Blessed is the One

Blessed is the One is the fifth episode of the first season of NBC's Iron Man. It premiered on October 24, 2011. It was directed by Alrick Riley and written by Jerome Schwartz. It was also the fifth episode of Iron Man overall.

Synopsis
Rhodey learns that Tony hasn't been telling him the truth about his eight months in Arabia. Pepper comes close to a shocking revelation. Anton continues to get closer to Olivia.

Present Day
Rhodey demands Tony to tell him about what happened in Arabia. Tony first reveals that he was not a prisoner the whole time. Tony tells Rhodey that he had friends there, that both died, until Tony met one of them just now. Rhodey asks who and Tony reveals that Anton, the surviving friend, is trying to get close to Olivia. Rhodey is surprised until suddenly the man in the other suit attacks them. Tony gets into a fight and Rhodey gets into Tony's old suit that he used to escape Arabia in. Rhodey is seriously hurt in the battle, forcing Tony to order him to stand down, letting the man in the other suit escape.

Pepper is at Stark Industries when Happy asks her to get papers from the 23rd floor. Pepper goes into the elevator and sees there is an underground level. Pepper visits it quickly but sees nothing in the entryway. Tony walks out and is surprised to see Pepper down there. He asks her why she is there and she says she just wanted to check it out. She asks him why he is down there. He reveals he thought people said it was empty and they were right. Pepper is surprised but goes back up. Rhodey walks out after she leaves and tells Tony they need a new place.

Olivia gets out of school and is picked up by Anton. He takes her out for ice cream and she asks him why he is being so nice recently. Anton claims he made her father a promise to look after her if he died. He was overseas for the past nine years but when he found out he came straight to New York City. Olivia thanks him and the two continue to eat. Pepper begins to realize Iron Man showed up just as Tony did and suspects the bottom level must be his hideout. She goes back down but finds nothing in there at all. She is once again surprised but goes back up. A large door opens from inside the walls and Rhodey and Tony appear and re-set up the equipment that they hid when they saw Pepper coming down. Rhodey begs Tony to get a new place.

The man in the other suit attacks a family to attract Iron Man. Tony appears as Iron Man and the two fight. Iron Man is forced to either let him go and save the family or let him kill the family and catch him. Iron Man lets him go and rescues the family. Rhodey decides they need a better nickname for the villain than "the man in the other suit". Tony tells him they don't need nicknames but Rhodey comes up with the name "Iron Monger". Tony accepts it and gives the name to the press. Rhodey is excited.

Olivia sees Anton on the phone saying to the other end that he has bonded with the girl and he will be getting the money soon. Olivia confronts him and Anton tries to cover it up but she forces him to leave that second. Pepper goes home with Happy and he asks her why she was so bent on figuring out the bottom level. Tony is revealed to have bugged her and he nearly tears up as he hears her say she was crazy for thinking Tony could be Iron Man.

Flashbacks
Tony is planning out the fake missile when suddenly the prison gates open and a man is thrown in. Tony runs over to help him and sees it is Anton, who he has not met yet.

Starring

 * Rupert Friend as Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Kate McKinnon as Pepper Potts
 * Edi Gathegi as James Rhodes
 * Sarah Hyland as Olivia Stark
 * Maxwell Caulfield as Edwin Jarvis
 * Dave Legeno as Obadiah Stane (credit only)

Guest Starring

 * Kenneth Branagh as Anton Vanko
 * Jason Ritter as Happy Hogan

Trivia

 * This episode takes place on February 26 and October 18 and 19.
 * This episode achieved 13.51 million U.S. live viewers.
 * The episode received great reviews. It scored 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 94 out of 100 on Metacritic, and an 8.7/10 on IGN.
 * This episode is rated TV-14 for D-V.