Hawkeye episode 5 further explores Yelena Belova’s arc (Florence Pugh) after the events of 2021’s Black Widow. Unfortunately, Natasha’s sister was also among the fallen after the events of Thanos’ snap from Avengers: Infinity War.
Warning: Article contains spoilers to Hawkeye episode 5
The recently released Hawkeye episode 5 finally addressed MCU’s elephant in the room, in other words, the blip incident from Phase 3’s Infinity War saga. After shutting down the Red Room and defeating Dreykov (Ray Winstone) with Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johnasson) help, Yelena continues her search to free every Black Widow conditioned by the chemical mind altering substance.
Hawkeye episode 5 confirms Yelena Belova was a victim of the blip
The White Widow’s hunt is cut short when she falls prey to the blip but instantly returns, indicating the events of Avengers: Endgame have reversed the blip incident (courtesy of Tony Stark). However, what was 5 years for the rest of the world were mere seconds for the Vanished victims and the psychological trauma begins to unwind for Yelena.
Hawkeye episode 5 does not directly address what pushes Yelena to pursue Clint Barton for Natasha’s death. Yet, her conversation with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) does highlight her struggle over the loss of a loved one. Nonetheless, White Widow blames Clint and is out for blood.
It will be interesting to see how the arrival of Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) could complicate Yelena’s search for truth. For now, it seems she has grown fond of Kate especially since revealing Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga) is behind Armand’s (Simon Callow) murder. Added, a lot remains unanswered with Kingpin’s arrival and which side Yelena would stand in the end.
Clint ratting out Fisk could also have larger consequences as he feared. But Eleanor’s involvement with the big man creates more mystery for MCU fans to delve over. Let’s hope to find more answers in the final sixth episode of Hawkeye set to stream next Wednesday on Disney Plus.
