Summary
Back in Wakanda, T’Challa meets with Zuri in the heart-shaped herb cave, asking about Killmonger’s ring. T’Challa notes that the ring is identical to one he possesses and demands that Zuri explain who Killmonger could be. Zuri is initially reluctant, but eventually is coaxed into recounting the events in Oakland in 1992. We have already seen some of this, but Zuri completes the story in flashback. Still in the Oakland apartment, N’Jobu rails against T’Chaka for failing to understand the plight of African Americans and black people around the world. N’Jobu explains his intentions to arm oppressed black people with Wakanda’s vibranium technology and initiate global rebellion against oppressive governments. T’Chaka remains unmoved by these declarations and commands N’Jobu to return to Wakanda with him to face trial for assisting Klaue’s attack. N’Jobu pulls a gun on Zuri (in the past) and T’Chaka kills N’Jobu in response. Back in the present, Zuri continues to explain that N’Jobu had fathered a child with an African American woman and that T’Chaka had decided to leave the child in America to maintain the secret of N’Jobu’s betrayal and killing. The film briefly cuts back to Oakland, showing one of the children in the basketball court looking up at the apartment building. T’Challa is silent but clearly horrified by Zuri’s revelations.
Killmonger arrives at the border of Wakanda carrying a bodybag. He is greeted by Wakandan security led by W’Kabi, who asks what is in the bag. Killmonger opens the bad to reveal the deceased body of Klaue, claiming that the body is a gift. He pulls open his lip to reveal his Wakandan brand. W’Kabi asks who he is in Xhosa.
Ross wakes up in Shuri’s lab, his wounds apparently healed. He is soon greeted by Shuri, who recounts Ross’s military history as a former air force pilot before he can properly introduce himself. Shuri goes on to show Ross examples of the vibranium based technology she has developed, such as an underground train system, stabilizers which allow vibranium to be transported safely, and of course the medical technology that saved Ross’s life. He is astounded at the speed of his recovery, but before he can ask Shuri any more questions, Okoye comes in and asks after T’Challa. Shuri says he has turned off his tracking device and that she does not know where he is. Okoye announces that an unidentified Wakandan (Killmonger) has arrived at the border with Klaue’s body and that W’Kabi is taking him to the palace. Despite Killmonger’s brand, Shuri can find no information about him in her database, but Ross recognizes Killmonger and informs them that he is an American.
Meanwhile, T’Challa and Nakia are sitting and conversing on a cliffside somewhere in Wakanda. He has just finished telling her Zuri’s story about N’Jobu. T’Challa is clearly shaken by the revelations and questions whether his father was as good a man as he previously believed. Nakia first tries to reason that everyone makes mistakes, but when T’Challa is unmoved she impresses on him that he is not destined to be the same kind of man or king as his father. T’Challa is slightly more convinced by these words, but before they can converse further he is contacted by Shuri and told to return at once.
T’Challa arrives in Shuri’s lab and Ross details Killmonger’s military history in the United States. His name is Erik Stevens, a Navy SEAL with a prestigious academic and combat resume. He is nicknamed “Killmonger” for the incredible number of people he has killed in his career. Now he works in Black Ops, attacking and subverting foreign governments at moments of vulnerability, which Ross suspects is what Killmonger is attempting to do to Wakanda. Shuri notes that Killmonger’s brand acts as an ID for Wakanda’s War Dogs, but she cannot find him in the country’s database.
The council gathers in the throne room and W’Kabi brings Killmonger before them. Killmonger is handcuffed but looks relaxed, walking with confidence and poise. T’Challa maintains a mostly blank expression but seems tight and nervous. A council member asks Killmonger why he has come and he responds that he wanted to bring Klaue to justice, taunting T’Challa for his failure to do the same. T’Challa gets up to face Killmonger up close, striding across the room with intensity and the Dora Milaje converging around the two of them. T’Challa whispers he would kill Killmonger if not for the fact that T’Challa knows his true identity. He asks again what Killmonger wants. Killmonger answers that he wants the throne. The council laughs, chattering among themselves. Killmonger accuses the council of ignoring the plight of black people around the world, asserting that vibranium technology could help liberate them. T’Challa responds that it would be a massive abuse of Wakanda’s power to wage war on the world with its vibranium technology. Ramonda, growing impatient, asks T’Challa to send Killmonger away. Killmonger asks her to ask what his name is. At this point Shuri arrives and identifies Killmonger as Erik Stevens, going on to summarize his American military background. Killmonger, almost smirking, replies that Erik Stevens isn’t his name. He again asks T’Challa to ask his name. T’Challa refuses. Killmonger asks again. T’Challa orders that he be taken away and turns his back on Killmonger. Just as the guards grab Killmonger to take him away he yells, in Xhosa, that his name is N’Jadaka and that he is the son of N’Jobu. The music rises dramatically and the council yells in shock. Now angry, Killmonger reveals that T’Chaka killed N’Jobu and challenges T’Challa to a battle for the throne in accordance with his right as a member of the royal family. Ramonda angrily denies both of these declarations, but W’Kabi produces the ring from before, proving that Killmonger is N’Jobu’s son. Some on the council reluctantly concede that Killmonger has the right to challenge T’Challa, and the latter accepts Killmonger's challenge.
