This Nickname Given To Marvel's Elektra Has A Seriously Deep Meaning

At the end of Daredevil Season 2, Matt Murdock experiences some serious heartbreak when the woman he loves despite of himself, Elektra Natchios, sacrifices herself to save his life. That might sound a bit altruistic for a woman who always does things to get what she wants, but Elektra had another reason to die: to thwart the fate she learned would be hers, becoming the Hand's "The Black Sky." But what does Black Sky mean for Elektra, and did she manage to escape that fate?

At the very end of Daredevil Season 2 (and we mean the very end, after Matt Murdock has hung up his costume and announced he's retiring from the super hero business) we see Elektra's grave being dug up and her body exhumed. The goons who are doing this then deliver her to a waiting sarcophagus, and we see her closed up within it.

It's a heck of a cliffhanger, and one that had us all on the edge of our seats for Daredevil Season 3 to find out what happened. That is, until it was announced that Elektra would be reprising her role in the upcoming series The Defenders. What have The Hand done to her body, and what is a "Black Sky"?

We first hear Stick mention "The Black Sky" in Daredevil Season 1, and the way he talks it sounds like some sort of deadly weapon, like a bomb or a magic machine that will end the world. And then he and Daredevil get down to the dock,s Murdock clears the path for Stick to destroy the thing... And the box opens and there's an 11 year old kid in it, wearing chains.

Murdock doesn't let Stick kill the kid at first, but Stick manages anyway. It's the breaking point in their relationship at that point, as Murdock beats him up for it and throws him out. But what in the heck WAS that kid anyway?

The fact is, "Black Sky" is not a thing in the Marvel comics, it's a concept invented for the MCU, so we don't have any written history to go on. Some note the hand seem to worship Black Sky the way they worship "The Beast" in the comics, a creature that taught them the ability to resurrect. Is that what this kid is, or was?

Is that what Elektra is going to become? We are told they are extremely rare, is that because only certain individuals can be made into them? Did Elektra's sacrifice of her life make it so she could be turned into a Black Sky?

The irony of trying to change your destiny, only to fulfill it. We'll learn more when The Defenders arrives Friday.