Chapter Summaries

Doomsday broke free of Luthor’s control after Mental Infection awakened a new consciousness, shattering the White Cocoon and freeing Thanos. Thanos took the Psionic Gauntlet, sealed and weakened the universe, and left Clark and the others with little time to resist as Wayne turned to Barry.

• Doomsday ignored Luthor’s Highest Directive and fired at the White Cocoon, while Hal tried to shield it and the force broke the stillness field.
• Wayne recognized that Mental Infection had given Doomsday a new consciousness, and he helped the others suppress it as the damaged seal failed.
• Thanos emerged from the shattered White Cocoon, took the Psionic Gauntlet from Doomsday, and said he had gained greater authority over the universe.
• Thanos snapped his fingers and sealed off the universe, reducing its energy and the power available to Clark and the others.
• Thanos knocked Clark away, confirming that the heroes’ strength had diminished, and Wayne made his decision and addressed Barry.

Barry Allen traveled back in time and warned Bruce Wayne about Steve, the spreading energy, and Thanos, but Thanos arrived early and explained that his control over time could overwrite Barry’s changes. The chapter left Barry and Bruce facing Thanos in the Batcave as he asserted that he would remain the endpoint of the future.

• Barry used the Speed Force to travel back and arrived in the period after Superman killed General Zod.
• Barry found Bruce Wayne in the Batcave and told him about Steve, the energy, Sinestro, Thanos, and the future battle.
• Bruce said Barry’s plan to delay the infection depended on finding and restraining Captain when he arrived, and asked Barry to remain with him until the predicted date.
• Thanos appeared in the Batcave far earlier than Barry expected and said time had arranged his arrival as a backlash against Barry’s changes.
• Thanos explained that he could back up and overwrite the timeline, making Barry’s reversals meaningless, and declared that he and Luke’s energy could no longer be erased.

Barry revealed that Thanos had locked down their Timeline and gathered every future into one, leaving Clark and the others with little hope of stopping him. Thanos explained that Luke’s Heart of Obsession had compelled him to fulfill his mission, then vanished when the obsession was complete, leaving the Psionic Gauntlet behind.

• Barry told Wayne that traveling through time had failed because Thanos had locked onto their Timeline and occupied every future.
• Wayne and the others decided to keep fighting, while Thanos sat down and said his task was complete and he wanted a moment of peace.
• Wayne asked about Luke, and Thanos revealed that he was a clone compelled by the Heart of Obsession, a core Luke had created to make him fulfill his mission.
• Thanos removed the Psionic Gauntlet and explained that the Heart of Obsession had sustained him until his task was fulfilled.
• Thanos broke apart into specks of light, and the Heart of Obsession vanished in a burst of energy, leaving the powerless Psionic Gauntlet behind.

After Thanos died and altered the universe’s rules, Wayne’s group learned that Barry could no longer reverse time and asked Captain about the changes. Captain identified the Data Dimension as their likely connection, but he did not know whether Luke had arrived before a pillar of light surrounded him.

• The White Ring confirmed Thanos was dead, while Barry discovered that a new restriction prevented him from reaching the speed needed to reverse time.
• Wayne led the group back to the base, where he told Captain about Thanos’s death and the changes they sensed in the universe.
• John shared his sensations with Captain, who identified the Data Dimension as a dimension Luke had created or controlled for scientific research.
• Captain explained what he knew about the Data Dimension, while Wayne and Luthor questioned whether it was responsible for the restrictions and asked whether Luke had arrived.
• A pillar of light broke through the Cave Base’s ceiling and enveloped Captain.

Captain and Wayne’s group returned to Silent City, where Luke welcomed them and revealed he had used the Psionic Gauntlet’s recordings to learn about their journey. Luke disabled their powers and equipment within his Absolute Territory and proposed a negotiation, but Wayne demanded to know what he wanted from them.

• Captain heard Luke’s voice and learned that he had been away for only two or three years, while Luke’s elderly appearance belonged to a maintenance clone.
• Luke examined the Psionic Gauntlet, explained that it recorded and tracked events across the Multiverse, and returned it to Luthor.
• Diana attempted to confront Luke, but she and the others found their powers and equipment disabled in Silent City.
• Luke explained that his Absolute Territory sealed their abilities and restricted their gear to prepare for a negotiation.
• Hal questioned Luke’s intentions, and Wayne demanded to know what Luke wanted them to do.

