Chapter Summaries

The Emperor’s expeditionary force defeated the Kree research base and seized its equipment, though the battle cost hundreds of lives. As he planned to take Eridu’s people into space and use Kree research for biological experiments, Hammurabi confronted an Outer Dimensional anomaly in the fog, and the Emperor set out to retrieve him.

• Hammurabi ordered the Mortal Soldiers away from the fog as Outer Dimensional creatures emerged, then charged into it and attacked a gigantic shadow.
• Caspar and another soldier followed Hammurabi into the fog with a burning stick, but lost sight of him and pressed forward to find the Praetorian Guard.
• The Emperor led the cavalry through the Kree defenses while Hannibal and four Praetorian Guards riding Jet Motorcycles broke the Kree countercharge.
• The expeditionary force captured the Kree research base after suffering hundreds of casualties, and the Emperor inspected the warship and planned to move Eridu’s willing people into space.
• Constantine told the Emperor that a signal flare marked a psionic anomaly near Hammurabi, and the Emperor said he would bring Hammurabi back.

The Emperor confronted Icarus after Inanna captured him for breaking his promise to report Kronos’s reply. Icarus revealed that the Eternals were bound to serve the Celestials, and the Emperor demanded the Earth Machine’s location in exchange for granting him true death, leaving Icarus to choose whether the Eternals would cooperate.

• The Sacred Guard prepared the Kree research vessel to transport Eridu’s people and grain stores back to Eridu.
• Inanna captured Icarus in the Black Desert after he refused to tell the Emperor what Kronos had said, and her attack devastated the surrounding land.
• The Emperor confronted Icarus, who admitted Kronos had confirmed that the Eternals were the Celestials’ soul-harvesting guardians.
• Icarus confessed that he wanted absolute death, and the Emperor offered to grant it if Icarus revealed the Earth Machine’s location.
• The Emperor explained that the Eternals faced a schism over A'lars’s plan to create new Eternals, then demanded Icarus choose cooperation immediately.

The Emperor learned from Icarus how the Eternals had merged with Outer Dimension Entities and prepared to end Eridu’s kingship before pursuing Kronos in the Outer Dimensions. Hammurabi continued his lonely hunt through a realm where time and space had broken down, with only thirteen rounds left and the Emperor promising to reach him.

• Inanna asked about the Earth Machine, and the Emperor explained that Kronos had become its machine spirit and would need to be killed in the Outer Dimensions.
• The Emperor reviewed Icarus’s account of possession and gestation, including Athena’s status as an Eternal and his plan to tell her the truth about time travel.
• The Emperor ordered Eridu’s residents to migrate eastward or face the consequences, while Constantine warned that the warship lacked enough people and resources for its intended operations.
• The Emperor returned to the temple after learning that Hammurabi had found his target and accepted that Hammurabi’s survival depended on how long he could endure.
• On the 315th day of the Hydra Hunt Operation, Hammurabi navigated a chaotic wilderness and conserved his last thirteen rounds against the Outer Dimension Entities pursuing him.
• Hammurabi asked the Emperor what to do, and the Emperor told him to continue searching because he would come to his side.

Hammurabi was rescued from Outer Dimension demons by a mysterious Spirit of Vengeance before he could complete his mission. At the manor, Jeanne brought proof that Salomon’s blood pact dated to 6000 BCE, and Bayonetta’s companions prepared to welcome him home while continuing to search for him.

• Hammurabi fought a group of powerful Outer Dimension demons in a blood-red desert, but their regeneration and his dwindling supplies left him badly wounded.
• A black-armored Spirit of Vengeance rescued Hammurabi, killed one demon, drove another away, and vanished without answering who it was.
• Jeanne arrived at the manor with genetic test results linking the blood on an ancient scroll to Maya Hansen’s laboratory sample and dating the scroll to 6000 BCE.
• Jeanne explained that the Euphrates Blood Pact described the King of Eridu and his followers founding the Brotherhood of the Shield to defend humanity, and she said Captain Miller had also belonged to it.
• Bayonetta said Athena had left, while Rosa and Laura Croft were searching witch records for clues to Salomon’s whereabouts; Bayonetta suspected Athena knew more than she had revealed.
• Jeanne and Bayonetta discussed arming the manor for Salomon’s return, calling their preparations a traditional welcome ceremony, while Wanda asked whether they knew who the enemy was.

