WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 4, "The Whole World is Watching," now streaming on Disney+.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) has run afoul of some brutal enemies in his tumultuous history. He's fought Avengers such as Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Black Panther and Spider-Man, not to mention in the past, he's killed Nazis and countless others as the Winter Soldier. Then there's Baron Zemo and Hydra, both of whom messed with his mind and damaged his psyche terribly. However, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier shows exactly who his most dangerous foe really is, and it's one of his closest colleagues from Wakanda - Florence Kasumba's Ayo.
The latest episode opens with a flashback, in which Ayo helps debug him by running through his Winter Soldier activation codes in an emotional moment. It's intimate as Bucky tears up, resists and is ultimately cured, with Ayo looking proud to have helped him. Their history is evident in the way she calls him White Wolf in the present. Even so, she makes it clear that while Bucky's performing his duty in breaking Zemo out to find the Super Soldier Serum, the baron ultimately belongs to Wakanda and he must pay for killing King T'Chaka.
At this point, one can sense the apprehension and even fear in Bucky, since he knows better than to tick off the Dora Milaje. It comes to a head when time runs out at their Latvian hotel room and Ayo arrives with a small entourage. They want to take Zemo but end up in a skirmish with John Walker, the new Captain America, as well as his friend and partner, Lemar Hoskins, as the U.S. government operatives try to play alpha and stake claim to the baron.
As the fracas plays off, Bucky reluctantly gets involved since he doesn't want anyone getting killed, grabbing Ayo's spear. This is a mark of disrespect and even though they don't want to hurt each other, she and Bucky face off. Surprisingly, Ayo finds a way of quickly nullifying him. She simply taps a couple pressure points on his bionic arm and torso, and in the blink of an eye, the vibranium limb falls to the ground.
Bucky's left with a stunned look on his face, as he didn't know that could even happen. Moreover, without his left arm, Ayo could easily have gored him or put him down, but instead she simply warns him to keep out of their diplomatic endeavors. The way she says "James" as well is quite disarming, no pun intended, clearly hinting that there's more history and familiarity between them than what's been shown.
No one, not even Steve, has ever powered him down so quickly and the last time Bucky looked this frail and vulnerable was when he was getting dusted in Wakanda. It shows that Ayo knows him on a cerebral level from the deprogramming session, coming off as the perfect mental and physical threat. It leaves Bucky wondering what other fail-safes are in his body to stop him from fighting against the people who fixed him.
Directed by Kari Skogland, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell, Noah Mills, Carl Lumbly and Daniel Brühl. New episodes debut on Fridays on Disney+.