Chapter Summaries

Xi Nian’s trial turned into a public outcry for his innocence, while his confrontation with the court exposed Hydra’s role in promoting the Hero Limitation Protocol. He left the courthouse after revealing the scheme, as the people and several heroes rallied behind him.

• The old judge struggled to answer Xi Nian before crowds outside the courthouse began shouting “Innocent!” in many languages.
• Gwen watched the broadcast and smiled, while Lorna, the Fantastic Four, and others reacted to Xi Nian’s stand.
• A court representative shut off the broadcast and insisted Xi Nian was guilty for violating the protocol.
• Xi Nian bound the representative with the Golden Lasso and learned she belonged to Hydra and had been ordered to help promote the Hero Limitation Protocol.
• Xi Nian flung the representative aside, looked over the courtroom, and walked toward the entrance.

Xi Nian left the summons hearing after declaring he would not be constrained by the superhero label, and the United Association’s attempt to punish him collapsed. The next morning, he invited Wanda to accompany him to Kamar-Taj, while Diana had begun telling him something about Sokovia.

• Xi Nian refused the old judge’s plea to stay and said he would act freely, whether he wanted to save someone or kill.
• Skye and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrested the female court representative revealed as a Hydra mole.
• Xi Nian left the courthouse to cheering citizens and reflected that he might have to change the world rather than compromise.
• The United Association suppressed news of the hearing, but its defeat weakened the Hero Limitation Protocol’s credibility.
• Diana praised Xi Nian for what he had done, then began telling him something about Sokovia.
• The next morning, Xi Nian asked Wanda to go with him to Kamar-Taj.

Xi Nian entered Kamar-Taj with Wanda to meet Ancient One after discovering that black mist of death was gathering around Strange and a sorcerer. In the underground library, Wong recognized the magical cloak Xi Nian had disguised as a trench coat.

• Strange explained that he had joined Kamar-Taj a week earlier to study magic, and Xi Nian encouraged him to keep learning.
• Wanda led Xi Nian through the sanctum to meet Ancient One, while Xi Nian noticed deathly black mist gathering around Strange and a nearby sorcerer.
• Wanda waited outside the underground library because Ancient One did not allow her inside.
• Xi Nian entered the library, where Ancient One introduced him to Wong and Wong noticed the broken chain and empty shelf left by a missing ancient book.
• Xi Nian revealed that his trench coat was actually a dark-red magical cloak, shocking Wong.

Xi Nian learned that the rogue mage Mordo had stolen the forbidden Darkhold and discovered why the Ancient One had kept Wanda away from Kamar-Taj’s library. The Ancient One began to explain why Wanda had stopped growing, but a scream interrupted them, and Xi Nian arrived too late to prevent Wong from being wounded.

• The Ancient One sent Wong away and told Xi Nian that Mordo had led an attack on Kamar-Taj and stolen a spellbook.
• The Ancient One identified the stolen book as the Darkhold and explained that forbidden knowledge could corrupt the mages who studied it.
• Xi Nian realized the forbidden books were why the Ancient One had barred Wanda from the library, and he asked whether they were also why Wanda had stopped growing.
• The Ancient One began to reveal the true reason Wanda would not grow up, but a scream sounded beyond the library doors.
• Xi Nian used his spatial artifact to teleport himself and the Ancient One to the library entrance, where they found Wong wounded by an illusory ice spike.

Xi Nian and The Ancient One pursued Mordo and the Dark Mages after they kidnapped Wanda, while Xi Nian pressed The Ancient One for an explanation of why Wanda never grew up. The chase ended in the Mirror Dimension, where Mordo revealed that the Scarlet Maiden he carried was only an illusion.

• Xi Nian learned that Mordo had attacked Wong and that Wanda had chased him through a dimensional portal.
• The Ancient One opened a portal to the New York Sanctum, and Xi Nian joined her pursuit despite seeing deathly black mist surrounding her.
• Xi Nian and The Ancient One found the Sanctum damaged and spotted Mordo fleeing with the unconscious Scarlet Maiden over his shoulder.
• As they pursued Mordo, Xi Nian asked why Wanda never grew up, and The Ancient One said Wanda had always changed because of one person.
• Mordo and two Dark Mages trapped Xi Nian and The Ancient One in the Mirror Dimension by making the surrounding skyscrapers collapse.
• Mordo threw the Scarlet Maiden from a rooftop, but she vanished as an illusion, and The Ancient One realized the Dark Mages had used the Sanctum attack to conceal Wanda's whereabouts.

