‘Hawkeye’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 6 “So This Is Christmas?”

The Hawkeye finale is here, putting Clint and Kate’s skills and partnership to the test as everything finally comes boiling over. Following the startling reveal that Eleanor is the one that hired Yelena to kill Clint, on top of the fact that she’s working with Kingpin, Kate must confront her mother to find out what’s going on. A fancy, festive Christmas party then turns dangerous as the Tracksuit Mafia goes after Eleanor (who is now on Kingpin’s bad side), Clint, and Kate. Meanwhile, Yelena still has unfinished business to take care of, and Maya makes a decision. Let’s break down some of the major events from episode 6, “So This Is Christmas?”

Eleanor’s debt to Kingpin

The episode opens with a meeting between Wilson Fisk and Eleanor. We learn that Eleanor has been working for Kingpin for quite some time not necessarily because she wants to, but because her husband owed him a small fortune, which then became her debt to bear. It turns out that Eleanor was actually the one responsible for Armand’s death, and she notes that Jack is taking the fall for Sloan. But now, Kate has come home, and she’s getting too close to it all. This is where Eleanor draws the line, and so she needs to leave the business. Kingpin is not pleased.

Yelena sent Kate a video file of the whole conversation, and she’s in disbelief that her mother could be working with the mob. Clint remarks that Kingpin won’t take what Eleanor said lightly. They need to help her mother. Although Kate insists that Clint needs to get home to his family for Christmas, he’s not leaving her side.

“Kate, you’re my partner. Your mess is my mess. I’m not going anywhere until this is finished.”

Maya checks in with the boss

Maya arrives for a meeting with Kazi and Kingpin, the latter of which is concerned after seeing the rough shape that she’s in after her fight with Clint/Ronin. Kingpin isn’t happy about what Maya has been up to, because she hasn’t been keeping a low profile. She agrees, telling him that she’s come to her senses, and she’s done chasing ghosts. Unaware of all that Maya knows, Kingpin tells her that he wishes her father could be there now to see her and all of her accomplishments. Maya asks if she can take a couple days off to clear her head, and Kingpin agrees.

After she leaves, Kingpins turns to Kazi, aggravated over the mess that has unraveled between Ronin, Hawkeye, Eleanor, and now Maya … his Maya … she’s turned on them. Kingpin asks Kazi what they’re going to do about it, because the people need to be reminded that the city belongs to him.

A heart-to-heart between two archers

As they prepare for a big night at the Christmas party, Clint and Kate get to work putting together a variety of dangerous new trick arrows to stock up their arsenal, which Kate is thrilled about. She also finally gets a chance to label all of them. As they’re working, the two have a heart-to-heart as Clint begins to talk about how heroes have to make tough decisions, and he wants to make sure she’s ready for what’s coming. Kate goes on to reflect back on the Battle of New York and how inspired she felt after seeing Clint fighting off aliens with a stick and a string, jumping from buildings even though he can’t fly. She realized then that being a hero isn’t just for people with superpowers. You just need to be brave enough to do what’s right, no matter the cost.

A Christmas party decked with bullets

Dressed to the nines, Clint and Kate make their way to the Christmas party, flanked by some undercover help in the form of their LARPing friends. They see that Jack has made good on his word to get out of jail in time for the party, and he’s in good spirits with one of his trusty swords at his side. Meanwhile, some other uninvited guests make their way to the party, including Yelena Belova and a brigade of Tracksuit Mafia vans. When Eleanor arrives, Kate confronts her mother.

Kazi, who’s waiting with a sniper rifle in another building, begins firing on Clint, and the party dissolves into chaos. Kate spots Yelena and follows her, and she proceeds to invite herself into her elevator and does what we all have wanted to do at some point in our lives — presses every single button that she can in order to slow her down. The two fight their way through the building, picking back up on their amusing banter, and Yelena even compliments Kate’s moves. (These two totally need to be best friends, okay?) Yelena eventually takes her leave out a window, still in pursuit of Clint. Kate manages to muster up all of her superhero bravery and uses Yelena’s line to rappel down the building. While she may not have been as graceful as the trained assassin who went before her, at least she landed on her feet.

Kate begins taking down Tracksuits outside of the building, and one of them takes a moment to thank her for giving him advice for talking to his his girlfriend. They went to see Maroon 5 instead! Meanwhile, Jack is holding his own, fighting off Tracksuits with his sword, and it’s endearing to realize that he wasn’t such a bad guy after all. While he may be quite different from his villainous comic counterpart, seeing him in action in this episode is a fun nod to the Swordsman.

