Chapter Summaries

Dane killed a Chitauri commander through the Mind Scepter, prompting the Chitauri to redirect their army toward the planet where the Cosmic Cube’s energy had been detected. Loki discovered Hydra had opened a gate to that same world and entered it, where a Chitauri commander showed him the monstrous Hive they had encountered.

• Dane used the Mind Scepter to kill a Chitauri commander, and the remaining commanders concluded Loki had failed and the Scepter was lost.
• The Chitauri detected the Cosmic Cube’s energy signature on a nearby planet and ordered their army to advance there.
• Loki returned to the Hydra-controlled base, discovered Selvig had opened a gate using the Obelisk’s coordinates, and learned Hydra squads had crossed through to search for their god.
• Loki entered the gate himself and accepted a nearby Chitauri commander’s mental communication.
• The Chitauri commander showed Loki memories of their soldiers fighting Hive, a grotesque tentacled creature hungry for flesh and blood.

Loki joined the Chitauri’s plan to use Hive to control Thor, then purged Hydra from his base and publicly announced his rule over Earth as the Chitauri invaded New York. As Manhattan came under bombardment, Umbrella evacuated Clinton underground and deployed Atlas troops to defend it.

• The Chitauri commander told Loki that Hive had absorbed the Chitauri collective consciousness and could be made to parasitize and control Thor, and Loki agreed to make Thor their vanguard.
• Loki and his remaining followers slaughtered the disloyal Hydra members, abandoned the base with the Obelisk and Cosmic Cube, and left Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. searching for them.
• Loki appeared atop Tony Stark’s tower and broadcast his claim to rule Earth, while a portal opened above New York and the Chitauri began bombarding Manhattan with missiles.
• Umbrella placed Clinton on combat alert, moved civilians into shelter, and lowered the district’s buildings into its underground base.
• Atlas deployed enhanced, heavily armored infantry onto the cleared surface of Clinton.

Atlas troops and the Avengers fought the Chitauri invasion as Thor confronted Loki at Stark Tower. After the Cosmic Cube’s defense blast knocked Thor unconscious, Hive took control of his brain and used his lightning to attack people below.

• Atlas’s A-01 Assault Team killed Chitauri attackers and reduced civilian casualties, while Wanda secured wartime command authority over New York’s police for Atlas.
• Tony released hundreds of Mark VI suits, and the Avengers joined the battle as they discussed Atlas’s forces and Banner’s reluctance to become Hulk.
• Thor confronted Loki at Stark Tower and struck the Cosmic Cube device, whose counterattack blasted him unconscious and collapsed five floors of the tower.
• Loki told his collaborator that Thor had fallen, and Hive’s insect swarm entered the rubble and reached Thor’s brain after its attempt to devour him failed.
• Hive took control of Thor, blasted away the rubble, and summoned lightning that struck the ground and killed people.

Thor fought the Avengers while controlled by Hive, but an Astartes joined the battle and helped turn the tide against him. As the Chitauri launched a second bombardment with Leviathans, Tony sacrificed Iron Legion suits to destroy some of them, leaving the defenders facing more enemies and dwindling resources.

• Atlas reported that Thor had become hostile, and Hive-controlled Thor attacked the Avengers, overwhelming Iron Man's suits and nearly killing Hawkeye.
• An Astartes emerged from a drop pod, fought Thor hand-to-hand, and fired Bolter rounds at him as other Astartes arrived to surround him.
• The Chitauri commander confronted Loki over Earth's combat forces, then sent Leviathans through the portal to begin a second bombardment.
• Tony ordered the Iron Legion to fly into the Leviathans and overload their reactors, destroying several creatures from within.
• More Leviathans and Chitauri troops appeared, while Steve learned Tony had no more Iron Legion suits and asked Nick when military reinforcements would arrive.

The Avengers realized they needed Loki’s Scepter to close the Cosmic Cube’s portal, so Tony asked Dane to bring it in exchange for borrowing the Cube. When Dane arrived in Clinton, Loki sent the Chitauri after him, and Dane answered their attack with a massive energy palm.

• American troops in exoskeletons and F-22s joined the battle, giving the Avengers time to focus on shutting down the portal.
• Banner explained that only energy on the Cosmic Cube’s level could stop it, and the Avengers identified Loki’s Scepter as the answer.
• Tony called Dane, who agreed to lend them the Scepter in exchange for borrowing the Cosmic Cube for research.
• Dane appeared in Clinton with the Scepter, and Loki recognized him and ordered the nearby Chitauri forces to attack.
• Dane redirected Atlas and the Astartes to their battlefield missions, absorbed the Chitauri lasers, and unleashed a giant energy palm that reduced the attackers it struck to ash.

