “He’s too valuable of an asset to have tied up” is a deceptive cover for wanting to keep a closer eye on Bucky and keep him from helping the Flag Smashers, as he’s been trying to do this whole time.

There’s another telling exchange between Raynor and Bucky as he departs, asking her about her second rule for Bucky’s amends: “Don’t hurt anyone.” We’ll see later how this sharply contrasts with the Flag Smashers’ manner of dealing with GRC/Hydra and, for Hydra, Raynor’s second rule is certainly preferred, by Hydra, to Bucky simply using violence against those who controlled him as Winter Soldier.

Walker and Hoskins take another swing at trying to get Sam and Bucky under control, revealing just how exhaustively they’ve been tracking the Flag Smashers, and while Sam is intrigued by the intel, Bucky reveals information that more fully fills in the gaps of the state of the world post-Blip, stating that Central and Eastern Europe has flooded with displaced citizens who’ve set up camps that the Flag Smashers are supplying with aid.

Immediately, this effectively pulls the sheet off of GRC’s true nature; they’re not actually doing what they claim for the people who need it. Bucky knows this and clearly knows what GRC is really doing but knows that if he tries to confront Walker about it, he’ll look even worse in Sam’s eyes. But it also adds more urgency to Bucky’s attempts to save the Flag Smashers from Zemo/GRC/Hydra.

Meanwhile, a showdown ensues between the Flag Smashers and the Power Brokers’ forces. In terms of the overall deception, this scene reinforces the false narrative that the Power Broker is an independent operator separate from GRC, Zemo and Hydra. What follows only helps further this impression, as a desperate Bucky who is completely out of options and running out of time decides to pull a Hail Mary, beginning the sequence of events that really bring the truth of GRC, the Power Broker and Hydra out in the open.

Enter Baron Zemo

But before we jump to episode 3, there’s a line at the end of episode 2, spoken by Bucky, that should convince you that Hydra is a core element of the series. When pitching the Zemo idea to Sam, Bucky says “When Isiah said ‘my people’-he meant Hydra.” It confirms that Hydra were experimenting on Isiah, as I said before, and it confirms that they’re still an active concern for Bucky.

Insisting that Hydra aren’t a primary faction in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, at this point, would be pure folly.

So, episode 3. Hold on to your helmets kids, it’s about to get fun.

Before we get to Zemo, we see more of Walker blindly attempting to track down Karli, having lost Redwing, who was keeping him from falling behind Bucky. Walker says “Karli must be funneling something from someone I can’t see.” A big, big piece of the puzzle here! Karli isn’t working alone. She has help. And given that they’re invisible to Walker & by extension GRC, it must be someone with both substantial resources and someone on the inside. Someone who we’ll be introduced to later in the episode (as well as someone we already met back in episode 1). Since he’s also out of options, Walker says he’s going to “bet on someone who’s got a better hand” which, if isn’t a blatant joke at Bucky’s vibranium expense, is just a missed opportunity. So now we know that, from here on out, Bucky and Sam will have GRC, if not Walker himself, on their tail.

Now here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Zemo. The whole thing starts as suspiciously as possible, with Bucky insisting that he meet Zemo alone. His justification is that Zemo trusts Bucky and not Sam, which to be honest is just bad writing. Sam shouldn’t buy that for a second; nobody more than Sam knows how much Zemo screwed Bucky so why Sam would believe that Zemo trusts Bucky… it’s not great. But it works for the purposes of the plot, which requires Bucky to actually get Zemo to trust Bucky using a method Sam absolutely would be dead against.

Which is to say: pretending to be Hydra.

Now that sounds just nonsensical, right? It makes no sense. But the end of episode 3, which we’ll get too eventually, actually perfectly justifies Bucky’s move here. You see, Zemo is not actually imprisoned at all. But before I explain, let’s break down the scene between Bucky and Zemo.

The first key exchange to consider is Zemo saying that he believes, of Bucky’s former identity, that “something is still in there.” And, in a sense, that’s true. Bucky, according to my theory, is doing the best acting he’s ever done. He fools Zemo into believing that Zemo can still use Bucky. When he tells Zemo “someone recreated the super-soldier serum” he sells Zemo on the idea that Bucky has only just discovered that fact, due to the Flag Smashers. Bucky is counting on Zemo underestimating him, counting on Zemo not knowing that Bucky has known, for a long while, that a new supersoldier serum exists. And Zemo buys it, believing that Bucky is intent not on discovering the true identity of the GRC or Zemo’s involvement (because after all, Bucky already suspects, if not knows, that Zemo is behind the new supersoldier serum) but that Bucky is after the same thing Zemo is after: Karli and the last of the serum.

Zemo: “You are assuming Hydra has something to do with this.” Again, Zemo thinks Bucky knows a lot less than Bucky really knows, because Zemo doesn’t know about Bucky’s insider (I mentioned them earlier).

