Chapter Summaries

Daisy returned from Antarctica and learned that Wanda and Michael had made no progress in their relationship. After Daisy offered Wanda advice, Wanda attempted to surprise Michael in his bedroom but became embarrassed and fled.

• Daisy returned from the Antarctic expedition and threatened Eddie after he joked about her appearance.
• Wanda teased Pietro about the possibility of being sent to Antarctica, and Daisy pressed Wanda for details about her relationship with Michael.
• Wanda told Daisy that nothing had happened between her and Michael, even when she had previously stayed at his house.
• Daisy advised Wanda to prepare a romantic surprise for Michael and suggested getting Sherry to help.
• Wanda waited in Michael's candlelit bedroom wearing translucent clothing, but she fled after she could not explain herself.
• Michael asked Sherry what had happened, and Sherry called the situation perplexing.

Peter struggled with his doubts about the Act and his decision to register, then talked with Gwen on a rooftop. Her questions helped him remember what Spider-Man stood for, and he left with a clearer resolve.

• Aunt May confronted Peter about skipping school and detention, but he snapped that Uncle Ben was gone and rushed out of the house.
• Peter reflected on the Act, his doubts about helping hunt down Captain America's Avengers, and the events involving Gwen.
• Gwen joined Peter on a rooftop, where he apologized and admitted he did not know what to do if Stark ordered him to treat unregistered people like criminals.
• Gwen urged Peter to consider what kind of person he wanted to become and what Spider-Man should stand for.
• Peter remembered Uncle Ben and the people he had saved, then thanked Gwen for helping him understand.

Tony pursued the Crimson Mech and quickly overwhelmed him with the Genesis Armor, despite the rival’s ambush. The Crimson Mech then took a construction worker hostage to force Tony to stop.

• Tony learned that Parker had missed his usual visit to Avengers Tower and told Jarvis to remind him to ask why.
• Tony chased the Crimson Mech, disabled one of its thrusters, and crashed it into a bank while Hill arranged a civilian evacuation.
• Tony used bank security footage to locate the Crimson Mech and dragged him through a wall into the vault below.
• The Crimson Mech’s swarm of bombs exploded, but Tony’s Repulsor Shield protected him, and Tony punched the rival through the ceiling into a construction site.
• The Crimson Mech grabbed a construction worker and threatened to shoot him unless Tony stayed where he was.

Tony defeated the Crimson Mech, revived its pilot with an electric shock, and left the scene after Maria Hill warned him about the consequences. Elsewhere, an old man and a confident young man plotted against Stark, while Tony confronted Peter Parker about skipping a meeting and ignoring his calls.

• Tony blasted through the Crimson Mech's armor, caught the hostage, and brought the pilot back to life with an electric shock.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. agents secured the scene and arrested the pilot, while Hill cautioned Tony about publicly killing criminals.
• An old man and a young man reviewed the battle footage, and the young man claimed he could counter Stark's upgraded armor with a program on his tablet.
• Tony intercepted Peter outside the school and demanded to know why he had skipped a meeting and ignored his calls.
• Peter told Tony that he had gone nowhere and simply had not wanted to attend.

Peter told Tony he would not help capture unregistered superheroes, and Tony placed Spider-Man on indefinite leave while allowing him to keep operating locally. After Peter returned home, Tony received a call from Pepper reporting a terrorist attack on a Stark subsidiary.

• Tony drove Peter home and asked whether Spider-Girl had caused him to defy the Avengers.
• Peter said he would refuse to help capture unregistered superheroes because he believed it was wrong.
• Tony placed Spider-Man on indefinite extended leave from Avengers meetings and operations but allowed him to continue as a neighborhood hero.
• Peter thanked Tony and left the car, while Tony reflected that Peter was no longer on his side.
• Pepper called Tony and told him that terrorists had attacked a Stark subsidiary.

After an explosion destroyed the Stark Industries branch office, Tony and S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated whether Extremis had caused it. He left the scene planning to question the surviving Mandarin, one of the few people connected to Aldrich Killian’s Extremis operation.

