Royal Dragon (episode)

Royal Dragon is the fourth episode of the first season of The Defenders.
==Synopsis==
As the Defenders get to know each other over dinner, they're greeted by a series of party crashers -- none of them friendly.
==Plot==
Closing the Royal Dragon for the day, Zhang ordered his chef to make sure everything was cleaned, while he went to the register and counted his earnings for the day. Suddenly, the arrival of Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand left Mr. Zhang baffled. Though he informed them that the place was closed, Murdock and Jones dimmed all the lights they could, barracked the doors with furniture, and closed the blinds to the outside windows. Rand spoke to Mr. Zhang to convince him to let them stay in the restaurant, eventually bribing him with his money.
Cage and Jones briefly conversed, catching up about one another's condition and their lives since their last meeting. Murdock soon approached them and questioned their friendship with each other. Rand, too, came forth and informed them that they were now allowed to stay, admitting that he promised Zhang to pay his rent. 
When everyone began to introduce themselves to each other, Murdock quickly broke away, advocating that the less they knew about each other, the better. A chef walked to a table and presented food for the group, to most of their confusion, before Rand added that as part of the agreement, they had to order something. Murdock continued to reject cooperation with the group due to untrustworthiness; Cage grabbed his arm, citing that he did not trust him either, before Jones requested to speak with her lawyer privately for a moment. Though he informed her further that he could not risk his identity being revealed, Jones told him that she already figured out that he was "the Devil of Hell's Kitchen" and that eventually Rand and Cage would figure out, too, after seeing the way he fought. Convinced, Murdock removed Jones' scarf and revealed to everyone that his name is Matthew.
At the penthouse, Elektra stared at herself in a mirror, noticing scars from her past life. Alexandra Reid stepped inside her room and lamented that if she was able to, she would have erased every piece that could remind her of the previous life. She reminded Elektra that she was the Black Sky and that was all that she needed.
Rand and the others dined and conversed over their encounter, and he proposed the idea of a potential team. With everyone else protesting the idea, Murdock sensed someone approaching from the rear entrance. On cue, Stick emerged from the door. When Jones asked him who he was, he proclaimed that he was going to aid the four in defeating the Hand.
Murakami stood over the corpse of a bear, cutting its inners when Reid walked in and engaged in a conversation about lost time. She requested that Murakami regroup with the others, as the capturing of the Iron Fist has proven difficult with his newfound allies. When Murakami asked about their other contact, Reid assured him that he would be arriving soon. Elsewhere, Sowande confronted the Black Sky, challenging her skills and her inability to strike down her opponents. Annoyed, she moved swiftly and defeated his henchmen before leaving, taunting Sowande to keep questioning her skills.
While Zhang and his chef watched behind the counter as the blind man approached their customers, Murdock warned the others that Stick was only planning to use them. Onward, he explained that he was a part of the Chaste and was trained by similar masters as the ones who trained Rand in K'un-Lun. Murdock continued to push Stick aside to speak privately, to Cage's displeasure, as he believed they need to be open with each other in order to gain trust. In grand disbelief, Jones left the Royal Dragon. Cage tried to persuade her to sit through the stories, as real people would still be in danger in the end. She expressed gratitude for seeing him again, but ultimately left and returned to her apartment. Murdock informed the others that she was not returning, citing that he only based this on his first meeting. Stick disclosed a bit more of Murdock's life to Rand, much to Murdock's displeasure. Soon, Cage returned to listen to what Stick has to tell them.
Meanwhile, Reid dismissed her assistants who were preparing her for a meeting. In discomfort, she ventured to her desk, grabbed her pills, and ingested it with water. Taking a deep breath, Reid phoned someone and told them she had changed her plans for the evening.
In her apartment, Jones drank her liquor and streamed through her photographs of signed documents taken earlier that day. As she began deleting them, she noticed the handwriting of the signatures, concluding that the individuals were the same person.
As Stick informed the men of the Five Fingers of the Hand, Rand commented that he had struck down Bakuto some time ago. Stick also disclosed that Murakami was the one that pulled the strings around his former target Nobu Yoshioka. Eventually, Murdock pried onto his former teacher, asking what he desired; Rand interjected, stating Stick had told him more than he has. The two briefly became hostile before Murdock walked away from the table.
