“Ms. Marvel” Episode 4 brings Kamala Khan to Karachi to see her grandmother, Sana. Kamala makes new friends and also finds out about the real nature of clandestine. There is a clash between her and the Djinns, and it reveals that there is more to the bangle than we have seen so far.
‘Ms. Marvel’ Episode 4: Recap And Ending – What Is In Karachi?
Kamala and her mother, Muneeba, arrive in Karachi, where they are welcomed by Kamala’s two cousins as well as Kamala’s grandmother, Sana. Sana shows Kamala the room that has all her paintings and paraphernalia, many of which are from the Partition period. She also shows Kamala a picture of her father, Kamala’s great grandfather, Hasan (Fawad Khan), and a painting of her great-grandmother Aisha, made by herself. When Kamala shows her the bangle, she reveals that when the bangle was used the last time, it saved her life, i.e., “the trail of stars” that brought her back to her father before they left India by train. And it was this train to Karachi that both Kamala and Sana saw in their visions. At night, she again dreams of her powers and the train.
The next day, there is lunch at the nearby boat club. After that, Kamala is taken for a tour across the town by his cousins. This is when she decides to find the Karachi railway station on her own. After her cousins leave, she asks for directions and arrives at the station. She puts on the domino mask made for her by Bruno so that no one can recognize her. This is when she is attacked by an anonymous guy, whom we later come to know as Kareem, with half his face under a red scarf. He sensed Kamala’s Noor and tracked her down. But after realizing that she isn’t a Clandestine, he brings her to The Red Daggers sanctuary, where she is introduced to Waleed (Farhan Akhtar). He tells Kamala about the Red Dagger and how it protects the people from threats from the unseen. He also knows about Kamala’s great-grandmother, Aisha. However, she has much to learn before she knows more. She is told that Aisha and the Clandestines are from another realm, the Noor dimension, one that co-exists with our own. It is separated from our realm by the Veil of Noor that keeps it hidden. And what the Clandestines intend is to use the bangle and unleash their dimension onto ours, thereby destroying it. However, Waleed notices an inscription on the bangle that he didn’t know it had. It says, “What you seek is seeking you.”
Najma, Kamran, and the rest of the Clandestines manage to escape from the Department of Damage Control (DODC). And Najma is back on track to find Kamala. However, she banishes her son, Kamran, as he helped Kamala escape. Meanwhile, Kareem introduces Kamala to his friends, who are apparently also members of the Red Dagger, and they have dinner together. Back at home, Sana and Muneeba have a conversation where Muneeba talks of the pain she went through when Sana spent time with her fantastical dreams and theories and not with her own daughter.
The next day, at the Red Dagger sanctuary, Waleed gives Kamala a piece of clothing that has history woven into its threads, a reminder of her roots. She tries it on. And at that very moment, they are attacked by the Clandestines. After a tiring chase that even leads to Waleed’s death, Najma and Kamala come face-to-face. And as Najma is about to hit Kamala with her weapon, Kamala tries to shield herself with her bangle. The weapon, as it hits the bangle, activates it, and Kamala is teleported to what seems to be the night of the Partition, the very night on which Sana lost her mother, Aisha. Perhaps “Ms. Marvel” Episode 5 will reveal to Kamala, and to us, what really happened to Aisha. This will further unveil more secrets about the bangle itself.
Episode 4: Easter Eggs Explained
1. Ant-Man mural: When Kamala is at the Karachi station, she notices an Ant-Man mural on a wall with the message “You can start small and still be larger than life.” The artist is Saira Hussain, but it is based on the art of Adrian Alphona. For those of you who do not know, Alphona is a co-creator of Kamala Khan, aka “Ms. Marvel,” in 2013 alongside G. Willow Wilson. Alphona was the artist while Wilson wrote the story.
2. Red Dagger (“Laal Khanjeer”): In the comics, Kareem is a vigilante, an expert marksman, called the Red Dagger. His mother and Kamala’s maternal aunt used to go to school together. Kareem has also lived with Kamala’s grandmother (“Aisha” in the show) while taking university exams. However, in the show, the Red Dagger is a cult sworn to protect the world “from the unseen,” e.g., Clandestines, etc. But we do not know if and how much Kamala and Kareem are related in the show other than via the Noor.
3. The Veil Of Noor: The Veil of Noor is the invisible fabric that separates the Noor dimension from the Earth’s dimension. Does it then form the barriers of the multiverse? Waleed also mentions that there are many dimensions around us that we cannot see. This we already know, thanks to the Ancient One who “opened our eyes” long ago.
4. Time Travel: Kamala’s bangle, after being struck by Najma, transports her to the night of the Partition of India. In other words, it allowed her to travel through time. So does this mean that Aisha, too, traveled through time? After all, there were two bangles in the beginning. One is with Kamala, and the other one might just be with Aisha. The visions can be clues that Aisha wants Kamala to see and follow.
“Ms. Marvel” Episode 5 will reveal more about Sana’s father and Aisha’s husband, Hasan as well as Aisha herself. It will also reveal what happened on the night of the Partition and how Aisha got lost (if at all), never to be seen again.
