"Alternate realities, parallel universes. You get it at this point. Small choices, big changes, etcetera. But, out in the farthest reaches, of the Multiverse, well, things can get a little weird. Here, anything is possible. Really. Anything. Think less 'What If?' and more 'What the hell?' In this universe, Ultron was actually programmed for show tunes. But even in the Multiverse's most far-out worlds, one thing sadly remains a constant. Injustice. Shang-Chi's universe was no exception." Uatu
What's there to say, yet again, this is another peak episode, surprisingly tho, this one has a lot of themes around the reality of the Wild West period. I personally connect a lot to this episode with the themes presented. In some ways, this episode feels like a Shang-Chi sequel. It's a great episode before we reach the two-part finale.
Seeing Shang-Chi (in a major role this time as I'm not counting Episode 1) and Kate (again in a major role) after so long feels amazing, and I love to hear Kate being called Hawkeye. This John Walker variant is getting off lightly, to say the least, given his racist, callous, and asshole behavior toward Chinese immigrants.
Shang-Chi's drive for justice and family connection really hits home even in another universe. He's always someone who wants to fix wrongs and help people, even if they don't seem to deserve or even want it. He was willing to die believing his sister wouldn't kill him which is an admirable testament to his love for his family, especially since he sees his sister as his hero. Similarly, Kate Bishop also experiences tragedy relating to her parents with her dad dying and her mom becoming involved with criminal forces, in a way, it's a great pairing of two heroes with similar backgrounds.
"My sister has always been my hero. She's always been stronger than me. Braver than me. She's my life. And I know she's still in there somewhere." Xu Shang-Chi
"You're a fool." Xu Xialing
"No, Lin Lin. I'm your brother. I love you, Xialing." Xu Shang-Chi
An Ultron programmed to sing tunes is so hilarious. "What the hell" is a very accurate description of some universes with incredibly wacky and ridiculous concepts. The Multiverse is a weird place and literally anything can happen with no rhyme or reason.
Sadly as Uatu points out, the 1800s were not kind towards immigrants in the US, and on the West Coast, Asian (Chinese immigrants in particular) immigrants were heavily discriminated against and exploited. The American Dream has sadly never existed, especially for anyone who isn't White. For all the stories and myths the Wild West holds in the imagination of the US, there's a lot of dark history behind all of the wonder. And of course, there's Capitalist exploitation of immigrants. This episode contained heavy themes about the reality of the Wild West period. One can understand why Xialing wanted to burn it all down and create a nation that truly promises a better life for immigrants, even if it doesn't justify her horrific plan and methods to do so, and her plan and methods would only create a new kind of injustice towards immigrants.
Even in another in the past universe, Stark still was able to build advanced technology far ahead of his time haha.
It's pretty dark to realize that similar to Riri's Emergence universe, this universe might've ended up with the Hood and Burch winning if it hadn't been for Uatu once again being tired of seeing injustice win and giving a little helping hand. You have to love Uatu's growth over the seasons as someone who is willing to only intervene when a Multiversal threat arises but has now grown as someone who can't stand for yet another tragic outcome after seeing it so many times.
Leave it for Sonny Burch to play a corrupt Capitalist businessman, that's a great use of the character. Yet another series where Walton Goggins plays a character in a Wild West story haha. His and Xialing's plan to hypnotized the Chinese immigrants is truly horrifying and the way we see it from Kate's perspective is full of nightmare fuel. Also goated Kate for not killing him because it would've been a mercy to let him die, but rather there are other ways for someone who killed her parents to suffer.
The fight choreography of this episode, especially the fight between Shang-Chi and The Hood, who would later be revealed as Xialing is simply amazing. Shang-Chi’s theme is great to hear in the Wild West style. The tragedy of seeing Xialing being driven to similar horrific methods as the first Hood shows how easy it is for one to lose their intentions of trying to help people. At least, she died as herself. I also really like how Shang-Chi didn't blame Kate for killing his sister, realizing it wasn't her fault and it was the Hood's fault. The Hood may not be a person, but the way it is shown with Xialing makes it a representation of injustice. The Hood brings about a new kind of injustice in its new wearer.
I really love that Kwai Jun-Fan is this universe's Iron Fist! This hits even more considering that the creators wanted to do an episode about Shang-Chi and Iron Fist that would've been on a Kung Fu episode. And of course, we got the classic riding off into the sunset.
A happy ending in what could've been a pretty dark universe... unfortunately, the three Watchers disagree with Uatu once again intervening. We are now approaching the endgame of this show. The ending has me pretty hyped for the two-episode finale. It is time to see how Uatu will be tried by the three Waters. I hope similar to the Bad Batch S3 finale, it'll be 44+ minutes long since they both had one episode less than the previous seasons but a longer finale as a result.
This was a really great episode with a lot of themes around the hard truths of the Wild West period. The What If team once again hit it home. I really felt the plotline between Shang-Chi and Xialing felt like something in a sequel and the dynamic between him and Kate was great.
"The Old West has always been a myth of endless adventure and new beginnings. But the truth was, at times, something darker. Still, one person's tragic fall is often just the origin story of a new hero's rise... And so long as there are heroes who ride for justice, hope will always be on the horizon. Wow. Another one that ended up better than it could have." Uatu
"Because of you. You swore an oath, but so did we. And we can no longer allow your interferences to go unanswered." The Eminence
