Chapter Summaries

Nick Fury’s attempt to investigate the Hell’s Kitchen bombing was blocked by the F.B.I. and C.I.A., leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. unable to determine whether Kingpin’s account was true. Meanwhile, the C.I.A. began working with Danny Rand at Rand Corporation, as Dane’s arrangements gave them influence in Hell’s Kitchen.

• Nick suspected Kingpin had surrendered to protect someone else, but his agents could not enter Hell’s Kitchen because the F.B.I. and C.I.A. claimed jurisdiction.
• A subordinate told Nick that Kingpin blamed The Hand for the bombing and asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect Vanessa and her unborn child; Nick doubted the explanation.
• Kevin and Sean watched S.H.I.E.L.D. agents leave Hell’s Kitchen, then drove to Rand Corporation to meet Danny Rand.
• Danny welcomed the C.I.A. agents and agreed to their involvement, asking them to bring in people who could help him manage the company.
• The chapter revealed that Dane had given Danny evidence against Kingpin, The Hand, and Harold Mitchum, helping the C.I.A. arrest Harold and secure influence over Rand Corporation.

In 2010, Dane expanded Umbrella’s work in Hell’s Kitchen while preparing a vast underground facility around the Dragon Bone. Meanwhile, Wanda and Pietro led Atlas-backed rebels against Hydra in Sokovia, where a sudden warning signaled an enemy attack.

• Helen Cho told Dane that Vibranium had become more available, and he offered to help secure her green card if her experiment succeeded.
• Dane oversaw construction of an underground complex meant to contain the Dragon Bone and withstand the coming war.
• Umbrella created legal jobs and investment opportunities in Hell’s Kitchen as gangs and black-market businesses declined.
• Nick learned from Natasha that a man resembling Steve had appeared in Sokovia alongside another mysterious man, and he told her to watch them.
• Wanda and Pietro led Atlas-equipped rebels in a two-month urban war against Hydra, with the rebels gaining the advantage.
• Wanda sensed danger during a suspiciously quiet night, and someone shouted that the enemy was attacking as a shrill cry rang through the city.

Wanda’s Rebel Army escaped two Hydra bio-weapons with help from Bucky and met Captain America, who joined them in planning to stop Hydra’s human experiments. Dane warned Wanda that the experiments might lead to Hulk, a far more dangerous threat, and advised her to befriend Banner before he transformed.

• Wanda ordered the Rebel Army to retreat from two powerful, rapidly healing Hydra monsters, and a masked man with a silver arm helped them escape.
• At an abandoned factory, Wanda used Cortana to confirm that the man they met was Captain America, and Steve said he wanted to help overthrow Hydra.
• Steve explained that Hydra’s giants were people transformed by serum experiments, and the group agreed to strike Hydra before it could seize more civilians.
• Wanda secretly reported the meeting and plan to Dane, who warned her that the monsters might be related to Hulk and that he could be more dangerous than the Minotaur.
• Dane told Wanda that Chaos Magic was their best defense, but if she could not use it, she should find Banner before he transformed and befriend him.

Wanda and the Rebel Army infiltrated Hydra’s base to rescue Doctor Banner while Dane’s team watched from nearby, seeking Hydra’s research. After Wanda freed Banner, three giant mutant dogs blocked the group’s exit, and Bucky used a smoke bomb to help them escape the laboratory.

• Hydra released four biological weapons into Sokovia at night as Steve and Wanda led the Rebel Army toward the experimental base.
• Dane, Sophia, and Anna watched the base from a cloaked Blackbird while Dane explained that his team wanted Baron Strucker’s experiment logs and biological samples.
• Steve, Bucky, Wanda, and the Rebel Army infiltrated the base, fought Hydra guards, and found Doctor Banner imprisoned in a special Glass Case.
• Wanda accidentally opened Banner’s restraints by manipulating the console, and Banner warned them that the creatures were coming.
• Three giant mutant dogs crowded into the laboratory entrance, so Bucky fired a smoke bomb and led Steve, Banner, Wanda, and the Atlas soldiers through the opening.

Steve, Bucky, Wanda, and the Atlas Special Forces fought Hydra and alien hounds, while Doctor Banner transformed into Hulk and turned against his former captors. Hulk rampaged through the base under the influence of a strange broadcast, while Baron Strucker watched from a secret monitoring room.

