Artwork for the episode by Inkquisitive.
Kamala deals with suddenly being thrust back in time to the Partition, only to find her problems aren't over when she makes it back to the present.Tropes:
- Acoustic License: In the utter chaos of a gigantic mob boarding the last train to safety, Sana and Hasan manage to be heard by both Aisha and Kamala.
- Almost Dead Guy: Aisha is stabbed by Najma, but carries on long enough to call Kamala back in time then holds on however long it takes Kamala to locate her in the chaos and pass on some final words.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Twice in quick succession from Kamala to Najma.
- Despite having just seen Fariha be Reduced to Dust while trying to pass through the Veil, Najma is so desperate to go home that she's willing to chance it, insisting she can make it... but then Kamala cries, "You have Kamran!", giving her pause.
- And when Najma sadly refutes it by admitting she left him behind, Kamala just tells her to go back for him and states that after she took away Aisha's desire to be with her family, she shouldn't subject her son to that, too. Najma concedes that she's right, and decides to sacrifice herself to close the Veil so Kamran won't be destroyed with the rest of Earth, while passing on her power to him in the process.
- Bequeathed Power: Najma sacrifices herself to close the rift for Kamran's sake. Somehow, this transmits Noor energy all the way to him in New Jersey, and he develops access to abilities similar to Kamala's without a bangle.
- Call-Back:
- In episode three, Najma rejected Kamala's belief that she deserved her protection by asking "Why should I protect those who betray me?" This episode makes it clear she feels that way because Kamala is Aisha's great-granddaughter, and Aisha betrayed the Clandestine by making them lose track of the bangle for almost eighty years.
- Turns out Kamran really didn't learn Bruno's name, and calling him "Brian" truly was Accidental Misnaming rather than Malicious Misnaming.Kamran: Oh my God, I really thought your name was Brian.
- Call on Me: Kareem offers this to Kamala before leaving, though he notes that the US government has several warrants out for his arrest.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Bruno and Kamran being attacked at Bruno's apartment by a Damage Control drone.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Hasan is introduced preaching unity to fellow Indians in the face of the Partition, and his compassion inspires Aisha to build a family with him. After Sana was born, however, he's grown very bitter at being ostracized by his community and ousted from his ancestral home, rejecting the charity of those who aren't being made to leave.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Aisha slowly warms up to Hasan in the face of his unrelenting kindness and honesty.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Early on, Hasan comments to Aisha that "Now I know you're just putting on a show. No human alive can resist the smell of fresh fried paratha." Aisha, of course, is not really a human.
- Towards the end, Kamran takes shelter at Bruno's apartment while waiting for his mother to come find him, unaware that Najma is dead, having sacrificed herself.
- Dwindling Party: Two more of the Noori definitely die in this episode, thanks to the unbridled power of the rift in the Veil.
- Embarrassing Old Photo: Sana shows teenage pictures of Muneeba to Kamala, including one that seems to be the Pakistani equivalent of a glamor shot.
- Fatal Family Photo: Aisha is carrying the only photograph of her family when Najma stabs her. She gives it to Kamala to pass on to Sana, once she pops back into the future.
- Flashback: After a brief history of the Partition, the episode goes back to 1942, showing Aisha fleeing from the British. She meets a separatist named Hasan, falls in love, and they start a family. Just before the Partition, Najma tracks her down, ready to resume their plan to use the bangle to break down the barrier between worlds, but Aisha attempts to flee with her new family instead. She's forced to stay behind to hold off Najma and the Clandestine, and is killed by Najma for betraying them. It's at this point that the flashback catches up, so to speak, with Kamala's own trip through time, instigated by Aisha using the last of her strength to call Kamala back so she can save Sana.
- Generation Xerox: Like her father, Sana is a romantic with a bad leg.
- Heel–Face Turn: Najma's love for her son is what convinces her to close the rift in the Veil, sacrificing herself to save her son... and the entire Earth. But mostly her son.
- Heel Realization: Thanks to Kamala, Najma realizes that her single-minded attempt to go home has torn apart her family, and will cause the death of her son if she goes through with it.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Aisha sends her family ahead on the train while staying behind to slow Najma down, and is fatally stabbed by Najma for her betrayal.
- Najma sacrifices herself to seal the Veil, but passes on her power to Kamran before she dies.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: When Aisha first met Hasan, she threatened to break his leg if he touched her. Then, after she begins living with and falling in love with him, she gives him a proper cane to walk around with it so he won’t have to use a stick. He even lampshades how she threatened to break his leg the first time they met.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Kamala has seemingly gone missing, Muneeba criticizes Sana for comparing the situation to microchipping her dog. She then immediately admits she'd have done it were it legal.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: Sana tells Kamala that Muneeba left for America to pursue Bruce Springsteen. Muneeba objects strongly to that... correcting her that it was Bon Jovi.
- Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: Kareem gifts his scarf to Kamala before they go their separate ways. Said scarf looks an awful lot like the signature red scarf Kamala wears as part of her costume in the comics.
- Infodump: The episode starts with a newsreel explaining the Partition of India, while previous episodes alluded to the event (and it being the fault of the British) without going into detail about what it entailed.
- Internal Reveal: Muneeba and Sana learn that Kamala has powers, though it seems Sana suspected beforehand (she had seen Kamala use them as a child, after all).
