The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes "This Hostage Earth" Talkback (Spoilers)

[James Harvey]

Discuss this all-new episode of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes debuting today at 10:00am (ET) on Disney XD!

Click here for more details on this episode!

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes "This Hostage Earth"
Episode Premiere Date - June 12th, 2011
The end begins! As Thor and Iron Man work to find a way for Thor to return to Asgard, the Enchantress makes her move. The Masters of Evil mobilize all across the world preparing for an invasion the likes of which Earth has never seen. Because unless the Avengers can stop it… the armies of Asgard are coming to Earth.

Comments?

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[Medinnus]

This is the beginning of the three-part Season One finale, and getting here has been a wild ride!

In other notes:

* The Living Laser, the Grey Gargoyle, and Chemistro have apparently joined the Masters of Evil.

* Was the Enchantress' betrayal of the Grey Gargoyle odered by Baron Zemo? Whether ordered or not, was it fatal? It would seem to me that the Enchantress might well have confined him for her own uses after their victory; he's too useful a tool to casually discard.

* The Grey Gargoyle's turning-to-stone has a twenty-four hour duration, at which point the victim reverts; I wonder if the Enchantress knows this, or if she's going to have a very angry Norn Queen to deal with shortly?

* Hawkeye still gets the best banter, with Wasp as second-best.

* Well, the Hulk manages a clean victory over the Executioner, and likes the axe. Clearly, Hulk is the strongest one there is!

[honorableninja]

when i originally watch this i thought chemistro saying hawkeye punching him in the face was either off camera or a comic refencnce but thanks to the dvds i remember cilnt actually did punch him during the breakout.

[Vampire_King]

The Only Threat Remaining Is Loki
everyone else has been defeated as far as i can tell

[jph139]

Ah, the cocky guy paired off with the vengeful villain... classic trope done as well as ever.

Fantastic episode. Very nice to see the team take on villains individually, though in some cases (like Hulk and Cap) I would have liked to see a bit more of their fights. Wonder Man is being pushed further and further away from the dark side, so hopefully we get him turning hero next season. Oh, and Zemo had that gross spongy worm thing from the episode with the Statue of Liberty! Very cute callback.

Main plot is kind of basic (make magic stuff where there shouldn't be magic stuff) but the payoff I didn't quite see coming. Alright, frost giants and elves cross over into our world, predictable stuff, but the Avengers getting sucked back, too? That'll be interesting to see. Probably some great character development time for Jan and Hank, what with the whole "stuck in cosmic Siberia" thing.

[Medinnus]

The Only Threat Remaining Is Loki
everyone else has been defeated as far as i can tell

Not quite...

The Breakout List:

http://www.medinnus.com/AEMH/breakout_watch.html

Also, the Masters of Evil may have been defeated, but they are not apprehended; since they didn't follow the Avengers into the Asgardian realms at the end, they'll wake up with big headaches but still be at large!

[Capt. Speedbump]

Not quite...

The Breakout List:

http://www.medinnus.com/AEMH/breakout_watch.html

Baron Strucker was captured in "Hail Hydra!".

So was MODOC, who wasn't on your list (he was shown to be in the Vault).

[Medinnus]

Baron Strucker was captured in "Hail Hydra!".

So was MODOC, who wasn't on your list (he was shown to be in the Vault).

Ha! Corrections HOOOOOOO! Thanks!

[RoyalRubble]

Baron Zemo's Masters of Evil lead by the Enchantress continue their plans for world domination, after obtaining the magical Norn Stones from the Norn Queen Karnilla. More villains have joined the Masters of Evil since the last time we saw them, including the Living Laser, Chemistro and the Grey Gargoyle (who according to the Enchantress was lost on the battlefield on Asgard, though that might be only half-true). Their plan is to use these Norn Stones to break the walls between the Nine Realms and bring forth magical Asgardian armies to conquer the Earth. So they all split up and set up a Norn Stone in seven different locations, each spot being a weak spot between Midgard and another one of the Asgardian Nine Realms.

