There have been countless discussions about how bad the Eternals movie is, but few seem to mention another key character in the film, Dane Whitman, played by Kit Harrington. However, throughout the film, this role feels somewhat dispensable, and it seems that there is no other role than to talk to the heroine about love.
It is not until the Easter egg at the end of the film that Dane Whitman's true identity is revealed, and he prepares to use the ancestral "Ebony Blade" in order to rescue his girlfriend Sersi, who has been taken away by the Celestials, when a whisper is heard next to him, asking him if he is ready...
Friends who are familiar with the plot of the comic should know that Dane Whitman's real identity in The Eternals is actually the "Black Knight". Judging from the arrangement of Marvel's fourth phase, Dane Whitman is actually far more important than those Eternal Characters, after all, he is an important member of the next stage of the supernatural hero organization "Midnight Children", and today I will analyze in detail what this ending Easter egg hides.
Cursed Sword
In the comics, Dane Whitman's "Ebony Sword" is inherited from the ancestral Sir Percival, one of the Knights of the Round Table on King Arthur's side. The body of the "Ebony Sword" is forged by the magician Merlin using meteorites, and because it carries magical power, it can pierce any object, but those who use it will slowly be cursed, become bloodthirsty and violent, and the user of the sword will be known as the "Black Knight".
However, Merlin has a trick here, telling Sir Percival that the "Ebony Sword" can only be used in the hands of a pure man. In fact, the "Ebony Sword" itself does not have such a restriction, but can amplify the evil power in the user's heart, Merlin said this only in the hope that Percival can always maintain the integrity and good character, and avoid being corrupted by the "Ebony Sword".
Since then, Percival has always believed in Merlin's admonition and has always adhered to the chivalrous style of self-improvement, but it is precisely because of this that he has not chosen a successor worthy of the sword until his death. In order to prevent the artifact from falling into the wrong hands, Merlin had to bury it with Percival in their family cemetery.
"Death is a tribute to me"
It wasn't until hundreds of years later, that a descendant of Sir Percival accidentally discovered the tomb of his ancestors, found the long-lost "ebony sword", and became the second Black Knight, nathan Garrett, Dane Whitman's uncle. However, Nathan's character was much worse than that of Sir Percival, who was gradually corrupted by the sword and later degenerated into a villain, making enemies of the Avengers.
In the film, Cersei wants Dane Whitman to repair his relationship with his uncle, suggesting that the rift between their uncles and nephews is likely due to a difference in attitude towards the ancestral "Ebony Sword".
In the final egg, the raven carved on the sword box of the "Ebony Sword" is Sir Percival's family coat of arms, which also appears on the family ring that Cersei gave to Dane Whitman, implying that Cersei actually knew Dane's family history.
And Dane probably already knew that the "Ebony Sword" would impose a curse on the user, which is why he seemed so hesitant when opening the sword box. At the same time, the sword box is inscribed with the Latin phrase "mors mihi lucrum" (meaning "death is a tribute to me"), further suggesting that the owner of the "ebony sword" will be cursed and tortured for a lifetime until the end of death.
Midnight sons
Let's go back to the whispers Dane Whitman heard when he opened the "Ebony Sword" box. I initially thought that the sentence came from his uncle Nathan Garrett, because the film mentions this mysterious relative of the Dane family several times, and the end mentions that it is an explanation of the previous preparation. But recently Kit Harrington personally confirmed on social media that the owner of this voice is Marsala Ali ("Green Book"), the future version of the Blade Warrior.
The author judges that the Blade Warriors appeared at this time, most likely to recruit Dane to join the new anti-hero organization "Midnight Children". The "Midnight Kids" in the comics are a group of supernatural backgrounds (equivalent to the supernatural version of S.H.I.E.L.D.), whose members also include "Ghost Knights", "Moonlight Knights", "Mobias" and others.
Among them, "Moon Knight" already has its own single-player episode coming online, and has just recently released a trailer.
"Dr. Night" Morbius's solo film is also about to be released, although his copyright is in Sony's hands, but think about it: since Venom can join the MCU; since three generations of Spider-Man can be in the same frame, this means that as long as the benefits are distributed, dr. Night will join the MCU sooner or later.
And the core character of "Midnight's Children", "Blade", is about to usher in a remake, Dane Whitman will inevitably occupy an important role in the movie, the cursed "Daywalker" and the cursed "Black Knight" team up, think about it is exciting isn't it?
#Sci-Fi ##Original##Marvel ##永恒族 #