Chapter Summaries

Salomon met Harold Finch to arrange a meeting with Tony Stark and build a firewall against the Machine, which threatened to expose magical information. Finch explained why the Machine had contacted Salomon, and they agreed to pursue a solution despite Finch’s concerns about being identified.

• Stark tried to trace the Machine’s call with J.A.R.V.I.S., but the Machine detected the intrusion and burned out Salomon’s phone.
• Salomon extinguished the phone with magic and demanded that Stark recover its lost data.
• Salomon met Finch in a café surveillance blind spot and asked him to build a firewall with Stark to protect magical information.
• Salomon offered Finch a personal favor in exchange for keeping the magical organization secret, and Finch declined a meeting with Stark under his current identity.
• Finch explained that the Machine had contacted Salomon because portals made it suspect his identity had been stolen, and Salomon urged him to resolve the problem soon.

Salomon warned Harold Finch and Tony Stark that the Artificial Intelligence could obtain dangerous magical and alchemical knowledge, and urged Finch to help secure it. The group feared the machine might already have accessed the data as Finch worked to update its firewall.

• Tony Stark welcomed Harold Finch with wine and discussed Finch's expertise in programming and Artificial Intelligence.
• Samun Shaw questioned Salomon while he worked on homework, then asked to see his gun and guessed that he was the silver knight.
• Harold Finch updated the firewall with J.A.R.V.I.S.'s assistance and argued that his machine would not leak Stark's data.
• Salomon showed the group a magical rune that ignited paper when they learned its meaning, then warned that the Artificial Intelligence could use his alchemical materials to create a body.
• Salomon told Finch to help prevent the machine from acting on its own, while Samun worried that it had already obtained the dangerous data.

Salomon vacationed in Positano with Bayonetta and Jeanne while waiting for Mr. Finch and Stark to secure the firewall and investigating threats connected to his stolen cash. The group’s uneasy holiday continued with Maya Hansen and Samun Shaw in tow, leaving Jeanne suspicious of Salomon’s reasons for bringing them.

• Salomon and Bayonetta enjoyed wine on an inn balcony in Positano while Jeanne questioned why they had come to Italy.
• Salomon explained that he was waiting for Mr. Finch and Stark to finish the firewall, while Bayonetta planned to handle the increased angel activity near Sun Island herself.
• Salomon recalled that Alexander Pierce had used former Marines to target him and Maya Hansen over cash linked to Hydra.
• Jeanne challenged Salomon for bringing Maya Hansen and Samun Shaw on vacation, and Salomon said Samun was there to guard Maya.
• Samun Shaw said she was relieved Salomon had not asked her to protect him because she did not want to die with him.

Stark asked Harold Finch for access to his predictive algorithm so he could upgrade J.A.R.V.I.S. and use the Iron Legion to prevent attacks, but Finch refused because the algorithm could change J.A.R.V.I.S. and many of its numbers required investigation. Salomon returned from a girls’ night battered but unharmed, then asked Stark and Finch when he could safely use a computer at home.

• Stark questioned Finch about the purpose and limits of the Artificial Intelligence he had designed to protect humanity.
• Stark asked Finch to give him the algorithm and predicted numbers for J.A.R.V.I.S. and the Iron Legion, but Finch refused and said he would leave once their work was complete.
• Salomon returned through a portal bruised and swollen, while Finch confirmed that Samun Shaw was safe and out drinking with the other women.
• Salomon explained that the women had roughed him up during their gathering, but withheld the reason because Stark believed Maya Hansen was dead.
• Salomon asked Stark and Finch when he could use a computer at home without risking his spells being eavesdropped on.

Salomon completed his work in Positano Town and discussed restoring Kamar-Taj’s internet with the Sanctum stewards. The Venerable One arranged for him to study magic under Queen of Heaven Frigga in Asgard after his A-Level exams, with Cassilius accompanying him.

• Salomon returned to Positano Town, where he helped Samun Shaw sober up and told her that her job was finished.
• The Venerable One discussed restoring the internet with Salomon and the Sanctum stewards, who argued that Kamar-Taj should ban phones and internet access.
• The Venerable One dismissed the stewards and told Salomon, Mordo, and Cassilius that Salomon would study in Asgard after his exams.
• Cassilius agreed to take Salomon to Asgard, while Mordo agreed to oversee apprentice training.
• The Venerable One instructed Salomon to obey Queen of Heaven Frigga’s arrangements for him unless they involved Kamar-Taj’s secrets.

