Chapter Summaries

Hammurabi secured the Emperor of Latveria’s room in Wakanda as the Emperor planned to fuel the succession conflict while appearing impartial. Bastet visited him, and he spent the night watching the palace, where the next day’s ceremony could decide Latveria’s access to Wakandan technology.

• Hammurabi inspected the guest room and deployed two combat robots to protect T'Challa or Erik Killmonger if anything went wrong.
• The Emperor told Hammurabi that Latveria would publicly remain impartial while secretly encouraging both sides to intensify the Succession War.
• The Emperor detected Bastet entering the room, and she reminded him that their agreement allowed her a champion and invited him to fulfill another part of their deal.
• After Bastet vanished, Hammurabi grew alarmed when the Emperor appeared to fall asleep, but the Emperor soon resumed reading and explained that he had only been considering matters.
• The Emperor sent a magical eyeball through the royal palace and ordered Hammurabi to continue the night watch and prevent any assassination before the succession ceremony.

The Emperor of Latveria attended Wakanda’s succession duel while secretly monitoring the nobles and weighing both candidates as potential sources of power for Bastet. Shuri engineered a delay by having T’Challa bring a Latverian Chainsaw Sword into the arena, and she hinted she could convince the Emperor to back him outright.

• The Emperor of Latveria rode to the duel under guarded conditions while secretly probing Wakandans’ thoughts for signs of intervention.
• Hammurabi warned the Dora Milaje driver to follow his chosen route, and he helped the vehicle navigate crowds of Black Panther Temple worshippers and Jabari Tribe members.
• The Emperor discussed Wakandan politics with Princess Shuri and said his public neutrality was a responsible way to protect Latveria’s interests.
• T’Challa entered the arena carrying a Vibranium spear, an oval shield, and the Latverian Chainsaw Sword he had received at the banquet.
• The Chainsaw Sword’s use sparked debate among the priests and delayed the duel, while Shuri told the Emperor she could give him a reason to bet fully on T’Challa.

The succession duel between T'Challa and N'Jadaka was delayed while the Black Panther Temple debated whether the Chainsaw Sword was allowed, and ultimately barred weapons powered by external energy. With the contestants finally facing each other, their deadly duel began and both were soon bleeding into the stream.

• The Black Panther Temple priests suspended the duel and argued over whether T'Challa could use the Chainsaw Sword while the War Dogs carried out Princess Shuri's undisclosed plan.
• Princess Shuri told the Emperor of Latveria that her plan would secure T'Challa's victory if he lost, and he warned that T'Challa might resent her deception.
• At sunset, the priests ruled that weapons powered by external energy could not be used, and the succession duel began under the dry-season heat.
• N'Jadaka challenged T'Challa over their fathers' past and attacked with two Vibranium short spears while T'Challa fought back with a shield and spear.
• T'Challa struck N'Jadaka with his shield and pierced his arm, while N'Jadaka slashed T'Challa's thigh, and their blood flowed into the stream.

Erik Killmonger gained control of the duel as T'Challa weakened from his wounds, while the Emperor of Latveria urged Shuri to gather allies and prepare for war. The chapter ended with T'Challa refusing to let Erik threaten his family and Erik swearing to rule justly in his father N'Jobu's name.

• Erik Killmonger overwhelmed T'Challa with relentless attacks, worsening T'Challa's wounds and blood loss.
• The Emperor of Latveria warned Shuri that Erik could claim the throne after T'Challa's defeat and told her to gather trusted forces.
• The Emperor gave Shuri a tracking device and instructed her to tell his soldiers how to disable Golden City's electromagnetic barrier.
• Shuri left to speak with Ramonda, and Ramonda agreed to remain behind as Shuri escaped to find the Emperor's soldiers.
• The Emperor ordered the Hellfire Knights to prepare to teleport and received a Wakandan communication bead from a Dora Milaje member.
• T'Challa noticed Shuri leaving and the Emperor's signal, then warned Erik not to harm his family; Erik swore he would be just and merciful like N'Jobu.

