Infinity War: Part Three

"Infinity War: Part Three" is the sixteenth and finale episode of the first season of Black Panther, and the sixteenth episode overall. It aired on April 16, 2020.

The episode is the third part of the three-part crossover, Infinity War​.

Synopsis
Thanos puts the final pieces of his plan into action, as the Soul Stone is near his grasp. Meanwhile, Captain America leads his team to Wakanda, where T'Challa readies their defense against Thanos. And, heading to Titan, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange work together to overpower their enemies.

Starring

 * Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther
 * Mehcad Brooks (credit only)
 * Skye P. Marshall (credit only)
 * Danai Gurira as Okoye
 * Martin Freeman (credit only)
 * Letitia Wright as Shuri
 * Jesse L. Martin (credit only)
 * John Boyega (credit only)
 * Andy Serkis (credit only)
 * Angela Bassett (credit only)

Special guest stars

 * Matt Bomer as Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Justin Hartley as Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor
 * Matthew Gray Gubler as Bruce Banner/Hulk
 * Odette Annable as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * Sterling K. Brown as James Rhodes/War Machine
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange
 * Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
 * Paul Bettany as Vision
 * Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
 * Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon
 * Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
 * Pom Klementieff as Mantis
 * Karen Gillan as Nebula
 * Dave Bautista as Drax
 * Zoe Saldana as Gamora
 * Vin Diesel as Groot
 * Bradley Cooper as Rocket
 * Josh Brolin as Thanos
 * Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord

Guest starring

 * Eitri
 * Winston Duke as M'Baku
 * Ross Marquand as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull
 * Terry Notary as Cull Obsidian
 * Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Ebony Maw
 * Carrie Coon as Proxima Midnight
 * Michael James Shaw as Corvus Glaive
 * Florence Kasumba as Ayo
 * Kerry Condon as F.R.I.D.A.Y.

Uncredited

 * Laurence Fishburne as Nick Fury
 * Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill

Plot
In Ebony Maw's Q-Ship, Stark and Parker successfully rescue Strange by blowing a hole in the ship's hull, fatally shooting Ebony Maw into space. While Strange advocates returning to Earth, Stark suggests keeping the course set on Titan in an effort to keep an element of surprise over Thanos. Strange agrees but warns Stark that he will have to protect the Time Stone, even if it means sacrificing him or Parker.

On the Sanctuary II, Gamora tells Thanos that she doesn't know the location of the Soul Stone and calls her adoptive father insane for planning to exterminate half of all life in the universe, though Thanos insists on the righteousness of his ultimate desire for "perfect balance". He informs Gamora that her home planet Zen-Whoberi has been thriving since he eradicated half of its population. As Thanos needs the Soul Stone to fulfill his goal, he reveals that Nebula is his prisoner. Thanos tortures Nebula in front of Gamora, slowly pulling her body apart. Unable to bear it, Gamora reveals that the Soul Stone is hidden on Vormir.

Meanwhile, Thor, Rocket Raccoon and Groot land in Nidavellir, where the forges have gone frozen and dark. They encounter Eitri, now the only remaining Dwarf on the forge, and he explains that Thanos ordered him to craft the Infinity Gauntlet, crippling the Dwarf afterward so he could never forge anything else. However, Thor convinces Eitri that, working together, they have the power to defeat Thanos. In order to do so, they plan on crafting a new weapon for Thor - Stormbreaker, a weapon that can summon the power of the Bifrost. On Sanctuary II, Nebula manages to free herself and send a message to the Guardians of the Galaxy, imploring them using an important message recorder to meet her on Titan.

Stark, Strange and Parker barely manage to land the Q-Ship on Titan's surface, where they are immediately ambushed by the Guardians, who have mistaken them for Thanos' minions. After a few tense moments where Quill believes Stark and his companions to be in league with Thanos, they all agree to work together. While the rest of the group tries to devise a plan, Strange uses the Time Stone to look into alternate futures. He then reports to his allies: out of the fourteen million six hundred and five visions of the future that he foresaw, they were victorious in only one alone.

