Recaps

Palmer ran into the rain after Stephen hurt her, but Apocalypse comforted her and gave her records about Jonathan Pangborn. The records showed that Jonathan had recovered from paralysis, prompting Stephen to call him and investigate.

• Palmer ran from Stephen into the rain, where Apocalypse appeared and offered to beat Stephen up for her.
• Apocalypse gave Palmer documents about Jonathan Pangborn, and Palmer returned inside to throw them at Stephen.
• Stephen read that Jonathan had been paralyzed with crippled hands but later recovered and played basketball.
• Stephen questioned Palmer about the records, and Apocalypse urged him to verify Jonathan’s recovery himself.
• Stephen found Jonathan’s number in the records and called him.

Stephen pursued a cure for his injuries by planning to travel to Kamar-Taj, while Apocalypse arranged for Jonathan to guide him. After Palmer joined Stephen on the journey, Apocalypse returned her broken watch to him, revealing why he had searched for it.

• Stephen and Palmer examined Jonathan and learned that mysterious energy had helped heal him, and Jonathan explained how to find Kamar-Taj.
• Stephen tried to book a flight but discovered he had no money and had pawned his watches, so Palmer lent him a credit card and left in hurt.
• Stephen searched the car accident site for Palmer’s watch, unaware Apocalypse had retrieved it from the river.
• Apocalypse convinced Palmer to accompany Stephen to Nepal, and she boarded the plane with him and Apocalypse.
• Apocalypse showed Palmer an edited video of Stephen searching for the watch, then returned the broken watch to Stephen, prompting Palmer to apologize for misunderstanding him.

Apocalypse brought Stephen and Palmer to Kamar-Taj, where the Ancient One began Stephen’s training by revealing the multiverse to him. As Stephen asked to be taught, Apocalypse glimpsed the Ancient One’s hidden dark power.

• Apocalypse reunited Stephen and Palmer with Baron Mordo in Kathmandu, and Mordo led them to Kamar-Taj.
• The Ancient One noted that Palmer’s presence had changed the timeline, and Apocalypse explained that he had intervened so she and Stephen could remain together.
• Stephen asked whether magic could heal his hands, and the Ancient One sent his soul through visions of the multiverse to test his understanding.
• Stephen returned convinced and begged the Ancient One to teach him, while Apocalypse helped Palmer see his soul form.
• Apocalypse sensed the dark power hidden within the Ancient One, who noticed his scrutiny and asked what he had seen.

Apocalypse discussed the Ancient One’s sacrifices, Earth’s strange importance, and the possibility of an ultimate supreme being with her. The Ancient One gave him no solution to the Celestial threat, accepted his potion, and arranged for Stephen and the others to begin training the next day.

• Apocalypse recognized the Ancient One’s thousand years of protecting Earth, and she reflected that fame and power often created new conflicts.
• Apocalypse asked the Ancient One about the Celestial gestating in Earth’s core, but she said her visions had become unclear and offered no solution.
• Apocalypse gave the Ancient One a Purple Recovery Potion, which she accepted after he said he had more for Stephen if needed.
• Apocalypse asked why Earth drew so many cosmic threats, and the Ancient One said a previous Sorcerer Supreme had suspected a connection to an ultimate supreme being.
• The Ancient One sent Mordo to arrange rooms and begin training the next day, and Mordo gave the bewildered Stephen and Palmer the Wi-Fi password.

Apocalypse demonstrated extraordinary magical power while Stephen struggled to produce even a spark, despite the Ancient One saying his talent was the highest among the disciples. The chapter ended with Apocalypse introducing Stephen to the concept of the Knowledge Barrier, or intellectual obstruction.

• Stephen and Palmer began training under the Ancient One, while Apocalypse watched and said he knew almost everything except magic.
• Apocalypse created a gigantic golden circle of magical power after hearing the Ancient One's explanation, astonishing the disciples and earning access to the library.
• In the following days, Apocalypse learned spells with ease, while Palmer progressed and Stephen's magic dwindled as he trained harder.
• The Ancient One showed Stephen a Daoist with a severed arm forming a perfect magical circle and told Stephen that his talent was the highest among the disciples.
• Apocalypse asked Stephen whether he had heard of the Knowledge Barrier and explained that it was also called intellectual obstruction.

