Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Defenders!

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"I'm the Immortal Iron Fist, sworn protector of K'un Lun." With those words, Danny Rand (Finn Jones) announces himself proudly to everyone he meets in Marvel's The Defenders. Rarely is anyone impressed. In nearly every instance, Danny is met with incredulity or eye-rolling. And yet, The Defenders doesn't work at all without Iron Fist. Of the four superheroes in Marvel and Netflix's long-anticipated superhero team up that includes Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), and Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Iron Fist is the most integral to the plot of the series and the machinations of the Hand, the ancient evil criminal organization led by Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver). The Hand desires Danny Rand's power, while the Defenders (reluctantly) work alongside Danny to keep the power of the Iron Fist from them. For once, everyone wants Iron Fist.

Marvel's streak of critically-acclaimed, fan-favorite hits on Netflix hit a roadblock when Iron Fist premiered in March of this year. Daredevil season one effectively built the street-level heroics of Marvel New York City and its second season was even better received. Jessica Jones was beloved, while Luke Cage inspired numerous thought-provoking think pieces. When fans met Danny Rand, the billionaire heir to Rand Enterprises who returned to New York after 15 years of learning martial arts in the mysterious Himalayan monastery K'un-Lun, they were decidedly unimpressed. Unlike the emotionally torn Matt Murdock, the wittily sarcastic Jessica Jones, and the noble Luke Cage, Danny Rand was found to be childish and irritating, and the series was problematic. Fans and critics alike came down hard on Iron Fist, and quickly designated him as "the worst Defender."

Fans who skipped Iron Fist and are meeting Danny Rand for the first time in The Defenders will likely come away with the opinion that he's an annoying appendage to the other, more mature heroes. The Defenders doesn't shy away at all from depicting Danny's character defects. However, Danny Rand in The Defenders does make genuine progress as a character from how he was in his own series, and he is given leeway to show some better shades of his personality. Rather than de-emphasize Danny Rand in The Defenders, showrunners Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez took the opposite route and made Iron Fist the central hero around whom all of the action involving the Hand revolved.

When we last saw Danny Rand and his Hand-fighting partner/love interest Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), they had arrived in the Himalayas only to find K'un-Lun had disappeared as a direct result of Danny abandoning his role as its protector. The Defenders catches up with Danny and Colleen months later, having scoured the world unsuccessfully chasing the Hand with nothing to show for their efforts. By the time they returned to the familiar space of Colleen's Chikara Dojo in New York, Danny was more frustrated and angry than ever in his failure to be a "one-man army." Colleen wisely suggested a new strategy: finding some help, maybe joining a team.

It turned out finding some new friends was exactly the magic formula Danny needed. By the time he meets the other three Defenders and they fight their way out of the Hand's Midland Circle skyscraper and take refuge in the Royal Dragon Chinese restaurant, we began to see some brilliant flashes of the kind of character Danny Rand could eventually become. Danny is the youngest Defender in age and life experience; rubbing up against the more world-weary Jessica Jones and the stalwart Luke Cage, Danny was the only one who grasped the gee-whiz coolness of having other heroes with superpowers around to fight alongside. Suddenly, Danny became relaxed and started being funny. He proudly paid for all of the damage to the restaurant and bought everyone dinner with his black card. He also read the room and quickly realized a team up was a natural progression of four superheroes showing up at the same place at the same time to fight the same villains. Danny also prodded Luke about the two of them forming a unit, teasing comic fans who want to see the comic book Power Man and Iron Fist banded together on Netflix.

Danny was most impressed by Daredevil, however. He'd heard of the exploits of The Devil of Hell's Kitchen and was shocked to find out Matt Murdock was a blind lawyer-turned-ninja trained by Stick (Scott Glenn) and The Chaste, which was an army meant to fight the Hand that Danny had no idea existed. Danny also thought Daredevil was just plain cool, especially his weapons like his billy club, though he and the other Defenders resented Matt keeping his relationship with the Hand's weapon Elektra (Elodie Yung) from them. Of the four Defenders, Danny Rand and Matt Murdock had the most in common; both had deep ties to the Hand and had been fighting them for years. Matt Murdock ultimately understood it as well, though he was hesitant to put his trust in Danny or any of the other Defenders until the very end when he had no other choice.