Thanos and Gamora teleport to Vormir, where they are greeted by Red Skull, now acting as a keeper for the Soul Stone. Schmidt tells Thanos that he must sacrifice what he loves the most in order to obtain the stone. Gamora is sadly amused, as she believes that Thanos does not love anyone or anything, making him incapable of completing the sacrifice or fulfilling his plans. When she sees that he is crying, she is incredulous at first. Schmidt tells her he isn't weeping for himself, but for her. Thanos sacrifices his daughter by throwing her from the cliff to her death and later awakes in possession of the Soul Stone.

Meanwhile, the Avengers take Vision to Wakanda, where they are greeted by T'Challa and Barnes. They ask Shuri if she can safely extract the Mind Stone from Vision and she confirms that she can, but that it will take some time. Maximoff is ordered to stand by at the operation table, ready to destroy the stone once it's free. Moments later, massive drop ships land outside of Wakanda's protective energy dome. Meanwhile, Thor and Rocket successfully revive the star core of Nidavellir, but due to the mechanisms of the forge being damaged, Thor is forced to risk his life, using his own body to hold the forge's iris open.

As massive armies of Outriders led by Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian arrive in Wakanda, T'Challa gathers Dora Milaje, Wakandan Royal Guard, the Border Tribe and the Jabari Tribe led by M'Baku, accompanied by Rogers, Barnes, Wilson, Rhodes, Romanoff and Banner using a suit of Hulkbuster armor, to meet them, hoping to buy Shuri enough time to complete her work. At first, the Outriders blindly throw themselves against the protective energy dome surrounding Wakanda, with many perishing against the dome's surface and only a few actually making it through.

However, once the Outriders begin to move around the edge of the dome, Banner alerts the team that the beasts could potentially flank them, gaining a clear path to Vision. T'Challa decides to partly open the barrier in an effort to keep the enemies in front of them. The strategy is effective, but at the cost of massive hordes of Outriders suddenly invading Wakanda, quickly starting a fierce battle.

While Thor and Rocket are able to break the ice that immobilizes the rings of Nidavellir's forge, the mechanism that focuses the neutron star's power are damaged. Thor exposes himself to the full power of the star, giving the forge enough time to melt the special metal needed to craft Stormbreaker. Thor is left near death, and while Eitri successfully molded the metal, the axe's handle cannot be found. Groot sacrifices his left arm for the weapon's handle, activating its powers and reviving Thor.

Although they are able to take down many of hostiles, the Avengers and Wakandan armies are quickly outnumbered and overrun by the Outriders. However, Thor arrives via Bifrost with Rocket and Groot, using Stormbreaker to turn the battle in favor of the defenders of Earth.

Thanos arrives on Titan and is greeted by Strange. During a brief conversation with Strange, he reveals that Titan was his home and that overpopulation led it to ruin. Thanos had suggested that half the population be killed at random to save the planet, a suggestion which was obviously seen as insane. Thanos now believes himself to be merciful as he plans to simply snap his fingers after acquiring all six Infinity Stones and cause half the universe's population to cease to exist without causing much pain, after which Thanos plans on simply resting.

Nevertheless, they engage Thanos in an intense battle but Thanos single-handedly repels the assaults of the Avengers, the Guardians, and Strange until Nebula arrives and distracts him. Eventually Strange, Parker and Drax manage to pin down Thanos' limbs while Mantis uses her powers to put him to sleep. Although she fails and he remains half-conscious, he is still weakened enough that he is totally incapacitated allowing Stark to try and force the Gauntlet off Thanos' hand. However, when Nebula deduces that Thanos has killed Gamora, Quill becomes enraged and attacks the Mad Titan, causing him to regain consciousness just as the Gauntlet was about to be taken off.

