The Ambush on President Ritson was an unsuccessful assassination attempt by Gravik and the Skrull Resistance on U.S. President James Ritson. The Skrulls intended to intercept and attack Ritson's convoy while en route to his scheduled bilateral with Russia in London, intending to frame Russian terrorists for the ambush and trigger World War III.
Nick Fury and Talos, who had been investigating the James Rhodes Skrull embedded within the U.S. government, were able to prevent the assassination with later help from the SAS. While extracting Ritson, Talos was killed by Gravik, allowing Fury to save the President.
Background[]
As a part of the Skrull Resistance plot to throw the Earth into the global war and take over the planet, Gravik planned to provoke the conflict between the United States of America and Russia. For that, the Resistance used Americans Against Russia as their front, and acquired bombs from Vasily Poprishchin's Skrull impostor. Knowing about Gravik's plans, Nick Fury, Talos, and Maria Hill opposed them, and received info about their plan from G'iah. However, they failed and the Resistance successfully executed a Unity Day bombing in Moscow, which ended in large civilian casualties and Hill's death.[2]
Raava in James Rhodes' disguise at the international hearing
The bombing caused a massive uproar, as the Resistance successfully used Brogan—disguised as Martin Wallace—to put the blame on the AAR. The Skrull Council members planted in world governments, military structures, and mass media further manipulated the situation, making sure that most of the international community sided with Russia, forcing the United States to respond. As the United States expected the war declaration from Russia, President James Ritson did not give any comment and sent James Rhodes to the international summit, unaware that it was actually Raava in disguise. Following the summit, Raava had a meeting with Fury, dismissing his information about Skrulls and stripping Fury from his authority.[3]
Although their attempt to strike down UN-1 and blame the United Kingdom ended up in vain, Gravik managed to identify G'iah as a traitor within the Resistance and had her killed, albeit unsuccessfully.[4] With G'iah out of the picture, Gravik planned an ambush on Ritson, who was scheduled to arrive in London for emergency peace talks with Russia, by sending Skrulls disguised as Russians to attack him. Meanwhile, Raava ordered Varra to kill Fury, but she didn't carry out her orders and defected from the Resistance. Now aware Rhodes had been replaced, Fury had another meeting with Raava and placed a liquid tracker in the bourbon to locate her movements and Ritson's convoy.[1]
Ambush[]
The Skrull Resistance attacks Ritson's convoy
- "Bloody hell, Fury, it's a killzone."
"Whole planet will be a killzone if we don't save Ritson." - ―Talos and Nick Fury[src]
Raava arrived to the Air Force One landed in England as President James Ritson arrived for peace talks with Russia, and secretly informed Gravik of his location in the convoy. Using two attack helicopters, the Skrull Resistance, shot two missiles at the convoy, causing Ritson's car to flip over, and Ritson himself to lose consciousness. As the United States Secret Service agents confirmed that Ritson was alive, they were attacked by the Resistance members, pretending to be Russians. The Secret Service agents were pinned down by the heavy gunfire. However, they managed to bring down one of the Resistance's helicopters using the anti-aircraft system, which was subsequently destroyed.
Nick Fury and Talos are aided by Special Air Service
Nick Fury and Talos arrived at the scene to make sure that Ritson is safe, as Fury shot down the second helicopter with a rocket launcher. As the two were fighting, Brogan informed Gravik of Fury being present, which prompted him to use his Super-Skrull powers on the Secret Service agents and advance forward. At that time, the Special Air Service troops arrived as a reinforcement, aiding Secret Service and Fury in fighting off the Resistance. As the soldiers were holding the line, Fury and Talos managed to make it to Ritson's car, although taking the President out of it was problematic due to the damage done to the car.
While Fury and SAS were holding off the Resistance, Talos tried breaking the car's reinforced glass to get Ritson out, so Gravik ordered to take Talos out. Pagon managed to wound Talos in his shoulder, so he was struggling to maintain a human form, but he still continued trying to get Ritson out. One of the SAS soldiers saw Talos in his Skrull form getting to Ritson and almost shot him, but Fury convinced the soldier that Talos was an ally. Talos eventually managed to break the glass, allowing Fury to pull an unconscious Ritson out of the car, who promised a wounded Talos that he would come back for him. Fury brought Ritson to his SUV, while the SAS soldier approached Talos and helped him on his feet.
