Chapter Summaries

Athena investigated the deaths of thirty magic students and discovered that Steppenwolf had arrived through a Boom Tube near the Sea of Death. As she prepared to contact He-El and Zeus, Raven reported that Hades had appeared and seven thousand people at Base No. 189 had fallen asleep.

• Raven told Athena that thirty magic students at Practical Training Site No. 189 had vanished and were confirmed dead.
• Athena reviewed the team's final recording and recognized a Boom Tube as the source of the spatial disturbance.
• Athena saw Steppenwolf kill the training team and decided to notify He-El and Zeus.
• A message summoned the magic academy's teachers to the principal's castle.
• Raven reported that Hades wanted to see Athena and that seven thousand faculty members and students at Base No. 189 had fallen asleep.

Hades met Athena at Base No. 189 after killing its seven thousand inhabitants and trapping their souls, demanding to see New Krypton’s emperor. Athena forced him to return the souls, but Hades revealed information about Doomsday’s flesh and blood that she agreed to report to the emperor.

• Hades arrived at the empty Base No. 189, where he had killed seven thousand people and taken their souls.
• Athena emerged from a portal with her clergy and confronted Hades over his alliance with Steppenwolf and threat to New Krypton.
• Hades demanded a meeting with New Krypton’s emperor and displayed the seven thousand souls he had captured.
• Athena declared that Hades would face her conquest unless he returned the souls, so Hades released them back to their bodies.
• Hades claimed to know the location of Doomsday’s flesh and blood, and Athena agreed to report the information to the emperor.

He-El refused The Father's request but considered Hades's proposal to join Darkseid in attacking Oa Star, where Doomsday's flesh and blood was sealed. He accepted the alliance after Hades promised to arrange a meeting with Darkseid, and Athena remained behind for He-El to discuss something with her.

• He-El refused to help The Father attack Apokolips, then stopped Athena from leaving so he could speak with her later.
• Hades asked He-El to keep his proposal from Athena, and He-El let Hades shield her senses before hearing him out.
• Hades invited He-El to join Darkseid's attack on Oa Star to obtain the Guardians' sealed dark power of death and Doomsday's flesh and blood.
• He-El demanded confirmation that Doomsday's remains were on Oa Star and threatened Hades if he had lied.
• Hades promised to arrange a meeting with Darkseid, and He-El agreed to join the alliance.

He-El brought Athena into the Three-Body Problem Universe after explaining Hades’s plan to attack Oa Star with Darkseid. When He-El withdrew the Traversal Vortex, Athena felt an unfamiliar change and asked if she was free.

• He-El told Athena that Hades had asked him to join forces with Darkseid and attack Oa Star for Doomsday’s flesh and the Book of Oa’s authority over death.
• Athena realized the Olympian Pantheon would have to defend Oa Star to protect Earth, and feared she could not warn Zeus while He-El watched her.
• He-El led Athena through the Traversal Vortex into the Three-Body Problem Universe, where she felt strange changes within herself.
• He-El withdrew the Traversal Vortex, and Athena trembled, began to cry, and asked, “Am I free?”

Athena discovered that He-El’s universe had severed her connection to her original self, giving her the freedom she had spent ages seeking. She pledged herself to He-El and asked to become his lover and bear his children.

• Athena realized she was an independent soul in He-El’s universe and wept with joy.
• Athena knelt before He-El, abandoned the Olympian Pantheon, and pledged her loyalty to him.
• He-El recognized that other Divine Avatars might also choose freedom if he could sever their ties to their original selves.
• Athena asked to become He-El’s empress, then corrected herself and said she wanted to be his lover and bear his children.

Athena asked He-El to make her his lover, and he accepted after considering her loyalty and usefulness. They returned to the DC Universe, where Athena offered to bless Ciri’s 320 unborn children and promised to discuss the children with Ciri.

• Athena pleaded to become He-El’s lover while remaining his loyal subordinate and minister.
• He-El weighed Athena’s devotion and work for New Krypton, then accepted her proposal.
• Athena asked whether He-El wanted her to bear him a child in the Three-Body Problem Universe.
• He-El opened a Traversal Vortex and returned to the DC Universe with Athena, explaining that she still had work to do.
• Athena said Ciri’s 320 children were part of their family and offered to gather Olympian blessings for them.
• He-El told Athena to discuss the children with Ciri.

He-El and Athena walked across a neutron star before their meeting with Darkseid, discussing Ciri and Athena’s plans to become closer to He-El. Athena then proposed trapping Divine Avatars in an isolated Inner Universe to study their powers, and He-El approved as they reached the appointed location, where Darkseid was waiting.

• He-El and Athena walked together across the neutron star and discussed Ciri’s lessons about intimacy.
• Athena declared that she could follow Ciri’s example, while He-El dismissed the idea as unnecessary.
• He-El asked Athena about bringing all Divine Avatars under his command, and she warned that their main bodies could become a danger.
• Athena proposed creating an Inner Universe to isolate Divine Avatars from their main bodies and study their knowledge and powers.
• He-El praised Athena’s plan, and the two reached the meeting place where Darkseid was waiting.

