The final battle against the Flag-Smashers begins.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Villainy: Sharon Carter has never been an outright villain in adaptations before this one. In the MCU, she is the Power Broker.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Isaiah tells Sam he's "no Malcolm, Martin, or Mandela".
- Alas, Poor Villain: Karli apologizes to Sam with tears in her eyes as she dies in his arms. After handing her off to the paramedics, Sam berates the GRC for calling her a terrorist when, for all of her crimes, she was trying to help people.
- Arrow Catch: Karli uses a steel splinter as a spear and throws it at Bucky, who catches it mid-air, inches from his face.
- Aside Glance: Zemo smirks at the camera when he hears the news that the remaining Flag-Smashers have been killed (by Zemo's butler).
- Back for the Finale:
- A variation with Redwing, Sam's drone — having been destroyed by Karli back in Episode 2, a new Redwing comes as part of Sam's Wakandan-made Captain America suit. In fact, there are two, but only one is explicitly addressed as Redwing.
- Doctor Raynor, Bucky's therapist, also makes a brief appearance, receiving a thank you note from Bucky for helping him make amends with the people he hurt as the Winter Soldier. Yori and Leah appear as well.
- Badass in Distress: Ayla Perez, the GRC representative from the Philippines, is revealed to be a Philippine Air Force veteran and is entrusted by Sam to take control of the helicopter once he gets rid of the hijacker.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work:
- Batroc and Karli are killed by Sharon just minutes after she is revealed to be the Power Broker.
- When it looks like a few of the Flag-Smashers are going to escape, they are killed in a car bomb on Zemo's orders.
- The Bad Guy Wins:
- Sharon Carter has been the true unseen driving force behind the entire conflict of this series as the Power Broker, and now that she has killed everyone who knew her identity and had leverage on her, been fully pardoned by the United States government and reinstated to her old position, she is the person who has been rewarded the most in this series. After leaving her Senate subcommittee meeting, she now has access to government-level weapons that she can sell on the black market to make her even more powerful.
- Zemo also manages another small victory, having killed the remaining super-serum-powered Flag-Smashers when it seemed like they were about to escape.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- As the last of the main Flag-Smashers are transported to The Raft, one of the officers accompanying them whispers "One world, one people," implying that the group will break out of prison and return in a future installment. Moments later, however, their transport van gets blown up by Zemo's butler Oeznik, eradicating the Flag-Smashers before they could get the chance to make a comeback.
- During Sam and Karli's fight, Karli knocks Sam down and yells at him to stay down. Sam slowly gets back up, the music rises, and it seems like he's about to say Steve's classic catchphrase "I can do this all day." But instead, he says, "No."
- When Sam arrives to stop the Flag-Smashers' attack on the GRC, a bystander asks who he is:Sam: I'm Captain America.
- ... and just when Sam's whole character arc has you digging in for him to deal with some racist retort:GRC Representative: I thought Captain America was on the moon.
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: Karli points her gun at Sam after disarming him of his shield. She raises her gun, and a shot goes off... but it's Sharon who shoots Karli.
- Big Bad Friend: Sharon Carter was the Power Broker the whole time, and she intentionally gave Karli and her friends the super-soldier serum to serve as her enforcers in Madripoor before they went rogue to start their revolution as the Flag-Smashers. All of the conflict and suffering in this series has been indirectly her fault.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just about everywhere.
- Sam, in full Captain America regalia, crashes in to save the GRC members from a Flag-Smasher.
- When said GRC members are trapped in their burning vehicles, Bucky charges in to save them.
- Walker shows up to give Bucky cover and simultaneously exact vengeance against Karli for Lemar's death two episodes earlier, and later on, he attempts to save GRC members in a vehicle about to go over a ledge.
- And all of this culminates in Sam swooping in to save everyone from the remaining Flag-Smashers.
- Big Sleep: Karli closes her eyes when she dies after being shot.
