WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Captain America#18, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jason Masters, Matt Milla and VC's Cory Petit, in stores now.

Marvel's Secret Empire was one of the publisher's most controversial events, with Steve Rogers' mind being rewritten by Kobik, the sentient Cosmic Cube, allowing him to become a Hydra infiltrator in the present. From there, as he turned into Hydra Cap, Steve imparted Nazi-philosophies around the world, mentally manipulating heroes and villains to his side in another civil war.

However, once Kobik reset order, Steve went to work to repair the damage done under writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. He's no longer wielding the shield -- or the red, white and blue -- as he isn't sure if he or the symbol is something the country is ready to believe in again. Unfortunately, things go from bad to worse as Cap's moral compass is revealed to still be skewed in Captain America #18 as he uses mind control to once again manipulate the population into doing his bidding, albeit in the name of peace.

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Many bad acts are done with the best intentions and this is definitely one of them. Following issues such as the Watchdogs hate group wreaking havoc across America, not to mention the social uprising against cops right here in New York, Steve's world has been thrown into disarray with a new Scourge and U.S. Agent (John Walker) re-entering his life t00.

The Scourge has exposed police corruption again while Walker is reminding Steve that symbols, not people, are what the public will stand up for. They did so for Cap as they believed in him, but with the law not favoring anyone but the elites right now, and cops killing innocent people, it's just a matter of time before the levee breaks. And so said, so done.

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Steve is seen monitoring the heavy protests in NYC with the Daughters of Liberty. As things escalate, he realizes that even with Misty Knight and Mockingbird in his ranks, they'll be outnumbered. More so, they'd have to use excessive force and he wants to avoid violence. This is why he gets Jessica Drew/Spider-Man to use her mind-control pheromones, not just on the crowd, but on the cops as well, to defuse the situation.

They all calm down but what makes it worse is Steve gives a big speech asking them to believe in Cap and trust his mission once more. It's understandable that he would want to pacify the riots but this is crossing the line. Moreso, this plan was eerily similar to something Hydra Cap would have done: brainwashing people to his side. This puts Steve in the same light as Red Skull, Dr. Faustus (who did some brainwashing of his own during Secret Empire), Arnim Zola and Baron Zemo. Seriously, how could none of the other heroes stand up against this kind of tactic?

People must be free to think what they want, whether these doctrines are something Steve agrees with. It's clear that Cap's trying to be proactive but there would be dire repercussions if it ever came out he was altering people's belief systems. Hopefully, Steve sees the error of his ways and makes amends soon because this isn't something the Sentinel of Liberty should be practicing.

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