Chapter Summaries

Tony Stark reflected on his night with the Night Elf commander before Allen revealed that the encounter had conceived a child and that Tony’s inventions had already altered Azeroth’s history. Tony considered what to do about the child as Allen warned him that he had little time left before the Burning Legion targeted him.

• Tony Stark sat by the river, regretted his encounter with the Night Elf commander, and considered the Night Elves’ military strength and social status.
• Allen appeared unseen by the sentinels and questioned Tony about using Magic Circuit knowledge in his cannon designs.
• Allen explained that Tony’s engineering had changed history and that the Bronze Dragons had nearly detected and stopped him.
• Allen told Tony that the Night Elf commander was pregnant with his child and offered three options for the baby’s future.
• Tony asked about the child’s mother, then learned that he and Pepper Potts would also have a daughter in the future.
• Allen warned Tony that he was important to the future but had little time left, then teleported away as the Burning Legion prepared to assassinate him.

Allen trained Wanda to control her Chaos Magic while Sky City tested the twins and supported Tony Stark’s work. The chapter ended with Tony absorbed in Allen’s research materials as Allen sent Quicksilver back to exhausting treadmill training.

• Allen coached Wanda through repeated attempts to release Chaos Magic using her emotions, then gave her a rest while he checked the Guardians’ test results.
• Wanda and Quicksilver discussed their training progress, and Quicksilver warned Wanda that Allen would eventually leave their world; Wanda admitted she still wanted to try pursuing him.
• Tony Stark told Wanda and Quicksilver that he had died after demons ambushed him while he was using the toilet, causing him to drown in a pit.
• Allen told Tony that the child in the artificial incubator was developing well and could be taken home in a few months.
• Allen gave Tony Sky City’s research and technological resources, and Tony immediately became engrossed in studying them.
• Allen sent Quicksilver back to the treadmill, where the Guardians made him resume running at maximum speed.

Wanda and Quicksilver completed two weeks of brutal training, while Tony Stark began creating a godlike artificial intelligence from a fragment of Allen’s soul. On Earth, Terrigen Crystal powder spread through the oceans and caused thousands of Inhumans to awaken, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. scrambling as Allen warned Coulson that the crisis could grow much worse.

• Wanda and Quicksilver endured Allen’s punishing training and greatly improved their abilities and stamina.
• Tony Stark used a neutralizing agent and the Guardians’ help to begin weaving an independent personality into Allen’s soul fragment, but his experiments later produced a dangerous life-form that Artoria contained.
• Terrigen Crystal powder entered the sea, and S.H.I.E.L.D. and government reports counted four or five thousand newly awakened Inhumans engaging in crimes or joining hostile groups.
• Coulson asked Mockingbird Barbara whether the International Security Council had responded, and Barbara suggested pursuing peace with the Inhuman settlement now led by Daisy.
• Allen arrived through a portal and warned Coulson that thirty to fifty thousand Inhumans might awaken, urging S.H.I.E.L.D. not to provoke them.

Allen refused the International Security Council’s request to control the Inhuman crisis, while Coulson resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D. and left the Council to face the consequences. Meanwhile, Grant Ward’s assassinations weakened American populist groups, and Red Skull used the chaos to rebuild Hydra and recruit powerful Inhumans.

• The International Security Council asked Allen to intervene in the Inhuman crisis, but he refused and told them to consult the interests backing their politicians.
• Allen dismissed the envoy’s suggestion that Sorcerer Supreme Ancient One solve the crisis, then left through a portal.
• Coulson warned the envoy against trying to deceive Allen, announced his resignation, and submitted the letter he had already prepared.
• Grant Ward assassinated prominent American politicians, media figures, and other leaders, leaving their tongues cut out and the word “traitor” written in blood.
• Investigators connected the victims to populism, racism, and Hydra, and fear of Hydra silenced many of their allies.
• Red Skull used Lena’s help and the Inhuman outbreak to rebuild Hydra, recruit superpowered people, and establish the organization’s influence again.

Allen confronted Clara and her newly empowered group after they kidnapped the French President and demanded gold, easily overpowering them. The President was safe, while the group’s foolish motives and abilities were exposed.

• Martial law was imposed in Paris after Clara’s group kidnapped the French President, and the group posted a video demanding two tons of gold.
• Allen appeared before Clara and her accomplices, warned that the government might kill the hostages rather than negotiate, and resisted Clara’s punch without being hurt.
• Zack charged Allen with enhanced strength, but Allen stopped him with one hand and sent him crashing through a wall with a flick to the forehead.
• Allen questioned Clara, who confessed that she could control air currents, and learned that a boy’s spatial tunnels had enabled the kidnapping.
• The group admitted they had kidnapped the President for fame and demanded gold on impulse, using another member’s ability to melt metal; Allen ignored the President’s attempts to get his attention.