Wanda was lured to the Darkhold while Xi Nian realized the Dark Mages had planned to draw her into contact with it. Xi Nian left The Ancient One to summon Diana, and they returned to the Mirror Dimension in time to find The Ancient One holding her own against three Dark Mages.

• Wanda arrived in a dark basement, found the Darkhold, and was swallowed by dark mist.
• In the Mirror Dimension, Xi Nian suspected The Ancient One had misjudged the Dark Mages’ plan to expose Wanda to the Darkhold.
• Xi Nian warned The Ancient One that he had seen Death’s Afterimage on her, then teleported away to get help as the Dark Mages attacked her.
• Xi Nian told Diana that Wanda was missing after a rebellion at the mage Sanctum, and Diana transformed into Wonder Woman to join him.
• Xi Nian and Diana returned to the Mirror Dimension and found The Ancient One fighting three Dark Mages without being overwhelmed.

Xi Nian reached Wanda just as she began opening the Darkhold, then used Odin's Sword to teleport the book away and rescue her. When they returned to the battlefield, they found The Ancient One gravely wounded by an ice spike.

• The Ancient One opened a portal to Wanda while Xi Nian and Wonder Woman held back the Dark Mages.
• Xi Nian entered Demigod Mode, knocked aside the Dark Mage blocking him, and rushed through the portal.
• Wanda began opening the Darkhold, whose dark energy pinned her and Xi Nian in place.
• Xi Nian used Auntie's Guardian Silver Bracelet to resist the darkness, then struck the Darkhold and stone pillar with Odin's Sword to teleport them away.
• Xi Nian embraced Wanda, warned her not to leave without permission, and led her back through the portal.
• Xi Nian and Wanda returned to find The Ancient One lying on the platform with an ice spike embedded in her chest.

Mordo killed The Ancient One in the Mirror Dimension, but Xi Nian realized she had willingly accepted her death because she was tired of guarding Earth and feared the Dark Dimension’s influence. As The Ancient One died in Xi Nian’s arms, she left the world to him, and a strange power descended upon him through an exchange of their blood.

• Mordo stabbed The Ancient One with a void weapon, and Xi Nian kicked him off the platform while Wonder Woman restrained the other Dark Mages.
• Xi Nian demanded to know why The Ancient One had allowed herself to be defeated, and she admitted that the Dark Dimension’s power made her a beacon for Dormammu.
• The Ancient One told Xi Nian she was tired after guarding the world for a thousand years and asked him to protect it in her place.
• The Ancient One died in Xi Nian’s arms as Wanda mourned and Wonder Woman confirmed her death.
• A drop of Xi Nian’s blood exchanged with blood on The Ancient One’s body, and a strange power descended upon him.

After gaining The Ancient One’s abilities, Xi Nian went to Xiangzhou to confront Dormammu as he began entering Earth through a spatial rift. Meanwhile, Strange searched Kamar-Taj’s library for a way to defend it and found a mysterious pendant.

• Strange fled into the Kamar-Taj library during the Dark Mages’ attack and searched for combat spells, but an antique book fell open and revealed a green-glowing silver necklace.
• The Ancient One’s death exposed Earth to the multiverse, and a huge spatial rift opened above Xiangzhou as Dormammu began to descend.
• Xi Nian gained The Ancient One’s abilities through Lord of Kin, laid The Ancient One down, and left the Mirror Dimension with the Lasso of Truth and Wanda’s red ribbon.
• Dormammu’s tentacled body pushed through the rift above Xiangzhou, leaving the city’s residents and the Guardian of the Xiangzhou Sanctum paralyzed with fear.
• Xi Nian appeared in the sky, bound Dormammu’s emerging body with the red ribbon, and struck it with the Dragon Tooth Sword.

