Chapter Summaries

Captain America and Hill uncovered Hydra’s Project Insight and prepared to stop the three Helicarriers, while Pierce accelerated the launch preparations and exposed Hydra’s control of the project to Ross. Pierce captured Ross and ordered the Helicarriers ready within three days, intending to destroy the White House.

• Captain America agreed with Natasha’s call to investigate every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent but insisted Wang Khan must be notified if the situation became uncontrollable.
• Hill and Captain America followed Nick Fury’s plan, investigating Sitwell and discovering Project Insight through Dr. Zola’s computerized brain.
• Pierce intensified forced labor at the Helicarrier site after learning the plan had leaked, executing engineers to speed construction.
• Ross confronted Pierce over the engineers’ deaths, then realized Pierce had ordered the attack on Nick Fury and demanded to know what Hydra was hiding.
• Pierce used a Sonic Paralysis Device to incapacitate Ross while Strike Team agents killed Ross’s attendants, then revealed Hydra controlled the Helicarriers.
• Pierce ordered the Helicarriers to complete testing within three days and had Ross taken away to witness their planned attack on the White House.

Nick Fury sent Captain America, Natasha, and Hill to replace the Helicarriers’ tracking chips, while S.H.I.E.L.D. descended into civil war between its agents and Hydra. As Garrett attacked Skye’s Team aboard the burning Airbus, Skye called for Gordon’s help, and he teleported the team away.

• Natasha questioned whether the Helicarriers could manually stop firing, but Nick Fury had no better plan than replacing their tracking chips.
• Captain America, Natasha, and Hill wore Mars Armor, infiltrated the Triskelion, and used Captain America’s broadcast to spark battles between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra across the agency.
• Nick Fury warned Coulson’s Team that Grant Ward was Hydra, and Ward fought them aboard the Airbus before escaping by parachute.
• Garrett attacked the Airbus with a fighter jet, damaging it badly as May warned the team that the plane could not withstand the assault.
• Coulson urged Skye to jump alone, but Skye refused to leave her friends and begged Gordon to save them.
• Gordon enveloped Skye’s Team in yellow light and teleported them away from the Airbus.

Garrett and Ward found The Fridge looted and abandoned their plans to support Pierce, deciding instead to seek out Shockwave Man. As Captain America reached the last helicarrier to replace its targeting chip, Winter Soldier confronted him.

• Garrett and Ward flew to The Fridge, where they found its defenses destroyed and every asset gone.
• Garrett concluded Pierce would lose and chose to join Shockwave Man, but collapsed as his terminal illness overwhelmed him.
• Ward discovered Garrett’s failing body beneath its metal plating and tried to save him with a syringe.
• At S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Hydra’s Strike Team gained the upper hand while Captain America and Natasha replaced two Insight Targeting Chips.
• Captain America and Natasha flew toward the final helicarrier under fire, and Natasha’s armor lost its flight capability after being hit.
• Captain America reached the helicarrier’s computer center in his damaged Mars Armor, where Winter Soldier was waiting.

President Ellis learned that Pierce had betrayed him and fled to a bunker as Hydra took control of the Helicarriers. At Triskelion Headquarters, Captain America and Hill failed to stop the carriers from ascending, leaving their attack on one another impossible.

• Ellis discovered that the authorization key had been revoked and called Pierce to demand control of the Helicarriers.
• Pierce revealed that he was Hydra's leader and threatened to destroy the White House if Ellis launched missiles at the carriers.
• Ellis ordered his aides to take him to the bunker as the Helicarriers climbed toward satellite orbit.
• Captain America replaced the last Insight Targeting Chip, and Hill took control of the carriers' fire-control systems.
• Hydra operatives switched the weapons to manual control, preventing Hill from making the Helicarriers fire on one another.
• Hill told Captain America they had failed, while Natasha blamed Nick Fury's confidence in the targeting chips.

Wang Khan raided The Fridge and secured its prisoners and 084 items, then learned that Hydra had launched three Helicarriers. He coordinated a response with Natasha, Captain America, Tony, and Banner as the threat to the world escalated.

• Wang Khan revealed that he had raided The Fridge, taking its superpowered prisoners and sealed 084 items for himself.
• Wang Khan subdued the conscious Gravitonium and stabilized it by destroying the S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor's consciousness within it.
• Natasha told Wang Khan that Hydra's three Helicarriers had launched, and Captain America urged him to stop them before many people were killed.
• Wang Khan ordered Hill to keep using the targeting chips, directed Captain America and Natasha to attack Hydra agents and capture Pierce, and said he would contact Tony and Banner.
• Tony learned about Hydra's infiltration and the Helicarriers, then condemned S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury.