The council gathers at the same challenge site from before, with Killmonger, T’Challa, and Zuri in the pool. Zuri gives T’Challa another potion to strip him of the Black Panther’s power while Killmonger paces impatiently. T’Challa rises to his feet and offers Killmonger one last chance to resolve their differences peacefully. Killmonger explains that he has trained his entire life for this chance to take the throne and that there is no way to avoid this challenge. He takes off his shirt and breaks a spear in half to hold a weapon in each hand instead of a two-handed weapon. They begin the fight, Killmonger’s more aggressive attacks thwarted by T’Challa’s defensive prowess. Killmonger uses the full range of his athleticism to press T’Challa, taking long and powerful swings. He overcommits on one such attack and T’Challa throws him to the ground, screaming that Killmonger should yield. Killmonger gets back up and starts attacking more intelligently. He gets in close and slashes at T’Challa, leaving small wounds that slowly drain T’Challa’s energy. As Killmonger gains more of an advantage, Ramonda and Shuri grow more nervous, yelling increasingly hysterical words of encouragement to T’Challa. Finally, taking advantage of T’Challa’s slowness, Killmonger finds an opening and plunges his spear into T’Challa’s chest. He beats T’Challa into the ground and prepares to land a killing blow, saying “this is for my father.” Zuri blocks the attack, saying that he is in fact responsible for N’Jobu’s death and implores Killmonger to kill him and spare T’Challa. Killmonger recognizes Zuri as “Uncle James” and kills him, saying he will kill both Zuri and T’Challa. The onlookers scream in horror and a hobbled T’Challa flails his weapon at Killmonger without coming close to contact. Killmonger begins taunting T’Challa, yelling “Is this your king?!” repeatedly at the onlookers as T’Challa crawls around the pool. One of the Dora Milaje asks Okoye if there is any way they can intervene, Okoye only grimaces in response. Killmonger resumes beating T’Challa, finally picking him up and throwing him off the edge of the waterfall. The camera follows T’Challa’s body all the way down, when it hits the water we cut back to Ramonda and Shuri screaming as the music swells. Nakia quickly shepherds them away and one of the council members crowns Killmonger with the fang necklace. Okoye and the Dora Milaje salute Killmonger as new king of Wakanda.
Analysis
Zuri’s recounting of the events in Oakland fill the remaining gaps of that scene and also finally puncture several of the preconceptions that we and T’Challa have held about T’Chaka and Wakanda. N’Jobu summarizes the myriad injustices faced by African Americans, from unfair policing to assassination of political leaders to communities neglected as they fall prey to drug addiction and gun violence. He has clearly become disillusioned with Wakanda and believes that the secrecy which ostensibly keeps Wakanda safe is in fact a poor excuse for not using its considerable resources to help black people around the world. When Zuri explains the reasoning behind covering up N’Jobu’s death and leaving behind Killmonger, it becomes clear that these choices were not made because they were right or fair but because they protected T’Chaka’s reputation as a wise and just king. By extension, we are meant to infer that the entire country’s self-mythology is flawed and in need of reconsideration. When T’Challa learns this information, he too begins to wonder whether his idolization of his father was well-founded or if Wakanda’s detractors and anti-traditionalists are actually right. However, T’Challa’s conversation with Nakia begin to turn his horror into catharsis, as she emphasizes that these revelations need not define him and that he has the choice to rule in a way he feels is right. This brings us yet another step closer to T’Challa’s realization that he must change the ways of Wakanda in the modern world.
The throne room scene is a study in contrasts. It’s the first time we have seen T’Challa and Killmonger together, and the first time Killmonger has even meaningfully interacted with any Wakandans. Killmonger’s brash and aggressive manner of speech sticks out among the slow and deliberate voices of the council, as does his use of a distinctly African-American dialect (“Hey Auntie”). We can tell very early that the council does not take him seriously, perhaps in part because of his manner and speech, as well as his initially ridiculous-sounding proclamation of his desire for the throne. The mood changes entirely when he begins speaking in Xhosa and reveals his true identity. The council members are suddenly much more attentive and engaged in the conversation, partly because of the shocking information that Killmonger has revealed, but also because of the change in language. By speaking their language, Killmonger implicitly informs them that he is one of them and must be taken seriously. The council’s change in attitude from when they saw him as “only” an African-American to when they saw him as Wakandan is very revealing about their views of non-Wakandan black people and perhaps also of the reasons for their isolationist policy.
The ritual combat between Killmonger and T’Challa is an even more profound physical character study of the two men than the battle between T’Challa and M’Baku. Even before the battle, T’Challa is very still and stands on ceremony while Killmonger impatiently paces back and forth. Killmonger breaks a spear in half to better suit his combat style, another symbol of his disregard for the traditions and structures of society. During the battle, Killmonger’s choreography shows him to be flamboyant and aggressive, but also smart and adaptive. His moves in the first round are athletically impressive but ineffective. What wins him the battle is his tactical adjustment to weaken T’Challa with small blows before going in for the kill. Like in the museum heist, we see that despite his flamboyance, Killmonger is gifted with a precise and brilliant mind. But he is also a gifted performer: as T’Challa crawls, wounded, around the pool, Killmonger sees fit to play to the crowd his taunts and jeers. It is important to him not only that he defeat T’Challa but also shatter the myth of T’Challa as a strong king. T’Challa is beaten and humbled. There is no cheering crowd, no veneer of ceremony or tradition. Killmonger has broken Wakanda’s traditional ways just as surely as he has broken T’Challa.
