Danny fights to clear his name in the wake of a betrayal, and finds a new purpose.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Jeri Hogarth has trouble believing that Harold Meachum actually died and came back to life, despite personally knowing a woman with super strength and a man with mind control abilities. Possibly justified in that she seemed disturbed by the entire notion and might've said that it was something "we're not allowed to say ever again" and might've been more unnerved than skeptic.
- You Have to Believe Me!: It's not that she can't believe it, but that Jeri knows full well that it would just make Danny seem crazy at a time when he has to clear his name.
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: Colleen chases after Danny into the Rand building, only to be too late and lose the element of surprise when the stunned guards he's knocked to the ground recover and start pulling out their sidearms, forcing her to turn around and run back the other way. She eventually gets in via the service elevator.
- Batman Grabs a Gun: Subverted, Danny comes very close to killing Harold, but refrains from doing so at the last second. Only for Ward to do it himself.
- Big Damn Heroes: When Harold tries to shoot Danny in the back, Ward shoots his father himself.
- Birds of a Feather: Danny is facing the same disillusionment over Harold's betrayal that Colleen did over Bakuto, which he fails to realise until it's pointed out to him.
- Bittersweet Ending: Danny manages to clear his name, Harold is killed and his body cremated, ensuring he never comes back, Ward has made peace with himself, and Danny decides to return to K'un-L'un to complete his training, with Colleen accompanying him. However, Davos and Joy are plotting to kill Danny, and Gao escapes justice again, with her intentions towards Davos and Joy's plotting unknown. When Danny and Colleen arrive at K'un-L'un, they discover that the Hand attacked while Danny was gone, and K'un-L'un has disappeared.
- Blatant Lies: When Joy confronts him about what he did to Danny, Harold tries to bullshit his way out of it with very flimsy excuses. Joy doesn't buy it.
- Book Ends:
- Just like in the first episode, Danny beats up a bunch of security guards in the Rand Building lobby so he can go upstairs to find Harold.
- The first episode saw Danny returning to Rand Enterprises for the first time in over a decade. The final episode sees Harold doing the same.
- Brick Joke: In the third episode, we learned that Jeri had once paid a young Danny $5 to stay quiet after overhearing her cussing out her supervisor. Claire's way of delivering a message to Jeri that Danny wants to meet, is a $5 bill with "J-Money" Sharpie'd on.
- Broken Pedestal: When Joy realizes her father really is the horrible man her brother said he is, she gets quite a bit shaken up emotionally. Unfortunately years of deception have caused her to lose faith in Ward as well, and by association Danny too.
- Character Development: Ward is no longer working against Danny, instead trying to help him stop Harold.
- Chekhov's Gun: The documents Danny stole from Gao and gave to Harold come up, as the key piece of evidence against Danny. The only way to Clear My Name is for Danny to get hold of the original unaltered files on the laptop.
- Continuity Nod:
- Claire makes a comment to Jeri that the "justice system sucks", implying she is still bitter about what happened to Luke Cage.
- If you look very closely at Jeri's face, you can see a scar on her left cheek from Wendy's Kilgrave-induced attempt to give her a Death by a Thousand Cuts.
- Deader than Dead: After dying yet a third time, Harold's body is cremated, finally putting an end to him once and for all.
- Disney Villain Death: Harold meets his end after being shot by Ward and falling from the Rand Enterprises building.
- Dramatic Shattering: To avoid the goons waiting in ambush at the elevator, Danny rappels down for a Super Window Jump, leading to more glass being shattered in the subsequent shootout, before every glass window on that floor is broken by the shockwave from Danny striking the floor with his Iron Fist to save Colleen.
- Enemy Mine: Danny and Colleen go to Gao for help against Harold.
- Evil Costume Switch: Joy is wearing a black dress during her conversation with Davos where they are discussing killing Danny.
- Eyes Never Lie: Joy orders her father to look her in the eye and say he didn't frame Danny. Harold attempts to convince her, even swears it, but it doesn't work.
- Face–Heel Turn: Both Davos and Joy apparently plot on killing Danny in one of the final scenes.
- Foreshadowing: When Ward realizes that Harold has been messing with Danny since he came back, Harold corrects him by saying that he has been messing with Danny since long before that, alluding to his arranging the plane crash.
- For the Evulz: Harold talks of a time when he was tempted to murder Danny's father even though he was his best friend, apparently just for the heck of it. As this took place before he'd met the Hand it implies Harold didn't Come Back Wrong but has always been The Sociopath.