Erik Killmonger defeated T'Challa in the ritual duel and was crowned King of Wakanda while the Emperor of Latveria refused the War Dogs' offer to escort him. Princess Shuri reached the Latverian military outpost and learned that the Emperor had sent forces to Wakanda's border, leaving her to decide how to respond as time ran short.

• T'Challa apologized to Erik Killmonger before their duel ended, but Erik pressed him to fight without hesitation.
• T'Challa fell from Warrior Falls, and Zuri declared Erik Killmonger King of Wakanda before Erik raised Bashenga's Spear.
• The Emperor of Latveria refused the War Dogs' escort and told them to find Shuri and report everything to Malcolm.
• Princess Shuri confronted Aparajita and demanded to know whether the Latverians had helped Erik enter Wakanda; Aparajita ordered the Wakandans to surrender their communication devices.
• A War Dogs member urged Shuri to gather forces against Erik, but Shuri noted that the soldiers and Dora Milaje were sworn to the King.
• Shuri asked Aparajita for a private call as he warned that there was little time to prepare the contingency plan.

Erik Killmonger restored order in Wakanda and sought an alliance with the Emperor of Latveria to wage war against the existing world order. The Emperor argued that Wakanda lacked the industrial capacity for war and asked Erik to decide whether Latveria was an enemy or a friend.

• Erik Killmonger organized a new patrol force and loyal War Dogs to restore order and restart critical facilities in the Golden City.
• After the city calmed, Erik Killmonger met the Emperor of Latveria and offered Wakandan factories, personnel, and technology in exchange for war.
• The Emperor of Latveria told Erik that Wakanda lacked the production, supplies, and social stability needed for war, and urged him to build its economy first.
• The Emperor showed Erik the agreement T'Challa had signed to obtain industrial raw materials through Latverian-backed mining companies in Africa.
• The Emperor criticized Erik's plans to launch revolutions through the War Dogs and warned that exposing Wakanda could make Black people in Europe and America targets of suspicion.
• The Emperor offered to explain Latveria's restraint after its attack on Norfolk Naval Shipyard, but first asked Erik whether he was a friend or an enemy.

After En'Jadaka took the throne, the Emperor of Latveria learned that T'Challa was alive and traveled to Mount Bashenga to reach him. He prepared for a possible threat from Bastet while Shuri and Nakia tried to coordinate with Latverian agents.

• En'Jadaka consolidated his rule, confined Ramonda, and planned to win over Wakanda's nobles while rebuilding the War Dogs.
• Shuri told a Latverian intelligence agent that M'Baku had found T'Challa alive and that she wanted to deliver Heart-shaped herb to him.
• The Emperor inferred that Bastet might be seeking T'Challa's help and ordered Hammurabi to prepare an emergency plan, including a special warhead.
• A Latverian agent refused to take Shuri to Mount Bashenga without approval, warning her and Nakia not to act independently.
• The Emperor traveled through the snow with Jabari warriors, who led him toward T'Challa, while Hammurabi questioned whether they intended to subdue him.

T'Challa reunited with the Emperor of Latveria while recovering among the Jabari, and learned how Erik Killmonger and Wakanda's factions had acted since the throne changed hands. The Emperor urged him to help Wakanda prepare for war and preserve its alliance with Latveria, while Shuri was on her way to meet him.

• M'Baku told T'Challa that the Emperor of Latveria had defeated him in combat and had come seeking T'Challa.
• The Emperor reassured T'Challa that Shuri was safe and explained Erik Killmonger's efforts to stabilize Wakanda and the War Dogs' attempts to undermine him.
• T'Challa said he planned to relinquish power, ask Erik to free Ramonda and return Shuri to the research division, and then leave Wakanda.
• The Emperor warned that Wakanda faced a future war with humanity and asked T'Challa to help preserve Wakanda's manufacturing industry and its alliance with Latveria.
• T'Challa acknowledged the Jabari Tribe's role in purging disloyal allies, and the Emperor told him that Shuri knew where he was and was coming to see him.

