So . . . what did the Hand dig that giant hole in the ground for???

I think that the Hand is preparing for a black magical ritual to summon the Beast.

This is probably what's going to happen when the Beast resurrects Elektra and then mentally possesses her in order to use her as a host body. That is why she is a magical humunculus called the Black Sky.

She was alchemically created using that magical sarcophagus and the magical potions mixed with the blood of humans. The Beast is preparing to open a magical dimensional aperture and enter the dimension of the human race on the Planet Earth. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Hand is just like the Hand in the "mainstream" Marvel Comics Universe (Earth-616). They are a secret cult of half-demon, half-human Japanese Ninja assassins who want to bring about the demon called the Beast's conquest of the world.

If the Hand are fighting the Chaste, then the Defenders (and their occasional ally the Punisher) are going to be trying to fight Elektra (possessed by the Beast).

That's the whole point of the Hand creating the large hole in the middle of Hell's Kitchen. To bring about the Beast who will destroy this world.

Bump.

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"We have to shout above the din of our Rice Krispies!"
- The Police, "Synchronicity II"

All the mysterious hand stuff that left some scratching their heads... quite hontestly intrigued me. I knew all this was eventually going to be explain in The Defenders (or possibly the next season of Daredevil), so I didn't mind not getting answers straight away. As for how this storyline brought down the show's gritty realism to some fans, well it's based on the comics. Call it an absurd narrative (though I liked the hand stuff myself, i wouldn't have mind if the show had gone in a different direction), but the show is just staying true to its source material.