Allen encountered Daisy and Gordon while dealing with newly awakened Inhumans who had kidnapped the French President. After the Inhumans were taken away and the President was rescued, Allen warned the French commander about the growing Inhuman population and confronted him over France’s history; the authorities then covered up the humiliating incident with a fabricated account.

• Allen reunited with Daisy and learned she had become an elder after exposing her mother and taking charge of the Inhuman village.
• Daisy ordered Gordon to teleport the teenage Inhumans away before French forces arrived, and he transported them to their village.
• The Special Forces rescued the French President, and Allen told the commander that Inhuman incidents would become more common.
• Allen assured the commander that Daisy could guide the Inhumans toward better relations with governments, then criticized France’s colonial history when the commander complained about unfairness.
• The commander backed down, altered the press statement, and staged damage around the area to make the rescue look like a major battle.

Daisy struggled to manage Afterlife’s overcrowding and supply shortages while the International Security Council’s no-fly zone blocked aid. Allen arrived, created housing and provisions, and urged Daisy to reveal Afterlife publicly and rally public opinion; she began organizing the village and preparing to post a video.

• Daisy and Lincoln discussed the trouble caused by Afterlife’s overcrowding, scarce supplies, and the no-fly zone that had stopped the Stark Foundation’s aid shipment.
• Allen appeared in Afterlife, and Lincoln attacked him with electricity before Allen split a nearby mountain with Lightning Strike.
• Daisy listed the village’s urgent needs, and Allen used his powers to create treehouses, daily necessities, and a stocked warehouse.
• Allen told Daisy that more Inhumans were awakening and that the government feared further incidents, then advised her to reveal Afterlife and seek public support.
• Daisy decided to record and post a video on social media, and she ordered Lincoln to discipline the most troublesome newcomers.

Allen helped Daisy Johnson publicize the Inhumans’ persecution and peaceful life in Afterlife, forcing the International Security Council to abandon its efforts to suppress the story. He then arranged for Tony Stark to support upcoming media interviews as they prepared to address the tens of thousands of newly awakened Inhumans.

• Daisy and Allen released videos and photos about the Inhumans, and the material spread widely despite S.H.I.E.L.D. and the International Security Council trying to remove it.
• Public support for the Inhumans grew, demonstrations spread across Europe and the United States, and the International Security Council gave up trying to suppress the news.
• Allen advised Daisy to invite major news outlets to Afterlife and warned her that the International Security Council might take action; Daisy selected six outlets and arranged interviews.
• Lincoln asked Daisy about Allen, and she told him to keep Allen’s identity as Earth’s mysterious ally secret.
• Allen returned to Sky City and found Tony Stark’s construction of the Supreme Intelligence soul construct well underway, with completion still months away.
• Allen told Tony that tens of thousands of people had awakened as Inhumans and asked him to support Daisy’s media interviews; Tony agreed.

Allen arranged for media outlets to enter Afterlife and attract public attention, while Daisy’s mother Jiaying questioned his political strategy and defended her desire for revenge. After Jiaying attacked him, Allen altered her memories, leaving her dazed and urging Carl to take her outside.

• Daisy and a space-capable Inhuman escorted reporters and their equipment through a portal from Times Square to Afterlife.
• The media crews witnessed Inhumans demonstrating their powers, then fought one another for the chance to interview Tony Stark.
• Allen explained to Quake’s mother that Daisy’s media strategy would raise the political cost of targeting Inhumans and create room for cooperation.
• Allen accused Jiaying of pursuing revenge without regard for Afterlife or her family, and Jiaying argued that her suffering justified her actions.
• Jiaying attacked Allen, but he froze her and altered her memories until she forgot much of her pain.
• Carl arrived, and Allen told him to take Jiaying outside to experience the world again.

Tony Stark publicly defended the Inhumans and challenged the International Security Council, then learned his daughter had been born and named her Selene. Months later, Allen turned his attention to Stephen Strange’s car accident as Tony completed a powerful creation called God, which became omniscient and omnipotent within the Azerath Universe.

• Tony Stark told reporters that Inhumans were harmless and accused the International Security Council of causing major crises, giving a reporter a USB drive containing evidence against it.
• Allen warned Tony that provoking the International Security Council would have serious consequences and told him his daughter had been born safely.
• Tony named his daughter Selene and worried about how to tell Pepper Potts about her.
• Allen assured Tony that Selene was healthy, explained how her unusual appearance would change, and sent him back to work; Tony later returned to his laboratory while Allen rebuilt trust with Wanda.
• Several months later, Allen heard that Stephen Strange had been in a car accident and smiled ominously.
• Tony completed God, a creation connected to Allen’s soul that could perceive everything within the Azerath Universe, including creatures in the Twisted Void.

