Chapter Summaries

Evenson questioned Hannah Hawkins about the laboratory accident and uncovered a clue pointing to a mysterious sponsor called Mr. Dryl. He left believing Hannah would soon be released, while Coulson and Ward considered whether the accident had been a deliberate attempt to create a superhuman.

• Hannah Hawkins recalled being imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. after strange objects began flying around her following the laboratory accident.
• Evenson questioned Hannah about the accident and the laboratory's true sponsor, while she feared his questions and offers were threats.
• Coulson explained to Ward that S.H.I.E.L.D. suspected the particle collider experiments might have concealed a deliberate superhuman project.
• Hannah told Evenson that she had overheard her supervisor and James Victor discussing a respectful figure called Mr. Dryl, who was impatient with the experiment's progress.
• Evenson connected Dryl's name to a French family, thanked Hannah, and gave her water before leaving; Coulson bristled at his criticism of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s treatment of her.

Evenson and Melinda tracked down Dryer, the Nevada heir tied to a magical cube that could summon demons, while Evenson struggled to find a way to reach him. Li Lin arrived through a portal to summon Evenson to the Sorcerer Supreme’s apprentice ceremony, and after leaving with her, he asked her to make a detour for an urgent matter.

• Melinda struggled to trace Dryer’s funds until she found his photograph and learned he lived in Nevada.
• Evenson explained that Dryer was descended from Gilles de Rais and that the family had commissioned a cube said to open a gateway to Hell.
• Li Lin stepped through a portal onto the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane and told Evenson that the Sorcerer Supreme and Klayya had invited him to a ceremony.
• Evenson persuaded Coulson that he needed to attend the ceremony to guard against demons, and Coulson let him leave because the mission was nearly complete.
• Evenson entered the portal with Li Lin, then asked her to take a detour so he could handle something urgent.

Coulson’s hidden power frightened Tobias Ford’s ghost, while Melinda used Hellfire to destroy him after he sabotaged the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane. Evenson and Li Lin arrived at a Nevada estate by portal, soaked from landing in its fountain.

• Coulson told Hill that Evenson was retrieving the item and arranged to collect a package from France.
• Tobias tried to attack Coulson, fled when he saw Coulson’s golden eyes, and later sabotaged the plane after attacking Simmons.
• Melinda made an emergency landing beside a farm and took Hannah to a warehouse, where Tobias confessed his crimes and Hannah forgave him.
• Melinda bound Tobias with a Hellfire-covered chain and burned his soul to ash.
• Evenson and Li Lin arrived at a Nevada estate in the middle of its fountain, and Evenson complained about her unreliable portal.

Evenson and Li Lin infiltrated Dryer’s villa, where they confronted Hell Princess Farina and discovered that Dryer was actually Gildres. Farina disputed Evenson’s claim that Mephisto wanted the cube retrieved, while Gildres revealed he recognized Evenson and knew his history.

• Li Lin dodged the magical barriers around the villa, and Evenson used portals to join her at the entrance.
• Evenson and Li Lin entered the bedroom, where Farina revealed her demonic form and identified herself as a Hell Princess.
• Evenson told Farina that Mephisto wanted the cube retrieved and that her mission was over, but Farina said her father had ordered the plan to continue.
• Dryer stood and revealed himself as Gildres, then noted that Evenson seemed familiar with his history.

Evenson questioned Gildres about his past, his connection to The Book of the Vishanti, and his wish to resurrect Saint Joan of Arc. Gildres explained that he believed Joan’s soul had been taken to Purgatory, and Evenson realized a Naaru’s abandoned system was collecting the souls of worthy warriors.

• Evenson asked Gildres how he had abandoned The Book of the Vishanti, and Gildres said it could not fulfill his wish to resurrect Saint Joan of Arc.
• Gildres recounted how he had lost faith in God after committing evil acts and surviving his execution, then revealed that he had made a deal with Mephisto to save Joan.
• Evenson reasoned that Gildres could not resurrect Joan because her soul was missing, and Gildres explained that he believed she had gone to Purgatory rather than Heaven.
• Gildres described how he had tracked the souls of good people and found that outstanding warriors were retained or returned with their memories and former personalities removed.
• Evenson concluded that a Naaru had been gathering the souls of virtuous, capable warriors to form an army, and that its abandoned program was still running.

Evenson discovered that Mephisto’s contract with Gilles de Rais contained a loophole that favored Gilles, and Farina revealed Mephisto’s hidden feelings for Saint Joan of Arc. Gilles was devastated by the revelation, while Evenson pledged his support.

