Sloth Baby Productions Presents: ‘Ms. Marvel’ Episode 5

“Two people fell in love and created something, something much bigger than either of them would have created alone.”

As a news report explains, this is a new era for India because the British have finally ended their rule over the country. With this happening, Pakistan has been demarcated for Muslims and an unprecedented migration has begun as people make their way across different borders. However, with these new shifts, violence and riots have broken out across the country as people flee, and to really understand what’s happening, we’ve got to go back to 1942.

That’s where we find Aisha running away from a British soldier. Finally gaining on him, she turns and throws a dagger square into his chest (So Aunt Ruby was right, she did once kill a man). Aisha arrives at a village center to find a man outside explaining to his neighbors that this is their home and if they have to fight for it, they’ll fight for it. His speech is interrupted by a bunch of soldiers who break up the crowd and send everyone home.

Aisha wanders away and eventually finds a field of roses to sleep in. She’s jolted awake by the same man from the village who politely asks her to stop sleeping on his roses. He asks if he can help her with anything, but Aisha is short with him, refusing any aid. However, he still offers her food and a place to sleep inside, inviting her into his home. Aisha hesitates, but that night she takes him up on his offer.

The man asks if Aisha has a name or if he should just call her “hungry.” When Aisha doesn’t respond, he presses more, remarking that he knows she’s not British and she’s not from this village so what is she doing here? When Aisha says she likes his roses, he launches into his favorite poem: “When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. What you seek is seeking you…” Something in Aisha changes, and she cuts him off and tells him her name, and he finally tells her his: Hasan.

Some time passes, and Aisha and Hasan are living together as a happy little family — with a baby on the way. When their child, Sana, is born, Aisha spends her time tending to the little one, and Hasan notes that their newborn looks at Aisha like she’s “magic.”

Time continues to pass and Sana begins to grow up, but considering all the changes happening around them in India, Hasan is nervous for the family’s future as Partition looms. When one of their neighbors stops by, Hasan’s emotions bubble over as he yells that their village is divided and no one will buy roses from him anymore or sell Aisha milk. As the neighbor leaves and Aisha shuts the door she spots a shadowy figure outside and she knows exactly who it is: Najma.

Outside, Najma is waiting for her and opens coolly with, “So, this is where you’ve been hiding.” Aisha is cautious, but Najma embraces her; now that they’re reunited, they can finally go home with the bangle. Hearing that, Aisha hesitates since this is now her home — with Hasan and Sana. Najma notices this pause and questions it, and Aisha explains that she hid the bangle for safekeeping and it’ll take some time to retrieve it. Seeing right through this, Najma informs Aisha that she has until sundown the following day to retrieve the bangle and then they will all go home as a family — together.

Panicked, Aisha knows she and her family has to flee. She tells Hasan that the riots are spreading and they’ve got to leave now because it’s too risky to stay with Sana. Hasan isn’t so sure about this, but Aisha is able to convince him otherwise. “We can take our memories with us, so long as we are together we can build a home together. What you seek is seeking you,” she tells him.

Aisha turns to Sana and gives her the bangle: “This will keep you safe wherever you go.”

En route to the train station, Hasan starts to struggle and asks for Aisha to slow down — and also asks her why they’re running away so quickly. Aisha decides to show him the bangle and what it can really do. “You always said I was magic,” she explains, as the bangle illuminates for Hasan. He wonders why she’s telling her this now and explains to Aisha that he doesn’t care what she’s running from. She chose him and Sana as her family, and that’s the only thing that matters.

Arriving at the train station it’s pure chaos as people struggle to get on board and say goodbye to loved ones. Moving through the tightly packed crowd, Aisha spots Najma behind them and realizes they’re not safe. She hands Sana over to Hasan and instructs him to get her on the train no matter what. Hasan doesn’t understand and calls after Aisha but it’s too late, she’s swallowed in the crowd; Sana immediately begins crying.

Aisha makes her way to Najma who knows what’s going on — Aisha and her family are trying to flee. “You’ve turned your back on us, your family, your people.” Najma pieces together that Aisha doesn’t have the bangle and stabs her in the stomach, “I’ll find it if it’s the last thing I do.”

Further along the train platform, Hasan tries to find space on the train for himself and Sana. That’s when he looks down at his daughter and realizes she’s gotten lost in the crowd. Trapped in a group of people, Sana begins crying out for her mother as the crowd grows more and more intense. Hearing the faint cries of her daughter, Aisha slumps against a wall, looking at a picture of her family, and whispers, “what you seek is seeking you,” calling on the bangle’s powers. With Aisha’s eyes glowing, a train whistle can be heard in the background and then two red Converse shoes appear. Kamala Khan has arrived on this same night.

Hurrying through the crowd herself, Kamala pushes by people trying to make sense of what’s happening. She spots Aisha and rushes over to her — “The bangle worked. Sana, it brought you back to me.” Kamala explains she’s not Sana, but that’s neither here nor there for Aisha now. “Get Sana on the train and protect that bangle. You have everything that you need.”

Through tears, Kamala cries that Aisha’s supposed to save Sana, just like in the story she’s heard so many times before. Aisha knows better, “She’s okay because you’re here,” and hands Kamala the photo of her family that she’s been clutching this whole time. Sadly, Aisha dies.