The Emperor of Latveria gave T'Challa Shuri’s location, then learned that Shuri had found evidence that could invalidate En'Jadaka’s succession duel. As T'Challa weighed whether to take Heart-shaped herb despite his severe injuries, Bastet asked the Emperor to steer events so Shuri would take it too.

• The Emperor of Latveria gave T'Challa Shuri’s coordinates and warned that Latveria would bill Wakanda for its military losses.
• Shuri returned with evidence that N'Jobu had worked with Ulysses Klaue to smuggle Vibranium, including testimony from a former War Dogs agent who could help challenge En'Jadaka’s claim to the throne.
• T'Challa learned that his injuries made another duel impossible, while M'Baku pledged to fight for him and Shuri offered him Heart-shaped herb.
• Nakia warned that the herb might kill T'Challa, and he hesitated to take it.
• Bastet asked the Emperor of Latveria to encourage Shuri to take Heart-shaped herb, but he refused to make that part of their contract.

Shuri decided to accept Latveria’s terms and seek its military support to restore T'Challa, despite fearing the bloodshed that could follow. Meanwhile, Erik Killmonger discovered the Emperor of Latveria had vanished from the palace and recalled the Emperor’s warning that Wakanda’s throne mattered less to him than Latveria’s benefits.

• Nakia challenged Shuri’s plan to let T'Challa confront Erik Killmonger, while Shuri weighed the risks of asking Latveria for help.
• Shuri ordered the Hellfire Knights to tell the Emperor of Latveria that Wakanda accepted his terms, including granting Latveria a seat among the industrial nobility.
• Shuri invoked T'Chaka’s name and secured the loyalty of the War Dogs and Dora Milaje, then worried that M'Baku might have used up the Heart-shaped herb.
• Bastet praised Shuri’s potential as the Emperor of Latveria left the spiritual world and returned to the palace.
• Erik Killmonger learned that the Emperor and his Praetorian Guard had disappeared without being seen leaving, and recalled the Emperor’s blunt threat about Wakanda’s future.

Princess Shuri and her allies launched an assault on Golden City to depose King En'Jadaka, while attacks on Wakanda's infrastructure and the arrival of foreign forces plunged the capital into battle. After the Hellfire Knights seized the city's major facilities, Shuri stood with Malcolm outside the royal palace, where he told her she was not the one paying the price.

• Former War Dogs members attacked Wakandan nobles and critical facilities, while Princess Shuri arrived at the border with foreign forces and warned the Border Tribe to stand aside.
• The Executioner destroyed the Border Tribe's outpost after its leader refused to accept Shuri's warning.
• Hellfire Knights entered Golden City, destroyed or grounded Wakandan aircraft, seized key routes and facilities, and called on defenders to surrender in Shuri's name.
• The Executioner and the First Company slaughtered old War Dogs who challenged them, while loyal War Dogs escorted captured enemies and civilians away.
• After three hours, the Hellfire Knights controlled Golden City's major facilities and surrounded the royal palace.
• Princess Shuri joined Legion Commander Malcolm at the palace gates and asked if she had to pay the price; Malcolm told her she was never the one paying it.

The Hellfire Knights rapidly took control of Golden City and its noble estates for Princess Shuri, while surrounding the royal palace where En'Jadaka remained. Shuri refused to let them seize the throne for her and made a new agreement with Malcolm as she waited for T'Challa to arrive.

• Malcolm reviewed the Hellfire Knights' supply use and directed them to limit destructive tactics while clearing Golden City's commercial district.
• The Hellfire Knights broke through En'Jadaka's defenses, and the War Dogs' control of the Communication System helped keep most civilians out of the fighting.
• Malcolm's forces captured the noble estates and key city facilities, prompting nobles and their private armies to submit to Princess Shuri.
• Malcolm offered to destroy or storm the royal palace, but Princess Shuri ordered him to keep it surrounded until T'Challa arrived to reclaim the throne.
• Princess Shuri asked Malcolm for another agreement, and he accepted while warning that Wakanda would owe more than one industrial noble seat.

