It's hard to believe, but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is already at the midway point of the first season. The third episode of the series continued to prove the show is going for a big cinematic feel with a globe-trotting adventure. The episode revealed some more of the main plot of the show while also adding some new mysteries on top of it all. The show also brought back some key MCU characters that fans have been expecting to see, such as Baron Zemo and Sharon Carter. But the final moments of the show brought an unexpected character: Ayo, a member of Wakanda's Dora Milaje, which sets up some interesting possible connections between The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the Black Panther franchise.

The third episode of the show, entitled "Power Broker," finds Sam and Bucky hunting down the origins of the new super-soldier serum that appears to be giving the Flag-Smashers their power. In order to do this, the heroes reluctantly decide they need help from an old enemy, Baron Zemo. Given Zemo's past crimes, this seems like a reckless plan but they end up breaking him out of prison and it immediately appears as though Zemo has the upper hand. In the final moments of the episode, Sam, Bucky, and Zemo travel to Latvia to track down the Flag-Smashers. When Bucky goes for a walk, he finds several Wakandan Kimoyo Beads before Ayo reveals herself and tells him that she is there for Zemo.

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While fans are generally able to sniff out Marvel secrets, the appearance of Ayo really came as a surprise for many fans. Though she has not been a prominent character in the movies, Ayo has been a part of the MCU for a number of years now. She was, in fact, the first member of the Dora Milaje, Wakanda's all-female royal bodyguards, to be introduced in the movies. She was seen as T'Challa's personal escort when he was first introduced in Captain America: Civil War. She then returned in Black Panther and can even be seen in Avengers: Infinity War. Stepping into this show will almost certainly give Ayo a chance to have her character expanded and further explored.

Ayo's appearance in this show directly ties to the events of Civil War. In that movie, while T'Challa and his father King T'Chaka were visiting the United Nations to discuss the Sokovia Accords, Zemo detonated a bomb that ended up killing T'Chaka. While T'Challa decided to arrest Zemo rather than killing him in revenge, it makes sense that the Wakandans would be concerned to hear that Zemo had escaped and would take it upon themselves to return him to justice. This will no doubt mean that Ayo will be butting heads with Sam and Bucky as they still need Zemo and she will want to see him returned to prison. But the fact that such a key member of Wakanda has now stepped into the series suggests the show will tie into Black Panther 2 in some way.

Of all the confirmed MCU projects, Black Panther 2 probably has the biggest questions surrounding it. With the death of Chadwick Boseman last year, there were many questions about how and if the franchise would continue on without him. Boseman had quickly turned T'Challa into an iconic character and one who felt like he would be one of the central MCU characters going forward. Kevin Feige and writer-director Ryan Coogler confirmed that the sequel would continue on and that the role of T'Challa would not be recast. This led to a lot of speculation about how this difficult situation would be handled.

Given that Black Panther 2 will have a difficult time addressing the absence of T'Challa and starting a new chapter in the franchise, it is possible that they would hope to lay some of the groundwork for the story in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. While it seems unlikely the show will give any indication of how T'Challa will be written out of the MCU, Ayo's appearance could help set up smaller aspects of the story such as possible villains or the central conflict of the sequel. Perhaps Black Panther 2 will respond to the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

After opening Wakanda to the world at the end of Black Panther, perhaps the release of their king's murderer will cause there to be some second-guessing about how much the outside world can be trusted. Another possibility is that something happens to Ayo, either at the hands of Zemo or another villain, leading to Wakanda seeking revenge for the death of one of their own. Ayo's appearance could also have implications for the character of Bucky Barnes. Following the events of Civil War, Bucky was given refuge in Wakanda where Shuri helped heal his mind and rid him of Hydra's control over him. In the first episode of the series, Bucky mentions how his time in Wakanda was the only time he has felt peace since he became the Winter Soldier. This could be setting up his return to Wakanda and possibly him once again becoming the White Wolf in Black Panther 2.

Even with that brief appearance at the end of the episode, Ayo's involvement in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier now sets up so many interesting possibilities. Fans will have to wait until the next episode to see how things will develop, but it is yet another exciting development in the series.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is currently streaming on Disney+.

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