Recaps

Xiang Qian told Tony that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. through a secret postwar recruitment program and learned that Alexander Pierce was a Hydra operative plotting to seize control of the Western world. After Nick Fury died and S.H.I.E.L.D. branded Steve Rogers a traitor, Xiang Qian concluded that a coup was underway.

• Xiang Qian explained to Tony that Whitehall had been killed by Jiaying, but his ghost had revealed that Howard had helped recruit Hydra operatives into S.H.I.E.L.D. after World War II.
• Xiang Qian named Alexander Pierce, agent Sitwell, and Gideon Malick as Hydra members, and warned Tony that Pierce had a plan to control America and the Western world.
• Jarvis reported that Nick Fury had died in the hospital from severe injuries, and Xiang Qian urged Tony to stay ready before ending their call.
• An hour later, Shen Ran told Xiang Qian that S.H.I.E.L.D. had accused Steve Rogers of treason and ordered law enforcement to capture him.
• Xiang Qian said the accusation looked like a coup within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Xiang Qian and Shen Ran exploited S.H.I.E.L.D.’s turmoil to capture suspected Hydra agents and uncover clues about Howard Stark’s murder, while Xiang Qian kept Tony from becoming a target. After Steve Rogers destroyed Project Insight and S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed, Xiang Qian searched the leaked files for the location of Supergiant, a telepathic alien prisoner.

• Shen Ran proposed using Alexander Pierce’s mass mobilization to identify and capture Hydra operatives, and Xiang Qian agreed to help.
• Xiang Qian warned Tony not to contact Steve Rogers and urged him to attract attention by resuming his extravagant public behavior.
• Shen Ran’s team kidnapped suspected Hydra agents, whose confessions revealed details about Project Insight and named the assassin codename Winter Soldier in Howard’s murder.
• Steve Rogers destroyed the three Helicarriers and Alexander Pierce’s conspiracy, while S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters was wrecked and Nick Fury reappeared alive.
• Xiang Qian searched S.H.I.E.L.D.’s leaked records for brainwave turbulence devices and information that could lead him to the imprisoned telepath Supergiant.

Xiang Qian tracked down and abducted Supergiant from an underwater S.H.I.E.L.D. prison, then questioned her about Thanos and his plans. He left her furious after arguing that Thanos had used Loki’s invasion as a scheme to weaken Earth’s defenses.

• Xiang Qian used S.H.I.E.L.D. files to narrow Supergiant’s possible detention sites to four, finding no prisoners at the Storage Box and stealing Tahiti’s research data.
• Xiang Qian triggered the underwater prison’s alarms, hid in subspace, and removed Supergiant from her cell without being detected.
• Xiang Qian questioned Supergiant about Thanos, his forces, and his partnership with Loki, while Supergiant refused to reveal her master’s secrets.
• Xiang Qian argued that Thanos had given Loki the Time Stone to exploit divisions between Asgard and Kamar-Taj and weaken Earth’s defenses.
• Xiang Qian gagged Supergiant as she tried to respond, taunted Thanos as a cowardly schemer, and watched her rage to study her expressions.

Xiang Qian transferred Supergiant to the Spear Bureau while S.H.I.E.L.D. was suspended and arranged Peggy Carter and Grant’s return to London. After discovering a surprising connection among three people in genetic test results, he took the reports with him and left for New York.

• Xiang Qian teleported Supergiant to Victoria Harbour, where the Spear Bureau took custody of her and cooperated with the Five Elements Laboratory.
• Zheng Xian told Xiang Qian that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been suspended and its personnel were facing investigations, while he rebuffed American agencies seeking Supergiant.
• Xiang Qian reviewed genetic reports linking Lorna to Magneto and found an unexpected result in three reports, which he printed and concealed.
• Xiang Qian took Peggy Carter and Grant through a portal to London, where intelligence agencies learned Carter had returned and agents gathered at her apartment.
• Xiang Qian evaded the agents, flew to New York on his private plane, and left Peggy Carter at home to recover.

