The death of a great hero is just the start of the tragic turns in "Black Panther: Wakanda
Forever."
If the movie left you crying, here's what you might've missed in the explosive final
act.
Shuri goes through many challenges as she takes center stage in this sequel.
First she mourns her brother, but after Namor and his people, the Talokans, attack Wakanda
and cause the drowning death of Ramonda, the Wakandan royal has even more to mourn.
But let's take a step back before we get to the third act.
Early on in the movie, Shuri convinces the Talokans who confront her, Okoye , and Riri
Williams on the bridge in Boston to take her with them to their hidden ocean empire.
While she's there, she bonds with Namor and hears the story of how his people came to
live underwater.
Namor also gives her a gift: a piece of jewelry that once belonged to his mother and is made
with the leaves of the plant that granted the Talokans the ability to escape the colonists
in Mexico that were taking their land.
"My mother told stories about a place like this.
A protected land with people that never have to leave."
There are many parallels between Wakanda and Talokan, one being that they're the only two
places on Earth that seem to have vibranium.
When a plant plays a key role in giving the Talokans the power to abandon the land for
the ocean, many viewers may suspect that there's a high likelihood it may be similar to the
heart-shaped herb that Wakanda relied on to create the Black Panther.
This turns out to be true.
While it takes Shuri a bit longer to put those pieces together than it might take the audience,
she eventually discovers that she only has to shift a few molecules around in order to
use the Talokans' plant to bring the heart-shaped herb back to life.
After Shuri successfully fabricates the heart-shaped herb in her lab, it's time to test whether
or not it's the real deal.
While there is no time to do the traditional ritual associated with becoming the Black
Panther, Shuri successfully goes through the fundamentals of the process in her lab with
the help of Riri and Nakia.
It's debatable whether Shuri is the best option for the Black Panther role, considering everything
else on the young royal's plate.
But Nakia doesn't debate Shuri's choice to take up the mantle or suggest anyone else
would be more suited for the role – at least, not right away.
Earlier in "Wakanda Forever," Shuri made it clear that she does not believe in many elements
of the spiritual or ritualistic beliefs that many Wakandans ascribe to – including the
existence of the ancestral plane.
Despite her insistence that she only believes in science, there is still a small part of
her that hopes to see her family again in that mystical realm.
But when Shuri takes the heart-shaped herb and wakes up there, it's Killmonger who turns
up to greet her.
Shuri is just as shocked as the audience is to see him.
While Shuri may be unhappy to hear it, Killmonger suggests to her that out of all the members
of Wakanda's royal family, she is the one who's the most like him.
"I want the throne."
Killmonger's observations imply that Shuri is becoming obsessed with vengeance, just
like Killmonger was when he was alive.
But at the time they have their talk, Shuri doesn't see that to be true.
Ironically, her next move after denying she's driven by vengeance is to go to M'Baku and
tell him all about her plan for vengeance.
M'Baku initially seems hesitant to go along with it, but eventually, he and Shuri agree
to join forces and take on the Talokans.
Namor and the Talokans initially revealed themselves because the whole world is looking
for vibranium in the ocean, and they're getting close to finding it in the Talokans' hidden
city.
The Talokans had successfully kept their home hidden for hundreds of years, and by any means
necessary, they'd like to keep it that way.
They also harbor anger at T'Challa for revealing Wakanda and its vibranium to the world, which
set off a global race to find more of the substance.
As the only location besides Wakanda with vibranium, Talokan could become a target for
exploitation.
With the stakes high for the Talokans, the Wakandans are banking on a vibranium detection
device they installed in the Atlantic Ocean getting their attention and baiting them out
for a fight.
The Wakandans wait on the surface of the water, wondering if the Talokans will emerge – and
they don't have to wonder for long.
The Talokans soon erupt out of the water, and when they find the Wakandans on the ship
poised to attack, it leads to a brutal battle between the once-secret nations.
As the Talokans and Wakandans fight on the ship, Riri Williams patrols the air in her
Iron Man armor, working to lure Namor to Shuri for a one-on-one confrontation.
Riri and Shuri's gambit to capture Namor is successful, and Shuri traps Namor under a
device she has set up in her ship that seems to work pretty much like a really big hair
dryer.
Namor has already demonstrated great power as a fighter with land, air, and sea capabilities,
with mutations that enable him to be remarkably adept at swimming, fighting, and flying.
But his power seems to rely on the presence of water, so the Wakandans reason that if
he's sufficiently dehydrated, he'll be significantly weakened, which will make him much easier
to fight.
On paper, dehydration sounds like an absurd weakness for a superhero.
When you think about it, it's kind of a weakness for everybody.
But despite how silly it may sound, the movie treats this scene — and Namor's valiant
attempts to fight against Shuri's big dehydrator — with the utmost seriousness.
Namor is a determined fighter, so even though he is weakened by the drying device, he's
still able to use his spear to escape the machine.
In an effort to maintain her fighting advantage, Shuri commands her ship to fly to the desert,
slightly inland from the water.
As they touch down, Shuri dons her Black Panther suit, and she and Namor begin to fight.
Meanwhile, in the ocean, the Wakandans are preparing to retreat.
However, as they do, a group of Talokans approaches their ship riding two humpback whales.