The scene is cut off, abruptly, as Zemo says “I know where to begin.” Now, ask yourself: why don’t they show us what Zemo tells Bucky? Why keep that hidden from the audience? I believe it’s because Bucky’s method of getting Zemo on his side reveals a substantial plot element. I believe Bucky uses his intel to convince Zemo that he is, in fact, still a Hydra agent. And, more importantly, Bucky claims that it is his role to protect Zemo from the thing that has kept him in prison. Not any US government or national force because remember, most of those were in disarray during the Blip.

No, it’s actually agreeing to protect Zemo from Wakanda that gets him to leave. Wakanda was always waiting for Zemo to leave the protection of the prison because they would do the one thing that no one else would; kill him. Or maybe they’re just not corruptible. Either way, the real trick Bucky has to pull is to really, fully convince Zemo that Bucky will, in fact, actually protect him if Wakanda finds him. And without an allegiance to Hydra, why would Zemo believe him?

Of course, all of this is part of Bucky’s plan (remember his earlier obsession with plans). Well, his plan B, since Sam turned down the shield. Convincing Zemo to leave prison will allow Bucky to get closer to the ultimate goal of finding out who, within the GRC and the US government, orchestrated the creation of the new supersoldier serum. Zemo simply didn’t know about Isiah. How did he find out? That’s what Bucky needs to know before handing Zemo over to Wakanda.

It’s funny, though, that Bucky uses what he knows is a falsehood; “Zemo still has a code” in regards to Zemo being against the supersoldier serum in order to persuade Sam that Zemo is useful. Zemo most definitely no longer has a code, as evidenced by the copy of Machiavelli in his prison cell. So then we get Bucky initiating Zemo’s escape. But if you watch closely, Bucky only triggers it and it’s clear, if you watch it, that Zemo could’ve done it at any time, reinforcing the idea that Zemo was never really being held against his will.

While on the plane with Zemo, there’s one of many, many important moments in the episode tied to what is really going on. Zemo gets a hold of Bucky’s book with his “amends” list in it and Bucky snaps at him, threatening to kill him for reading it. But why? Is Bucky just being Bucky or is there something more to it? Why would he care if Zemo reads it?

He would care if it reveals that Bucky has an insider. That someone has been leaking the names of GRC collaborators and ex-Hydra to Bucky. That someone has been helping Bucky bring down GRC and Zemo from the inside.

Then, finally, Madripoor.

After a brief scene where Zemo pretends not to know who the Power Broker is (it’s him) and a fight where Bucky protects Zemo as he promised he would (likely from Wakandan agents or friends of Wakanda) we’re introduced to Selby. I’m almost 100% sure that Selby betrayed the Power Broker and has no idea that Zemo has come to insure that it doesn’t happen again and hopes to use Bucky to do so. I’m also sure that Selby knows Sam isn’t Smiling Tiger, as that’s the only really logical explanation for why she interrupts Zemo to mock Sam.

Asking Selby what they know about the supersoldier serum is, of course, Zemo’s way of misdirecting Sam and Bucky while also maybe finding out if Selby has surmised Zemo’s identity as the Power Broker. Once Selby reveals that she only knows about the supersoldier serum operation, Zemo decides she has to die. He didn’t plan Sam getting the call from Sarah but it gives his secret agent the opportunity to eliminate Selby. No, I haven’t figured out who that secret agent is.

The bounty, of course, is Zemo’s doing as well. He’s still in pursuit of the Flag Smashers at this point, but Sam has become a liability. No doubt he predicts that Bucky will protect him and not Sam (though he certainly makes the whole situation easier by simply flat out splitting), but what he’s not counting on is Bucky’s insider seeing the bounty notification and coming to rescue him.

Enter Sharon Carter. Bucky’s insider.

Now this is where the general consensus about Sharon Carter’s role diverges from my own. Most folks believe that, because Carter uses a rifle to take out Sam and Bucky’s pursuers, she’s the same person who shot Selby and therefore must be the Power Broker, but I think that’s a red herring.

She says, pointing a gun at Zemo; “You cost me everything.” There’s a lot of interpretations that she’s saying that as the Power Broker, under the (frankly absurd) assumption that Zemo has somehow undermined her, either by the death of Selby or by some other role. But that just doesn’t fit Carter. She’s a spy, but she’s still a Carter. She’s simply talking about Zemo’s schemes during Civil War causing her to be disavowed by the CIA and made a criminal.

Earlier I denied that she was responsible for Selby’s death and there’s no questioning that when, in response to Sam explaining that Zemo “had a lead” on the supersoldier serum, Sharon says “That explains why you guys are here. And Selby’s dead.”

She knows Zemo is the Power Broker and she knows that Selby betrayed him but clearly, she didn’t kill Selby herself.

At this point, Bucky and Sharon both know that Zemo can’t suspect they’re working together, even if Zemo isn’t really sure who Sharon Carter is, so Bucky pretends to have no idea why Sharon is in Madripoor.

To address the other theories about Sharon Carter as the Power Broker: the takes Zemo, Bucky and Sam to a very, very expensive estate in upscale Madripoor full of very expensive art. There are some armed guards that recognize her when she enters, which certainly implies that it’s hers… but Sharon is a spy, remember? I would not be the least bit surprised if this particular place belongs to someone else she’s just broken into and she’s got some guys out front to lend it an air of legitimacy. On what basis do I say that?