Xiang Qian returned to Kamar-Taj, encouraged Wanda’s efforts to control her dark magic, and gave her an Asgardian calming spell. He then went to the X-Mansion to ask John Proudstar for help, leaving Professor Xavier concerned that he was already calling in a favor.

• Xiang Qian returned to Kamar-Taj and learned from Wong that Pietro had improved his speed control while Wanda had been practicing dark magic under the Sorcerer Supreme’s supervision.
• Xiang Qian visited Wanda as she used Tony Stark news footage to regulate her emotions and discussed her feelings about Stark’s role in her parents’ deaths and the Battle of New York.
• Xiang Qian gave Wanda an annotated Asgardian spell that Queen Frigga had adapted to calm berserkers, and Wanda happily accepted it.
• Xiang Qian arrived at the X-Mansion, teased Colossus about his strained relationship with Magik, and went to meet Professor Xavier.
• Xiang Qian told Professor Xavier that he needed John Proudstar’s help, and Xavier remarked that Xiang Qian was collecting on the group’s favor quickly.

Xiang Qian brought Thunderbird to Steve Rogers’s hospital room, where John tracked the Winter Soldier to a small cargo port. Xiang Qian then revealed evidence linking the assassin to Howard Stark’s murder, leaving Tony to consider that “Winter Soldier” might refer to a team or organization rather than one man.

• Xiang Qian asked John Proudstar to use his tracking ability to find the Winter Soldier, and John agreed to repay his debt of gratitude.
• Xiang Qian and Tony visited Steve Rogers in the hospital, where John tracked the Winter Soldier’s trail from Steve’s head wound.
• John identified a small cargo port as the Winter Soldier’s likely destination, and Xiang Qian concluded the assassin was preparing to leave the United States.
• Xiang Qian told Sam Wilson he could not join the pursuit because he was still under investigation, then explained to Tony that Hydra agents had identified the Winter Soldier as Howard Stark’s killer.
• Xiang Qian warned Tony to keep the Winter Soldier alive and pointed out that the assassin’s activity dated back to the 1960s, suggesting the name referred to a team or organization.

Tony Stark, Xiang Qian, and Thunderbird John searched an abandoned port for the Winter Soldier, but Tony’s attempt to question locals caused a confrontation. John traced the Winter Soldier’s trail back into the city, and Xiang Qian insisted Tony travel there by car rather than fly ahead in his armor.

• Tony scanned the port for the Winter Soldier but found no likely target among its occupants.
• Xiang Qian arrived and found Tony surrounded by angry locals after Tony offered them money for information; Tony blasted a barrel to drive them away.
• Tony told Xiang Qian that he had found eleven people with missing limbs, but none matched the Winter Soldier.
• John identified a dilapidated shack as the Winter Soldier’s recent shelter and traced his footprints.
• John sensed that the Winter Soldier had returned to the city and was hiding in a residential area, while Xiang Qian made Tony ride in the car with them.

Xiang Qian and “Thunderbird” tracked the Winter Soldier to an apartment building, only to find Enrique Diaz, a Hydra-linked cold-storage manager, instead. Tony identified Diaz as a former biologist recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D., and the group prepared to question him further.

• Xiang Qian and “Thunderbird” followed their lead to a third-floor apartment while Tony waited in the car as backup.
• Xiang Qian knocked, then forced his way inside when an elderly man tried to shut the door after hearing the Winter Soldier mentioned.
• Xiang Qian questioned the man, who admitted he was a cold-storage manager and said he had no reason to die for Hydra.
• Tony flew the Mark Armor through the window and identified the man as Enrique Diaz, a Cambridge-trained biologist recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1987.

Xiang Qian questioned a Hydra biologist and learned that the Winter Soldier was James Barnes, Captain America's presumed-dead comrade, who had escaped America by ship. After the biologist revealed the smuggling group he had contacted, Xiang Qian planned to use money to get its members to betray Barnes.

