7.1. Exiles
Episode 1 - Most Wanted
We open in a futuristic city, where a teenager wearing what looks like a variant of an iron man suit is running for his life through the streets, being chased by black-clad soldiers.Cut to a street of fool stalls. A star-shaped portal of blue light appears in the street, and America Chavez and Bucky Barnes drop through. America tells him that this universe has the best char sui buns in the multiverse, and Bucky complains about all the detours they’re taking in their quest to find Steve Rogers, although America points out that there’s no reason he couldn’t be in a universe with really good pork buns.
As they’re talking, the teenager careens into the street, crashing into them. Bucky catches the kid, and starts to ask him what’s wrong, but the soldiers appear.
Bucky and America immediately put themselves between the kid and the soldiers when Mobius M. Mobius appears. He recognises America as being one of the bureau’s most wanted, and tells the soldiers to catch her.
America seems to recognise the soldiers, and tells Bucky to get the kid to safety while she deals with their attackers. Bucky finds somewhere to hide the kid before going back to help America, but he’s just in time to watch Mobius use a weapon which freezes her completely, and the soldiers teleport away, taking America with them.
Bucky immediately goes to interrogate the kid, hoping to find out more about the soldiers and where they might have taken America. The kid explains that his name is Nathan Richards, and he is a dimensional traveller. He invented prototype dimensional sliding technology, and the TVA immediately tried to kill him, forcing him to use the tech. They’ve been hunting him ever since, and he doesn’t know why. He only even knows their name because it’s on their uniforms.
Bucky is disappointed, but takes the kid to get pork buns while they decide what to do next.
Meanwhile, America finds herself teleported to the TVA Offices. She's put on trial, but Mobius successfully argues that killing a unique would be needlessly destructive, and they should instead let him try to recruit her.
Bucky and Nate are found at a bao stall by Michael Korvac. Bucky is initially hostile, but Korvacs persuades them to at least hear him out.
Korvacs takes Bucky and Nate back to his house where he lives with Carina Tivan, and explains who the TVA are (with a very negative bias), and that the changes Tony Stark has been making to the timeline have destabilised the multiverse. Korvacs has assembled a team to try and fix things before the TVA get involved. He promises to tell Bucky where he sent Steve, and to find Nate a safe universe, if they agree to join his team.
Seeing no other choice, they agree, and he introduces them to the rest of the team: J4N-37, an android variant of Janet Van Dyne, Doctor Valkyie, a variant of Jane Foster, and Ghost Panther, a variant of Shuri, and her robot panther companion, Bastet. He explain how the Tallus works, and then immediately dispatches them on their first mission.
America is put in the TVA’s jail while she waits her first interrogation session with Mobius. There she meets Natalie Richards, a female Nate variant, who explains a bit about the TVA to her. America explains that she’s being recruited, and when Nat asks if she’s going to go along with it, she says she might as well, since it’s her best chance of finding Bucky again, as she feels bad that he’s trapped in a strange dimension alone.
While she’s in jail, Mobius gets chewed out by one of his superiors for losing Nate, which he’s confused about, since America has caused far more multiversal disruption, but is reminded that bureau policy dictates that there are specific people whose variants are always considered highest priority regardless of their actual crimes: Tony Stark, Valeria von Doom, Princess Shuri, Billy Kaplan, and, most important of all, Nathaniel Richards.
The Tallus takes the Exiles to a train speeding through the Swiss Alps, with the instruction “save Ricki”. While they’re discussing how to find Ricki, a bunch of World War II HYDRA soldiers burst in, and Bucky finally figures out why he recognises this train: it’s the same one he fell from.
America is given the pitch on the TVA by Mobius, who also explains that he believes the fact that she’s unique in the multiverse, and has such relevant powers, means that she’s intended to be a part of the TVA, and they discuss the nature of free will.
The Exiles fight their way up the train, looking for a clue, until they find Captain Carter, this universe’s Peggy Carter, and realise that Ricki Barnes is a female variant of Bucky.
Ricki is thrown from the train, but Bucky figures out who she is just in time, and manages to catch her. His hand slips, but he’s bought them enough time for Valkyrie to fly out and catch her, and they reunite her with Carter, who reveals that in this universe, Ricki and Steve Rogers are engaged.
