Chapter Summaries

The Emperor explained Latveria’s military reforms and the Gene-modded Warriors’ role in the coming battles against Shuma-Gorath and the Dark Order. He tried to reassure Wanda and Laura Croft about the threats ahead, leaving Wanda to ask what price he would pay for the future.

• The Emperor and Victor von Doom had established military plans and a general staff system, while Victor’s reforms purged armed factions and reshaped the Balkan forces.
• The Emperor planned to take a Gene-modded Warrior regiment on a time-jump mission to fight Shuma-Gorath, though he knew the soldiers would not survive the vast span of years.
• The Emperor told Wanda that Earth faced repeated extinction-level threats, including Shuma-Gorath and the Dark Order’s Alien Fleet.
• Laura Croft questioned the news about the Alien Fleet, realized the Emperor had obscured her memory of his identity, and recognized the magic behind it.
• The Emperor urged Wanda to keep struggling and told her that everyone, even the Sorcerer Supreme, had to pay a price for the future; Wanda asked what price he would pay.

Camila met the Emperor at Vladimir Castle after her squad passed security checks and prepared to receive decorations. The Emperor offered her a major role in a plan to arm the Shining Path in Peru, and she was left to consider whether to accept as Aparajita was summoned.

• Deputy Nixon teased Aparajita during the final stages of the jungle operation, and Aparajita ordered him to finish it without political games.
• Amon cleared Camila and her squad to enter Vladimir Castle after health and security inspections.
• The Emperor planned to discuss the Shining Path and Latveria's interests in Peru with Camila, whom he considered an ideal agent for the project.
• The Emperor offered Camila weapons worth five hundred million dollars for a force she would assemble and gave her time to decide.
• The Emperor told Amon to bring Aparajita in so the knights would not have to wait.

Regent Victor von Doom confronted Wang Di about his secret preparations and the memories he refused to share, then received a partial vision as Aparajita arrived. Afterward, Aparajita challenged Deputy Nixon to a sword duel over his incessant chatter, leaving their contest about to begin.

• Regent Victor von Doom projected himself into the Throne Room and accused Wang Di of making final arrangements while withholding what he had seen beyond the Silver Stone Gate.
• Wang Di explained that Camila was destined to become queen of South America and shared fragments of memory with Victor without revealing everything.
• Aparajita brought Deputy Nixon into the Throne Room, where Nixon had just been given an ornate experimental Ray Weapon and the First Company had been elevated to a chapter.
• In the castle training ground, Aparajita challenged Nixon to a duel and threatened to tear out his tongue if he lost.
• Nixon accepted the duel, raised a greatsword, and taunted Aparajita about the possibility of losing.

The Emperor and Regent Victor von Doom planned how Latveria would prepare for the Dark Order’s invasion and expand its influence. They left Wakanda’s court divided over Ramonda’s policies, while the Emperor prepared to depart Latveria.

• The Emperor rejected extra preparations for his absence, arguing that ICBM tests and Latveria’s technological advantages would maintain deterrence.
• The Emperor outlined an Expansion War aimed at Constantinople, Western Europe, and Syria, and said humanity must be united through the struggle against the Dark Order.
• The Emperor and Regent Victor von Doom agreed to draw the aliens into planetary battles and discussed keeping Wanda Maximoff under control.
• The Emperor ordered the Regent to negotiate with Malbach over combat robots and production facilities, and to expand Latverian civilian companies into international markets.
• Regent Victor von Doom reported that Ramonda had accepted the arms deal and funded opposition forces in Africa, while the Emperor noted that the plan had divided Wakanda’s court and strengthened Latveria’s leverage.

The Emperor prepared to negotiate with Gideon Malick and General Hale in Washington while Regent Victor von Doom decided to sever his ties with Valeria and protect her by erasing her memories. At the White House, the Emperor revealed his identity to Ruby Hale and began assigning her a task concerning her mother.

• The Emperor agreed to travel to Washington with Stephanie Malik to discuss Latveria with Gideon Malick and General Hale.
• Victor von Doom recalled how Valeria had opposed his war and plans for Latveria, then decided to erase her family's memories and send them somewhere safe.
• The Emperor disguised himself as a Kohn Group lobbyist and entered the White House through a portal.
• The Emperor found Ruby Hale waiting at the White House and revealed that he had arranged for General Hale to bring her there.
• The Emperor told Ruby that he needed her to carry out a task concerning her mother.