The good-natured ribbing the Defenders gave each other was short-lived. Danny rubs people the wrong way and is a lightning rod for insults. After taking his usual share of being mocked for his glowing chi and for being the "dumbest Iron Fist ever," Danny typically flew off the handle. (Count how many times the others, Luke Cage in particular, tell Danny to calm down.) When the other Defenders realize the Hand has been after Danny all along because his Iron Fist was the key to opening a magical doorway so the Hand could gain 'the substance' that leads to their immortality, Danny quickly jumps to the conclusion that the other Defenders were betraying him simply because they wanted to hide him from the Hand. In typical Marvel fashion, disagreements and misunderstandings instantly provoke violence, and Danny found himself fighting all of the other Defenders, just as he had fought Luke Cage earlier before they'd been properly introduced.

The Defenders also decided to turn Danny into the damsel-in-distress of the series. After the Defenders knock him out, Danny spends the bulk of the final episodes tied up and held hostage, first by the Defenders and then by the Hand. He gets to redeem himself somewhat after he's freed and he battles Elektra, but she tricks him into punching the doorway beneath Midland Circle with his Iron Fist, opening it and allowing the Hand access to the substance. When the other Defenders come to Danny's rescue, he fights side by side with them until they defeat the Hand. As Midland Circle was about to implode, Daredevil stayed behind and whispered something in Danny's ear before Danny made his escape with Luke and Jessica. What Murdock whispered to Danny was a new mission statement to replace his ruined original mission to defend K'un-Lun - "protect my city."

What The Defenders ultimately gifted to Danny Rand, which his own series failed to do, was a redemption arc that spins him off into a new and hopefully better crusade. Danny and Colleen, who faced her resurrected sensei from the Hand, Bakuto (Ramon Rodriguez), and ended him once and for all, are the characters who grew and changed the most from the experience fighting alongside the Defenders. Danny was the focal point of the Hand's evil schemes, and he correctly learned he couldn't beat them on his own, whereas before, he was insistent to the point of madness he was a 'one-man army' and that the Hand was his mission and his alone (despite Colleen fighting alongside him).

By the end, Danny accepted both New York City as his true home and Matt Murdock's challenge to take Daredevil's place as the protector of the people who walk its streets. In addition, by giving Colleen her own complete heroic arc, Danny's most admirable companion shined even brighter. Colleen's devotion to Danny is stronger than ever, and maybe the good things she sees in Danny may come to light more and more. If someone as great as Colleen thinks so highly of Danny, maybe there's something there after all. The addition of Misty Knight (Simone Bissick) to the cast of Iron Fist season 2, potentially with a bionic arm, gives Danny another strong female character to play off of and gives fans the Daughters of the Dragon team up they've been begging for in lieu of Power Man and Iron Fist.

Ultimately, Danny Rand remains Danny Rand. He's still immature, arrogant, confused, easily provoked, and the question of why Danny doesn't light up his Iron Fist more often continues to linger. However, The Defenders addressed many issues fans have with Danny Rand and left Iron Fist better off than how they found him. The Defenders even raised the level of Iron Fist's action by markedly improving his fight scenes so that Danny does come off more as the awesome martial artist he's meant to be. Though Iron Fist absorbed a lot of abuse throughout the series, Danny is the Defender who benefited the most from making new super friends. The old adage "We're judged by the company we keep" holds true for Danny; the Defenders and Colleen Wing can't help but reflect well on the Immortal Iron Fist.

If The Defenders didn't quite fully redeem Iron Fist, it did showcase that Danny Rand has great potential. With new Iron Fist season 2 showrunner Raven Metzer replacing Scott Buck, who is now heading up Marvel's Inhumans, here's hoping Danny's upward trajectory continues by leaps and bounds. By the end of The Defenders, both we and Danny do begin to see that the light at the end of Danny's fist is a signal that there's hope yet for the worst Iron Fist ever.

NEXT: HOW DEFENDERS SETS UP MARVEL NETFLIX PHASE 2

Marvel's The Defenders is available for streaming on Netflix.