A lot of us have scratched our heads and wondered how Matt will reveal to Karen and Foggy that he's alive in Daredevil season 3. Will he willingly reveal himself to them or will he only come out of hiding when Fisk starts going after them? Or maybe some combination thereof?
Personally, I have the theory "some combination thereof". Karen and Foggy won't learn Matt is alive at the same time. Rather, I think Matt will probably reach out to Karen first to let her know he's alive, but insist she keep it a secret from Foggy to protect him, and they only tell Foggy once Fisk begins going after him.
A lot of this theory stemmed from The Punisher, actually, and how after faking his death, Frank only stayed in touch with Curtis and kept secret from Billy Russo that he was still alive. In the finale episode, when Russo was trying to get Curtis to betray Frank, Curtis said he kept Frank's status a secret because Frank asked him to, and Frank did so in the name of protecting Russo (not knowing at the time that Russo had been in league with Rawlins). I can see the same thing happening with Matt regarding Karen and Foggy (minus the betrayal bit).
There's a few related points that make me come to this conclusion that Karen will learn first, and Foggy later:
Anyway, those are my thoughts. What are your ideas on what will be done concerning Matt's survival and how he will "come back from the dead"?
Personally, I have the theory "some combination thereof". Karen and Foggy won't learn Matt is alive at the same time. Rather, I think Matt will probably reach out to Karen first to let her know he's alive, but insist she keep it a secret from Foggy to protect him, and they only tell Foggy once Fisk begins going after him.
A lot of this theory stemmed from The Punisher, actually, and how after faking his death, Frank only stayed in touch with Curtis and kept secret from Billy Russo that he was still alive. In the finale episode, when Russo was trying to get Curtis to betray Frank, Curtis said he kept Frank's status a secret because Frank asked him to, and Frank did so in the name of protecting Russo (not knowing at the time that Russo had been in league with Rawlins). I can see the same thing happening with Matt regarding Karen and Foggy (minus the betrayal bit).
There's a few related points that make me come to this conclusion that Karen will learn first, and Foggy later:
- Point 1: Secret Keeping. Matt's known that Karen's kept secrets from him for a while and we've seen she's pretty good at keeping secrets tight-lipped, enough that only Ellison and Ben have ever known the full details of her past. She's also never come clean yet with anyone, not even Matt and Foggy, her "family", about killing James Wesley. But despite knowing Karen keeps secrets, Matt has always trusted her (even knowing that her job at the Bulletin gives her the means to expose him), he knows she's sympathetic to vigilantes given the ways she's advocated Daredevil and Frank, and she's a compassionate person by nature. So this is a secret he could probably trust her to keep.
- Point 2: The ways in which Karen learns big developments. This is actually kinda darkly funny when you think about it, but consider that Matt tends to inform Karen about big things face-to-face, while Foggy has to learn them secondhand through phone calls or learning them after the fact. This is apparent in how they learned Matt's secret identity: with Foggy, he stumbled upon Matt bleeding out from his fight with Nobu and Fisk; with Karen, Matt summoned her to their old office and showed her his mask. It's also apparent in how he told his loved ones to head to the precinct in The Defenders after Sowande made his death threats: Matt personally goes to Karen's office at the Bulletin to grab her, while apparently only informing Foggy through a phone call (Karen: "Matt didn't tell you?" Foggy: "Matt doesn't tell me anything"). So I can imagine that "news-breaking" trend to continue: Matt surprises Karen by either surprising her somewhere like her apartment or the Midland Circle memorial, or by asking Father Lantom to bring her to the convent (I'm all for the latter idea because Father Lantom has been woefully underused in everything following DDS1). He won't tell Foggy until Fisk goes after him or someone like Karen or Brett lets something slip in a conversation.
- Point 3: Karen did more work in taking down Fisk than Foggy did. Foggy was the late-comer to Matt's and Karen's separate investigations into Fisk. Foggy only learned of Karen's investigation after stumbling upon her altercation with the two thugs who accosted her outside Elena's place, and of Matt's investigation after the Nobu fight. In fact, Karen was already investigating crimes linked to Fisk before Matt and Foggy ever met her, when Union Allied is factored into the equation. Since Karen contributed as much to taking down Fisk as Matt had done, that might make her someone Matt's more likely to reach out to first.
- Point 4: Matt might think Karen is not being considered by Fisk as a target. He might think this because Fisk never mentioned Karen's name when he threatened Matt in prison.
Note that this isn't to say Karen isn't on Fisk's enemies list, since she probably is, owing to her new job as a reporter. And Fisk can't have forgotten about her role in Union Allied.
- Point 5: there's a likelihood that more focus will be given to Matt's connection with Karen than his connection with Foggy during season 3, because there's probably a lot more rebuilding that needs to be done between Matt and Karen than between Matt and Foggy. By the end of The Defenders, Matt and Foggy were already back on pretty good terms, when Foggy brought Matt's suit to the precinct. But Karen got little positive out of her interactions with Matt in The Defenders, and their last conversation was Matt's "Karen, this is my life" interaction which is going to be really painful as the last thing said between them before his "death".
- Point 6: A kinda related note, but I imagine that Matt and Karen's new dynamic in Daredevil season 3 will be a blend of Frank and David's partnership (two people who clash, but ultimately bond as they work together to bring down a common enemy) and Dinah Madani's fling with Billy Russo (two people sleeping with each other and using each other for information).
Anyway, those are my thoughts. What are your ideas on what will be done concerning Matt's survival and how he will "come back from the dead"?