The Emperor recruited General Hale for cooperation by claiming she would become humanity’s savior and presenting her with valuable corporate stakes. As they headed to the Malik estate, Hale accepted the partnership and awaited further information and a gift intended to improve her health.

• General Hale joined Gideon Malick and the Emperor in an armored limousine, where Gideon told her to listen to the Emperor.
• The Emperor asked General Hale whether humanity or the United States mattered more, then told her she would become humanity’s savior.
• General Hale connected the Emperor’s warning to the alien fleet with the aliens’ warning she had received through S.H.I.E.L.D.’s device.
• Stephanie Malik gave General Hale a gift box containing stakes in a real estate company and Lockheed Martin, which Hale accepted.
• The Emperor toasted their cooperation and promised another gift at the Malik estate, while General Hale agreed that humanity’s safety came first.

The Emperor warned General Hale that the Dark Order’s invasion would devastate Earth and that Asgard would be unable to help, then outlined his plan for a Human Federation led by long-lived overseers. Meanwhile, Stephanie Malik marked Ruby as a trusted member of her secret organization and promised her protection.

• General Hale recognized that the Alien Fleet could trigger mass surrender, human infighting, and a collapse of civilization.
• The Emperor told General Hale that Asgard was nearing destruction and could not protect Earth, though Latveria could use the Bifrost and inherit Asgard’s legacy.
• The Emperor said he intended to defeat the Dark Order and use the crisis to establish a Human Federation aimed at expanding into the Milky Way.
• Stephanie Malik tattooed Ruby with the Roman numeral II and explained that it marked her as a trusted member of the organization.
• Stephanie Malik promised Ruby rescue support, a room on the orbital Space Station, and a Gene-modded Special Operations Team on standby.

Colonel Helmut Zemo began his new diplomatic post in Wakanda, where his work involved royal family research and negotiations over an arms production line. After General Hale left, the Emperor told Gideon Malick that her arrangements were not central to his plans, though he hoped she could train Void Fighter pilots.

• Colonel Helmut Zemo and his wife arrived in Golden City to serve as Latveria’s diplomats, with his wife enjoying her recovery and their new life together.
• Colonel Helmut Zemo studied Wakanda’s royal family connections and prepared to accompany the royal family on a trip to discuss an arms production line.
• Colonel Helmut Zemo reassured his wife that he would protect her, and they reflected on their past loss and their renewed life together.
• General Hale departed with Ruby, and the Emperor warned Gideon Malick that drinking could undermine his preliminary rejuvenation procedure.
• The Emperor told Gideon Malick that General Hale’s arrangements were not part of his important plans, though training ace pilots for Void Fighters would be useful.

Gideon Malick recognized that the Emperor had maneuvered General Hale into accepting a role in his plans, while General Hale weighed humanity’s chances against the approaching Alien Fleet. Stephanie Malik then carried out the Emperor’s orders to travel with him to New York and Mount Athena.

• Gideon Malick asked the Emperor to preserve the Malik family, and the Emperor reassured him while praising Stephanie Malik.
• General Hale concluded that she needed powerful, trustworthy helpers as she considered how humanity might survive the Alien Fleet.
• Stephanie Malik ordered a private jet to be prepared for New York and instructed that a car await them at JFK for a trip to Mount Athena.
• The driver arranged the travel plans and followed Stephanie Malik’s orders.

Victor von Doom ate street food in disguise before Amon summoned him back to official duties, where he reviewed security operations and learned of an emergency meeting. The chapter left him heading to the castle as Diana List enforced secrecy around an undisclosed matter.

• Victor von Doom ate at a food truck in disguise, but Amon found him and summoned him to deal with official business.
• Victor von Doom boarded Amon’s Hover Airship and spotted an armed figure following them near the rail construction.
• Amon explained that the Commander had assigned assassins to protect Victor von Doom because he ranked high on CIA and MI6 assassination lists.
• Victor von Doom learned that Steve Rogers and the Wild Legion were pursuing a hostage-taking operation while an armed drone with powerful missiles watched overhead.
• Victor von Doom questioned the excessive firepower, and Amon said the drone was conducting routine surveillance while the Silcarian mercenaries’ loyalty remained uncertain.
• Amon told Victor von Doom that Diana List had called an emergency meeting with the Legal Department and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ordered officials to keep the matter secret.

Countess Katarina Karkov’s past usefulness to Latveria and the threat of foreign-backed unrest informed a debate over how to suppress terrorist activity. Regent Victor von Doom rejected a missile strike and left the response to the Avengers and the Wild Legion, while Amon ordered continued drone patrols.