Bayonetta and Wanda realized Natasha Romanoff had been out of contact for too long and searched for clues about Salomon, while the City of Immortals’ excavations uncovered records that could restore the Brotherhood of the Shield. In Houston, Natasha found Salomon living under a long-established family identity, and he promised to fulfill their agreement to have a child.

• Bayonetta questioned Wanda about Natasha Romanoff, and Wanda remembered their close relationship and admitted she had lost contact with her after Salomon disappeared.
• Bayonetta reasoned that Natasha might know where Salomon was and began scrutinizing the organization and finances he had left behind.
• Bayonetta oversaw excavations in the City of Immortals, where Laura Croft found the chamber holding the Euphrates Blood Pact and researchers uncovered evidence of the Brotherhood of the Shield’s inheritance rights.
• Natasha Romanoff traced Salomon to a Houston mansion belonging to a family whose history concealed his long-term presence, then met him in the study.
• Salomon assured Natasha that she was safe, and he promised to fulfill his overdue promise to give her a child.

Natasha interrogated Salomon about his age, time travel, and political plans, learning that he was roughly eight thousand years old and intended to use a future crisis to unify Earth. Later, she questioned Dinah about bearing Salomon’s child and learned that he had had mortal descendants, including one named Telemachus.

• Natasha questioned Salomon about his age and his suspected journey through time, and he said he was roughly eight thousand years old.
• Salomon explained that he had preserved history to protect his timeline and described his plans to counter the CIA’s campaign and wait for NATO to attack before striking back.
• Natasha reflected on Salomon’s harsh belief that force and conquest were necessary for human unity against a coming cosmic crisis.
• Natasha asked Dinah whether she could have Salomon’s child, and Dinah said his mortal descendants had shown no apparent talents.
• Dinah told Natasha that Salomon’s family assets and household were prepared for her, then revealed that one of his children had been named Telemachus.

Natasha dreamed of Odysseus and the fall of Troy, then questioned Salomon about his hiding place and the threats facing Earth. Salomon explained his plans and his break with Captain Rogers before announcing that he, Natasha, and Dinah would travel to Zurich.

• Natasha dreamed of a supernatural battlefield and witnessed Odysseus lead bronze-armored warriors against Troy, where he spoke of his wife Penelope and son Telemachus.
• Natasha woke and found Salomon reading at the villa, then asked why he had hidden in Texas.
• Salomon said beings Behind the Curtain were hunting him and that he was avoiding their sight while monitoring their schemes.
• Salomon warned that Odin's impending death threatened Earth and said he had already placed a key piece of his plan.
• Natasha and Salomon discussed Captain Rogers, the Avengers, and the political beliefs Salomon had taught Steve.
• Dinah brought Salomon a suit, and he told Natasha they were going to Zurich for a vacation.

Penelope endured the suitors’ abuse and dreamed of Odysseus returning, while Bayonetta and Jeanne investigated Salomon’s disappearance and the threat surrounding him. Salomon brought Natasha Romanoff to Los Angeles to meet the Immortal Man, and Natasha confronted him about his secrets, including Zurich.

• Penelope planned to delay the suitors with a contest requiring them to shoot an arrow through twelve axe handles, then dreamed of Odysseus and other lives from her past.
• Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Wanda concluded that Natasha Romanoff’s disappearance from contact was caused by powerful interference surrounding Salomon, who was hiding in human history.
• Natasha Romanoff arrived in California with Salomon and learned that Dinah had arranged a heavily secured trip to his vineyards.
• Salomon explained that labor disputes and California’s political and criminal networks could threaten his vineyard and pipeline plans.
• Natasha revealed that Agent Coulson and other S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel were at The Basement, then learned Salomon had come to meet the Immortal Man, whom he had known since the Mycenaean civilization.
• Natasha called Salomon Mr. Odysseus and pressed him about Zurich before beginning to seduce him in the car.