- Bittersweet Ending: Sam has taken the mantle of Captain America and immortalized Isaiah's legacy in the Smithsonian, Bucky has found some closure with his past and developed a close relationship with Sam and his family, Walker has been given new purpose with his own mantle as U.S. Agent, Lemar has been truly avenged, and Zemo is content with imprisonment after destroying the remaining super soldiers. But Sam was unable to save Karli, Bucky's necessary confession to Yori is implied to have cost him his friendship with Yori and his relationship with Leah, the Flag-Smasher movement is still alive amongst normal people, the political conflict with the GRC's methods is still unresolved, and by pardoning Sharon, Sam has unknowingly given the Power Broker a significant advantage.
- Blackmail Backfire: Upon learning that Sharon is the Power Broker, Batroc demands she quadruple his pay, or he'll tell everyone her secret. She immediately kills him in response.
- Book Ends: The season began with Bucky waking up miserable and alone, with his therapist telling him he needs to get back in the world, make some friends. It ends with him at a shrimp boil, happy and at peace with Sam's family and friends.
- Brick Joke:
- When Sam introduces himself as Captain America to one of the GRC members, they mention thinking that Captain America was on the Moon, referencing the conspiracy that Torres mentioned all the way back in the first episode.
- One of the citizens cheering for Sam refers to him as "Black Falcon", just like the boy he met in Baltimore in the second episode. Another citizen quickly corrects him that Sam is, in fact, Captain America.
- At the cookout at the end of the episode, Bucky is once again flirting with Sarah.
- Bookends: Sam's first engagement in the miniseries as Falcon involved an aerial dogfight with helicopters, where he had to rescue someone out of a chopper with a straight dive. At the very end of it, his first fight as the new Captain America involved another aerial dogfight with choppers, with him taking out the hostile pilot with a straight dive.
- Call-Back: Sharon uses the same type of nano mask and voice modifier as Natasha and Agent 33.
- Caught Monologuing: Bucky realizes too late that Karli was allowing him to make a Breaking Speech to her over the phone as a distraction while her team gets the hostages out of the building.
- Cavalry Betrayal: Several of the cops and agents assigned to evacuate the GRC delegates are actually Flag-Smashers setting them up to be kidnapped.
- Chain Pain: Bucky picks up a heavy chain to knock out Karli Morgenthau when she tries hitting him with a parking meter.
- Chekhov's Gun: The phone that the Flag-Smasher mook gives to Bucky so that Karli can distract him becomes the undoing of the Flag-Smashers when Bucky uses the Flag-Smashers app installed on it to indicate a safe haven for the members, which lures them out of hiding and into a police ambush to be arrested.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Zemo's old butler from episode 3 shows up again to kill the remaining superpowered Flag-Smashers under Zemo's orders.
- The Chessmaster: Although Sharon didn't instigate the whole ordeal, she certainly took advantage of it, killing off everyone who knew she was the Power Broker, getting a full pardon, and getting her old job back. The only blemish on her victory was that she lost the super serum lab.
- Close on Title: The show's title is shown before and after the Creative Closing Credits. Or rather, its new title: Captain America and the Winter Soldier.
- Composite Character: The Power Broker has been the aliases of several people in the Marvel comics universe. Here, the mantle belongs to Sharon Carter.
- Continuity Nod:
- Once again, it seems like the villains who are being arrested and transported to prison have men on the inside who are going to help them break out during the transport ride. This time, however, Oeznik puts a stop to that.
- Batroc refers to Sam's new Captain America outfit as a "bird costume".
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Sharon kills Lennox with a mercury vapor grenade, which blows up in his face and causes it to melt as the toxin eats away at his flesh.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Karli dies in Sam's arms after being shot by Sharon.
- Don't Make Me Destroy You: When Karli first knocks Sam down, she tells him to stay down.
- Dynamic Entry: Sam, fully equipped with his wings and mighty shield, does this numerous times throughout the episode to save the day.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: In both major and minor manners.
- Sam has finally embraced the mantle of Captain America, and while he acknowledges that it'll be a struggle, he's confident that he can rise to the challenge. He returns to his friends and family a hero, having made peace with Steve's decision to pass the shield to him.