• The biologist told Xiang Qian, Tony, and Thunderbird that Barnes had fled toward the sea, and Xiang Qian realized that the Winter Soldier had left America.
• Xiang Qian identified Sergeant Barnes as James Barnes, Steve Rogers's closest friend, and the biologist confirmed that Hydra had kept him frozen between missions.
• The biologist explained that Barnes had contacted him because he was the only person he remembered who remained free, and that he had helped Barnes escape as a stowaway.
• The biologist named the people-smuggling group he had hired, and Xiang Qian concluded that money from two billionaires could persuade them to reveal Barnes's whereabouts.

After the Winter Soldier disappeared at sea, Ancient One told Xiang Qian that Dr. Strange’s accident had been moved forward by a change in his personal timeline. She warned Xiang Qian that Eternity’s intervention was a signal connected to him, and that Death might also be acting.

• Shen Ran spread the bounty for information on the Winter Soldier, but the smugglers’ attempt to seize him ended with the ship and everyone aboard disappearing.
• Xiang Qian learned that French border police had found the vessel with several dead bodies and no survivors, leaving the Winter Soldier’s trail lost.
• After returning from Portugal to Hong Kong, Xiang Qian was taken by Ancient One to Kamar-Taj.
• Ancient One explained that Dr. Strange’s serious car accident, originally expected in two years, would now happen within two months because his personal timeline had accelerated.
• Ancient One warned Xiang Qian that Eternity’s action was a signal concerning him and that Death might not remain silent.

Xiang Qian discussed how his presence would prevent Stephen Strange from establishing himself as a future Sorcerer Supreme, while Ancient One arranged for him to be away from Kamar-Taj during the coming transition. He then considered Eternity’s possible plans and the dangers that could follow Ancient One’s death, including threats to Wanda.

• Xiang Qian and Ancient One discussed staging Stephen Strange’s rise to Sorcerer Supreme, and Ancient One said Xiang Qian’s presence would leave no role for him in the plan.
• Ancient One told Xiang Qian that the once-in-five-thousand-years convergence of the Nine Realms would provide a reason for him to leave Kamar-Taj.
• Xiang Qian left the quiet room and pondered Eternity’s signal, connecting it to the Soul Universe’s evolution after the battle with Galactus.
• Xiang Qian deduced that Ancient One’s death would weaken Earth’s defenses and considered the possible returns of Dormammu or Chthon.
• Xiang Qian continued running predictions in the Soul Realm and stopped outside Wanda’s door without knocking or leaving.

Xiang Qian confronted Pietro outside Wanda's residence, where Pietro had been guarding his sister from persistent young sorcerers. He discovered Pietro had been eating Kamar-Taj's free meals and claimed they had come from his own allowance, leaving Pietro furious and embarrassed.

• Pietro recognized the hooded man outside Wanda's door as Xiang Qian and watched Wanda invite him inside.
• Xiang Qian asked why Pietro was staying at Kamar-Taj, and Pietro explained that an alien invasion had wrecked his workplace and left his boss unable to pay his wages.
• Xiang Qian asked whether Pietro had been eating at Kamar-Taj's cafeteria and explained that free meals were reserved for sorcerers and apprentices.
• Xiang Qian claimed Wong had used his unused meal allowance to feed Pietro and told him to treat Xiang Qian better because he had eaten his food.
• Pietro fought the urge to vomit up the meals as Xiang Qian grinned at his distress.

Xiang Qian took Wanda and Pietro through a portal to meet Tony Stark, hoping a direct encounter would help Wanda confront her resentment toward him. The meeting shifted into a proposed combat test between Pietro and Tony, leaving their confrontation with Stark’s armor about to begin.

• Xiang Qian and Wanda teased Pietro until he stormed out, then Xiang Qian suggested taking Wanda to meet Tony Stark as part of her dark magic training.
• Pietro rushed back and insisted on joining them, and Wanda made him wait behind her before Xiang Qian opened a portal.
• Xiang Qian called Tony, then brought Wanda and Pietro through the portal to meet him.
• Tony greeted Wanda, and Pietro squeezed between her and Xiang Qian before introducing himself.
• Tony learned that Pietro was a mutant who could exceed twice the speed of sound, and Xiang Qian proposed a simulated combat test between Pietro and Tony’s armor.

