Chapter Summaries

Robet questioned Ebony Maw about Thanos and the Infinity Stones while deciding how to handle Loki and the invaders. Ebony Maw began revealing the stones’ powers and locations, while Robet appeared to fall under his bewitching influence.

• Thor knocked Loki unconscious and asked Robet to forgive him, but Robet said he would deal with Loki and Asgard after questioning the invaders.
• Robet immobilized Cull Obsidian with Telekinesis and knocked him unconscious, then healed Ebony Maw so he could answer questions.
• Ebony Maw explained that Thanos came from the Eternals of Titan and that the Black Order had come to Earth for the Space Stone and Time Stone.
• Ebony Maw said Thanos possessed the Mind Stone, which had been used to control Loki, and named the Power Stone, Soul Stone, and Reality Stone as the other stones.
• Ebony Maw described the other stones’ powers and began revealing what Thanos had learned about their whereabouts as his bewitching voice grew stronger.

A Kryptonian invasion devastated an urban district as government agencies and Nick Fury schemed to exploit the attack against Superman and the Avengers. The Tesseract opened a Portal that brought Loki and Thanos’s Black Order to Earth, while Johnny Storm gathered his flames for a desperate attack on the Kryptonian fighting him.

• A Kryptonian used Heat Vision to destroy buildings and kill civilians, while official agencies avoided confronting the invaders and looked for ways to discredit Superman.
• Nick Fury considered the invasion an opportunity to weaken the Avengers’ reputation as the Tesseract opened a Portal at a S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
• Loki emerged from the Portal, followed by Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Corvus Glaive, and the rest of the Black Order, who mocked Loki and discussed their plans for Earth.
• Ebony Maw ordered Supergiant to scout Earth and sought to use the Kryptonians’ terraforming to bring the Chitauri army through a space wormhole and seize the Time Stone and Space Stone.
• Ebony Maw killed Professor Erik and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at the base after they witnessed the Black Order’s arrival.
• As General Zod fought Diana and Johnny Storm realized the others had fallen, Johnny gathered and darkened his flames before releasing a blast nearly as powerful as Robet’s Solar Flare.

Robet learned that Thanos planned to use the Infinity Stones and an Infinity Gauntlet to erase half of all life, then questioned Ebony Maw about Thanos and his forces. After knocking Ebony Maw unconscious, Robet turned toward Thor and Loki as the Bifrost arrived, and ordered the Guardian to disrupt it.

• Ebony Maw explained that Thanos intended to gather the Infinity Stones, place them in a gauntlet forged by Eitri, and erase half of all life with a snap.
• Robet challenged Thanos’s population-and-resources rationale, while Ebony Maw admitted he did not fully believe Thanos but obeyed him as a subordinate.
• Ebony Maw revealed details about Thanos’s Throne Ship, Double-bladed Sword, and remaining Black Order members, including Corvus Glaive’s link to his Glaive and Proxima Midnight.
• Robet knocked Ebony Maw unconscious after promising him a swift end, then turned his attention toward Thor and the others instead of interrogating Cull Obsidian.
• Thor asked whether Robet intended to attack Loki as the Bifrost raced toward them, and Robet ordered the Guardian to disrupt it.

Robet disrupted the Bifrost and forced Odin to bargain for Thor and Loki’s survival, while Thor’s anger unlocked stronger thunder power. Odin offered a costly way to rapidly increase Thor’s strength, and Robet urged Thor to hold on to his resolve.

• Robet interfered with the Bifrost’s spatial coordinates, preventing it from taking Thor and the others away.
• Odin admitted he had watched Earth to see how Thor was doing and yielded to Robet’s demand for a way to strengthen Thor.
• Thor struggled with seeing Odin plead for him and Loki, then his anger caused his thunder power to surge.
• Robet praised Thor’s growing strength and asked Odin whether the universe had a way to unlock someone’s potential quickly.
• Odin said Thor could rapidly increase his strength by paying a price, and Thor volunteered to pay anything.
• Robet encouraged Thor to remember his resolve and keep developing his strength.

Robet warned Thor and Odin that Loki would be killed if he returned to Earth, then returned to New York with Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian. In Asgard, Odin ordered Loki imprisoned for eternity, and Thor accepted the decision as Loki was taken away unconscious.

• Robet told Thor to keep Loki away from Earth and threatened to erase him if he returned.
• Thor and his companions returned to a damaged Asgard, where he encouraged Skurge before meeting Odin.
• Odin explained that Thor's changes did not diminish his place in Asgard and said Loki had to be punished for bringing war to Earth.
• Odin ordered the guards to imprison Loki for eternity, and Thor handed him over.
• Odin used Gungnir to wake Loki briefly, then knocked him unconscious again with divine power.