• Evenson questioned Gilles de Rais about his contract with Mephisto and learned that Gilles had agreed to help open Hell Gate in exchange for Joan’s soul.
• Evenson explained that Gilles could satisfy his obligation to help open Hell Gate without actually succeeding, while Mephisto remained bound to retrieve Joan’s soul.
• Evenson and Gilles wondered why Mephisto had written such a favorable contract, and Gilles pressed Farina for an explanation.
• Farina revealed that Mephisto had mourned Joan’s martyrdom and that she and Mephisto’s son suspected he wanted Joan as a partner.
• Gilles de Rais shook with distress, and Evenson comforted him and declared that he stood on Gilles’s side.

Evenson and Farina learned that Gildres’s devotion to Saint Joan of Arc was paternal rather than romantic, while Mephisto intended to pursue her. Evenson took Gildres’s puzzle box, encountered the devil trapped inside, and agreed to help save Joan of Arc’s soul for his own benefit.

• Gildres explained that his feelings for Saint Joan of Arc came from guilt, pity, and protectiveness, and vowed to stop Mephisto if Joan rejected him or Mephisto proved unworthy.
• Gildres handed Evenson the puzzle box, while Evenson told Farina that Mephisto lived in Los Angeles and had no room for her palace in Hell.
• The puzzle box summoned Pinhead, who tried to leave but was apparently willing to go with Evenson, allowing Evenson to store the box.
• Evenson suspected Mephisto had arranged for him to join the effort to save Saint Joan of Arc, and he promised Gildres not to touch her soul while admitting he expected another benefit.

Li Lin returned safely to Kamar-Taj with Evenson after the mages feared her portal had failed, and she punished Wong for preparing a memorial portrait. Evenson reunited with Klayya, explained his entanglement with Li Lin, and presented Ancient One with unusual gifts for her ceremony.

• Wong organized a frantic search for Li Lin and prepared a memorial portrait, but Master Hamir announced that she had returned with Evenson.
• Li Lin discovered Wong's portrait and dragged him away to punish him while Evenson was ignored by the mages at Kamar-Taj.
• Evenson admired the treasures in the main hall until Klayya found him and led him outside, warning him that Li Lin had told her he touched her chest.
• Klayya explained why Wong and Master Hamir resented Evenson, since Li Lin had repeatedly bullied Wong after Evenson's suggestions brought her to him.
• Evenson met Ancient One in the main hall and gave her a red-painted security door and a Healing Stone as gifts for her ceremony.

Evenson gave Ancient One an oversized, poorly painted door as a gift, then arranged a staged rescue to bring Stephen Strange to Kamar-Taj. Strange arrived in Nepal desperate to heal his hands, and Evenson destroyed his documents to keep him from leaving.

• Ancient One reluctantly accepted Evenson's door gift and directed him to install it at the New York Sanctum instead of Kamar-Taj.
• Evenson criticized Kamar-Taj's plan to meet Strange and persuaded Ancient One to let him arrange a dramatic welcome, with Mordo's help.
• Strange's car crash ruined his hands, and his attempts to recover through potions and prosthetics failed, leaving him desperate to resume surgery.
• After hearing about a paralyzed patient's recovery at Kamar-Taj, Strange spent his remaining money on a ticket to Nepal and traveled to the town.
• Evenson hired four men to stage a robbery, then had Mordo rescue Strange and lead him toward Kamar-Taj.
• Evenson paid the staged robbers, recovered Strange's belongings, and burned his documents so Strange could not leave.

Stephen Strange arrived at Kamar-Taj seeking a cure for his damaged hands, but Evenson’s theatrical welcome left him convinced he had entered a bandits’ den. The Ancient One finally cut through the staged ceremony and took Strange aside to hear his request.

• Mordo led Strange through Kamar-Taj’s ordinary-looking entrance and blindfolded him during a deliberately confusing journey to the main hall.
• Strange saw the grand throne room, its assembled sorcerers, and an untethered Golden Eagle, and wondered whether he could still leave.
• Evenson questioned Strange’s identity and mocked Mordo for bringing him in before the supposed test, while Strange explained that he wanted his hands healed.
• The gathered sorcerers summoned the Supreme, and the Ancient One emerged but refused to sit on the white-tiger-fur throne.
• The Ancient One interrupted Evenson’s questioning, recognized Strange as a help-seeker, and took him into the inner chamber.
• After they left, Li Lin criticized Evenson’s performance, and Evenson collected the white tiger pelt.

