Chapter Summaries

Dane intervened when the Purple Man used his powers to control Jessica Jones and Daredevil, then subdued him with Son of Voice. He revealed that Kingpin worked for him and left Daredevil alive, while Jessica wondered what Dane intended to do with her.

• Jessica brought the injured Daredevil into an illegal clinic, where the Purple Man confronted her and used his control ability on her.
• Daredevil briefly resisted the Purple Man and tried to protect Jessica, but the Purple Man regained control and ordered her to kill him.
• Dane arrived and used Son of Voice to stop Jessica and seize control of the Purple Man, then woke Jessica and ordered the clinic staff away.
• Dane explained that he had studied the Purple Man’s hormone-based power and used Son of Voice, a learned hypnotic technique, to control him.
• Daredevil asked whether Dane worked for Kingpin, and Dane said Kingpin worked for him before lowering his gun and leaving Daredevil alive.

Dane subdued Purple Man and urged Matt to reconsider his ineffective campaign against Kingpin, then took Jessica with him. In Budapest, Natasha tried to destroy Dreykov but accidentally killed his daughter Antonia; when Dreykov threatened her, an unseen person stopped him.

• Dane explained that Kingpin was protected by powerful government connections, knocked Purple Man unconscious, and told Matt to rethink his approach before Matt fainted.
• Dane warned Jessica that Purple Man would keep pursuing her and took her and the unconscious man away in his car.
• In Budapest, Natasha detonated explosives in Dreykov's apartment after Hawkeye confirmed the target appeared to be inside.
• Natasha and Hawkeye returned to inspect the burning apartment and discovered that the badly burned victim was Dreykov's daughter, Antonia, not Dreykov.
• Dreykov arrived, shot Hawkeye, and blamed Natasha for Antonia's death before trying to shoot her; an unseen person stopped him with a hand on his face.

Dane rescued Natasha Romanoff, Hawkeye, and Antonia, then tried to turn Natasha against S.H.I.E.L.D. by telling her it was secretly Hydra. After urging her to investigate for herself, he suddenly shot her in the waist.

• Dane took control of Dreykov and found that Hawkeye and Antonia were still alive, then summoned Jessica and medical help.
• Dane's team transported the wounded to safety, and medics stabilized Antonia while treating Hawkeye's injuries.
• Dane challenged Natasha's faith in S.H.I.E.L.D. and claimed the organization was secretly Hydra.
• Dane urged Natasha to investigate the claim herself, planting doubt about S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury.
• Dane signaled a subordinate for a Browning M1911 and shot Natasha in the waist.

Dane deceived Jessica into joining Umbrella by telling her Hydra was still active, while Natasha returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. with Hawkeye and maintained her cover story about killing Dreykov. Dane also began planning a new Cold Nuclear Fusion reactor using Element Xin, and Nick Fury accepted Natasha’s account without checking Dreykov’s body.

• Dane shot Natasha to make her apparent betrayal convincing, gave her his private number, and left with Jessica while Natasha stayed behind with the unconscious Hawkeye.
• Pepper told Dane that the Element Xin patent had been approved, and Dane ordered construction of a company reactor based on a different Cold Nuclear Fusion approach.
• Jessica questioned Dane about the mission, and he told her Hydra was still alive and was Umbrella’s enemy; she believed him and became eager to fight it.
• Natasha returned Hawkeye to S.H.I.E.L.D. and claimed she had killed Dreykov in self-defense, while Nick Fury did not verify the body.
• Hawkeye confirmed Natasha’s story to Nick, who accepted it and considered her initial clearance level before Hawkeye asked about her injury.

Natasha Romanoff joined S.H.I.E.L.D.’s effort to find Tony Stark by infiltrating Obadiah Stane’s office, while Tony began planning his escape after the Ten Rings threatened Yinsen. Elsewhere, Dane learned that Melina Vostokoff had developed the Red Room’s brain-control chemical from stolen Hydra research, though its use required years of intervention starting in childhood.

• Nick Fury assigned Natasha Romanoff to approach Obadiah Stane and discover Tony Stark’s location after Hawkeye recommended her.
• Natasha used a prepared résumé to get hired as Obadiah’s secretary, while Obadiah learned that the Ten Rings intended to keep Tony alive and force him to make weapons.
• Tony developed a plan to escape with Yinsen’s help, but a Ten Rings leader threatened Yinsen to force Tony to build a real weapon.
• Norman told Dane that the completed Human Enhancement serum had succeeded in human trials after Dane supplied the Super Soldier Serum.
• Dane studied Dreykov’s control methods and learned that Melina Vostokoff had created a brain-altering chemical from a stolen Hydra blueprint, but it had to be applied over a long period while subjects were young.

