Line #51 Recap/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroesS2E12SecretInvasion


1	!!Continued from [[Recap/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroesS2E11Infiltration "Infiltration"]]
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3	->Written by Christopher Yost\
4	Story by Christopher Yost & Joshua Fine
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6	At the signal from their Queen, Skrull agents strategically placed all over the world carry out their sinister plan. Scientist Supreme Lyle Getz takes advantage of an AIM plan to take over an array of satellites covering the entire world, to distribute a frequency that will kill all humans on the planet. Agent Quartermain takes control of the Helicarrier while Gyrich does the same for SWORD facilities in orbit. The Invisible Woman Skrull takes over the Baxter Building to neutralize the Fantastic Four and finally, the Cap plants bombs all over the Avengers Mansion to disable it. In one fell swoop all of Earth's best defenses are taken down and the Skrulls are ready to assume control. Fortunately, humanity is only down, not out. S.H.I.E.L.D. and SWORD are both intact thanks to the efforts of Sidrin and [[ActuallyADoombot a well-placed Life Model Decoy]].
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8	After many, many episodes of build-up, Queen Veranke finally gets her allotted villain gloating time at Iron Man and Nick Fury's expense before Maria Hill bursts onto the scene and saves them all. That's the good news. The bad news is that without Iron Man's device they will never be able to expose the Skrulls to the rest of the world and the only way to save him is to take out and reboot the Arc Reactor powering his heart. The remaining Avengers rush to respond to the crisis in Washington DC but are set upon by a group of Skrulls that can manifest superpowers from multiple heroes and villains ("Super Skrulls", if you will). The heroes are subdued and forced to witness as Captain America broadcasts a speech to the entire world urging humanity to submit to the Skrulls.
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10	->'''Queen Veranke:''' And who do you think the humans will believe? The damage is already done, I think, because you humans believe what you see.
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12	At just that moment, the real Captain America returns followed closely by Iron Man, who uses his perfected device to force the assembled Skrulls back into their true form. The world sees them all for what they really are and an all-out battle ensues. With the Super Skrulls on the field it seems that the Avengers will still not be able to win but the odds are evened by the return of Thor. Queen Veranke decides that things are not going her way and orders the Getz Skrull to activate their final contingency. The satellite array starts broadcasting its signal and threatens to kill every human on the planet. Thor is unaffected due to his Asgardian physiology and is able to destroy the satellites, sealing the Skrulls' defeat.
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14	The invasion is repelled with the help of Iron Man's detection technology. It will be a long time but Earth will eventually recover. Mostly. Some wounds will be a lot harder to heal.
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16	----
17	!!Tropes:
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19	* AlienInvasion: The episode features the Skrulls invading Earth.
20	* AllYourPowersCombined: Many different combinations between other heroes and villains make up the Super Skrull army, including Abomination/Whirlwind/Griffin, Spider-Man/Black Panther/Iron Fist, Grim Reaper/King Cobra, Giant-Man/Crimson Dynamo, and an X-Men powered one with Wolverine/Cyclops/Nightcrawler/Colossus. Kl'rt is also back.
21	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Cornered and defeated, Veranke asks how this can be possible. Ms. Marvel gives her an answer by blasting her.
22	* BecauseDestinySaysSo: To the bitter end, Veranke insists that prophecies promised Earth to the Skrulls.
23	* BigDamnHeroes:
24	** Veranke announcing the heroes will be crushed by the assembled Super Skrulls is followed by a sudden flash of lightning.
25	--->'''Thor:''' Is that so, creature? We shall see. Avengers, assemble!
26	** Veranke is about to finish off Fury in the warehouse, but Maria blasts in and drives her off.
27	* BittersweetEnding: The world is saved from the Skrull invasion, but a lot of damage has been wreaked and the world thinks Cap collaborated with them.
28	-->'''Nick Fury:''' Yeah, we won, but not without paying a price.\
29	'''Thor:''' The Skrulls turned you against each other. Broken bones, destroyed buildings -- these things are easily repaired. But broken friendships, broken trust -- wounds such as these take much longer to heal.
30	* CurbStompBattle: A small army of Super Skrulls easily crushes Hawkeye, Wasp and Ms. Marvel.
31	* DarkestHour: The Skrull invasion kicks into gear, with multiple targets taken out in one swoop. It's practically over before the quinjet even gets to Washington.
32	-->'''Maria:''' The Skrulls have taken down the Helicarrier, S.W.O.R.D., a few dozen military installations around the globe, and something really bad happened to the Baxter Building. Oh, and the remaining Avengers? They're about to get taken out in D.C.. Do we have a plan?\
33	'''Fury:''' Iron Man's the plan. All we have to do is save his life.
34	* EnemyMine: Madame Viper is shown helping the heroes fight the Super Skrulls.
35	* FirstNameBasis: Veranke does this to Iron Man and Fury.
36	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Thor and Nick mention how the Skulls' deception will leave heavy scars that will take longer to heal than bones or buildings. The next episodes show off how much damage it does to heroes like Cap and Hulk, as well as villains taking advantage of the chaos.