Ancient One tried to introduce Strange to the soul, but he mistook Kamar-Taj for a secret medical facility and then a cult. Evenson proved souls existed by pulling Strange out of his body, then turned his soul into a Soul Crystal, leaving Ancient One ready to punish him.

• Ancient One welcomed Strange into the inner chamber and explained that she had helped Pangborn walk by convincing him he could.
• Strange mistook Ancient One's explanation of healing through the soul for illegal medical research, then grew suspicious that Kamar-Taj was a cult.
• Evenson challenged Strange to prove souls did not exist, and Strange insisted that he had never seen one.
• Evenson pulled Strange's soul from his body to prove its existence and explained that souls were a special kind of matter and energy.
• Evenson turned Strange's soul into a Soul Crystal, and Ancient One summoned the I Said I'd Win Sword in anger.

Ancient One forced Strange to experience the supernatural and rejected his plea to become her disciple, then agreed to let him return after he waited outside Kamar-Taj. She and Evenson discussed her plans for Strange and Mordo, while Strange remained unaware of Evenson’s cryptic hint.

• Evenson restored Strange’s soul to his body, but Strange dismissed the experience as a drug-induced hallucination until Ancient One showed him the many worlds and a glimpse of a hungry darkness.
• Strange begged Ancient One to teach him, but she refused, and Evenson threw him out of Kamar-Taj; Strange stayed at the entrance for five hours because his passport and ticket were gone.
• Mordo asked Ancient One to reconsider Strange, and she agreed to bring him back, explaining that his arrogance reminded her of Kaecilius and that Kamar-Taj needed more heroes against the threat of the Dark Dimension.
• Evenson told Ancient One that Mordo did not know her plan to make Strange a future Sorcerer Supreme, then criticized her habit of giving others too much trust and inspiring false expectations.
• Evenson explained that he had patted Strange on the back three times as a hint, and Ancient One realized Strange could not have understood its reference.

Strange began his training at Kamar-Taj, where Ancient One taught him magic and pushed him to master portal-making. After revealing that Kaecilius had gained power from Dormammu and posed an urgent threat, Ancient One prompted Evenson and Klayya to seek him out for revenge.

• Ancient One taught Strange how incantations shaped magical energy, while Evenson and Klayya distracted themselves debating which episode from Xuanzang's journey she might have appeared in.
• Strange borrowed books from Wong, and Li Lin visited the library looking for a sparring partner; Wong kept her occupied by pretending Strange needed to return his books.
• Strange struggled to cast a portal and blamed his disabled hands, but Hamir demonstrated powerful magic with a severed arm, disproving his excuse.
• Ancient One left Strange on a Himalayan summit to make him open a portal home and told Evenson and Klayya that Kaecilius had connected to the Dark Dimension and gained Dormammu's power.
• Evenson vowed to kill Kaecilius for injuring Klayya, while Klayya entered Shadow Form and asked Ancient One where she could find him.

Evenson and Klayya planned to take revenge on Kaecilius despite Ancient One’s request that they leave him to her arrangements. To seize Kaecilius’s soul from Dormammu, they decided to let Dormammu enter this world by disabling the Three Great Sanctums, giving Klayya a chance to confront him.

• Evenson and Klayya demanded permission to hunt Kaecilius, but Ancient One refused and said she had other plans for him.
• Evenson criticized Ancient One for failing Kaecilius as a ruler and teacher, then left with Klayya after Wong interrupted them.
• Evenson and Klayya agreed to let Kaecilius die at Strange’s hands and then capture his soul, but worried Dormammu would claim it first.
• Klayya realized her special mark might persuade Dormammu to relinquish Kaecilius’s soul, so Evenson proposed making contact by letting Dormammu descend.
• Evenson urged Klayya to shut down the defensive systems of all Three Great Sanctums, arguing that repelling Dormammu would build her reputation.

Strange made rapid progress in sorcery and combat at Kamar-Taj while Evenson gave Li Lin Fel Energy to strengthen her martial arts. After Li Lin tested her greatly increased power, Evenson sent her to the Hong Kong Sanctum to help Klayya.

• Strange trained with Mordo, who warned him that Li Lin wanted to spar because she enjoyed beating people up.
• Evenson explained that he planned to give Li Lin energy to fill her dantian and help her advance in martial arts.
• Li Lin drank Evenson's blood-based elixir, then endured his transfer of Fel Energy into her lower abdomen.
• Li Lin tested her new strength and found that her casual punch was more than ten times stronger than her previous full-force strikes.
• Evenson told Li Lin to return to the Hong Kong Sanctum to assist Klayya, and Li Lin accepted the name Jade Baji Quan for her technique.

