Chapter Summaries

After New Krypton suppressed the first wave of parallel universe fusion, He-El realized that the beings and creations he had brought through the Traversal Vortex might not be safe in the future Source Universe. He arranged to move them to the He-El Universe while Zero prepared to oversee New Krypton with an avatar system.

• New Krypton and its allies quelled the Solar System’s unrest, killing unconnected arrivals, Odin, and resisting Guardians of the Universe.
• He-El sensed Destiny and concluded that parallel universes born from him were beginning to merge toward the Source Universe.
• He-El opened a restricted Traversal Vortex at Zero’s Moon Base and ordered Zero, the Mechanical Corps, Ciri, Hela, and the other lives he had brought through the Traversal Vortex to relocate to the He-El Universe.
• Zero agreed to leave an avatar system in New Krypton to oversee its operations during the fusion.

After the merged Parallel Universe’s forces were defeated, He-El urged Athena and the Olympian Gods to survive their counterparts with help from New Krypton’s stellar-level personnel. Zeus then reported that a base collecting Heavenly Blood had gone silent after an Ancient Krypton Doomsday Warship appeared.

• Zero withdrew Ciri, Hela, and the Mechanical Corps into the He-El Universe while New Krypton’s forces eliminated the merged Parallel Universe’s counterparts.
• Athena led the Olympian Gods and New Krypton’s stellar-level personnel to defeat Odin’s Norse Pantheon, then reported to He-El.
• He-El warned the Olympian Gods about their counterparts and promised fifty stellar-level personnel to assist them; Athena led the gods away to prepare for the next universe merger.
• Zeus told He-El that his Heavenly Blood collection base had lost contact after an Ancient Krypton Doomsday Warship appeared following the merger.

He-El and Zeus found Ancient Krypton’s missing Doomsday Warship near the edge of the universe, where it had appeared after the Parallel Universe merged. The ship was unmistakably Zeus’s from this universe, but its decayed hull carried an ominous aura neither of them recognized.

• Zeus maintained his boundary mechanical base while monitoring the universe after the merger disrupted his mission to collect Heavenly Blood.
• He-El and Zeus arrived by Space Bridge and discovered the ruined Doomsday Warship beside the mechanical continent.
• He-El recognized the House of Zod insignia and recalled the ship’s history as Ancient Krypton’s most powerful warship, which had vanished during the Second Cosmic War.
• Zeus explained that the Doomsday Warship had helped start the Second Cosmic War and that its disappearance had baffled Ancient Krypton and its enemies.
• He-El scanned the ship and found its hull intact beneath a strange, decaying aura, while Zeus admitted he had never encountered such an aura.
• Zeus confirmed the ship came from their universe by pointing out the fist-shaped dent he had left in its hull while fighting the House of Zod.

He-El identified the ominous force corroding the Doomsday Warship as energy from the Phantom Zone and suspected something had happened to the realm or its consciousness, Aethyr. He and Zeus entered the ship to investigate, where they encountered the ruined figure of Non, He-El’s former teacher.

• He-El touched the corroded hull despite Zeus’s warning and used the He-El Universe to analyze it.
• He-El concluded that the ominous energy came from the Phantom Zone and guessed that the Phantom Zones of parallel universes might have merged.
• He-El suspected that the Phantom Zone or Aethyr’s consciousness projection had suffered some kind of trouble.
• He-El warned Zeus not to touch anything inside the Doomsday Warship, and they entered its metal hall.
• A ruined researcher approached them, and He-El recognized him as Non, his former teacher and one of General Zod’s subordinates.

He-El and Zeus encountered General Zod’s former subordinates aboard the Doomsday Warship, discovering that ominous energy had turned them into living dead. They reached the dark command room and found Faora standing inside.

• Zeus restrained Non, and He-El recalled how Non’s warnings about Krypton’s destruction led to his punishment and General Zod’s rebellion.
• He-El ordered Zeus to kill Non, but Non survived even after Zeus crushed his spine and pulverized his brain.
• He-El used Microscopic Vision to discover that ominous energy sustained Non’s body and biological instincts, then continued toward the command room with Zeus.
• He-El and Zeus encountered more than a dozen of General Zod’s former subordinates, who charged at them like zombies, and Zeus squeezed them into balls.
• He-El and Zeus entered the dark command room and saw Faora standing by its glass.