Apocalypse explained Stephen's Knowledge Barrier, and the Ancient One trained Stephen and Palmer on Mount Everest in the Mirror Dimension and Sling Ring use. Apocalypse realized the Multiverse consisted of overlapping universes and pondered how to transcend it, until an alarm announced Kaecilius's arrival.

• Apocalypse explained that Stephen's scientific worldview had become a Knowledge Barrier, and Stephen soon managed to trace rings of golden light.
• The Ancient One brought Stephen and Palmer to Mount Everest and introduced them to the Mirror Dimension and Sling Rings.
• Apocalypse opened a passage to another universe and explained his realization that universes overlapped like pages in a book.
• As the Ancient One taught Stephen to use the Sling Ring, Apocalypse contemplated reaching a level beyond the Multiverse.
• An alarm rang from below, and the Ancient One recognized that Kaecilius had arrived.

Apocalypse persuaded Stephen to help defend Kamar-Taj despite Stephen's reluctance to fight or kill. Stephen agreed to capture Kaecilius and Dormammu after Apocalypse framed the task as repayment for his treatment.

• Apocalypse insisted Stephen was ready for combat, and the Ancient One gave him the Eye of Agamotto and entrusted the future to him.
• Stephen refused to join the sorcerers' war, arguing that he was a doctor and would not kill one person to save many others.
• Palmer suggested calling S.H.I.E.L.D., but Apocalypse said some crises could only be resolved by Stephen.
• Apocalypse claimed the Ancient One would sacrifice herself if Stephen refused to take responsibility, and the Ancient One did not deny it.
• Apocalypse offered to let Stephen leave after capturing two villains, and Stephen agreed to catch Kaecilius and Dormammu.

Apocalypse and the Ancient One returned to Kamar-Taj during Kaecilius’s attack, and Stephen began fighting the dark sorcerers. Stephen chased Kaecilius toward the library while the Ancient One prepared for Dormammu’s arrival.

• Kaecilius and his corrupted sorcerers overwhelmed the defenders at the training grounds while Wong and Mordo waited for the Ancient One and Apocalypse to return.
• Apocalypse arrived with the Ancient One, Stephen, and Palmer, then shattered Kaecilius’s portals and prevented his escape.
• Stephen struck Kaecilius with a magical shield and drove him and his followers to the edge of the training grounds before they fled.
• Apocalypse told Stephen the attackers had run toward the library, so Stephen chased them with Palmer rather than letting others capture Kaecilius.
• The Ancient One entrusted the timeline to Apocalypse and left to prepare for Dormammu, while Apocalypse and Wong headed to the library after hearing a fight there.

Apocalypse and Stephen pursued Kaecilius from Kamar-Taj to the New York Sanctum, where Kaecilius attacked them in the streets. Apocalypse trapped the sorcerers in the Mirror Dimension and left Stephen to capture them, while Wong evacuated the crowd.

• Apocalypse urged Stephen to pursue Kaecilius, then followed Wong through a portal to the New York Sanctum with Palmer.
• Apocalypse gave Stephen permission to keep the Cloak of Levitation, and Palmer returned to the hospital while Stephen flew after Kaecilius.
• Kaecilius attacked Stephen and Wong by crushing buildings and turning the street into a concrete serpent, forcing them to defend themselves as bystanders fled.
• Kaecilius revealed that his powers came from his master, but Apocalypse appeared and confirmed that they were inside the Mirror Dimension.
• Apocalypse sent Wong to evacuate the crowd and told Stephen to capture Kaecilius before S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived.
• Kaecilius failed to open a portal and ordered his followers to split up and flee.

Stephen defeated Kaecilius in the Mirror Dimension, but Kaecilius sacrificed his followers to alert Dormammu, who opened a vast breach above New York. Apocalypse and Stephen prepared to face Dormammu, with Stephen proposing a Time Loop after Apocalypse’s attacks proved ineffective.

