Bucky Barnes spent decades as HYDRA’s brainwashed Winter Soldier before an encounter with Steve Rogers and the Avengers helped him begin breaking out of their hold. He couldn’t undo all their training on his own, however, and finally found true freedom thanks to Shuri’s work in Wakanda. Now, the clever secret to her success is out.
Avengers Infinity War Prelude #1 – by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Will Corona Pilgrim, and Chris O’Halloran – offers a more in-depth look at Bucky’s time in Wakanda following Captain America: Civil War. Specifically, it dives into the technique Shuri uses to finally split him from HYDRA’s influence without sacrificing Bucky’s memories or personality.
She develops an algorithm capable of removing the “influence of the trigger words” without marring the memories themselves and likens it to being able to “reboot him.” Not only does this mean Bucky can’t be forced into compliance by the trigger words anymore, but his mind is as intact as his freedom when she’s finished.
Bucky Barnes Couldn’t Break HYDRA’s Hold On His Own
HYDRA’s influence over Barnes ran so deep that the safest choice was essentially a voluntary coma, and the sheer depth of those ties made finding a fix into something complicated and dangerous. Shuri explains that T’Challa’s request to undo it meant finding a way to deprogram him without destroying who he is as a person. Not only did HYDRA’s scientists brainwash him, they used many incredibly emotional memories as a way to manipulate him. She needs to pinpoint what HYDRA used before she can begin flushing out their influence, and there is no simple solution for doing so – until she makes her own.
The algorithm shows her where to make the (metaphorical) cuts with surgical precision. The trigger words and their influence wae removed, yet the memories that were twisted and changed to support them are still in place. HYDRA suppressed and carved up so much of who Bucky Barnes was as they turned him into their deadly Winter Soldier, and Shuri’s genius helps form those pieces into something whole again. Her success means that he can’t be weaponized again, but it also lets him re-learn who he was to begin with. James Buchanan Barnes remains, but the Winter Soldier is finally put aside.
Shuri’s Solution Has Wider Applications
Although she discovers the method in response to Bucky’s issues, it has wider implications and uses. She tells T’Challa that it may be used to help Wakanda’s development of AI, as it’s not as clumsy or faulty as Tony Stark’s method used to create Ultron (which of course ended in disaster). Bucky Barnes is the first beneficiary of the technique, but it is the start of something potentially more grand. Setting aside any ties to artificial intelligence, Barnes is hardly the only person to undergo brainwashing or other forms of control and influence, and the reboot technique could save more than just one life.
It remains to be seen whether the MCU will take full advantage of its potential, but the possible applications are numerous. In Bucky’s case, it works just as Shuri hoped. The poignant scene in Falcon and the Winter Soldier between Okoye and Bucky, where he hears his trigger words yet remains completely in control, proves its effectiveness. The method removes all the controls HYDRA put in place without causing him further harm. Shuri’s incredible cleansing algorithm allows Bucky Barnes to be a free man for the first time in a century and gives the Avengers a fierce ally in the process.
Check out Avengers Infinity War Prelude #1, available now from Marvel Comics!