37	* HeroOfAnotherStory: The Fantastic Four fought off a bunch of Skrulls after the Baxter Building was sucked into another dimension. Also an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome.
38	* HumansAreInsects: Veranke orders the satellite attack in response to "these primates" starting to turn the tide and ruin what had seemed like an easy victory.
39	* HumansAreSpecial: According to Cap.
40	* IWarnedYou: As they're surrounded by Super Skrulls:
41	-->'''Hawkeye:''' I told you I wasn't a Skrull.\
42	'''Ms. Marvel:''' If we survive this, I'll apologize.
43	* {{Irony}}: Maria expresses irritation over how the Helicarrier keeps getting knocked out the sky, whereas a car she's had since her teen years always runs smoothly.
44	* LittleNo:
45	** Wasp upon learning it was Cap who had been replaced.
46	** Thor when the satellite attack starts incapacitating the others.
47	** Veranke when the others are defeated, and she's cornered by the Avengers.
48	* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Skrull Cap uses the photonic shield against the real Cap. It gives him a slight edge, but then Cap manages to destroy it.
49	* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent:
50	** As Veranke's ship lands in Washington, we see the ship Cap and company are on fly by off in the distance.
51	** It was sunny in Washington when the Super Skrulls crushed the Avengers. It gets increasingly cloudy from there. There are even a few flashes of lightning right before Thor finally arrives.
52	* MythologyGag: Kl'rt aside, two other Super Skrulls from ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' appear: the X-Men powered one and the one with Mr. Fantastic/Iron Man/Black Bolt/Dr. Strange as one for the Illuminati.
53	* NearVillainVictory: It's only the sudden arrivals of the escaped prisoners, Iron Man, and especially Thor that foil the invasion.
54	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Veranke "thanks" Iron Man for quitting the Avengers, saying his departure made it so easy to pick apart the rest of the team ahead of the invasion.
55	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: After destroying the photonic shield, Cap just starts wailing on his Skrull imposter.
56	* NoSell: The satellite attack has no effect on Thor, due to him being an Asgardian. Iron Man is also protected by his armor. Everyone else isn't so lucky.
57	* OhCrap: Iron Man is visibly shaken when he hears that Cap has been replaced. The remaining Avengers more so because they get to see it for themselves.
58	-->'''Wasp:''' No!\
59	'''Hawkeye:''' You! All this time you were the Skrull!
60	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Veranke personally tries to eliminate Iron Man and Fury's team. She later joins the main invasion effort in Washington.
61	* SecretSecretKeeper:
62	** Maria found Fury's hideout two months ago and kept that knowledge to herself.
63	** It turns out Fury knows more about the operation of Iron Man's armor than he previously let on.
64	* ShapeshifterModeLock: Veranke and Skrull Cap after Iron Man blasts them with his new Skrull detector. They're reverted into their true forms and unable to change back. The end of the episode states the technology was passed along to proper authorities to expose remaining Skrulls across the planet.
65	* ShutUpHannibal:
66	-->'''Skrull Cap:''' You can't possibly think you can beat me. We're the same. I have your strength, your skill. I know every thought you have.\
67	'''Captain America:''' There's more to human beings than our bodies and minds -- something you'll never understand. Our spirit! We never surrender! We never give up! Ever!
68	* SparedByTheAdaptation: Instead of being shot, Veranke is taken into custody and locked up in a stasis tube.
69	* TakeThat: Since Skrull Cap wears the same costume as the Captain America from the Ultimate Marvel universe, Cap's fight with him boils down to Mainstream Marvel versus ComicBook/UltimateMarvel. Mainstream wins.
70	* TemptingFate: Disguised as Mockingbird, Veranke mocks humans for always believing what they see. Arriving, Iron Man hits her with a blast that exposes her true form.
71	-->'''Iron Man:''' Let the people see you now!
72	* ThisCannotBe: Upon their invasion being thwarted, Veranke voices her disbelief that the Skrulls were defeated, saying that "[[ArcWords it was written]]".
73	-->'''Ms.Marvel:''' ''(Knocking her out with a blast)'' [[ScrewDestiny Write]] ''[[ScrewDestiny that]]''.
74	* VillainBall: Veranke takes the time to gloat before simply shooting Fury and the others dead, which ultimately leads to Iron Man surviving and helping turn the tide. She likely assumed it was safe to gloat because no one outside the Secret Warriors was supposed to know the location of Fury's base, only for Maria to burst in at the last moment.
75	* VillainousBreakdown: Veranke. Not as extreme as other examples, but she noticeably loses her cool under pressure.
76	-->'''Veranke:''' How can this be?
77	* VillainHasAPoint: Even if Veranke's army is exposed and beaten, she points out that Captain America's image was already used to broadcast the call to surrender to the entire world. Next episode shows off the consequences of that broadcast after the Skrull invasion is thwarted.
78	* YouExclamation: Hawkeye when confronting Skrull Cap.
79	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: What Veranke says about Fury and his team before trying to pull the trigger.

Context Recap / TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroesS2E12SecretInvasion