I also think people might have mis-characterized Bucky's reaction to his arm being taken off. I think the whole thing symbolized the broken trust between him and Ayo (+Wakanda) in a way he finally understood. Her 'stripping' him of his piece of Wakanda for a moment and calling him "James" (not "White Wolf") shows just how much his actions have hurt them. Before the show is over, I would love for Bucky to bring Zemo back to them - show him try to make amends with them.
I absolutely agree! I feel like instead of a “how could she do that?” reaction, it was more of a “Oh, this is bad. I messed up.” kind of reaction. That’s what I got out of it. Like you said, it symbolized how the trust between them is broken now. And it took going there to make Bucky realize that. And when Ayo said, “Bast damn you, James,” the emotion that she put behind it didn’t seem like anger, but more like disappointment.
There’s so much depth to this relationship. I made a short post about it, which I assume is what this message is referring to. But there is so much more to it that I didn’t add. Like, vibranium is Wakanda’s cultural legacy. It is what made Wakanda what it is today. It’s also why Wakanda was so secluded and why it COULD cut itself off from the world the way it did. Obviously, Wakanda was not receptive to people who were not of the country, but they welcomed Bucky, embraced him, helped him, trusted him (if they didn’t trust him, they wouldn’t have had him live in peace in their country, around people, around children) and they gifted him with part of their legacy in the form of the vibranium arm. They gave him part of themselves and if I can remember correctly, this is the first time they willingly did that. Any other time someone from outside of Wakanda was in possession of vibranium, it was stolen and not freely given.
Not to mention the forethought that had to go into Ayo helping Bucky. I know this is a little thing, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about. Maybe Ayo knows Russian. Maybe she doesn’t. I’m going to assume she doesn’t because why would she need to. But she learned and memorized his trigger words in order, in Russian. I don’t even remember all of them in English. She didn’t have to sit down and learn these words in a language other than her own, but she did. And she did it to help Bucky.
And can we talk about the intimacy in the way they said each others names? I’m not talking about romantic or physical intimacy at all, but rather the obvious closeness and connection that they had with each other. Florence and Sebastian really did their thing this episode.
Also, with the name thing, maybe I have these feelings about it because both the names sound so foreign to the other’s tongue. With Bucky, we are used to him saying “Sam” or “Steve” or “Sharon” but not Ayo. And with Ayo, it may be “T’chaka” or “Shuri” but not James. It’s foreign, but they made it sound so familiar.
And the nuance between calling him “White Wolf” and calling him “James” and the implications it must have with both of them. I wonder if she ever called him Bucky. And what the differences between the three are for them.
I’m practically vibrating right now, there’s just so much to it and it’s driving me crazy that people are only thinking about their relationship and the situation on just a surface level.
I could go on and on but I’m going to stop here. Thank you for getting me in my feelings.