He-El recognized Faora aboard the Doomsday Warship and fought her, discovering that she remained conscious despite her decayed body. After they reunited and reminisced about their past, He-El asked what had happened to her and where General Zod was.

• He-El recognized Faora, his former sparring partner and acquaintance from Krypton, as she turned to face him.
• Faora charged He-El, and they exchanged familiar close-combat moves until she could no longer overpower him.
• Faora told He-El she knew he had become an outstanding man and admitted she was no longer his opponent.
• He-El realized Faora was still conscious and greeted her, and the two joked about their shared training memories.
• He-El asked Faora what had happened to her, what was going on with the Doomsday Warship, and where General Zod had gone.

He-El reunited with Faora aboard the Doomsday Warship and learned how she and General Zod’s soldiers escaped their individual prisons in the Phantom Zone. Faora brought him to the Life Creation Chamber, where General Zod remained preserved, and said their return to the universe had seemed strange.

• He-El told Zeus to wait outside the Doomsday Warship and asked Faora to take him to General Zod.
• Faora questioned how He-El had become a sovereign with a powerful subordinate, and He-El promised to explain after hearing her story.
• Faora described breaking out of her Phantom Zone prison, freeing General Zod and the soldiers, and finding the Doomsday Warship.
• Faora explained that an abnormal aura caused the Phantom Zone inhabitants and the warship to decay, prompting her to preserve General Zod in the Life Creation Chamber.
• Faora led He-El to the Life Creation Chamber and opened it, revealing General Zod.

He-El told General Zod and Faora that he had tried to overthrow Krypton's government and replace its leaders with clones to save their people. He revealed that Jor-El had stopped him and saved only his own son, leaving Zod furious as he learned Krypton had perished with nearly everyone still on it.

• General Zod recognized He-El in the containment tank, and Faora demanded to know what had happened to Krypton after their exile.
• He-El explained that he had rallied common people and cloned Krypton's ruling leaders beneath Kandor City, hoping to seize power and solve the planet's crisis.
• He-El said his adoptive father, Jor-El, discovered his plans and intended to send him away to die, prompting General Zod to erupt in anger.
• General Zod asked whether Jor-El had saved Krypton, and He-El revealed that Jor-El had secured the Codex and prepared an escape ship for his own son.
• He-El concluded that Jor-El had believed Krypton beyond saving and had ignored other chances to help its people survive.

He-El told General Zod and Faora that Krypton had been destroyed, then explained how he saved eight million Kryptonians, founded New Krypton, and conquered the universe. He warned that the merging of parallel universes could disrupt New Krypton's routes and lead to another war of conquest.

• General Zod grieved over Krypton's destruction and blamed himself for failing to protect it.
• Faora asked He-El what had happened after Jor-El sent him away, and He-El described returning to Krypton's ruins and rescuing eight million people from Kandor City.
• He-El revealed that he had defeated Jor-El's son and other forces, secured the Codex, founded New Krypton, and conquered the universe.
• He-El warned that the merging of parallel universes could damage New Krypton's dark-universe passages and require another campaign of conquest.
• General Zod and Faora struggled to comprehend He-El's rise, and Zod began to address him gravely.

He-El offered General Zod and Faora places in New Krypton, but Zod urged him to evacuate the empire’s important members from the universe. Zod revealed that he and Faora had become immortal monsters and were forced to destroy the universe because of the Monitors.

• He-El told General Zod and Faora that New Krypton had conquered the universe and offered to recruit them into his empire.
• General Zod told He-El to take New Krypton’s important members and leave the universe with him.
• He-El asked Zod to explain the danger and said he could provide supplies and resources for any Kryptonians who left.
• General Zod revealed that he had returned from the Phantom Zone intending to shelter surviving Kryptonians there, but now planned to destroy the universe.
• Faora explained that energy in the Phantom Zone had turned her and Zod into immortal monsters who could not end their own lives.
• General Zod began explaining that the Monitors were involved in their mission.

He-El learned that General Zod had been sent by the Monitors to destroy the universe with Reality Missiles and urged him to evacuate New Krypton to the Phantom Zone. He-El refused, and Zod prepared to force him to comply.