Evenson arranged for Li Lin to help protect the sorcerers and advance Klayya’s plan while Kaecilius attacked the Three Great Sanctums. The London Sanctum’s sorcerers used modern weapons and explosives to repel the attack, but the Sanctum itself was destroyed, leaving Kaecilius stunned among the ruins.

• Evenson explained that he wanted Li Lin to rescue the Hong Kong Sanctum’s sorcerers in Klayya’s name and help stop Kaecilius’s assault.
• Kaecilius attacked the London Sanctum, where Jemima Moriarty, Holmes, and Malgarn had prepared guns, rockets, and artillery to ambush his followers.
• Kaecilius overcame the first barrage and entered the Sanctum, but the sorcerers withdrew and used surveillance to track him as he approached the Sanctum core.
• Moriarty detonated forty plastic explosives when Kaecilius reached for the core, destroying the London Sanctum and killing or scattering most of his followers.
• Kaecilius sat dazed in the ruins, with only two of his six followers apparently still alive.

Kaecilius brought Gildres and their forces to attack the New York Sanctum, where Klayya turned the battle against them and led the mages into a secured room. The attackers were left outside, unable to open its voice-controlled door.

• Kaecilius prepared to attack the New York Sanctum with his two remaining followers and accepted help from the dark wizard Gildres, also known as Bluebeard.
• Kaecilius and Gildres entered the Sanctum and found Klayya and the other mages waiting for them.
• Gildres summoned dozens of grotesque monsters, prompting Klayya to urge the mages to retreat while she held the attackers back.
• Klayya took control of Gildres's spell and transformed the Sanctum's walls into flesh and tentacles, frightening the mages into retreating.
• Olivann and the mages followed Klayya into a secure room, and Kaecilius failed to open its voice-controlled door.

Kaecilius fought his way through the New York Sanctum while Strange and Evenson delayed him, then faced a mysterious final trial beside the Sanctum core. The trial revealed itself as Milia, Kaecilius’s dead wife, leaving him shocked as he confronted the person he had sought to resurrect.

• Kaecilius found the New York Sanctum’s red voice-activated door, while Klayya warned him that a special trial awaited him by the core and then disappeared.
• Mordo and Strange confronted Kaecilius, but Gildres sent tentacled monsters after Mordo while Strange fled toward the core.
• Kaecilius chased Strange through the relic room, where the Cloak of Levitation protected Strange and the iron restraints trapped Kaecilius.
• Evenson freed Kaecilius and sent him onward, saying that his opponent was guarding the Sanctum core.
• Kaecilius fought a masked woman in black leather, pierced her heart, and recognized her as Milia when her mask broke.

Evenson revealed that he had revived and controlled Milia to make Kaecilius kill her, then destroyed her body and soul to torment him. Kaecilius escaped believing Dormammu might restore Milia, while Ancient One arrived, reclaimed The Book of the Vishanti, and confronted Evenson and Gildres about their secret arrangement.

• Evenson admitted that he had manipulated events so Kaecilius would kill the revived Milia, as revenge for nearly killing Klayya.
• Evenson burned Milia's corpse and tricked Kaecilius into shattering the Soul Crystal containing her soul.
• Kaecilius seized on Evenson's claim that a great existence might restore Milia and escaped to seek Dormammu.
• Gildres praised Evenson's plan to raise Kaecilius's hopes before crushing them again and returned The Book of the Vishanti to him.
• Ancient One appeared, took back The Book of the Vishanti, and ordered Gildres to leave after challenging his involvement.
• Ancient One told Evenson that Gildres believed she was the reincarnation of Joan of Arc, and Evenson questioned the idea.

The Eredar Twins rebuilt New York's magical defense core while Strange survived a fight with Kaecilius's followers and learned that Ancient One drew power from the Dark Dimension. Evenson pushed Strange to join the fight against Kaecilius, and Strange agreed on the condition that his hands be healed afterward.

• Ancient One discovered that the Eredar Twins had diverted New York's magic supply and rebuilt its defense core beneath Gospel Company.
• Angelica learned that the Eredar Twins could use magic and asked them to teach her to become a magical girl.
• Kaecilius became trapped in Ancient One's Mirror Dimension, while Evenson turned one of his followers into a Soul Crystal after Strange escaped to a hospital.
• Strange returned to the New York Sanctum and accused Ancient One of using the Dark Dimension to extend her life.
• Evenson challenged Strange to help save the world instead of focusing on Ancient One's secret, and Strange agreed to fight after Evenson healed his hands.