Kamala heads back into the crowd and finally spots tiny little Sana on the train platform. She picks up the little girl and tries to get through the crowd with her. Up ahead, Kamala can hear Hasan calling for Sana and that’s when Kamal realizes what she’s got to do. “I can’t do stars, but I can do circles,” she tells her little grandmother.

Placing Sana down on the ground, Kamala tells her they’re going to play a game, and starts making hard light circles for her to jump on. Seeing this, Sana stops her crying and excitedly jumps from one to another, moving through the crowd now with ease and making her way back to her father. Though Kamala can’t get her the last stretch of the way, the hard light particles — a trail of stars — lead her right back to Hasan. He knows what this is, this is Aisha’s magic.

Reunited, Sana jumps into her father’s arms as he takes one last look back at Pakistan and gets on the train.

“It was me,” Kamala whispers, knowing she’s been part of this story the whole time. The bangle begins to glow, and Kamala is brought back through time to the present day, arriving in the market where she left Kareem and Najma, who are still lying on the ground after the blow from the bangle. In front of them, the Veil has been opened emitting an intense power that will likely destroy everything around them.

(However, back at Sana’s house, Muneeba is freaking out because Kamala still isn’t home. Sana explains that once her dog ran away so she had him microchipped. Muneeba explains that if she could do that to her human child, she would, but she’ can’t. That’s when one of the cousins suggests that Muneeba just log into the “find my phone” setting to track Kamala. “Like spyware for adults?” Muneeba cries.)

With the veil open, the Clandestines try to pass through it but the force is too powerful and they’re disintegrated. Realizing that this is bad news, Kamala instructs Kareem to get everyone else out of the area while she tries to close it before it’s too late. But Najma doesn’t want to close it, she wants to try to go through it. Kamala reminds her that she has Kamran, but Najma knows she’s lost him; she left him behind.

“All Aisha wanted ever wanted was to be with her family, and you took that from her. Don’t take that from Kamran, too,” Kamala cries, but it’s no use. Najma knows that the only way to stop this now is to do it herself — she can close it. As she approaches the Veil and it overtakes her, with her dying breath she whispers, “Kamran.” Halfway around the world, Kamran feels this as the Noor sweeps over him. Though it kills her in the process, Najma closes the Veil.

This is the best and worst time for Muneeba and Sana to show up, rushing to Kamala. Embracing, Muneeba first makes sure her daughter is okay — and then spots Kareem. “Who is that?” She asks, always wary of boys.

Piecing everything together, Muneeba realizes that Kamala is that “light girl.” While she’s a little shocked and trying to process this new information, Sana is happy. “Our family is magical,” she tells everyone.

Muneeba still needs answers, and when Kamala hands Sana the photo from Aisha, she’s overcome with emotions and how it happened doesn’t even matter anymore. “Two people fell in love and created something, something much bigger than either of them would have created alone,” Sana tells them.

Before they go home, Kamala asks to go say goodbye to Kareem (and does so by using her hard light platforms to walk to him, much to the amazement and wonder of her mother and grandmother). She asks if he’ll be okay, and Kareem assures her he will be — and Waleed would be proud of her. He gives her his red dagger scarf, “just in case,” and tells her if she ever needs anything to call.

Leaving the market, Muneeba spots something on the ground and reaches down to pick up Kamala’s necklace. “It broke,” she says aloud, taking a closer look at the piece of jewelry: it’s now in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Back home at Sana’s, the three generations of women sit around and look at an old photo album. Kamala is shocked to see pictures of her mother, as Sana explains that Muneeba ran away from home once to follow Bon Jovi — Kamala can’t believe that her mother was once a rebellious daughter, too! Knowing she owes Kamala an explanation, she pulls her in for an embrace: “Your father and I had a lot of adventures. But I will tell you this, none of them have been as thrilling as being your mother. And recently if I have been holding on really tight to you, it’s because I am not ready to let you go.”

This stirs something in Sana, too, who apologizes to her own daughter that she didn’t hold her tight enough growing up. Muneeba is finally ready to let go of the resentment she’s been carrying for years, and apologizes, too, explaining that she simply couldn’t see what her mother her needed to see.

For Sana, this is all water under the bridge at this point. “Perhaps this was the journey I am intended to take, one that would bring me back to you.”

Halfway around the world, let’s check in at Circle Q. Bruno is outside taking the trash out when Kamran appears out of the shadows. He doesn’t know where else to go. Inside Bruno’s room, Kamran tries to relate to him (“So you’re a car guy as well?”) but it doesn’t go so well. They decide to restart their relationship, and that’s when Bruno tells him his name is Bruno and not Brian.

Bruno explains that they’ll spend the night here and then figure out what’s next tomorrow, but Kamran doesn’t like this plan. He knows his mother will come back for him, so he doesn’t want to go far. Okay, new plan, they’ll just stay here and figure things out in the morning. Bruno suggests getting dinner from the fridge when Kamran spots a drone hovering outside the window. As it scans him, Kamran realizes they’ve got to go because he’s been followed. He blasts the drone with his own hard light powers to Bruno’s shocked screams, “You have powers too?”

Kamran’s powers hit the drone sending it away from Bruno’s apartment…and causing it to fire a missile directly into the Circle Q below which explodes.