A van drives down the street and inside Sowande watches as the Hand soldiers prepare their weapons.
Gao and her men go to their SUVs and head for the Royal Dragon.
Murakami leaves his penthouse and heads for the restaurant.
Murakami crashes down through the Royal Dragon skylight and Matt attacks him as Stick, Luke,. and Jessica fight Elektra. Danny joins forces with Matt while Alexandra walks to her limo. Murakami recovers and slips away as Sowande's men open fire through the front window. The heroes take cover except for Luke, and Gao shoots one man in the head and says that they want Danny alive. The heroes move back to work and the Hand soldiers surround them. Stick says that if they work together, they walk out alive. Matt grabs Elektra and says that they need to talk, while the others fight the soldiers. She shoves him away and attacks.
Danny realizes that Matt is gone, and Stick tells Danny to stick with him.
Elektra knocks Matt out the back door into the alley, and he tries to get through to her.
Sowande knocks Luke back onto the street.
Murakami knocks Jessica down and walks away.
Matt calls to Elektra by name and she hesitates, Murakami comes out and calls to Elektra, who knocks him away.
On the street, Sowande knocks Luke into the path of a passing truck. The African gets into a Hand SUV and drives away as Jessica runs out.
Gao slams Danny to the floor and tells her men to get him. As they move in, Jessica slams her way through a nearby door and confronts them. Stick joins them and says that it's time to go, and they run out to the alleyway. Jessica says that they took Luke, and Stick opens a manhole cover and says that it's time to go. Meanwhile, Jessica blocks the door with a dumpster. Gao slams the door open with a gesture just as the heroes close the manhole cover behind them. Murakami recovers, snapping his dislocated arm back into place, and Gao wonders where the heroes and Black Sky have gone. Across the street, Alexandra watches them from her limo.
Jessica is sparring at her dojo when Danny comes in. They hug and the others come in. Danny tells Colleen what happened, and Stick warns that nowhere they go will be safe for long. Jessica refuses to run, and Matt admits that he made a mistake abandoning them for Elektra. Luke comes in and takes them to the van in the street... where Sowande is tied up.
Elektra is sharpening her sword and Alexandra comes in. The younger woman swings the sword to Alexandra's neck and just holds herself back. Alexandra takes the sword and says that she had a daughter in her first life before she made the pilgrimage to K'un-Lun and started the Hand. Death took her from Alexandra before she learned to defeat it. Some people told her that the daughter was too good for the world, and Alexandra explains that she wasn't a warrior like her and Elektra. Now she knows that she was meant to raise Black Sky. She tells Elektra that she was chosen to lead as a weapon against their enemies. If Elektra doesn't then she's no use to the Hand... or to Alexandra. She puts the sword to Elektra's neck, and Elektra agrees.
Murakami comes in and tells them that Sowande has been taken by Danny and his allies. Alexandra is sure that he will find his way back to them, and to tell the others that their reinforcement will be arriving soon from South America. Murakami says that there is something else they must discuss, and Alexandra says that they will do so later.
The team takes Sowande to a Rand building and question him. He refuses to betray the Hand, and Stick says that he trained with the same monks who trained Danny and he won't crack. Sowande says that the city has always belonged to the Hand, and Jessica admits that they've traced them back to 1820. Danny tells Sowande that he'll never serve them, and Sowande says that they want the Iron Fist, not Danny. He points out that Danny failed to protect K'-un-Lun, the same way that Luke let a boy die in a jail cell and Jessica couldn't save the architect. Sowande asks who else will die because of them, and says that the Hand will come for their friends. Jessica punches him.
In the morning, Luke goes to Claire's apartment and tells her that they need to go and he'll explain on the way. Claire realizes that he took the fight to the Hand and now they're all in danger. Luke apologizes for making his trouble her trouble, and Claire figures that it's her trouble now.
Outside in the car, Danny and Colleen stand watch. Colleen wonders why Danny is listening to any of them She warns that the others are a liability and it's their fight. Two Hand SUVs pull up to the building and Danny goes to confront them while Collen goes to warn Luke. Three Hand soldiers attack Danny in the alleyway and Danny easily defeats them.
Colleen comes out and her former sensei Bakuto greets her. He tells the two Hand soldiers with him to stand down because Colleen is an old friend. She attacks him and Bakuto easily dodges her blows, and says that he wants to talk. He tells Colleen that he really came for her. They have a second chance to finish what they started and make Collen the fighter she was meant to be. Colleen attacks again and Bakuto pins her to the wall and slashes her across the stomach.
Luke arrives and shoves Bakuto away as Danny and Claire run up. Bakuto tells Danny that he looks forward to facing him again, and says that Colleen never believed in her purpose and Danny has yet to discover his. He promises that Danny will soon learn that his destiny is more than what they told him in K'un-Lun. Claire checks Colleen's wound and says that they need to get her to treatment. Bakuto and his men slip away.