- Bucky has finally made amends for his time as the Winter Soldier and is finally free.
- John has found his purpose and calling as a superhero, not as Captain America, but as the U.S. Agent, a mantle he can call his own. He's still under Fontaine's thumb, though.
- Sharon has gotten that pardon she asked Sam to get her three episodes ago and is no longer an outlaw. Unfortunately, it's also revealed that she's the Power Broker and plans to use her new position to gain more profit.
- Isaiah, after decades spent hiding in fear from the US Government, finally gets the recognition he deserves, as evidenced by a section of the Captain America Exhibit being dedicated to him.
- Even Zemo has once again achieved his goals by arranging for his butler to kill off the remaining super-soldier Flag-Smashers.
- Easily Forgiven: Neither Bucky nor Sam calls out John for trying to kill them in the last episode. Given that he never gave any indication of having a Jerkass Realization about his actions immediately post-serum, it's similarly noteworthy that Walker doesn't seem to have much to say to the duo, despite them breaking his arm and taking the shield in the prior episode.
- Enemy Mine: Bucky, and later Sam, accept Walker as an ally without much discussion of the matter, given the emergency at hand. Though Bucky makes an eye-rolling comment about John's Lincoln quote, making it clear that they're still not close by any means.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Karli's fellow Flag-Smashers are taken aback when she says that they will kill their hostages if they can't escape with them (their initial plan was to use the hostages as leverage to force a negotiation for the GRC to stop their vote), and don't seem pleased when she declares that their cause will live on even if they did. For once, they are reluctant to join her chorus of "One World, One People."
- Evolving Credits: Anthony Mackie's credit now has a picture of Sam with his new outfit and the shield.
- External Combustion: Oeznik uses a car bomb to kill the surviving Flag-Smashers after they are taken into custody.
- Face–Heel Turn: This episode confirms that Sharon Carter became the Power Broker after being abandoned by her government. She is completely willing to use the pardon and the access to her previous position that she received at the end of the episode to her advantage.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Right before she is revealed as the Power Broker to the audience, Sharon does the head tilt that Zemo and Walker did when talking about the super-soldier serum.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- During the helicopter rescue scene, eagle-eyed and Filipino viewers may notice that the hostage that Sam contacts to take over the hijacked chopper is a former captain of the Philippine Air Force named Ayla Perez. This comes up as Redwing scans the helicopter for any non-hostile occupants with flight experience.
- You can read three of the four paragraphs on the inscription next to Isaiah Bradley's monument that summarizes his exploits and treatment by the U.S. government (his encounters with Bucky and HYDRA are either not mentioned or not shown). The inscription also reveals that he was one of twelve African-American men experimented on against their will, and the P.O.W.s he rescued consisted of another 28 men besides his super-soldier brothers-in-arms.
- Gangsta Style: When Sharon (revealed to be the Power Broker) confronts Karli, Batroc comes out from a corner and aims his pistol at Karli sideways.
- Good Wings, Evil Wings: Just to highlight Sam's new stature as The Paragon, his descent with Karli's lifeless body (doubling with Pietà Plagiarism) makes him look decidedly angelic
◊. - Greater-Scope Villain: The episode finally reveals that Sharon, as the Power Broker, was indirectly orchestrating the conflict of the series. After she kills Karli and Batroc, the other characters don't learn the truth about Sharon's allegiance, and Sam organizes for her to be pardoned, inadvertently giving her even more power and resources.
- Heel–Face Turn: When John Walker faces the choice between going after Karli or rescuing the hostages, he has a sudden moment of clarity and abandons his Roaring Rampage of Revenge to do what he knows to be his duty, symbolically discarding his battered and dented Captain America shield in the process.
- Heel Realization: Somewhat subtle: building upon the above, Walker witnessing Sam-as-Captain America in action (prioritizing rescue, seeking to neutralize opponents without brutal force, and then standing up to the GRC's oppressive legislation while the whole world's media is watching) leaves him speechless, to the point that when he meets eyes with him in the denouement, he simply wordlessly nods. Later on, he seems to readily accept his new assignment as "U.S. Agent", suggesting that he finally realizes why exactly he was an Inadequate Inheritor to the shield, and thus strikes out as his own person.
