‘Marvel’s Iron Fist’: That WTF Season 2 Finale Explained

So. Wow. Uh, so that happened!

Netflix’s Marvel shows are no stranger to big WTF endings. That’s when we find out who dies, who really didn’t die, who has powers now, or who might just go evil. But even as part of a franchise that’s mastered the art of the cliffhanger, Marvel’s Iron Fist Season 2 delivered a finale that really delivered big, fist-pumping, head-scratching, wowzer moments. These are moments that beg discussion and explanation, because again, wow, that happened. Across its lean 10-episode sophomore season, Iron Fist set up a lot of story arcs that were paid off in major ways in the season finale involving all the major players. We gotta break all these down, character by character.

Needless to say, but SUPER SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT.

So, what exactly happened with Misty Knight?

Misty (Simone Missick) spent the season wrestling with whether or not to accept the police captain’s gig she was offered back in the Luke Cage Season 2 finale. Okay, she really spent the season wrestling with deadly tattoo artists and one deranged mercenary. Still, the captain’s gig! She decides to turn it down, realizing that she does not need to be stuck behind a desk. She also knows that Luke Cage (the new kingpin of crime in Harlem, but in a benevolent way) might be heading towards trouble and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) now has the only thing–an iron fist–that’s been known to knock him out. Misty says that “Knightwing” has a nice ring to it, unknowingly coining the name of their detective agency in the comics. Misty leaves Colleen with a goodbye hug and a promise to call.

And what about Mary Walker?

Joy Meachum’s personal mercenary/assassin/bodyguard (played by Alice Eve) found out something so unsettling that it rattled her cage. It turns out that Mary Walker has more than just two personalities. In addition to the bubbly Mary and the deadly Walker, there’s also a third personality–one so scary it even frightens Mary. It turns out that this mysterious alter is the one that broke Mary out of a Sokovian army prison years earlier, leaving nothing but a “bloody mess.” “Bloody” is the key word, as Mary’s third personality in the comics is a vicious psychopath that goes by the name Bloody Mary. If Alice Eve comes back for another season, we might see her play someone even scarier.

Big question: what happened to Colleen Wing?!

Uh, the show totally did the one thing fans–and Decider’s own Meghan O’Keefe–have been waiting to happen from day one: they made Colleen Iron Fist!

Over the course of the last two episodes of Season 2, Danny Rand (Finn Jones) and Colleen Wing came to two big revelations. Rand realized that his whole reason for living has been having the Iron Fist. He doesn’t have a direction or even an identity without it, and he even became addicted to its power. Colleen, on the other hand, ran away from her martial arts skills after finding out they came from the evil Hand organization (that was Season 1’s big twist). But with the misguided Davos running around putting the power of the fist through everyone, they had to put that power somewhere. Danny decided it should be Colleen and, after a lot of thinking about her power and responsibility, Colleen accepted. She then found out that her ancestor may be the Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay, the first ever female Iron Fist. Season 2 ends with a flashforward months later and we see Colleen acting as New York City’s presumably primary protector. Danny’s gone, and now Colleen is Iron Fist, even channeling her chi through her fist and into her sword!

This is a major step forward for Colleen, not only as a hero but as a character in pop culture. Since her debut in 1974, Colleen’s always operated in the shadow of Iron Fist and Misty Knight. She’s never had superpowers, and she’s definitely never been Iron Fist. This move not only elevates her profile in the Marvel TV landscape, but it could very well lead to her comic counterpart getting some much needed attention. This is a big deal.

Bigger question: WTF is up with Danny Rand?!

Where to even begin? After giving up the Iron Fist and amicably splitting from Colleen, Danny decided to set out to Asia to uncover the true history of the Iron Fist. After all, someone shipped the corpse of an old Iron Fist to Davos. Who had their hands on a mystical warrior corpse–and who knew how to ship a package that large internationally?! Having nothing else going on, the equally lost Ward Meachum (Tom Pelphrey) decides to tag along with his lifelong best bud on this globetrotting adventure. Flashforward a few months and shit has changed.

Danny and Ward have followed a trail to Japan and are finally sitting at a bar with an employee of the mystery man that sent Davos that corpse, a mystery man named Orson Randall. We learn that along the way to Japan, Danny stole a pair of pistols belonging to Randall–pistols that can channel Danny’s double-fisted chi into a bullet! A chi bullet?!

And that’s where we leave the season, with Danny Rand back in possession of the Iron Fist (two fists, mind you) and a pair of pistols that pack a mystical punch. This is absolutely bonkers but brace yourselves, because it comes right from the comics.

This all has to do with Orson Randall. Introduced in Immortal Iron Fist #1 published in January 2007, Randall was the wielder of the Iron Fist during World War I. But the events of that war, seeing the catastrophic death toll and messed up with survivor’s guilt, pushed Randall to pacifism. He refused to fight in K’un-Lun’s Tournament of the Heavenly Cities (think of it as a cross-dimensional martial arts Olympics that happens even more infrequently) which led to him ditching the city and his role as Iron Fist. Later he took a scrappy kid under his wing, a kid named Wendell. Wendell would grow up to take the last name Rand and then have a son… named Daniel. Yep, Orson Randall is Danny Rand’s quasi-grandfather–at least in the comics.

Now about those Iron Fist guns: they’re also from the comics! When modern-day Orson teams up with adult Danny (oh yeah–Orson has a super long lifespan!) in that Immortal Iron Fist story, he reveals that he knows–I kid you not–gun-fu. He’s able to channel his chi through weapons, enhancing them.

Looking ahead to Season 3, it looks like the show is moving away from the ’70s comics that heavily influenced the first two season and towards more modern sources of inspiration. After all, Orson Randall debuted in 2007! If that’s the case, things could get a lot more mystical and a lot more creepy in Season 3. Are you ready to meet The Bride of Nine Spiders?!

Watch Marvel's Iron Fist Season 2 Episode 10 "A Duel of Iron" on Netflix