• He-El recognized the Monitors and learned that they had empowered General Zod to pilot the Doomsday Warship and destroy the universe with Reality Missiles.
• General Zod explained that the Monitors targeted universes with malformed points because they spawned more Parallel Universes.
• Zod demanded that He-El and New Krypton escape to the Phantom Zone, but He-El rejected the plan and said he would not become anyone's subordinate.
• Zod revealed that he was soaking in nutrient fluid because he could not change Krypton's fate before, and declared he would not let He-El's Kryptonians perish.
• Zod's nutrient tubes snapped as his eyes glowed crimson, and he readied himself to fight He-El.

General Zod tried to force He-El and New Krypton’s Kryptonians back to the Phantom Zone, but He-El effortlessly overpowered him and revealed that hundreds of New Kryptonians were stronger. After Zod warned that the Reality Missile would erase the universe, He-El transported them and the Doomsday Warship into the He-El Universe.

• General Zod emerged from his nutrient tank and demanded that He-El take his people and New Krypton’s Kryptonians back to the Phantom Zone.
• General Zod attacked with Heat Vision, but He-El blocked it with one hand and stopped Zod’s punches with ease.
• He-El broke one of General Zod’s fists with a finger flick, then resisted Zod’s Freeze Breath with his Black Suit.
• He-El told General Zod that more than four hundred people in New Krypton were stronger than him.
• General Zod warned that the Reality Missile would erase every living being in the universe, and He-El transported them and the Doomsday Warship into the He-El Universe.

The Spectre emerged from Zeus after the Doomsday Warship and He-El vanished, and considered whether He-El was connected to Lucifer’s arrival in this universe. Unable to explain the disappearance, The Spectre hid inside Zeus again and waited for He-El.

• The Doomsday Warship and He-El vanished before Zeus, and Zeus lost consciousness as The Spectre emerged from his body.
• The Spectre recalled how Aztar became the Spirit of Vengeance and explained that he had entered Zeus to investigate Lucifer’s movements in this universe.
• The Spectre judged that He-El’s conquest and New Krypton’s rule brought order and protected many civilizations, so he had no grounds to punish him.
• The Spectre suspected that Lucifer had come to this universe because of He-El but could not understand why.
• The Spectre returned to hiding inside Zeus, while Zeus resumed waiting in space for He-El.

He-El brought General Zod to his own universe, severing the Monitor’s connection and causing the sun inside Zod to begin expanding. As Zod feared his transformation would kill He-El and Faora, He-El stopped time and removed the sun, leaving Zod restored.

• General Zod realized He-El’s transfer had severed his connection to the Monitor, and the sun inside him began its final transformation.
• Zod ordered Faora and He-El to flee before the expanding sun destroyed them and the Doomsday Warship.
• Faora tried to pull He-El away, but he told her they were in his universe; she chose to stay beside him.
• Zod grieved that his uncontrollable sun might destroy He-El and the future of the Kryptonians.
• He-El froze Zod in time, removed the sun from his chest, restored his body, and returned him to normal.

He-El removed the Monitors’ control of the sun inside General Zod and analyzed the Monitors’ technology in the He-El Universe. Zod explained that the Monitors had contacted him to help launch Reality Missiles, and He-El left him and Faora in Lucy’s care before returning to Doctor Manhattan.

• He-El extracted the sun from General Zod and brought Zod and Faora to the He-El Universe, where the Monitors could no longer control them.
• He-El used the universe’s laws to accelerate the sun’s life cycle until it became a black hole, then analyzed and erased the Monitors’ control within it.
• He-El sent the Doomsday Warship and its Reality Missiles to Lucy for analysis.
• General Zod told He-El that a Monitor had appeared in his mind and recruited him to launch Reality Missiles against aberration-created universes.
• He-El told Lucy to watch over Zod and Faora, then left the He-El Universe and looked toward Doctor Manhattan.

He-El questioned Doctor Manhattan about his goals and offered him a chance to explore universes beyond the Traversal Vortexes. Doctor Manhattan, intrigued by He-El’s mystery, agreed that becoming his subordinate might be worth trying.