- He Knows Too Much: Sharon kills Batroc for trying to blackmail her after learning that she's the Power Broker. She also kills Karli because Karli might reveal it, having the convenient excuse that Karli was going to shoot Sam at the end of their fight.
- Here We Go Again!: Discussed. Sam tells the GRC that if they move forward with the Patch Act, they're just going to create another Karli who will do just as much damage, if not worse, after learning from the mistakes of the first.
- Heroes' Frontier Step: When John Walker is forced to choose between saving the GRC members that Karli had taken hostage and exacting his revenge on Karli for Lemar's death, he ultimately chooses to give up on getting revenge and attempts to save the hostages. And, as last time, bystanders are recording his saving of the GRC members on their smartphones.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Karli and her allies have spent most of the series using their Flag-Smashers app to gain support and communicate with their followers around the world. Bucky and Walker ultimately use the app, on a phone given to Bucky by one of Karli's operatives, to guide the remaining super-soldiers straight to the police.
- Hope Spot: Two of them.
- Sam almost gets Karli to stand down by not fighting her and appealing to her inner goodness. It gets her to pause visibly, and then she resolves to kill him, giving Sharon an opening and a plausible reason to gun her down.
- A (semi-)villainous version: as the Flag-Smashers who survived and were arrested are being loaded up into a police van, one of the officers whispers their creed to them, causing Dovich to smile as he and his compatriots realize that they still have allies on the outside and maybe even a chance to escape and avoid being sent to the Raft. And then the police van explodes, with Zemo's butler being revealed as the culprit.
- Internal Reveal:
- Sam gets a section added to the Captain America part of the Smithsonian detailing Isaiah Bradley's service, making sure that his contributions are known to the world.
- Bucky tells Yori that he killed his son as the Winter Soldier.
- Jerkass Has a Point: During Sam's big speech, the head Senator (who had been most openly antagonistic to the refugees) does rightfully claim that blipped people — who suddenly found themselves alive again five years into the future — have a right to return to the lives that were taken from them. Sam has a painful look on his face and concedes that it's a complicated matter, but goes on to say that the senators still have an obligation to try to find a reasonable solution for everyone, and meet both sides halfway, rather than just screwing over all the refugees as an easy solution.
- Karmic Death: The remaining Flag-Smashers get killed via a car bomb, which is exactly what started their descent into villainy and made them worldwide threats.
- Karma Houdini: Sharon ultimately gets away clean, being granted a full pardon and her old job that she can use to earn even greater profits as the Power Broker, and nobody even suspects her true purpose. Sharon does get shot for her troubles while killing Batroc and Karli, but it's treated as Only a Flesh Wound and ends up being completely inconsequential.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Dovich and the remaining Flag-Smashers wisely surrender when they are cornered by Bucky, Walker, and several dozen armed cops and Federal agents.
- Leave No Witnesses: A villainous example. After Sharon reveals her identity as the Power Broker to Batroc and Karli, she proceeds to kill Batroc and soon Karli (despite being shot by the latter) like she did to those who knew about her identity or had leverage with her, although Sam wasn’t present at the time she revealed herself as the Power Broker to both Karli and Batroc, nor was he told by Karli about it when he fought her.
- Load-Bearing Hero: Sam, the guy with no super-strength, has to hold up a security truck that's about to plummet into a construction site. Luckily, he has his suit and Redwing drones.
- Manly Tears: Isaiah Bradley rightfully gets teary-eyed when he realizes that Sam has brought his story to light, given him the recognition that he so rightfully deserves, and brought to light the crimes committed against him.
- Meaningful Rename: Sam officially dons the name of Captain America. The Close on Title changes from his old name Falcon.