Erik Killmonger organized Wakanda’s defenses after Latveria betrayed him, while the Hellfire Knights fought to rescue Ramonda from the palace. Shuri and Malcolm worked to delay negotiations and break through the palace security as the attackers ran low on supplies.

• Erik Killmonger ordered the nobles’ private armies and War Dogs teams to restore communications and power, launch fighter jets, and reactivate Wakanda’s electromagnetic shield.
• Erik called Hammurabi to learn what Shuri had offered Latveria, but their conversation enraged him, and he ordered the Dora Milaje to seize the nobles’ children.
• Malcolm directed the Hellfire Knights to prioritize rescuing Ramonda and learned that opening the Vibranium security door could take at least twenty minutes.
• Malcolm asked Shuri to stall negotiations and find palace computer experts who could help defeat the firewall while the Hellfire Knights continued the rescue.
• Malcolm warned Shuri that the Hellfire Knights were running low on ammunition and fuel and asked her to tell Erik to stop stalling.

Princess Shuri prepared a public broadcast to expose the crimes of T'Chaka, N'Jobu, and Erik Killmonger, hoping to shift the succession duel in T'Challa's favor. As the broadcast reached Wakanda, Erik rejected surrender and vowed to keep fighting.

• Princess Shuri arrived at the Communication Center with Nakia and an elderly former War Dog who had once infiltrated N'Jobu's circle.
• The former War Dog explained why he had hidden the record of N'Jobu's crimes and failed to rescue N'Jobu's wife and son.
• Princess Shuri ordered Nakia to make T'Challa stop withdrawing and prepare to act.
• Erik Killmonger reviewed the evidence against him while trapped in the palace, where the Hellfire Knights had crushed repeated escape attempts.
• Princess Shuri and the former War Dog broadcast an apology and revealed evidence of T'Chaka's, N'Jobu's, and Erik Killmonger's crimes to the Wakandan people.
• Erik Killmonger grew furious at the broadcast, missed the image of T'Challa healed beside Nakia, and vowed never to surrender.

T’Challa challenged Erik Killmonger to a public duel while Latveria’s Emperor pursued Stephen Strange and ordered his forces out of Golden City. The chapter ended with Hammurabi diverting an aircraft to get the critically wounded Erik to the Helicarrier for emergency surgery.

• Latverian forces rescued Queen Regent Ramonda from the palace as T’Challa arrived and challenged Erik Killmonger to a duel.
• The Emperor ordered the legion to withdraw from Golden City, establish defenses near Snake Valley, and watch the Jabari Tribe.
• Salomon and the Sorcerer Supreme pursued Stephen Strange in a stolen car, and Salomon prepared to ram it.
• Hammurabi left the atmosphere aboard a Pegasus Type Assault Transport while Martian engineers treated Erik’s severe wounds.
• Hammurabi ordered the transport to rendezvous with the Helicarrier so Erik could receive emergency surgery.

Salomon enjoyed his retaliation against Stephen Strange while reflecting on the burdens of his many roles. In Wakanda, Hammurabi witnessed T’Challa’s duel with Erik Killmonger and detected that a spirit had secretly helped T’Challa win.

• Salomon ensured Stephen Strange would survive until an ambulance arrived, then left to collect barbecue food.
• Legion Commander Malcolm rejected Princess Shuri’s demands and insisted the Hellfire Knights would carry out the Emperor’s orders their own way.
• Hammurabi delivered the Emperor’s order, and the Hellfire Knights bombarded Wakanda’s royal palace with thermobaric bombs.
• Erik Killmonger invited T’Challa to duel in the palace courtyard after the bombardment.
• Hammurabi secretly watched the duel and used an energy indicator to detect that a spirit had helped T’Challa fight.

