Chapter Summaries

James remembered that President Lincoln was in danger and sent Jack Pitt and his companions to Washington to protect him. On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered Ford's Theatre and aimed at Lincoln, while Jack followed him into the presidential box.

• After reading the April 2 newspaper, James remembered Lincoln's impending assassination and summoned help.
• Booth learned Lincoln and other officials would attend a play at Ford's Theatre on April 14, then resolved to act.
• Jack Pitt, Lauren, and Chris reached Washington and hurried to find Lincoln at James's command.
• Lincoln left for Ford's Theatre with only Stephen as his guard, despite Mary's concern.
• Booth entered the theater and prepared to shoot Lincoln as Jack noticed and followed him toward the presidential box.
• Booth aimed his pistol at Lincoln's head and fired.

James learned that Jack had saved President Lincoln from an assassin, then withdrew to Vancouver Island to train in the deep sea and regain control of his strength. After pushing himself to the brink at nearly three thousand meters, he broke through a barrier and underwent a painful physical transformation before surfacing, feeling reborn.

• Vane told James that Jack had stopped an assassin from killing President Lincoln, and James sent word that Jack should remain in Washington to guard the president.
• James declined Lincoln’s request to meet and asked Vane to find a secluded coast and build him a house.
• James spent the following years training underwater off Vancouver Island, using the ocean’s pressure to strengthen his body and recover control of his power.
• As James neared three thousand meters deep, he forced his full strength through his body and released a burst of power that drove the seawater away around him.
• James’s bones, muscles, skin, and teeth transformed amid intense pain, and he eventually surfaced after the storm to rest in the waves.

After Lincoln died peacefully, James traveled through Egypt and discovered a mistreated, teleporting child named Azazel. He adopted him as Azazel Howlett and headed north, leaving the story poised to enter the Age of War.

• Lincoln lived at the Howlett Estate for several years, then returned to Washington with Mary and died peacefully at home.
• James learned that the Howlett Family had overcome the final technical hurdles in developing the gasoline internal combustion engine.
• James sailed from Athens to Alexandria, then traveled south toward Sudan in search of unusual myths and hidden peoples.
• In Wasitai, James followed his strange intuition to a barn and caught a red-skinned child who could teleport.
• James fed the frightened child, learned that he was called Azazel, and killed the troupe members who had abused him.
• James named the child Azazel Howlett and carried him north through the Egyptian sandstorm.

In 1910, James prepared to reenter public life as Bruce Howlett while reprimanding Azazel for repeatedly going into Edmonton undisguised. He summoned Azazel to watch his training for the final step, then appeared to withdraw every sign of life from his body.

• James told Casper that he would soon appear publicly as Bruce Howlett and asked whether Azazel had returned.
• Casper reported that Azazel had caused a public stir in Edmonton for the third time that month, and James recalled Azazel as a child.
• James confronted Azazel about going out without disguising his appearance and asked how far he had progressed in his training.
• James told Azazel to stay and observe him training for the final step, then began transforming in the stone chamber.
• James released a shockwave that pinned Azazel to the wall, then his body turned pale and seemed to show no signs of life.

James spent decades developing a cultivation method for Mutants and experimenting on his own body before completing a dramatic transformation. He emerged with a renewed physique and joked with a horrified Azazel.

• James built the Howlett Family into a dominant industrial power while studying ancient cultures and searching for ways to cultivate Mutant abilities.
• James developed a three-stage method for mastering a Mutant's body, mind, consciousness, and powers, and Azazel reached its second stage.
• James spent years testing where to concentrate his energy and blood, using his healing ability to recover from experiments that severely damaged his body.
• James decided to form multiple Bao Dan points, and nine scarlet points appeared along his spine as his body transformed.
• James finished transforming into a smooth-skinned, powerfully built form and asked the shaken Azazel whether Dad looked handsome.

T'Chaka learned patience and the duties of Wakanda's protector from his father. Aboard a ship in the Indian Ocean, Azazel tricked James into a high-altitude fall, where James revealed he could hover, then punished Azazel by grounding him until they docked.

