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Recap / The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! S1 E6 "Breakout, part 1"

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Written by Christopher Yost

Iron Man heads to the Gerlach Mountain Range in Slovakia to bust up an arms sale between Latveria and the Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), part of which is stolen Stark tech. It has already been established that stealing Stark tech make Stark mad so it comes as no surprise when he utterly trounces the hazmat-suited Mooks and their leader with the round helmet. The Latverian woman leaves peacefully with a threat from Iron Man that anyone who buys his tech will have to answer to him, even if the customer in question is the ruler of a small and powerful dictatorship.

Nothing at all has changed with any of the superheroes' problems. Bruce Banner is still imprisoned in the Cube while Thor continues to perplex his fellow Asgardians as to why he cares so much about Midgard. Tony Stark is still a Jerkass. Ant-Man and the Wasp are still divided about whether or not to accept S.H.I.E.L.D.'s offer. Suddenly, a brief power fluctuation disables the security systems at all of the supervillain prisons and all hell immediately breaks loose.

Mad Thinker: Boom.

Without Pym's technology to maintain it, the Big House immediately reverts to its original size and causes catastrophic damage to the Helicarrier. The Cube is flooded with lethal levels of gamma radiation from the mere presence of all the freed supervillains. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents try to fight back but they don't have a prayer against such an overwhelming number of superpowered beings.

From here, things get even more fast-paced, chaotic, and messy. Bruce Banner manages to escape with the aid of a gamma-mutated Leonard Samson while Hawkeye disables some criminals in the confusion at the Vault. Wasp and Ant-Man have their hands full dealing with the escapees at the Big House. Iron Man arrives at the Vault and begins blasting everyone, including Hawkeye who is still officially a HYDRA double agent, before being overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies who have a personal grudge against him. Through his personal A.I. JARVIS, Stark issues a general evacuation order to all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The failure of the three supervillain prisons does not seem to faze Nick Fury at all. In fact, he's more concerned about the status of the top-secret fourth prison, the Raft, which houses some of the most dangerous and valuable supervillains, including a mystery man in blue and white who looks like he has forgotten the meaning of personal grooming.

Faced with the threat of so many gamma-powered enemies, Banner has little choice but to transform into the Hulk and fight his way out. Unbeknownst to him, the Absorbing Man and two other individuals are watching him through the Cube's security feed. The little green man orders the other two to go after him, but declares that he will stay and, from the prison, change the world.

At all three prisons, the superheroes fight their way to safety while Fury heads for the Raft, leaving Agent Hill in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. in his absence. Unfortunately he arrives just in time to see his worst fear realized. Graviton has already awoken.

The story continues in "Breakout, part 2"


Tropes:

  • Badass Boast: After taking down the AIM drones, Iron Man has a word with the Latverian representative:
    Iron Man: Give your master a message for me: buyer beware. You steal my tech, you answer to me — even him.
  • Casual Danger Dialogue: Ensnared by King Cobra and facing a beatdown, Hank remarks he's disappointed in Mandrill for throwing away the progress made during their therapy sessions. He then gets the better of both villains quite handily.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Super-villains that didn't appear in the previous episode but who will appear later in the series include Zzzax, Blizzard, Constrictor, Griffin, Red Ghost and the Super Apes, Living Laser, Chemistro, King Cobra, The Purple Man and Baron Zemo. Most of these are brutes in the grand scheme of things, but Zemo will grow to be VERY important later in the season.
  • Five-Second Foreshadowing: Fury says their biggest worry right now is the Raft. In the next scene, amid various villains running loose, we see Graviton wake up.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • The Leader has no intention of leaving the Cube because it is where he "will change the world."
    • Samson is exposed to Gamma Radiation.
    • Comes as no surprise, but AIM's mystery customer turns out to be Doctor Doom, as confirmed by the Season 2 premiere and Lucia von Bardas's appearance there. However, their dealings with AIM aren't explored beyond this episode.
    • Wasp tells Maria that she wants to do more as a superhero, but she muses that S.H.I.E.L.D. is too serious for her. In Part 2, she's the first to agree to Iron Man's suggestion that they form a team.
  • From Bad to Worse: As Fury reacts to what's happening with the Big House, Quartermain reports the Vault and Cube's systems have also gone off-line.
  • Funny Background Event: As Thor and Jane talk, a driver in the background struggles to get loose from her seat belt and the airbag goes off in her face.
  • The Gadfly: Iron Man busts up the AIM sale for a personal reason, but when talking to Pepper, he admits to delighting at the idea of ticking off a certain Latverian dictator.
  • Good News, Bad News: While tending to a guy injured during a car accident, Jane assures him he'll live and observes his car is pretty much totaled.
  • I Choose to Stay: Thor ignores Balder's request to return to Asgard, saying humanity needs him and that every moment counts.
  • I Warned You: Bruce desperately tried to warn Samson of the real purpose of Ross's pursuit and how the Cube is essentially one big gamma bomb that will go off. During the Breakout, a battered Samson encounters Bruce and admits he should've listened when he had the chance.
  • Instantly Proven Wrong: Jane reminds Thor that humans have plenty of champions themselves (from first responders like her all the way up to superheroes) and says it wouldn't hurt for him to take a week off and mend fences with his father. This is immediately followed by an explosion relating to the ongoing Breakout.
  • Little "No": Hank when the Big House's force fields shut down and the prisoners start walking out of their cells.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Zzzax took his time when attacking Banner. As a result, Banner got angry enough to bring out the Hulk.
  • Oh, Crap!: Hank successfully fends off Mandrill and King Cobra, only to see Griffin flying straight for him.
  • Properly Paranoid: The Leader finds it curious that the other prisons are also seeing simultaneous breakouts.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Agent Wu asks to speak with Iron Man — not about weapons like Fury keeps doing, but about maintaining containment.
  • Revenge: Whirlwind wants to tear both Ant-Man and Wasp apart for their last encounter.
  • Shooting Superman: The AIM scientists try to shoot Iron Man. Protecting himself with a force field, Iron Man lampshades what a bad idea that was before returning fire and knocking them out.
  • Skewed Priorities: Averted. The Leader was content to let Abomination and Absorbing Man take out Hulk so long as he was still in the Cube, but he later orders them to not chase after him. He says they have more important work to do.
  • Taken for Granite: Grey Gargoyle gets the drop on a SHIELD agent.
  • Tuck and Cover: Due to the scene on the street, a speeding car is forced to suddenly brake and swerve. It gets sent flying after hitting a taxi, and Jane immediately tries to shield her patient. Luckily, Thor was nearby.
  • Villain Team-Up: Crimson Dynamo, Living Laser, Blizzard and a female version of Whiplash gang up on Iron Man.
  • Women Are Wiser: Jane observes that Thor's refusal to return to Asgard stems in part from a fight he had with Odin.

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