Will G’iah return to the MCU after ‘Secret Invasion?’

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode three.

The title of the third episode of Secret Invasion is called “Betrayed,” and that feels like a neat summation of how Marvel fans have felt with every new installment of the Disney Plus series that has gone by. The series opener kicked off as it meant to begin with the apparent death of Everett Ross (he was a Skrull, sure, but the real one has yet to reappear) and then came the shocking demise of Maria Hill.

Episode two gave us a bit of a reprieve, even if it turned Rhodey into a villain, and now episode three is at it again thanks to a heartbreaking scene involving perhaps the most exciting new addition of the whole show. Goodbye, G’iah, we hardly knew you… At least, that’s how it appears. Yes, Emilia Clarke’s Skrull double agent — who has been helping Nick Fury and her father, Talos, from within Gravik’s camp — had her duplicity outed and was apparently shot dead by Gravik for her troubles.

This very much appears to imply, then, that Clarke is already out of the picture just three weeks into what promised to be a long and fruitful MCU career. But is that what’s actually happening here?

Is G’iah really dead in Secret Invasion? Or could Emilia Clarke still return?

As this is the Marvel universe, we’re primed never to fully buy it whenever someone dies, but to Secret Invasion‘s credit, its first three episodes have yet to undo any of the show’s deaths — even if we all suspect Maria will be back in play by the time of The Marvels. Still, a single shot to the chest is nothing in MCU terms. G’iah may well have foreseen Gravik chasing after her and have planned to fake her death, either with a garden-variety fake blood pellet or by some other more alien means.

Again, though, SI does seem committed to killing characters off for real. Nevertheless, the very fact that G’iah was wearing a human disguise offers an alternate way for Emilia Clarke to return to the MCU. The trailers have confirmed we’ll get more scenes of Clarke in action, which may just be flashbacks or perhaps a sign that G’iah didn’t die after all. Or… They are the human G’iah was copying. And, if you believe the rumors, that could be S.W.O.R.D. agent Abigail Brand.

If Clarke does transition into the role of Brand, that certainly opens the doors for her to remain in the MCU for a long time yet. Although, now that fans have got attached to the character of G’iah, we don’t necessarily want this to come at the cost of her death. But wait, what if Marvel plans to keep Clarke around in both roles? That would explain why she’s so loyal to the MCU brand — pun intended — these days.

Secret Invasion continues Wednesdays on Disney Plus.