Chapter Summaries

Russell and Loki found the Orb’s empty chamber on Morag and used Russell’s time-reversal magic to discover that Star-Lord had taken it. Russell decided they would head to Xandar, where he expected both Star-Lord and Ronan to go.

• Russell and Loki entered the palace on Morag and found signs that two groups had fought there.
• They reached the empty chamber where the Orb had been stored and realized an unknown force had taken it from Ronan’s Kree forces.
• Russell revealed that he had given an imitation Time Stone to Wanda, then used his Divine Power to reverse time across the palace.
• Russell and Loki watched Star-Lord take the Orb and escape from the pursuing Kree.
• Russell said they would go to Xandar because he expected Star-Lord and Ronan the Accuser to arrive there.

Russell and Loki traveled to Xandar, where Russell left Loki to watch for Ronan’s fleet while he returned to Earth. Meanwhile, Ronan seized the Power Stone and prepared to attack Xandar.

• Russell suggested Loki use Time Magic to overcome Thor’s speed, then offered to ask Ancient One for access to her private spellbook.
• Loki piloted the spacecraft to Xandar, where Russell saw the peaceful city and concluded Ronan’s fleet had not arrived yet.
• Russell told Loki to stay on Xandar and use the BB Pager when Ronan’s fleet arrived, while he planned to shop and return to Earth.
• Aboard the Dark Aster, Ronan took the Power Stone from the Orb and embedded it in his hammer, declaring that he would destroy Xandar and then go after Thanos.

Russell arrived at Xandar and smashed through Ronan’s Dark Aster, leaving the Nova Corps, the Ravagers, and the Guardians stunned. He confronted Ronan and Nebula, revealed he wanted one of them to take him to Thanos, and dismissed Ronan’s anger over his ship with the explanation that he had destroyed it because he felt like it.

• Loki emerged in the Nova Empire command room and told the leader that Russell was coming to destroy the Dark Aster, urging the Nova Corps to prepare for the wreckage.
• Russell charged through the Necrocraft Fleet’s cannon fire, pierced the Dark Aster, and returned through its hull.
• The Guardians, Ravagers, and Nova Corps contacted the command center, and Star-Lord asked whether the figure who had attacked the Dark Aster was a person.
• Russell confronted Ronan, Nebula, and their subordinates, questioned them about their killings, and identified himself as Russell from Earth.
• Russell demanded that Ronan or Nebula take him to Thanos, and told Ronan he had destroyed the Dark Aster because he felt like it.

Russell defeated Ronan, took the Power Stone, and sent Nebula away before stopping the Kree attack on Xandar. He and Loki accepted the Nova Empire’s State Gifts and continued their search for Thanos.

• Ronan attacked Russell with the Power Stone, but Russell caught the hammer, shattered it, and took the Stone, whose energy failed to harm him.
• Nebula offered to lead Russell to Thanos, and Russell sent her through a Portal while promising to kill Thanos and her.
• Russell killed Ronan with a punch and gave the Kree Soldiers the choice to surrender to the Nova Empire or leave.
• Russell brought Ronan’s corpse to the Nova Empire Command Center, where the Prime Minister agreed not to attack the Kree first and presented Russell and Loki with State Gifts.
• Russell and Loki accepted the gifts and prepared to continue their search for Thanos.

Russell and Loki accepted the Nova Empire’s hospitality after the Nova Corps captured the Dark Aster and prevented the destruction of a city. At the celebration banquet, Gamora and the Guardians confronted Russell about Nebula, and the group agreed to help him reach Thanos.

• Russell admired the Nova Empire’s State Gift, and Chancellor Close explained that its figures could adapt to Russell’s and Loki’s wishes.
• The Nova Corps captured the Dark Aster and its Kree prisoners, ending Ronan’s invasion without the city’s destruction.
• At Chancellor Close’s banquet, Gamora asked Russell where Nebula was, and he revealed that she was his prisoner.
• Russell refused to release Nebula, saying he needed her to lead him to Thanos, and he challenged Gamora to consider what she and Nebula had done for Thanos.
• Gamora offered to take Russell to Thanos, and Drax pledged to help him kill Thanos.
• Star-Lord and Rocket decided to join them, and Russell told Rocket that he needed the Guardians.

Russell gave Rocket a pager that would summon him and demonstrated his power to convince the Guardians that he could handle Thanos alone. Nebula joined the team after Gamora asked for her help, and the sisters agreed to work together against Thanos.