Episode 2 - We Need to Talk
The Exiles arrive in what looks like modern day New York City. They are told to “Prevent the Wedding of the Century”. They’re initially confused, especially with why they’d be preventing a wedding rather than making sure it happens, and then they pass a magazine stand, where every gossip magazine cover is about the upcoming wedding of Stephen Rogers, Captain America, and Antonia Stark, the Iron Maiden.As we walks to the cells to collect America, Mobius reassures Hunter-205 that he knows what he’s doing and he needs her to give America a chance. After Hunter leaves, he adds to himself that he really hopes he knows what he’s doing.
He gives America a power-limiter that allows her to use short-range local teleports, but stops her from reality jumping under her own power, and tells her they’re going to Earth-15061. When this designation means nothing to her, she starts asking questions, explaining the way she mentally classifies universes by what superheroes are active. After establishing that this is a world where the MCU’s superheroes are all dead or aged out and their kids have become the new Avengers, she starts listing potential Captain Americas, and is very excited to learn this is what she classifies as a Danielle Cage universe.
Back with the Exiles, J4N-37 runs simulations of the future, based on her knowledge of the Steve and Tony from her universe, and decides there is an 79% chance the relationship ends in a messy divorce, positting that that will cause a rift within the Avengers, potentially placing the world at risk due to them not being prepared to face Thanos . The others all agree that sounds plausible based on the Tonys and Steves in their own universes.
They discuss strategies, and decide to try to just talk them out of it, and if that doesn’t work, try to seduce them. They therefore send Bucky to find Antonia, while J4N-37, Shuri, and Valkyrie go for Steve. They don’t know what to do with Nate, since he’s only 17, but decide to send him with the women, since they can only try one at a time, so whoever’s not trying can keep him company. Nate insists J4N-37 should try and seduce Antonia, since if anyone is going to be into robots, it’s Tony, but this is rejected.
Mobius, Hunter-205, America, and a unit of junior agents arrive on Earth-15061. Mobius reminds America that they’re to avoid interacting with the natives if they can, and in general to be as covert as possible. She retorts that when she’d met him, he’d been chasing a teenager through the streets, but he says that Nathaniel Richards variants are different, since they’re high-risk, while today’s target isn’t. They’re here for a Sin Variant. When America doesn’t recognise the name, Mobius explains she’s Red Skull’s daughter, and America is very happy to learn she’ll be punching Nazis.
America agrees to do things by Mobius's rules, and then discoveres that Danielle Cage is already fighting their target. America immediately breaks ranks to go join her, cheering when she uses her catchphrase, “I Am the Shield.”
Bucky and the women of Exiles manage to find Steve and Antoinia, but not only can they not talk them out of the wedding, both only interested in talking about how awesome the other is, their attempts at seduction are likewise rejected.
Sin manages to escape, and Danielle asks America to help her track her down. Mobius again tries to stop her, but she tells him she’s just doing her job and goes. Hunter-205 asks if it’s time to declare the experiment a failure yet, but Mobius points out that she is doing the mission, just unconventionally.
Back on Earth-9034, the Exiles meet back up to commiserate about their failure, since not only did they not succeed in their mission, they’ve also all taken a knock to their self confidence. They discuss potential alternatives, but can’t come up with anything concrete. Nate again suggests that Antonia definitely has a robot fetish, but is ignored.
Bucky says he’s going to get some air if they don’t need him and walks out while they’re discussing whether they could do something to interrupt the ceremony tomorrow.
He goes off and finds Steve who’s out having a drink with a some friends, and asks to buy him a drink, wanting to spend a few minutes with the guy he’s spent several months looking for him.
On Earth-15061, Danielle and America catch up with Sin, and a battle ensues.
We cut back to Bucky, later the same evening. The others who they were drinking with have gone home, and it’s just Steve and Bucky left, sitting alone together in a booth at the back of the bar, nursing their beers and chatting.
Suddenly, with no warning, Steve goes in for a kiss.
When Bucky doesn’t react, he backs off, apologises, says, “You just look so much like him” and then “Oh God, I need to talk to Antonia” and legs it.
Cut back to Danielle and America, they take out Sin by thinking with portals, America teleporting Dani being Sin to catch her unawares. Mobius and the Hunters come in to do clean up, and Mobius scolds America for going rogue, but it’s clear he thinks her enthusiasm about having fought with Dani is cute, and he concedes that she did get the job done.