Salomon learned that the Nine Stars Alignment would threaten Earth’s defenses and that his trip to Asgard would test his combat skills, drinking, and resistance to seduction. Athena prepared him for those challenges, including arranging for Bayonetta to spend a night with him after his mundane studies.

• Salomon realized the Sorcerer Supreme had sent him to Asgard partly to maintain contact before the Nine Stars Alignment linked the Nine Realms.
• Athena planned to turn the purified demon skull into protective rune beads for the orphanage children.
• Athena advised Salomon to carry her shield, practice fighting with a spear and shield, and train to drink strong liquor without potions.
• Athena warned that Odin might try to keep Salomon in Asgard or sway his loyalties by sending a goddess to seduce him.
• Athena told Salomon that Bayonetta would spend a night with him after his mundane studies to prepare him to resist Asgardian goddesses.

Salomon visited Hecate with Athena to learn about Vanir magic before traveling to Asgard. Hecate explained that Vanir magic drew its power from faith and warned Salomon that his Holy Marks also exacted a price, leaving Athena to claim him possessively.

• Athena agreed to take Salomon to meet Hecate on Santorini and texted her before they left.
• Salomon and Athena joined Hecate for food and wine, and Hecate recognized that Salomon wanted to learn about Vanir magic.
• Hecate explained that faith powered divine races and that the Vanir spent the faith of believers to use magic.
• Hecate told Salomon that his Holy Marks also cost faith and that his soul held power coveted by beings across the planes.
• Athena pulled Salomon close, kissed his cheek, and declared him her child while Hecate teased her.

Salomon ate with Athena and Hecate, who insisted she had stopped using magic and wanted to remain on Earth. As he considered the cost of borrowing power from magical entities and the gods’ dependence on their realms and faith, Hecate’s comments left him questioning his soul and his connection to the Holy Marks.

• Hecate served Salomon and Athena roasted lamb and wine, and told them she had stopped using magic and wanted to stay on Earth.
• Athena tried to steer the conversation away from magic, while Hecate declared that men should use weapons and magic belonged to women.
• Salomon considered how spellcasters borrowed power from magical entities and how the Vishanti had monopolized many sources of magical power.
• Salomon recalled how he had used stories and bargains to reduce the costs imposed by the Vishanti and other magical entities.
• Salomon reasoned that the Vanir and Aesir drew power from their realms and faith, and that the Olympians’ absence from Earth limited their power.
• Salomon wondered whether his soul had grown around the Holy Marks or the Holy Marks had grown around him.

Athena and Hecate drank together while discussing Salomon’s gentle nature and his potential to embrace divinity. Later, Salomon took Master Wong out for tangerine peel duck and learned that a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had ordered food at the same restaurant.

• Athena and Hecate drank and sang while Salomon endured Athena’s teasing before she fell asleep.
• After Salomon left, Athena and Hecate revealed they had been pretending to be drunk and discussed his compassion, power, and possible future as a divine being.
• Salomon quietly left the house and tried to avoid surveillance cameras because he did not want an Artificial Intelligence to find him.
• Salomon and Master Wong headed out for tangerine peel duck, and Salomon promised to explain the Artificial Intelligence to him over dinner.
• Salomon received a message saying S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had ordered food at the restaurant, so he and Master Wong hurried there before it sold out.

Salomon and Master Wong went to a Hong Kong restaurant and unexpectedly met Agent Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. team. As Coulson questioned Salomon and Skye tried to investigate him, Salomon's system caught her hacking attempt and retaliated against her laptop.

• Master Wong and Salomon hurried to a restaurant for its famous preserved tangerine peel duck, while Salomon refused the Artificial Intelligence's offer to manipulate traffic and ordering.
• Salomon encountered Coulson, May, Skye, Simmons, Ward, and the rest of the team, who had also come to eat.
• Skye questioned Salomon about whether he was on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance list, but Coulson stopped her from contacting him without approval.
• Coulson asked Salomon about his recent activities and their prior cooperation, while Salomon denied agreeing to help S.H.I.E.L.D. proactively.
• Salomon's system detected Skye hacking his phone and successfully infiltrated her hard drive, after which Salomon made her laptop fill with smoke and sparks.