• Russell gave Rocket his pager and explained that pressing it would let him arrive through a Portal, while Rocket’s questions revealed his fear for the team’s safety.
• Drax, Star-Lord, Groot, and Rocket chose to accompany Gamora, and Russell said he would charge at Thanos himself.
• Russell transported the Guardians into the Mirror Dimension, hurled a star toward them, and destroyed a lifeless planet with a blast of stellar energy.
• Rocket asked whether Nebula could join them, and Russell opened a Portal for her.
• Nebula insisted she could complete the mission alone, but Gamora called her little sister and asked for her help, and Nebula agreed to work with her against Thanos.

The Guardians of the Galaxy followed Gamora's coordinates to Sanctuary I, where she confronted Thanos and demanded money in exchange for the Power Stone. Russell arrived with the group and faced Thanos, promising that they would care for Gamora after Thanos died.

• Russell told Rocket to press Russell's Pager as soon as he found Thanos, while the Guardians departed without Russell.
• Gamora contacted Thanos, admitted she had betrayed Ronan to keep the Power Stone, and demanded 4 billion Galactic Credits to give it up.
• Thanos agreed to send Gamora the money, but Nebula accused him of always favoring Gamora and treating her as scrap metal.
• Rocket pressed Russell's Pager when the Milano reached Sanctuary I, and the Chitauri escorted the group aboard the warship.
• Thanos left his throne to greet Gamora and asked whether the others were her friends, and Russell told him they would care for Gamora after he died.

Russell confronted Thanos over his plan to slaughter half of all life, then fought him and defeated Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight. As Thanos’s soldiers gathered and Gamora and Nebula chose to stay and watch, Russell unleashed Divine Power across Sanctuary I.

• Russell rejected Thanos’s justification for killing half of all life and called him a tyrant.
• Thanos punched Russell, but Russell absorbed the blow and kicked him back.
• Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive attacked Russell; he knocked Corvus into a wall and killed Proxima with her own spear.
• Russell summoned the Emperor Armor and opened a Portal for Star-Lord and the others, but Gamora and Nebula refused to leave.
• When Thanos’s soldiers poured in, Russell unleashed Divine Power across Sanctuary I.

Russell and Thanos fought across Sanctuary I, with Russell gaining the advantage in their clash of strength before Thanos tried to turn the battle with his superior swordsmanship. The chapter ended as Thanos announced he had found a way to defeat Russell and attacked again.

• Russell unleashed his Divine Power, incapacitating Sanctuary I's soldiers and revealing an aura that Thanos recognized as similar to his own.
• Russell met Thanos's Double-Edged Sword with his fist, and their forces collided hard enough to crack Sanctuary I's deck.
• Corvus Glaive attacked Russell while he was locked in the clash, but Russell's defense remained unbroken and the Guardians of the Galaxy drove Corvus away.
• Russell protected the Guardians from the shockwave with the Mirror Dimension, then kicked Corvus aside and took his War Blade.
• Thanos fired Cosmic Energy at Russell, who cut through it and charged into a close-quarters sword fight.
• Thanos broke Russell's War Blade, killing Corvus Glaive's soul, then declared he had found a way to defeat Russell and attacked again.

Russell fought Thanos with the Power Stone against Thanos's Mind Stone, shattered Thanos's sword, and drove him into space. Thanos secretly built up the Mind Stone's power and landed a counterpunch on Russell's head, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Russell discarded his broken War Blade and fought Thanos with his fists, matching Thanos's technique in close combat.
• Russell noticed the Mind Stone embedded in Thanos's armor, and Thanos admitted using it to enhance his Perception.
• Russell wielded the Power Stone, shattered Thanos's Double-Edged Sword, and punched him through Sanctuary I into space.
• Russell pursued Thanos and battered him with Power Stone-enhanced blows while Gamora and Nebula watched in disbelief.
• Thanos secretly compressed the Mind Stone's energy, then struck Russell's head with a punch that sent him flying.
• Thanos smiled as he watched Russell's flight, but his smile froze as the result remained unclear.

Russell endured Thanos’s attacks and turned the battlefield against his forces, then fought Thanos in a brutal endurance contest. On Earth, the Tesseract opened a portal, bringing Thanos’s generals Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s base.