Hades brought He-El, Darkseid, and Steppenwolf together to form an alliance against Oa Star, where the Guardians of the Universe held formidable power. After He-El and Darkseid clashed, Hades mediated and asked Darkseid to explain his plan.

• He-El and Athena arrived at the meeting on the neutron star, where Hades and Steppenwolf were waiting for Darkseid.
• Darkseid revealed himself and challenged He-El over cooperating with a Kryptonian, and the two unleashed clashing auras that shook the neutron star.
• Hades urged He-El and Darkseid to focus on their shared goals, and they ended their confrontation.
• Hades explained that Apokolips, New Krypton, and his Underworld Legion together were still no match for the Guardians' forces, then asked Darkseid to present his plan to attack Oa Star.

Darkseid demanded cooperation to attack Oa Star, but Hades and He-El challenged his arrogance and stressed that they had their own interests. After agreeing that their plans would not be leaked, Darkseid had Steppenwolf open a Boom Tube, and two figures began to emerge.

• Darkseid told Hades and He-El that obeying his commands would get them what they wanted.
• Hades rejected being treated as cannon fodder and warned Darkseid that this was their only chance to cooperate before the Olympian Pantheon might oppose Apokolips.
• He-El questioned why Darkseid needed allies when his plan to attack Oa Star was already known throughout the universe.
• Darkseid restrained his fury, insisted that failure was unacceptable, and asked how they would keep his plan from leaking.
• Darkseid signaled Steppenwolf, who opened a Boom Tube, and two figures began stepping through.

Darkseid explained his plan to use Scarface and Sinestro to split the Green Lantern Corps into seven rival divisions, while each conspirator pursued their own goals. He-El secured a place in the alliance by revealing that New Genesis had asked him to help attack Apokolips, and Darkseid agreed to his role restraining New Genesis and the Olympian Pantheon.

• Sinestro and Scarface arrived at the neutron star meeting, and Darkseid explained their plan to divide the Green Lantern Corps and rebuild the Seven Lantern Corps.
• Darkseid outlined how he would exploit the divisions among the Lantern Corps to weaken them and attack Oa Star, while Scarface and the others intended to use him for their own aims.
• Darkseid questioned He-El's contribution, and He-El offered to restrain the Olympian Pantheon.
• He-El revealed that The Father had invited him to New Genesis and proposed cooperating in an attack on Apokolips.
• Darkseid reconsidered the value of He-El's support and agreed to his role in keeping New Genesis and the Olympian Pantheon from disrupting the plan.

Darkseid demanded that He-El commit New Krypton’s forces to Apokolips’s assault on Oa Star, but He-El refused and insisted his forces had to contain New Genesis and the Olympian Pantheon. Darkseid rose from his throne and challenged He-El to prove he could stop The Father and Zeus.

• Darkseid complained that He-El’s duties to restrain New Genesis and the Olympian Pantheon would keep him from fighting at the front of the assault on Oa Star.
• Hades pledged the full strength of the Underworld to fight alongside Apokolips and hold back a Guardian of the Universe.
• Darkseid ordered He-El to give up at least eighty percent of New Krypton’s army and populace as Parademon vanguards, but He-El refused.
• Scarface recalled her painful past and accepted her defeat by He-El, while her psychic power rose to another level.
• Darkseid rose from the Obsidian Throne and challenged He-El to show how he would stop The Father and Zeus.

He-El and Darkseid fought on a neutron star, testing each other with pure physical strength and regeneration. Their battle destroyed the star, and they continued fighting at its core.

• He-El challenged Darkseid to a fight, and Athena, Hades, Scarface, Sinestro, and Steppenwolf withdrew to watch from space.
• Darkseid struck He-El and sent him flying, but He-El recovered and provoked him into another attack.
• He-El and Darkseid clashed fists, tearing apart their arms before their regenerative powers restored them.
• The two continued exchanging blows without using their other abilities, and the neutron star shook and caved beneath them.
• Darkseid and He-El pushed against opposite sides of the neutron star, forced their way through it, and resumed fighting at its core as the star split apart.

Athena proposed using the Three-Body Problem Universe to lure Divine Avatars into a trap, where He-El could imprison and study them, but her first method carried serious risks. He-El asked her to explain the second method before deciding how to proceed.

• After assessing his recent physical clash with Darkseid, He-El considered how to defend against the Omega Effect.
• Athena said they needed to connect an Inner Universe to Heavenly Blood to attract the gods' main bodies and draw their avatars in.
• Athena proposed routing Heavenly Blood through the Traversal Vortex into the Three-Body Problem Universe, then sealing the vortex to isolate the trapped avatars.
• He-El judged that method too risky because he could not control Heavenly Blood's effects and did not yet fully control the Three-Body Problem Universe.
• He-El asked Athena to tell him her second method.

He-El accepted Athena’s advice to seek a universe where he could create a genuine universe, then entrusted her with greater authority over New Krypton while he was away. When he entered the new Traversal Vortex, a deadly premonition warned him that crossing over would put his life at risk.