- Frame-Up: Danny is being framed by Harold for using Rand to deal drugs, making him New York's most wanted man.
- Ground Punch: To prevent Harold from shooting Colleen, Danny uses the Iron Fist to punch the ground, sending a shockwave that takes out everyone standing on that floor of the entire building.
- Hannibal Lecture: Gao once again plays her mind games with Danny, without lying about anything though.
- Idiot Ball: Early in their confrontation Danny knocks Harold down, causing him to drop his gun and lie there stunned for a little while, but instead of capitalizing on this just runs off, allowing Harold to pick it right back up again. Then again, considering he was shot, he may have been acting irrationally.
- Impaled Palm: Harold shoots Danny right through his hand. At first this looks like he's Brought Down to Normal, but he musters the Heroic Second Wind to regenerate his fist in time to block a bullet.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Danny kicks Harold away and right into a piece of broken rebar. It doesn't kill him, though, and he's able to push it out enough to grab his gun and begin shooting at Danny, until Ward shows up and shoots him, causing him to fall to his death.
- Inadvertent Entrance Cue: Jeri's in the midst of asking Ward, "Who would want to set [Danny] up in this way?" just as Harold, the one responsible, walks into Ward's office.
- Inferred Holocaust: One imagines all that glass that blew out from Danny's Ground Punch must have hurt a lot of bystanders on the street below.
- Interface Screw: In times of high stress for Danny, the screen will shake and blur.
- Internal Reveal: Ward tells Joy about being forced to dispose of the two enforcers that Harold killed.
- It Amused Me: Gao claims that she could have escaped anytime, she just stayed because she wanted to wait for Danny and see his reaction to all of this.
- It's All My Fault: When Danny sees that K'un-L'un is gone, he immediately blames himself for not guarding its gate.
- Jump Scare: Harold hitting Ward on the back of his head with a golf club comes out of nowhere.
- Kick the Dog: Harold keeps taunting Danny throughout their fight, outright saying that he regrets he didn't kill his father years ago, before Danny could've been born.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Madame Gao points out that the fact that the death of Danny's parents was made to look like a plane crash is evidence she wasn't behind it, as she wouldn't have bothered to go through all that.
- Money Is Not Power: Zigzagged; the fact that Danny is a billionaire can be used to deny him parole as a flight risk, but after he's able to clear his name Jeri gets the DEA to drop the assault charges in change for a generous donation to their widows fund.
- The Needless: Gao isn't troubled by being left behind without any food or water.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Played with, Colleen actually runs when a few of Harold's goons draw guns on her, but then she fights some others. Claire thinks our heroes are crazy for taking on men with guns using only a katana and magical fist in the first place.
- Never My Fault:
- Harold blames Danny for ruining his family and driving them away from him, something he caused all by himself.
- Averted with Ward, who acknowledges that with his father dead he can no longer blame Harold for his mistakes or general unhappiness.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Harold grabs a gun from the safe to shoot Danny, enabling Ward to get hold of the laptop he was keeping in there as well.
- Not Me This Time: Gao reveals that she (or the Hand in general) didn't cause the death of Danny's parents: Harold did. Though she was still involved, as she provided Harold with the poison the latter used to poison the pilots, only objecting out of Pragmatic Villainy.
- No, You: Gao accuses Colleen of this after she accuses Gao of lying to Danny.Colleen: You're lying.
Gao: I have never lied to him. Can you say the same? - Only Sane Woman: Claire finds himself in this position with Danny and Colleen, and after everything is over she points out how they both think that Violence is the Only Option and need professional help to deal with their issues.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Harold tells Joy that there were files implicating Danny that he didn't show her. When Joy demands to see these files, Harold claims he gave them to the DEA. Joy immediately calls him on this, because she knows from prior experience that her father would never dispose of information that he could use for his own purposes.
- Pet the Dog: As a result of his Character Development Ward offers to work with Danny at Rand as their fathers should have. Even after Danny turns him down he still hangs a picture of Danny next to his at the office after taking down the ones of their fathers.
- Playing Both Sides: Harold intends to both continue Gao's heroin smuggling while marketing the cure that Bakuto used on Ward.
- The Power of Love: When Danny sees that Harold is about to shoot Colleen, the Iron Fist he summons for the resulting Ground Punch is the most powerful he's ever displayed, sending a shockwave along the floor. Of the entire building.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Gao objected to Harold killing Danny's parents, not out of moral reasons, but because it would draw attention.