The fight turns decisively in Thanos' favor as he unleashes the full might of the Infinity Stones upon his attackers, swiftly repelling them all. Thanos then confronts and overpowers Strange but realizes that Strange never used the Time Stone in the fight because Strange hid it. Before he can try to locate it, Iron Man attacks him, but is quickly outmatched and seriously wounded when Thanos stabs him in the stomach. As Thanos prepares to execute Stark, Strange agrees to hand over the Time Stone to Thanos in exchange for Stark being spared. Thanos agrees and inserts the Stone into the Gauntlet and departs to retrieve the last Stone. Stark asks Strange why he would sacrifice the Time Stone just to save him. Strange insists it was 'the only way'.

In Wakanda, the Black Order launches Threshers, massive siege weapons which lay waste on the battlefield, prompting Maximoff to join and save Romanoff and Okoye. However, what no one has realized is that Corvus Glaive has successfully infiltrated the lab where he knocks out Shuri and her guards before the extraction of the Mind Stone can be completed. Glaive then attempts to take the Mind Stone from Vision who flees on to the battlefield and attempts to fight back, but Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian overpower him.

Banner arrives and manages to kill Cull Obsidian despite still being unable to turn into Hulk while Rogers fights against Corvus Glaive. Meanwhile, despite holding her own against the combined forces of Maximoff, Romanoff and Okoye, Proxima Midnight is killed as well when Maximoff forces her into the path of a Thresher. Rogers is defeated, but Vision stabs Corvus Glaive with his own weapon from behind, killing him. With the Black Order defeated and the Outriders routed by Thor, the Avengers seem victorious.

However, Thanos teleports to Wakanda as well to obtain the Mind Stone. All the Avengers, Okoye, T'Challa, and Groot gather to defend Vision, but Thanos effortlessly defeats them one by one, including Rogers, who is briefly able to hold back Thanos, much to the Titan's surprise. Realizing that they have no other choice, Vision asks Maximoff to destroy the Mind Stone herself, which will likely kill Vision.

She reluctantly agrees and successfully shatters the Mind Stone moments before Thanos can get it, vaporizing both it and Vision. However, Thanos uses the power of the Time Stone to reverse time and restores both Vision and the Mind Stone, which he rips off the Mind Stone from Vision's skull, killing him for good. Having finally gathered all six Infinity Stones, Thanos prepares to execute his plan, but Thor arrives and catches Thanos off guard, unleashing his full power and the full might of Stormbreaker upon the Titan in a last-minute attempt to stop him, severely wounding Thanos as Stormbreaker buries itself in his chest.

However, Thanos survives the attack. He mocks Thor for not having hit him in the head and snaps his fingers in the Gauntlet, completing his plan. Thanos is momentarily transported into the Soulworld, where he sees a younger Gamora, who asks what the cost of achieving his goal was. Sadly, Thanos admits that it has cost him "everything".

Thanos then returns to the real world, with the Gauntlet now mangled from the massive amount of energy used, and Thor furiously questions Thanos about what he did as a rumble can be heard throughout the universe. Thanos simply smirks at him and teleports away. As Thor is left to wonder what the outcome will be, Barnes suddenly turns to ash in front of Rogers. The effects of the snap manifest: half of the Wakandan army disintegrates as does T'Challa, Groot, Maximoff, and Wilson, leaving the survivors, regrouping around Vision's body, to look in horror and unable to do anything but accept defeat.

On Titan, Mantis, Drax and Quill vanish, along with Strange, who tells Stark that there was "no other way". Parker is the last to vanish and tearfully begs Stark not to let him go. While a traumatized Stark laments his failure, Nebula, the only other survivor, solemnly remarks that Thanos has achieved his goal. Thanos retires himself on a distant planet and rests while satisfactorily gazing out to the sunrise, considering his job done and smiling slightly at his triumph.

Nick Fury and Maria Hill are monitoring the battle in Wakanda when they witness the effects of the Snap: an SUV crashes in front of them and when Hill looks inside, the driver has vanished. A helicopter crashes into a nearby skyscraper, seemingly pilotless. When Hill turns to dust in front of him, Fury grabs an old-fashioned pager and prepares to send a distress signal. When he starts to vanish as well, Fury laments his death but manages to activate the Pager, which displays a star pattern with a blue and red background.