In Stark Tower, Steve bursts in to Antonia’s bedroom saying “We need to—” and then stops as the camera pans to reveal Antionia is in bed with J4N-37, and Antonia says, “We need to talk.”
Cut to the Exiles standing together on the street outside the tower, and the Tallus begins beeping, and says “Mission accomplished. Selecting next target.”
Nate: Wait, we did it? What did you do?
Bucky and J4N-37, simultaneously: I don’t want to talk about it.
Episode 3 - Long Live the King
The Exiles arrive on Earth-18137, a world seemingly still in the 1880s, in a classic Wild West town. J4N-37 explains that time does not always move consistently between worlds.
The Tallus’s message is ‘Long Live the King’.
Since they’re in a Wild West universe, they agree the best starting point is probably the saloon, and head into town.
Meanwhile, Mobius, America, Hunter-205 and their unit arrive on Earth-85826, a world currently in the 1970s, which America classifies, seeing huge banners of Wolfgang von Strucker hanging from buildings, as a ‘Hydra Wins’ universe.
The Exiles head into town, but are greeted by such shock and horror that they go and steal some laundry to better blend in. Now disguised, to the extent that you can disguise a group which includes a cyborg, an android, and a robot panther, they head for the saloon and start asking around about trouble and kings.
As it turns out, both questions point them in the same direction - a mysterious man known locally as King, who rolled into town recently, asking questions about the Klaw Gang. They ask where they could find him, and the barman says he usually comes into the saloon around now for his lunch.
As he speaks, the doors swing open, a music sting plays, and we get a slow pan up the body of a gunslinger dressed all in black to his face, revealing him to be a T’Challa variant.
Back on the Hydra-run world, America is excited about doing more Nazi punching, but Mobius tells her they’re not here for Hydra. Their target is a multiverse traveller who’s joined the resistance here.
America is, understandably, horrified that they’re leaving the Nazis in charge, and instead depleting the numbers of the resistance. Mobius tries to explain that the TVA’s role is to preserve stability, not to arbitrate morality, but she’s pissed and teleports away.
She locates a hydra patrol, and decides what she needs is some stress relief, attacking them. However, they turn out to be far more technologically advanced than the hydra of WWII, and seem to be specifically kitted out to fight superhumans, and the fight doesn’t go her way.
Just when it looks like she’s in real trouble, Captain America's Shield spins from out of shot, bouncing between three of the hydra goons, and the camera turns with America to reveal a man of 19 or 20 as he catches the shield.
America seems to recognise him, greeting him as Patriot, although he responds that it’s been a long time since anyone called him that, and these days he’s just plain old Eli Bradley, since there’s not a lot to be patriot about when your country’s been overrun by Nazis.
The Exiles suggest Shuri go talk to King, since he’s a variant of her brother, but she refuses, insisting she can’t speak to him, and they send Bucky over instead, since he admits that he’d also known his universe’s T’Challa, albeit nothing like as well as Shuri, and Nate insists on coming with him.
King allows Bucky to buy him a drink, and Bucky starts to ask him about the Klaw gang, Nate improvising a fake backstory for them when King gets suspicious, about how they were an uncle and nephew who’s family farm was burned down by the Klaw gang and their entire family massacred, even the dog.
Before T’Challa can ask any questions about the overblown and melodramatic story, the door slams open to reveal Ulysses Klaue, flanked by a couple of heavies.
Eli takes America back to the resistance base, and introduces her to some of the heroes, Misty Knight, Luke Cage, Quicksilver, Kamala Khan, Billy Kaplan and Teddy Alman, and the TVA’s target, a Shuri Variant.
Around the walls of their hideout are photographs of their fallen compatriots, and in pride of place, a photograph of T’Challa, bearing the legend ‘Long Live the King’. Eli explains that their group is called the Panthers, in memory of T'Challa.
The minute Eli leaves her alone, Shuri corners America, saying she recognises another dimensional traveller when she sees one, and demanding to know why America is here, and whether she’s with the TVA.
America insists that she isn’t, she’s just here to help in the fight, and Shuri relaxes. She explains that she knows staying in one reality is a big risk, with the TVA after her, but when she saw how much they needed help, she couldn’t leave the resistance.