• Countess Katarina Karkov avoided prison by surrendering criminal networks and assets, then provided information and advice to Latveria while under house arrest.
• The Emperor questioned Nick Fury and others about covertly stirring opposition, but found their proposals outdated apart from Maria Hill’s suggestion to fabricate a protest riot with AI.
• Regent Victor von Doom refused to authorize a cruise-missile strike on a village linked to terrorists and directed the Avengers and the Wild Legion to handle the problem while drones disarmed the enemy.
• Amon argued that religious and nationalist extremism would continue to endanger Latveria, but left the decision to Victor von Doom because Constantine was abroad.
• Amon ordered armed drones to keep patrolling and instructed them to monitor terrorist groups on the Turkish side.

Steve Rogers and Silver Sablinova prepared a covert rescue operation after extremists took refugees hostage in a coastal village and aboard a freighter. They planned a coordinated night assault, while Silver revealed the Regent’s deadline and priority of keeping the team alive.

• Extremists demanded transport out of Latveria and the release of prisoners, forcing Steve Rogers to plan for two linked hostage sites.
• Steve Rogers proposed infiltrating the freighter underwater, while Silver Sablinova was assigned to lead Sam Wilson and James Buchanan Barnes into the village.
• James Buchanan Barnes suggested cutting communications between the freighter and village, but the team rejected an anesthetic-gas plan because of the terrain and sea breeze.
• Silver Sablinova confirmed that the Regent’s Office had set a five-in-the-morning deadline and ordered the team to wear ballistic armor.
• Silver Sablinova warned that nearby tourist signals had been disrupted temporarily and urged the team to keep the operation covert.

Amon pressed Victor von Doom to speed Latveria’s purge and military production so the Emperor’s forces could prepare for the Dark Order. Doom recognized that the Emperor and the Sorcerer Supreme had already broken Kamar-Taj’s ancient limits to build the Mars Foundry, and he was left reflecting on the Emperor’s foreknowledge of the Sorcerer Supreme’s death.

• Amon urged Victor von Doom to prioritize survival, purge superstition, and accelerate military factories rather than show mercy to civilians or officials.
• Victor von Doom warned that building factories and expanding production would take time, even with Wakandan assistance, and could not be sped up by spending alone.
• Victor von Doom recalled how the Emperor and the Sorcerer Supreme had manipulated time on Mars to establish the foundry and supply Latveria.
• Victor von Doom considered the Mars Foundry’s cybernetic technicians and the dangerous artificial intelligence and psionic machinery that its creators had studied and destroyed.
• Victor von Doom remembered the Emperor’s prophecy of the Sorcerer Supreme’s death and the Emperor’s painful efforts to grasp the Threads of Fate.

The Emperor visited Mount Athena Orphanage, celebrated Lorna Dane’s victory in a rough basketball game, and discussed a terrorist plot with Stephanie Malik. He revealed that Steve Rogers’s team was moving to intercept the terrorists’ ship and that Latveria had prepared to erase evidence if the operation went wrong.

• The Emperor arranged for Wilson Fisk to prevent the New York Immigration Bureau from troubling Valeria and her family, then went to Mount Athena Orphanage to cook for the children and introduce Stephanie Malik.
• Lorna Dane celebrated her victory in the orphanage’s no-rules basketball game after breaking two ribs and injuring other players.
• Stephanie Malik showed the Emperor intelligence about extremists and wanted criminals planning to attack Latverian government offices with a car bomb.
• The Emperor explained to Lorna that the intercepted cargo ship carried Syrian refugees as well as human smugglers and terrorists, and said the terrorists would not be negotiated with.
• Lorna saw Steve Rogers and his special operations team preparing to assault the ship, while Stephanie Malik described plans to scuttle it, erase evidence, and interfere with Spy Satellites if necessary.

The Emperor met Athena to address their growing conflict over his future role in humanity’s survival. Athena warned that he would be unable to relinquish power and urged him to follow the path she had planned for him.

• The Emperor reviewed Victoria Hand’s plans and trusted her to handle the crisis involving Maria Hill, Nick Fury, and the Kree Space Station.
• The Emperor took Stephanie Malik to Mount Athena Orphanage, then drove with her to visit Athena while keeping the orphanage’s location secret.
• Athena waited angrily for the Emperor, and he sent Stephanie to wait in the car before speaking with his adoptive mother.
• The Emperor told Athena they had to resolve their dispute because the end of the world threatened them all.
• Athena said the Emperor must become the Human Emperor to save humanity, while he insisted he would serve history without ruling forever.
• Athena warned Salomon that responsibility, ideals, and betrayal would prevent him from setting down authority unless he accepted the path she had built for him.

