Marvel’sSecret Invasionis quickly picking up steam, with more thrills and betrayals in Episode 3, “Betrayed”. While thesecond episodeended with one major cliffhanger, the third episode of the MCU series keeps the hits coming, as both Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) question the loyalties of those around them. After gettingunceremoniously firedby James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), Fury needs a win. But as the spymaster attempts to strike the Skrull rebellion a blow, Gravik continues to be two steps ahead of him.
Written byRoxanne ParedesandBrian Tuckerand directed byAli Selim, “Betrayed” also shows more ofPriscilla Fury (Charlayne Woodard), answering some of the questions raised when Episode 2 revealed that Fury has a wife, who is a Skrull. The second episode also teased the Super Skrulls, and there’s more on this as well. However, Episode 3 doesn’t just pick up the pieces; “Betrayed” is significantly tighter and faster than the episodes that came before, with plenty more surprise twists as we hit the series' halfway point.
Related:‘Secret Invasion’s Version of Nick Fury Is the Best Version
‘Secret Invasion’ Episode 3 Confirms Gravik Is Making Super Skrulls
The episode begins with Beto (Samuel Adewunmi),Pagon (Killian Scott), and a Skrull called Virkus preparing for a mission. Beto asks the others if they think what they’re doing will work, and Pagon tells him that what they do, they do because of their faith in a better future. And faith demands risks. Pagon gives Beto the file for the human he will be impersonating and all three of them leave for the mission. The story then cuts to Gravik, who shows the Skrull Council the machine that he has been developing. He reveals more of his plan, telling them that the three operatives are infiltrating the Royal Navy to attack a United Nations target. Gravik expects a response from the heroes of Earth but the machine that the Daltons (Katie FinneranandMark Bazeley) have been building for him willallow the Skrulls to “change powers"in addition to faces, making them Super Skrulls. Meanwhile, the Skrulls in the Navy take their places, with Pagon going aboard a nuclear submarine in disguise.
After the credits, we get a flashback to New York City in 1998. Fury walks into a diner to meet with a Skrull friend. The friend in question is Priscilla, who is revealed to be Varra,the Skrull we saw introducing Fury and Gravik in Episode 2. She gives Fury an envelope that she says should “put Dreykov’s men on their heels,” no doubt a reference toGeneral Dreykov of the Red Room,played byRay WinstoneinBlack Widow. We then see how Fury and “Priscilla” initiated their romance over a cup of coffee. Back to the present, Fury makes breakfast while watching TV pundit Chris Stearns (Christopher McDonald), secretly a member of the Skrull Council. Priscilla makes coffee, and they get to talking about how it’s been years since Fury came home. She asks Fury why he’s back after all this time. He tells her that he’s retired now, and he’s thinking of picking up a new hobby: revenge.
Fury asks Priscilla if she’s been in touch with Gravik, implying that he suspects her of being part of the rebellion. She evades the question and through their conversation, we find out that she survived the Snap and mourned him until he returned in the Blip. But after that, instead of staying with her, he chose to run away to space. She then gets a cryptic phone call. Priscilla tells Fury it wasn’t important, but he still has his suspicions. Back at New Skrullos, Gravik’s starting to get suspicious too, as he wakesG’iah (Emilia Clarke)and confronts her about how the police found their safe house. She tells him Brogan (Ben Peel) obviously cracked under torture. Gravik isn’t so easily fooled, but he lets it go for the time being.
Talos and Gravik Meet in ‘Secret Invasion’ Episode 3
The next day, Gravik and G’iah fly to London, where Gravik reveals he is going to be meeting withTalos (Ben Mendelsohn)for a parley to talk about her. While they are on the way to the meeting place, Gravik answers a call saying “The UN plane will be at Neptune’s coordinates, 2200 hours.” Gravik then meets Talos at the London Portrait Museum, delivering a speech about generals and soldiers. They move to a café, where Gravik goads Talos and the older Skrull suggests an “honor meeting,” presumably a form of Skrull trial by combat using knives. Gravik dismisses the idea and continues to push Talos’ buttons, bringing up the fact that G’iah is with him. Talos attacks Gravik, only for all the other people in the café to reveal themselves as Skrull rebels.