- Mexican Standoff: Batroc, Karli, and Sharon get into one. Sharon kills Batroc, Karli shoots Sharon but fails to kill her. Then Sam catches up with them and fights Karli; as she is about to shoot him, Sharon shoots her.
- Mythology Gag:
- The smoke bombs that the Flag-Smashers use to clear out the GRC lobby are orange with green lights emanating from them, resembling the pumpkin bombs used by the Green Goblin.
- John Walker's last line in the episode after being designated U.S. Agent ("I'm back!") is a direct reference to the cover of Captain America #354◊, where Walker made his first appearance as U.S. Agent after giving back the Captain America mantle to Steve Rogers.
- Sam's debut as the new Captain America by foiling an attack on a United Nations-like organization resembles the debut of the 1950s Cap in Young Men #24 when he and "Bucky" foiled a Dirty Communist attack on the UN.
- The Bait-and-Switch / Hope Spot moment with the captured Flag-Smashers is just like the Sequel Hook that concludes Secret Empire: Omega with Hydra Supreme (the "Hail Hydra" Steve Rogers), instead leading to the comics Killed Him Off for Real a couple of months after, with the deed also done by unexpected villains.
- When Sam is revealed in his new suit, one of the civilians asks if he's now calling himself "Captain Falcon", something that Marvel fans frequently joked about when he initially took up the mantle of Captain America.
- During his battle with Batroc, Sam raises the shield and uses his rockets to ram into him, resembling the Charging Star attack from Marvel Super Heroes and beyond.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Near the beginning of the episode, a random Flag-Smasher gives Bucky a phone for him to speak to Karli with, intending to distract him while the hostages are in danger. The phone still has the Flag-Smashers' app installed, which Bucky and Walker use to draw the remaining members into a trap at the end of the episode.
- No-Sell: At one point during their brawl, Karli kicks John in the chest, which does absolutely nothing to him. His shield may have been dented, but he is still a Super-Soldier, and has a fair bit of weight on her on top of that.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Sam points out that the GRC's callous actions to cast out unwanted people to protect their own are not that different from a teenage Karli and a space god who wiped out half the universe.
- Only in It for the Money: Subverting his apparent Revenge motivation from the previous episode, Batroc makes it clear that he's only helping Karli because Sharon hired him. When he finds out that she's the Power Broker, he tries to extort her for more money.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Karli attempts to "apologize" for accidentally killing Lemar by telling Walker that she only intends to kill people whose deaths would serve her plan. She phrases the latter part as "people who matter", which naturally makes Walker even angrier.Walker: You don't think Lemar's life mattered?!
- Patrick Stewart Speech: Sam gives one to the senators, in full view of dozens of news cameras, on how to make the world a better place for both the people who came back from the Blip and those who survived.Sam: How did it feel to be helpless? If you can remember how it was like to be helpless in the face of a force so powerful, it can wipe out half the planet, then you would know you're about to have the same impact. This isn't about easy decisions, Senator.
Senator: Y-You just don't understand—
Sam: [scoffs] I'm a Black man carrying the Stars and Stripes! What don't I understand? Every time I pick this up, I know there are millions of people out there that are going to hate me for it. Even now, here, I feel it: the stares, the judgment... and there's nothing I can do to change it. Yet I'm still here. No Super Serum, no blonde hair or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe... We. Can do. Better. We can't demand people step up, and we don't meet them halfway. [turns to another Senator] You control the banks! Shit, you can move borders! You can knock down a forest with an e-mail. You can feed a million people with a phone call. But the question is: who is in the room with you when you're making those decisions? Hmm? Is it the people you're gonna impact? Or is it just more people like you? I mean, this girl died trying to stop you, and no-one has stopped for one second to ask why. [turns back to the first] You gotta do better, Senator! You gotta step up! Because if you don't, the next Karli will! And you don't wanna see 2.0. People believed in her cause so much that they helped her defy the strongest governments in the world. Why do you think that is?! Look, you people have as much power as an insane god... or a misguided teenager. The question you have to ask yourself is: how are you going to use it? - Pietà Plagiarism: The way Sam cradles Karli's body as she dies is reminiscent of this — up to and even including his descent from the sky with her body.