Tony tested his Mark 43 Prototype by provoking Pietro into a speed challenge, while Xiang Qian stayed beside Wanda as she confronted her complicated feelings about Tony Stark. The chapter ended with Wanda and Xiang Qian laughing together over her suggestion to strip Tony’s armor before throwing him off the roof.

• Tony and Xiang Qian agreed to distract Pietro from guarding Wanda by challenging his speed.
• Tony arrived at the testing ground in an unfinished Skeleton Armor and explained he wanted to test both Pietro’s speed and the armor.
• Pietro struck Tony’s armor with a barbell, then rushed back for another attack, but Tony disrupted his balance with a shockwave.
• Tony taunted Pietro and tracked his movements with the armor’s systems while criticizing his predictable tactics.
• Xiang Qian asked Wanda how she felt about facing Tony, and Wanda asked whether they could strip off his armor before throwing him off the roof.
• Wanda and Xiang Qian looked at each other and laughed freely.

Wanda used Chaos Magic to overpower Tony during a test, then confronted him with the deaths of her parents in a bombing by a Stark Industries missile. Tony accepted responsibility for the weapons produced under his leadership, leaving the two of them facing the consequences of his company’s role in her family’s loss.

• Tony used Jarvis and the Mark armor to counter Pietro’s erratic speed, but Wanda’s Chaos Magic disabled the armor and lifted it into the air.
• Wanda crushed the armor’s thrusters and let it fall, then caught it before it hit the ground and returned it to the rooftop.
• Wanda told Tony that a Stark Industries missile had destroyed her home during the Sokovian Civil War, killing her parents and trapping her and Pietro under the ruins for three days.
• Tony apologized and acknowledged that, as Stark Industries’ leader and a major beneficiary of its weapons division, he bore responsibility for the damage it caused.

Xiang Qian helped Tony let go of his guilt over Sergeant Barnes, then revealed that he had allowed the Spear Bureau to locate Afterlife. Jiaying confronted him over the government’s notice requiring the Inhumans to register, and the chapter ended with her furious at his betrayal.

• Xiang Qian and Tony drank together and discussed how Xiang Qian had used Jiaying’s situation to help Tony stop blaming Sergeant Barnes for the Maximoff family’s tragedy.
• Pepper arrived and reminded Tony to attend Happy’s birthday party; Xiang Qian gave her an expensive bottle for Happy and declined to go because he had entered the country illegally.
• Xiang Qian and Pepper discussed how Tony had comforted him after Mary and Howard’s deaths, while Tony later recalled that their friendship had helped them both through grief.
• Tony told Pepper that Happy’s birthday party might include a casting session for a movie he had invested in.
• Jiaying confronted Xiang Qian with a notice requiring Afterlife residents to register, and Xiang Qian admitted the Spear Bureau had tracked the Inhumans to their settlement.
• Xiang Qian explained that his security ties, Gordon’s detention, and the Inhuman stowaway routes had helped expose Afterlife’s location, leaving Jiaying furious with him.

Afterlife’s exposure left Skye worried that she had betrayed her people, but Xiang Qian reassured her and received the Inhuman transformation catalyst she had secretly taken. He warned Zheng Xian that Jiaying posed a serious threat, leaving the Spear Bureau director to consider how cautiously to handle Afterlife.

• Xiang Qian told Jiaying that Afterlife’s location had been exposed, and Skye worried that sharing information about Inhuman transformation made her a traitor.
• Xiang Qian explained that Skye’s information could help the Spear Bureau trace a lethal catalyst and protect ordinary people from exposure.
• Skye gave Xiang Qian a tube of the transformation catalyst, which she had secretly taken from Afterlife, and said Zheng Xian had asked her to obtain it.
• Xiang Qian sent Zheng Xian the catalyst and argued with him about recruiting Skye, whose independence and initiative Zheng praised.
• Xiang Qian told Zheng Xian that Jiaying should be watched because she controlled a supply of a deadly substance and was hostile toward intelligence agencies.
• Zheng Xian asked whether the Spear Bureau should avoid rushing into Afterlife’s affairs and becoming a target in the fallout from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Xiang Qian bargained with Zheng Xian for drone payments and assistance bringing foreign researchers to China, then warned him that Nick Fury might be gathering missing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, equipment, and funds. Xiang Qian also asked Zheng Xian to let Shen Ran enter China to seek his father’s body in the Himalayas, and explained that the Nian Beast had taken Ran Shen there.