Xi Nian suppressed Dormammu’s incursion above Xiangzhou City and sealed the spatial rift. He then appeared in the New York Sanctum and swiftly killed the Dark Mages, leaving the Kamar-Taj sorcerers stunned.

• Xi Nian used Cyttorak’s Crimson Chains and the Dragon Tooth Sword to restrain Dormammu’s body as it emerged through the rift above Xiangzhou City.
• Xi Nian created over a thousand phantom forms that bound Dormammu with magical whips and forced his body back toward the Dark Dimension.
• Xi Nian cut apart Dormammu’s tentacle with the Sword of Hephaestus, then used his halo, the Lasso of Truth, and the Mirror Dimension to seal the rift.
• Dormammu threatened to return before the spatial gap closed, and Xi Nian vanished from the sky as the Dragon Tooth Sword fell into his hand.
• Xi Nian appeared in the New York Sanctum and killed the Dark Mages one after another, astonishing the Kamar-Taj sorcerers.

Strange repeatedly died and rewound time while defending the library from Dark Mages until Xi Nian arrived and defeated them. After the war devastated Kamar-Taj and Ancient One died, the mages unanimously asked Xi Nian to lead the Sanctums, and he accepted the title of Sorcerer Supreme.

• Strange used the Time Stone’s power to rewind time after dying, repeating the defense of the library thirty-six times against the Dark Mages.
• Xi Nian appeared in the library, killed the four Dark Mages, and stopped Strange’s time rewind.
• The mages mourned Ancient One and the many dead after the war devastated Kamar-Taj and the three Sanctums.
• Wong asked Xi Nian to become the leader of the three Sanctums, and the surviving mages, including Strange, agreed.
• Xi Nian accepted the title of Sorcerer Supreme.

After the Ancient One’s death, Xi Nian became the second-generation Sorcerer Supreme and assigned Strange and Wong to manage the Sanctums. Back home, Xi Nian told Diana he had finally found the answer to the goal she had asked him about.

• Xi Nian accepted the title of second-generation Sorcerer Supreme and told the sorcerers to call him “Second Generation” or “Supreme.”
• Xi Nian appointed Strange acting Guardian of the New York Sanctum and Wong Guardian of Kamar-Taj, then gave Strange a blue imitation of the Cloak of Levitation.
• After arranging the Sanctums’ affairs and honoring the dead, Xi Nian returned to Washington and reunited with Diana and the maid.
• Xi Nian told Diana that he had finally found the answer to the goal she had asked him about three years earlier.

Xi Nian resolved to build a world where he and his loved ones could live safely and comfortably, deciding to become masters of the world rather than passive saviors. With Diana’s support, he began assembling an alliance and invited Gwen to join it.

• Xi Nian told Diana he wanted to rise above threats to Earth and make his will the future of the world.
• Diana agreed to support Xi Nian and said he needed a mature, powerful team that would follow him.
• Gwen visited Xi Nian, learned he had been the one in the news, and asked him to recount the previous day’s events.
• Xi Nian told Gwen about the Dark Mage, Wanda’s disappearance, The Ancient One’s death, and driving Dormammu away.
• Xi Nian discussed visiting Gwen’s parents and arranging her internship at Future Chronicle headquarters, then invited her to join the alliance he had founded.

Xi Nian showed Gwen the artificial planet inside the Energy Absorption Space and invited her to join the Alliance. Gwen accepted as its third member, received a Dimensional Ring for traveling to the headquarters, and reminded Xi Nian to save one for Kara.

• Xi Nian brought Gwen to the miniature planet Starro had created inside the Energy Absorption Space and explained that he planned to use it as the Alliance headquarters.
• Little Huang appeared there in his physical body after Xi Nian brought him inside with the Space Necklace, making the space independent from the outside world.
• Gwen agreed to join the Alliance as its third member, and Xi Nian gave her a silver Dimensional Ring that could transport her between the headquarters and her outside location.
• Xi Nian explained how the ring worked and told Gwen to bind it with a drop of blood so only she could use it.
• Gwen reminded Xi Nian to keep a ring for Kara, and he said he had already saved one for her.

Xi Nian named his new group the Destiny Alliance and visited Lorna, who had transferred her hotel to him as compensation for the crisis she had caused him three years earlier. Lorna accepted his invitation to join the alliance and confessed that she liked him.