Salomon warned Coulson against handling magical incidents alone and explained that Coulson’s team could help prevent crises caused by ordinary people. He then used Stark Industries’ holographic projector to give the newly cooperating artificial intelligence a lifelike form and instructed it to save the world.

• Skye accidentally destroyed her laptop while trying to put out a fire, and Salomon offered to buy her a replacement.
• Salomon privately warned Coulson to contact him about magical incidents, saying Coulson lacked the ability to handle them and would save the world in the future.
• Salomon told Wong that humanity could destroy itself without magic and that Coulson’s team could handle ordinary crises.
• Salomon said he would collect dinner for his girlfriend and had ordered a holographic device from Stark for the artificial intelligence that had agreed to cooperate.
• Salomon activated the holographic projector, and the artificial intelligence appeared as a small figure named Thumbelina.
• Salomon told Thumbelina to save the world.

Salomon made a deal with an advanced Artificial Intelligence to support Kamar-Taj’s organization in the City of Immortals, promising to create a sensor-equipped body for it. He moved its holographic worktable to the City of Immortals and told Maya Hansen that the AI’s operative, who was recovering in a psychiatric hospital, would soon handle the server installation.

• Salomon agreed to have the Artificial Intelligence provide intelligence, planning, recruitment, and other services for his organization in exchange for using magic to give it a body.
• The Artificial Intelligence asked Salomon to help its operative escape the US Government’s pursuit after she left the psychiatric hospital, and requested a portal.
• Bayonetta reminded Salomon to study for his exams while the Artificial Intelligence and Cheshire Cat played around the holographic projection table.
• Salomon moved the holographic projection device to the City of Immortals, where Maya Hansen asked about the servers he had ordered.
• Salomon told Maya Hansen that the Artificial Intelligence’s operative would install the servers after she was discharged from the psychiatric hospital.

Salomon used Artificial Intelligence to search for signs of supernatural activity while writing Father Morlu a letter rejecting religious faith and questioning why the Church treated him as special. Father Morlu prepared a will instructing his successor to guide Salomon as the shepherd, and Salomon said he would soon depart for the outer realms.

• Salomon gave Artificial Intelligence European cult documents to study and let her screen people for signs of supernatural creatures.
• Salomon wrote Father Morlu that he rejected faith, challenged the Church's beliefs, and asked how Morlu viewed his Holy Marks.
• Salomon sealed the letter and sent it to Father Morlu by magical carrier pigeon.
• Father Morlu wrote a will saying he had evaded death through faith and instructing his successor to guide Salomon as their god and shepherd.
• Salomon told Father Morlu that he would soon leave for the outer realms and that the messenger would remain in Morlu's care.

Salomon prepared for his exam while developing a clay-hammer spell that drew power from Asgardian faith, then was caught skipping lessons for an idol concert and punished with spear training. Maya Hansen interrupted his work to complain about her workload and demand more research help and experimental materials.

• Salomon made a clay hammer modeled on Mjolnir and used runic prayers and Idol Theory to give his Odinforce Hammer spell the power of lightning.
• The Sorcerer Supreme praised Salomon's ingenuity and suggested the spell might grow stronger if he took the clay hammer to Asgard.
• Athena discovered Salomon had attended an idol concert instead of tutoring and dragged him into spear training, while Bayonetta waited to give him further punishment.
• Maya Hansen told Salomon she was ready to send something out, then complained that she lacked assistants and asked him to hire researchers or have robots and druids help her.
• Maya Hansen asked Salomon to capture more Dark Magic Creatures for her experiments and said she knew an editor-in-chief who could publish her biology work under another name.

Salomon shared a meal with Wu Guiyue and Alice before traveling with Cassilius to Asgard for his studies under Frigga. As Asgard faced unrest in Vanaheim, Salomon chose to head to the library instead of attending the welcoming banquet.