• Stephen folded the Mirror Dimension, outmatched Kaecilius’s illusions, and took down the dark sorcerers one by one.
• Kaecilius sacrificed the fallen sorcerers to notify Dormammu, and a huge dark opening appeared over New York City.
• Apocalypse told Stephen to capture Kaecilius and help him fight, while civilians fled the city in panic.
• Apocalypse attacked Dormammu’s breach with the Infinity Stones and his fists, but his powers had little effect near the overlap of dimensions.
• Stephen joined Apocalypse in the sky and suggested using a Time Loop to drive Dormammu back.

Apocalypse fought Dormammu in the Dark Dimension while Stephen feared being trapped in a Time Loop. After Apocalypse's Infinity Stone-powered attack failed to hurt Dormammu, he phased through Dormammu's palm and reached his head.

• Stephen explained that in the original storyline he had used a Time Loop against Dormammu and prepared to sacrifice himself, but now hoped the Ancient One and Apocalypse could save him.
• Dormammu appeared and demanded that Apocalypse surrender, claiming the Ancient One could no longer stop him.
• Apocalypse attacked Dormammu with the Triple Infinite Divine Fist, but Dormammu blocked the planet-sized blow and its shockwaves devastated New York City.
• Dormammu revealed that Infinity Stones from his own universe had not been able to stop him, while Apocalypse realized his strongest fist technique had failed.
• Apocalypse charged at Dormammu's palm, passed through it like a phantom, and surprised Dormammu by appearing before his head.

Apocalypse fought Dormammu as Stephen trapped them in a time loop, forcing Dormammu to bargain rather than destroy Earth. As the loop repeated, Apocalypse discovered an unknown power was repairing the temporal damage and remembered he still had one ultimate move left unused.

• Apocalypse used a Thousandfold Nuclear Blast Fist to destroy Dormammu's left eye, but Dormammu regenerated it and attacked Earth.
• Apocalypse held back Dormammu's descending finger while Stephen repeatedly trapped them in a time loop and was killed by Dormammu.
• Dormammu eventually noticed the loop and heard Stephen demand that he leave Earth and never invade again, but he refused and increased his power.
• Apocalypse endured repeated attacks as training, strengthening his counterattacks from the Triple Infinite Divine Fist to the Ten-thousandfold Nuclear Blast Fist.
• Apocalypse sensed an unknown force repairing the time loop's damage to spacetime and wondered whether it was Kang or the One Above All.
• Apocalypse remembered that he still had one ultimate move he had not used.

Apocalypse discovered Dormammu wanted to capture him because his soul was linked to the loosening Sacred Timeline, so he decided Dormammu could not be allowed to escape. Unable to kill Dormammu with his own power, Apocalypse asked Stephen how to make two parallel universes collide.

• Apocalypse struck Dormammu with a soul guandao, but Dormammu recognized him as the source of the Sacred Timeline’s loosening and planned to seize him.
• Apocalypse pulled Stephen’s consciousness out of the Time Loop and explained that Dormammu might summon multiversal beings if he escaped.
• Stephen suggested trapping Dormammu in the Time Loop forever, but Apocalypse insisted he would kill him.
• Apocalypse recalled that collisions between parallel universes could destroy universes and asked Stephen how to cause one.
• Stephen was baffled because he had never even known parallel universes existed.

Stephen struggled to find a way out of Dormammu’s time loop while Apocalypse sought the magical books that might help. Ava discovered she could enter and leave the loop, carried Apocalypse’s request to Wanda, and set her on a search for the Darkhold.

• Stephen died repeatedly while considering millions of possible ways to stop Dormammu, but he could not find a solution without additional knowledge.
• Nick Fury gathered the available heroes, and they decided to send Ava into the time loop while beginning research on a time machine.
• Ava entered the loop in a modified Phase-Shifting Suit, resisted Dormammu’s attack, and received instructions from Apocalypse before leaving.
• Ava told Wanda that Apocalypse wanted her to destroy Dormammu’s universe, which contained no other living beings, and asked her to find the Ancient One and learn where the Darkhold was.

