In the year 1945, Steve Rogers is in England and is being driven somewhere by Elisa "Madame HYDRA" Sinclair. Rogers sighs that everything has fallen apart; Johann "Red Skull" Shmidt has taken over HYDRA, Rogers' best friend Helmut Zemo is awaiting execution by the Allies, and now the Allies have developed some new weapon which will enable them to win the war. He tells Sinclair that this is the end, but Sinclair just muses that, in that case, it would help to go back to the beginning. They reach the Keep where Rogers was trained to be an agent of HYDRA, and Sinclair tells him that he's home.
In the present day, Maria Hill skulks through Bagalia. She gripes that she's been ousted from SHIELD by her own tribunal and has since been trying to get rehired, which is why she's in Bagalia. She met up with a couple of mercenaries there, Eric "Black Ant" O'Grady and Tony "Taskmaster" Masters, who told her they had something that could bring down SHIELD's new director Steve Rogers. This would enable Hill to retake control, so even though she's very skeptical of her new allies—especially when they vanish without giving her the evidence they claimed to have—she tracks down Masters' house and begins going through his files. She finds the file in question, which is a recording of Rogers saying 'Hail HYDRA' to a bound and gagged Jack Flag. Hill thinks it must be fake, but then HYDRA agents break into the apartment and attack her.
Zemo walks through a base and muses that he's been waiting for this chance for revenge. He notes that Bucky "Winter Soldier" Barnes took his team, the Thunderbolts, from him, and also stole the sentient cosmic cube Kobik. Now, though, Zemo is ready to kill Barnes. He walks into a lab and talks to Erik Selvig and Bert "Fixer" Ebersol, two scientists who are trying to put Kobik back together after she was split into eight shards. Ebersol snarks that Zemo should calm down and Zemo points out that it was due to Ebersol's miscalculations that Kobik was split up and scattered all over the arctic in the first place. Ebersol says they have seven shards already and two of their minions, Karla "Moonstone" Sofen and Erik "Atlas" Josten, are searching for the final one. Once they have all eight they can rebuild the cube, which Zemo needs for HYDRA's plans. Selvig says they could just let the cube to become Kobik again, but Zemo says Kobik would just make things more chaotic. He doesn't care about Kobik or her personality; he just wants the cube back in its inert state so it will obediently allow itself to be used without needing to be emotionally manipulated first. He then leaves and goes to another room, where Barnes is strapped to a rocket.
In 1945, Sinclair tries to keep things light but Rogers snaps at her and says there was no point to the journey. He still thinks HYDRA is ruined and that the Reich has suborned it for its own ends. He muses that maybe everything he believes is a lie, and then he accuses Sinclair of killing his mother in the process of bringing him to the Keep. Sinclair protests that this isn't true, but Rogers says he's finally accepted the truth of it; his mother was killed to bring him into HYDRA, and HYDRA turned out just to be a bunch of maniacs leading cannon fodder to their doom. Sinclair protests that she would never taunt or torture Rogers, and that she loves him. She then brings him to his mother, who is still alive. The two embrace.
Back in the present, Hill flees HYDRA agents and frantically calls Rick Jones, whom she thinks is the only person that can possibly stop whatever Rogers has planned. In the arctic, Sofen and Josten find the last cube shard and report in. Ebersol acknowledges this and thanks them while Selvig frets about Kobik's fate. He makes up his mind and tazes Ebersol, then begins manipulating the machine containing the seven cube shards they already have.
Zemo approaches Barnes and says that the lab they're in is a perfect replica of the place where Barnes murdered Zemo's father Heinrich. Barnes protests that this didn't happen, and in fact nothing happened the way Zemo remembered it. Zemo chastises him for believing in lies but Barnes insists that Kobik rewrote reality and that nothing Zemo remembers is real. Zemo blows this off and says that Rogers has a holographic message for Barnes, which he begins to play. In image of Rogers appears and apologizes for not being present, then says that he values Barnes' friendship but knows that Barnes would never take his side. Furthermore, he says that Barnes did kill Heinrich Zemo and his son Helmut deserves justice for that. Barnes orders Zemo to turn the message off, which he does, and then protests that Rogers isn't himself either but has been manipulated by Kobik like Zemo has. Zemo tells Barnes that he fundamentally doesn't understand reality, and that in fact, reality is what people make of it. Even if everything they all believe is a lie, Zemo intends to make it true. He launches the missile with Barnes still tied to it.