Jones woke Michelle Raymond at her house. Mildly drunk, she informed Raymond that digging deeper into her husband's case continued to prove it weirder and weirder. She announced that was going to try to provide round-the-clock security for Raymond and her daughter. Raymond then shockingly told Jones that she thought it had already been done, as there was a car parked around her home that hasn't moved in a while. Alarmed, Jones warned her to lock the doors and windows and go be with her daughter. Crossing the street, Jones appeared to walk past the henchman.
Rand continued to eat, and Cage questioned how he could still be eating; Rand stated it helped restore the energy he used to summon his chi. Rand also commented that the two could make a great team, much to Cage's dissatisfaction. Stick approached Murdock on the other side of the room and questioned him on his encounter with Elektra. Though Murdock expressed hopefulness for her resurrection, Stick warned that the vessel was not the same one he fell in love with prior. Both, soon, heard weapons nearby.
Without warning, a Hand henchman was pulled out of the parked SUV by Jones. The two briefly fought until he was pinned. Jones pushed for him to leave the Raymonds alone, as they knew nothing about John's work. When the henchman refused to leave them be, Jones pressured him against the window shield, asking him if he knew when he felt pain.
While the group stood by the front windows as Hand soldiers armed themselves with knives and guns, Stick sensed Reid's arrival inside. She approached Rand with the offer to join her side. Though Cage and Stick warned Rand not to go with her, Reid continued to push. After declining, Reid sent in Elektra who slashed the door hinges and burst inside, prepared to serve Life itself. Suddenly, pushing an SUV into the interior of the restaurant and knocking Elektra to the ground, Jones rejoined the others and stood among them, ready to fight the Hand as the Defenders.
==Cast==
Main Cast:
*Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
*Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
*Mike Colter as Luke Cage
*Finn Jones as Danny Rand/Iron Fist
*Élodie Yung as Elektra
*Scott Glenn as Stick
*Sigourney Weaver as Alexandra Reid
Guest Stars:
*Yutaka Takeuchi as Murakami
*Babs Olusanmokun as Sowande
*Michelle Federer as Michelle Raymond
*Phil Nee as Zhang
*Michael G. Chin as Chef
==Appearances==
===Locations===
*New York City, New York
**Royal Dragon
**Midland Circle
**Jessica Jones' Apartment Building
***Alias Investigations Office
**Raymond Residence
*Seagate Penitentiary, Georgia (mentioned)
*Cambodia (mentioned)
*Shikoku, Japan (mentioned)
*Pompeii, Italy (mentioned)
*Chernobyl, Ukraine (mentioned)
*K'un-Lun (mentioned)
===Events===
*Excavation of Midland Circle
**Ambush at the Royal Dragon
**Escape from Midland Circle (mentioned)
**Attack on the Wall of the Chaste (mentioned)
**New York City Earthquake (mentioned)
**Ambush at the Wall of the Chaste (mentioned)
*Duel of Delaney Hall (mentioned)
*Attack on John Raymond (mentioned)
*Chase of Elektra (mentioned)
*Assassination of Wendell and Heather Rand (mentioned)
*Duel at Bethesda Terrace (mentioned)
*Attack on the Hand (mentioned)
*Arrest of Luke Cage (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
===Items===
*Stick's Katana
*Elektra's Twin Sai
*Winston Supreme Canadian
*O'Harren's Scotch Whisky
===Concepts===
*Chi
===Vehicles===
To be added
===Creatures===
*
*Dragons (depiction)
* (mentioned)
===Organizations===
*Defenders
*Hand
*Chaste
*Alias Investigations
*Rand Enterprises
*New York City Police Department (mentioned)
*Order of the Crane Mother (mentioned)
*Duncan + Dotter Design (mentioned)
===Mentioned===
*John Raymond
*Misty Knight
*Cole Miller
*Colleen Wing
*Aphrodite (depiction)
*Wendell Rand
*Heather Rand
*Bakuto
*Nobu Yoshioka
*Lexi Raymond
*
*
==Music==
Song title 	Artist 	Location(s)
Chinese Drive Through	John Paesano	
*Alexandra Reid tells Elektra to attack Luke Cage, Matt Murdock, Danny Rand and Stick. Jessica Jones knocks down Elektra with a car, then joins the others.
==References==
==External Links==
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Category:The Defenders Episodes