• Steve and Bucky killed one alien hound with a grenade, then retreated while the remaining hounds kept their distance.
• Hydra soldiers ambushed the group, and the alien hounds attacked Bucky and Banner; Banner transformed into Hulk and killed one hound before driving the other away.
• Hulk charged into Hydra's ranks, and Wanda agreed to provide Steve's group with fire support while warning that she would prioritize her soldiers' safety.
• Hulk slaughtered Hydra agents and destroyed creatures made from him as their source specimen, while a strange melody over the base broadcast made him more vicious.
• Baron Strucker and his experimental assistant watched Hulk's rampage from a secret monitoring room.

Hydra used a brain implant and a special melody to control Hulk, who overwhelmed Steve, Bucky, Wanda, and the Atlas soldiers. Dane arrived to face Hulk, tested the Ten Rings’ power, and struck him with two enlarged rings.

• Baron Strucker and Samuel Sterns watched as Hydra’s implanted chip responded to a melody and redirected Hulk to attack Steve’s group.
• Wanda ordered the Atlas soldiers to darken the area, but Hulk adapted, endured their gunfire, and knocked the Rebel Army down with a clap that created a powerful shockwave.
• Steve drew Hulk away from the others, but Hulk eventually grabbed him and hurled him into a wall, leaving the group defenseless.
• Dane appeared before Hulk in black tactical gear, provoked him, and sent him flying with a ring strike.
• Hulk grabbed the ring, but its rejection caused him pain and it returned to Dane; Dane then enlarged two rings and hurled them at Hulk at supersonic speed.

Dane defeated Hulk by using the Ten Rings and a violent vortex, then took the unconscious Banner away as Natasha captured Baron Strucker and Hydra personnel. Natasha reported Hydra’s presence in Sokovia to Nick, but her conversation was interrupted when two men approached her.

• Dane ordered everyone to evacuate, then used the Ten Rings to repel Hulk as the base began to collapse.
• Natasha knocked out Baron Strucker and Hydra’s technicians, searched their files, and learned that a liquid chip could guide Hulk’s behavior.
• Dane fought Hulk in the air, trapped him in a powerful vortex, and knocked him unconscious with the rings.
• Dane took Banner aboard Blackbird and left, while Natasha captured Strucker and reported her findings to Nick.
• Nick learned that Hydra ruled Sokovia and asked Natasha to contact Captain America, but two men approached her during their call.

Steve and Bucky confronted Natasha, who identified herself as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and arranged for Steve to speak with Nick Fury as Steve prepared to move against S.H.I.E.L.D. At Umbrella Laboratory, Bruce Banner learned Hydra had implanted a chip in his brain and was asked to cooperate with its removal, while Jane Foster's team encountered a mysterious figure on a stormy New Mexico road.

• Steve and Bucky confronted Natasha at her hideout, and she revealed that she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury.
• Natasha explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. had grown out of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and Steve asked her to arrange a meeting with Fury as he resolved to act against S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Bruce Banner awoke restrained at Umbrella Laboratory, where a doctor told him Hydra had implanted a liquid chip in his brain to stimulate his adrenaline and influence Hulk.
• Banner struggled with guilt over Hulk's killings, and the doctor urged him to consider coexisting with Hulk while asking for his cooperation in removing the chip.
• Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, and Darcy Lewis drove toward a strange aurora in New Mexico, and their motorhome struck an unidentified figure in the storm.

Jane and her companions found the unconscious Thor after the Bifrost brought him to Earth, while Umbrella detected the event and moved to investigate. At a hospital controlled by Umbrella, Dane spoke with Thor and learned he had lost his divine power and Mjolnir, then told him that a hammer had landed nearby.

• Jane found Thor breathing in the strange impact pattern, while Selvig photographed it and Darcy joked about giving him mouth-to-mouth.
• Dane identified the celestial event as a wormhole and invited Banner to investigate the arrival site near Anticapente, New Mexico.
• Thor woke in Jane's car, ranted about Asgard and his hammer, and Darcy subdued him with her taser before the group took him to an Umbrella-controlled hospital.
• Townspeople tried and failed to move the hammer from its crater until Coulson arrived and reported that he had found it.
• Dane and Banner met Thor at the hospital, where Dane calmed him and explained that he was on Midgard and had lost his divine power.
• Thor admitted that Odin had taken his power and that he had lost Mjolnir, and Dane told him a hammer had fallen nearby.

Dane brought Thor to the site where Mjolnir had landed, where Thor discovered that Odin’s enchantment had stripped him of his power and worthiness. Dane told Phil that a worthy person could claim Thor’s power, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. to consider testing candidates for the hammer.

