Recap: Marvel's "Ironheart" Comes to a Shocking Conclusion as Riri Finally Faces Off with The Hood

Things seemed to be looking up for Riri Williams in the penultimate episode of Ironheart. She got her friends and family back together and even managed to build a brand new suit powered by magic. However, in the closing moments, her AI Natalie disappeared and she had to lose her best friend for a second time. And now, in the season finale, she has to carry that weight as she finally faces off with Parker.

The episode opens with the flashback from when Parker and John tried to rob Parker’s father. They split up and Parker eventually finds himself cornered by security. At the last moment, a mysterious man in a cloak appears and offers him a way out in the form of the door to his current pizza place hideout. The man urges Parker to let him help and he eventually walks through the door, escaping security.

In the restaurant, Parker sits at a table with the mysterious man, who tells him he is a fan who wants to be in the Parker Robbins business. The man gives Parker a pitch with some devilish charm and offers him a chance to get anything he wants. Although, he does clarify that he will only give him the tools to get exactly what he wants. Parker tells him he wants to be king and the man agrees to make it happen. When Parker asks what’s in it for him, he tells him it’s just something he “won’t even miss." Presumably, the man is asking Parker to sell him his soul. As the man gets up to leave, he leaves behind the hood. When Parker tells him, the man says it’s for him and he puts it on Parker’s shoulders before taking his leave. Is it really happening?!

Back in present day, we see Parker sitting at a huge dining table with a spread fit for a king strewn about. Zeke sits at the other end of the table and Parker forces him to eat. Parker again questions if Zeke really killed Riri and threatens him if he’s lying. Zeke tries to attack Parker but his programming stops him and he stabs himself in the leg instead. Parker tells him he is programmed to prevent anyone from harming him. Zeke tells him he doesn’t belong here and Parker takes him back to the hideout about the pizza place.

Parker tries to cover his scars with tattoos as he sees flashbacks of his meeting with the mysterious man. He then hears more ominous whispers coming from the hood.

Back in the garage, Riri tries to recreate her Natalie AI. When it doesn’t work, she realizes she can use magic to get her back and gets into her new suit to go get Parker’s hood. Her team urges her to let it go and to be careful but she assures them she is fine and thanks them for their help before heading out after Parker.

Parker calls for the mysterious man, who eventually reappears, now with a British accent. Parker complains to the man that his scars and his loss were not part of their agreement. The man barks back, saying he kept up his end of the deal.

Riri arrives at the restaurant, where she is greeted by Zeke. Her suit lets her know he is not in control of his own body as they stand off preparing for a fight. Upstairs, Parker asks the man for more power, which the man laughs off. He says he could just replace him instead. Riri and Zeke begin their fight as the man tells Parker he will give him more power if he can hold onto what he’s been given.

Riri and Zeke continue to fight until she locks him in a freezer. She tells him her plan is to knee him in the groin, where he has no bionics, shutting down his body enough for her to manually reboot him and remove Parker’s control. Still not in control of his own body, Zeke fights back before Riri finally successfully executes her plan. The reboot puts Zeke asleep, removing him from the equation for Riri’s coming fight with Parker. Before he drops out though, Zeke tells Riri they’re not done.

Riri goes up after Parker and tells him she is taking the hood. Parker laughs and says she created the suit just so she could get that power for herself. Riri says getting what she wants isn’t worth the cost that comes with the hood and they begin to fight. Riri uses the magic in her suit to undo Parker’s invisibility before they lunge at each other. Parker starts to become a monster and Riri urges him to look at what the hood is doing to him.

Eventually, Riri is pinned down and she initiates a self destruct that leaves her without her suit. Parker emerges from a cloud of dust and stands over Riri with his guns drawn. After a moment, he pulls the triggers only to see the bullets go right through Riri. In true Mysterio fashion, she tricked him with a hologram. Riri, with her suit still intact, sneaks up behind Parker and steals the hood. He screams in pain on the floor, begging for her to give him the hood back. He tells her it hurts for him to not have the hood and she says she knows, alluding to the idea that she has felt that pain without her suit. Riri leaves with the hood and Parker is left alone on the floor saying “it hurts."

Riri gets back down into the restaurant to find the same mysterious man eating at the same table where he spoke with Parker. The man invites Riri to eat with him and she reluctantly agrees, but only after he uses his magic to make her suit disappear. The man tells Riri he is the one who gave Parker the hood and when he stirs his coffee, his reflection in the spoon shows a red, demonic face. It’s really happening!

When she refers to him as Dormammu, he laughs and says Dormammu isn’t on his level, in much more colorful language. When Riri asks him what she should call him then, she tells him he has been known by many names. But in this particular case, he tells her to call him… Mephisto. It’s real! It’s happening! It’s finally happening! After all this time, Mephisto is finally in the MCU! Okay, sorry. I had to get that out of my system.

Mephisto makes Riri the same offer he made Parker: a chance to have everything she wants. When she asks the cost, he tells her it’s nothing she will miss.

After a montage of Chicago, we see Riri working in the garage to bring back the Natalie AI, when she hears her voice. She excitedly runs to the projection of her friend and tells her to run diagnostics. We then cut back to Riri’s meeting with Mephisto, as he tells her death is difficult and that he can fix the pain she feels.

Back in the present, Riri takes a closer look at Natalie and she pushes her away, actually making real physical contact. Riri is shocked and asks how she did that. Back at the meeting, Riri gets assurance that no one she loves will be affected by her deal with Mephisto before she shakes his hand. Riri hugs Natalie - the real Natalie - and we see the same scars we saw on Parker begin to form on her arm before the credits roll.

In a mid-credits scene, we see Parker head into Stanton’s where he is greeted by Zelma. He says he’s been looking for magic and everyone told him to go to that shop, but upon seeing it, he has his doubts. Zelma does some quick magic to assure him he’s in the right place. Still, he tells her he needs something big and asks for someone with more experience to show him the stuff in the back. Zelma asks how he knows about that and Parker asks if she’s willing to work with him as the episode, and season, come to a close.

Wow, did this show go to some unexpected places?! From an ill-paced first episode of a crime drama to a magical epic introducing one of the biggest villains Marvel has to offer, Ironheart just delivered Marvel’s strongest season finale to date. And while there were likely very few Marvel fans out there who thought they would be clamoring for a second season just a week ago, there are certainly a lot more now. We can’t wait to see what happens next with Riri Williams and when or where we might see Mephisto pop up next!

Marvel’s Ironheart is now streaming on Disney+.