Showrunner Marco Ramirez Talks About That Shocking Moment In 'The Defenders'

We finally were able to watch The Defenders in all its glory. Over the course of eight episodes, a lot has happened to our favorite street-level heroes. The Heroes for Hire finally met for the first time. Jessica gives some great one-liners over the course of the show. Finally, Murdock is once again forced to accept his inner demons, as he wrestles his urges to fight criminals on the street. Naturally, a show like this has many interesting twists to offer. Just like that HUGE moment in episode 6!

A massive spoiler warning in case you haven’t seen the full show yet. The following interview will reveal a major twist in the series. Only continue at your own risk.

After giving a speech at the end of episode 6, Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver) is suddenly stabbed by Elektra. Having built her up as the big bad of the season, it was shocking to see her life end so abruptly. Ramirez pointed out the decision for her to do so was in their mother-daughter relationship. Elektra was pretty much told what she is and what she needs to do. It was fitting that in one episode she would end her parental figures to chase her own future.

[It] felt more in terms with this conceptual mother-daughter dynamic that we wanted to explore thoroughly. We wanted to build that so we could subvert it and have [Elektra] say “I’m taking over.” We wanted to show Sigourney as a regal maternal figure and a master, and for Elektra to basically say, “I have no master.” To me, it’s organic in the writing of Elektra, because Elektra has been told by many people in her life what she is, whether it was Stick or Matt, it had been them telling her who she is…. So when she kills Alexandra, it’s really her saying, “People need to stop telling me who I am. This is who I am.” And I think there’s something particularly interesting about that idea.

In the same episode, she also killed Stick, who was a guiding hand in her childhood. This could have also been seen as foreshadowing for the events involving Alexandra. Being the Black Sky, she was considered an empty vessel, but due to the influence of Matt, she slowly became her own individual once again. Taking out Stick seemed to have also been planned ahead by the showrunner to some degree.

Absolutely. And he’s the one who had always been saying, “The war for New York is coming, the war for New York is coming,” so really, if there are going to be any casualties in the war for New York, it’s going to be the guy talking about it.

Ramirez also revealed how Elodie Yung found out about it. They called her up and informed her of her death and resurrection. Her death was not at the hands of Bullseye, but they wanted to explore her deep ties with the Hand. Taking a lot of inspiration from the comics, they saw an opportunity to lead into the crossover mini-series.

It felt like that’s the story to tell, and she’s a major figure in the comics, she’s really beloved by the audience, and her resurrection storyline is very iconic.

One final interesting tidbit is that Elektra’s storyline fits the overarching theme. The shows all were about accepting who you are and society’s view of one. Matt wanted to help out people, but while society saw the lawyer, he hid his true face behind a mask. Jessica is in a constant battle with her “heroic” side. Luke’s story in his own show was much more apparent given him being a public figure in Harlem. Danny was at war with his place at home in NYC and his role as the Iron Fist. It makes sense that Elektra would share similar problems given her upbringing and destiny.

How did you guys feel about that twist? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Entertainment Weekly