Black Lightning Finally Reveals the Contents of That Briefcase in "The Book of War Chapter One: Homecoming"

Back in the first season finale of Black Lightning, a mystery emerged when Tobias Whale acquired the mysterious briefcase belonging to ASA director Martin Proctor. While Tobias was able to unlock the briefcase thanks to the grisly acquisition of the man's thumbs, viewers were given no idea as to what the contents of the briefcase were. Instead, a delighted Tobias tells his then right-hand-girl Syonide that whatever it is makes him the "king of Freeland". Now, nearly two years later fans of The CW series finally know what exactly about that briefcase made Tobias a self-declared king and it's more than we were originally told. It's a revelation that has chilling implications for the war with Markovia.

Spoilers for Monday's episode of Black Lightning, "The Book of War: Chapter One: Homecoming", below.

Black Lightning made clear that the ASA briefcase was a big deal. Tobias declared it made him king and, later, Lala acquired it as something he planned to use to lure Tobias out, an object that Lala seeming felt gave him some power over and perhaps even protection from the brutal crime lord. However, in Monday night's episode the real significance of the mysterious briefcase was finally revealed thanks to the actions of an unlikely ally: Lady Eve. After drugging Devonte for information, Lady Eve made an offer Lala couldn't refuse: his "freedom" from both Tobias and her control in exchange for the briefcase. With the case in hand, Lady Eve then met with Gambi after the tailor brutally summoned her. A truce of sorts called between them, Lady Eve gave Gambi the briefcase and he quickly took it to TC to open, revealing the contents to Lynn and Jefferson.

As it turns out, the briefcase contains the terrible history of the ASA as well as the United States government's chilling involvement in pretty much everything metahuman including their responsibility for the Markovian situation. Everything can be traced back to Gravedigger -- real name Tyson Sykes. You see, Sykes was a World War II-era soldier who was treated terribly by his racist fellow military members. After lashing out at them for the poor treatment, Sykes ended up as part of a secret super soldier-type experiment and ultimately was the only subject to survive. Transformed into a metahuman, the government then used Sykes for special, secret missions. They earned him is name -- Gravedigger. At the same time, the government started funding additional experiments intended to recreate the success found with Sykes. One of the places that the government carried these out was Markovia. However, when a coup forced the U.S. out, Sykes remained behind as he wanted no part in returning to a country that had treated him so poorly because of his race. Now, decades later, Gravedigger is a driving force in the Markovian efforts that have Freeland soundly in their crosshairs.

This is actually an expansion of what we found out about the briefcase, albeit briefly, in Season Two. At that time, Tobias was able to find out thanks to the contents that the ASA had been developing metahumans for their own Masters of Disaster project. However, this expanded revelation that the American government is ultimately behind everything -- including the vaccine experiments that gave Jefferson his powers and created the Pod Kids as well as gave rise to the brutal ASA — is a chilling one. More importantly however, at least in the short term, is the information about Gravedigger. Now Jefferson has what feels like a complete story about the monster who is coming for Freeland, though even that information may not be as useful as one might hope. Lynn left behind her meta power boosting serum and with it, the already formidable Gravedigger now has the ultimate power that he wants to use for vengeance on Freeland, on Black Lightning, on the nation that wronged him in the first place.

Black Lightning airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.