- Playing Both Sides: Sharon hired Batroc to help Karli, while also showing up in person to help Sam and try to recruit Karli again. If Karli proves amenable, she gets her super-soldiers. If she doesn't, Sharon can kill Karli and make it look like she's defending Sam.
- Pretender Diss: Batroc is unimpressed with Sam as the new Captain America, and quips to Sam, in French, "The robes don't make the monk"note upon seeing his new outfit. He fought Steve before, so he's not talking out of his ass. Then Sam, like Steve before him, proceeds to teach Batroc exactly why he's Captain America, beating him down in hand-to-hand combat just as Steve did.
- The Reveal: Sharon is the Power Broker.
- Rivals Team Up: After giving up his revenge against Karli to help save the hostages, Walker joins forces with Sam and Bucky in pursuing the Flag-Smashers, following Sam's lead without any hesitation or objection.
- Robot Buddy: Sam now has two Redwing drones with his suit.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Walker's mad rampage to kill Karli and any of her allies who get in his way to avenge Lemar's death. He's only shaken out of it when he realizes that he needs to choose between pursuing her and rescuing a truck full of hostages, and has a moment of Epiphany Therapy. Lampshaded when he goes along with Bucky's plan to lure the remaining Flag-Smashers into being captured by the police rather than try to corner and fight them directly, and quotes Abraham Lincoln ("Mercy bears richer fruit than strict justice") about it, to Bucky's chagrin.
- Rousing Speech: Sam gives one to the GRC members and the world at large, convincing them to do better than simply trying to go back to how things were with no consideration as to who they're hurting along the way.
- Rule of Symbolism: Walker's homemade shield isn't very effective as a combat implement against super-soldiers, but very much serves as a metaphor for Walker's obsession with being Captain America.
- It's made of common materials, useful in their own way but not for fighting against super-soldiers, much like how Walker started off as a normal man and unsuited for the task of becoming Captain America.
- It looks like Steve's shield at first, but easily buckles in combat, representing Walker himself buckling under the pressure of the role.
- The medals are on the inside, reflecting how Walker views them as reminders of his "worst day" in Afghanistan. He's not showing them off, he's using them a reminder of his new worst day.
- When Walker is forced to chose between saving innocents and pursuing revenge, he casts the shield aside, symbolizing him letting go of being Captain America, and with it going from an annoyance and an obstacle to an ally.
- Say My Name: Walker makes his reintroduction to the scene by screaming Karli's last name.
- Sequel Hook:
- Sam has taken up the mantle of Captain America, and Bucky has officially closed the book (literally and figuratively) on his efforts to make amends, symbolized by leaving his book behind with a thank-you message for Dr. Raynor.
- While the central membership of the Flag-Smashers have all been killed, except for Diego, there remain an unknown number of civilians as well as members of law enforcement and security institutions worldwide who still believe in their cause and are still at large.
- John Walker is now in the employ of Val as U.S. Agent. What she plans to do with him, or if she's employed by someone else in turn, isn't revealed.
- Sharon Carter now has access to all the secrets of the United States government to sell as the Power Broker.
- While he's in the Raft, Zemo clearly still has an influence on the outside, and he doesn't seem all too bothered about being incarcerated.
- Shout-Out: In Zemo's cell at the Raft we see that among his books are Alexander von Humboldt's "Ansichten der Natur" ("Faces of Nature") in German and a book by Alexander Pushkin in Russian.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Sam's reaction when Karli mocks his new Captain America outfit.Karli: You of all people bought into that bullshit!?
Sam: I'm trying something different. Maybe you should do the same. - Significant Wardrobe Shift:
- We get a full payoff of the Cliffhanger from last week's episode when we finally see Sam's shiny new Captain America/Falcon suit made by the Wakandans.
- We also see John Walker in his new US Agent outfit, a simplified and streamlined version of his Captain America suit, on a black rather than blue background. It looks a lot like an Evil Costume Switch, though whether it actually is one has yet to be revealed.