• T'Chaka watched a Black Panther hunt an antelope, and his father taught him to wait for the right moment before striking.
• T'Chaka's father explained that Wakanda's warriors had a duty to protect their land and people, and that his own strength had not come from the Panther God's blessing alone.
• Azazel enjoyed teleporting into the sky and falling toward the sea, then challenged James to try it.
• Azazel teleported James high above the sea, but James stopped himself above the water and hovered back to the ship.
• James told Azazel he could only hover for now and sentenced him to twelve hours of meditation in the hold.

James led Azazel and the Wolf Pack from Kenya toward Wakanda to receive cargo, then traveled ahead with Azazel to scout the area. They encountered a Wakandan border patrol, whose warriors surrounded them as a powerful figure leaped into their midst.

• James brought Azazel, the Wolf Pack, and a large convoy of equipment and transport trucks from Kenya toward Uganda, escorted by two navy warships.
• James ordered Remus Pitt to establish a camp near Lake Valkana and guard against anyone approaching, then rushed into the forest with Azazel to scout ahead.
• James and Azazel reached Wakanda, where a patrol spotted them and surrounded them with drawn weapons.
• More Wakandan warriors gathered after the patrol sounded a horn, and a dark figure leaped over the crowd and landed in front of James.

James and Azazel clashed with Wakanda’s warriors after Azzuri refused to let them enter peacefully. Azazel overwhelmed the ordinary soldiers but was forced back by Azzuri’s strength and armor, leaving James watching closely as the fight continued.

• Azzuri questioned James and Azazel, then ordered them to surrender after James revealed he knew Wakanda’s secret.
• Azzuri summoned the Dora Milaje, and James explained their role to Azazel as the warriors surrounded them.
• Azazel used his teleportation to kill Wakandan warriors, scattering the tribal fighters into chaos.
• Azzuri regrouped the Dora Milaje into tight formations and engaged Azazel, who shifted his focus to the Black Panther king.
• Azazel’s blades failed to pierce Azzuri’s armor, and Azzuri’s claws smashed them before knocking Azazel back to James, wounded.

James fought King Azzuri to test Wakanda’s Vibranium armor and discovered it could damage his bone shields, though his wounds and weapons quickly healed. After asking whether Azzuri had any other tricks or super technology, James left the king suspecting Bast no longer protected Wakanda.

• James stopped Azazel from attacking Azzuri again, then revealed his bone claws and shields and charged the king.
• James struck Azzuri into a boulder, while Azazel teleported among the charging Wakandan warriors and dropped them from the sky.
• James tested Azzuri’s Vibranium armor, finding it absorbed tremendous impacts, while Azzuri’s claws carved into James’s bone shields.
• Azzuri’s claws cut James’s chest, and both fighters paused as they noticed the wound and damage to his exoskeleton.
• James healed his wounds and restored his bone weapons, then asked Azzuri about other tricks or super technology.
• Azzuri wondered whether Bast no longer watched over Wakanda.

James tested his full power against Azzuri’s Vibranium armor, gravely injuring the Wakandan king before the Wakandans charged in anger. He and Azazel later searched a mine for information about the glowing plants, but the captured woman refused to reveal Wakanda’s secrets.

• James asked Azzuri his name and challenged the Wakandan king to show the strength of the Black Panther and Vibranium.
• James overwhelmed Azzuri with rapid attacks, penetrating the armor’s protection enough to leave the king badly injured.
• The Dora Milaje captain and Wakandans charged James after he lowered Azzuri to the ground.
• James and Azazel stood in a mine beside glowing plants while Azazel held a Wakandan woman captive.
• James questioned the woman about the herb, knocked her unconscious when she refused to answer, and told Azazel to get to work.

James and Azazel escaped Wakanda with Vibranium ore, Heart-Shaped Herbs, and Azzuri’s helmet after devastating the hidden nation. In the aftermath, T’Chaka swore never to seek revenge, Wakanda’s throne passed to the Jabari Tribe, and young Wakandans began leaving to learn about the outside world.