However, Fury got suspicious as he saw that and demanded the soldier put Talos down, threatening him with his gun. Fury then shot the soldier, which forced him to revert to his original form, revealing that it was Gravik. Gravik then killed Talos by stabbing him in the heart, which enraged Fury and prompted him to repeatedly shoot Gravik, but to his horror, Gravik's Extremis regenerated all of the wounds. As the British Army deployed additional reinforcements, Gravik and Pagon retreated on a police motorcycle, while Fury had to evacuate Ritson and leave Talos' body behind.[1]
Aftermath[]
Skrull Resistance Reaction[]
Regrouping at New Skrullos, Gravik gathered the Skrull Resistance, expressing his disappointment that their mission to assassinate President Ritson was a failure. Gravik also pointed out that if Pagon was able to retrieve the Harvest as ordered, he could have taken down the entire convoy single-handedly, but Pagon then criticized Gravik for his vague and misguided orders, as well as his refusal to kill Nick Fury when he had a chance. He claimed that the Harvest was not at any locations Gravik provided, starting to question his leadership, to which Gravik responded by executing Pagon on the spot.
Ritson is administrated to the hospital
As Fury brought Ritson to King George VII Private Hospital, Gravik contacted Raava who was on her way to finish the mission, but Gravik informed her that the plan has changed. Gravik ordered Raava to keep Ritson alive and tell him about the Skrulls being behind the ambush on him, as well as that they are conspiring with Russia and show Ritson the location of New Skrullos. It would result in the United States of America launching an attack on Russian soil, which would lead to World War III, and Gravik wanted to use it as a leverage on Fury. In the meantime, Fury informed G'iah of Talos' death, so she sought Varra's help to organize a traditional Skrull funeral for her father.[5]
United States' Reaction[]
- "We all witnessed the terror attack that was carried out on my motorcade earlier this week in England. The terrorists responsible were a shape-shifting alien-born species known as Skrulls. That is why tonight I'm presenting to Congress, for immediate emergency authorization, a bill that designates all off-world born species enemy combatants. We know who you are. We know how to find you. And we will kill every last one of you."
- ―James Ritson[src]
Using her disguise of James Rhodes, Raava told President James Ritson what Gravik wanted, showing him a satellite images of New Skrullos that she received from MI6 and Sonya Falsworth. She claimed that England and NATO would support their decision, despite Ritson's concerns that an attack on Russia would lead to the war, saying that facing a war would be preferable to extinction, if Skrulls were to be left unchecked. Gravik then contacted Nick Fury and informed him of his plan, demanding the Harvest in exchange for calling off the attack.[5]
Raava convinces Ritson to attack New Skrullos
The planned attack on Russian soil was met with resistance from the United States Armed Forces higher-ups, who tried to convince Ritson that an attack should be investigated first. Raava, however, ruled out any possibility of a false-flag attack and showed footage of Russian Armed Forces moving their tanks to the borders of Finland and Ukraine as proof of Russia preparing for the war with the United States of America. Ritson eventually agreed to authorize a launch of an atomic bomb to level New Skrullos, however, Raava then received a call from Falsworth, who claimed that Fury was on his way to Ritson, intending to prevent a strike by any means.
However, it turned out to be a trap, as Raava was confronted by Fury and Falsworth, who tried to convince Ritson that he was being deceived and that the "James Rhodes" he was talking to was an impostor all along. During the stand-off, Raava was killed by Fury and as Ritson saw her turning into her Skrull form, he immediately gave the order to abort the strike. As the Skrull Resistance's plans were thwarted, Ritson had the United States Congress authorize the Anti-Alien Act in response to the Skrulls' attempt on his life.[6]
Behind the Scenes[]
- Initital plans and pre-visualization sequences for the attack had Raava ducking for cover within the car as though she were in danger, rather than sitting calmly and letting the attack play out like is seen in the episode.[7]