Hydra attacked Washington and New York, but Umbrella’s Energy Canopy protected the city from the carriers’ bombardment. As Tony and Banner headed for DC, Wang Khan prepared Justice Gundam for a mission in space.

• Pierce ordered the carriers to destroy the White House, and their main cannons reduced it to rubble.
• Captain America, Natasha, and Hill fought Hydra agents at the Triskelion, but Hydra’s Mars Squad stalled their advance.
• Pierce ordered the carriers to bombard New York, but Umbrella’s Energy Canopy blocked the shells and Gwen reassured the citizens.
• Tony and Banner saw the shield protect New York and continued toward DC after Jarvis explained its energy properties.
• Wang Khan raised Justice Gundam outside Umbrella Headquarters and began assembling its rocket packs for an attack on the space-based weapons.

As Hydra’s carriers climbed toward space, Tony and Banner failed to damage them enough to stop their ascent and were redirected to the Triskelion Building. Captain America’s team defeated Hydra’s Mars Warriors, but Hill detected bombs in the building and warned that Pierce planned to destroy it.

• News that Justice Gundam was being fitted with a rocket pack led weapons experts worldwide to investigate whether the Zaku could operate in space, and Tony asked Wang Khan about his own Zaku.
• Pierce abandoned his plan to destroy Umbrella Corporation and focused on getting Hydra’s carriers beyond the atmosphere, then prepared to escape the Triskelion Building after Laurent Luo confirmed the bombs were installed.
• Tony and Banner exchanged fire with the carriers but could not penetrate their armor, so Wang Khan sent them to capture Pierce and help Captain America’s team.
• Captain America, Natasha, and Hill fought Hydra’s Mars Warriors at close range and defeated nearly twenty of them, forcing the survivors to retreat.
• Hill detected bombs throughout the Triskelion Building, and Captain America ordered everyone to evacuate.

Banner, Captain America, Hill, and Tony faced a choice between saving the agents inside the bomb-rigged Triskelion and preserving the system blocking the helicarriers’ targeting. As Pierce held Tony in a standoff, Justice Gundam launched from New York toward DC to stop the helicarriers.

• Banner’s Hulk armor was disabled, and he crashed to the ground before heading into the Triskelion to help Captain America and Hill save people.
• Hill explained that destroying the bomb-rigged load-bearing pillar would bring down the building and that losing the Triskelion supercomputer would restore the helicarriers’ targeting systems, putting hundreds of thousands at risk.
• Captain America chose to save the agents and ordered his team to capture Pierce while evacuating as many people as possible.
• Tony realized he had to avoid pressuring Pierce too hard and could not disable the bombs remotely without also ending the helicarriers’ targeting interference.
• Pierce recognized Tony’s restraint, ordered Rumlow’s men to conserve ammunition, and taunted Tony while their forces settled into a standoff.
• After the Energy Canopy over New York vanished, Justice Gundam launched toward DC with six rocket packs, while Tony remained trapped in the standoff with Pierce.

Natasha exposed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s classified files and abandoned the organization after confronting Hill about its crimes. As Tony faced Pierce on the Triskelion rooftop, Pierce revealed that his heartbeat controlled bombs capable of devastating the building and surrounding area.

• Natasha used Red Queen to break into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s system and uploaded its personnel files and records of secret operations to the internet.
• Hill confronted Natasha, who condemned S.H.I.E.L.D.’s role in a nuclear leak in Polar Bear territory and left the Triskelion.
• Natasha survived her fall from the tenth floor and walked away, while Hill told Captain America that she had left over S.H.I.E.L.D.’s past actions.
• Tony contacted Wang Khan for help as Pierce claimed his Helicarriers would defeat Justice Gundam and let him escape unharmed.
• Pierce revealed a chest device that would detonate the Triskelion’s bombs if his heart stopped, threatening tens of thousands of people.

Pierce used bombs planted beneath the Triskelion to force Wang Khan to let Hydra’s Helicarriers reach satellite orbit, while broadcasting his threats worldwide. Wang Khan learned that Pierce’s death would trigger the bombs and faced Pierce’s demand as DC’s residents struggled to flee.

• Tony discovered that Pierce had planted dozens of tons of C4 beneath the Triskelion and that the bombs were linked to Pierce’s heartbeat.
• Pierce forced Tony to connect him with Wang Khan, then broadcast his identity as Hydra’s leader and threatened the world with the Helicarriers’ space-based weapons.
• Wang Khan broadcast his own feed, and Captain America and Tony confirmed that the bombs were real and would detonate if Pierce died.
• Panicked DC residents tried to escape, causing a massive traffic jam.
• Wang Khan asked Pierce for his terms, and Pierce demanded that the Helicarriers reach satellite orbit before he would deactivate the bombs.

