The royal family is reunited on the moon this week, after 6 episodes of stumbling around a tiny Hawaiian island trying to find each other. Watching these guys, one begins to understand why the Kree decided to leave them behind.
Black Bolt reveals the existence of a fully stocked royal apocalypse bunker known only to the king, which suggests that the servants who periodically switch out supplies are subsequently murdered. Another mark in favor of keeping Black Bolt as king, no? Maximus proves once again that he got the entire genetic allotment of intelligence for the family, as he easily tricks Black Bolt into turning Declan over to him. Then it’s fun and games with terrigenesis experiments all around. But first, Black Bolt proves to have pulled off another deception, as Triton appears from the ocean, alive and well.
Down on earth the royals recapture everyone who escaped when Gorgon died, including Auran and Declan. Medusa and Karnak question Declan about his research, which they learn has been funded by Maximus. The royals realize that Maximus wants to go through terrigenesis again, and has probably murdered the genetic council so that they won’t stop him.
Karnak breaks Auran’s neck as punishment for Gorgon’s death, assuming she’ll come back. Medusa vehemently disagrees with this action. She wants Black Bolt to stop being such a violent king. Declan mumbles something about Auran not always being able to come back.
Crystal and Lockjaw teleport into the throne room to demand a peaceful parley with Maximus. She brought Maximus’ team back with her as an act of good faith. The guards don’t understand why Maximus didn’t let them take her. Maximus explains that the family has come to him for the first time, and he’s going to take full advantage of it.
Black Bolt and Karnak are feeling overconfident about the parley, but Medusa is worried that they’re all too exhausted by recent events to stay ahead of Maximus. Black Bolt listens to her argument, but won’t consider changing his way of doing things.
Lockjaw teleports them from their camp in the forest to a spot on the coast. Black Bolt instructs Lockjaw to howl at the ocean. Within moments, Triton, who was presumed dead, can be seen swimming for the shore. The family is ecstatic to see him, but Medusa is unhappy that Black Bolt kept the truth from her.
The next stop is the secret royal bunker on the moon, another thing that Black Bolt kept from Medusa. Medusa is insulted that Black Bolt is keeping so much from her and lets him know it. She will be his equal partner, or nothing.
Black Bolt sends Triton off to sabotage the utility systems of Attilan.
Auran comes back to life. Maximus is waiting for her. Auran is disappointed that Maximus is going to become an inhuman, because she liked the romance of his story. A mere human who could rise above his circumstances to lead them all. Maximus becomes angry that she only cared about him for his disability.
He intends to rewrite his story. He will be the one who went from being one of the least of them to one of the greatest inhumans, after he goes through terrigenesis again. That’s what his people need to see. That’s a story that can give the people enough hope to carry them back to earth, and a larger life than they’ve had before.
Before the parley, Maximus says a eulogy for Gorgon. He blames Gorgon for the problems in their relationship. Auran and Bronaja share a look between them.
The parley takes place in a large outdoor plaza, with a blue sky overhead. Black Bolt jumps right in with the demands, as if he’s still king. They agree to turn over Declan in exchange for the return of Black Bolt’s throne. Black Bolt sends Declan over to Maximus. Maximus reneges on the offer as soon as Declan has crossed over. Black Bolt tells Maximus that he’ll kill Maximus the next time they meet. Maximus laughs at him. Black Bolt can’t even come up with a creative threat, or figure out that he shouldn’t just turn the hostage over without getting something immediate in return.
Maximus meets with Declan to discuss the research. Declan is impressed with the terraforming of the moon that they’ve done, and seems more relaxed, now that he’s with normal people. Maximus draws him back to business. He wants to look at a list of the powers related to the dna samples so that he can choose which powers to have. Declan starts to explain that it won’t be that simple. Maximus gently tells him that on Attilan, it is. He explains, briefly, how terrigenesis works, and how they can improve it.
Auran interrupts to tell Maximus that there are issues with the water and power. They fear it’s been sabotaged by a member of the royal family. The maintenance crews have all been conscripted into the army, so there’s no one to look at it. Maximus tells her to find as many of the former maintenance workers as possible, and have them get started. He’ll deal with the rest.
Medusa comforts Black Bolt after his major screw up during the parley. She tells him about the first time they saw each other after he’d accidentally killed his parents. She wanted to gloat, because his parents had previously killed her parents, and now he would be suffering like her. But she ended up being moved by his suffering, and realizing that they were united by their pain.
She saw the same thing today when she looked at Maximus and Black Bolt. They are all responsible for the circumstances that led to Maximus’ revolt. Nothing is irredeemable. Karnak is listening and disagrees. He believes in taking a hard, uncompromising line in every conflict. Especially when he’s lost his best friend. I get the sense that he’s one of the biggest reasons that things have gone so wrong in Attilan.
