In Marvel's Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes is risking his redemption being undone with the return of Baron Zemo. Bucky has released Zemo from his imprisonment in Berlin, as Zemo has agreed to help the former Winter Solider track down the Flag-Smashers alongside Sam Wilson's Falcon. However, Zemo is already posing a threat to Bucky and his recent attempts to redeem himself and make amends for his past as the Winter Soldier. Likewise, there's potentially a risk that the more time Bucky spends with Zemo, the more likely he'll revert back to the Winter Soldier assassin he once was in the MCU.

In Falcon & The Winter Soldier episode 3, "The Power Broker," Bucky meets with Zemo in his cell, and the baron immediately begins antagonizing him, speaking the Russian codewords HYDRA had programmed within Bucky's mind to trigger his compulsory compliance as their brainwashed assassin, as seen in Captain America: Civil War. Despite the fact that Bucky now has control of his mind thanks to Wakandan science, there's still a lot of lasting trauma he's been dealing with. In the therapy sessions he'd been going to as a condition of his pardon, he created a plan with his therapist to make amends for his dark deeds, hoping to atone and find closure so he can move on from the nightmares of his past. That being said, Zemo goading Bucky and telling him that a piece of the Winter Soldier is still inside him is certainly the last thing Barnes needs to hear.

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However, it does get worse. After Bucky makes the ill-advised decision to free Zemo without telling Sam about it first, the unlikely trio make their way to the lawless island known as Madripoor to check on a possible lead, and Baron Zemo tells Bucky that in order to blend in, he's going to have to become someone he claims is gone: the Winter Soldier. Sure enough, Zemo and Bucky are forced to pretend and sell the idea that he's still a brainwashed assassin under Zemo's control, and Bucky brutally takes down a handful of thugs in a show of strength and to convince those in the room he's serious.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier Zemo Bucky Sam

While an act, it's clear that the savage brawl was compromising for Bucky, and he was certainly shaken for a moment afterward. If Bucky isn't careful, Zemo could very well manipulate Bucky further into completely undoing all of his hard work to redeem himself from his days as the Winter Soldier. Zemo's already been taunting Bucky with the past with his trigger words and asking him in Russian if he's "ready to comply" (the Winter Soldier's activation response), as well as sneaking a look at Bucky's notebook and list of people he's trying to make amends with to atone for his crimes.

In any case, it looks as though Bucky and Sam's team-up with Baron Zemo will continue on in the series, which is problematic. There seems to be a very real risk that Bucky's continued proximity to Zemo and his constant head games will only serve to cause Bucky to slip, backslide, and revert back into the man he once was under HYDRA's control. Hopefully, Bucky will be able to persevere and stay focused in future episodes of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, and perhaps Sam can help keep him out of the darkness if need be.

More: Zemo's Backstory Retcon Creates MCU Timeline Problem

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