Dane captured Loki while Hive transformed Thor into a gigantic, uncontrolled monster that devastated both human and Chitauri forces. As reinforcements joined the scattered battle, Dane reached the Cosmic Cube and touched it with the Mind Scepter.

• Loki fled behind a Chitauri shield, but Dane struck him down and ordered Astartes to beat and imprison him.
• Hive emerged from Thor as a mountain-sized mass of flesh, and its lightning attacks drove the Astartes back.
• Chitauri commanders failed to control Hive, severed their psychic link, and let it rampage while they continued their invasion.
• Hive attacked humans and Chitauri alike, while the Chitauri scattered across New York and the Avengers struggled to contain the battle.
• Jessica, Atlas personnel, and Astartes joined the fight as Dane flew to Stark Tower and touched the Cosmic Cube with the Mind Scepter.

Dane used the Cosmic Cube to destroy the Chitauri mothership and the invading forces, then killed Hive with the Bifrost and revived Thor with lightning. After Dane left with the Cosmic Cube and Mind Scepter, the Avengers regrouped and argued over who should be trusted with the dangerous artifacts.

• Dane seized the Cosmic Cube, traveled to the Chitauri mothership, and triggered an explosion that destroyed it and rendered the Chitauri forces on Earth inert.
• Dane ordered everyone to retreat and used the Bifrost to burn Hive to ash.
• Dane found Thor alive beneath the blast site and revived him by summoning Mjolnir and channeling lightning into him.
• Thor woke and questioned Dane, who told him to keep his identity secret before leaving with the Cosmic Cube and Mind Scepter.
• Atlas withdrew after giving the Avengers a battered, bound Loki, and Hawkeye asked to kick him again.
• Steve questioned Tony about Dane taking the artifacts, while Tony criticized S.H.I.E.L.D. and said he planned to reduce his dealings with it.

After the Chitauri invasion, Dane prepared to rebuild Manhattan and position Umbrella to inherit Wall Street’s influence, while the Avengers and former street heroes went their separate ways. Jessica tried to persuade her friends to become heroes again, but Dane arrived after she criticized Atlas and Umbrella.

• Dane planned to shift Manhattan’s financial role to Clinton, where Umbrella could take over Wall Street’s legacy as the city was rebuilt.
• Thor returned Loki to Asgard, Tony resumed control of Stark Industries, Natasha and Hawkeye reported to S.H.I.E.L.D., and Steve joined S.H.I.E.L.D. while suspecting Hydra’s influence.
• Banner rejected Nick’s efforts to keep him at S.H.I.E.L.D. and returned to Umbrella, where Dane welcomed him as a potential laboratory director.
• Jessica urged Luke, Matt, Danny, and the Punisher to keep using their abilities, but they chose their own lives and declined to join her.
• Jessica criticized Atlas and Umbrella’s control of security, and Dane appeared in the bar as Luke hurriedly served him whiskey.

Dane brought three Eternals under his control and used Phastos’s abilities to accelerate Atlas’s technology development, while Jessica joined the Avengers and Tony Stark faced mounting pressure from the military. The chapter ended with Phastos marveling at a completed spatial gate on Tiamut Island as miners began working beyond it.

• Dane offered Jessica a place with the Avengers, and she agreed after learning it would help him.
• Dane took Phastos and two other Eternals, sealed the memories of Phastos’s lover and child, and considered the remaining Eternals and the Deviants.
• The postwar financial crisis gave way to New York reconstruction and a profitable black market in Chitauri technology, fueling superpowered crime and straining the Avengers.
• Jessica joined Steve’s Avengers as they struggled to cover rising cases across the United States.
• Tony Stark faced military investigations and lawsuits over his Iron Legion, while he refused to surrender its drone technology.
• Phastos admired the spatial gate built on Tiamut Island, which led to Tiamut’s magma pool where miners were already working.

Druid and Makkari investigated Ajak’s disappearance and signs of battle, then set out to find the other Eternals. They found Circe in London with Dane Whitman, while Dane remained focused on modifying his genes to gain Phastos’s Alchemy.

• Dane chose Phastos’s creation ability, named it Alchemy, and began editing the related gene fragment into his DNA.
• Makkari found Ajak’s home empty and damaged, discovered signs of battle linked to Ikaris, and told Druid that Ajak and Ikaris might be in danger.
• Druid suspected Ikaris had harmed Ajak, but Makkari showed him shell casings that made her theory less likely.
• Makkari persuaded Druid to leave his Amazon tribe with her and help search for the other Eternals.
• Makkari and Druid found Circe in London after she left a movie theater with Dane Whitman.

