WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #4, by Larry Hama, David Wachter, Neeraj Menon and VC’s Travis Lanham, on sale now.
Danny Rand has been thrown into yet another mystical kung-fu battle in the Marvel Universe, except this time the stakes are much higher. It’s not the Hand or dissidents from any of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven, he’s actually fighting the shadowy threat of the eighth one: the Hidden City.
Under the watch of a mysterious overlord, the sinister city sends a wave of zombie ninjas to kill all the dragons belonging to the Immortal Cities, all so their hearts and chi could be harvested. But in Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #4, it gets a bit more complicated when Danny discovers he will have to fight one of his former lovers, the elite assassin Yama Dragonsbane, also known as Brenda Swanson.
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Danny’s always at his best when the fight’s physical and not mental, but this battle will stur his emotions. The truth is revealed after the killer, decked in white and riding a zombie horse, heads to Wakanda to behead a dragon and steal its heart. Danny’s plan of bringing all the cities to Earth to defend them backfired, and unfortunately, played into the assassin’s hand.
The hooded figure then arrives at the overlord’s lair, calling this boss “hierophant,” before unmasking as a scarred Yama Dragonsbane, aka Brenda Swanson. Familiar fans would know she’s the daughter of Harold Meachum, the man who sabotaged an expedition to the mysterious city of K’un-Lun, that killed Danny’s father, Wendell, away and putting Danny on the path to becoming Iron Fist. She was introduced in Kaare Andrew’s Iron Fist: The Living Weapon in 2014, where we discovered she was abandoned. After her mom died, Brenda took the money she was left and traveled the world, training to become the ultimate killer.
Upset that Danny couldn’t avenge them by killing Harold, she swore vengeance on Danny, but it got complicated when they became lovers. Now, their relationship is deep-rooted in hate because Brenda wants to wipe the past clean, starting with the Rand bloodline.
She wants even more agency of her own, and as part of a bargain, she demands some of the dragons’ chi. The overlord agrees, but admits that tapping into this dark source to become a true instrument of death and destruction will come at a hefty price.
Her story ends there for now as the Heart of Heaven comes under siege, but it leaves it unclear how Danny will react with his ex trying to settle their score by killing him, as the next issue’s cover teases. It’s an unenviable position, but hopefully, Danny will try to redeem her as they did have a special bond steeped in tragedy and loss.
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