• James made Azazel teleport huge quantities of Vibranium ore out of the mine while he collected Heart-Shaped Herbs; Azazel also took Azzuri’s helmet before they left.
• Nanali made T’Chaka swear never to seek revenge on the Red and White Devils while Azzuri lay gravely wounded.
• Azzuri died, and his younger brother lost a challenge for the throne to the Jabari chieftain, leaving the Jabari Tribe in power.
• T’Chaka prepared to leave Wakanda as part of the effort to send young warriors and leaders abroad after the Red and White Blood Night.

In 1919, Tom Buchanan learned that James Howlett had arrived at his East Egg estate and arranged to call on him. Meanwhile, Sebastian Shaw interviewed for a job at Bethlem Royal Hospital and accepted the offer to live there, beginning his plan to advance his ambitions.

• Tom Buchanan spotted a car bearing the Howlett emblem and changed his plans to visit the Howlett Estate with Daisy.
• Tom sent a note requesting a visit the next day and told the messenger to mention his father.
• James Howlett discussed Tom Buchanan’s family with Mr. Casper and considered the unexpected visit to his estate.
• Sebastian Shaw let a group of drunken men beat him in an alley without injuring him, then returned to his inn to prepare for his interview.
• Sebastian Shaw impressed Ms. Farmer with his account of his studies and wartime service, then agreed to live at Bethlem Royal Hospital.

James Buchanan hosted Tom and Daisy Buchanan before visiting the Howlett Institute of Technology, where Dr. Varden McCall updated him on Vibranium research. The institute had made little progress on alloys or the Heart-Shaped Herb, leaving James concerned about finding a biology expert.

• Tom and Daisy Buchanan visited James, and Tom sought to strengthen the Buchanan Family's business ties with the Howlett Family.
• Tom invited James to his estate to play polo before the Buchanans departed.
• James went to the Howlett Institute of Technology after he could not find Azazel.
• Dr. Varden McCall showed James Vibranium machinery and explained the material's properties, applications, and limitations.
• McCall reported that alloy research had produced no useful combination, and James told him to prioritize research over manufacturing.
• James worried that the Heart-Shaped Herb research lacked a leading expert, though he had only vague clues about someone who might fit.

Johann Schmidt pushed Abraham Erskine to test their genetics model on live animals, while Erskine argued for more calculations first. At Bethlem Royal Hospital, Sebastian Shaw’s attempt to treat Derek Birmingham by pulling his teeth failed, but Shaw found a new direction for his experiments: targeting adolescents and people near death.

• Johann Schmidt urged Abraham Erskine to begin live animal testing, but Erskine insisted their theoretical model needed more work.
• Sebastian Shaw tried Henry Cotton’s infection theory on Derek Birmingham by pulling out one of his teeth, but Birmingham showed no improvement.
• Shaw recalled the beating that had triggered his own awakening, when pain and near-death sensations had transformed into a source of power.
• Shaw concluded that youth, suffocation, and proximity to death might be essential to his experiments, and decided to seek a transfer to the adolescent mental health department.

Remus Pitt and Azazel sparred while James promised to help Remus advance his Killing Technique and warned Azazel that Dad would not let him hide forever. Later, James ordered the Howlett Family to end its business and industrial support for Japan, despite the expected losses.

• Remus Pitt and Azazel fought to a standstill until Azazel teleported to dodge Remus's elbow, breaking their unarmed-practice rule, and James ended the spar.
• James told Remus not to rush the next level of the Killing Technique and said he might help once he understood the technique's sticking point.
• Azazel tried to leave with Remus by claiming they were going to play cards, but James warned him that Dad would not let him keep hiding.
• Herman Weddell told James that the White House and President Wilson had questioned the Howlett Family's suspension of business and support for Japan.
• James ordered Herman Weddell to stop all Howlett Family purchases from Japan and end its support for Japanese industry and manufacturing, citing Japan's occupation of territory it had not been awarded after the war.

James explained how his Evolution Technique had triggered a second awakening of his mutant ability and outlined its training levels while continuing to investigate safer methods. At Gatsby Mansion, Blake Panther worked as a waiter and resolved to understand the outside world, grow stronger, and return to reclaim his place at home.