- The Stinger: Sharon is given a full pardon and offered her old position in the CIA, giving her access to all sorts of secrets and technologies that she can now barter as the Power Broker.
- Symbolic Weapon Discarding: John Walker arrives in New York to fight the Flag Smashers' assault on the U.N. Headquarters, and eventually discards his homemade Captain American shield to signal that he's finally accepted the fact that he's not the next Steve Rogers, and should stop trying to be.
- Three-Point Landing: Upon falling into the construction pit, Bucky makes a superhero landing with his vibranium arm absorbing most of the impact.
- Throw the Dog a Bone:
- Isaiah finally gets the recognition that he deserves, after decades of being thrown in prison and covered up, when Sam adds an exhibit to the Smithsonian dedicated to him. Needless to say, he's overjoyed and proud, shedding Manly Tears at the sight of it.
- Walker, for all the bad he has done under good intentions, gets another chance to be a hero (and earn a living) as the U.S. Agent. It's under the auspices of the morally ambiguous Countess Valentina, but it's at least something positive after the crap that he went through.
- Title Drop: The "One world, one people" Trust Password is used at two crucial moments: one, when Karli proposes killing the hostages, with the rest of the Flag-Smashers hesitating to respond (due to recognizing how unhinged Karli has become), and again on the prison transport before Oeznik blows it up.
- Turn the Other Cheek: Sam refuses to fight Karli, allowing her to wail on his shield without retaliating. Unfortunately, this gives Sharon an excuse to gun Karli down when Karli does eventually get the better of him, knocking aside the shield and grabbing a gun to shoot him.
- Turned Against Their Masters: Turns out that Karli and the other enhanced Flag-Smashers were given the serum by the Power Broker so they could be her super-powered Elite Mooks in Madripoor. Instead, they went rogue and decided to change the world their own way.
- Villainous Breakdown: As her plans to stop the GRC repeatedly get foiled by Sam and Bucky, and eventually Walker, Karli gets visibly more unhinged, resorting to more extreme tactics, even willing to kill the hostages, which disturbs her followers. By the time she confronts Sharon and fights Sam, she's screaming in fury at the latter to fight her, ultimately proving that the serum has corrupted her beyond redemption as Zemo had warned.Karli: Fight! Me! Fight back! Fight! Back!
- Vindicated by History: In-Universe. Isaiah finally gets the recognition he's long been denied when the Smithsonian erects an exhibit in his name, with details regarding his exploits during the Korean War, photos of him and his comrades, and a statue dedicated to him. He's very grateful to Sam for this and looks at his exhibit with great pride.
- Visual Pun:
- Walker declaring that he's back after getting a black version of his old Captain America outfit when Val makes him the U.S. Agent. One could say that he's "back in black."
- The person who blew up the Flag-Smashers' prison transport is revealed to be Oeznik. In other words, The Butler Did It.
- Wham Line: Karli and Sharon confront one another in an exchange that reveals Sharon's true identity.Karli: I'm Disappointed in You.
Sharon: That's what I was gonna say. I took you in, gave you an opportunity, and you betrayed me. - What Happened to the Mouse?: The non-powered allies of the Flag-Smashers remain by and large unaccounted for.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sam lays into the GRC upon learning that, even after everything that has happened, they still plan on moving forward with the Patch Act. It leads to his Patrick Stewart Speech above.
- What You Are in the Dark: While chasing down the remaining Flag-Smashers, Walker comes across a hijacked GRC vehicle about to go over a ledge. After a moment of thought, he abandons chasing after the Flag-Smashers and chooses to save the people inside.
- Wrecked Weapon: John's new shield is quickly destroyed due to it being composed of more common metals and not vibranium.
- You Cannot Kill An Idea: Sam tells the GRC that Karli's death doesn't mean that the Flag-Smashers movement has died, and they're going to continue being a problem unless the world's governments help the refugees.
- You Remind Me of X: Sharon says that Karli reminded her of herself when she was younger.