• Dane took Thor to Mjolnir’s landing site, where Phil and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were investigating the hammer.
• Thor pushed past Phil and fought off an agent who tried to stop him, while Phil ordered the others not to shoot.
• Thor failed to lift Mjolnir, and Dane explained that Odin’s enchantment had stripped Thor of his divine power and worthiness.
• Thor collapsed in despair as Heimdall watched from the Bifrost and urged him to complete his trial.
• Dane offered Phil information in exchange for leaving Thor alone, and Phil agreed to prioritize the hammer.
• Dane told Phil that a worthy person who lifted Mjolnir could gain Thor’s power.

Dane explained why Thor had been exiled and offered to help him regain his power in exchange for a promise, while S.H.I.E.L.D. began considering candidates to lift Mjolnir. Tony Stark intercepted their conversation and tried to lift the hammer, but Mjolnir remained immovable; the chapter left Tony insisting its criteria were flawed.

• Dane reminded Thor that his arrogance and reckless attack on Jotunheim had led Odin to strip his power and exile him, then asked what Thor would trade for help restoring it.
• Thor promised to honor any deal, and Dane led him away to talk; Phil reported Dane’s claim to Nick Fury, who told him to search S.H.I.E.L.D.’s academy for candidates.
• Tony Stark hacked Nick and Phil’s communications, took control of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s devices, and arrived at Mjolnir in his Iron Man suit.
• Tony tried to lift Mjolnir, then blasted away the ground and used J.A.R.V.I.S. to catch the hammer as it briefly rose, but its force dragged him down and overloaded his suit.
• Phil confirmed that Tony had failed, while Tony blamed the hammer’s criteria and Phil wondered whether Steve Rogers could have lifted it.

While Dane taught Thor about responsibility and Mjolnir, Loki allied with Laufey and took control of Asgard after Odin entered the Odinsleep. Loki ordered the Destroyer to Earth to kill Thor, just as Dane received a call warning of trouble.

• Tony arrived to study Mjolnir and ordered advanced equipment after criticizing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s setup.
• Loki told Laufey that Odin was helpless in the Odinsleep and offered secret routes into Asgard, and Laufey accepted his deal.
• Loki took the throne as regent, rejected Sif and the Warriors Three's request to recall Thor, and promised to repel the Frost Giants himself.
• Heimdall let Sif and the Warriors Three use his sword to activate the Bifrost and travel to Earth, prompting Loki to send the Destroyer after Thor.
• Dane told Thor that Odin had exiled him because he lacked responsibility, and Thor listened before Dane received an urgent phone call.

Thor reunited with Hogun as Loki sent the Destroyer to kill him and the Warriors Three. Dane treated the critically injured Volstagg with purified Extremis serum, while Thor and Hogun faced the Destroyer.

• Thor learned that Sif and the Warriors Three had arrived on Earth and realized they were in danger because Odin had not forgiven him.
• Sif and the Warriors Three found Jane, Darcy, and Selvig, but Loki sent the Destroyer to attack them and it badly injured Sif, Fandral, and Volstagg.
• Thor saved Hogun from the Destroyer's attack and reunited with him as Loki ordered the Destroyer to kill Thor.
• Dane reached the battlefield and gave Volstagg purified Extremis serum, healing much of his burned skin but leaving him too weak to fight.

Dane arranged medical care for the wounded Sif, Fandral, and Volstagg while Thor and Hogun struggled against Destruction. Loki froze Heimdall and prepared to kill him, but a Frost Giant invasion erupted, and Destruction shifted to attacking Thor with lethal intent.

• Dane sedated Sif and sent Umbrella's medical team to treat her and Volstagg while Fandral returned to the battlefield.
• Loki controlled Destruction as it battered Thor and Hogun, taunting Thor for losing his divine power.
• Heimdall tried to assassinate Loki, but Loki's prepared illusion fooled him, and Loki froze him with the Casket of Ancient Winters.
• Loki learned that Frost Giants had invaded Asgard and rushed outside, where King Laufey confronted him and dodged his attack.
• Destruction changed tactics and focused its lethal attacks on Thor, leaving Hogun less of a target.

Dane and Iron Man joined the fight against the Destroyer, which withstood their attacks and threatened everyone nearby. Dane shielded Thor and Hogun from a massive blast, while Tony refused to let S.H.I.E.L.D. bomb the battlefield and prepared to test the Destroyer’s armor with lasers.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. evacuated the town and attacked the Destroyer with military weapons, while Skurge used enchanted M16 rifles to slaughter Frost Giants in Asgard.
• Iron Man struck the Destroyer with Repulsor Blasts, but it emerged unharmed and counterattacked.
• Dane protected Thor and Hogun from the shockwave of Iron Man and the Destroyer’s energy clash with a barrier formed by his rings.
• Phil ordered Iron Man to withdraw so the military could fire missiles, but Tony refused after discovering Dane was on the battlefield.
• Tony fought the Destroyer again and raised wrist-mounted devices to fire high-energy lasers at its armor.