Circe reunited with Makkari and Druid after Ajak and Ikaris went missing, and the three set out to find their fellow Eternals. They discovered that Phastos’s boyfriend’s memories had been altered, suggesting Phastos might also be in trouble, and decided to seek out Gilgamesh and Thena.

• Makkari and Druid told Circe that Ajak and Ikaris had disappeared and that signs of a fight and human military activity had been found near Ajak’s home.
• Circe called Ajak, but no one answered, and Druid warned that the enemy might trace the call if Ajak’s device had been taken.
• Circe, Makkari, and Druid went to India and persuaded Kingo to help them search for their companions.
• The group went to Phastos’s home in Chicago, where Ben denied knowing Phastos, and Druid sensed that Ben’s memories had been altered.
• Druid suggested Phastos might also be in danger, so Kingo proposed finding Gilgamesh and Thena for protection.

The Eternals found Gilgamesh and Thena living with a Skrull named Grav, who revealed that his faction had secretly infiltrated Earth while seeking a new home. Grav claimed to have information about the missing Ajak and Ikaris, but the chapter ended before he explained his suspicions.

• The Eternals found Gilgamesh and Thena in the Australian wilderness, where they met Grav, a Skrull who had helped Thena.
• Grav explained the Skrulls’ history of persecution and said his people sought a new home on Earth.
• Druid questioned Grav about the missing Ajak and Ikaris, and Grav denied knowing their whereabouts while offering to share his suspicions.
• Grav revealed that his faction had secretly sent Skrulls to infiltrate American government organizations and S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Druid rejected Grav’s attempt to win their sympathy, but Grav argued that few groups could capture multiple Eternals undetected.

Grav suggested that S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, or Umbrella might have captured Ajak and Ikaris, and Thena questioned how powerful Umbrella had become. Black Widows traced Circe and the other Eternals across London and Mumbai, realized they were gathering their people, and decided the investigation exceeded their capabilities.

• Grav named S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra as possible groups that had taken Ajak and Ikaris, while explaining why each could be involved.
• Grav added Umbrella to his list of suspects, and Thena asked how strong the company had become.
• Black Widows arrived at Circe's London home, found her phone, and learned that Dane Whitman's family included the legendary Black Knight.
• A Black Widow traced Circe and two companions through flight records to Mumbai, where a Bollywood star had disappeared with them.
• The Black Widows concluded the Eternals were gathering their people and that the four captured Eternals had likely been exposed.
• The Black Widows decided the investigation was beyond their abilities, while some discussed whether to undergo the Super Soldier Program.

Dane used the Mind Stone to take control of Ikaris’s body and headed to Australia to find Gilgamesh and Thena. As the Eternals considered helping the Skrulls, a powerful figure descended from the sky and stopped above their cottage.

• Anna’s Black Widows received an assignment to investigate supernatural creatures and identified Blade as their next target.
• Dane failed to establish a full connection with the Mind Stone, then learned from Cortana that the Eternals had been noticed.
• Dane took Ikaris’s core sphere, replaced his consciousness, and learned that Gilgamesh and Thena lived in Australia.
• Grav asked the Eternals to help the Skrulls find their people, and Druid considered cooperating with them.
• Gilgamesh and Thena sensed an approaching presence, while Grav hid inside the cottage.
• A blue figure descended from the sky and hovered above the cottage as the Eternals prepared to fight.

An impostor wearing Ikaris’s appearance overwhelmed the Eternals in battle, injuring Makkari and sending several others flying. The chapter ended with the impostor hurling Gilgamesh from the stratosphere, leaving him helplessly falling toward the earth.

• The impostor attacked Kingo, but Makkari intervened and was struck by a beam that pierced her shoulder.
• Druid’s mental assault briefly distracted the impostor, allowing Gilgamesh to strike him, but the impostor slammed Gilgamesh headfirst into the ground.
• Thena attacked, Circe trapped the impostor’s feet in transformed ground, and Gilgamesh sent him flying while Kingo fired energy blasts.
• The impostor dodged Kingo’s blasts by flying, then struck Thena and Circe with beams and hurled them away.
• The impostor overpowered Gilgamesh, flew with him into the stratosphere, and kicked him loose, sending him falling toward the earth.

