The most consequential event in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the snap by the Mad titan. To remove half of the living universe in one fell swoop is a loss of life on a scale we barely have numbers to quantify. Everyone who remained behind had to deal with an impossible trauma. Everyone on the planet had changed by the time Bruce Banner came back. The aftermaths of both snappening and un-snappening are part of the story of the MCU.
It didn't take long for the MCU to show the aftermath of the blip. Monica Rambeau's chaotic return from being gone for five years was shown in the fourth episode of WandaVision. The double world population puts stress on the structures that emerged in the five-year gap to handle the blip in the first place, leading to further inequality and extremism. It wasn't until Hawkeye showed what it was like for those who vanished that we realized what was happening. The truth is frightening.
Yelena Belova's blipping is the story of Hawkeye episode 5. After the events of Black Widow, Yelena was able to free the remaining Black Widow agents of the Red Room's chemical control. After that, she wants to move to New York with her sister, and finally have a family. There is a snap in Wakanda minutes later. Yelena blips. When she comes back, her first thought is to find the person who is already dead.
Those who blipped didn't feel anything. There was no pain, no time to ponder what the strange dust was, and no desire to say goodbye as five years went by. The world around them changed in confusing and impossible ways, but they stayed in place. They lost five years of their lives when they realized anything was wrong.
Monica was asleep when she made a noise. She took a nap and woke up like Rip van Winkle five years later. Those who were conscious during the time shift didn't have a chance to experience a transition between their lives in the new year.
Monica and Yelena discover that the person they need to contact is dead. Their traumatic circumstances are the same as their slightly different blip. The full effect of the snap becomes even more unconscionable when you consider that they went through billions of life forms across the entire universe. Put the whole thing in therapy.
Hawkeye is on Disney+.