• Xiang Qian proposed using modified high-altitude drones to locate stockpiles of the mutagenic substance, and demanded payment for the units.
• Zheng Xian agreed to guarantee entry for foreign researchers with legal troubles and supervise their assessment in exchange for the drone purchase being placed on his tab.
• Xiang Qian told Zheng Xian that missing S.H.I.E.L.D. funds and weapons might have been gathered alongside agents who had no ties to Hydra, including Phil Coulson; Zheng Xian vowed to stop Nick Fury if he entered the Spear Bureau’s territory.
• Xiang Qian asked Zheng Xian to let Shen Ran enter China, and said Shen Ran planned to cross into the Himalayas to find his father’s body.
• Xiang Qian explained that the Nian Beast had carried Ran Shen’s body to its Himalayan hibernation site after Ran Shen died, and that Ran Shen had likely sought it out to gain power for revenge.

Shen Ran accompanied Xiang Qian and three of his father’s old associates to retrieve his father’s remains from an underground cave where the Nian Beast had been sealed. Xiang Qian stayed behind, fought the still-living Nian Beast, and later learned that Raina, a woman connected to an organization with Hydra ties, was flying to Hong Kong to find him.

• Xiang Qian led Shen Ran and the three old men through a hidden passage to the underground chamber where the Nian Beast had once been sealed.
• The group found Shen Ran’s father’s mummified body, and Shen Ran described how his father’s troubles had derailed his life.
• Xiang Qian sent Shen Ran and the others away, then confronted the supposedly dead Nian Beast and attacked it as the cave shook violently.
• Shen Ran and his companions emerged to find Spear Bureau agents and border guards aiming weapons at them; Xiang Qian later emerged and said the Nian Beast had died for good.
• On the helicopter, Shen Ran told Xiang Qian that Raina had worked for a research organization tied to Hydra and had focused on finding Inhumans.
• Shen Ran revealed that Raina had boarded a flight from New York to Hong Kong and intended to find Xiang Qian.

Raina met Xiang Qian to ask for help finding the Inhumans and joining them, offering Hydra research and S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets in exchange. Xiang Qian agreed to consider how to welcome Coulson, then pointed out that the current S.H.I.E.L.D. was illegal.

• Raina admitted she was not a business representative and said she needed Xiang Qian's help contacting the Inhumans.
• Raina revealed she had Hydra research information and knew that Nick Fury had passed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s core secrets to Coulson.
• Raina explained that she wanted to join the Inhumans, and that she had tested herself by switching her genes with an Inhuman girl's.
• Raina said Hydra had been interested in the Inhumans for ages and that the organization might predate recorded human civilization.
• Raina revealed she had traced Calvin Zabo to Wude Group before he disappeared, and Xiang Qian agreed to consider how to welcome Coulson.
• Raina proposed luring S.H.I.E.L.D. to Hong Kong and capturing Coulson, but Xiang Qian reminded her that S.H.I.E.L.D. was illegal.

Xiang Qian ambushed Coulson and his team in Hong Kong before they could reach the Coliseum to find Raina, then questioned Coulson about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s investigation. Coulson revealed Garrett’s connection to Gideon Malick, but after Xiang Qian handed him Raina’s information, Xiang Qian refused to let the team leave and hinted that he would hand them over outside Hong Kong.

• Coulson ordered his agents to find Raina at the Coliseum, but Hong Kong police surrounded their cars before they arrived.
• Xiang Qian used the car radio to play back the agents’ conversation and forced Coulson’s team to surrender their weapons and meet him.
• Xiang Qian questioned Coulson about Raina and offered to trade her information for what S.H.I.E.L.D. had learned about Garrett.
• Xiang Qian demonstrated that snipers were trained on the group, and Coulson revealed Garrett’s connection to Gideon Malick.
• Xiang Qian gave Coulson a document containing Raina’s information, then said he would not let the team leave because he could hand them over to law enforcement elsewhere.