Dane captured Melina Vostokoff in Saint Petersburg and learned the locations of The Red Room and Dreykov’s agent factory. He freed the Black Widows from chemical control and began recruiting them, leaving them to consider serving him as Dane Davis.

• Dane learned from Dreykov that the Black Widow corps was based in Ukraine and that Melina Vostokoff was in Saint Petersburg, then sent Dreykov to Osborn as experimental material.
• Dane and his assault team raided Melina’s manor, captured her, and learned she knew where The Red Room and Dreykov’s factory were located.
• Melina agreed to work for Dane, who used Dreykov’s voice to summon the Black Widows still in Russia.
• Dane used a red agent to restore the Black Widows’ free will, and they turned hateful looks toward Melina.
• Katyusha recognized that the Black Widows needed somewhere to go, and the women asked Dane who they would serve.

Natasha uncovered evidence linking Alexander Pierce to Hydra and learned from Dane that S.H.I.E.L.D. was infiltrated, so she resolved to work against Hydra from within. Meanwhile, Dane gathered fewer than a hundred Black Widows in Ukraine, and Melina began explaining Dreykov’s plan for Natasha’s release from control.

• Natasha infiltrated Obadiah’s office, found evidence of his dealings with the Ten Rings, and reported it to Nick Fury.
• Natasha broke into Alexander Pierce’s home and found a Russian file about the Winter Soldier bearing Hydra’s emblem.
• Natasha called Dane, learned that Nick Fury and Hawkeye were unknowingly serving Hydra, and agreed to undermine the organization from within.
• Dane gathered the freed Black Widows in Ukraine, including a still-young Yelena, who watched Melina with resentment.
• Dane asked why Natasha had escaped the Pheromone Lock, and Melina said it had been part of Dreykov’s plan.

Dane learned that Dreykov had intended to use Natasha as a hidden agent inside S.H.I.E.L.D. while arranging for the Black Widows to be sheltered in Hell's Kitchen. In the Middle East, Tony and Yinsen escaped their captors in the Mark I armor, but Yinsen died; after Tony returned to New York, he reunited with Obadiah and noticed an unfamiliar woman.

• Dane concluded that Natasha might have broken free of Dreykov's control and arranged for Kingpin to hide the Black Widows in Hell's Kitchen.
• A Ten Rings leader watched Tony and Yinsen build the Mark I armor, then raised the alarm when Tony put it on and attacked the camp.
• Tony and Yinsen fought their way out, but a grenade from the minor leader fatally wounded Yinsen, who died after telling Tony not to waste his gift.
• Tony escaped the cave after destroying the terrorists' base, and S.H.I.E.L.D. found him in the Middle East.
• Obadiah greeted Tony on his return and concealed his hatred while Tony embraced him and called him Uncle.
• Tony noticed an unfamiliar woman and asked who she was.

At S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury sent Natasha to investigate Tony Stark, while Dane gave her a miniature Arc Reactor and introduced her to someone at Umbrella. Natasha discovered that the person was Yelena, who immediately attacked her.

• Nick Fury told Natasha to find out what Tony Stark was doing, and Natasha agreed to stay close to him as his secretary.
• Natasha told Dane that Tony had a miniature Arc Reactor embedded in his chest, but Dane already knew about it.
• Dane reasoned that Natasha might be able to enter Tony's laboratory and could save him if Obadiah stole his reactor.
• Dane gave Natasha a miniature Arc Reactor to use when Tony needed saving and told her to turn around.
• Natasha saw Yelena, who asked whether she no longer recognized her and then kicked Natasha in the face.

Dane ordered Melina to install a control chip in the badly injured Antonia, setting her on the path to becoming Taskmaster. Meanwhile, Tony Stark prepared to replace his chest reactor and asked Natasha, posing as Natalie, to help him.

• Natasha told Dane that Bruce Banner had transformed into Hulk and fled after Nick Fury's agents provoked him.
• Dane learned that Antonia had survived with permanent brain damage and ordered Melina to install the control chip despite her concerns.
• Dane learned that Norman Osborn's test subject had died, then visited the laboratory to see Antonia.
• Stark Industries' stock plunged as Hammer Industries and the military-industrial consortium targeted the company, while Obadiah accepted Tony's invitation to a party.
• Tony created a new Arc Reactor and summoned Natasha to help replace the one in his chest, believing the request would show her how much he trusted her.

Tony replaced his chest reactor with Natasha’s help, then used his party to pursue a new energy business while discussing Stark Industries’ weapons scandal with Rhodes. Obadiah negotiated with the Ten Rings over Tony’s powered-armor prototype and agreed to their terms, concealing his intent to kill them.

