Why Namor Actually Surrenders In Wakanda Forever (It's Not Peace)

Being a technologically advanced small isolated nation can cause several issues with one's neighbors when one possesses an incredibly potent and rare mineral. Though in the case of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," this description could be equally applied to both Wakanda and Talokan, which both have tremendous reserves of vibranium. Vibranium is an exceptionally hard-to-find resource on much of Earth, though both Wakanda and Talokan have enough to forge and fuel entire societies. Most notably in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, vibranium is used for Captain America's shield and Vision's body, which confers a certain degree of damage resistance to both.

Of course, the conflict in the critically acclaimed "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is kicked off because of this resource, which draws both reclusive nations into conflict. Talokan is led by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), a famous pragmatic anti-hero from the comics who may or may not be one of the first mutants in the MCU. Talokan is an underwater kingdom that is essentially ruled by Namor, and he becomes incensed when the CIA uses a vibranium-detecting machine that leads them directly to this secretive kingdom. Namor blames Wakanda for this trouble and gives them an ultimatum: find and turn over the scientist responsible for the CIA's device, Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), or Namor will release the full fury of Talokan upon Wakanda.

Considering that the major fight in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" involves Wakanda and Talokan, these two radically different civilizations have very different opinions about the surrounding world. Wakanda, within the context of the MCU, is slowly opening itself more and more to outside nations, while Talokan is straight-up hostile at any territorial infractions, as illustrated by their slaughter of the CIA agents. At one point in the movie, Namor offers Shuri (Letitia Wright) and her fellow Wakandians a peace treaty and alliance in order to subjugate the rest of the world, but Wakanda rejects the offer.

As the final battle between Namor and Shuri comes to its culmination, Shuri gains the upper hand. Quickly realizing that vengeance is taking over her heart, Shuri stays her hand from slaying Namor, who then offers to yield to Shuri. One initial interpretation of this surrender is that he's moved by Shuri's offer for a truce. However, Namor later makes a comment that both Wakanda and Talokan will need allies in the battles to come, which highlights that perhaps Namor isn't done with his plans to wage war on the surface world.

So what is the best way to explain Namor's newfound capitulation to Wakanda? Throughout "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," Namor's primary motivation is the preservation of his people at the expense of all else, so maybe he is simply establishing rules of non-aggression with the one nation that could theoretically bring ruin to his beloved homeland. But it's also made clear that Namor believes Wakanda will be inevitably attacked for its vibranium and turn to Talokan as an ally. Doing so would leave Wakanda in debt to Talokan — which perhaps Namor would want to take advantage of to wage war upon the surface world. 

In other words, Namor isn't the type of person to seek peace unconditionally, and there is definitely a vibe that he has further plans somewhere along the line. Whether he is trying to remove Wakanda as an enemy or establish them as allies is still up for debate, but one thing is for certain — this probably won't be the last time MCU fans get a chance to see Namor. Whether he is an enemy, ally, or a mix of both is up to Namor, who has always straddled the line between villain and hero in the comics.