- Kid Amid the Chaos: At the full train station just as the last train leaves for Pakistan, little Sana is separated from her father and is crying amid the chaos. Kamala's intervention reunites her with her father.
- Logo Joke: Partway through, the Marvel Studios intro becomes sepia tone and loses sound quality. At the end, it switches aspect ratios and becomes an old-timey newsreel.
- Love Redeems: Kamala is able to convince Najma to close the veil by reminding her of Kamran and how she abandoned him because of her desperation to return to the Noor Dimension. Najma then realizes Kamala is right and chooses to sacrifice herself to do so.
- Mundane Utility: When Muneeba gets frustrated by Kamala not answering her phone, Owais notes that if Kamala's on a family phone plan (which it turns out she is), Muneeba can just use the "find my phone" feature to track her down. Muneeba is both amazed to learn this and questions why no one told her before.
- Mythology Gag: Muneeba picks up Kamala's necklace (her name in Urdu), but it's broken... into the shape of the lightning bolt on her costume.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Turns out the EDITH drones have not been defanged, as one misfires and blows up the Circle Q after Kamran instinctively defends himself from it at the end of the episode.
- Oh, Crap!: Kamran has this look of horror when he realizes he's been getting Bruno's name wrong all this time. He sincerely thought it was "Brian".
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After Kamala learns Najma abandoned Kamran, she tells her off about how she took away Aisha's wish to be with her family in her desperation to return the Noor Dimension, and how she's now doing the same to her own son.Kamala: All Aisha ever wanted was to be with her family and you took that from her. Please don't take that from Kamran, too.
- Redemption Equals Death: Najma's final act is to sacrifice herself in order to close the veil for Kamran's sake.
- Reduced to Dust: The fates of both Fariha and Najma when the energy radiating out of the Veil touches them. For the former, it happens when she tries to pass through the Veil to go home, demonstrating what will happen to anyone else the energy touches. For the latter, she subjects herself to it willingly in a Heroic Sacrifice to close the Veil and save her son from being destroyed with the rest of the Earth.
- Relationship Reboot: Kamran asks if he and Bruno could start again by introducing themselves, which means Bruno finally manages to tell Kamran his name isn't Brian.
- The Reveal:
- Turns out Hasan's bad leg wasn't a result of the violence of the Partition, but was something he'd lived with for years beforehand. That he was something of a rabble-rouser and dissenter against the British Raj is hinted to have played a part in that.
- The scene in an earlier episode where the Clandestine find the bangle in a temple to the Ten Rings took place not during the Partition, but during WWII, and Aisha was separated from the rest of the Djinn and thought they died.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Aisha seems to be drawn to Hasan because he's a genuinely nice guy who never tries to rush things and only wants her to be happy. He even notes after Najma's return that he was obviously curious about her past, but only cares about their future together.
- Special Edition Title: In recognition of Kamala going back in time and the fact that the episode focuses on Aisha's relationship with her family, the Marvel Logo is black and white images of India and the opening title is in Urdu.
- Stable Time Loop: Aisha called Kamala back in time to protect Sana, something she could only have done because Sana was protected and continued the family line in the first place. She actually intended to call Sana herself, which would have been an even more extreme example.
- Stripped to the Bone: Fariha tries to approach the Veil, only for their flesh to petrify, exposing the skeleton as it crumbles away before collapsing into a pile. Najma follows not long after, but as a sacrifice to close the Veil.
- Super-Empowering: Najma is able to send her energy to Kamran before she sacrifices herself, granting him the ability to manipulate Noor in a manner similar to Kamala.
- Threat Backfire: When Aisha threatens to break Hasan's leg when they first meet, he jokes that it's not much use to him anyway and continues being kind.
- Took a Level in Cynic: Hasan is angry by the time of Partition, having argued against it, argued against the divide and conquer strategy of the Raj, argued for unity, only to be cast out by his neighbors because of his religion and forced into exile with the Partition. It takes Aisha reminding him that "What you seek is seeking you" for him to remember who he used to be.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Muneeba learning that Kamala is "that Light girl" and that her mother's crazy Djinn stories are all true is what allows her to finally open up to both of them and be more loving and accepting of both, including letting her mother show Kamala her embarrassing teenaged photos.
- Tragic Keepsake:
- Turns out the bangle originally belonged to Aisha before the Partition, and the inscription "What you seek is seeking you" comes from a poem Hasan recited to her when they first met.
- Aisha holds a photograph of herself, Hasan, and an infant Sana as she dies. Kamala takes it back to the present with her and gives it to Sana, who is nearly overcome at having a photo of her parents.
- The cane Sana is seen using? It's the same one Aisha give to Hasan to replace the stick he was using.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The other people trying to board the trains sure seem to take a woman getting fatally stabbed and a child with glowing purple orbs around her very well, especially since this is before superheroes, gods, wizards, robots, and aliens became common knowledge. Perhaps they were too occupied getting on the last train to safety to notice or care.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Najma decries Aisha turning her back on her fellow exiles before stabbing her in the gut.
- You Never Asked: When Sana shows Muneeba's old pictures to Kamala and discusses her rebellious past, Kamala asks why she hasn't learned any of this before. Muneeba replies, "Well, because you have never asked".
