“Those Who Would Destroy Us” is episode two of season one of Marvel’s Inhumans.
In the first episode, “Behold… The Inhumans”, Maximus, the human brother of Black Bolt, had seized power. He had shaved Medusa’s hair off – claiming that it was her fault; typical. Crystal had her really, really big bulldog Lockjaw transport Karnak, Medusa and Black Bolt to Earth – Black Bolt as he was about to use his power on Maximus; he might not have managed it in time (Black Bolt isn’t mute as it first seemed; his power is highly destructive and connected to him speaking and he accidentally killed his and Maximus’ parents with it). Black Bolt had appeared, with Lockjaw, in the middle of a busy street.
Medusa is in Diamond Head Crater on O’ahu, Hawaii. Karnak is at the top of Haloa Ridge – Crystal had told Lockjaw to drop Karnak off with Gorgon, who was already there looking for Triton; the dog appears to have missed a bit. Gorgon is on Makapu’u Beach calling for Triton. Black Bolt is in downtown Honolulu. With a really big dog. In the middle of traffic. There are accidents. Black Bolt walks away before a police car arrives. Crystal is still in Attilan being held prisoner when Lockjaw arrives. Before the dog can teleport her away, though, another Inhuman sends him to sleep.
Medusa uses her communicator to contact Black Bolt. Who can’t talk into his. Which begs the question – why have a communications device he basically can’t use? Medusa promises Black Bolt she will find him and heads towards a tourist bus. Karnak attempt to climb down the ridge but slips and falls to the bottom, banging his head as he does.
Back on the Moon, Auran tells Maximus that people know the royal family has fled but don’t know what is going on. Maximus tells her to station the Royal Guard on every corner to make the people nervous, then he will step out and calm them. Maximus, at the least, looks skilled at manipulation. Crystal is brought before him and he says he knows she sees him as the bad guy. Well, there may be a reason for that. Maximus wants Crystal’s understanding, because the way she sees the world is not the way things really are. Maximus asks Crystal if she remembers what her life was like before her sister married the king. And what her parents would think about Crystal protecting a family they so despised. Maximus wants Crystal to honour him as the new king. She replies that Maximus makes her sick – he’s just a human. He tells her that she is young, pretty, smart, a princess, but none of those will keep terrible tragedy from falling upon her.
Back on Earth, Gorgon heads into the sea to look for Triton. He doesn’t look as if he’s best suited to swimming, and he isn’t, sinking below the surface. Two surfers rescue him and take Gorgon back to land, where there are more. The surfers say to Gorgon that he is one of them – he replies that no, the speaker is one of them. Frame of reference and all that. Gorgon is told that his legs are not made for swimming and he replies that he was looking for his cousin who was chased off a cliff by humans with guns. Who, not that Gorgon knows this, were working for Maximus. Gorgon is going to wait until someone is sent to bring him back. When he replies ‘The Moon’ to being asked where, the questioner thinks that’s cool.
At the Callisto Aerospace Control Center, California, Louise is looking at the photo of Gorgon’s hoof when Ashland enters. He asks if she is still saying it looks like a hoof; the answer is yes until something better comes up. She asks Ashland if he saw the four energy glitches at the same location on the Moon. There were energy pulses that she tracked to Earth. Louise thinks it might be connected to what happened to the rover. The four glitches landed in Hawaii and came from the same place that the rover malfunctioned. Ashland asks Louise if she thinks the thing with the hooves and three of its buddies smashed the rover and have now come to visit them on Earth. He almost got it right. Although he was probably not being serious. Louise says she isn’t sure they’re buddies. Ashland tells Louise she’s brilliant. Nutty, but brilliant. But the nutty part seems to be pushing past the brilliant, so he is going to have to relieve her of her duties on the mission. Louise says that’s disappointing, then clearly thinks something and decides that yes, she should take some time off.
Karnak comes around with a bloody head and says he needs to find his king, using whatever his power is to create what looks like a compass and heads off. Medusa is on the tourist bus, eying the clasp knife the man in the seat next to her has in a holster on his belt. In a tunnel, Medusa looks at her shorn reflection in the window, which clearly upsets her. Will her hair grow back? And, if so, how long will it take?
Auran enters Crystal’s room with a tray of food and Crystal fires a bolt at her, smashing the tray. Auran draws a gun and Crystal might have continued if Auran hadn’t mentioned the guards outside who would like to try target practice on a princess. Auran tells Crystal that it will go easier for her if she accepts Maximus as her king. Crystal says that Maximus is a traitor and her family will come back. When Auran leaves, Crystal notices that Auran’s comlink is on the floor and uses it to contact Medusa. Medusa realises that the comlink didn’t fall off, as Auran is too smart for that. Instead, they wanted Crystal to find it so that she would contact Medusa. Medusa tells her sister to remember what she taught her then breaks her own comlink.
On the beach, Gorgon is saying to the surfers that he can’t wait. So one tells Gorgon that he is a fighter – so Gorgon should bring the fight to him. Gorgon contacts Maximus, who wishes he had more time to make Gorgon see his side, that they could come to some sort of arrangement. Gorgon has an arrangement in mind. He’s leaving his comlink on so that if Maximus wants he can come and find Gorgon. After the conversation, Gorgon tells the surfers they should leave, as there could be serious trouble. He is told that it is their beach and who doesn’t like a little trouble.
Whatever Karnak’s powers are, they don’t seem to be working properly, as he has just walked in a circle, which is something that apparently shouldn’t happen. The head injury may well have been more serious than Karnak thought. In Attilan, Maximus tells Auran that Medusa has been located. He wants her to gather up whatever and whoever she needs and go to Earth to take care of the royal family. As in bring back or kill. Definitely kill when it comes to Black Bolt and Gorgon. Auran says all she needs is herself – confidence or overconfidence? – and it’s best to be discreet. She is transported by another Inhuman, Eldrac, who seems to be part of the rock. Eldrac doesn’t want to but Auran threatens him into doing so.
Maximus is consolidating power in Attilan. Bronaja, the young mutant from the previous episode, seems able to foresee the future, which Maximus finds helpful. Maximus plans to get Crystal on his side by threatening what she cares about; he claims that’s not the person he wants to be. Not terribly convincing and rather one dimensional – you made me do the bad thing. Does Maximus really want to change how the Inhumans live? Or is it more about power for himself. Black Bolt realises he needs to blend in on Earth. Sadly, it seems he doesn’t understand the concept of money, and therefore fails miserably at the blending in bit. Louise has decided that where she needs to spend her time off is Hawaii. So she’s basically going to be looking for whatever transported down from the Moon.