• He-El left Zeus to prepare for the next fusion of Parallel Universes and teleported to Doctor Manhattan in the UNCOVER z-13 galaxy.
• He-El asked Doctor Manhattan what he wanted, and Doctor Manhattan explained that he mainly watched Superman and the recurring timelines of the DC Multiverse.
• He-El warned that the Monitors’ ability to manipulate a universe’s underlying logic posed a danger and suggested Doctor Manhattan could use his abilities more productively.
• He-El offered to take Doctor Manhattan to other universes where their futures would be unknown to him.
• Doctor Manhattan said becoming He-El’s subordinate might be worth trying because He-El had surprised him.

He-El accepted Doctor Manhattan as his subordinate and offered him entry into the He-El Universe, explaining that the universe had neutralized the fundamental force in Doctor Manhattan’s severed arm. After Doctor Manhattan gathered every avatar into one body, He-El prepared to take him into his universe.

• Doctor Manhattan agreed to serve He-El because he wanted to study He-El and his Source Universe.
• He-El told Doctor Manhattan to gather every avatar and all parts of his consciousness into one physical body.
• He-El offered to let Doctor Manhattan enter the He-El Universe, but warned that he would be a subordinate, not a partner.
• He-El explained that his universe had analyzed the universe-forming force in Doctor Manhattan’s severed arm to make him harmless to it.
• Doctor Manhattan accepted He-El’s terms and fused with all his avatars from across time, space, and universes.
• Doctor Manhattan asked to enter the He-El Universe, but He-El said there was no hurry.

He-El brought Doctor Manhattan into the Bleach Universe to retrieve its underlying operational logic. Doctor Manhattan’s unrestrained presence overwhelmed the Three Realms, and He-El warned that a single shocked glance could destroy the universe.

• He-El led Doctor Manhattan to Zero’s Traversal Vortex while Soul Reapers returned to the Bleach Universe and others prepared to shelter in his universe.
• Doctor Manhattan failed to sense the vortex and followed He-El through it into the Bleach Universe.
• The Senkaimon converted their energy into Reishi, but Doctor Manhattan’s immense Reiatsu crushed Soul Reapers across the Three Realms.
• Aizen Sosuke sensed the overwhelming pressure and realized the Bleach Universe could not withstand Doctor Manhattan.
• He-El placed a hand on Doctor Manhattan’s shoulder and warned him to restrain his energy and logic or destroy the universe with a glance.

Doctor Manhattan entered the Bleach universe and converted his power to Reishi before his Reiatsu could destroy the Three Realms. Astonished by the universe’s different laws, he pledged himself to He-El and agreed to follow him to other universes.

• He-El reminded Doctor Manhattan to restrain his power, and Doctor Manhattan converted his external energy into Reishi to keep the Bleach universe from breaking apart.
• Doctor Manhattan’s Reiatsu swept across the Three Realms, frightening the surviving vice-captains before it contracted back into his body.
• Aizen, Yamamoto, Ichimaru, Ichibe, and hundreds of thousands of captain-level Bleach gathered to greet He-El, who ordered everyone except Aizen to leave.
• Doctor Manhattan told He-El that the Bleach universe had opened his eyes, pledged his obedience, and said he wished to see more universes.

He-El questioned Doctor Manhattan about the Monitors and learned that their leader, Mandrak, embodied the universe’s evil and would seek to seize He-El’s Source Universe. Doctor Manhattan warned that He-El’s existence could upset the balance between justice and evil as He-El entered the Soul King Palace with Aizen and Doctor Manhattan.

• He-El asked Doctor Manhattan what he knew about the Monitors as they walked toward the Soul King Palace.
• Doctor Manhattan explained that the Monitors fed on Heavenly Blood, claimed a higher dimension, and used the universe’s operational logic through mysterious technology.
• Doctor Manhattan recalled briefly encountering Mandrak and described him as the embodiment of evil across the universes and beyond the Speed Force Wall.
• Doctor Manhattan predicted that Mandrak would target He-El’s Source Universe and suggested that Superman might embody the justice opposing him.
• Doctor Manhattan reasoned that He-El’s existence could disrupt the balance between justice and evil, then He-El entered the Soul King Palace with Aizen and Doctor Manhattan.