Allen created a collective consciousness from a fragment of his soul to manage the Azerath Universe and maintain the balance of its six energies. Tony Stark returned home with the elf baby Selene after Allen erased some of his memories, while Natasha Romanoff gave birth to a healthy daughter.

• Allen gave his soul-born creation his name and instructed it to preserve the balance of energy across the universe.
• The collective consciousness spread its thoughts throughout the Azerath Universe and began suppressing the expanding Void Creatures.
• Allen erased Tony Stark's memories of dangerous knowledge, and Tony took Selene home through a portal.
• Tony told Pepper Potts that Selene was an orphaned elf from Sky City, and Pepper welcomed the baby into their home.
• Selene awakened magical talent before her first birthday and began levitating toys and furnishings.
• Natasha Romanoff gave birth prematurely to a healthy daughter, and Hawk Eyes congratulated her at the hospital.

Allen used an invitation to lure Stephen Strange to Sky City, where doctors condemned him for prioritizing wealthy patients and Allen refused to heal his fingers. Strange returned home devastated and began reflecting on the consequences of his choices.

• After a gathering celebrated Tony Stark and Natasha's daughters, governments moved to restrict the Avengers, while Allen visited the injured Stephen Strange with Ancient One.
• Allen sent Strange an invitation that healed one little finger and promised a medical symposium in Sky City, giving Strange hope that his hands could be restored.
• At the symposium, an elderly doctor accused Strange of treating only wealthy patients, and the gathered doctors joined in denouncing his lack of compassion and medical ethics.
• Allen ordered Strange to leave and refused his plea to heal his fingers, asking how he had treated the patients he had rejected.
• The Guardian of Sky City teleported Strange home, where he lay stunned and began reflecting on his past actions.

After losing the use of his hands, Stephen Strange volunteered for the Inhuman Protection Foundation and traveled to Afterlife, hoping an Inhuman could heal him. On his way home, he witnessed Ancient One confront Kasilas and his followers in the Mirror Dimension, and his despair gave way to fascination with magic.

• Stephen Strange sold his possessions and went to Afterlife seeking an Inhuman who could restore his injured fingers.
• Stephen volunteered at the Inhuman Protection Foundation and discovered that donors and businesses sought to exploit Inhumans and their powers.
• Stephen gave his cash to a group of homeless people before following strangely dressed figures into an alley.
• Ancient One trapped Kasilas and his followers in the Mirror Dimension, where Kasilas accused her of hypocrisy and claimed power from Dormammu.
• Kasilas and his followers attacked Ancient One, while Stephen watched in awe and curiosity.

Ancient One drew Stephen Strange toward becoming a sorcerer by sending him to find her in Kathmandu, while Allen and Ancient One watched his journey. Odin then warned Allen that Ragnarok could not be prevented and asked him to protect Asgard’s World Tree when Surtur returned.

• Ancient One ended her staged battle with Kasilas, told Stephen Strange that magic was real, and challenged him to find her in Kathmandu.
• Stephen Strange resigned from the Inhuman Protection Foundation and set out for Kathmandu, unaware that Allen and Ancient One were watching him.
• Ancient One questioned Allen about keeping Selene, and they argued over his plans to change human society.
• Ancient One opened a portal for Odin, who told Allen that Ragnarok was a necessary cycle and asked him not to prevent it.
• Odin explained that Asgard could be rebuilt if its World Tree survived, and Allen promised to protect it when Surtur was revived.

Odin returned to his favorite Norwegian coast to await death while Allen and the Ancient One discussed aging and responsibility. The Ancient One brought Stephen Strange to Kamar-Taj and showed him the multiverse, leaving him shaken and newly aware of magic's power.

• The Ancient One sent Odin back to the Norwegian coast, where he watched the sea and remembered his younger days.
• Allen and the Ancient One discussed the burdens of long life before she decided to bring Stephen Strange to Kamar-Taj.
• Baron Mordo found Stephen Strange after a month of begging on the streets, and Strange returned humbled but still hoping to heal his hands.
• The Ancient One tested Strange's understanding of medicine and challenged his belief that reality was only material.
• The Ancient One sent Strange through the multiverse and brought him back to Kamar-Taj, leaving him trembling and stunned.
• An unidentified person entered, applauded the Ancient One's demonstration, and praised her skill at teaching disciples.

Stephen Strange began his magical training at Kamar-Taj after meeting Allen, while Allen lent Mordo the dangerous Nameless Spellbook and revealed his plan to expand Earth's magical power. Ancient One accepted that the future remained favorable but warned Allen not to interfere with the timeline on a large scale again before her death.