Odin revealed that Thor’s elder sister Hela was Asgard’s former heir and Mjolnir’s first master, then explained why he had hidden and sealed her. He warned Thor that if Odin died before Thor inherited the throne, Hela could return and overpower him.

• Thor realized Odin had hinted that inheriting the All-Father’s throne would help him unlock his potential, and asked whether Odin’s death was near.
• Odin revealed that Hela was Thor and Loki’s elder sister, Asgard’s Goddess of Death, and the previous master of Mjolnir.
• Odin used Gungnir to uncover murals depicting Hela, exposing the history he had erased from Asgard’s records.
• Odin explained that Mjolnir contained the Odinforce and that its enchantment granted the Power of Thor to anyone able to lift it.
• Odin recounted how Hela’s ambitions to conquer beyond the Nine Realms led him to send the Valkyries against her, strip away her divine power, and seal her.
• Odin warned Thor that if he died before Thor inherited the throne, Hela could return as Asgard’s first heir and become too powerful for Thor to defeat.

Odin explained the threats posed by Hela, Robet, and Clark, then led Thor to the World Tree to awaken his potential. On Earth, official agencies turned on the Atlanteans after the Chitauri were defeated, and Kara and Tony intervened to protect them.

• Odin compared Hela's strength with Robet's and Clark's, warning Thor that Robet's destructive power could devastate Asgard.
• Thor asked how he could unlock his potential, and Odin brought him to the World Tree to begin the process.
• Thor hung himself from the World Tree with a chain and lost consciousness as Odin left him there.
• After Robet left to search for the Space Stone, official agencies fought over Chitauri remains and weapons, then attacked the Atlanteans to seize their technology.
• Mera blocked the first attack, and Kara destroyed several mechs and warned the agencies to stop attacking.
• An agency accused the Avengers of siding with aliens, and Tony Stark answered by attacking again.

Tony Stark and the Avengers stopped an official agency from seizing Atlantean technology after it attacked the Atlanteans, and Mera led her forces back to the ocean. The other agencies lost their chance to follow them, while Nick Fury began plotting to infiltrate Atlantis and the heroes discussed the divisions among civilizations.

• Tony Stark and Johnny Storm confronted an official agency that had attacked the Atlanteans, and Peter Parker warned it that Robet might return.
• The official agency withdrew, while other agencies decided to wait and track the Atlanteans after they returned to the ocean.
• Nick Fury contacted his Skrull allies and urged them to send more people to Earth so they could infiltrate Atlantis and seize its technology.
• Steve apologized to Mera, who defended the Atlanteans and led them toward the Hudson River with her Trident.
• The Atlanteans disappeared beneath the river, and Martian Manhunter revealed that Mera had united Atlantis after Orm once planned to conquer the other undersea kingdoms.
• Steve introduced himself to Star-Lord, who excitedly told him he had been a Captain America fan.

Star-Lord’s memories connected his abduction by Yondu to the disappearance of Tony Stark’s parents, who had pursued them through a wormhole. After Tony left to recover from the news, Robet returned with two captured members of Thanos’s forces and warned the Avengers of a greater threat still to come.

• Star-Lord told Steve that Yondu had abducted him from Earth, prompting Tony Stark to suspect his parents had followed the same ship.
• Martian Manhunter recognized Star-Lord as the boy taken by Yondu and confirmed Tony’s parents had pursued the ship.
• Star-Lord recalled Yondu saying the pursuing ship entered an unknown wormhole and vanished, leaving Tony with hope that his parents might still be alive somewhere in the universe.
• Tony apologized to Star-Lord and left, while Steve and the Avengers began cleaning up after the battle.
• Robet arrived carrying Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw, explained that Thanos’s forces had sought the Space Stone and Time Stone, and learned the Space Stone had been stolen by a mechanical device.
• Robet sent Martian Manhunter to interrogate the prisoners and hinted that a more important threat was coming, then wondered why Clark had not killed General Zod.

Robet and Clark discovered that someone had secretly taken the Space Stone and the remains of a Kryptonian, possibly hiding them in lead to evade Clark’s vision. Clark brought the defeated General Zod to Savage Island, where Zod confronted Jor-El’s artificial intelligence about Krypton’s fate.

