Episode #3

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Quiet Powers – The Black Panther’s Stillness

Hi, Liam.

Some moments in stories fade with time. Others settle in and stay with you.

There’s one that comes back to me often—something quiet that happened just before a storm is an episode of the Black Panther.

It was the early days of T’Challa’s reign. Not long after his father died, not long after the crown was passed. He was still finding his footing as king… and still walking the edge between tradition and change.

That morning, a threat came from the Jabari Mountain tribe. M’Baku had challenged T’Challa’s right to rule, and by the laws of Wakanda, the only way forward was ritual combat.

The arena was carved into stone high above a waterfall, surrounded by chanting tribes. Spears pounded the rhythm. Drums beat like thunder. All around, the crowd pressed in, each voice adding heat to the air.

T’Challa stepped forward in silence. No armor. No mask. Just bare skin, bare hands, and something else.

Stillness.

Before the fight began, while M’Baku roared and circled and postured, T’Challa stood tall, and waited. No flash. No show. He looked straight ahead, shoulders steady, eyes clear. He let the sound move through him. He didn’t rush to meet it. He stood inside it.

The fight that followed wasn’t easy. M’Baku was stronger, heavier, and faster than anyone expected. He knocked T’Challa down, twice. The crowd gasped. Some even looked away.

But T’Challa never lost that stillness.

Even bleeding, even gasping for breath, he never flailed. He watched. He waited. And when the moment came, he moved with precision. A step to the left. A block. A turn. A strike.

Not rage. Not panic. Just presence.

And when M’Baku fell to his knees, growling, defiant, T’Challa didn’t finish him.

He offered mercy.

That’s the part that stayed with me, not just how he fought, but how he didn’t fight when he didn’t have to.

Stillness isn’t silence, Liam. It’s strength that doesn’t shout.

Pause. Notice. Return to what’s really happening.

And remember, Noticing is half the battle.

Love, Grandpa