Weapons of destruction and instauration

What therefore goes into the making of this weapon is Blackman’s inventiveness which involves the exploration of his brain. Africans therefore create vibes that resonate through the world and the impact is felt in most inventions. The heart-shaped herbs are also the products of Blackman’s cleverness and ability to save lives. It is with the herbs that T’Challa is revived from Comatose but not before he wakes up in the land of the ancestors and lambasts them. He tells his father how wrong he is in keeping the truth away.

Here comes the enemy within

T’Challa goes to war against his cousin in order to regain his throne. The Jabari tribe joins forces with him in the clash of clashes. When Erik Killmongerthrows him down the valley, he goes into coma. Jabari people come to T’Challa’s aid because he once spared Mbaku’s life. One good turn deserves another. It is interesting that this final battle is not literally against the west; it is against the Wakanda led by a lost cousin. The war sometimes is not fought against the enemy; it is against our brethren who are culturally and psychologically lost. One Panther must cancel out the other. This is an acceptance of the ideology that the real enemy is perhaps not Europe or America, but us.

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The enemy within is always the hardest to conquer. The world can be your enemy; whether the world conquers you or not is dependent on your being or not being your own enemy too. Two panthers lock horns in an epic duel. T’Challa stabs Erik, leaving him to be mortally wounded but also offering him the opportunity of getting healed. But Killmonger Erik would have none of that. His response takes us back to history as he says, “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors cos they knew death was better than bondage.” Being buried in the ocean underpins the image of Africans voluntarily jumping aboard or being thrown into the ocean during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

Love is a duty

For Nikia, T’Challa’s lover, love is a duty. She risks stealing one of the heart-shaped herbs that restores T’Challa’s life. She also goes to war in the final clash of the two panthers. When the war is over, she expresses the depth of her love, “It was my duty to fight for what I love.” That is the extent she’d go to be sure that her lover is alive. Perhaps, if we all make love our duty, there won’t be any reason for racism and ethnicity; we won’t have to be citizens of a particular country; we would just be citizens of the world.

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Who are you?

The final scene is shot in California where T’Chaka kills his brother N’jobu. A unique space jet lands and the children are busy being wowed by it. A boy walks up to T’Challa and takes us back to the identity question with the question, “Who are you?” T’Challa does not answer the question before the scene ends but this seems to be a question for all black people and the entire human race.

Written by Omidire Idowu.

Omidire, Idowu Joshua is a Nigeria content developer, professional editor and proofreader whose works have appeared on different online magazines. He is a movie aficionado. Reach him via: noblelifeliver@gmail.com