• Clark restrained General Zod while searching for the missing Kryptonian remains, and Robet connected their disappearance to the stolen Space Stone.
• Clark said he could not find either the Space Stone or the remains, and explained that lead blocked Kryptonian X-ray vision.
• General Zod mocked Clark for protecting Earth, but Clark rejected his argument that a grand ideal excused wrongdoing.
• Robet and Clark discussed Thanos and the unknown thief before Clark decided to take General Zod to see Jor-El.
• Clark brought General Zod to Savage Island, where Zod asked why Jor-El had rejected his plan to save Krypton.
• Jor-El told General Zod that Krypton’s destruction followed from its own choices and that he had only wanted his child to continue onward.

Jor-El explained why he had chosen his son’s freedom over Krypton’s survival, and Clark killed General Zod on Savage Island. Afterward, Clark reassured his family while the Battle of New York’s alien technology spread into a worldwide race to study it.

• Jor-El told General Zod that Krypton’s genetic restrictions had been wrong and that he had prioritized Clark’s life over their civilization.
• Jor-El asked Clark to end General Zod’s life, and Clark took him to Savage Island and destroyed his power until his body vaporized.
• Clark returned to Savage Island, reassured the Kents and The Danvers that Robet and Kara were safe, and said they would need to remain there while Earth was unsafe.
• Martha, Jonathan, and Mr. Danvers discussed their children’s dangerous lives and hoped the world would become peaceful again.
• Officials, civilian groups, and individuals acquired Chitauri corpses and equipment, sparking a worldwide race to study alien technology.

The Avengers struggled to find a way to prepare for Thanos while remaining on Earth, where they also feared a hidden adversary was stealing powerful artifacts and remains. Robet asked Star-Lord to investigate the Skrulls and search for Captain Marvel Carol, leaving him warned not to confront her without contacting the Avengers first.

• The Avengers reviewed Cull Obsidian's memories and learned that Thanos sought the Infinity Stones, but they could not pursue him into space or agree on a response.
• Robet reassured the Avengers that Thanos could not easily locate unused Infinity Stones, while Johnny Storm warned that using one could reveal its location.
• Star-Lord stayed at Avengers Base to help develop a cosmic communication device and potentially gather intelligence in space.
• Robet asked Star-Lord to investigate the Skrulls and look for Captain Marvel Carol, warning him to contact the Avengers before approaching her.

After the Battle of New York, the Avengers trained to prepare for possible Kryptonian clones while Martian Manhunter investigated the stolen Kryptonian remains and Space Stone. Meanwhile, alien weapons spread across America, leaving Clark to manage the resulting danger and public backlash; Robet returned to Savage Island to visit his family.

• Star-Lord accepted the mission to investigate Thanos and the Skrull after Tony Stark finished making a communication device.
• The Avengers resumed training, and Martian Manhunter began working to improve his strength while continuing to search for the stolen remains and Space Stone.
• Robet and Kara returned to Savage Island, while Clark stayed busy responding to the spread of alien weapons and attacks on his public image.
• Robet visited the Kents, reassured them, and teased Lana Lang about having a child with Clark.

Mercenaries using Chitauri technology discovered Wakanda and attacked to seize its Vibranium, but Wakanda quickly overwhelmed them. The mercenaries called for Superman, who rescued them from Wakanda’s fighters, leaving Black Panther T’Chaka wondering whether to seek help from Wakanda’s god.

• A mercenary group found Wakanda’s hidden barrier and attacked it with Chitauri-tech fighter jets to claim its Vibranium.
• Wakanda mobilized its forces, destroyed the mercenary leader’s jet, and surrounded the remaining aircraft.
• The surviving mercenaries called for Superman, and Clark appeared over Wakanda after hearing their cries.
• Clark transported the three mercenary jets outside Wakanda’s territory, startling the Wakandan pilots and angering Bast the Panther God.
• Princess Shuri identified Clark in surveillance footage, and Black Panther T’Chaka considered asking Wakanda’s god for help.

Black Panther T'Chaka's faith in Bast the Panther God faltered when the god refused to answer his prayer, and he decided Wakanda must prepare to fight Clark and other threats. Meanwhile, Wakanda's location was exposed to official agencies, whose forces moved in to claim its Vibranium as Clark watched them approach.

• Black Panther T'Chaka prayed to Bast the Panther God for help against Clark, but the god did not appear, shaking T'Chaka's faith.
• Bast the Panther God refused to confront Clark again and beat the White Gorilla God and the other gods when they teased him.
• Black Panther T'Chaka rejected Princess Shuri's suggestion that Clark had only rescued the fighter jets and ordered Wakanda to prepare its armies, weapons, and inventions for war.
• Princess Shuri learned that the fighter jets' wreckage had exposed Wakanda's coordinates to official agencies, which dispatched military jets and mechs toward the country.
• Clark watched the approaching forces and complained that people were always greedy.