• Natasha helped Tony install a new reactor, then changed into an evening gown and joined him at his party.
• Tony greeted the guests and discussed Stark Industries’ future with Rhodes, who had invested in the company.
• Tony told Rhodes that Stark weapons had reached terrorists and assured him that Stark investors would not lose money.
• Tony approached a woman in a red evening gown and brought Natalie along to discuss energy-industry cooperation with the guests.
• The Ten Rings showed Obadiah Tony’s powered-armor prototype and proposed a deal in exchange for a share of future suits.
• Obadiah agreed to give the Ten Rings several suits and said he would come see the prototype immediately, while secretly planning to kill them.

Obadiah recovered the Mark 1 armor, seized Tony Stark's Arc Reactor, and activated his Iron Monger suit. Natasha rescued Tony with a new reactor, and Tony prepared to confront Iron Monger after it appeared in Manhattan.

• Obadiah returned from the Middle East with the Mark 1 armor and avoided Tony while Natasha helped Dane dismantle Stark Industries' weapons division.
• Obadiah entered Tony's workshop, paralyzed him with an electric device, and removed the Arc Reactor from his chest.
• Natasha arrived and fitted Tony with a new Arc Reactor, then disappeared before Tony could question her.
• Tony reviewed the surveillance footage, recognized Obadiah's betrayal, and ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to investigate Natalie.
• Obadiah installed Tony's Arc Reactor in Iron Monger and climbed inside to test the armor.
• J.A.R.V.I.S. reported Iron Monger in downtown Manhattan, and Tony ordered Mark 3 prepared.

Obadiah used Iron Monger to rampage through the streets and confront Tony Stark, while Nick Fury ordered Natasha to steal Tony’s armor data. Tony battled Obadiah but was badly beaten before a powerful chest repulsor blast knocked Iron Monger into a supermarket, leaving both men stunned by its strength.

• Obadiah learned Hammer Industries was dismantling a secret Stark weapons production line and drove Iron Monger into the streets to demonstrate his armor.
• Dane explained Obadiah’s motives to Natasha, and Nick Fury learned of the rampage and ordered Natasha to copy Tony’s Powered Armor data.
• Tony confronted Obadiah on the highway, but Iron Monger overpowered him while Tony protected civilians and endured Obadiah’s taunts.
• Tony blinded Iron Monger’s sensors with repulsor blasts, but Obadiah grabbed him and slammed him around as the fight was broadcast on television.
• Tony used body-mounted flashbangs to escape Obadiah’s grip, then fired a charged chest repulsor that knocked Iron Monger into a supermarket.
• Tony and Obadiah were both surprised by the chest repulsor’s unexpected power.

Tony Stark fought Obadiah's Iron Monger until Jessica rescued him, but Obadiah's missile barrage destroyed a supermarket and forced both heroes to pursue him. Dane began training Jessica, while Tony caught up to Iron Monger in the air and clung to its back.

• Tony was pinned by Iron Monger until Jessica arrived, bent its steel hand, and knocked Obadiah's armor aside.
• Obadiah fired every miniature missile at the supermarket, collapsing it and killing shoppers, while Tony shielded Jessica from the blast.
• Nick ordered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s field team to apprehend Obadiah, but Iron Monger escaped the police and flew away as Tony chased after it.
• Dane told Jessica she lacked proper fighting skills and gave her special glasses to connect her vision to his.
• Tony caught Iron Monger at high altitude and tore at its armor, but Obadiah plunged into a rapid descent to shake him off.

Jessica subdued Obadiah in Iron Monger and brought him to Dane, who revealed he had controlled her through the glasses. Dane then gave Natasha Repulsor Cannon technology to pass to S.H.I.E.L.D., hoping to draw Hydra out with the Tesseract; Nick Fury received the data but learned it did not include the Iron Man suit.

• Tony and Obadiah fought inside a Stark Industries workshop until Jessica arrived and disabled Iron Monger.
• Jessica knocked Obadiah unconscious, disconnected the armor, and carried it to Umbrella Corporation while Tony stayed behind as agents entered the factory.
• Jessica removed the glasses and asked Dane whether he had controlled her, and Dane confirmed that he had.
• Natasha reported that Nick Fury had ordered her back to headquarters, and Dane decided to give S.H.I.E.L.D. Repulsor Cannon technology as bait for the Tesseract.
• Natasha gave Nick Fury the USB drive, and he learned that it contained energy-weapon data but no Powered Armor technology.

Tony Stark questioned Phil Coulson about S.H.I.E.L.D. and learned that his father, Howard Stark, had helped found it. Meanwhile, Ava Starr and Bill Foster escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. and settled in Berkeley, where an unknown visitor confronted them.