• Tony arrived at the destroyed branch office as S.H.I.E.L.D. sealed the scene and began investigating.
• Fitz reported that the blast’s extreme heat and lack of explosive residue suggested an Extremis explosion.
• Simmons pointed out that the blast’s radiation and energy-release pattern differed from known Extremis explosions.
• Tony agreed that the evidence did not prove Extremis was responsible, though Fitz suggested someone might have modified the virus.
• Tony considered the people linked to Killian’s Extremis operation and identified the Mandarin as a possible lead.

After a bombing resembling an Extremis attack, Tony went to question the Mandarin actor, only to find him murdered and marked with the Ten Rings’ symbol. Tony suspected the real Ten Rings had returned and began investigating the attackers, leaving the prison crime scene to pursue information about the organization.

• Tony learned that a Stark Industries subsidiary had been bombed in an attack resembling the Extremis Virus.
• Tony arrived at the prison and found the Mandarin actor dead, with a message warning him and the Ten Rings symbol painted in blood.
• Tony questioned the prison warden, who said the attackers had breached surveillance and escaped without being seen.
• Tony used holographic scanners to reconstruct the crime scene and asked Maria Hill to investigate flight activity and question prison staff.
• Tony told Hill to contact the military department responsible for the Ten Rings and obtain everything it knew about the organization.

Tony Stark attacked the Ten Rings camp and confronted a youth who had transformed himself with an energy source inspired by Extremis. The youth claimed his body was the future of armor, but Tony rose into the air and prepared to prove him wrong.

• Tony Stark ignored a military officer’s objections and flew to the Ten Rings’ coordinates in the Genesis Armor.
• Tony attacked the camp with Micro-missiles and Repulsor Beams, overwhelming its weapons and soldiers.
• A golden beam burst from the flames and knocked Iron Man down before the armor could detect the attack.
• A young man emerged, revealed an energy source implanted near his heart, and claimed his enhanced body could do everything Iron Man’s armor could.
• Tony took flight and raised his Repulsor Cannon, dismissing the youth’s claim that Iron Man was obsolete.

Tony fought a boy whose heart device enhanced his body, then faced an old man wielding ten powerful rings who identified himself as the real Mandarin. The Mandarin claimed responsibility for attacking the prison and declared that Tony would be judged next.

• Tony found no database matches for the boy and realized his heart device channeled energy to enhance different parts of his body.
• The boy attacked Tony with superheated strikes, but Tony overpowered him and blasted him down with a Repulsor Cannon.
• An unknown green energy blast struck Tony, and he saw an old man floating nearby with ten rings radiating powerful energy.
• The old man named himself the Mandarin and said Aldrich Killian had stolen his legend and name.
• The Mandarin admitted he had ordered the prison attack on the actor impersonating him and declared that Tony would face judgment.

Tony fought the Mandarin, whose ten rings overwhelmed Genesis with storms, lightning, freezing cold, and other powers. After Tony wounded him with Repulsor Beams, the Mandarin said Tony’s past had caught up with him, and the armor shut down without any detectable malfunction.

• Tony analyzed the Mandarin’s powers and charged through his sandstorm, but the Mandarin seized the armor with a hand formed from air.
• Tony pierced the air hand with a Repulsor Beam, but the Mandarin split the blast with a ring and attacked with lightning.
• The Mandarin dispersed Tony’s Repulsor blast with a punch and froze the armor by gripping its throat.
• Tony escaped with incendiary bombs and struck the Mandarin with two Repulsor Beams, making him stagger and cough up blood.
• The Mandarin told someone behind him to act, and Genesis shut down as he told Tony that his past had caught up with him.

Tony discovered that the Mandarin had immobilized his armor by activating a device implanted in his body years earlier. The young man revealed that he was Yinsen’s son, leaving Tony to confront how Yinsen’s research and his own past as an arms dealer were connected.