Eli explains that they’re planning an all out assault against Hydra tomorrow, do or die, but with Shuri’s tech and America’s strength, maybe they have a chance.
Klaue orders a drink, watching King watch him across the bar, tension building, until Klaue notices Valkyrie and starts hitting on her.
King immediately leaps to her defence, telling Klaue to back off, and when he won’t, pulling his gun. However, before he has a chance to fire, Klaue puts his hand on Valkyrie’s knee, and she responds by breaking his fingers.
He pistol whips her, causing all the Exiles to leap to their feet, and a good old fashioned saloon brawl ensues. Shuri is so determined not to be close to T’Challa, that she almost gets shot avoiding him in the mele.
The brawl finally ends when T’Challa challenges Klaue to a good old fashioned duel the next day at noon, and Klaue agrees.
That night America goes outside to get some air, when the guards on suddenly freeze and Mobious approaches her. He tells her that if she doesn’t fall in line, he won’t be able to protect her a second time, and she begs him to wait until after the attack on Hydra to take Shuri. When he demurs, she points out that since the TVA Offices are outside time, they probably won’t even notice if they take a bit longer than planned, and they could do some actual good here.
Reluctantly, Mobius agrees, but says he can only give her 12 hours before the presence of both Shuri and her anachronistic technology starts to unstabilize the timeline, and removes the limiter on her powers, telling her not to disappoint him.
King takes the Exiles back to his lodgings, where he’s staying with an elderly couple with a range on the edge of town, to get cleaned up. On the ride there, he explains that Klaue had killed his family in order to steal Vibranium from Wakanda. T'Challa had chosen to go after him, even though he knew that leaving would mean he was never allowed to return home
While they’re washing up, the Exiles confront Shuri about her avoidance of King, and remind her that she can’t shrug off a bullet in her human form. She finally fills them in on her backstory: she’s from a world where most of Wakanda, including her brother, are dead as a result of Doctor Doom destabilising the timeline.
Shuri had been working to undo what he did, but she couldn’t manage it fast enough, and In her grief and rage, Shuri had bonded with a spirit of vengeance, and killed Doom, before setting out to explore the multiverse. Seeing King again is bringing back a lot of painful memories.
Bucky then brings up the fact that he doesn’t think they’d have been sent here if the duel tomorrow was actually going to be a fair fight, which means she’s going to have to figure out how to be okay with facing him, because they still need to save his life.
We get a montage, intercutting the Panthers gearing up for their battle against Hydra with the Exiles preparing to face Klaue’s gang.
The Resistance moves under cover of darkness, while the Exiles head into town in bright sunlight.
As the resistance close in on Hydra command, America’s watch beeps, signally the end of the 12 hours Mobius had given her, but she just turns it off.
We get a classic stand-off, Klaue and T’Challa facing off against one another. However, just as they draw, the rest of Klaue’s gang emerge from their hiding places, all armed. One of them aims a shot at the back of King’s head, only blocked by Valkyrie deflecting it with Undrjarn.
Back on Earth-85826, Shuri uses cloaking technology to make the Resistance invisible as they sneak into Hydra command. As they walk, Eli jumps, startled, but when America asks him what’s wrong, he says it’s just dejavu, he thought he’d seen the painting they just passed before.
They reach the central command hub, and Eli asks them all if they’re ready. And then it all goes to hell.
Cut to the Exiles, in what should be an easy battle, except Klaue’s men aren’t armed only with 19th century guns, but also with steampunk looking sonic weaponry, that Shuri yells to the others is powered by Vibranium.
With no other choice, they unveil their superpowers, all except Shuri, who stays resolutely in human form. She’s a strong fighter, as is Bastet, but she’s not fast enough to keep from being shot.
Time and space on Earth-18137 aren’t working right. As the Resistance attacks, things keep getting stranger and stranger, physical dimensions twisting and shifting around them, separating them as corridors stretch on forever, or floor abruptly shift into walls. Quicksilver gets frozen into a still image, and Eli falls through a door when a room abruptly shift 90 degrees under his feet.
Hydra are having the same problems, but they also outnumber the Resistance 5 to 1, so they’re still winning, and Misty Knight goes down, Billy is using his magic to keep Teddy from bleeding out so he can’t help them.
Realising that this is what Mobius had warned her about, Shuri’s presence destabilising the timeline, America starts fighting her way through the escherlike maze towards Shuri.
