Recaps

Xiang Qian visited a remote monastery and discovered that its priests communicated with the Archangel Uriel, but Uriel could not answer his questions about souls or God. After Mephisto secretly met with Uriel, Xiang Qian received Johnny Blaze’s signal and headed toward Danny, unaware that Carrigan and Sylph were also converging on the boy.

• Xiang Qian forced the bishop to lead him into the monastery’s inner sanctum, where he identified a statue of Uriel and learned that the priests had been taught angelic writings by the archangel.
• Uriel recognized Xiang Qian as a soul from another world but would not answer his questions about God, the angels, or the Soul Realm.
• Uriel explained that Hellfire came from God’s wrath and had been tainted and stolen by demons, while Xiang Qian challenged his account of Heaven and Hell before leaving.
• Mephisto appeared before the statue and reminded Uriel that he would return the Spirit of Vengeance’s power so Uriel could wield the Blade of God and restore faith in Heaven.
• Xiang Qian received Johnny Blaze’s location signal and drove toward Danny, while Carrigan’s fleeing gang and Sylph’s Wild Pack headed for the same destination.

Xiang Qian and Johnny Blaze helped Sylph’s mercenaries escape Carrigan and met Nadia and Danny, whom Xiang planned to take to Kamar-Taj for protection. As Danny sensed the Devil’s arrival, a middle-aged man in a grayish-white suit appeared.

• Carrigan attacked the Wild Pack at a gas station, killing mercenaries until Johnny Blaze arrived as the Ghost Rider and fought him.
• Sylph ordered her people to retreat with Nadia and Danny, then called Xiang Qian for help.
• Xiang Qian met the fleeing mercenaries and told Nadia he intended to protect Danny from the Devil.
• The mercenaries mistook the approaching Ghost Rider for an enemy and opened fire, but Xiang persuaded Sylph to order a ceasefire.
• Johnny Blaze revealed his human face and joined Xiang, who explained that he would take Nadia and Danny to Kamar-Taj for safety.
• Danny broke away from his mother and announced that the Devil had arrived, as a middle-aged man in a grayish-white suit appeared.

Xiang Qian fought the archdevil Locke in the Mirror Dimension while Mephisto used Danny’s body to launch a surprise attack. Mephisto stripped the Spirit of Vengeance from Johnny Blaze, leaving Xiang Qian facing a new threat and an unexplained secret about Johnny’s Spirit.

• Xiang Qian sent Sylph and the Wild Pack away, then drew Locke and the hellish creatures into the Mirror Dimension to keep the town safe.
• Xiang Qian repelled Locke’s monsters and fought the archdevil’s attempts to summon reinforcements and overwhelm him with magic, while Johnny Blaze used the Ghost Rider’s Hellfire to destroy the flying creatures.
• Xiang Qian recognized Locke as Mephisto’s pawn and anticipated Mephisto’s arrival, but Mephisto appeared in Danny’s body and attacked him.
• Mephisto struck Johnny Blaze with a mental assault, pulled the Hellfire out of him, and left him unconscious in his human form.
• Mephisto told Xiang Qian that the Spirit of Vengeance within Johnny Blaze was different from the others.

Mephisto revealed that Johnny Blaze’s Ghost Rider contained the Demon Lord Zarathos, then used Zarathos, Locke, and Danny to overwhelm Xiang Qian. Death intervened to force Xiang Qian to unleash the Soul Universe, but Eternity countered Her attack, leaving Xiang Qian and Mephisto as the battleground for the two Creator Gods.

• Mephisto revealed Zarathos’s history and explained that Johnny Blaze was his destined host through the Blaze Family’s inherited curse.
• Mephisto regained control of the Spirit of Vengeance inside Johnny and awakened Zarathos, whose flames attacked Xiang Qian while Locke and Danny pressed him.
• Death spoke through Danny and empowered the attackers, demanding that Xiang Qian unleash the Soul Universe.
• Eternity gathered Xiang Qian’s power from points across his past and future, allowing him to block the combined assault.
• Death and Eternity clashed through Xiang Qian and Mephisto before Death withdrew, warning Xiang Qian that he remained trapped.
• Mephisto resumed speaking without remembering Death’s intervention, and Xiang Qian felt pity for him.