Middle-aged Luke offered the heroes’ universe a place in the Energy Bank’s system and demanded that Captain repay the debt incurred rescuing him. To pressure the heroes into accepting, Luke trapped them in an illusion where they fought an evolving Brood swarm that could only be countered with Mind Energy.

• Luke explained that his city-maintenance avatar could not answer the heroes’ questions and directed them to Prime Luke or Capitalist Luke.
• Middle-aged Luke restored the heroes’ powers, introduced himself as the Energy Bank’s commercial avatar, and proposed that their universe adopt Mind Energy.
• When John and Carol questioned the offer, Luke trapped the heroes in a Mind Illusion and told Captain that his rescue had left him with a huge debt.
• Luke offered Captain repayment reductions and work opportunities, while Captain challenged the morality of expanding into other universes.
• Luke showed Captain the heroes battling an evolving Brood swarm in an illusion and explained that Mind Energy was the swarm’s only weakness.

Middle-aged Luke explained the Energy Bank’s coercive expansion and caught the Captain up on his friends’ lives, including the Odinson siblings’ struggle over Asgard. The Captain learned that another version of him was spending time with Peggy and hurried to return to his lover.

• Middle-aged Luke defended the Energy Bank’s expansion, saying the affected universes could join or face the Abyss, and urged the Captain not to take responsibility for the decision.
• Middle-aged Luke told the Captain that Tony and Pepper had married and had a child, Nick and Banner were away on business, and Stephen Strange and Mordo had split into separate groups.
• Middle-aged Luke explained that Thor was competing with Hela Odinson and another sibling for Asgard’s throne after Odin abdicated and entered the Energy Bank.
• Middle-aged Luke warned the Captain that another universe’s version of him was spending time with Peggy, and offered to open a Fixed-Point Portal.
• Middle-aged Luke assured the Captain that Wayne and the others were trapped only in a Mind Illusion and could leave using the key.

Middle-aged Luke warned Wayne and the others that the Abyss would threaten their universe and urged them to join his group. Wayne agreed to consider cooperation, while Thor struggled to earn the recognition of a heavy hammer he had taken from Luke’s Collection Room.

• Middle-aged Luke explained that negative energy could become the infectious, corrupting Abyss and warned that it could consume their universe.
• Hal questioned why such dangerous energy existed, and Luke said they had to accept its risks while moving forward.
• Diana asked what Luke wanted, and he invited them to join his group.
• Wayne shook Luke’s virtual hand and asked for time to consider; Luke offered silver bracelets that connected to the Data Dimension and the option to return home or explore his world.
• Thor failed to lift the heavy hammer he had chosen from the Collection Room, despite trying to win its recognition as he once had with Mjolnir.

Loki negotiated with Middle-aged Luke for White Ring equipment to counter Hela’s Undead Army, while Thor continued trying to earn his hammer’s approval. After the brothers were sent back toward Asgard, the Bifrost separated them, and Loki was captured by an armed squad in an unfamiliar place.

• Loki and Thor traveled to Silent City to ask Middle-aged Luke for help against Hela, and Thor was blasted by his hammer after Loki insulted it.
• Middle-aged Luke agreed to supply weapons powered by White Ring energy in exchange for a premium, and Loki signed a contract for equipment for one hundred people in Thor’s name.
• Loki secretly took an item from Luke’s Collection Room, and Odin asked Luke to ensure Loki’s safety.
• The Bifrost split Loki and Thor apart during their return, leaving Loki stranded in an unfamiliar place.
• A squad emerged from a Yellow Light Gate, subdued Loki with a strange power, fitted a collar around his neck, and dragged him through the gate.

Loki was captured by the Time Variance Authority and encountered Luke, who secretly gave him information and a mission to complete in exchange for a way home. After half an hour, Loki’s memories of Luke and their conversation faded as he returned to the TVA.

• The Time Variance Authority captured Loki, restrained him with a Time Loop Collar, and sent him to be processed as a Variant.
• Luke met Loki at a TVA desk and claimed he was only a worker who could offer limited help.
• Luke offered Loki a mission and a precious collectible as a reward, explaining that Loki could not return home while he remained a TVA target.
• Luke gave Loki intelligence papers and a Silver Bullet, warning him to use it if he faced a dilemma with the person behind the scenes.
• After half an hour, Loki lost his memories of Luke and fell back into the TVA processing room.