In 1945, Rogers finds Sinclair the next day after meeting with his mother and apologizes for his words. Sinclair in turn apologizes for one of her men striking Rogers' mother and making it look like she had died when in fact she was just bumped on the head. She adds that Rogers' mother has been kept inform of Rogers' activities and Rogers says he knows; he spent the whole night talking with her. He adds that his crisis of faith is over and he's ready for the next mission. Sinclair explains that the Allies are going to use a cosmic cube to rewrite reality, cause HYDRA to lose the war, and make them all believe they have led different lives. However, she has foreseen that Rogers will eventually recover from the change and remember who he really is. At that point, he must gain control of the cube and restore reality to the way it should be. She warns him that the mission will not be easy because he will have to hide his true nature from everyone, but he agrees to the mission and asks what to do. She directs him to first free Zemo, then go to the location of Daniel "Kraken" Whitehall in the Pacific, where he will take Rogers to the source of HYDRA's power. Something there, Sinclair says, will enable Rogers to withstand the reality-warping powers of the Allies' cosmic cube. Rogers asks what will happen to Sinclair or his mother, and Sinclair says she doesn't know for sure, but she pledges to do absolutely anything to one day be reunited with him.
Back in the present, Sinclair embraces Rogers and reminds him of her promise. She introduces him to his new High Council, which includes Arnim Zola, Johann "Doctor Faustus" Fenhoff, Daniel "Whitehall" Kraken, Hive, Ophelia "Viper" Sarkissian, and Tomi "Gorgon" Shishido. Rogers then warns Sinclair that there have been some problems with the plan, and Sinclair says she already knows that they don't have Charles Xavier's brain as planned. She says, however, they can solve that problem if Rogers establishes contact with one of his helicarriers. It turns out that just as the helicarrier Crescent entered Sokovian airspace to respond to a HYDRA insurgency that recently seized control of the government, Doctor Faustus brainwashed everyone onboard. He tells Rogers that the troops on the ship will support them, which Rogers accepts. At that moment, though, Masters arrives and warns Rogers that Hill has contacted Jones.
Hill tells Jones that he has to stop Rogers because Rogers is HYDRA. Jones is stunned, and at that moment Rogers calls him. Rogers warns Jones that Hill was setting a trap for him and asks if Jones got the codes to the planetary defense shield. Jones says he has, and Rogers says that Hill wants those codes so she can threaten to lower the shield once an upcoming Chitauri force reaches Earth. This will enable her to extort the world into restoring her position in SHIELD. Jones asks if they should call Carol "Captain Marvel" Danvers, but Rogers says there's no time and he needs the access codes. Jones notes that Hill said Rogers was part of HYDRA, but Rogers cites Hill's history of manipulation and going to extremes to get what she wants, such as the creation of the Pleasant Hill prison. Rogers warns Jones not to trust Hill and Jones agrees. He sends Rogers the codes, at which point O'Grady appears behind him and knocks him out. Rogers confirms that he got the codes and tells O'Grady to have Jones put in a holding cell unharmed.
Sinthea "Sin" Shmidt and Brock "Crossbones" Rumlow walk up and say that the HYDRA troops are ready to hear a speech from Rogers. Sinclair coos that the plan is coming together, but Zemo warns Rogers that there's been another problem.
Later, Rogers whines that they were so close but ultimately failed. They can't remake the world in HYDRA's image without the cosmic cube shards, which they no longer have thanks to Selvig doing something to them. Sinclair tells Rogers to calm down and says that the plan was always twofold: first, conquer the world, and second, use the cosmic cube to remake the world. They can still complete the first step without the cube, and can then use their control of the world to recover all the cube shards and fix things. This calms Rogers, and Sinclair sends him to talk to his army. He does so, sending them an audio message that does not show his face and telling them that he will reveal himself to them in time. He also tells them that HYDRA used to be a destructive organization which just channeled people's rage to suit Shmidt's ends, but now it serves a greater purpose to remake and improve the world.
As Rogers gives his troops a pep talk, Selvig shouts 'Hail HYDRA!' and commits suicide by shooting himself in the head with an energy cannon. Elsewhere, a SHIELD worker named James Reed approaches one of the generators which powers Earth's defense shield. He then shouts 'Hail HYDRA!' and detonates a suicide vest, damaging the generator and disabling the shield. In space, Danvers is stunned to hear of the shield falling but can't do anything about it. And somewhere over the ocean, Barnes screams Rogers' name as the missile he is attached to detonates, presumably killing him. Then the Chitauri fleet nears Earth at the same time that a huge mob of supervillains appears in Manhattan and begins laying waste to the city while Zemo and Marcus "Blackout" Daniels watch from a boat.
Rogers finishes his speech and leads the soldiers in a cheer of 'Hail HYDRA.'
Tropes:
- Suicide Attack: A HYDRA agent launches one against one of the generators powering the shield protecting Earth.
