The Defenders S01E08 "The Defenders" Recap

The members of the Defenders up top at Midland Circle must prepare themselves to head downstairs to stop the Hand from harvesting the dragon skeleton for more of the substance that will allow them to continue their immortal destruction. Down underneath the building, Danny learns from Gao that dragons are the key to the power, just as his own magical abilities came from a dragon. The Hand are now beginning their work to harvest the skeleton but they must be stopped because if they are successful, the entire city's foundations will be weakened and trigger more destruction similar to the earthquake at the beginning of the series.

While Matt, Jessica, and Luke head down the elevator towards the Hand, Colleen and Claire must set up the stash of explosives to destroy the building first. Colleen is forced to fight Bakuto when Misty calls Claire to tell them they're all in way over the heads and need to stop what they're doing and clear the building. She overhears the fight between Colleen and Claire and breaks into the building herself. She joins in on the fight to help Colleen and Claire but Bakuto cuts Misty's arm off in the confrontation. Then, Colleen is able to finally kill Bakuto but in the process he falls onto the timer and sets it going to detonate the explosives. Only ten minutes remain for everyone to evacuate the building and the Defenders are still down beneath the building fighting the Hand.

With his enhanced abilities, Matt is able to realise that the explosives will go off soon and sends everyone off to evacuate to safety. Matt stays behind to fight Elektra and try to bring her back to who she once was. The rest of the group encounters a problem when some officers try to arrest them while they're evacuating but Luke is able to block anyone from being hurt due to his virtual indestructibility.

Matt continues to battle Elektra, trying to get her to come back to him. She is relentless in fighting him but begins to admit that she still has feelings for him. All the while, Gao and Murakami are shown to still be in down beneath the building as well. Murakami is gravely wounded but Gao appears to have deliberately chosen to stay behind so we don't rule out the possibility of her surviving into future Marvel-Netflix series.

The explosives detonate and Elektra apologises to Matt for any pain she may have caused him. The two share a kiss as the building begins to collapse and trap them down beneath the dragon skeleton.

The mayor's office issues a statement claiming unpermitted construction around the Midland Circle building is to blame for the recent problems. The cover-up appears to work, and Jessica, Luke, and Danny begin to pick up the pieces of their lives. They will each aim to help and protect the city as best as they can, all the while mourning the loss of Matt.

But true to Hollywood form, the final reveal comes at the episode's end when an injured but still very much alive is shown to be waking up in the bed of a convent with a nun tending to his wounds.

The Defenders is available for streaming on Netflix.