Loki watched footage of another universe’s Loki and realized Luke had likely altered his memories, then agreed to help the TVA catch a time fugitive who was another version of himself. The chapter ended as Mobius prepared to take Loki to the primary crime scene.

• Mobius showed Loki footage of his life and the events that led to his death in another universe.
• Loki recognized that his counterpart’s experiences differed from his own and suspected Luke had grafted those memories onto him.
• Mobius told Loki that another Loki had killed many Timekeepers and asked him to help catch the fugitive.
• Loki agreed to help in exchange for a chance at greater freedom.
• Mobius opened a portal to the primary crime scene, and Loki memorized the Time Controller in his hand.

Loki helped Mobius discover that the murderer hid in apocalyptic timelines, then pursued Sylvie after she destabilized the Sacred Timeline. Loki used a mysterious lighter to freeze everything around him and take Sylvie’s Time Transporter, but it stopped working afterward.

• Loki studied the Time Variance Authority’s case files and explained to Mobius how a fugitive could hide in an apocalyptic timeline; their experiment confirmed his theory.
• Mobius’s team tracked the murderer to Sylvie, but she activated Time Reset Devices across the Timeline and threw the Time Variance Authority into chaos.
• Loki followed Sylvie through a Time Gate, and the two escaped Judge Ravonna’s pursuit using Sylvie’s Time Transporter.
• When Sylvie tried to leave him behind, Loki ignited his lighter, freezing everything nearby and taking the Time Transporter from her.
• Sylvie reclaimed the Transporter and tried to activate it, but it failed, and she demanded to know what Loki had done.

Thor searched for Loki in Silent City, but Luke reassured him that Loki was on a secret mission. Loki was pruned into the Time Wasteland and met several Loki variants, while Sylvie and Mobius headed toward Alioth to uncover the Time Variance Authority’s secret.

• Thor called out to Luke in Silent City, and Luke brought him into his laboratory, where he explained that Loki was safe and carrying out a mission approved by Odin.
• Luke sent Thor away with a silver disc and blocked his access to Silent City until Loki returned.
• After Sylvie and Loki killed the Time Keepers, Ravonna stabbed Loki and he vanished; she stopped Sylvie from pruning her by insisting Loki was not dead.
• Loki woke in the Time Wasteland, met three Loki variants and a crocodile Loki, and followed them into their shelter to escape Alioth.
• Mobius rescued Sylvie from Alioth in a car, and Sylvie revealed that she had glimpsed an ancient castle inside the monster and planned to use her enchantment to get inside.

Loki and Loki Sylvie joined forces to reach the hidden castle inside Alioth and confronted the man behind the TVA’s schemes. As the man led them toward a conversation, the Silent City laboratory identified him as Kang and prepared to teleport.

• Loki left the other Lokis and reunited with Loki Sylvie and Mobius, then explained that he wanted to uncover Alioth’s secret.
• Mobius returned to the Time Variance Authority while Loki and Loki Sylvie drove toward Alioth to distract it and give her time to take control.
• Loki used his lighter to freeze Alioth, allowing Loki Sylvie to control it and reveal an ancient castle hidden inside its body.
• Miss Minutes tried to tempt Loki and Loki Sylvie with offers, but they ignored her and searched the castle until a strange man appeared.
• Loki and Loki Sylvie attacked the man, but he evaded them using his abnormal flow of time and then invited them to talk.
• The Silent City laboratory identified the man as Kang and confirmed coordinates for a Dimensional Bifrost teleportation.

Luke captured the time-aligned storm creature Alioth by feeding it to his cat, while Kang explained the TVA’s history to Loki and Sylvie. Kang’s control of events faltered when he learned Luke was involved, and he realized someone else might have accompanied them.

• Luke let his cat swallow Alioth, then promised it a Space Stone or catnip as a reward.
• Kang told Loki and Sylvie that he had created the Time Variance Authority to protect the universe from branching timelines.
• Loki questioned whether Kang and his variants could truly conquer the Multiverse and asked whether Kang knew about Luke at the TVA.
• Kang said he had never heard of Luke, revealing that he could no longer predict events as he expected.
• Kang realized someone else might have come with Loki and Sylvie and scanned the surroundings in alarm.