Pierce forced Wang Khan to choose between destroying Hydra's Helicarriers and risking civilian deaths in DC, or letting them reach orbit and endangering the world. Wang Khan stalled Pierce by heading to space while Tony and Jarvis tried to crack the bomb code, but the Helicarriers reached satellite orbit before the code was broken.

• Ellis and Nick Fury gloated over Wang Khan's dilemma, while recognizing that Ellis and S.H.I.E.L.D. were facing ruin.
• Pierce revealed that he knew Tony and Jarvis were cracking the detonator code and demanded that Wang Khan wait for the Helicarriers to reach orbit.
• Tony told Wang Khan that Jarvis needed about twenty more minutes, so Wang Khan launched Justice Gundam toward space without attacking the Helicarriers.
• World leaders condemned Wang Khan's actions, and Gwen told them to shut up on Umbrella Corporation's behalf.
• Justice Gundam reached near satellite orbit as Tony urged Jarvis to hurry, but the Helicarriers entered orbit and their targeting systems came back online before Jarvis finished cracking the code.

Pierce ordered the Helicarriers to attack the Avengers with their space-based weapons, but the Justice Gundam destroyed the Helicarriers before they could fire. As Umbrella Corporation’s power reshaped the global political balance, Nick Fury ordered Coulson to carry out a plan involving Skye and the Inhumans.

• Tony’s armor evaded Pierce’s attack, and a Helicarrier shell blasted away half of the Triskelion.
• Pierce ordered the Helicarriers to target the Avengers and Wang Khan, while the people inside the Triskelion braced for bombardment.
• When the Helicarriers did not fire, Tony, Captain America, and Banner realized something had gone wrong for Pierce’s forces.
• The Justice Gundam destroyed Hydra’s Helicarriers with its Laser Cannons, preventing the space-based weapons from striking the Avengers.
• World leaders reacted to Umbrella Corporation’s overwhelming military power, while President Ellis’s advisers began considering how to protect themselves politically.
• Nick Fury contacted Coulson and ordered him to advance a plan despite Coulson’s concern for Skye.

Coulson's team began a raid on Afterlife to seize Terrigen Crystals for Nick Fury's plan to build an Inhuman army, putting Skye between S.H.I.E.L.D. and her people. Meanwhile, Wang Khan destroyed Pierce's Helicarriers and the Avengers routed Hydra in DC, where Pierce sacrificed his left hand to help Rumlow escape with his hidden assets.

• Coulson told May, Simmons, and Fitz that Nick Fury had ordered them to obtain Afterlife's Terrigen Crystals, and the team prepared to act despite the risk of opposing Skye.
• Wang Khan destroyed the last Helicarrier, then sent all three wrecks toward the moon for Red Queen to repair and repurpose.
• The Avengers attacked Hydra in DC, and Pierce and his forces fled as the heroes pursued them.
• Tony's laser weapon fatally damaged Pierce's Mars Armor, while Captain America disabled Rumlow's armor with his shield.
• Pierce gave Rumlow the coordinates to his hidden assets, cut off his own left hand as their key, and ordered him to escape.

After Rumlow escaped the battle using an Inhuman ability, Tony, Banner, and Captain America realized Shockwave Man had manipulated the fight and used Pierce as part of a scheme. Wang Khan returned to DC after defeating Hydra’s Helicarriers, then announced that he and Gwen would marry in half a year aboard the newly completed Space Elevator.

• Pierce died, and Rumlow trapped Captain America and Banner in sinking ground before escaping with Earth Tunneling.
• Tony, Banner, and Captain America concluded that Rumlow served Shockwave Man, who had taken Hive’s ability and used Pierce’s severed hand in a scheme.
• Rumlow met Gwen at Umbrella Headquarters, received an improved Extremis Virus injector, and continued undercover work to infiltrate Hydra.
• Gwen’s people claimed the useful parts of Pierce’s inheritance, while Rumlow received control of the rest to fund his infiltration of other Hydra factions.
• Wang Khan returned Justice Gundam to the Triskelion, explained its energy-conversion system to Tony and Banner, and invited them to his wedding to Gwen, which would coincide with the Space Elevator’s completion.

After Hydra’s Space-based Weapons scandal led to President Ellis’s impeachment and Ross’s arrest, Wang Khan urged New York Mayor George Stacy to prepare for a future presidential run. George was startled by Wang Khan’s ambitious proposal, which he feared would lose a tremendous amount of money.