Natasha Romanoff joined Agent Coulson’s team and Salomon for a meeting with Enoch, where the group discussed the team’s ordeal in the future and Salomon’s war against the Kree. Enoch asked Salomon to deliver a relic to Circe, while the meeting ended with Coulson’s team considering the haunting at Lighthouse Base.

• Natasha Romanoff greeted Coulson and Melinda May at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, where the agents confronted Salomon over the mission that had sent them to the future.
• Salomon and Enoch spoke privately in Ancient Greek, and Enoch asked Salomon to deliver Helios’s lion-headed bone dagger to Circe to help restore her memories.
• Coulson told Natasha that Enoch had sent the team through a white Monolith to 2091, where the Kree had enslaved humanity and mistreated the agents.
• Natasha revealed that Salomon had captured a Kree outpost force and its ships, and that a Kree related to Cassius was arriving on Earth as a prisoner.
• Coulson’s team suspected Natasha was in love with Salomon, then discussed whether to tell him that Lighthouse Base was haunted.

Natasha and Salomon learned that a widening spacetime rift beneath Lighthouse Base threatened to release dangers from another dimension, but Salomon refused to help S.H.I.E.L.D. because he had other priorities. After leaving the base, Natasha discussed helping her former Red Room sisters and pressed Salomon about his past with Circe before initiating a private encounter.

• Coulson explained that an expanding rift beneath Lighthouse Base had released hostile projections, including Lash, and asked Salomon to help contain it.
• Salomon said the rift had formed from the three Monoliths and praised Fitz's Gravitonium solution, but declined to stay and address it.
• Salomon warned Coulson that someone was auditing Pentagon ledgers tied to S.H.I.E.L.D., then left the base with Natasha and Dinah.
• Natasha asked Salomon to help her former Red Room sisters find better lives and proposed beginning with Yelena in Zurich.
• Salomon explained that Circe had been an Eternal who became a vessel for a primordial spirit, and Natasha responded by climbing onto him in the Bentley.

Natasha reunited with Yelena in Cape Verde and revealed that she was helping the Black Widows escape the Red Room’s control. At the villa, Yelena learned that Natasha’s mysterious husband was the Knight of the Battle of New York, and the sisters began preparing to destroy the Red Room.

• Yelena confronted Natasha for missing their agreed meeting in Zurich and threatened to detonate bombs if Natasha had betrayed her to the US Government.
• Natasha told Yelena that she had regained the ability to conceive, was working to pay for the sisters’ organ-repair surgeries, and had not surrendered to the government.
• Natasha brought Yelena to a guarded villa on Boa Vista, where Yelena saw the Sisterhood’s armed forces and a command center tracking the Black Widows.
• Natasha explained that she was trying to rescue the Black Widows still controlled by oligarchs and officials through the remnants of the Red Room, and gave Yelena files on escaped agents.
• Yelena identified Natasha’s husband as the Knight of the Battle of New York, and Natasha said they would begin working to destroy the Red Room while he was away fishing.

Yelena stayed with Natasha and Salomon while negotiating support for the Black Widows, but she remained suspicious of Salomon and revealed why she had betrayed the Red Room. The chapter ended with Bayonetta and Jeanne returning from a mission, after Bayonetta admitted she had spent the night with Salomon.

• Yelena inspected the villa’s dinner preparations, met Salomon, and negotiated five years of work in exchange for his support and medical services for the Black Widows.
• Yelena stayed at the villa, investigated Salomon’s documents, and helped Natasha organize equipment and intelligence for their operation.
• Yelena confronted Natasha about Salomon’s mysterious fishing trips and learned that Natasha knew about his long history and previous relationships.
• Yelena told Natasha that Hydra brainwashing research had led her to betray the Red Room and that she had left inhibitor samples in a Budapest safe house.
• Jeanne and Bayonetta finished fighting Extra-dimensional Beings in India and returned through a portal, where Bayonetta admitted she had spent the previous night with Salomon.