Matt goes to see Karen at her office and tells her that the Hand is coming for her. Karen realizes that Matt is going out as Daredevil again, and he says that he isn't... yet. She demands the truth and Matt says that he has to or people will die. Karen says that she doesn't have to and she's not a part of it anymore. Matt warns that they'll come after his world as well as Daredevil's, and Karen reluctantly agrees to go with him. He says that she deserves better, and Karen tells him that he does as well.
Luke goes to the police station and tells Misty about the Hand. She's heard about the attack on the Royal Dragon, and figures that she might know something. Luke figures that she wouldn't believe him, just as Danny and Claire bring Colleen in. Danny says that they've got more coming, and Misty agrees to trust Luke.
Sowande tells Stick that the Chaste captured him once, long before Stick was born. His soldiers came from him and lay siege to the Chaste's castle. The Chaste soldiers turned against each other and soon ran out of food and water. They finally knelt before Sowande, begging him to make it stop. Sowande tells Stick that his plan will soon comes apart.
Matt returns with Karen and Stick meets with him. Stick explains that he's been trying to prevent Matt's two worlds from colliding, and Danny can't lead the team like Matt can. When Stick says that the city made Matt who he really is, Matt tells him that he doesn't get to tell him who he is and walks away.
Trish is meeting with buyers at a restaurant when Jessica comes in and tells her that they have to go. As they walk away, Jessica tells Trish that she may be in danger Two Hand soldiers arrive and Jessica leads Trish to the stairwell. The women head up and exit on the next floor, and Murakami attacks Jessica. He easily pins her to the floor and prepares to kill her, but Daredevil arrives and attacks Murakami. Jessica recovers and joins in the attack, and they knock Murakami off the nearby balcony where he disappears.
At the station, Claire bandages Colleen's wound. Colleen wonders if she's supposed to be away from the action, and Claire tells her that Bakuto was wrong about Colleen being weak. Her patient breaks into tears and says that she feels loss breaking away from what she was raised in. All she wants is something stable to hold on to, and Claire tells her that she is the foundation.
Trish tells Malcolm that Jessica knows Daredevil, and that Murakami attacking them is connected to the tremors. Karen comes in and Trish recognizes her. Foggy arrives and greets Karen, and the both figure that it's happening again despite their efforts to steer Matt away from it.
Misty tells everyone that she needs their cooperation to protect them. She then tells Colleen that her unis confiscated the katana from Colleen, and Colleen insists that she can defend herself. Colleen refuses to tell Colleen about the Hand because it will put her in danger. Misty has a uni return Colleen's sword to her.
Bakuto meets with Gao and she says that the only way they can return to it is if they secure the Iron Fist. She points out that Bakuto sought out Colleen first, and Bakuto insists that Colleen can lead them to Danny and his allies. Gao warns that his judgment has always been clouded concerning his old disciples. Alexandra and Murakami arrive and Murakami says that Danny is working with Daredevil.
Daredevil chokes Sowande with his baton cable and tells him to talk. Sowande refuses, saying that they will still win even if he dies because they have armies and their weapon. Daredevil asks what he did to Elektra, and Sowande tells him that Elektra is now theirs. The vigilante points out that Elektra could have killed him twice but hasn't, and the Hand's "weapon" is defective. Sowande tells him that if so, Elektra will be destroyed. When Daredevil continues choking Sowande, Jessica warns him to stop. Daredevil tells Sowande that the Hand has failed with Elektra, but he tells him that Daredevil failed to protect her. Daredevil kicks Sowande down, and Stick confirms that he's alive but passed out. He tells Daredevil that it's time to tell the others the truth.
Murakami warns the others that Daredevil is the one that Elektra loved. He thinks that Elektra was protecting Daredevil and is not the empty vessel that they were promised. Murakami tells Alexandra that he believes she has failed them by using the last of the substance. Now they are all vulnerable, and they are stronger together. Alexandra insists that Sowande will return but the others warn that for the first time death is a possibility. She tells the others that they needed a reminder that they're all expendable, and insists that she hasn't forgotten that they need the Iron Fist. Gao says that they only want to live long enough to go home, and Murakami suggests that it's time to make a plan without Alexandra or Black Sky.
Matt explains that Black Sky is Elektra and Stick trained her to fight the hand. She fought with Daredevil and died, and now the Hand is using her body. Stick tells them that Matt thinks that he can save Elektra, and Matt insists that he can get through to her. His teacher says that if they're going to defeat the Hand, they have to take Elektra out. Matt refuses to allow it, and Jessica points out that Matt lied to them. Luke points out that the people he cares about are holed up because of Matt's feelings for Elektra.
Sowande wakes up, frees himself, grabs Danny, and threatens to kill him with a shard of broken glass. He tells the others that now that he has the Iron Fist, the war is over. Stick decapitates him and says that the war isn't over yet.
Alexandra goes to Elektra's room and discovers that she's gone.
Elektra makes her way across the rooftops to Matt's apartment. She looks around and then lies down on the bed, curls up, and goes to sleep.
Written by Gadfly on Aug 24, 2017