• Thanos struck Russell with a charged punch, but Russell emerged nearly unharmed and taunted him.
• Thanos ordered his fleet to bombard Russell, who absorbed the energy while drawing solar energy toward the battlefield.
• A Solar Storm and High-Energy Plasma Energy Beams destroyed Thanos’s fighters and carriers, after which Russell resumed his attack on Thanos.
• Russell used spatial ripples to land successive blows on Thanos, but Thanos endured them and the two settled into an exhausting fight.
• Nick Fury and Coulson investigated the Tesseract’s rising energy at a S.H.I.E.L.D. base as Dr. Erik explained they could not control it.
• Clint speculated that the source of the trouble was beyond the Tesseract’s gateway, and the Tesseract opened a blue portal from which Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian emerged.

Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian attacked a S.H.I.E.L.D. base, took the Tesseract, and killed half the people there. As the Avengers planned to find them, Thor revealed that Russell was already in space looking for trouble with the Black Order.

• Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian defeated the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at the base, took the Tesseract, and killed half the people there.
• Coulson gathered the Avengers and reported the attack, while Thor explained the Black Order's history and the Tesseract's power.
• Tony and Steve challenged S.H.I.E.L.D. about using the Tesseract to develop weapons, and Coulson said the weapons were meant to protect Earth from threats including Russell and aliens.
• Thor accused S.H.I.E.L.D. of attracting the Black Order by sending the Tesseract's coordinates into space, and Steve redirected the meeting toward finding the attackers and recovering the Tesseract.
• Coulson asked Tony to contact Russell for help, but Thor said Russell was in space looking for trouble with the Black Order.

Thor explained that Russell had gone after Thanos for the Mind Stone and to stop the Black Order. Russell and Thanos emerged from a Portal during the Avengers’ confrontation with Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian, and their battle destroyed Stark Tower before Russell suggested they continue elsewhere.

• Thor told the assembled group that Russell had set out with Loki to find Thanos, seeking the Mind Stone and hoping to stop the Black Order.
• J.A.R.V.I.S. located Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian at Stark Tower, where they used the Tesseract to open a Portal.
• Tony and the others arrived at the tower and confronted the two members of the Black Order, but Thanos was hurled through the Portal into the building.
• Russell followed Thanos through the Portal, and their fight brought down Stark Tower as Russell used some of his energy to heal people injured by the battle.
• Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian joined Thanos while the Avengers gathered behind Russell, and Russell asked Thanos to continue fighting somewhere else; Thanos agreed.

Russell and Thanos fought across New York as the heroes tried to contain the damage, while the Ancient One prepared a layered Mirror Dimension. Russell transported himself and Thanos away, and after the other heroes contained the remaining threat and began rescue efforts, Thor led a group to Mars to support Russell.

• Russell told Thor that Loki was enjoying himself on Xandar, then brought Star-Lord and the other Guardians of the Galaxy out of the Portal.
• Russell contacted the Ancient One, who said she needed time to prepare multiple layers of the Mirror Dimension to trap Thanos.
• Thanos tried to seize the Tesseract and escape, but Russell blocked him and battled him as their clashes devastated New York.
• Tony tried to teleport Thanos away, and Russell used the opening to grab Thanos and send them both through a Portal; Cull Obsidian was cut in half as he charged into it.
• Wanda, Gwen, Quicksilver, and Thor helped defeat Ebony Maw, and Thor threw him into the Mirror Dimension while Tony organized rescue efforts.
• Heimdall told Thor that Russell was on Mars, so Thor, Tony, Wanda, Nebula, and Gamora traveled there by Bifrost.

On Mars, Russell continued beating Thanos while Thor, Tony, Nebula, Gamora, and Wanda watched from the Mirror Dimension. After several more days, Thanos could no longer rise, and Russell stopped as Thanos realized he was dying.

• Russell battered Thanos across Mars, while Thor and the others arrived and watched the battle from a safe distance.
• Nebula explained that Russell had destroyed Thanos’s fleet and followed him through a Portal after Thanos fled.
• Russell’s duplicate asked Tony whether S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Tesseract research had brought Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian to Earth, and Tony confirmed it.
• Russell, Thor, and Tony joked about forming a group while Gamora, Nebula, and Wanda watched the ongoing fight and ate inside the Mirror Dimension.
• Over several days, Russell repeatedly prevented Thanos from escaping and kept striking him until Thanos could no longer get up and realized his life was ending.

Russell took the Mind Stone from Thanos after Thanos apologized to Gamora and Nebula, then brought his companions to New York to claim the Space Stone and the Black Order’s wreckage. The chapter left Russell arranging for Tony and S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect his spoils, while learning that Nick Fury had died.