Chopping down the Rockefeller tree (oops)

Kazi and the rest of the Tracksuits go after Clint inside the building, but he manages to incapacitate them temporarily and makes his way out the window. Unfortunately, the line that he grabs on to snaps from where it’s tethered, and he ends up flying into the Rockefeller tree instead. Kate leaves the LARPing crew to take care of the chaos on the ground alongside Jack while she goes to rescue Clint. Her idea of a rescue is using one of the trick arrows to knock over the entire tree … which … well … it worked, right?

Clint and Kate work together to fight off the endless amount of Tracksuits that are coming after them on the Rockefeller ice skating rink, and we finally get a look at Clint’s fancy new suit. It’s an epic moment of joint teamwork between the two archers, who are truly a seamless pair in battle. However, just when they think they’ve taken them all out, a Tracksuit van comes flying onto the ice. Kate shoots one of Scott Lang’s arrows at it, and she’s baffled to see the van hilariously shrink down to the size of a toy car. The owl that Clint saw in the tree casually flies off with it.

Yelena and Clint finally have a chat

Just before Clint can face off with Kazi and the remaining Tracksuits, Yelena tackles him back onto the ice. Clint tries to explain to her that she needs to know what really happened to Natasha — she sacrificed herself and saved the world. Yelena refuses to believe him, because she thinks he’s a liar, and she continues attacking him.

No matter what Clint says, Yelena doesn’t want to hear it, because she can’t understand why Nat would sacrifice herself for him. And if she did, Clint should have fought harder to stop her. Finally, as he’s laying on the ground, Clint calls out to Yelena with her and Natasha’s secret whistle (yes, the one from Black Widow. I’m not crying, you’re crying). Finally, he gets through to her, and he tells Yelena how Nat talked about her all the time. She loved her sister, and she always wanted her to be safe. Yelena cries, remarking that Clint “got so much time with her.” They both say that they loved her, and Yelena helps Clint to his feet before taking her leave.

Eleanor Bishop, you’re under arrest

Eleanor is about to escape, but Kingpin finds her. Kate arrives just in the nick of time though, and she begins shooting arrows at him, though nothing seems to work. Eleanor hits him with her car, and Kate continues to struggle to fight with him. She manages to eventually get the upper hand by activating all of the trick arrows laying on the ground at once, blowing Kingpin up and knocking him out in the process. Kate goes to check on her mom and confronts her for what she’s done. The police arrive to take her into custody for the murder of Armand, much to Eleanor’s dismay.

The tragedy of Maya and Kazi

Maya arrives at the scene, and Kazi tells her that she should have left, because she knows what he has to do otherwise. The two begin to fight. Maya came back because she’s leaving, but she wants him to come with her. But this is Kazi’s life, and he can’t leave it all behind. This was never supposed to be Maya’s life, though.

Kazi stumbles to his feet, and he tells Maya that he’s not like her, it’s too late for him. Maya tries to convince him otherwise, but he tells her that he can’t walk in two worlds. The two continue to fight, and she stabs him. It’s a heartbreaking and emotional moment as Kazi touches Maya’s face, and she lowers him to the ground. Kazi tells Maya to leave, because Kingpin his coming for her.

After Kingpin manages to drag himself from the rubble, Maya finds him and shoots him. The shots are fired off-screen, so his fate remains unknown.

I’ll be home for Christmas

In the aftermath of the battle, Clint and Kate find themselves sitting in the back of an ambulance. He tells Kate how proud he is of her for what she did. The next day, Clint stays true to his word, and he makes it home for Christmas with Kate and Lucky the Pizza Dog in tow.

Later that day, Clint throws the Ronin suit on the barbecue, putting his alter ego to rest once and for all. Meanwhile, Kate contemplates a title for herself — Lady Hawk? Hawk Eve? Hawk Shot? Lady Arrow? Clint thinks they’re all terrible. He tells her that he has an idea, which is followed by the Hawkeye logo popping up on the screen, signifying that Kate will also assume the Hawkeye mantle alongside him like in the comics.

Agent 19

As Kate, Lucky, and the kids sit in the living room opening gifts, Clint gives the Rolex back to Laura. She flips it over and we see that the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo is on the back, accompanied by the number 19. Agent 19 (Mockingbird in the comics) was previously introduced in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. However, it remains to be seen if this will either retcon Bobbi Morse and establish Laura Barton as Mockingbird (as it wouldn’t be the first time that AOS has conflicted with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s continuity), frame her as a successor to the title instead, or something else entirely.

Rogers the Musical, uncut

In a moment that feels reminiscent of Marvel Studios releasing “the Zemo cut” during The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the post-credits scene treated fans to the full cut of the song from Rogers the Musical that was shown in the first episode. Glorious.

All six episodes of Hawkeye are available to stream exclusively on Disney+. Catch up on all of our series coverage, including episodic recaps and more.