Lots of great continuity nods this episode: Iron Man has found a way to help Thor travel back to Asgard by using a device to generate a wormhole between the two planes (as Thor asked him to do in the episode "Ultron-5"); all they need to find is a suitable weak spot where to set up this machine. Another neat little moment is when Captain America mentions he has seen a machine like this back in his time, where it also worked (see "Meet Captain America"). Thor explains there are supposed to be eight such spots on Midgard, each one leading to one of the Asgardian Nine Realms, and all are connected by Yggdrassil, the Tree of Life (or just "Big Tree", as the Hulk calls it). Seeing there are disturbances at seven of these spots and they are seven Avengers (Ant-Man has left the team, despite Wasp's pleads), they split up and each head out to a different location. Iron Man's "Avengers Disassemble" line was an appropriate and amusing way to start the adventure. But at each location they also find one of the Masters of Evil, protecting the Norn Stones and awaiting them to get their revenge (maybe except Wonder Man, who still doesn't feel like a "true" villain). I wasn't expecting Thor's enemy to be Baron Zemo himself (I was thinking Zemo would rather fight Cap again). But it works out anyway, as Zemo is aided by the Enchantress and Thor has some history with her. Zemo trying to betray Amora was pretty obvious, but his plan failed in the end.

The fight scenes were great as usual. I especially liked Hulk's battle with Skurge the Executioner, that was awesome. It was probably my favorite fight from this episode, even if it was short. And Hulk kept the axe, pretty cool. Wasp versus Abomination was also cool, and I didn't expect Ant-Man to follow her and help her in the fight. Hawkeye continues to get some of the best or funniest lines on the show. His short talk with Chemistro was great; "How can you not remember who I am? You punched me in the face!" (see "Breakout Part One"). Hawkeye also accidentally (or was he doing it on purpose?) calls him Paste-Pot Pete and the Hypno Hustler. I've never heard of the second one, but then again I never knew about Chemistro either before this show. Iron Man's and Captain America's fight scenes were great as well, but compared to the others, weren't really that special. The real "fun" starts as soon as the Asgardian forces (including from Frost Giants, pixies, elves and ghosts) arrive on Earth, and the Avengers have to fight them as well. And then at the end, following Thor's advice to destroy the Norn Stones all at once, all the Avengers are absorbed by the energy of the Stones and disappear from Earth's surface, as Jarvis states. We have no idea what exactly happened, but one thing is for sure: Loki was involved in all of this. Thor awakens back in Asgard, only to see Loki sitting on the Throne...

Seeing as we are approaching the season finale, I hope the next episodes reveal how Loki was somehow involved in pretty much everything the Avengers (and especially Thor) had to go through back on Midgard, while his plans continued to unfold in Asgard. Apparently he has taken control over Asgard, and I have to wonder whatever happened to Odin. Speaking of which, whatever happened to all the other Avengers, other than Thor? Hopefully everything will be revealed soon, as I'm definitely looking forward to the next episodes. This show hasn't disappointed me yet, and I'm sure the next episodes won't either.

[Capt. Speedbump]

Ha! Corrections HOOOOOOO! Thanks!

Nice! Thanks for the update! Haven't read the whole thing yet, but the interview with Josh Fine looks cool too!

UPDATE: I read the Fine interview! Thanks for asking a lot of thorough questions. I wish Fine the best, but I still hope we get a Season 3!

[Medinnus]

UPDATE: I read the Fine interview! Thanks for asking a lot of thorough questions. I wish Fine the best, but I still hope we get a Season 3!

Interviewing is easy; I just went back over our discussions here on the forums for questions for which we didn't have answers. And when I asked them, Mr. Fine answered at length, not the one or two sentences that require interviewers to ask follow-ups! Mr. Fine and Mr. Yost have been nothing but supportive and helpful all the way down the line; we were sure fortunate to have had them!

[Webbed-Wonder]

Lol, Hawkeye thought Chemistro was the Hypno-Hustler! He's an obscure and very lame Spidey villain.

[Mr. Hypocrite]

A good episode. Loved Hawkeye's line about the Elf. That would make anyone uncomfortable.

Also, Zemo knowing the Enchantress couldn't be trusted was a give-in. She probably knew he didn't trust her, but as Thor put it, mortal lives mean nothing to her, so Zemo getting the drop on her makes sense. She never believed he could be a threat, so she never guarded herself against him.