• Allen teased Stephen Strange at Kamar-Taj, and Ancient One explained that Allen was a powerful dimensional Demon God and an indispensable ally.
• Mordo showed Stephen Strange his room and gave him the Infinite Network password, while Stephen eagerly settled in to begin studying magic.
• Mordo asked Allen for the Nameless Spellbook, and Allen lent it to him for one week with a warning about its dangerous magic.
• Ancient One confronted Allen about lending Mordo the book, and Allen explained that he intended to create several competing magical organizations on Earth.
• Ancient One used the Time Stone to inspect the future, accepted Allen's plan, and asked him not to make further large-scale changes before her death.

At Kamar-Taj, Mordo helped Stephen Strange reconsider how to control magical energy, while Ancient One pushed Strange into a life-or-death trial that forced him to open a portal. Allen then told Ancient One about the coming Sokovia Accords and his plan to reshape the world, as Tony Stark faced the Accords at Avengers headquarters.

• Mordo admitted to Ancient One that he had read the forbidden Nameless Spellbook and said its knowledge inspired him to combine magical systems.
• Mordo advised Stephen Strange to stop trying to control energy before it had accumulated enough to form magic.
• Allen told Ancient One that the King of an African nation had been assassinated after calling for oversight of superpowered groups, prompting demands that the Avengers and Inhumans sign an agreement.
• Ancient One sent Strange to Mount Everest, where he opened an unstable portal back to Kamar-Taj before freezing to death, then fainted after Allen teased him.
• Allen told Ancient One he planned to use Red Skull Johann Schmidt to dismantle powerful capital groups, and she warned him to watch Odin because Hela would escape after Odin died.
• Tony Stark studied the Sokovia Accords at Avengers headquarters, facing demands that the Avengers submit to the International Security Council and answer to victims of the Ultron incident.

Tony Stark rejected the Sokovia Accords and disbanded the Avengers Alliance rather than place it under government control, then revealed plans to form a new organization with Allen. Meanwhile, Red Skull redirected Hydra toward dismantling the powers behind global capital and traveled to meet Steve Rogers.

• Tony Stark confronted Secretary of State Ross over the US Government’s history and threatened to expose its secrets, while Steve Rogers rejected the Sokovia Accords.
• Tony Stark, Natasha, and Hawk Eyes said they would retire rather than accept government control, and Tony formally disbanded the Avengers Alliance.
• Tony told Quicksilver that the Avengers would reorganize privately under a new name and said Allen had helped shape their plans.
• Red Skull told the Heads of the Serpent to stop unnecessary terrorist attacks and target the masters of capital in pursuit of a future cosmic empire.
• Red Skull put on Allen’s magical mask and flew to the United States to meet Steve Rogers.

After the Avengers disbanded over the Sokovia Accords, Tony Stark met Steve Rogers, Red Skull, Allen, and Quake to explain Hydra’s role in resisting forces destabilizing the United States. Allen confirmed that Hydra would be allowed to govern the New Empire built from the fallen Kree Empire, leaving Steve to weigh the alliance and its risks.

• The president demanded Ross resign after Tony Stark publicly announced the Avengers’ disbandment and exposed Ross’s past crimes.
• Ross refused to step down, but the president threatened to reopen investigations, and Ross stormed out after other officials called him a liability.
• Tony Stark brought Steve Rogers to the Statue of Liberty, where Red Skull revealed himself and said he had returned to Earth with Lord Allen’s help.
• Allen and Quake Daisy Johnson arrived through a portal, and Allen explained that Hydra had been eliminating agitators who fueled extremism and division in the United States.
• Red Skull said Hydra was working to help establish a unified federal government in exchange for ruling the New Empire, and Allen confirmed the arrangement and described its risks.

Allen founded Humanity's Shadow, a secret organization meant to defend Earth and promote a global federation, then encouraged Tony Stark and Steve Rogers to settle their disagreement over Bucky Barnes through action. The Avengers split into rival camps, leaving the world watching as they prepared to clash.

• Allen brought Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Red Skull, and Daisy together to form a secret organization, and Steve agreed to join.
• Allen named the group Humanity's Shadow, and said Natasha would join while the rest of the Avengers could continue operating publicly.
• Red Skull received word that Zemo had stolen the Winter Soldier Program codebook and was hunting Bucky, prompting Steve and Tony to clash over whether Bucky should face trial.
• Allen suggested that Tony and Steve let their Avengers factions split and fight, then left after announcing a meeting in Europe three months later.
• Daisy refused to take sides and had Gordon teleport her back to Afterlife.
• Steve and Tony recruited opposing teams, with Coulson, Falcon, Scott Lang, Hawkeye, and Vision joining Steve, while Wanda, Quicksilver, Spider-Man, War Machine, and Natasha joined Tony.