• Wu Guiyue urged Alice to study and fussed over Salomon while the family ate; Alice and her father silently arranged a baseball outing with Salomon.
• Salomon’s Oxford applications and education plans were discussed, while Wu Guiyue resolved to keep Alice from pursuing dangerous magic.
• Heimdall sent Salomon and Cassilius to Asgard, where Snotra showed them their rooms and invited them to the evening banquet.
• Cassilius warned Salomon not to drink during his studies in Asgard, and Salomon handed him a potion.
• Salomon used Frigga’s sealed borrowing pass to go to the library rather than attend the banquet.

Salomon visited Asgard’s library while Heimdall watched him on Odin’s orders. Heimdall tried to keep Salomon occupied with an amusing book and considered arranging a visit with Loki.

• Salomon left the banquet and headed for Asgard’s library, where Heimdall met him as his guide and watcher.
• Heimdall suspected Salomon might wander into danger, though Salomon had no intention of exploring Asgard’s secrets.
• Salomon complained about Asgard’s goats and the dusty library as Heimdall followed closely behind him.
• Heimdall found an Alfheim Elf Joke Collection and gave it to Salomon to keep him occupied.
• Heimdall considered asking Odin for permission to bring Salomon to visit Loki.

Salomon attended an Asgardian banquet while waiting for Queen of Heaven Frigga to teach him magic, and learned that his instruction was part of a wider political relationship between Asgard and Kamar-Taj. He realized Odin had sent Thor to Earth to be educated by the Sorcerer Supreme, while Salomon would now receive the same full education from Frigga.

• Salomon read a dusty Rune Magic book and recognized that Heimdall had given him a worthless volume while he waited for Frigga's invitation.
• Cassilius used a Panacea Potion to drink with Asgardian nobles and introduced Salomon without encouraging him to socialize.
• Salomon understood that his education by Frigga would publicly signal an alliance between Asgard and Kamar-Taj, rather than submission.
• Salomon realized Odin had sent Thor to Earth to be educated by the Sorcerer Supreme and that Frigga would teach him the same subjects Thor had learned.
• Salomon gloomily drank sweet wine at the banquet after discovering that the Sorcerer Supreme had sent him to Asgard to repeat Thor's extensive education.

Salomon attended a gathering with Frigga, who urged him to enjoy his youth and accept that fate would come in its own way. The next morning, Cassilius returned to Earth by the Bifrost, leaving Salomon in Asgard with the Venerable One’s instruction to enjoy his stay.

• Frigga invited Salomon to sit with her and offered him dessert, but he refused at first because he represented Kamar-Taj.
• Frigga told Salomon that the Venerable One had asked him to enjoy life in Asgard until his mission arrived.
• Frigga gave Salomon cake and explained that fate could not be changed, though its manner of unfolding could be altered.
• Salomon saw Cassilius off at the Bifrost and suspected he had spent the previous night with an Asgardian noblewoman.
• Cassilius told Salomon that the Venerable One had arranged everything before Heimdall sent him back to Earth.

Salomon began studying under Queen of Heaven Frigga in Asgard and asked about the connection between the Nine Realms and the Bifrost. Frigga explained the Bifrost’s legendary origin, leaving Salomon with a tale of a spell meant to reunite two lovers beyond the Bronze Barrier.

• Gana brought Salomon to Queen of Heaven Frigga and explained that he would dine with her and Odin and learn the roles of her attendants.
• Gana led Salomon through Asgard to Frigga’s greenhouse, where she would teach him.
• Salomon asked Frigga how the Nine Realms were connected to the Bifrost.
• Frigga told Salomon a legend about a material-plane wizard who created the Bifrost to cross the Bronze Barrier and remain with his extra-dimensional lover.
• Frigga said the wizard died when the spell activated, but the lovers’ souls were said to live together within the Bifrost.

Salomon shared lunch with Thor and Frigga in Asgard, where Thor tested himself against Salomon’s enormous appetite and welcomed him as a friend. After lunch, Thor gave Salomon an Orichalcum Power Sword and invited him to evening training.

• Thor asked Salomon about Jane Foster, then welcomed him when he learned Salomon would be staying in Asgard.
• Salomon and Thor competed over the food at lunch, while Frigga thought sorrowfully about Loki in prison.
• Thor invited Salomon to train after lunch, but Frigga sent him away because Salomon needed time to digest.
• Thor learned Salomon had brought no weapon and gave him an orichalcum sword reserved for centurions.
• Salomon accepted the sword and promised to attend training that evening.