As for the Grey Gargoyle, likely dead. For the above reasons. There's no possible long term considerations to it; once he had served his immediate purpose, there was no reason in her mind to keep a mortal around. Even though killing him accomplished absolutely nothing, and wasn't even necessary in any way, but hey, Enchantress is not a nice person.

Also, Wonder-Man's heel face turn is pretty much hinging on him reconciling with Tony. We know Tony would want to find some way to help him. Convincing Simon that he had Stark all wrong (well he is a jerk, but he is genuine about fixing old mistakes) would be the final thing needed to push him out of villain territory. His grudge against Stark is about the only thing he's got left to keep him in the bad guy zone.

[Avengers]

I wonder if Zemo's successful betrayal on the enchantress makes her more wary of the mortals, im sure it means she is out of the masters, at least it does if Zemo does not control her again

[Medinnus]

As for the Grey Gargoyle, likely dead. For the above reasons. There's no possible long term considerations to it; once he had served his immediate purpose, there was no reason in her mind to keep a mortal around. Even though killing him accomplished absolutely nothing, and wasn't even necessary in any way, but hey, Enchantress is not a nice person.

She may not be a nice person -- well, OK, she's downright evil -- but I find it hard to believe she'd kill the Gray Gargoyle for no reason; after all, he's a useful tool to have at her disposal, and while she's not a nice person, she's not a stupid person either. I don't personally have any compassion for a hammer, and yet they're very selfishly useful to have around when needed!

[Avengers]

She may not be a nice person -- well, OK, she's downright evil -- but I find it hard to believe she'd kill the Gray Gargoyle for no reason; after all, he's a useful tool to have at her disposal, and while she's not a nice person, she's not a stupid person either. I don't personally have any compassion for a hammer, and yet they're very selfishly useful to have around when needed!

She had a reason, she just watched the last episode and realized hank would not be going so she knew someone would have to be cut to even the teams out

[Medinnus]

She had a reason, she just watched the last episode and realized hank would not be going so she knew someone would have to be cut to even the teams out

SEE? EVIL! Imagine, sneaking a peak at the Australian episodes before they're released in the USA. Pure. Evil!

Oh, the perfidious Asgardian!

[JTMarsh]

Great episode. I loved watching Giant-Man go crazy as he pounded Abomination into the ice. I actually wanted him to yell "GIANT-MAN SMASH!!!!"

"I got an elf giving me a dirty look...." hehe, classic.

[Monte]

As for the Grey Gargoyle, likely dead. For the above reasons. There's no possible long term considerations to it; once he had served his immediate purpose, there was no reason in her mind to keep a mortal around. Even though killing him accomplished absolutely nothing, and wasn't even necessary in any way, but hey, Enchantress is not a nice person.

i think she had a reason... i think she got rid of him because she view ed him as a threat. Frankly, i would hazard a guess that the Norn queen may be on similar footing as the enchantress herself. Fact is Gray Gargoyle can turn anyone to stone with a simple touch as it did not take him much to take care of Karnilla as far as we could see. All he needs is to either get close to them (via stealth or making them believe he is an ally) or for someone to distract the enemy for him so he cna get close and he could turn encantress into a lawn ornament. Enchantress needed pawns, villains that she could manipulate or handle. Being villains she knew they could not be trusted and thus knew that she had to be prepared for their betrayal. Being an asgardian she is very durable and thus can handle being stabbed in the back by most people; after which she can fight back... but Gargoyle is someone who was too get of a risk; she might be confident in her ability to fight off most of the villains, but not so confident to believe she can be certain to keep them from, literally, laying a single finger on her... hell even if she thought she could keep gargoyle form touching her, his betrayal with the other villains might at least result in her loosing executioner, the only minion she knows is completely loyal to her


And this is how she fell to Zemo... Take one look at zemo and its easy to underestimate him, easy to assume he's one of the least threatening of the masters of evil (something that zemo had to point out as untrue to abomination in the previous episode way back). Enchantress is an Asgardian, she can handle a sword to the back and thus thought she could turn her back on him. But she was proven very wrong...


oh and don't you just love how DisneyXD spoiler Zemo's little betrayal in the commercials... really, Disney has no tact...

[HEATXZ]

Great episode :anime:
I enjoy the Masters Of Evil fights