Dane used the Ten Rings to disable the Destroyer, then realized Loki might be unable to restart it because Asgard was under attack. Loki’s fight with Laufey ended with Laufey wielding the Casket of Ancient Winters against him.

• Tony’s laser bounced off the Destroyer, and Dane warned him that Earth weapons could not defeat it.
• Dane used the twin rings to bind the Destroyer, force its attack inward, and blast it into the sky until it lost its energy.
• Tony tried to scrape material from the Destroyer and the rings, but Dane caught him and mocked his Vibranium knife.
• Dane concluded that the Destroyer had merely run out of energy and suspected Loki was too busy to restart it because Asgard was in chaos.
• Laufey saw through Loki’s illusion, wounded him, and took the Casket of Ancient Winters.
• Laufey opened the casket and unleashed an icy storm that hurled Loki hundreds of meters, but Loki held onto Gungnir and anchored himself against the ground.

Loki revealed his Frost Giant origins but rejected Laufey and wounded him with Gungnir before disappearing in the battle for Asgard. On Earth, Heimdall contacted Thor and pleaded for him to return, leaving Thor to seek Dane’s help against Laufey.

• Laufey discovered Loki was a Frost Giant, but Loki declared himself Odin and Frigga’s son and hurled Gungnir at him.
• Laufey was wounded and ordered the Frost Giants to invade Asgard, while Heimdall escaped and reopened the Bifrost.
• Thor and Dane explained the Bifrost to Phil and Tony after it arrived at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
• Heimdall told Thor that Laufey had overrun Asgard, Odin was asleep, and Loki had vanished after striking Laufey.
• Thor agreed he could forgive Loki if he survived, then looked to Dane for help returning to Asgard.

Thor asked Dane to help defend Asgard from an invasion by thousands of Frost Giants while Odin slept and Loki was missing. Dane agreed to send Umbrella’s troops under a paid agreement, and S.H.I.E.L.D. offered possible support as Thor confirmed the Bifrost could transport the force.

• Thor told Dane that Frost Giants had invaded Asgard while Odin was in Odin's Sleep, and he could not locate Loki.
• Thor estimated that two to three thousand Frost Giants had entered Asgard, and Dane offered to send his military-contracting forces.
• Dane argued that Earth faced a future threat if the Frost Giants defeated Asgard, and Phil volunteered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help despite lacking authority to commit troops.
• Dane warned Thor that Umbrella's support would require payment, and Thor agreed that Asgard would pay.
• Dane contacted Cortana, who confirmed the legion was ready to depart, and Thor said the Bifrost could transport as many troops as Dane had.

Dane led an expedition of drones, aircraft, and ground forces through the Bifrost to reinforce Asgard, while Laufey broke into the palace and searched for Odin. The forces arrived in the Bifrost passage as Frigga prepared to defend Odin and hoped for Loki’s survival.

• Dane revealed the Iron Legion and Blackbird fighters, and Thor agreed to let Dane command the forces while Phil sent S.H.I.E.L.D. armored units and Hawkeye joined the expedition.
• Thor warned Heimdall to keep the Bifrost open, while Laufey ordered a guard to kill Heimdall, froze the palace gates, and searched the magical labyrinth for Odin’s hall.
• Frigga armed herself and vowed to protect Odin until Thor returned, while she held onto hope that Loki had survived.
• Tony returned to the assembly point, and Dane led the assembled aerial, ground, human, and drone forces through the Bifrost to Asgard.
• Phil noticed that Thor’s Hammer had vanished from the crater and ordered Sitwell to search for it and review the surveillance footage.
• Dane sensed the Bifrost’s energy separating his body from ordinary space as the expedition traveled through its passage.

Dane helped the Asgardians repel the Frost Giants, then confronted Laufey outside the palace while Thor recovered the Spear of the Universe. Thor regained access to the Odin Force and went inside to find Odin, leaving Dane to fight Laufey.

• Dane stored Bifrost energy in his Ten Rings and used them to cut down nearly a hundred Frost Giants as the reinforcements arrived.
• Dane ordered Atlas and the other forces to advance on the palace, then stopped Thor when Mjolnir emerged from the Bifrost and Thor could not lift it.
• Heimdall told Dane that Laufey was inside the palace, and Dane used a ring to carry Thor there by air.
• Laufey emerged from the frozen palace and attacked Thor, but Dane blasted him away and sent his rings after him.
• Dane told Thor to find Odin, and Thor retrieved the Spear of the Universe, regained the Odin Force, and entered the palace.