• Thanos used the Mind Stone to apologize to Gamora and Nebula and tell Gamora to start a new life before his will faded, and Russell took the Mind Stone.
• Gamora mourned Thanos while Nebula asked Russell to kill or torture her, and Gamora intervened before Russell postponed the discussion.
• Russell opened a Portal to Stark Tower, used his Mind Ability to put the guards and researchers to sleep, and took the Tesseract from its device.
• Russell pulled the Black Order research team and warship wreckage through the Portal, then asked Tony to protect the wreckage as his spoils of war.
• Tony told J.A.R.V.I.S. to contact Coulson about guarding the wreckage, and Russell learned that Nick Fury had died during Ebony Maw’s attack on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secret base.

Coulson and Hill used Russell’s authorization over the alien warship wreckage to ease pressure on S.H.I.E.L.D., while the World Security Council debated how it should be handled. Pierce secretly directed Hydra agent Brock Rumlow to exploit the situation, and Coulson flew to New York to ask Russell what he wanted done with the wreckage.

• Coulson and Hill discussed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s political troubles and recognized that Russell’s decision to let S.H.I.E.L.D. guard the alien warship wreckage could help them.
• Coulson reported Russell’s authorization to the World Security Council, where representatives debated the wreckage and Pierce asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to investigate Russell’s plans.
• Pierce privately asked Coulson about Nick Fury, then suggested that S.H.I.E.L.D. guard the wreckage while secretly plotting to exploit the opportunity with Hydra agent Brock Rumlow.
• Coulson ordered Brock Rumlow to guard the wreckage without letting the military take anything, unaware that Rumlow and Pierce were Hydra members.
• Coulson flew to New York aboard Nick Fury’s Director’s Jet to find Russell at his bookstore and ask what he intended to do with the wreckage.

Russell visited Master Ancient One to ask whether the Mind Stone had shaped Thanos’s beliefs, then discussed how to distribute the Infinity Stones and requested a book on Time Magic for Loki. The Ancient One lent him the book and urged him to slow down and make time for life.

• Coulson arrived at Russell's Bookstore seeking Russell, but Gwen told him Russell had gone to see a psychiatrist, so Coulson waited.
• Russell told Master Ancient One that Thanos’s plan to kill half of all life would cause widespread grief and damage civilization.
• Master Ancient One explained that the Mind Stone had reinforced Thanos’s existing beliefs rather than planting them in his mind.
• Russell proposed giving the Space Stone to Tony, the Power Stone to Loki, and the Reality Stone to Wanda, and Master Ancient One agreed with the plan except for Loki’s fit with the Power Stone.
• Russell asked to borrow a book on Time Magic for Loki, and Master Ancient One warned him about the risks to Spacetime before urging Russell to stay and watch a movie.

Russell agreed to let S.H.I.E.L.D. handle the alien warship wreckage while demanding compensation for New Yorkers with Sky God's Blessing and a share for Kamar-Taj. Meanwhile, Gravik pushed Talos to advance the Skrulls’ plans, and Hydra’s leaders decided to abandon the Winter Soldier and erase their traces.

• Russell retrieved Loki from Xandar and delivered Master Ancient One’s books before returning to the bookstore to meet Coulson.
• Russell told Coulson to arrange maximum compensation for rune-marked survivors and reserve Kamar-Taj’s share, while Gwen warned that unequal aid could divide survivors.
• Coulson promised to manage tensions carefully and left burdened by the work, resolving to put Director Fury’s resurrection ritual on the agenda.
• Gravik urged Talos to loosen restrictions on the Skrulls and advance their plan, but Talos chose to wait for Captain Marvel’s promised return.
• Pierce’s Hydra meeting decided to abandon the Winter Soldier after Tony Stark tracked him down, and Doctor Zola agreed to erase Hydra’s traces online.

Russell spent a quiet morning with Gwen, then learned that the Guardians of the Galaxy had come to Earth to collect wreckage from Thanos’s warship. Meanwhile, Gravik ordered G'iah to approach Russell and steal information and abilities from him.

• Russell teased Gwen over breakfast, then told her he had recently been using Energy Nurturing on her.
• Coulson called Russell about the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Russell agreed they could take part of the alien warship wreckage.
• Rocket took over the call, corrected Russell about his height, and said the group planned to stay on Earth for about a month.
• Gwen finished breakfast and left through the window to patrol New York as Ghost-Spider.
• Gravik showed G'iah an image of Russell and ordered her to get close to him and use the Skrulls' gifts to obtain his information and abilities.