Xiang Qian and Jean Grey defeated Mephisto’s scheme, saved Danny from being taken to Hell, and returned Zarathos’s power to Johnny Blaze. Mephisto’s threat ended when Magik Rasputin attacked his true body in Limbo and the Ancient One sealed him into sleep.

• Jean Grey arrived in the Mirror Dimension and consumed Zarathos’s soul with the Phoenix fire, forcing Mephisto to withdraw from Danny’s body.
• Xiang Qian defeated Locke and learned that Mephisto had created him as a Devil Embryo; Jean then returned Zarathos’s remaining power to Johnny Blaze.
• Johnny Blaze woke, and Mephisto tried to leave with Danny, threatening to kill the boy and send his soul to Hell.
• Xiang Qian revealed that the Ancient One had traveled to Limbo, where Magik Rasputin had stabbed Mephisto’s true body with her Knight’s Sword.
• The Ancient One trapped Mephisto’s path back to his projection and put him to sleep after Magik Rasputin pierced his true body’s head.

After Mephisto’s defeat, Xiang Qian confronted Archangel Uriel over his secret cooperation with the Hell Lord. Uriel could not offer angels as compensation, but agreed to give Xiang Qian permanent passage between Heaven and Hell.

• Johnny Blaze set off for his hometown after Zarathos’s power passed to him, leaving him in full control of Ghost Rider.
• Ancient One took Nadia and Danny to Kamar-Taj, while Jean Grey teleported away with Magik.
• Xiang Qian left the Mirror Dimension and drove to the Sanctuary monastery to confront Uriel about his alliance with Mephisto.
• Xiang Qian swept the armed priests into free fall, seized the bishop, and summoned Uriel through the wooden angel statue.
• Uriel refused to give Xiang Qian angels as attendants, so Xiang Qian demanded permanent right of passage between Heaven and Hell.
• Uriel agreed to Xiang Qian’s demand.

After the Rising Tide’s breach of S.H.I.E.L.D. left Skye on the run, Nick Fury worried about the hackers’ interest in Howard Stark’s death while Tony Stark’s revived Expo drew public attention. Xiang Qian returned from Hell without locating the Soul Forge, as Ivan Vanko advanced his plan to kill Tony.

• Skye recalled how S.H.I.E.L.D. hunted the Rising Tide, captured two of its members, and left her fleeing with her identity files mysteriously erased.
• Nick Fury suspected Tony Stark and Xiang Qian were behind the hack but found no evidence, and considered placing agents near Tony.
• Stark Industries announced the return of the Stark Expo, leaving Pepper Potts to manage the preparations while Tony retreated to his lab.
• Ivan Vanko completed a crude, miniaturized Arc Reactor as he pursued revenge against Tony Stark.
• Xiang Qian returned to Kamar-Taj, where Wong warned him to wash off the smell of Hell and asked about his search for the Soul Forge.
• Xiang Qian told Wong that Hell’s creatures knew of the Soul Forge but could not identify its location.

Xiang Qian rescued Skye from S.H.I.E.L.D. and returned the files she had stolen, then told her what he had learned about her origins. Skye learned she had been the sole survivor of an attack on a Myanmar refugee camp, while her parents’ fates remained unknown.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Sitwell’s team raided Skye’s motel room but found that she had already escaped.
• Xiang Qian drove Skye away in a borrowed truck and explained that he had come to find her before S.H.I.E.L.D. did.
• Xiang Qian returned Skye’s stolen information on a USB drive and admitted that he had read the files.
• Xiang Qian told Skye that her father, Dr. Calvin Jansen, had worked at a Myanmar refugee camp and that she had been born around the end of 1989.
• Xiang Qian explained that an armed group attacked the camp in 1990, leaving Calvin missing and Skye’s mother’s fate unknown.
• Skye realized she was the baby S.H.I.E.L.D. had found as the only survivor and curled up crying in the passenger seat.

Xiang Qian told Skye how S.H.I.E.L.D. had protected her after her parents disappeared and explained his family's connection to her childhood. As Agent Sitwell leaked her identity to help locate her, Xiang Qian took Skye from the beach to somewhere safe.