Realizing he’s surrounded, Talos tries to tell Gravik that humans are at their most formidable when facing a common foe. What’s more, Talos plans on exposing the Skrulls, eliminating the element of surprise and taking out their advantage. Once Gravik brings up G’iah again, Talos stabs Gravik’s hand with a knife and chokes him, telling the rebel general to keep his daughter’s name out of his mouth. He then walks away, leaving Gravik to sullenly heal his injured hand (with what could either be normal Skrull healing or some form ofExtremis). Outside, G’iah, in the form of an old man, bumps into Talos and gives him a phone, handing him the details of the planned strike.
Later, Fury finds Talos and tells him that he’s found a lead on a Skrull placed high up in the US government who is in London (possibly Rhodey). Talos is still mad at Fury after their argument in Episode 2 and tells him that he no longer works for him. So if Fury wants something, he has to ask for Talos' help. Begrudgingly, Fury concedes, and the two leave together. Talos gives Fury the intel from G’iah and Fury identifies Neptune as a British sub. He then callsSonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman), who has now discovered the camera he left in her office. She tells him off for spying on her but still gives him the name and address of the submarine’s commander, Commodore Robert Fairbanks, whom Fury calls “Bob.”
Fury and Talos Try to Prevent World War III in ‘Secret Invasion’ Episode 3
On the way to Bob’s house in Portsmouth,Fury and Talos get into another argumentabout how Fury undervalues Talos' contributions. Talos tells Fury that if it wasn’t for him and the other Skrulls, Fury would never have become the world’s top spy. Once again, the chemistry between these two characters is a delight as they bicker like old friends. They reach Bob’s house and infiltrate it, with Talos going ahead and Fury killing some Skrull guards before following him. Over the comms, Talos tells Fury that he’s captured Bob, but it’s really Bob who has Talos at gunpoint and is trying to lure Fury into a trap. However, Fury has Bob’s son and forces the rebel to let Talos go. Coincidentally, Fury knew it was a trap because “Talos” called him Nick, and in Fury’s words, “Nobody calls me Nick, Bob.”
At the same time, the submarine is getting into position, and they have already received the command to fire on the UN flight, with Pagon undercover on the ship to ensure things go according to plan. As they prepare to fire, Fury and Talos question Bob, who refuses to give them the code to abort the mission. He also reveals that Gravik had offered Talos a partnership, which Talos refused. Bob brings up G’iah, which prompts Talos to shoot and kill him. With time running out, Talos calls G’iah and has her find the code from the memories of the real Commodore Fairbanks. But to do that, she is forced to blow her cover. The code turns out to be the name of Bob’s son, and Talos manages to give the command in time to stop the strike, finally giving Fury a much-needed win. The launch is aborted and Pagon is captured.
Now that her cover is blown, G’iah runs from New Skrullos. As Fury and Talos remove the dead Skrull’s body, Fury asks Talos why he didn’t take Gravik’s deal. Talos tells Fury that despite thirty years together, Fury still doesn’t know him. He tells him that he’s not with Gravik because he is with Fury, revealing that despite all the things Fury has done, Talos still trusts him. Just as G’iah is leaving the Skrull compound, she is intercepted by Gravik. In a surprise twist, he reveals that the strike was a decoy that he used to root out the traitor. Gravik then shoots G’iah, giving us our second major death afterMaria Hill (Cobie Smulders). Back at the Fury residence, Priscilla/Varra gets a message and leaves, heading to a bank where she retrieves a safe deposit box. Inside it is a gun. She then gets a call from an unknown person (who sounds a lot like Rhodey), which reveals that she’s working for Gravik, just as Fury suspected.