Xiang Qian handed Coulson over to Zheng Xian, who negotiated his release along with Fitz and Simmons, while the last trace of the Nian Beast vanished. After the S.H.I.E.L.D. team left Hong Kong, Xiang Qian prepared to fulfill his deal with Raina but warned her that becoming an Inhuman could bring disastrous mutations.

• Zheng Xian dragged Coulson into the café's back room while Spear Bureau agents blocked Agent May and the others.
• Xiang Qian reassured Raina that he would not hand her over, and the last remnant of the Nian Beast disappeared into his body.
• Coulson emerged after negotiating with Zheng Xian, and Fitz and Simmons reunited with him beside Xiang Qian's concealed Iron Man armor.
• Zheng Xian explained that Coulson had paid a price for his release and that he still needed him to eliminate Hydra's remnants.
• Xiang Qian told Raina he would honor their deal, then warned her that Inhuman transformation could cause severe, useless mutations.

Xiang Qian brought Raina to Afterlife to seek her transformation, and negotiated with Jiaying by offering to release Gordon. As Raina began the painful process, Xiang Qian watched closely for research while telling Jiaying that Skye planned to join the Spear Bureau and should avoid breaking the law.

• Xiang Qian brought Raina to Afterlife, where Jiaying and Lincoln Campbell met them and Jiaying refused to arrange Raina’s transformation.
• Jiaying explained that only 637 Inhumans had transformed in Afterlife, mostly to prevent genetic collapse, but Xiang Qian offered to release Gordon in exchange for her help.
• Jiaying agreed to transform Raina and ordered Xiang Qian and Raina to leave Afterlife afterward, while insisting the village remained wary of outsiders.
• Raina entered the sealed transformation room, and Xiang Qian stayed to observe the process and gather firsthand information.
• As black mist and hardened fluid encased Raina, Xiang Qian told Jiaying that Daisy planned to take the civil service exam and warned her not to break the law for Skye’s future.

Xiang Qian argued with Jiaying about Daisy choosing to join the Spear Bureau, then waited as Raina's transformation began to emerge. After responding to an emergency at the Hong Kong laboratory, he learned that three nonhuman intruders were trying to reach a captive Kree woman.

• Xiang Qian told Jiaying that Daisy had joined the Spear Bureau because she liked the work, and Jiaying angrily confronted him about his relationship with her daughter.
• As Raina's black outer shell cracked away, Xiang Qian and Jiaying saw that her body was covered in dense black spikes and discussed helping her adjust to her transformation.
• Xiang Qian used his Electronic Bracelet to release Gordon from the Kunlun Mountains prison and return him unharmed to Afterlife.
• An emergency signal from the Hong Kong laboratory prompted Xiang Qian to open a portal there, leaving Jiaying behind in Afterlife.
• Xiang Qian learned that three intruders had killed the outer guards and were trying to reach the captive blue-skinned Kree woman; the security chief reported that they did not appear human.

Xiang Qian defeated three strange intruders at the laboratory and identified them as a new kind of Undead Ninja created by The Hand. He suspected their underground activities in Manhattan involved a fallen Sacred Beast, but realized the attack may have been aimed at Supergiant, leaving him to wonder whether Thanos was behind it.

• Xiang Qian arrived at the laboratory and saw three inhuman intruders whose bodies leaked blackish-red fluid and whose blades had cut the blast door.
• Xiang Qian fought the intruders, killed them by disrupting their energy forms, and recognized them as The Hand's Undead Ninjas.
• Xiang Qian examined a recovered kodachi and found it contained two unknown metals, then asked Shen Ran to investigate The Hand.
• Shen Ran reported that The Hand had paid unusually large sums to silence complaints about tremors beneath its Manhattan headquarters, and Xiang Qian ordered closer surveillance.
• Xiang Qian searched records about a fallen Sacred Beast buried beneath New York and suspected The Hand's construction might be connected to its remains.
• Xiang Qian realized the intruders may have targeted Supergiant, the Kree captive, and wondered whether Thanos was involved.