• Tony Stark discovered Jessica Jones's identity and decided to visit her, then challenged Phil Coulson to prove he represented S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Phil told Tony that Howard Stark had been one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders and offered to show him a video his father had left behind.
• Ava Starr confronted Bill Foster about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s failure to cure her Quantum Anomaly and asked him to leave the organization with her.
• Bill and Ava escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. with research files and equipment, and Nick Fury chose not to pursue them.
• Bill brought Ava to a temporary apartment in Berkeley and told her he had arranged a professorship at the University of California.
• An unknown person startled Ava and Bill, then revealed that they had taken Bill's gun.

Dane recruited Dr. Bill to Umbrella by promising support for curing Ava, while seeking Bill’s knowledge of the Quantum Realm and Kang’s future technology. In 2009, Tony Stark’s public reveal that he was Iron Man boosted Stark Industries, while S.H.I.E.L.D. struggled to understand his distrust and Tony investigated a clean Arc Reactor.

• Dane subdued Ava and Bill during their confrontation, then persuaded Bill to join Umbrella and help research the Quantum Realm.
• Dane considered Kang’s technology valuable because it could build an advanced technological system without relying on a vast industrial supply chain.
• Tony Stark announced, “I am Iron Man,” and then revealed Stark Industries’ plans to enter the energy sector with the Arc Reactor.
• Nick Fury questioned Phil Coulson about failing to gain Tony’s trust, and Natasha suggested Tony might suspect S.H.I.E.L.D. knew how his parents had died.
• Nick decided not to tell Tony that the Winter Soldier had killed Howard Stark, while Natasha’s insight impressed him.
• Tony learned that Natasha’s new Arc Reactor caused no radioactive contamination, and J.A.R.V.I.S. reported that they had tested every suitable element.

Tony Stark discovered that Dane Davis and Umbrella had created the new element used in his Arc Reactor, while Dane used his ties to President Matthew Ellis and his Stark Industries stake to build influence among America’s old-money families. Tony invited Dane to discuss business, and Dane sent Yelena back to training.

• Tony tried to dismantle the new Arc Reactor, but its self-defense mechanism struck him with an electric arc.
• Dane celebrated Matthew Ellis’s election as president and told Tony that Umbrella had energy operations and a new patent that could help Stark Industries.
• Tony read a file describing the stable artificial element Xin and realized Dane had created the new-element Arc Reactor.
• Dane introduced himself to prominent families as a Stark Industries shareholder and gained their interest as they considered the threat of Tony’s new-energy plans.
• Tony investigated Umbrella’s broad business ties, suspected it might be connected to Natasha and Jessica Jones, and asked his secretary to invite Dane to a meeting.
• Dane received Stark’s invitation and told Yelena to return to training after she boasted about ranking first among the Black Widows.

Dane negotiated with Tony Stark over Umbrella’s involvement in Stark’s new energy project and revealed what he knew about S.H.I.E.L.D. Meanwhile, Hydra’s experiments in Sokovia had drawn Baron Strucker’s attention to the Maximov twins, who joined a guerrilla unit resisting the regime.

• Dane told Tony that Umbrella would contribute its Element Xin reactor technology to Stark’s new energy project in exchange for a partnership, and Tony accepted the broad terms.
• Dane told Tony about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s founders and explained that Hydra had infiltrated the German scientists recruited through Operation Paperclip.
• The story shifted to Sokovia, where Baron Strucker had been conducting human experiments and had identified the Maximov twins as potential subjects.
• The Maximov siblings crawled through the snow with a guerrilla unit, and someone whispered that their pursuers had arrived.

Pietro and Wanda were caught in a Hydra ambush, and Wanda was captured while Sophia escaped with the injured Pietro. Dane and the Black Widows rescued Pietro and headed for Hydra’s base to save Wanda, as Baron Strucker worried that his men had not captured Pietro.

• A Hydra convoy ambushed the guerrillas; Wanda was captured, while Sophia found the wounded Pietro and sent a signal to Dane.
• Dane left his meeting with Tony and flew to Sokovia with Yelena and Anna aboard the Blackbird.
• Hydra tracked Sophia’s signal and surrounded the mountain, where she tried to evade the search with Pietro.
• Hydra soldiers shot Pietro with a tranquilizer dart, and Sophia fought back until the Black Widows arrived and killed the soldiers.
• The Black Widows carried Pietro onto the Blackbird, and Sophia showed Dane the location of Hydra’s base so they could rescue Wanda.
• Baron Strucker asked whether his men had captured Pietro.