Recap: Kamala Comes Face to Face with the Queen of the Dead in Third Episode of "Marvel Zombies"

After things did not go so well for Zemo’s City on the Sea, the remaining survivors were left making their way to New Asgard to try and save the world at the end of the second episode of Marvel Zombies. It’s been a heartbreaking journey to this point, but things are finally starting to look up.

The episode opens with a look back at where we left off with our introduction to this universe back in the first season of What If…?, with Spider-Man, Black Panther and Scott Lang…’s head flying to Wakanda to save the world. Spider-Man provides narration as we see that this occurred five years ago.

As the group arrives in Wakanda, we can briefly see the familiar silhouette of the Watcher in the sky. Spider-Man explains that they were greeted by Zombie Thanos, who had five of the Infinity Stones. A fight ensues and we see that Thanos is not fully able to wield the power of the stones, but he is quickly learning how. Thor arrives with Rocket and Groot, just as he did in Avengers: Infinity War. However, Thanos blasts them with all the power of the stones, incinerating the two Guardians of the Galaxy and knocking out Thor.

Eventually, Thanos gets the Mind Stone, completing the Infinity Gauntlet. Black Panther sacrifices himself to save the universe by knocking Thanos into the vibranium core beneath Wakanda. The result is an explosion of Infinity energy. Spider-Man and Lang escape thanks to the help of the remaining sorcerers of Kamar Taj.

Now back in present day, we see that Spider-Man had been telling this story to children at Kamar Taj, but he is interrupted when Rintrah and two other sorcerers pull him and Lang away. The group discusses their upcoming battle with the Queen of the Dead, Wanda Maximoff. Rintrah explains that she has amassed an army big enough to march on Paris. Lang questions whether they are ready to fight and Rintrah assures him they are because they’re going to have some help.

Rintrah may look familiar. He showed up briefly in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Elsewhere, the escape pod washes up on a beach and Kamala’s group of survivors emerges. Red Guardian remains in the pod, broken after the loss of his daughter. Kamala goes back in and convinces him to keep fighting.

The group reaches the gates of New Asgard and a voice calls out to them, asking them to show their invitation. The familiar voice is revealed to be that of Valkyrie who informs the group they are not welcome. She leaps down to the group and threatens them in another effort to make them leave. Just in time, Khonshu emerges from Blade and demands the respect of the Asgardians. Val treats the moon god as an old friend and they share a laugh before she invites the group in.

As they make their way into New Asgard - which, in this universe, is inside a cliff - Val explains that her people came to Earth for refuge and instead found ruin. The Asgardians have essentially been living safely in a cave ever since. She leads the group to a great hall, where an army of Asgardians are feasting. Two of them invite Red Guardian to eat with them and he obliges.

Kamala notices Thor, who sits silently on a throne, looking broken. She tries to get to him but Val cuts her off. Kamala explains the plans for the transmitter and thinks Thor can help, but she insists he has no fight left in him. Val goes on to explain that the Queen of Sokovia is the one who provided the feast. The group is taken aback as Zemo explains that Sokovia has no queen. Remember, both he and Wanda are from Sokovia.

Wanda, looking like her living, non-zombified self,  arrives and the group immediately gets ready for a fight. All of the Asgardians stand to oppose them but Wanda calms things down. Kamala calls her the Queen of the Dead and Wanda explains that she was once infected, but she regained control of her powers enough to alter reality again, healing herself.

Wanda explains that she could use her abilities to heal the entire world, but someone is stopping her from doing so. When Kamala questions her, she explains that the Wakanda event released enough energy for her to reshape the world but someone is hoarding it for himself. Kamala realizes she has seen this being in her dream, the hulking figure from the nightmare she had just before Namor’s attack.

Wanda says she can’t defeat this being on her own, she needs an army of soldiers with the strength of gods. Just then, Kamala hears a cough and the Asgardians begin to get sick. Val accuses Wanda of betrayal and attacks her but Wanda stops her easily. She tries to wake Thor, but he doesn’t budge.

Kamala asks Wanda what she did and she reveals that all of the food everyone has been eating is actually pieces of zombies, which would infect everyone. The Asgardians begin to turn and Red Guardian realizes he will soon be joining them. Wanda tries to convince Kamala to join her so they can fix the world. She even admits she was never after the transmitter, she simply wanted Kamala the whole time.

A fight breaks out as the group tries to escape the zombie Asgardians. Zemo is killed by a zombie quickly. The zombies try to swarm Thor but Kamala saves him. He opens his eyes to see the group fighting, which draws his interest. Death Dealer is the next to fall at the hands of the zombies and Jimmy Woo isn’t far behind. Thor gets swarmed again and starts to hold the zombies off himself while the group tries to run.

They reach Val’s ship and rush onboard. Before they do though, Red Guardian finally turns into a zombie, forcing Kamala to push him away as the group escapes in the ship. Their victory is brief though as Wanda pulls them back down to the ground. The group notices some electricity before Thor arrives and challenges Wanda. As they fight, Thor tells the group to leave. Kamala objects, saying they need an Avenger, but Thor instead grants her the title of Avenger and they reluctantly leave him behind.

The group gets beyond Earth’s atmosphere and transmits a message to the Nova Corps. They awkwardly await a response but only for a moment before they are surprised by bright lights and dozens of Nova Corps ships. Val points out that there is no way they should have gotten there so quickly. A voice sounds out informing them that their planet has been quarantined by the Nova Corps and that they have 10 seconds to return to Earth. The countdown reaches one as the episode comes to a close.

In true apocalyptic horror fashion, this show is just delivering one heartbreak after another. However, it has also been a wildly fun ride to this point. And now, with the heroes’ journey leading to complete dead end, we head into a finale not knowing where it might take us. This should be quite the epic conclusion.

Marvel Zombies is now streaming on Disney+.