They throw a massive number of small bombs at the ship, leading to panic and mass casualties.
Despite the destruction, the Wakandans abandon their retreat, and the fighting between the
Wakandans and Talokans becomes more intense than ever.
While the Wakandans' losses are no doubt terrible, there is still some redemption to be had in
this battle.
Okoye takes on Attuma for the second time, looking for redemption after he bested her
with ruthless precision during their earlier fight in Boston.
Although her failure to save Shuri from being taken by the Talokans in that confrontation
led to her dismissal from the Dora Milaje, she comes back for her rematch wearing the
Midnight Angel suit Shuri created for her.
Whether it's the suit or simply her determination to prove herself, Okoye manages to best Attuma
the second time around.
Elsewhere, Riri is taking on Namora for the second time after the Talokan warrior knocked
her out on the bridge in Boston.
And just like Okoye, this time Riri is victorious.
Back in the desert, Shuri appears to have the upper hand against a weakened Namor – that
is, until Namor recovers his spear and stabs Shuri in the abdomen, stopping her in her
tracks.
Namor is somewhat solemn about his victory, informing her that things could have been
different between them and their two nations.
Clearly, Namor is still of the opinion that Wakanda and Talokan should work together to
take on the whole world, mutually protecting both their countries and their vibranium.
"Are you an ally or an enemy?"
Unfortunately, Shuri is in no state to debate Namor now, as she seems like she is very likely
to be dying from his attack.
As she stands there struggling, she flashes back to her encounter with Killmonger on the
ancestral plane where he asked her if she would be noble like T'Challa, or take care
of business like him.
This memory seems to give her the strength she needs to jump back into action.
Her checkmate move is a massive explosion that injures Namor badly while she remains
protected by her Black Panther suit.
Shuri then stands over Namor, apparently poised to kill him.
Yet, as she looks down on him with her weapon ready to deliver a fatal blow, she starts
to remember everything that she's been through over the past year, including T'Challa's death,
the devastation of Wakanda by Talokan, and her mother's death.
Finally, she sees her mother, who urges her toward peace.
"Show them who you are."
Shuri stops her attack on Namor and tells him that vengeance has consumed both of them
– but it must not consume their people.
Namor surrenders to her, and Shuri promises to keep Talokan secret from the rest of the
world.
Shuri and Namor fly to the site of the battle between their peoples and stop the fighting,
declaring Wakanda and Talokan to have a truce.
With the central conflict of the movie put to rest, the characters start to return to
their normal lives.
In Wakanda, they replant the heart-shaped herb that Shuri reconstructed.
Shuri sends Riri home without the Ironheart suit she created for her, but she does not
leave empty-handed; Shuri has also fixed the car Riri was working on in Boston, which Riri
explains belonged to her father.
Then, there is a gathering of all of Wakanda that fans of the first "Black Panther" movie
will recognize as the ritual T'Challa participated in to officially become Wakanda's ruler.
This time, the ceremony is meant for Shuri, but when a ship flies in, and Shuri is introduced,
instead of the princess emerging, it's M'Baku who appears.
As he jumps from the ship, he announces that he wishes to challenge Shuri for the throne.
In the ocean, Namora confronts Namor about surrendering to Wakanda — a move she is
none too pleased with — but Namor reassures her that the surface world will once again
come for Wakanda and, when it does, Wakanda will have no choice but to turn to them.
Apparently, Namor still believes the world is eventually going to attack Wakanda for
its vibranium and he is prepared to bide his time until that happens.
The truce may be shakier than it at first appeared.
Meanwhile, in America, Okoye rescues Agent Ross from CIA custody, gleefully declaring
she has never seen a colonizer in chains before.
Perhaps Okoye's actions were a bit of a thank you after Ross was arrested for leaking secrets
to her and Shuri earlier in the film.
One way or another, it seems the alliance between Ross and Wakanda is set to grow even
deeper than it already was.
Instead of the ceremony in Wakanda that she was expected to attend, Shuri is instead found
in Haiti where Nakia now lives.
Right before the credits roll, Shuri goes to the beach by herself and burns T'Challa's
funeral robes in a fire on the beach.
This is a ritual Ramonda tried to perform with Shuri earlier in the movie, before they
were interrupted by Namor.
A mid-credits scene then picks back up on the beach.
As Shuri sits in the sand looking out toward the water, Nakia approaches her with a child
at her side named Toussaint.
Nakia introduces the child to his Aunt Shuri, who realizes with surprise that she's meeting
T'Challa's son.
Nakia explains that T'Challa and Ramonda knew about Toussaint, but beyond them, the child
was a secret.
When T'Challa learned he was dying, he prepared his son and asked Nakia to keep him away from
the funeral.
While these were clearly acts of love, it is hard not to wonder if keeping Toussaint
away from Wakanda was the right idea.
On the other hand, the child seems fairly content when he tells Shuri that Toussaint
is his Haitian name, but his real name is T'Challa Jr. — a revelation that indicates
that T'Challa and Nakia, despite moving him so far away in secret, ultimately do want
to acknowledge that the child is the true heir to Wakanda's throne.
What that could mean for leadership in Wakanda isn't clear, though, because, after Shuri
and T'Challa Jr.'s brief exchange, the credits continue, and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
comes to an end with a promise that Black Panther will return.