Bayonetta and Jeanne concluded that Salomon’s hidden power was tied to Atum and the disappearance of the Vishanti, while Salomon brought Wanda to California and revealed his plan to face the All-Father over Ragnarok’s inheritance. The chapter ended with Wanda reporting that Gungnir would arrive in Norway in seventy-two hours.

• Bayonetta explained to Jeanne that Salomon might be a second-generation Atum and that he may have devoured the Vishanti, leaving Kamar-Taj without its safe source of magic.
• Salomon brought Wanda from Oxfordshire Manor to his California villa, where he revealed that he was hiding his strength and intended to claim the largest share of Ragnarok’s inheritance.
• Salomon asked Wanda and Natasha to take over the Savage family’s network and told Wanda to help keep Queen of Heaven Frigga from interrupting his planned duel with the All-Father.
• Wanda met a dangerous Vampire at the villa, then returned to Oxfordshire Manor with champagne for Bayonetta and Jeanne.
• Wanda told Bayonetta and Jeanne that Gungnir would be delivered to Norway in seventy-two hours.

Salomon brought Natasha to Norway before preparing to return Gungnir to its owner on the Faroe Islands. He revealed that he would duel the dying All-Father, while Natasha learned she would be sent back to Zurich before the mission’s most dangerous part.

• Salomon left Yelena in Zurich to guard the supplies while he and Natasha traveled to Oslo with a sealed wooden box containing Gungnir.
• Salomon and Natasha spent several days at Lysebu Hotel before he took her to Kaecilius’s mansion in Holmenkollen.
• Salomon told Kaecilius that his mission was over and asked him to help transport Gungnir to the Faroe Islands and ensure the island was clear of innocents.
• Natasha joined Salomon for dinner with Kaecilius and Cilla, presenting herself as a freelance journalist while Salomon stayed quiet.
• Salomon told Natasha that Gungnir belonged to the All-Father, who lived on the Faroe Islands and intended to duel Salomon over the future of their two races.

As a supernatural storm gathered over the Faroe Islands, Salomon traveled there with Dinah to face the dying Odin in a duel over the future of Asgard and the Nine Realms. He arranged for Bayonetta and Jeanne to guard against Hela’s interference, and the duel was about to begin.

• Natasha worried that Salomon would die, but he told her to leave Oslo while the coming duel approached.
• An unprecedented hurricane struck the Faroe Islands, prompting evacuation warnings and threatening Norway’s western coast.
• Salomon and Kaecilius sailed to the Faroe Islands as Natasha and the other Artificial Humans departed Oslo.
• Salomon met Odin and Frigga, who revealed that Odin’s life fire had gone out and that Frigga was sustaining the seal on the realm of the dead.
• Salomon told Frigga that Thor and Loki would soon arrive and waited for his security personnel before beginning the duel.
• Bayonetta and Jeanne parachuted onto the island, and Bayonetta greeted Salomon before preparing to join the others.

Odin and Salomon began their duel, their magic tearing through time and space as Hela witnessed scenes from Odin’s past. The battle unleashed a planetary storm, while Hela approached Frigga and Kaecilius feared the disaster was nearing extinction-level proportions.

• Thor learned that Mjolnir had originally belonged to his older sister and that Odin expected one of his sons to fight Salomon in his place.
• Odin summoned Sleipnir from the ashes of the bluebird car and challenged Salomon, who declared that he was human and believed the future belonged to humanity.
• Odin and Salomon fought across shifting landscapes and eras, while Hela witnessed Odin’s past and a flood-era battle against a monstrous threat.
• Hela appeared beside Frigga, and Loki stopped Thor from attacking her, saying she wanted to speak with their mother.
• Kaecilius sensed the duel’s psychic tide as storms and freezing weather spread across Earth, and he doubted Salomon could keep the catastrophe under control.

Stephen Strange used the Eye of Agamotto to reset Kamar-Taj’s failing planetary defenses while a duel between the Emperor and Odin threatened to transform the world. As Victor von Doom prepared for the disaster’s aftermath, he worried most about the alien invasion that would follow Ragnarok.

