Ms. Marvel – Time and Again Review

Well, it appears I was correct in my guess as to just what Kamala was going to do during her journey to the past – help create the stars that would send Sana to her father, thus setting in motion her own future. A bit of a time travel paradox and all that, but still a really lovely moment. But what was even more lovely was that the series allowed Kamala to meet and interact with the elusive Aisha, as she lay dying from a stab wound courtesy of the villainous – although not irredeemable – Najma, helping connect Kamala even more to her family lineage and provide her with a key bit of knowledge that would allow her to save our world later in the episode: What really matters the most is family.

I suspect there might be some grumbling among MCU stalwarts at how low-stakes that “final battle” ultimately turned out to be (all the fighting happened last week, and this week it was more of an emotional fight than anything), but despite the lack of huge stakes, the episode felt just right for the story that Ms. Marvel is ultimately telling – one of generational love, conflict, and ultimately healing. Najma, the big bad of the series (well, the real villain – the DODC is just an all-purpose villain throughout the MCU in that it stops our local heroes from doing what they need to), sacrificed herself to ultimately save her son from certain death – a mother protecting her child. Aisha chose to confront Najma in the past, and then passed on her photo to Kamala, so that she could save her child. Waleed sacrificed himself last week to save Kareem, who might not be a blood son but certainly filled that place in his life. This has been a series focused on the ways in which parents protect their children, desiring to give them the best possible life and future they can. And when a story like that is wrapped within an immigrant narrative on top of the supernatural/magical elements, well, it really drives home the point pretty explicitly.

So yes, there was a minor apocalypse averted, but you know what? That was just a minor element of the series’ overall story. And as we slide into the finale next week, the major conflicts of the series are mostly solved: Kamala has delved into her family’s past to better understand her place in the present, three generations of women have put aside their past pain and come together in the here and now, the Clandestine threat is (for the moment – more on that in a bit) quelled, and Kamala has much better control over her powers – and a new ally that will likely come into play at some point in her future. All that remains is dealing with the lingering DODC threat and hopefully having Kamala mend her relationship with Nakia. Oh, and when I said the Clandestine threat was quelled – we still don’t know how Kamran is going to react to the news of his mother’s death, and the fact that Kamala was there when it went down. He could be crushed, but ultimately happy her final thoughts were of him, but the fact that his power comes directly through the veil worries me that Kamran doesn’t exactly have an easy path ahead of him – that, and the fact that he’s often portrayed as a villain in the Ms. Marvel comics rather than solely a good guy. I hope the series ends on a positive note for him and Kamala (and Bruno, whose name he now genuinely knows!), but I’m not super hopeful.

We know that our next confirmed outing with Kamala Khan will be in The Marvels, so perhaps the finale will include a visit from her hero? Or perhaps it will include an appearance from the Kree or Skrull, confirming that the bangle is, in fact, an alien artifact that is connected to much more than the Noor dimension (again, with the rather insular nature of the series, I wouldn’t be shocked if Marvel took the final episode as a chance to pull back and link Kamala and her powers to something larger than just a minor inter-dimensional incursion). But you know what? If they don’t, I think I’ll be just as satisfied as if they do. While this series has certainly been aimed more at a tween audience than us adults, I’ve enjoyed it so damn much that so long as they don’t break it too much in the final episode, I think I’ll be fully content.