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"Back then, there was just good and bad, but the world's more complicated now. People are lost. They need a leader who looks like them, who understands their pain. Someone who understands that today's heroes don't have the luxury of keeping their hands clean."
Nico to Karli Morgenthau

The Whole World Is Watching is the fourth episode of the first season of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

Synopsis[]

John Walker loses patience with Sam and Bucky as they learn more about Karli Morgenthau.

Plot[]

Six years ago, during Bucky Barnes' stay in Wakanda, Dora Milaje member Ayo was assigned to free him from HYDRA's mental programming of the Winter Soldier. After his treatment, Ayo took him to a remote location where she recited HYDRA's activation words. However, it does not trigger the Winter Soldier, much to their combined elation.

Ayo and Bucky

In the present day, Ayo berates Barnes for freeing Helmut Zemo, King T'Chaka's killer, from his incarceration. After Barnes tells her Zemo is just a means to an end, Ayo gives him eight hours before the Dora Milaje move to capture Zemo. Barnes reunites with Sam Wilson and Zemo, where he informs the two of the Wakandans' involvement. He also briefs them on the fatalities from the Flag Smashers' bombing of the GRC Supply Depot. While Zemo remarks that the heightened "supremacist" mindset embedded within Karli Morgenthau would make it useless to approach her passively, Wilson insists that they can redeem her. Noting that Morgenthau's adoptive mother, Donya Madani, was a well-known member of her community, the three head toward the GRC camp to find information about her.

Battlestar-BaronZemo-Sam-Bucky-USAgent

Unbeknownst to them, the refugees in the camp are Flag Smasher sympathizers, and openly refuse Barnes and Wilson's requests about Donya Madani. Zemo approaches a group of children and learns about Madani's upcoming memorial later in the afternoon from a girl. While briefing Wilson and Barnes, Zemo intentionally withholds intel to gain leverage over them, knowing that his two "allies" will turn on him once they reach Morgenthau. Wilson calls Sharon Carter in Madripoor, who has access to satellites. As Carter is recruited for recon duty, she shares that the Power Broker has become frenzied after Wilfred Nagel's death, and the group cannot afford to lose Morgenthau.

At a graveyard, Morgenthau and fellow Flag Smasher Nico retrieve their vials of the Super Soldier Serum before heading to Madani's memorial. Barnes, Wilson, and Zemo run into John Walker and Lemar Hoskins on their way back to the camp. Walker wants to take Morgenthau into immediate custody, but Wilson pushes to see her alone, noting her vulnerability from losing a loved one. The rest remain behind, and Walker handcuffs Zemo to a furnace.

Sam & Karli

While eulogizing her adoptive mother, Morgenthau sees Wilson at the memorial; they meet after the gathering's conclusion to talk. She declares her intentions to abolish the oppressive system to Wilson. He notes that his sister Sarah had also suffered from their injustices, and that while he supports Morgenthau's cause, he cannot support her tactics. Suddenly, a patience-expired Walker storms the room, leading Morgenthau to believe that Wilson is trying to subdue her for Walker. Meanwhile, Zemo frees himself from his handcuffs before confronting and repeatedly shooting Morgenthau. This causes her to drop the vials of serum, which Zemo promptly destroys.

U.S

As Morgenthau and Nico flee, Walker knocks out the Sokovian with the shield and recovers the only surviving vial. The Power Broker sends more texts to Morgenthau regarding the serum she stole from Nagel, threatening to kill her if she did not produce said serum. Wilson tells Carter to keep tabs on Walker, just as he and Hoskins arrive to apprehend Zemo. The Dora Milaje appear shortly after for the same man, leading to a fight between Walker, Hoskins, and the Wakandans. As Wilson and Barnes join in to break up the fight, Zemo slinks away into the sewers from the bathroom.

The Dora Milaje leave for Zemo once Walker is left pinned to a table and Barnes cannot fight (Ayo momentarily removes his vibranium arm). Walker, humiliated at the prospect of being defeated by a non-super soldier, leaves with Hoskins for a cafe where they fantasize about the superheroics that come from the serum's power. Morgenthau calls Sarah Wilson and threatens her and her family if Sam does not arrive for another meeting alone. However, Barnes insists on coming along with him. While attempting to reason with Morgenthau, Carter informs Wilson and Barnes about Walker's arrival, prompting the Flag Smashers to attack them both.

U.S

John Walker is looked upon by horrified onlookers

While infiltrating the camp, Hoskins is abducted and tied up, leaving Walker alone. As Barnes and Wilson arrive, Walker begins displaying superhuman force as he fights Dovich. As a horde of Flag Smashers attacks the three, Hoskins frees himself from his restraints and rejoins his allies, only to be accidentally killed when Morgenthau violently caves his chest inward with her fist, sending him flying into a pillar. Attempting to flee with his teammates, Nico is hunted down by a vengeful Walker, who brutally murders him with the shield, to the horror of onlookers. Looking up, Walker soon realizes that he is being recorded, the entirety of Earth now bearing witness to his actions.

Cast[]

Main Cast:

Guest Stars:

Appearances[]

Locations[]

Events[]

Items[]

Vehicles[]

Sentient Species[]

Creatures[]

Organizations[]

Mentioned[]

Music[]

Song title Artist Location(s)
Black Panther Theme Ludwig Göransson
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep Daniel Brühl

Trivia[]

  • "The whole world is watching" was a popular slogan used during the Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations to denounce police brutality and anti-democratic actions of the U.S. government, in particular during the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the trial of the Chicago Seven.
    • The episode's title is a reference to this, as well as John Walker's brutal murder of Nico as dozens of people watch and record the incident.
  • The death of Hoskins and the subsequent retaliation by Walker are the Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart of the death of Walker's parents in the comics, accidentally assassinated while held hostage by the Watchdogs, resulting in Walker's snapping and brutal execution of many of the terrorists. Nico's death is also closely similar to the brutal execution of Doctor Power by Walker's hands in Captain America #338.

References[]

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to The Whole World Is Watching.

External Links[]

Season One New World OrderThe Star-Spangled ManPower BrokerThe Whole World Is WatchingTruthOne World, One People
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