Hawkeye: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 2

Jack Duquesne, a.k.a. The Swordsman

By now, we’ve seen what kind of person Jack Duquesne is like, and, like Kate, you’re thinking, “Wow! This Jack person is one shifty dude.” Everything about Tony Dalton’s performance as Eleanor Bishop’s fiancée just oozes smarminess. At best, you suspect that he’s only marrying Kate’s mom for her money. At worst, he might have very well murdered his uncle, Armand Duquesne III.

Certainly, “Hide and Seek” really wants you to think this. After all, he did steal the Ronin sword from the underground auction in episode 1, and Armand was clearly stabbed. He did have one of Armand’s personally monogrammed butterscotch hard candies in his pocket, the same kind found at Armand’s place. And, as Kate tried to prove, he’s a much better fencer than he lets on. Of course, none of this would hold up in any court. After all, one doesn’t have to be a good swordfighter to stab someone. Also, being Armand’s nephew, Jack could’ve picked up one of his uncle’s candies at any time. As murder mysteries go, Jack Duquesne is an obvious red herring.

Nevertheless, he is very much a shady character, especially if you know anything about his comic book portrayal as the swashbuckling mercenary, the Swordsman. Like his counterpart on the show, Jack Duquesne in the comics also came from wealthy and prosperous family, and ended up joining the circus – the same circus that Clint Barton joined. As a matter of fact, it was Jack Duquesne who taught Clint the art of sword fighting while another, Buck Chisholm, a.k.a. Trick Shot, taught him archery.

In addition, the Swordsman also conned his way onto the Avengers after he tried to kill Captain America. This was during the period in which the roster initially consisted of Cap, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, with Cap using the Avengers as a means of reforming super villains. This, along with Hawkeye vouching for his former teacher, and the Swordsman claiming he was showing off his skills, is likely the in-story reason why the Avengers never suspected anything, least of all that the Swordsman was actually working for the Mandarin, whom he would also double-cross.

That’s been the pattern with the Swordsman ever since; sometimes he would side with the villains, other times with the heroes. The point being is you never really knew which side the Swordsman was really on other than his own. It’s very possible that the MCU version of the Swordsman may also behave the same way, starting off being a potential bad guy, then maybe aiding Clint and Kate as an ally of convenience.

But will he also be revealed as the person who taught Clint? In an interview, Dalton claimed that Duquesne being Clint’s former mentor is “something that is completely not happening in [Hawkeye],” but you never know. After all, you don’t want to give away any potential surprises. Though if the last shot of the episode is any indication, we may get some much needed backstory involving Clint’s time as Ronin in the next episode.

Find any other clues or oddities hidden throughout Hawkeye, episode 2 that we might have missed? Tell us what you saw in the comments section below.