• James concluded that his supposed Bao Dan was actually a second evolution of his mutant ability, achieved by stimulating the nodes along his spine.
• James described the Evolution Technique’s first and second levels and recognized that Azazel had mastered the first level of teleportation training.
• James continued testing his body and the Evolution Technique while hovering above his estate.
• James noticed the lavish parties at Gatsby Mansion across the shore and listened to the revelry.
• Blake Panther worked as a waiter at Gatsby Mansion, where his coworker urged him to carry hors d'oeuvres.
• Blake Panther reflected on his displacement from home and resolved to learn the secrets of strength before returning to reclaim his place.

Sebastian Shaw used a cruel experiment on Tommy, a violent teenage patient, and discovered that the boy could ignite in flames. After an explosion destroyed the hospital room and killed Tommy, Shaw absorbed the blast’s energy, gathered the surviving research, and planned to flee to Germany.

• Ms. Farmer warned Sebastian Shaw that families were protesting his aggressive treatments of young patients, and Shaw assured her he wanted them to recover.
• Shaw prepared an experiment for Tommy using serum from his own blood, a sealed oxygen mask, and sensors, then restrained the boy and injected him.
• Shaw kept Tommy conscious while restricting his oxygen, and Tommy’s skin began to glow and blister before flames erupted from his body.
• Tommy’s flames ignited the oxygen tank, causing an explosion that wrecked the room and killed him, while Shaw absorbed the blast’s heat and force.
• Shaw collected the surviving research and planned to escape under a new identity, deciding that Germany might be his next destination.

James learned that Jay Gatsby had made his fortune through illegal liquor sales and stock manipulation, then attended Gatsby’s party with Azazel and Remus. After meeting Jordan Baker and inviting her to his home, James learned Gatsby had spent years hosting parties to draw one particular person to the mansion, and he remained interested in recruiting Gatsby.

• Erskine reunited with Schmidt, who praised Hitler and asked about Erskine’s human-enhancement research.
• Remus told James that Gatsby was a former officer whose wealth came from bootlegging and stock manipulation.
• James summoned Azazel and Remus to Gatsby’s party, where Azazel danced and James watched from the balcony.
• James met Jordan Baker, who said she had met Gatsby but had promised not to discuss him.
• James invited Jordan to play golf at his home, and she later revealed Gatsby had hosted parties for years to attract someone across the bay.

James recruited Jay Gatsby to acquire land for him while keeping the Howlett Family uninvolved, then the story shifted to Brooklyn in 1933, where a young boy was beaten after standing up to a gang. A mysterious long-haired man approached the boy and offered to take him to his mother.

• James revealed Jay Gatsby’s criminal operations and offered to protect him and reward him if he obtained a piece of land.
• After Gatsby left, James told Azazel that no evidence could connect the Howlett Family to his plan.
• The 1929 Wall Street crash triggered the Great Depression, which was beginning to ease by the end of 1933.
• A group of boys stole a skinny boy’s food and beat him when he fought back.
• The injured boy explained that his sick mother had taught him never to back down.
• A handsome man with sharp canine teeth appeared and offered to take the boy to his mother.

James helped Steve Rogers by arranging hospital treatment for his mother, Sarah, and teaching him exercises to improve his health. Meanwhile, Johann Schmidt seized control of Germany’s weapons research and captured Dr. Erskine, and the chapter ended with Azazel appearing in James’s study with news.

• James noticed Steve Rogers fighting larger boys, took him home, and arranged for Sarah to be transported to a hospital for treatment.
• James invited Steve to visit the Howlett Estate and taught him exercises and breathing techniques to strengthen his frail body.
• Johann Schmidt joined Heinrich Himmler in killing Ernst Kaufmann, took control of the Weapons Research Department, and adopted Hydra as its emblem.
• Schmidt recruited Dr. Arnim Zola and later captured Dr. Erskine and his family as they tried to flee Germany, sending the family to Dachau to force Erskine to finish his serum research.
• Steve visited the Howlett Estate, learned James’s exercises, and left to prepare food for his mother.
• Azazel teleported into James’s study, and James asked him whether he had any news.