‘Secret Invasion’ Recap: ‘Betrayed’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

(L-R): Kingsley Ben-Adir as Gravik and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos in Marvel Studios' Secret Invasion, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Three of ‘Secret Invasion’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of its illustrious history, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has shied away from genuinely dark storytelling, and it makes sense as to why. After all, the success of Iron Man brought forth the opportunity to reach the masses and bring so many people into the Marvel fold, so clearly… sticking with stuff that lightly pushed the envelope but stayed in more celebratory territory, was the way to bring folks in and allow for fun and epic entertainment to take place, and even when the tough stuff did arrive, the MCU handled it with grace and class. But Kevin Feige understands that fluffy and fun isn’t a place that a storytelling universe can stay forever. For eventually, characters need to be challenged, and bad things need to happen to make that happen and bad things happen in general, and we’ve seen a shift slowly start to enter the MCU.
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One where the stories are going to darker places, and where the characters are now tackling some tough real-world challenges that used to be exclusive to the comics, and in the case of Secret Invasion on Disney+, we are starting to see characters make some difficult and ugly choices with the stakes raised so high. Specifically… who lives, and who dies, and how far they are willing to go to save the world and that made this week’s episode, quite the harrowing tale. For ‘Betrayed’ explored all that, but not before… taking a little time to world-build and explore the characters some more. Since we came to learn how Nick and Varra, his Skrull wife, met and fell in love, and how their relationship has struggled in recent years. All to add depth to Nick’s character and his journey but also for a grand payoff we’ll get to in just a moment.  

Because once that exploration was done, this episode delved into some ugly territory. The kind that demonstrated first, the incredible bad blood that Gravik and Talos share. Since their attempts to have a peaceful conversation in a public place ended in violence and with zero resolution regarding their issues. Giving rise to the reality that these two men cannot stand one another and any desires for a peaceful future between them and perhaps amongst the Skrull… might not be possible because of the divides that neither side can handle. Which was pretty powerful and philosophical, and served as a mirror for us, and our own divides and it was a place that Marvel rarely goes. Since we just don’t see that kind of anger and fury on screen in these stories. Which made it shocking and unsettling and scary, especially when one considers what came out of that meeting.

In that G’iah traveled to the meeting with Gravik and obtained critical information about the battle to come. In that, a British sub was going to conduct an attack on a United Nations Envoy that would bring about World War III. So, Fury and Talos sprang into action, did their best to bury any bad blood… and took part in some ugly things to save the day. Such as killing the Skrull posing as a Naval Commodore to end this attack when they learned of the code word needed to keep it from happening. Which was dark since we don’t see murder solve problems in this tale. But Talos deemed him too far gone, and made the move he needed to, in order to save the world and well… the darkness didn’t end there. Because he gathered the code word needed to bring forth salvation through his daughter and well… that move put her on a difficult and tragic path.  

One where she was immediately seen as a traitor to her people, to the point where Gravik handled this personally, with a bullet to her chest. Making it seem as though, more murder was on display and that Talos was about to endure more hardships. Making for a bleak ending, one that also implied that perhaps… Varra’s loyalties lie with Gravik as well. Since she made some moves here in secret that seemed to not align with Nick Fury’s ideals. All of which made, for a stunning episode. One that we really haven’t ever seen before in the MCU and well, it deserves a round of applause. For taking the time to surprise us with a story this bold and this bleak and for setting the stage for greater heartbreak and new challenges as this battle with old friends turned foe, continues along. Until next time. 

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