Continued from "The Man Who Stole Tomorrow"
Kang makes good on his threat from the previous episode and deploys his army all over the world. Gigantic troop transports disgorge hundreds of giant battle robots that begin the process of conquering Earth. Humans are far from defenseless in this era though; United Nations forces fight back where they can and S.H.I.E.L.D. rallies its own agents to take out the fighters in the air. Fury puts out a call for the Avengers but they are already on the scene fighting for New York City. Kang calls them one last time to taunt them before signing off, and the Avengers are thrown onto the back foot when the robots all self-repair and get back up. On the bright side, Wasp has gotten a lot better at piloting the quinjets and provides air cover for the heavy hitters.
Everyone agrees that something has to be done but the odds are overwhelming and cities around the globe are surrendering in increasing numbers. The Avengers regroup back at the Mansion to plan a strategy. Using the same backdoor is a no-go as Kang has recognized and corrected that flaw. The key to stopping the invasion will be finding him and taking him out. Iron Man uses every resource at his disposal to locate the Conqueror while the other Avengers head back out to buy him time. Black Panther meanwhile leaves the group to lead Wakanda against the invasion.
Iron Man: I hate him, you know, when he's right.
Ant-Man: That's how the rest of us feel about you.
The Avengers roll out once again, regrouped and re-armed, but the robots show off a new trick: they can combine into gigantic centipede-like things. It takes the combined efforts of all of them to take out just one of the things. Stark isn't having much luck either, despite being connected to every computer and satellite in the world. At this rate, they won't win without an army. Fortunately, they just happen to have one lying in store. Unfortunately, it is a grim sacrifice to make.
Ant Man returns to 42 in the Negative Zone and reprograms the Ultron wardens to understand the concept of violence and turn them back into the weapons that Tony Stark originally designed them to be. With a robot army at their disposal, the Avengers can finally fight on even terms with Kang. Meanwhile, Wasp and Ant Man manage to sneak aboard one of the command saucers. After studying Kang's technology briefly, Iron Man and Ant Man had previously deduced that there must be some sort of anchor that keeps it stabilized in whatever time period it travels to and, if this machinery were disabled, it would send the machines back to the future. Wasp goes for the direct approach and the saucer, as well as its associated robot units, disappears. This information is shared with the other Avengers and they manage to repel the attack on New York, but it is all meaningless if they can't find Kang.
After hours of frustration, Iron Man realizes that he has been thinking too small. Believing that Kang isn't on Earth at all, he flies off into space and locates the Damocles in orbit over North America. Time for the counterattack.
The story continues in "The Kang Dynasty"
Tropes:
- "Eureka!" Moment:
- Ant-man deduces that the launched ships have a system allowing them to remain anchored in the present. When Wasp destroys the ship, it and the drones disappear. They pass this news to the team to defeat the rest of the fleet that was attacking New York.
- At the end of the episode, Iron Man finally vents his frustrations over not being able to locate Kang.Iron Man: Nothing. All my technology, and I've got nothing. WHERE ON EARTH ARE YOU?! ...Earth. What if he's not on Earth?
- Mythology Gag: Black Panther observes the centipede-like robots have Egyptian stylings—a nod to Kang's other identity, Pharaoh Rama-Tut.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: While Ant-Man uses his ant army to attack Kang's drones from the inside, Wasp can barely land a dent with her size and stingers. She retreats and uses the Quinjet as a more effective substitute.