• Xiang Qian told Skye that S.H.I.E.L.D. had failed to discover what happened to her parents and that his parents had cared for her briefly as a baby.
• Xiang Qian explained that unknown attackers had pursued Skye, prompting S.H.I.E.L.D. to move her between foster families and erase the outside records.
• Skye broke down over believing her foster families had rejected her, and Xiang Qian comforted her until she fell asleep against him.
• Agent Sitwell discovered Skye's identity as Daisy Jansen and ordered her real name and photo circulated as someone with information about the case.
• Skye woke on the beach, and Xiang Qian told her they needed to go somewhere safe.

Xiang Qian arranged for Skye to leave the United States for Hong Kong after S.H.I.E.L.D. exposed her identity, then revealed that he had lied about his connection to Tony Stark and showed her his true face. Skye recognized him as James Zion and was still furious with him as the plane continued toward Hong Kong.

• Xiang Qian told Skye that S.H.I.E.L.D. had circulated an alert revealing her background and warned that her pursuers could find her.
• Xiang Qian decided to take Skye to Hong Kong and called Tony to arrange quiet passage on a Stark Industries plane.
• After the plane left U.S. airspace, Xiang Qian admitted that Tony had helped fund and equip the S.H.I.E.L.D. data theft, angering Skye.
• Xiang Qian revealed that his real name was Xiang Qian and that his parents were Xiang Yang and Min Niang, and he removed his Nano Mask.
• Skye recognized Xiang Qian as James Zion, praised his public achievements, and called him a Playboy, heartbreaker, and scumbag.

As the Stark Expo opened, Xiang Qian teased Pepper and Tony while watching Tony boast about Iron Man, then encountered a government agent delivering Tony a Senate subpoena. The subpoena disrupted Tony’s plans and set up a government hearing over the Iron Man Armor.

• Xiang Qian watched Tony make a flashy Iron Man entrance at the Stark Expo and teased Pepper about Tony rehearsing with the dancers.
• Tony gave a boastful speech, and Xiang Qian joked with Pepper about shooting him before they left the venue early.
• Pepper told Xiang Qian that Tony had invited him to Stark Industries, while Xiang Qian discussed his new board seat and the growing business partnership between Stark Industries and the Wude Group.
• Xiang Qian sat in Tony’s sports car and teased a government agent who was waiting to see Tony, then Tony arrived and asked to drive the car.
• The woman delivered Tony a subpoena ordering him to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Xiang Qian left them to deal with it.

Xiang Qian watched Tony Stark defeat the effort to seize his Iron Man technology at a Senate hearing, then met Tony and Pepper at Stark Industries, where he recognized Pepper’s new assistant, Natalie Rushman, as someone whose identity he knew. The chapter ended with Xiang Qian confronting Natalie in an elevator and demanding a reason not to expose her to Tony.

• Xiang Qian watched Tony outmaneuver Senator Stern and Justin Hammer at the hearing, while Colonel Rhodes backed Tony and Tony exposed Hammer’s secret dealings through hacked video footage.
• Xiang Qian told the prosecutor that energy companies might be behind the attempt to seize Iron Man’s technology, then spent the afternoon with Tony, Happy, and Pepper at Stark Industries.
• Natalie Rushman arrived with a document for Pepper, and Tony tried to make her his assistant after checking her information on his laptop.
• Natalie used a leg-scissors takedown to defeat Happy in the boxing ring, then Pepper sent her to escort Xiang Qian out.
• Xiang Qian recognized Natalie’s fighting ability and name, then demanded that she give him a reason not to reveal her identity to Tony before the elevator reached the ground floor.

Xiang Qian pressured Natalie about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mission at Stark Industries and agreed to hear Nick Fury's explanation the next morning. When Fury sent Maria Hill instead, Xiang Qian learned he was responding to a dangerous incident at Culver University, then began making advances on Hill as she tried to explain the mission.

• Natalie told Xiang Qian that Fury would explain S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operation the next morning, and Xiang Qian demanded to know her mission at Stark Industries.
• Natalie said Fury had tasked her with monitoring Tony Stark's health, including the effects of palladium poisoning, and Xiang Qian agreed to wait for Fury.
• Maria Hill arrived in Fury's place and explained that he had gone to Culver University after a dangerous individual caused a major disturbance there.
• Xiang Qian watched footage of a huge creature at Culver University and learned from Hill that it could devastate a city block in ten minutes.
• Xiang Qian flirted with Hill and pinned her in her chair as she began explaining why S.H.I.E.L.D. was monitoring Stark.