Jennifer-Alpha successfully operated on a patient whose heart-shaped herb had kept him alive, while Salomon and Bayonetta dealt with the strain of raising a young girl and the threat of outsiders watching their estate. Salomon promised to resolve the surveillance peacefully, though he suspected American intelligence was behind it.

• Jennifer-Alpha reported that the patient had survived surgery and recommended keeping him in a deep coma for a week while his body healed.
• Hammurabi approved Jennifer-Alpha's request to join the Vibranium Nanite Laboratory and reverse-engineer Wakandan nanotechnology.
• Salomon teased the girl during dinner while Bayonetta cared for her, and Jeanne complained about the girl's slow speech and the Cheshire Cat's misbehavior.
• Bayonetta told Salomon that suspicious people had checked their identification and might return with a search warrant.
• Dinah recommended stronger security, and Salomon proposed armed patrols before Bayonetta insisted on a peaceful solution.
• Salomon promised Bayonetta he would speak with Mycroft Holmes at MI6 and settle the surveillance issue without murder or bloodshed.

Salomon prepared for the Golden City parade while balancing imperial security concerns with time spent caring for his young daughter. Hammurabi warned that the CIA might target them over their competition for territory and illicit income, and Salomon ordered the matter investigated while heading to the kitchen before the ceremony.

• Hammurabi reported that Constantine and the Hellfire Knights had prepared to guard Salomon at the Golden City parade, with weapons, supplies, and combat robots ready.
• Salomon comforted his daughter, treated her scraped knee with magic, and sent her to check on Bayonetta's mousse cake with the Cheshire Cat.
• Hammurabi said Mycroft Holmes denied that MI6 had targeted their estate, but the Praetorian Guard suspected a local police operation or a lie.
• Hammurabi explained that the City of Immortals was using drug profits to support farmers and guerrilla forces, threatening the CIA's territory and illicit income.
• Salomon told Hammurabi to consult Stephanie Malik and Victoria Hand about the CIA and to kill Mycroft Holmes's family if Mycroft had lied.

Salomon briefed Bayonetta on the officials spying on their estate before leaving to negotiate Latveria’s agreement with Wakanda. In the palace, he rejected Queen Mother Ramonda’s attempt to shift blame and pressure Latveria, then gave T’Challa twenty minutes to decide whether Wakanda would honor the deal.

• Salomon told Bayonetta that public officials had noticed their estate and planned to have intelligence analysts investigate them.
• Bayonetta threatened to bring powerful weapons on her next shopping trip, and Salomon left to meet T’Challa.
• Salomon arrived at Wakanda’s damaged palace to settle the contract and address resentment over the Hellfire Knights’ intervention.
• Queen Mother Ramonda proposed opening Wakanda and demanded that Latveria explain its actions, while T’Challa remained silent.
• Salomon warned that opening Wakanda could invite war and disaster, then gave T’Challa twenty minutes to provide an answer.

Shuri clashed with Queen Mother Ramonda over Wakanda’s negotiations and its future, while T'Challa ordered the others to leave him alone. The Emperor of Latveria chose to keep Ramonda involved in every negotiation, intending her resistance to deepen the divide within Wakanda, and sent Constantine to rally influential tribes.

• Queen Mother Ramonda urged Wakanda to use public pressure to make Latveria accept its terms and protect the royal family's reputation, but Shuri argued for cooperation and warned that Wakanda could not face an approaching Alien Fleet alone.
• Shuri defended her actions during the civil war, revealed that she had concealed evidence of T'Chaka's Vibranium smuggling, and accused Ramonda of caring more about royal prestige than Wakandans' lives.
• T'Challa ordered everyone to leave so he could think by himself.
• Constantine proposed bypassing Ramonda and negotiating directly with T'Challa, but the Emperor of Latveria ordered him to insist that Ramonda attend every official contact with the Wakandan royal family.
• The Emperor explained that keeping Ramonda involved would intensify her conflict with T'Challa and could help Latveria secure agreements she opposed.
• The Emperor told Constantine to rally Latveria's allies among the Mining and Merchant Tribes and send Hydra's best lobbyist to persuade them.