• Stephen Strange saw visions of the Emperor and Odin’s duel through the Cauldron of the Cosmos, then joined the Kamar-Taj Arcanists in maintaining the Planetary Defense System.
• Stephen Strange used the Eye of Agamotto to reset the Arcanists after a petitioner died, but he chose not to reverse the petitioner’s death.
• Master Hamir revealed that an ancient Machine beneath the Holy Mountain could restore Earth, though Kamar-Taj did not know how to control it.
• Victor von Doom halted military food stockpiling and arranged grain purchases as anomalous weather threatened Yugoslavia’s harvests and economy.
• Victor von Doom feared that Ragnarok would be followed by an alien invasion that humanity’s orbital defenses and space navy might struggle to withstand.

Hela confronted Frigga, Thor, and Loki over her imprisonment and her claim to Asgard, then attacked Thor when he challenged her. Bayonetta and Jeanne interrupted the fight, and Bayonetta prepared to face Hela as the conflict remained on Earth.

• Hela accused Frigga and Odin of betraying her and declared that she would kill anyone who stood between her and the throne of Asgard.
• Thor charged Hela to defend his honor, but she overwhelmed him with Night Sky and inflicted severe wounds while Loki tried to reinforce the runes.
• Bayonetta and Jeanne emerged through a portal, and Bayonetta deflected Hela's attack while Jeanne taunted her.
• Frigga warned Hela that Odin had abandoned the throne and that Asgard's succession would pass to its first heir, but Hela dismissed her explanation.
• Bayonetta summoned Madame Butterfly and readied a spear and bow, while Hela mounted a giant wolf and called on Thor and Loki to join the fight.

Bayonetta used the Shadow Witch’s planet-summoning treasure against Hela, devastating the Faroe Islands, while the Emperor and Odin fought over the fate of Asgard and the gods Behind the Curtain. Frigga vanished during Hela’s return, and the Emperor left to bring his forces to Asgard as Odin declared that Asgard’s history had ended.

• Bayonetta summoned Venus and fired the treasure at Hela, whose magic raised a mountain of black swords and a forest of iron spears before the blast shattered the battlefield and devastated the surrounding sea.
• Loki rescued Thor and Frigga behind a rune barrier, but Hela returned through it; Frigga threw a glowing pebble at her and vanished in a flash of light.
• The Emperor and Odin ended their duel, and the Emperor accused Odin of risking Ragnarok by trying to turn Hela’s curse into Asgard’s strength.
• Odin asked the Emperor to help Thor resist the gods Behind the Curtain and demanded a covenant to bring war against them; the Emperor swore to destroy the Great Enemy.
• The Emperor ordered Victor to mobilize the Praetorian Guard, Mars Foundry, and First Legion, contact Lorelei, and bring Stark into the coming interstellar war before departing for Asgard.

Stephen Strange and Kamar-Taj’s Arcanists struggled to reach the Faroe Islands and seal the weakened veil between reality and the Outer Dimensions. After Odin and Frigga died, Salomon recovered Gungnir and confronted Mephisto, who urged him to return to the Seventh Throne.

• Stephen Strange complained about exhaustion as Master Wong showed him footage of frozen waves and stranded victims near the Faroe Islands.
• Master Hamir led fifteen Arcanists through the portal to Oslo, where a violent storm flooded the Sanctum and forced them to shelter in Kaecilius's garage.
• Kaecilius reported that Oslo was in a nationwide emergency and that Victor von Doom had said the Arcanists must seal the veil near the Faroe Islands, but travel by helicopter was impossible.
• Master Hamir decided the group would travel by ship and ordered Kaecilius to contact Salomon, while worrying about Victor von Doom's silence and condition.
• Salomon recovered Gungnir after Odin and Frigga died, then rejected Mephisto's claims that the Sea of Souls experiment had succeeded.
• Mephisto vanished when Salomon threw the Sacred Spear, calling for his return to the Seventh Throne.