1260-06-15 BCE - Eyes of Wakanda - Season 1, Episode 1: Into the Lion’s Den

In the year 1260 B.C., the sanctity of the hidden African nation of Wakanda is fundamentally challenged when Nkati, a high-ranking Captain of the Royal Guard and a secret operative of the Hatut Zeraze, defects to the outside world. Having stolen a cache of advanced vibranium technology and recruited a loyal contingent of warriors, Nkati rebrands himself as "The Lion" and establishes a pirate empire in the Mediterranean, using his superior weaponry to subjugate the peoples of Minoan Crete. This sudden emergence of Wakandan technology in the Bronze Age poses an existential threat to the kingdom’s isolationist policy, prompting the leader of the Dora Milaje, Akeya, to recruit a deniable asset for a mission of extreme prejudice.

The choice falls upon Noni, a disgraced former member of the Dora Milaje from the Merchant Tribe, whose inability to conform to rigid military discipline makes her uniquely suited for a solo infiltration mission. As Noni journeys to the Aegean to confront the Lion within his deep-sea floating fortress, she encounters a terrifying vision of what Wakandan power looks like when stripped of its moral restraints. The episode serves as the foundational narrative for the War Dogs, exploring the heavy cost of maintaining a secret utopia and the thin line between benevolent leadership and tyrannical godhood in a world where technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Universe Designation

This story takes place in the main Marvel Continuity: 199999

Note - We at Snark Industries recognize and reject that this universe was named as 616 in Dr. Strange Multiverse of Madness

Characters in the Episode

In-Universe Date

This episode is explicitly set in 1260 B.C., a date confirmed by on-screen captions and directorial statements. This chronological placement is not merely a stylistic choice but is derived from the specific historical context of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. The primary logic for this date involves the depiction of Minoan Crete during a period of significant geopolitical transition. By 1260 B.C., the original Minoan civilization had entered its final stages of decline following the volcanic eruption at Thera and subsequent Mycenaean Greek encroachment. The episode depicts Crete as an island plagued by nomadic raiders, which aligns with the historical mystery of the Sea People—a coalition of seafaring invaders that plagued the Levant and Egypt around this time.

The narrative reinforces this dating through its relationship with the second episode, which takes place in 1200 B.C. during the Trojan War. This 60-year gap allows for the consequences of the Lion’s betrayal—specifically the loss of vibranium artifacts to the Aegean seabed—to become the "myths" that subsequent generations of War Dogs must recover.8 Furthermore, the episode mentions that Noni was summoned six weeks prior to the attack on Crete, placing the mission's genesis in the late summer or early autumn of 1260 B.C.

Comic Roots

Wakanda's Hatut Zeraze and War Dogs

The concept of the Hatut Zeraze was first introduced in Black Panther Vol. 3 #4 (1999) by Christopher Priest and Mark Texeira. In the source material, they are portrayed as a brutal, white-clad secret police force founded by King T’Chaka’s predecessor. The animated series adapts this by moving their origin back thousands of years and repositioning them as a response to the "Lion's" betrayal. The term "War Dogs" is used as the informal designation for these operatives, a term popularized in the MCU by characters like Nakia and N’Jobu in the 2018 Black Panther film.

The Lion Cult and Nkati

The character Nkati and his rogue kingdom are inspired by the Lion Cult (or the Cult of the Lion God), which has appeared sporadically in Marvel Comics, notably in Black Panther Vol. 5 #2-6 (2009). In the comics, the cult worships the deity Hathor and seeks to challenge the supremacy of the Panther Cult. The series grounds this myth in "ancient science," suggesting that the "Lion" was not a god but a man with superior technology who allowed himself to be worshipped as such.

Akeya and the Dora Milaje Structure

The character Akeya is a likely adaptation of Akeja, a Wakandan scientist introduced in Black Panther Vol. 5 #12 (2010). While the comic version was a male scientist allied with Doctor Doom’s Desturi faction, the MCU version is reimagined as the foundational leader of the Dora Milaje. This shift emphasizes the military-intelligence roots of the nation over its purely scientific achievements during the Bronze Age.

The Five Tribes

Noni’s affiliation with the Merchant Tribe references the tribal structure established in the first Black Panther film, which itself was a consolidation of the many tribes mentioned throughout Marvel Comics since Fantastic Four #52 (1966). The Merchant Tribe’s role as the primary diplomats and traders of early Wakanda provides the narrative justification for Noni’s expertise in blending into "outside" cultures.