Baron Zemo Proved He Doesn’t Need Hydra To Control Winter Soldier

Warning: SPOILERS for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Episode 3 – “Power Broker”

In The Falcon and The Winter Soldier episode 3, Baron Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) once again had Bucky Barnes AKA The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) under his control and, this time, Zemo didn’t even need Hydra’s brainwashing. Because of his deep knowledge of Hydra, Barnes decided that Zemo’s help was crucial if he and Sam Wilson AKA The Falcon were going to be able to track down the Super Soldier Serum variants that created the Flag-Smashers. To that end, Bucky helped Zemo break out of prison and both the Falcon and the Winter Soldier became the Sokovian Baron’s accomplices.

The Winter Soldier was crucial to Baron Zemo’s plot to tear the Avengers apart in Captain America: Civil War, and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier filled in more details that further illuminate Zemo’s schemes and methods. Helmut Zemo was a Sokovian intelligence agent who specialized in hunting Hydra and his goal was to put an end to the Winter Soldier program. However, Zemo tragically lost his family when Sokovia was devastated in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Zemo blamed the Avengers and dedicated himself to putting an end to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes by making them destroy themselves. Zemo tracked down the Hydra codes that allowed him to control the Winter Soldier. Zemo then detonated a bomb at the United Nations in Vienna and framed Barnes. Later, Zemo sneaked into the Joint Counter-Terrorist Center to activate the Winter Soldier’s programming and sic him on the Avengers. As the superheroes predictably clashed with each other, Zemo traveled to Hydra’s Siberia Base to put an end to the Winter Soldier Program and instigate the final schism between Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans).

Although Zemo was captured by T’Challa AKA The Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) at the end of Captain America: Civil War, the Baron was incarcerated in Germany instead of being sent to the supermax prison called The Raft. This made it much easier for Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson to reach Zemo in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Barnes visited Zemo alone and, without Wilson’s knowledge, he helped the Sokovian supervillain break out of prison. While Bucky is no longer the Winter Soldier and is free of Hydra’s mind control thanks to Shuri (Letitia Wright) of Wakanda, he still ended up acting under Zemo’s orders in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (and so did Sam Wilson). Baron Zemo masterfully manipulated both superheroes and proved he doesn’t even need Hydra’s programming to make the Winter Soldier do his bidding.

The first thing Zemo did when Barnes came to his cell in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was to recite Hydra’s Russian codewords. When Bucky said that his days as the Winter Soldier are over, Zemo stared at him as if analyzing Barnes and said, “Something is still in there,” ingeniously planting the subtle suggestion that he was still the Winter Soldier. Zemo commiserated about being in prison, cleverly establishing a commonality between them while creating some empathy with Barnes. Zemo then apologized for manipulating him during Captain America: Civil War and he reminded Bucky it “wasn’t personal”, which preys on Barnes’ own inner conflict about how personal the assassinations he performed as the Winter Soldier feel to him. In that one scene, Zemo expertly sank his claws into Barnes without the need for Hydra’s protocols.

After his escape, Zemo played mind games on both Bucky and Sam en route to Madripoor. Once they got to the city, Zemo was completely in control and the superheroes, who were out of their element, had no choice but to follow the Baron’s lead. Best of all was how Zemo’s ruse relied on Bucky pretending he was still the Winter Soldier and under the Baron’s thrall. When Zemo ordered the Winter Soldier to attack, Bucky had to do it to maintain the deception, which Zemo relished because it was basically the same thing as if Barnes was still under Hydra’s brainwashing. Sam and Bucky even allowed Zemo to murder Dr. Wilfred Nagel (Olli Haaskivi), the creator of the Super Soldier Serum variant.

By the end of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier episode 3, Bucky and Sam rode off with Zemo in a stolen convertible instead of arresting the supervillain for murder. Both the Winter Soldier and the Falcon still think they’re running the show, but they are basically working for the master manipulator, Baron Zemo, and neither seems to realize it.