Natalie delivered a phone sample and draft partnership contract from Stark Industries to Xiang Qian, but he revealed the documents were merely an excuse to bring her to the Wude Group. He explained that Pepper Potts had arranged the visit to enforce an old agreement between him and Tony Stark, leaving Natalie realizing Pepper had outmaneuvered her.

• Maria Hill left the Wude Group office and found Natalie waiting in her car with a phone sample and draft contract for a Stark Industries–Wude Group partnership.
• Natalie teased Hill about spending the afternoon with Xiang Qian, then left to see him after Hill challenged her about missing him.
• Natalie met Xiang Qian, who said Nick Fury's meeting had been postponed until the next day and that Hill had gained him another twenty-four hours.
• Xiang Qian explained that the phone and paper contract were excuses to bring Natalie to the Wude Group, since both companies could handle the partnership securely through their networks.
• Xiang Qian revealed that he and Tony Stark had agreed to keep their distance from women who had slept with the other and to warn each other about ulterior motives.
• Natalie realized Pepper Potts had used the visit to tell Tony about her time with Xiang Qian, and Xiang Qian warned her that Pepper was skilled at driving away rivals.

Nick Fury monitored the Hulk and decided to arrange a reunion between Bruce Banner and Mr. Blue while investigating who had exposed Banner’s location. After Black Widow left Xiang Qian’s office, Fury confronted Xiang Qian, who warned him not to target Tony Stark or Stark Industries.

• Xiang Qian and Black Widow spent the night together after he persuaded her to stay, and she left his office before morning.
• Nick Fury and Agent Coulson watched the Hulk calm down when a woman comforted him and decided to approach Banner through Mr. Blue rather than the Hulk.
• Fury ordered Coulson to arrange a reunion between Banner and Mr. Blue and investigate whether someone had deliberately exposed Banner’s hiding place to General Ross.
• Fury planned to make S.H.I.E.L.D. appear to withdraw from the Hulk situation while leaving evidence that blamed the military.
• Black Widow left the Wood Group office and returned to her undercover role at Stark Industries while Xiang Qian watched her go.
• Nick Fury visited Xiang Qian, and Xiang Qian threatened him if he made trouble for Tony or Stark Industries.

Xiang Qian challenged Nick Fury’s motives for investigating Howard Stark’s death and refused to trust S.H.I.E.L.D. with the truth. Days later, Tony revealed that Natalie had given him Howard’s film reel and invited Xiang Qian to Monaco, while confirming he was serious about a plan he had not told Pepper.

• Nick Fury admitted he had used Natalie’s placement at Stark Industries as an excuse to speak with Xiang Qian and asked about Tony’s palladium poisoning.
• Nick Fury proposed working together to investigate Howard’s death, but Xiang Qian questioned S.H.I.E.L.D.’s involvement and whether Fury would punish the guilty once the truth emerged.
• Xiang Qian warned Nick Fury to remove Natalie from Stark Industries because her presence had made people uneasy.
• Tony told Xiang Qian that Natalie was a high-level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and that she had given him Howard’s technical documents before leaving.
• Tony invited Xiang Qian to Monaco and insisted he was serious about a plan he had previously suggested, while Xiang Qian warned him that Pepper would be angry.

Xiang Qian tried to keep Tony Stark safe during the Monaco Grand Prix, where a whip-wielding attacker deliberately targeted him. Tony survived with help from Xiang Qian, Happy, and Pepper, and the chapter ended with him unveiling the portable Mark Armor.

• Xiang Qian arrived in Monaco and tried to dodge Pepper Potts's anger after Tony Stark entered the Grand Prix despite his palladium poisoning.
• Xiang Qian watched Tony fall to the back of the pack, then hurried toward the circuit when a hulking attacker wrecked cars with a Plasma Whip and targeted Tony.
• Xiang Qian and a bodyguard set up Electromagnetic Rifles in the stands and shot the attacker, disrupting his equipment long enough for Tony to recover.
• Tony mocked the attacker, but the Plasma Whip restarted, forcing Tony and the security guards to dodge its strikes.
• Happy rammed the attacker with a car, but the attacker recovered and sliced off its doors as Pepper threw Tony a metal case.
• Tony donned the portable Mark Armor and made its official debut.