• Tony realized the problem was not an intrusion into his armor but something happening to his own body.
• The young man explained that his father had studied biomagnetism before the government pushed him to develop it as a weapon.
• The young man connected Tony’s weapons legacy to the destruction caused by his landmines and revealed that his father had made Tony the first person implanted with the device.
• Tony recognized the young man’s father as Yinsen, the friend who had saved his life and inspired him to become Iron Man.
• Tony realized he had never truly known Yinsen, despite cherishing his memory and helping Yinsen’s hometown.

Tony learned that Yinsen had implanted a device in his brain and that the youth could use it to control Iron Man, while the Mandarin revealed his role in Tony's capture years ago. Michael arrived as Black Knight and rescued Tony, then killed the youth who held the means to control him.

• The youth told Tony that Yinsen had implanted a biomagnetic device in his brain and that he could use it to control Iron Man.
• The youth accused Tony of still being a weapon-maker, while the Mandarin admitted that he had arranged Tony's capture and forced him to make weapons for the Ten Rings.
• The Mandarin activated his rings and prepared to kill Tony, whose armor and body were disabled by the device.
• Michael appeared as Black Knight and blasted the Mandarin and the youth away from Tony.
• Michael froze the youth with a Magic Circle, then disintegrated him with blue energy to remove the threat to Tony.

Michael defeated the Mandarin with a devastating lightning attack, then took the incapacitated Tony to a S.W.O.R.D. facility. Tony woke in a laboratory and learned that Michael wanted to show him the condition of his head.

• The Mandarin attacked Michael with the Ten Rings, but Michael's Magic Circle crushed the assault.
• Michael called down a massive lightning strike that overwhelmed the Mandarin, leaving him alive but badly burned.
• Michael took the helpless Tony away from the battlefield, while the Mandarin wondered why Michael had spared him.
• Tony woke in a S.W.O.R.D. laboratory, where Michael told him he could leave but warned him about his condition.
• Michael showed Tony an image of his head, and Tony called it terrifying.

Michael discovered a nanobiological device embedded in Tony's brain that could shut down his cerebral cortex and disrupt his body, confirming Yinsen had built it in the terrorist cave. As Tony questioned whether Iron Man had any meaning, he told Michael about his three nightmares and admitted that Iron Man might be the greatest weapon he had ever created.

• Michael examined the device rooted in Tony's brain and explained that it was a biological magnetic reception device, not Extremis.
• Michael said the device had adapted to Tony's neural tissue and could disable his cerebral cortex and interfere with his physical functions.
• Tony concluded that the secrets behind Iron Man's creation made his life and choices feel meaningless, and considered giving up his identities and responsibilities.
• Michael asked whether Tony had acted as Iron Man because of the device or because of himself, prompting Tony to describe his three nightmares.
• Tony said he feared Iron Man technology falling into malicious hands and becoming cheap, mass-produced technology.
• Tony showed Michael the liquid metal covering his arm and admitted that Iron Man might be the most powerful weapon he had ever created.

Michael helped Tony confront his fear that Iron Man technology could become a weapon in someone else’s hands, and Tony reaffirmed that Iron Man’s meaning came from the person who wore the armor. Tony left Michael’s base through a magical portal, while Michael and Sherry waited to see what he would do next.

• Michael told Tony that his unspoken fourth nightmare was someone else creating a superior Iron Man suit and deciding how to use it.
• Tony realized that the armor’s purpose came from its wearer and thanked Michael for helping him see that.
• Michael offered to remove the biological magnetic receiver, but Tony refused and chose to keep it as a memento of Yinsen.
• Michael warned Tony that removing the receiver could destroy his brain and that Extremis could not repair the damage.
• Michael opened a portal to Stark’s laboratory, and Tony left after agreeing to heed the warning to recover before confronting Mandarin.
• Sherry asked whether Tony would listen, and Michael said he expected Tony to act like himself and wanted to see what happened.