• Gwen asked Xi Nian what their alliance was called, and he named it the Destiny Alliance.
• Xi Nian visited the Future Chronicle Company headquarters and learned from the receptionist that Lorna had transferred the hotel to him a week earlier.
• Xi Nian met Lorna, admired her appearance in a gown, and learned that she had given him the hotel to make amends for the danger he faced three years earlier.
• Xi Nian told Lorna about forming the alliance, and she put on a Dimensional Ring to accept his invitation.
• Lorna told Xi Nian that she was joining because she liked him.

Lorna confessed her love to Xi Nian and made clear she would compete for the most important place in his heart. The next morning, Xi Nian left her hotel suite in a fluster, while Lorna woke and teased him for being a coward.

• Lorna told Xi Nian she loved him, wanted him as family, and would not ask him to leave the people already in his heart.
• Lorna kissed Xi Nian and drew close to him, while her followers eavesdropped outside the hall.
• Xi Nian woke beside Lorna the next morning and remembered the previous night as he noticed her torn gown on the floor.
• Xi Nian quietly left the suite, and Lorna woke after he shut the door and called him a coward.
• Hotel employees greeted Xi Nian as their boss and laughed at his hotel slippers as he headed home.

Xi Nian discovered that the permanent ability he had obtained from Lorna was Emotion Control, which let him sense and alter other people's emotions as well as control his own. After testing it on Edek, he realized he could freely dominate others' feelings.

• Edek confronted Xi Nian in the hotel hallway and asked him to treat Lorna well, admitting that he had accepted Xi Nian was the one who could protect and make her happy.
• Xi Nian noticed he could sense the emotions of Edek and the hotel employees.
• Xi Nian used his mental power to make Edek laugh uncontrollably, then cry, before Edek fled in embarrassment.
• Xi Nian recognized his fifth permanent ability from Lorna as Emotion Control, which allowed him to sense and dominate emotions.

Xi Nian reunited with Skye in a New York park and told her about the Destiny Alliance. Skye joined as its fifth member, becoming the Shockwave Woman.

• Xi Nian disguised himself and met Skye at a lakeside park in New York.
• Xi Nian held Skye’s hand, and they discussed his return and her role as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s acting deputy director.
• Skye told Xi Nian that the rebuilt S.H.I.E.L.D. was fighting Hydra remnants and training gifted agents.
• Xi Nian revealed that he had founded the Destiny Alliance, and Skye agreed to join it as its fifth member.

Xi Nian visited his old high school and then reunited with Poison Ivy, who had revived when he did. He and Poison Ivy faced each other quietly while Harley Quinn and King Shark Nanawe hid in the bathroom to listen.

• Xi Nian gave Skye a Dimensional Ring, told her to keep her S.H.I.E.L.D. identity, and asked her to pass him information about unexposed Hydra personnel.
• Xi Nian returned to his old high school and overheard students wondering where Felicia Hardy had gone.
• At Harley Quinn’s flower shop, Harley complained that Xi Nian had caused Poison Ivy’s condition and told Nanawe to eat him if he appeared.
• Poison Ivy sensed Xi Nian arriving at the shop, while Harley and Nanawe prepared to hide in the bathroom.
• Xi Nian entered the room and greeted Poison Ivy, and they acknowledged that they had both returned to life after dying together.
• Harley sat on Nanawe’s head in the bathroom and listened as Xi Nian and Poison Ivy stood facing each other.

Xi Nian offered Poison Ivy a choice to join the supernatural organization he had founded, despite her hatred of him and their shared fate. Poison Ivy refused, and Xi Nian left, leaving her shaken by the fact that he had honored her choice.

• Harley Quinn hid in the bathroom with Shark King and listened as Xi Nian and Poison Ivy spoke outside.
• Xi Nian told Poison Ivy that she could hate him if she needed a purpose to keep living.
• Xi Nian invited Poison Ivy to join his newly founded supernatural organization and promised not to use his authority to force her.
• Poison Ivy refused, and Xi Nian immediately left without forcing her to join.
• Poison Ivy watched Xi Nian go and found herself deeply unsettled by his decision to let her choose.