I struggle to think how I can do justice to everything that has happened in this weeks episode of Ms. Marvel and yet here I am, because I simply must try, I'm just so... enamored by this episode and this is also the one that hits closest to home, being as heavily focused on partition as it is. But more importantly it hits the closest to home because the first half of this episode is straight up an Indian period film and also because this was the strongest in terms of the familial elements, something that has always been the strongest element of this series for me and many others it seems.
As you have probably guessed, me being Indian the part of the episode I liked the most is the period drama part of it. This section begins with some beautiful music from Dillagi, a 1949, black and white Hindi movie, namely the song Tu Mera Chand accompanied by the Marvel Logo turning black and white, very awesome.
And we then get a black and white news report of the partition and independence of India, which to the best of my knowledge, is real, and it melds it with the story of the episode as the documentary clip says we must go back to 1942, and we do.
It is here that we see the love story unfolding of Aisha and Hassan, a lovely flower seller and obviously someone who is well respected in the village and someone who people are willing to follow. He gives Aisha food and shelter and the two fall in love, and it's the sweetest thing ever, and I also love that they put in an inside joke for us Indians I mean, that's what I like to think it is, could have been just for time could have been both, who the fuck knows, but basically the pair meet, they talk, and then they just look at each other and Aisha is pregnant... goddammit that can only happen in Indian cinema.
I mean okay that wasn't the focus of the show, and this is pg-13, but you know, if you Indian you know.
Obviously their happiness is short lived as soon after the birth of their daughter the partition begins, and them being Muslims, they aren't treated the best, I'm glad that this show places the blame of the Hindu-Muslim divide not on either side, but on the British Colonizers, which is how it should be, and I also like that neither community is demonized and it is shown that despite the strains the commons folk do want to help each other regardless of religion.
Marvel, once again, thank you for being what doctor who failed at, but I do wonder, what would the reaction be were it from an Indian Hindu's perspective, and simultaneously what is the reaction to it now? Obviously, if you focus on one family to show a situation like this, it would fall on one or the other side, I just wish that this uncomfortable situation didn't exist and that I didn't have to talk about it, but that's politics, and that's not my realm, and the situation is far too complicated and I'm too inexperienced in this Arena for me to comment on it.
Anyways, partition becomes a side concern as Najma shows up again asking for the bangle and their return home, which, we obviously saw what that would lead to.
And I will say, this scene is masterful, you feel the tension between the two as they meet, you expect violence, but then they hug, the tension deflates like a balloon and you get a sense of security, but there is still the nagging thing on the back of your mind, cause you know their interests do not align, Aisha wouldn't want to see this world destroyed, Najma doesn't give a fuck and as Aisha gambles for time, we get an inkling that Najma knows, as she gives Aisha an arbitrary ultimatum.
Hassan and Aisha escape, Hassan is hesitant as that's his ancestral home, Aisha lies to him initially about this being about the partition, but he catches on, and Aisha reveals herself.
They rush to the station and Aisha has to take a detour to save Sana from Najma, and is as a result stabbed, and this is when she uses the bangle to summon Kamala from the future, and we get our Harry Potter and the Prisoner of the Azkaban as Kamala saves Sana with the trail of stars, people will ask questions about the T.V.A. for sure, but, hear me out, this is a closed loop, no alt timeline is formed, so everything is okay, some people still might break their heads over when does time travel form loops, and when does it form branches, my advice is, don't, there is an explanation, string theorists and proponents of time travel have a valid explanation, but it'll require a fundamental paradigm shift in your thinking, and It's beyond the scope of this article.
Now, from the beginning it was in the back of my mind, there was, ringing, two bangles, two bangles, two bangles, because, time travelling Kamala has a Bangle, and so does past Sana, TWO BANGLES! and turns out I was right... to a degree... I thought Kamala would take the bangle or something, but that would break the timeline wouldn't it, what I mean when I say to a degree is, It is said that two bangles existed, and that both are required for them to go home, and for a moment, two did exist in the same place, so now in the present, the Veil has opened, letting the Clandestine world in... and as said, it is destroying this world, the Djinn try to return, but are instantly burned to their bones and killed.
Kamala tries to Reason with Najma, and while she doesn't agree with Kamala, it is the mention of her son that causes her to have a change of heart, and so, to close the Veil, she does some sort of Transfer of energy to Kamran, and he gains powers similar to Kamala.
After Kamala says her goodbyes to Kareem and Kareem says if she needs him, he'll be there, The scene transitions to the mother, Grandmother and Daughter reconciling over the mother's old photos and then we switch over to America, where Kamran asks Bruno to stay over at his house as he has no where else to go, but Damage Control catches up to them.
So, now the question is, the main things built up since episode one, is over, the Veil broke, and is closed now, so.... what happens in the show next? There is no antagonistic force, the only possibilities I can see is Department of Damage control, which like, that would be a drastic shift and also kinda lame, thematically, I mean it could leas to great spectacle sure, but interdimensional magical beings on one hand and a special division of Law enforcement on the other hand, I think we know what we will choose, and the other possibility is Kamran, who is a villain in the comics, so it makes sense that way, but which, again, wow! Character whiplash! Like that would be a complete one eighty for his character in the show, although after Wanda in multiverse of Madness, I don't even know anymore.
So... where? I guess there is the possibility of DoDC(Department of Damage Control) Being Skrulls as has been theorized since no way home, where it is revealed that they knew Fury's where abouts, who is revealed to be on a spaceship full of Skrulls at the end of far from home and the one on Earth is the Skrull Talos, although it could simply be that the operation related to Peter was a secret operation that Fury didn't tell DoDC about, and so they just know the official information which is fury is in space, but... then again, Captain Marvel is heavily related to the Skrulls, Ms. Marvel is a huge fan of Captain Marvel and she is to appear in The Marvels, and the other character to appear in The Marvels, Monica Rambeau is also met by a Skrull come the end of WandaVision, where she gets her super powers, post blip.
So, there is a strong possibility of Skrulls appearing in the last episode of Ms. Marvel, although I suppose that will be in a post credit scene to tease what's coming, else that'll feel a bit out of nowhere, and I think going by how Monica is called by Fury, it seems that Fury is making a team for an operation which calls for powers like Monica's, Kamala's and Carol's (Captain Marvel) so this could lead into/set up The Marvels.
Let's see where this goes.
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