The Mandarin, shaken by the Black Knight’s overwhelming power, relocated his base but regained his confidence when S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and Iron Man attacked. As Tony’s team quickly overwhelmed the Ten Rings forces, the Mandarin emerged atop a gigantic Iron Dragon and challenged Stark.

• The Mandarin hid in an underground cavern after realizing the Black Knight could easily have killed him.
• The Mandarin learned that Iron Man, the Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D. were attacking and ordered his forces to engage.
• Iron Man, War Machine, the Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D. swept through the Ten Rings base with little resistance.
• A gigantic Iron Dragon burst from beneath the ground, carrying the Mandarin.
• Tony flew toward the Mandarin and told Rhodes to take the dragon while he faced the Mandarin.

Iron Man battled the Mandarin in the storm while Rhode, Vision, and S.H.I.E.L.D. forces struggled to damage the Iron Dragon. Tony identified the Ten Rings’ darkness attack and briefly knocked the Mandarin down, but the Mandarin seized him and left him pinned beneath a foot on his chest reactor.

• Iron Man charged the Mandarin as the Iron Dragon attacked the battlefield with a devastating golden energy blast.
• War Machine, Vision, and S.H.I.E.L.D. forces attacked the Iron Dragon, but its armor resisted their weapons.
• The Mandarin used the Ten Rings to blind Tony with a dark force field and strike his armor with energy.
• Tony relied on auditory sensors and targeting algorithms to break through the darkness with a Repulsor Beam, then drove the Mandarin into the ground.
• The Mandarin recovered, grabbed Tony by the neck, slammed him into the ground, and planted a foot on his chest reactor.

Tony Stark rejected the Mandarin’s claim that he had created Iron Man by manipulating Tony’s past and insisted that becoming Iron Man had been his own choice. The battle continued as Tony stood his ground against the Mandarin’s attacks and psychological assault.

• The Mandarin stomped on Tony’s Arc Reactor and claimed that he had spared Tony and led him to create Iron Man.
• Tony fired a repulsor blast at the Mandarin and declared that his own choices, not the Mandarin, had made him Iron Man.
• Tony and the Mandarin clashed with their powers, damaging each other as the Mandarin accused Tony of being a murderer like him.
• The Mandarin used a ring to force Tony to relive Yinsen’s death and the destruction caused by Stark missiles, then struck Tony’s armor.
• Tony caught the Mandarin’s punch, knocked it aside, and blasted him away while declaring that Iron Man was himself, not just a suit.

Tony discovered that his Genesis Armor had been upgraded with unfamiliar advanced weapons and algorithms, which let him defeat the Mandarin’s Ten Rings. He realized Black Knight was responsible, while Michael explained to Wanda that Stark remained on their side in the bigger picture.

• After a shot fired, Tony felt his mind sharpen as Jarvis reported automatic upgrades to the Genesis Armor’s weapon and energy-efficiency modules.
• Tony used the newly upgraded armor to extinguish the Mandarin’s flames and strike him with a repulsor blast.
• The armor analyzed the Ten Rings and generated a countermeasure, allowing Tony to break through the Mandarin’s attacks with a powerful cannon blast.
• Tony realized that Black Knight must have upgraded his armor while he was unconscious, though he could not understand why.
• Michael and Sherry watched the armor’s performance, and Michael told Wanda that the Act did not change the fact that they were all on the same side.

With Kang's technology upgrading Tony's Genesis Armor, Iron Man defeated and killed the Mandarin. After discussing the conflict over the Act with Wanda, Michael asked which side she would choose if she were an Avenger.

• Tony used the upgraded armor to overpower the Mandarin, whose rings and powers could not overcome the new technology.
• The defeated Mandarin warned Tony that his loved ones would eventually pay for his choices, and Tony killed him with a Repulsor Cannon.
• Michael asked Sherry about the technology tests, and she reported that the results were excellent and further simulations were underway.
• Michael and Wanda left the laboratory, and Wanda asked whether Stark had his reasons for supporting the Act.
• Michael explained the differences between Stark and Captain America, then asked Wanda whose side she would choose as an Avenger.