• Athena proposed that He-El create a complete, self-sustaining universe that Heavenly Blood would recognize as genuine.
• He-El decided to try creating a universe and gave Athena permission to manage New Krypton and the Divine Realm in his absence.
• He-El showed Athena Zero and introduced her to Ciri and the three hundred and twenty children she carried, whom Athena blessed.
• After Athena returned to New Krypton, He-El entered his consciousness space and formed a new Traversal Vortex.
• He-El tried to enter the vortex, but every cell in his body warned that doing so would endanger his life.

He-El prepared to enter a universe that threatened to kill him by leaving his physical body behind and weakening his psychic form. After reducing his power to the bare minimum, he entered the Traversal Vortex and lost consciousness as the vortex disappeared.

• He-El sensed that the universe beyond the Traversal Vortex posed a lethal threat to him and concluded that his physical body could not safely enter.
• He-El ordered Zero to seal and defend the meditation chamber, then left his body in a minimal-consumption slumber.
• He-El sent his psychic body toward the Traversal Vortex but felt that even it remained too powerful to enter safely.
• He-El steadily drained his psychic power until the danger warning faded and he was weaker than an ordinary healthy person.
• He-El entered the Traversal Vortex, lost consciousness as an energy began constructing a physical body around him, and the vortex vanished.

He-El awoke in a drought-stricken wasteland beside a starving orange-haired girl and learned they were near a place called Withered Flower. He decided not to leave her behind and dragged her east toward a city while trying to keep her awake.

• He-El awoke after the girl poked his nose with a branch, and found himself in the body of an exhausted, starving child.
• He-El asked where they were, and the girl identified the place as Withered Flower and pointed east toward a city.
• He-El realized the girl would likely die if he went for help alone, so he pulled her onto his shoulder and began dragging her east.
• He-El asked the girl's name, and she weakly answered, Matsumoto Rangiku.

He-El carried the starving Rangiku through East Rukongai and encountered Ichimaru Gin, who refused to share his dried persimmons. He-El struck Gin with a ricocheting pebble, making him drop the food.

• He-El recognized the starving girl he was carrying as Rangiku Matsumoto and realized she had not yet met Ichimaru Gin.
• Ichimaru Gin watched them from behind a withered tree, wary of giving away the dried persimmons he had gathered.
• He-El asked Gin for two persimmons and offered to owe him a favor, but Gin refused and said he would wait for them to pass out.
• He-El flicked a pebble that ricocheted off the tree and struck Gin's foot, causing him to fall and scatter the persimmons.

He-El stopped Ichimaru Gin from taking Rangiku’s dried persimmons, then learned that nearby villages were controlled by gangs who exploited children. He-El set off to find food, and Rangiku and Ichimaru Gin followed him.

• He-El used precise pebble shots to force Ichimaru Gin out from behind a tree and make him surrender.
• He-El gave Rangiku a dried persimmon and kept another for himself, leaving Ichimaru Gin four persimmons.
• Ichimaru Gin warned He-El and Rangiku that nearby villages were occupied by gangs who trained children to commit crimes and never let them return.
• He-El asked whether the gangs were strong, then invited Rangiku and Ichimaru Gin to follow him in search of food.
• Rangiku and Ichimaru Gin followed He-El as he headed east.

He-El reached the village with Rangiku and Ichimaru Gin, discovered he could sense and manipulate his own spiritual power but could not control Reishi dispersed into the surroundings, and decided to learn established techniques. At the village entrance, he killed a child-catching idler, drawing the attention of the dead man's companions.

• He-El examined his Reishi body and found he could gather and control his own spiritual power, but his dispersed Reishi quickly merged with the world.
• He-El decided to learn established methods of controlling Reishi before attempting to develop his own.
• A horse-faced idler recognized Rangiku and Ichimaru Gin as escaped children and charged He-El, hoping to claim Brother Pu Hua's reward.
• He-El dodged the idler's kick, crippled his knee, and tore out his eyes.
• He-El took the idler's wakizashi and killed him with a strike to the throat as Rangiku and Ichimaru Gin watched in shock.
• Villagers shut their doors and windows, while the idler's companions came out to investigate the screams.

He-El fought off the Fukahana Society thugs who had come to capture him and his companions. After killing Dongdu with a thrown wakizashi, he picked up Cherry Blossom Fall as the remaining hooligans stared in shock.

• Dongdu ordered his men to capture He-El, Ichimaru Gin, and Rangiku and take them to Brother Pu Hua.
• He-El cut one attacker’s Achilles tendon, revealing his skill with the wakizashi.
• Ichimaru Gin and Rangiku threw stones to distract the men, and He-El slashed open two attackers’ abdomens.
• Dongdu challenged He-El with his Katana, Cherry Blossom Fall, but He-El threw his wakizashi through Dongdu’s throat and killed him.
• He-El picked up Cherry Blossom Fall and faced the two remaining stunned hooligans.