After Tony defeated Ivan Vanko at the racetrack, he learned that Ivan had attacked him over a family dispute involving the Arc Reactor. Xiang Qian and Pepper discussed Tony’s transformation, while Tony and Xiang Qian recognized that the old conflict between their fathers would not change their friendship.

• Tony put on the Mark Armor, defeated the attacker, and watched security staff take him away as Xiang Qian slipped off unnoticed.
• Tony insisted on visiting the police station because he recognized the attacker’s power source as an Arc Reactor, then left with Happy while Xiang Qian stayed with Pepper.
• Pepper admitted that Tony’s life as Iron Man unsettled her, and Xiang Qian comforted her by pointing out that Tony still had familiar habits.
• Tony returned and told Xiang Qian that the attacker was Ivan Vanko, whose father Anton had worked with Howard Stark on the Arc Reactor prototype.
• Tony explained that Howard had reported Anton, leading to Anton’s deportation and his family’s exile, and Xiang Qian called Ivan’s revenge a grudge inherited from their fathers.

After Ivan Vanko supposedly died in a Monaco prison fire, Xiang Qian and Tony learned that Justin Hammer had rescued him and began questioning who was behind the move. They also discussed a senator’s renewed pressure on Tony to surrender the Mark Armor technology, leaving Xiang Qian suspicious that the senator wanted more than the armor.

• Xiang Qian and Tony agreed that Ivan Vanko remained a threat, then left Monaco and monitored events from home.
• A week later, Xiang Qian learned that Ivan Vanko had supposedly died in a prison fire and explosion, while he and Tony traded jokes about rumors blaming Tony.
• Xiang Qian revealed that his people had tracked Ivan Vanko to an airfield outside Marseille and identified Justin Hammer as the man who had rescued him.
• Tony agreed to monitor Hammer’s private flights while Xiang Qian’s people tracked Ivan Vanko’s movements.
• Tony told Xiang Qian that a senator had used Ivan Vanko’s technology as an excuse to pressure him into handing over the Mark Armor technology.
• Xiang Qian pointed out that the senator was ignoring Ivan Vanko, and he and Tony wondered whether the senator’s real goal was something beyond the Mark Armor.

Nick Fury investigated the military’s role in Ivan Vanko’s escape and learned that the EMP bullets used in the attack were linked to James Zion’s weapon. At S.H.I.E.L.D.’s lab, Dr. Fitz explained that the rifle’s chief obstacle was its power supply, which would ideally need performance approaching Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor.

• Coulson told Nick Fury that military intelligence had helped a private security company take Ivan Vanko from prison, and that Vanko had boarded a military plane in Marseille.
• Nick Fury ordered Coulson to monitor Hammer Industries’ finances and production lines while avoiding close scrutiny of the military.
• Coulson showed Nick Fury a Stark Expo booklet linking the EMP Rifle to the Wude Group, and explained that the weapon appeared designed to disable Iron Man armor.
• Nick Fury learned that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s researchers had failed to replicate the rifle because of problems with power supply and materials.
• Dr. Fitz explained that a practical EMP weapon required an enormous, instant power output, and agreed with Nick Fury that Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor was the closest theoretical solution.

After S.H.I.E.L.D. learned it could not reproduce the Electromagnetic Rifle, Nick Fury recognized it as Xiang Qian’s warning against the spread of Mark Armor technology and negotiated with Zheng Xian to prevent an arms race. The deal covered Mark Armor, pulse weapons, and Ivan Vanko’s technology, while Zheng Xian reminded Fury that his past bargain had cost him Xiang Qian’s friendship.