The Emperor accepted Athena’s consciousness and witnessed a metaphorical vision of humanity’s defeat at the hands of the Great Enemy Behind the Curtain. Athena told him that the universe would end and urged him to make the right choice, leaving his decision unstated.

• The Emperor sensed Athena’s genuine care and let her past his mental defenses.
• Athena showed the Emperor a devastated battlefield and explained that the Great Enemy Behind the Curtain had won across the galaxy.
• The Emperor recognized the vision as a metaphor shaped by the Aether Ocean and crushed a manifestation of malice beneath his armored feet.
• A horned beast emerged and roared for destruction and death as Athena told the Emperor he had to choose.
• Athena kissed the Emperor’s cheek and whispered for him to remember to make the right choice.

Athena interpreted an omen for the Emperor, then asked him to share a bath with her. Afterward, he sent Stephanie Malik to coordinate with Victoria Hand and prepare for the Kree outpost and the coming Dark Order.

• The Emperor served Athena in a scalding bath after she interpreted an omen for him.
• Athena asked the Emperor to join her in the bath, saying she did not want to miss their dwindling opportunities to spend time together.
• Stephanie Malik waited for the Emperor for four hours before he emerged from the apartment.
• The Emperor told Stephanie Malik to hand over to Victoria Hand at the castle and cooperate with General Hale against the Kree outpost.
• The Emperor promised Stephanie Malik a knight squadron from Second Company, with tactical squads, armored vehicles, and air power.

The Emperor and Stephanie Malik discussed her prophesied deaths and her father’s plan to use RUSH, which she had chosen not to use. He promised that Hydra would continue under his control, with Stephanie helping shape its future, and revealed that its members would be immortals like him.

• Victoria Hand maintained strict secrecy and discipline over the Emperor’s intelligence organization, while rumors spread about Maria Hill’s arrest.
• Stephanie Malik asked the Emperor whether he had foreseen her death, and he explained that she had escaped a first death when the ancient Kree Hydra ancestor was defeated.
• Stephanie told the Emperor that her father had placed RUSH in the glove compartment and asked whether the Malik family could achieve its goals without using it.
• The Emperor said he would trust Stephanie and create a Hydra devoted to protecting his empire rather than pursuing personal ambition.
• Stephanie offered her expertise in education, but the Emperor said he would personally train the future Hydra, whose members would be immortals like him.

Stephanie Malik dealt with the public fallout from civilian deaths during the Avengers' operation, while Victor von Doom and the Emperor discussed what to do with the Avengers and the Empire's space program. The Emperor left Doom to decide the Avengers' fate and turned his attention back to his research and plans for Mars.

• Stephanie Malik received the operation report, which recorded five refugee deaths and two civilian injuries, and learned that Steve Rogers had protested the refugees' removal and intended to demand an explanation from the Emperor.
• Stephanie Malik ordered the refugees sent to Turkey and complained that the Avengers had become a nuisance.
• Victor von Doom asked the Emperor what to do with the Avengers, and the Emperor said they no longer had value to him while warning Doom to strengthen Sky Sword Space Station's firewall.
• The Emperor made a gold-decorated magical storybook for Milia as Doom urged him to address Steve Rogers's demand to see him.
• Victor von Doom proposed sending the Avengers to Wakanda under a public-security exchange program, and the Emperor left the decision to him.
• The Emperor pressed Doom about the starship's launch and described plans to expand the Mars Foundry and transport supplies and personnel between Mars and Earth.

The Emperor explained how Latveria planned to use Mars to attract scientists and expand its industrial and research capabilities, while Victor von Doom raised diplomatic concerns. The chapter ended with the Emperor warning that extensive Cybernetic Prosthetics could blur the boundary between humans and machines, and saying Mars recruits would have to accept Martian ideology.

• Victor von Doom questioned whether a container of Martian soil could attract top scientists and refused to use air power to retrieve any particular recruit.
• The Emperor cited Harold Finch as a potential recruit and dismissed Jane Foster's Nobel Prize as largely a political award tied to Asgardian observations.
• Victor von Doom agreed to add a Mars research-base cooperation plan to his upcoming diplomatic visits.
• The Emperor said Mabath would leave the Mars Foundry to research and guard the Celestials, whose secrets Mars had to conceal.
• The Emperor warned Victor von Doom that extensive Cybernetic Prosthetics could overwhelm human nerves and make machines determine how much of a person remained human.