While Sam is googling a Money painting, Sharon interrupts him and urges “Come on, you guys need to change, I’m hosting clients in an hour.” Yeah, okay Sharon. You mean the real owners of the place are going to be back. And she continues to really sell her cover of being a burned agent, knowing that Zemo is there and certainly wary of any hints that she might still be working for the Avengers… or rather, one of their associates (I’ll say who shortly).

Bucky keeps his mouth shut until she brings up Walker, the main problem facing Sharon and Bucky, and he makes it clear that he’s not gotten Sam on board with taking the shield from Walker. Once Sam tries to steer the conversation back into the direction of the Flag Smashers, Sharon grabs the wheel and jerks it in the opposite direction.

Bucky reveals to Sharon that Sam knows about Nagel now so she gets desperate and decides to take Sam to Nagel in the hopes that Nagel will spill the beans about the whole operation with GRC and Hydra. Nagel knows who Zemo is; the look they exchange when Sam “introduces” Nagel to Zemo writes it on the wall plain as day. But Nagel also doesn’t really understand what’s going on and is counting on the presence of Sam and Bucky to prevent Zemo from killing him for helping Selby… and, by extension, Sharon Carter.

So Selby lies about being recruited by the CIA to create a new supersoldier serum program. Really, he was working for Hydra the whole time. While he does quite a bit of lying, the truth he does tell, about the new and improved supersoldier serum, is earth-shattering. He declares that it would be “subtle, optimized”. Subtle… in that a supersoldier’s abilities could pass, say, a government test? Optimized so that one could pass as just a regular guy, maybe, while still being able to utilize those superpowered abilities when no one is looking? But he absolutely lies about being snapped; the reason Sam never heard about Nagel’s work was because it was never CIA work to begin with. And no doubt there’s far more than 20 vials.

Now here’s where things get interesting; I don’t think Donya Madani died of tuberculosis. I think she died from a bad batch of supersoldier serum and that’s part of the reason why Karli wants revenge. This was all, of course, Nagel just buying time for Zemo to get a weapon but Nagel certainly could not have predicted Zemo killing Nagel instead of Sam and Bucky.

All hell breaks loose, of course. Zemo, still aware that without Bucky protecting him, Wakanda will have his skin by nightfall, saves them and reminds them what he needs them to help him do: find Karli and the rest of the serum.

The scene where Walker and Hoskins go to the Zemo’s prison is just another deception designed to make us think they don’t know about Zemo already. They discuss not the surprise of Zemo’s escape, but the surprise that Bucky convinced Sam to go along with it, and the negated possibility of using that information to put a stop to Bucky’s interference and Sam’s pursuit of the Flag Smashers (now that he’s no longer cooperating with Walker). So they continue to let Sam, Bucky and Zemo lead the way.

One thing that really bugs me in this episode is after Zemo and Bucky and Sam escape, neither Sam or Bucky even remotely address Zemo killing Nagel. It just… isn’t a thing. It’s absolute garbage writing that I think just indicates how in-over-their-heads the writers were. If Sam and Bucky had even stopped for a moment to interrogate Zemo about it, they might have realized Zemo betrayed them.

Meanwhile, Karli kills a bunch of GRC people. It’s supposed to be horrifying because, like, the GRC are just incompetent, right? Karli: “This is the only language these people understand.” You think she’s just talking about the GRC? Or do you think maybe she knows the truth about the GRC? That Hydra has to be put down violently? That’s my theory, at least.

Finally, at the end of the episode, Wakanda. Ayo. The true reason for Zemo allying with Bucky and Sam. And a central player in this game.

Wakanda knew, all along. They never once believed Zemo should be allowed to live. They knew he would become something much worse than what he was during Civil War. But the Snap hit them too, so they weren’t able to stop Zemo and the former Hydra members from regaining power during the Blip. But now they can. And they will, unless Bucky can convince them that killing Zemo now will not bring an end to GRC and that he was working with someone else to create the supersoldier serum.

I’ve said before that Bucky has all this intel, that he has insiders that he’s working with. I believe one of those insiders is Col. James Rhodes. He’s been helping Bucky all along, hooking him up with Sharon Carter to infiltrate Madripoor and find out who the Power Broker is, to hunt down the remaining Hydra agents and to help destabilize the GRC.

In fact, I think the Flag Smashers stealing the serum was partially engineered by Carter and Bucky, who likely recruited her while she was part of the Power Broker’s initial run of failed supersoldier serum. This would explain why Bucky is so desperate to prevent Sam from finding them. It’s even possible that Bucky and Carter had planned the Flag Smasher just to lure Zemo out of prison to begin with.

Either way, we’ll see how my theory holds up as the second half of the series continues. Probably I’ve come up with a far more elaborate conspiracy than what the showrunner’s have in mind, but I’d like to think I’ve hit on a lot of interesting ideas, some of which I’m confident will be outed as canonical story elements.