Karnak has reviewed Declan’s research and found a flaw. He’ll let Declan and Maximus figure that out on their own. Karnak wants to exploit the flaw to bring Gorgon back to life. Black Bolt says no. A second terrigenesis can cause death, addiction or madness. Karnak says that no one even knows if those fairy tales are true. Black Bolt still forbids the experimental use of the research on Gorgon.
Karnak arranges a secret meeting with Auran in the control room. He takes out her guards using his predictive powers, which are slowly coming back to him. Then he convinces Auran to help him bring Gorgon back by sending him through a second terrigenesis using an addition of her dna. They put him in the pod and push the start button. There is no apparent change to Gorgon’s condition when the terrigenesis is done moments later.
They hear more soldiers coming and flee. Maximus and Declan enter the room, planning to go through with Maximus’ second terrigenesis. Maximus hesitates, because normally his family would be with him for the ceremony. Declan reminds him that this is a victory. Maximus will be the first of a new generation.
They are interrupted by loud noises. They notice that Gorgon is in the other terrigenesis pod just as guards come in to tell them that the control room has been taken over. Maximus leaves to deal with the worsening situation. Declan is left alone with Gorgon, who’s just opened his eyes.
Maximus is walked through the outdoor plaza. He doesn’t notice Triton picking off his guards, one by one, until it’s too late. Triton corners Maximus and beats him up, including a showy flip/face kick. Then he takes Maximus to the royal apocalypse bunker and Black Bolt, where it’s dark and the lights are flashing.
Black Bolt begins to rough up Maximus, because that’s his only way of dealing with things, but Maximus stops him. Maximus says, while chuckling, “Alone at last, brother against brother. It’s not like you to hide in the dark. But I guess times change, and us along with it. There’s something you might want to hear. Once I realized that you were likely to attack, I enacted a failsafe system. If I die, all of Attilan dies with me. I enacted a measure that will destroy our protective dome. After that happens, it will only be a few seconds until we’re all turned into space debris. And since I’m the only one who knows how to keep this from happening, it might be wise to keep me alive. Or not. It’s your choice.”
Textbook villain monologue, but to the point and effective. Black Bolt wouldn’t have understood anything more creative, so Maximus had to keep it simple. A+ for a speech and failsafe system that suited the audience and situation.
Black Bolt is left speechless by the threat. 😉
In the tag, Declan is still in the terrigenesis room, forgotten by everyone. He’s examining the terrigenesis crystal by sight, wishing for an electron microscope, when Gorgon wakes up. Gorgon growls threateningly at Declan, and doesn’t speak.
Oh noes! Black Bolt’s predictions have come true!! Will Frankenstein’s monster kill his creator so that Marcus Kane can go back to the future and The 100, or will he let the doctor fix him?
My vote still goes to Maximus as king. Black Bolt is a one trick pony who is only interested in the hereditary title, not in actually caring for his subjects. His whole argument, every argument, is, “But I’m king,” while Maximus argues circles around him. Black Bolt’s whole strategy for reacquiring and keeping his throne is that he and his goons will rough people up, because they are the most powerful inhumans. It’s feudalism, pure and simple. Might=Right.
So Maximus is a little bit of a narcissist. What leader isn’t? He’s a narcissist with a vision, who will take pride in the things he’s done for his people, and establish a society that’s much closer to a meritocracy.
Maximus has his own writers, separate from the rest of the show, I’m certain of it. Even with everyone back on the moon, he’s still in his own separate series and making things happen. The rest of the royals stumble around and only beat him because of sheer numbers and his occasional distraction. If Maximus could actually find a group of aides who are his equals, who would carry out his orders, he’d already be an inhuman with a base on earth, and the royal family could have the moon.
Medusa has a thing for forgiving royal murderers in order to preserve the status quo. Like Black Bolt, she believes in preserving the crown and the line of succession more than anything else in her life. Which makes it very strange that they haven’t had children, especially with all of the sex. They have no heir apparent, leaving them wide open to coup attempts.
Does Triton have a giant saltwater pool on the moon? Where did he learn to swim, and discover how his powers work?
Crystal misses Human Dave and wants to live a Normal Human Life on earth. Which part of it looked so great to her? The crazy ex-girlfriend? The police being ready to imprison her for being inhuman? Her entire family having to be on the run from the US authorities and other humans? No, she misses sexist Dave and skinny dipping. She can’t wait to get back to earth for more of that, because surely that’s what real life on earth is like.
Metawitches 
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