• The media blamed Ellis and Ross for enabling Hydra’s Space-based Weapons, and Congress impeached Ellis by an overwhelming margin.
• Ellis lost his presidential powers and faced a court investigation, while Ross was arrested as a cooperating witness.
• Wang Khan told George Stacy that the current defense minister would take over Ellis’s remaining term and that George should run for president afterward.
• George doubted he could win against established political dynasties, but Wang Khan argued that visible achievements could defeat them.
• Wang Khan presented George with a detailed project proposal, and George was shocked by its expected financial losses.

Wang Khan persuaded George that a high-speed rail line between New York and San Francisco could boost the economy and serve as George’s strongest presidential campaign card. He planned to build the route between major cities, aiming to finish it within three years and secure George’s path to the presidency.

• Wang Khan explained to George that high-speed rail could stimulate economic growth along its route, with government tax revenue subsidizing the line.
• George realized the project could become a powerful presidential campaign achievement and began assembling a team before visiting San Francisco.
• Gwen questioned Wang Khan about the expense and difficulties of building high-speed rail, and he told her the route would connect only major cities.
• Wang Khan explained that George needed 270 electoral votes and said the rail line could be completed within three years to help secure his election.

The high-speed railway project made George Stacy a likely future presidential candidate, alarming Nick Fury about Umbrella Corporation’s growing power. Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. prepared to use Coulson’s team to locate Afterlife and obtain Terrigen Crystal.

• George Stacy’s high-speed railway project attracted national attention and increased his political influence.
• Nick Fury and Maria Hill concluded that Wang Khan could use George to win the presidency in three years and feared Umbrella Corporation would become unstoppable.
• Sharon Carter reported that Coulson had contacted Skye, and Nick Fury ordered him to lure her away so S.H.I.E.L.D. could locate Afterlife.
• Simmons and Fitz gave Coulson a device to track Gordon’s spatial fluctuations and find Afterlife.
• Fitz questioned the ethics of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s plan, but Coulson insisted they were pursuing world peace and justice.

Simmons and Fitz struggled with Director Fury’s orders to target Afterlife while meeting Daisy, who had found her mother there. May warned them that Hydra had tracked them down, and the group came under attack in a café.

• Simmons and Fitz discussed whether to obey Director Fury’s plan to build an Inhuman squad by attacking Afterlife, despite Daisy’s ties to the community.
• Daisy met Simmons and Fitz and told them she had found her mother and learned about her father.
• Daisy described Afterlife as peaceful but isolated, and said she visited Chicago regularly because she struggled to adapt to life there.
• May rushed into the café and warned Daisy, Simmons, and Fitz that Hydra had found them.
• Hydra agents crashed armored SUVs into the café and opened fire, and Daisy blocked the bullets with her Quake Force Field.
• A Hydra agent fired an RPG at close range, and the explosion reduced the café to rubble.

Daisy, May, Simmons, and Fitz were ambushed by Hydra and narrowly escaped with Gordon’s help. May later learned the attack was real because the Director had leaked their location, so she ended her ties with S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Daisy and May fought off Hydra agents and fled with the unconscious Simmons and Fitz as both groups of agents attacked them.
• May drove the group into an abandoned building, where Rumlow led Hydra agents in a search after they found the building empty.
• Gordon teleported Daisy, May, Simmons, and Fitz to a rooftop, then took Daisy away to Afterlife while May stayed behind.
• May later confronted Coulson, who revealed that the Director had leaked the branch’s location and that Hydra had killed eighteen agents and wounded nearly fifty.
• May threw Coulson the team’s phone and told him she was cutting all ties with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Coulson and Fitz discovered Afterlife’s location, and Nick Fury ordered an assault to seize its Terrigen Crystals despite Coulson’s objections. Carter informed Wang Khan of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s plans, and Wang Khan prepared to reach Afterlife first.

• Coulson learned that Skye had left and changed her name to Daisy Johnson, then Fitz located Afterlife with help from Gordon’s movements.
• Fitz and Simmons urged Coulson to pursue negotiation, but he refused, and they discovered that May had already left S.H.I.E.L.D. after learning Hydra had carried out the earlier attack.
• Nick Fury ordered Hill to assemble an assault team, including Sharon Carter, and dismissed Coulson’s objections to the operation.
• Carter secretly reported to Red Queen that S.H.I.E.L.D. planned to send drones before attacking Afterlife for its Terrigen Crystals.
• Wang Khan learned of the planned raid and told Red Queen to locate Afterlife so he could arrive ahead of S.H.I.E.L.D.