A ‘Secret Invasion’ episode 4 scene is already becoming a whole lot more tragic with hindsight

Warning: the following article contains spoilers for episode four of Secret Invasion.

Secret Invasion has been brutal, with death plaguing the audience in almost every episode. Granted, the killings haven’t always been permanent, but as much as we’d love for Gravik’s latest victim to get back on his feet, things are looking good.

After we saw Emilia Clarke’s G’iah making use of her newly acquired powers in “Beloved,” her father took a dagger to the heart at the end of the episode, to the disappointment of fans. One would think that Talos being left for dead by Nick Fury after helping save the U.S. president’s life was the saddest part of the episode, but if we rewind the tape a bit, it becomes obvious that isn’t the case. The actual tragedy of episode four was the conversation Talos had with his daughter before it all went sideways, which ended with G’iah walking away from him over a disagreement.

Recalling that scene while knowing what fate has in store for Talos makes it all the more painful. All he wanted was for his daughter to remain by his side while he attempted to convince humans to see Skrulls as more than just the enemy. In the end, he got none of those things.

It’s clear that Talos’ demise will serve to further G’iah’s emotional arc over the season, but that’s about the only good thing to come out of it. This way, Secret Invasions inverses a long-standing trope in media, in which female characters are sacrificed for the development of a male character. G’iah will likely be haunted by how she left things with her dad, but now that he’s gone, all she can do is move forward with a renewed motivation to take down Gravik.

Secret Invasion will continue releasing new episodes every Wednesday on Disney Plus.