Dane captured Circe and Gilgamesh after Circe saved Gilgamesh from his fall, then confronted Druid and Thena as Kingo escaped aboard Grav’s shuttle. Thena attacked Dane but was brutally defeated, leaving Druid as the only Eternal still facing him.

• Circe transformed the ground into a lake and saved Gilgamesh from the impact, but Dane seized her and knocked her unconscious.
• Dane retrieved Gilgamesh from the lake and laid him beside Circe and Makkari, while Druid urged Kingo to escape.
• Kingo went to Grav, who took him away in an advanced shuttlecraft as Druid prepared to awaken Thena’s Eternal Madness Syndrome.
• Dane noticed Kingo and Grav’s escape and tried to shoot down their shuttle, but Thena’s spear forced him to miss.
• Thena attacked Dane with a golden whip and blades, but he overpowered her, crushed her weapons, and slammed her into the ground.

Dane studied the Mind Stone, uncovered its connection to the universe’s collective consciousness, and mastered telekinesis. In 2013, Shangqi and Xu Xialing fled the Ten Rings, prompting Wenwu to unleash his warriors and draw the Avengers into a global conflict that left them struggling to protect civilians.

• Dane stopped using the Mind Stone to control the captured Eternals and discovered that it contained a mental space connected to all sentient beings.
• Dane concluded that the Mind Stone’s self-awareness arose from the universe’s collective unconscious and that it could affect minds but not directly alter physical reality.
• Dane learned to use telekinesis by understanding the link between consciousness and material fields, gaining an ability that belonged to him rather than to superpower genes.
• In 2013, Shangqi fled the Ten Rings after an assassination mission, and Xu Xialing secretly left as well after secretly mastering martial arts.
• Wenwu sent the Ten Rings to search for his children, and their attacks across the world forced governments to call on S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.
• Steve led the Avengers against Ten Rings warriors in Siam, where Jessica struggled to hold back against fearless fighters and civilian casualties.

The Avengers confronted Xu Wenwu, who tried to recruit Steve and revealed that Hydra had survived within S.H.I.E.L.D. after World War II. Steve secretly listened as Wenwu explained Hydra’s ambitions, leaving the team facing an unsettling possibility about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s loyalties.

• Steve, Natasha, Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, and Langluom’s forces continued destroying Ten Rings branches while searching for Xu Wenwu.
• Langluom spotted an unarmed man approaching the ruins, and Natasha recognized him as Xu Wenwu.
• Wenwu offered Steve the position of deputy leader of the Ten Rings, but Steve refused and asked him to submit to arrest.
• Wenwu challenged Steve’s trust in S.H.I.E.L.D. and claimed that Hydra had not been destroyed, prompting Steve to cut off his earpiece signal.
• Wenwu explained that Operation Paperclip brought Hydra scientists, including Zola, into S.H.I.E.L.D. and described Red Skull’s ambition to impose a worldwide authoritarian order.

Xu Wenwu tried to recruit the Avengers by revealing Hydra’s ties to S.H.I.E.L.D., but Natasha ordered the team to attack. Wenwu overwhelmed them with the Ten Rings, and the chapter ended with Steve’s spine broken and Natasha pulling Hawkeye out of danger.

• Xu Wenwu told Steve and Hawkeye that Hydra had been intertwined with S.H.I.E.L.D. from the beginning and urged them to join the Ten Rings.
• Natasha ordered Langluom and his team to open fire, and the Avengers resumed their attack on Wenwu.
• Wenwu used the Eight Rings to bind Jessica in midair, but Natasha kicked him off balance and Jessica broke free.
• Langluom called for support, and Wenwu destroyed several humanoid drones with the Ten Rings.
• Wenwu broke Steve’s spine with a blow from behind, and Natasha used her grappling hook to pull Hawkeye out of the path of another ring.

Dane, transformed into Outlaw, confronted Xu Wenwu after surviving the drone bombardment and challenged him over the Ten Rings. Their battle began with Wenwu discovering that Dane’s body seemed empty, prompting him to recognize Dane as a Heavenly Man.

• Natasha saved Hawkeye from Wenwu’s rings while Jessica distracted Wenwu and Steve recovered.
• Steve ordered a drone missile barrage, but Wenwu survived unharmed and destroyed more than a dozen drones with the Eight Rings.
• Dane emerged from the smoke, and Wenwu recognized him as the thief who had stolen two rings.
• Dane and Wenwu agreed to fight, and Wenwu unleashed his martial aura before charging at Dane with his Iron Fist.
• Wenwu’s refined fist force entered Dane’s body and found nothing to grasp, making Wenwu cry out that Dane was a Heavenly Man.