- Refuge in Audacity: When Ward asks how Harold can possibly come back after the world thinks he's been dead for 13 years, Harold claims he can use the excuse of "gene therapy and cyrogenics." Whether he seriously believes he can pull it off or is just crazy is up in the air.
- The Reveal: Gao didn't kill the Rands. Harold did, because they found out he had brokered a deal with the Hand and was afraid they would ruin it.
- Saying Too Much: Harold tries to get on Joy's good side by asking if she'd like dinner from "that place on 6th you like." Joy naturally wonders how, if her dad was basically held prisoner for 13 years as he claims, he could have been able to keep an eye on her so closely.
- Sequel Hook: Davos is plotting to kill Danny and Joy is onboard. Gao is free and pondering this new development. And K'un-L'un has vanished in the wake of an attack by the Hand.
- Shockwave Stomp: Or rather punch, as Danny uses his Iron Fist to create a giant shockwave in Harold's office.
- Shoot the Dog: Colleen argues against Danny killing Harold out of fear that will corrupt his chi, so she will kill him.Claire: Jesus, is there a version where we don't kill someone?!
- A Simple Plan:
- The Plan: Ward convinces Harold to leave the Rand building, Claire bribes a vendor to let her torch his peanut stand to draw away the guards at the front door, Danny enters the building and uses his Iron Fist to break open the safe and steal the laptop proving his innocence.
- What happens is Ward discovers Harold has even more guards upstairs, Harold knocks him out while he's on the phone to Danny to warn him, and first Danny and then Colleen rush in heedless of Claire pointing out that they're not bulletproof and need to abort. The only thing that works is Claire blowing up the peanut stand, likely because she's the only one of our heroes with any common sense.
- So What Do We Do Now?: Danny finds himself in this position, so decides to return to K'un-L'un to complete his training. Rather than break up with Colleen however, he invites her along as well. Things don't work out according to plan.
- Survivor Guilt: Gao points out that Danny is suffering from years of suppressed guilt over his parents deaths which he has transferred into anger. She tries to convince him that killing Harold is the only way to deal with this.
- Swapped Roles: At the start of the season Ward was the one being antagonistic towards Danny while Joy was the one who wanted to be friendly. By the end of this episode Ward is a firm ally of Danny's while Joy is now working against him.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: In the end, Danny chooses not to kill Harold, saying that he makes the choice to not kill him. Ward, however, doesn't have that problem.
- Two Roads Before You: Cited by Gao who says to become the Iron Fist, Danny must either kill the man who murdered his parents or become lost in his own anger and guilt. Claire tries to convince him to Take a Third Option.
- Unfriendly Fire: A mook wrestling with Danny gets shot by his fellow guards.
- Villains Never Lie: Gao is still playing this card, saying she tells Danny only the truth.
- We Need a Distraction: Claire sets a peanut stand on fire to distract the security guards outside Rand Enterprises.
- Wham Line:Ward: You've been messing with Danny since he came back, haven't you?
Harold: Oh, no. Since long before that. - Wham Shot:
- Davos is urging Joy to kill Danny, which she seems willing to consider. The camera pans round to show Madame Gao sitting at the next table.
- At the entrance of K'un-L'un, Danny and Colleen discover dead Hand soldiers and nothing where the city should be.
- Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Harold clocks Ward from behind and asks:Harold: Why do you always make me do these things?
- Worf Had the Flu: Danny is shot through the hand just before his confrontation with Harold, making it difficult to fight.
- Wrongful Accusation Insurance: For once it is explicitly explained. The drug smuggling charges are dropped because Danny was framed, but the ones for all the crimes Danny commits while a fugitive are dropped because of a generous contribution to the DEA Widows and Pension Fund.
- You Are in Command Now: In a business sense. While Danny still controls the majority of Rand's shares, he leaves Ward to run it, as he knows Ward is a much better businessman.
- You Are Not My Father: Ward insists that what Harold Meachum has become is not the same man who was his and Joy's father.
- You Have to Believe Me!: Joy once again has trouble believing Ward in his accusations against her father. Until he reveals his Frame-Up for Danny.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Ward, when Joy acts all defensive of Harold.Joy Meachum: Dad has been held prisoner for thirteen years, so of course he's acting a little off. Who wouldn't?Ward Meachum: [laughs in disbelief] "A little off"? [Ward quickly closes the door] I watched him gut two dead men with a claw hammer. I can tell you where he made me dump the bodies.
- You Killed My Father: It is revealed that Harold is responsible for the death of Danny's parents.