Back with the Exiles, King drags Shuri behind cover, wadding up his handkerchief to slow the bleeding.
Half delirious, Shuri looks up at him, light from behind by the midday sun like a stained glass saint, and says, “My brother. My king.”
King: So it’s true. I wasn’t sure, but you look so much—you’re Shuri, aren’t? You’re my sister? (Shuri nods) I won’t ask how, I know better than to questions miracles, but I’m not going to loose you again. I’m not losing anyone else to Klaue. Can’t you—your companions can do incredible things. Don’t you have some way of saving yourself?
Shuri: Don’t want you to see. Don’t want you to see me like that. I’m a demon.
King: You could never be. Not to me. Please, sister. For my sake. Don’t make me lose you again.
Bastet approaches them, nudges her head against Shuri’s, and Shuri puts a weak hand on her muzzle, and tells King to stand back.
He does, and she calls on the Spirit of Vengeance, transforming herself and Bastet. She mounts up, and King tells her she is no demon: she is a goddess, and the siblings break from cover together, heading straight for Klaue.
America catches up to Shuri, only feet away from Strucker, and yells at her to stop, pulling the reset charge.
Shuri: You told me you weren’t TVA.
America: I’m sorry. I am. I didn’t want to do this, but you’re tearing this dimension apart.
Shuri: I know. I know. But you can’t reset them all. Not for something I did. It’s not fair, they’re so close!
America: I’m sorry. I really am sorry.
And then she lobs the reset charge over-arm directly at Strucker’s head at the same time as she opens up a star portal underneath her and Shuri, and all three of them disappear.
With Ghost Panther at full strength, it doesn’t take the Exiles long to take out King’s goons, leaving us back where we started, King and Klaue facing off against one another. They draw, and Klaue is the one who goes down.
In the aftermath, Shuri tells the Exiles that she’s leaving the team. She and King had both lost their families once, they’re not doing it again, and a gunslinger, a spirit of vengeance, and a mechanical panther ride off into the sunset.
Cut to the TVA offices, where America and Mobius are watching Shuri be taken away by hunters to be tried. Mobius said that he knew she’d do the right thing in the end, and she admits that she understands now why they do what they do, even if she doesn’t always like their methods.
She also asks where Strucker had gone, and Mobius told her nowhere. Anything that gets reset is deleted from the timeline entirely. Which I'm sure isn't important at all...
Ep 4
- America goes to a universe where Morgana Le Fey has used a spell to make everything Medieval
- It affects the TVA agents as well, but not her, and she has to track down the agents
- America discovers one of the Hunters is a Katie Kate variant
- She gets them all back and defeat Morganna
- America confronts Mobius about Kate not knowing who she is, and he denies that that's possible, insisting she’s the first real person to ever work for the TVA
- The Exiles go Khan's future and fight Ultron drones
- Janet dies in order to kill Ultron
Ep 5
- Moridun Wins universe. Kate and the Exiles are both deployed to the same place, although they don't meet
- The YA recognise Nate, because they had a Nate but he got pruned
- It seems like he’s potentially got a home here
- Nate manages to talk Billy down
- The TVA prune him anyway, because Billy variants are considered high risk
- America goes rogue
- America gets shot
Ep 6
- Reveal that Kate lived but has been sent to the Void
- The Exiles goes to the King of Ashes world
- Loki reveals that the Reality Stone is what fucked up the universe
- Valkyrie dies to save the Exiles
- ?King Loki realises he should try to undo his fucked up timeline?
- America makes it to the end of time
- the Exiles confront Korvacs about how fucked everything is
- The Exiles quit, and say they’re going to find America, using Korvacs tech to transport her to them, but the end of time fucks stuff up, and instead they get transported to her, along with Korvacs and Carina
- Nate finds out HWW is responsible for all the shit he’s gone through, and kills him
- (Somehow?) they become aware that there really does need to be someone at the center of the TVA, or the universe starts to end
- Bucky volunteers to give up looking for Steve and do the job
- Korvacs finally mans up and agrees to take the position, and Carina agrees to stay with him
- Korvacs gives Bucky the reality stone and tells him to take it home
- Nate agrees to stay and work with a new team of Exiles to fight his own variants
- America and Bucky pick up Steve, and then she drops them off in the middle of Infinity War
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