• Dr. Fitz told Nick Fury that S.H.I.E.L.D. lacked the materials and expertise to reproduce the Electromagnetic Rifle, which James Zion alone could make.
• Nick Fury called Xiang Qian three times without an answer, then contacted Zheng Xian, who confirmed that Xiang Qian had deliberately left the bullets as a warning.
• Nick Fury concluded that Xiang Qian meant to deter the United States from deploying Mark Armor by threatening to spread pulse weapons that could cripple electronic military systems.
• Zheng Xian asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to monitor groups seeking Mark Armor technology, and Nick Fury agreed to a deal against Mark Armor deployment and pulse-weapon proliferation.
• Nick Fury and Zheng Xian included Ivan Vanko’s technology in their agreement, and Zheng Xian reminded Fury that his past deal with the CIA had cost him Xiang Qian’s friendship.

Xiang Qian investigated the man claiming to be Skye’s father and found that he was likely Calvin Jansen, but Calvin’s violent behavior and a drug injection revealed another persona calling himself Mr. Hyde. As Mr. Hyde attacked Xiang Qian, Skye arrived and shouted for him to stop.

• Nick Fury ended his call with Zheng Xian, then ordered Agent Romanoff to approach Justin Hammer.
• Xiang Qian learned that a man claiming to be Skye’s father had attacked security and went to Hong Kong to investigate.
• Skye asked Xiang Qian whether the man was truly her father, and Xiang Qian suggested they confirm it by meeting him.
• Calvin Jansen barged into Xiang Qian’s company, where security brought him to a reception room to meet Skye.
• Calvin grew enraged, flipped a heavy desk, and revealed that he had injected himself with a substance before declaring himself Mr. Hyde.
• Mr. Hyde swept the desk aside and punched at Xiang Qian, but Skye shouted for him to stop.

Xiang Qian subdued Calvin and trapped Gordon, an eyeless teleporter, in a Mirror Dimension after Gordon appeared to seize Skye. Gordon identified himself but refused to reveal who he worked for, and his disdainful reaction to Xiang Qian’s question left Xiang Qian wondering what kind of being he was.

• Xiang Qian kicked Calvin into a wall, and Skye rushed in to check on him after Calvin took an unknown strength-enhancing drug.
• A white, eyeless man teleported behind Skye, but Xiang Qian separated him from her by trapping him in a Mirror Dimension.
• Calvin charged at Xiang Qian again, and Xiang Qian trapped him in a separate Mirror Dimension before explaining that the space was magic.
• Xiang Qian entered Gordon’s Mirror Dimension and introduced himself as James Zion, while Gordon gave his name but stayed silent about who he worked for.
• Xiang Qian asked Gordon whether his teleportation was innate and whether he was a mutant, and Gordon’s disdainful reaction convinced Xiang Qian that he was not one.

Xiang Qian took Gordon to an underground laboratory to test his supernatural abilities before turning him over to the Spear Bureau. Back at the Hong Kong branch, he told Skye that Miles had joined the FBI, leaving her shaken by the news.

• Xiang Qian moved Gordon to a hidden laboratory beneath the Kunlun Mountains and warned that he could not teleport away.
• Gordon tried to escape, suffered intense pain, and was restrained while Xiang Qian drew blood for testing.
• Xiang Qian returned to the Hong Kong branch, where Skye asked whether she could learn magic.
• Xiang Qian explained that magic required natural talent and warned Skye not to respond if Miles contacted her.
• Xiang Qian told Skye that Miles had accepted an FBI recruitment offer to avoid prosecution, and Skye struggled to accept the news.

After Calvin's violent outburst, Xiang Qian arranged for him to be sent to the Five Elements Laboratory for treatment, while Skye secretly flew to New York to find Miles. Xiang Qian tracked her communications, and Skye discovered Miles had been working with the FBI before agents confronted her.

• Calvin's rage in the Mirror Dimension forced Xiang Qian to remove Skye, and Calvin eventually exhausted himself and fell asleep.
• Xiang Qian told Skye that Calvin needed treatment and drug analysis at the Five Elements Laboratory, and Calvin was secretly sent to the mainland.
• Xiang Qian traced Skye's coded messages to Harlem and realized she was trying to reach Miles, while Skye left Hong Kong without informing her security team.
• Skye arrived in New York and confronted Miles, who admitted that he had accepted the FBI's offer and was contacting members of The Rising Tide for them.
• Two suited agents approached Skye and said she was on the investigation list of every U.S. law enforcement agency and had to come with them.