America launched a war against Wakanda to seize Vibranium, but Wakanda’s advanced forces overwhelmed the invading troops as the conflict drew international attention. While Clark focused on the African battlefield and the Avengers handled alien-technology crimes at home, they investigated a new flame-wielding attacker whose powers reminded them of Johnny Storm.

• Clark accepted that he could not stop the agencies from invading Wakanda without risking a confrontation that could be used to smear him.
• American agents interrogated captured mercenaries, but learned little beyond Wakanda’s Energy Barrier and powerful fighters.
• Wakanda revealed a vast, advanced military force, prompting the American commander to request reinforcements as the fighting began.
• America sent additional troops, and the war over Vibranium drew global attention as Wakanda held its own against the invaders.
• The Avengers stayed out of the war and focused on alien-technology incidents in America, including an attacker who was burned by an unknown flame-wielder.
• Pietro teased Johnny Storm about the new flame-wielder, and Johnny explained that his own flames still failed in a vacuum.

Johnny Storm investigated a sudden rise in flame-users in New York, while the Avengers suspected a dimensional source and sent Peter Parker to investigate. The flame-users were revealed to be subjects of Aldrich Killian’s unstable Extremis experiments, and Killian decided to relocate and accelerate his revenge against Tony Stark.

• Johnny Storm asked Jarvis to alert him when the first flame-user appeared again so he could make contact and learn about the other user’s abilities.
• Jarvis reported several different flame-users in New York, prompting Tony Stark to suspect a Flame Dimension and send Peter Parker to investigate their locations.
• Aldrich Killian’s subordinates complained that New York’s alien weapons made supply runs dangerous and that their unstable powers could make them explode.
• Killian ordered his group to relocate and moved up his revenge operation against Tony Stark after the Avengers risked discovering them.
• Killian’s backstory revealed that he had developed the Extremis Virus after Tony Stark dismissed his project, and that the virus granted healing and fire abilities with a risk of lethal overheating.

Killian ordered Matthews to abduct Pepper as part of a plan to draw Tony Stark into a trap. Matthews infiltrated Stark Industries and seized Pepper, but after damaging her armor he realized he had no plan for getting her out.

• Killian sent Matthews to capture Pepper and ordered Shane and other subordinates to prepare backup ambushes while the group moved its base.
• Matthews tried several disguises to enter Stark Industries, then knocked out maintenance workers and used their uniforms to get inside.
• Matthews reached Pepper's office, where Jarvis-controlled armor confronted him and Tony Stark mocked him after its laser blasted apart his left hand.
• Matthews regenerated his hand, then used an explosion and intense heat to disable the armor and grab Pepper.
• Matthews realized he had no way to escape with Pepper from the office high above the ground.

Matthews kidnapped Pepper and tried to escape Stark Tower, but Tony Stark arrived and rescued her. Tony trapped Matthews in a liquid-metal sphere and carried him outside, where Matthews eventually melted his way free and fell to the ground.

• Pepper slapped and kicked Matthews, but he recovered and held her as Stark Tower security rushed into the CEO's office.
• An explosion killed security personnel near the office, and the survivors retreated before Matthews took Pepper downstairs.
• Stark Tower security tried to stop Matthews in the lobby, but he used Pepper as a hostage and they hesitated when Tony Stark stopped responding.
• Tony Stark struck Matthews, caught Pepper with liquid metal, and trapped Matthews in a metal sphere.
• Matthews heated his body until the sphere softened, then fell out onto the ground as Tony's metal returned to his armor.

Tony Stark fought Matthews, an Extremis-injected attacker who had been sent to capture Pepper, and survived Matthews’s self-destructive explosion. The Fire-Men threat remained unresolved, so Tony returned to Stark Tower to protect Pepper and tighten security.

• Matthews recovered after Tony’s first attack and questioned the technology behind Tony’s armor, while Tony tried to learn who was behind the attack on Pepper.
• Matthews ignited his unstable Extremis-powered body, attacked Tony, and then exploded in an attempt to take him with him.
• Tony shielded himself from the blast and realized that Matthews’s death had revealed no useful information about the other Fire-Men.
• Tony ordered Jarvis to strengthen surveillance and investigate suspicious activity around Stark Tower, then warned reporters that the Fire-Men could endanger the crowd.
• Jarvis showed Tony and Pepper how Matthews had entered Stark Group disguised as a repairman, and Tony decided to create an in-house maintenance department with facial-recognition access.