In the closing moments of Daredevil: Born Again's third episode, someone wearing The Punisher's iconic skull logo shot and killed White Tiger. Over the past week, we've been left to wonder whether Frank Castle has gone off the deep end or someone is imitating the vigilante.
There have been hints it's the latter, especially as several corrupt cops have been shown rocking skull tattoos on their arms and necks.
In tonight's fourth instalment, "Sic Semper Systema" Matt Murdock investigates the alleyway where Hector Ayala was murdered and discovers a bullet casing with The Punisher's logo on the side. Needless to say, it starts looking an awful lot like Frank might have decided White Tiger needed to pay for his role in that cop's death on the subway.
Matt tracks Frank down to his base and it's quickly confirmed the killer must have been one of the "fanboys" he's aware have co-opted his logo. He's no fan of theirs and has been hiding out for a while by the looks of it.
Their conversation intensifies and Frank quickly concludes that Matt didn't come there for his help, but his permission to suit up and do what he sees as being necessary. The killer relates to what his fellow hero has been through after Foggy Nelson's murder, points out that "Red" is struggling to say his fallen friend's name, and questions whether he feels good about Bullseye (yes, he refers to Dex by that moniker) still being alive to breathe the same air.
While it seems like The Punisher is trying to push Daredevil into becoming just like him - the Man Without Fear is, after all, just one bad day from being The Punisher, and Foggy's death might have been it - he's also helping the hero to work through his grief.
An emotional Matt punches Frank but immediately regrets it and their tense exchange ends with Daredevil acknowledging that he'll never live up to being as good a man as Foggy...despite that, he won't become a killer.
They part ways, but is that the last we've seen of The Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again? Don't bank on it.
The episode ends by revealing that Muse is on the loose, another major problem for 'ol Hornhead. We'll get further into that in our episode recap and tomorrow morning's breakdown of all the biggest moments.
"A masterpiece of epic proportions, Daredevil: Born Again delivers a powerful, unmissable take on the Man Without Fear," we said in our review. "Putting street-level heroics on the map in a way that promises to change the MCU forever, the show is sublime superhero storytelling on a whole new level."
Daredevil: Born Again's first four episodes are now streaming on Disney+.