Sylvie killed Kang with a blade Luke had prepared, and Luke revealed that its Soul Poison could spread Kang’s death across the Multiverse. Loki and Sylvie returned to a transformed organization where Loki was its captain, and Mobius assigned him a mission to hunt a surviving Variant Kang.

• Kang revealed that an unknown force had cut him off from external time and warned that his death could lead to a Multiversal War.
• Loki gave Sylvie Luke’s bullet, which transformed into a blade, and she stabbed Kang while Loki moved aside.
• Luke arrived, confirmed Kang was dead, and explained that the blade’s poison would transmit his death through a Soul Network to other Kangs.
• Luke restored the Teleporter, and Loki and Sylvie left the sealed ruins; Luke vanished with an orange cat and a miniature Alioth.
• Loki arrived at the Time Variance Authority, saw a statue of himself, and learned from Mobius that he was its captain.
• Mobius told Loki that a Council of Kangs had opposed the Energy Bank and asked him to assemble a team to capture a surviving Variant Kang.

Loki reunited with Thor and Sif, introduced Sylvie as another Loki, and faced Hela before Odin stopped them from fighting. At a meeting about the Energy Bank’s new universe and future plans, Hela demanded the position Loki had been given in a new organization.

• Thor warmly embraced Loki, and Sylvie introduced herself as a female Loki from another universe.
• Loki called Sylvie his sister-in-law, but Sylvie punched him and told Thor and Sif she had nothing to do with him.
• Hela arrived with a giant black wolf, and Odin intervened before she and the others could fight.
• Luke began the meeting, outlined the new universe’s value to the Energy Bank, and proposed allocating its profits according to contributions.
• Luke proposed expanding the new organization he had placed under Loki’s management, and Hela demanded that she take Loki’s position.

Loki and Hela competed for control of the Multiverse Authority, and Luke settled their dispute with a contest to see who could bring more value to the Energy Bank. After the meeting, Luke gave Loki a choice of dragon helpers, recommending a white dragon whose life attribute could counter Hela’s Death Divine Power.

• Hela rejected Loki and Sylvie’s defense of order and proposed conquest as the organization’s purpose, then challenged Loki to a contest for leadership.
• Stephen, Nick Fury, and Thor voted for Loki, while Dormammu, Mephisto, and Nightmare voted for Hela.
• Luke proposed that Loki and Hela compete by providing energy and value to the Energy Bank, and the shareholders accepted the arrangement.
• Mephisto reported that the Energy Bank’s schemes had helped followers overthrow old gods, leaving many new gods indebted to the Bank and producing energy and souls for its shareholders.
• Loki asked Luke to make him strong enough to face Hela, but Luke instead showed him three juvenile dragons and recommended the white dragon with life-based powers.

Luke sold Loki a Life Dragon hatchling and explained the costly, centuries-long process of raising it. Loki signed the contract, took out a loan, and charged the expense to Thor Odinson.

• Luke gave Loki a Life Dragon hatchling, which climbed onto his head and wrapped its tail around his neck.
• Loki asked whether the hatchling could help him defeat Hela, but Luke explained that it would provide longevity rather than immediate combat strength.
• Luke showed Loki an Ice Crystal Dragon and a fierce dragon, but warned that neither suited Loki.
• Luke outlined the Life Dragon's expensive feeding and cultivation requirements, leaving Loki dismayed by the costs.
• Loki signed the purchase contract, requested a loan, and told Luke to send the bill to Thor Odinson.

Wanda brought Agatha Harkness to Silent City to meet Luke Field and seek the source of New Energy. After Luke suppressed Agatha’s magic in his Collection Room, he introduced her to Hecate, an expert in all magic.

• Wanda brought Agatha Harkness through Silent City and showed her the tower where Luke Field was staying.
• Wanda and Agatha entered the tower after submitting their names and purpose.
• Agatha told Luke she wanted the source of New Energy and tried to use a Mind Control Spell.
• Luke’s protective measures suppressed Agatha’s magic, and Wanda said she could not use magic there either.
• Luke said he understood Agatha’s ambitions and introduced Hecate as someone who had mastered all magic.