The Ancient One emerged from seclusion after dark power drained from Kamar-Taj and joined Dormammu, then helped Wanda and the others locate the original Darkhold. The chapter left Wanda at the temple, ready to use the dangerous book if Tang wanted her to.

• Wong brought Wanda, Ava, Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Iron Man to Kamar-Taj, where Mordo said the Ancient One was in Life-and-Death Seclusion.
• Dark energy erupted from the Ancient One's retreat and swept toward New York, then a purple light flashed as the storm over Kamar-Taj subsided.
• The Ancient One came out with her hair restored by Tang's Purple Potion and agreed to help them find the Darkhold.
• The Ancient One led the group to a snowy mountain temple, where skeletal monsters knelt before Wanda and a carving identified her as the heir Chthon had sought.
• The Ancient One warned Wanda that the Darkhold was a source of evil, and Wanda said she would follow Tang's wishes about using it.

Wanda recovered and sealed the Darkhold, and Stephen and Wanda used Dreamwalking to reach Universe-813 in search of the Book of Vishanti. They found the Illuminati guarding it, who warned Stephen that his Dreamwalking threatened the Multiverse.

• Wanda gathered the Darkhold from the altar’s spells, sealed it, and asked Ava to deliver it to Tang.
• Ava brought the Darkhold to Apocalypse, who held off Dormammu in the time loop while Stephen used Dreamwalking to search for Universe-813.
• Stephen and Wanda reached Universe-813 and went to an underground passage where the Book of Vishanti was hidden.
• Captain Carter and the other members of the Illuminati confronted them, warning that Doctor Strange’s earlier Dreamwalking had destroyed a parallel universe.
• Professor X called Stephen and his parallel-universe counterparts a greater threat to the Multiverse than Thanos, but Wanda urged Stephen to get the Book of Vishanti for Tang.

Wanda and Stephen defeated the Illuminati of Universe-813 without killing them and obtained the Book of Vishanti at Apocalypse's direction. They returned to Universe-616 with both the Book of Vishanti and the Darkhold, sending righteous and evil energy into the sky.

• Wanda trapped Black Bolt and Professor X in illusions, while Stephen and Wanda knocked out Captain Marvel and Mordo and subdued Reed Richards and Captain Carter.
• Wanda and Stephen left Carter behind after Wanda made an embarrassing remark about her, and Carter threatened Reed not to repeat it.
• The Illuminati survived, unlike their counterparts in the original Doctor Strange 2 plot, and remained unaware that Apocalypse had changed their fates.
• Wanda and Stephen entered the Time Relay Point and obtained the Book of Vishanti.
• Wanda and Stephen ended their dreamwalking and returned to Apocalypse in Universe-616 with the Book of Vishanti and the Darkhold.

Apocalypse repeatedly blocked Dormammu’s attacks while Stephen continued casting a spell, using powerful punches, portals, the Reality Stone, and Pym Particles. After Dormammu returned to his giant form in a new Time Loop, Apocalypse fabricated an elaborate story about the particles, leaving Dormammu wary but doubtful that Apocalypse had much of them.

• Apocalypse used a 100,000-Fold Nuclear Blast Fist to hold off Dormammu until the next Time Loop and recover his body.
• Apocalypse redirected Dormammu’s giant hand through a portal, making Dormammu strike the back of his own head before the portal severed his hand.
• Apocalypse turned Dormammu’s hand into marshmallow with the Triple Infinite Divine Fist, and Dormammu recognized the Reality Stone’s role.
• Apocalypse coated Dormammu in Pym Particles, shrinking him and making his fourth attack miss Stephen.
• Dormammu returned to his original size in the next Time Loop, and Apocalypse claimed the Pym Particles were a universe-spanning substance refined through an absurdly elaborate process.
• Dormammu grew wary of the particles but suspected Apocalypse had only a small amount.

Apocalypse’s deception failed, and Dormammu attacked while Stephen completed a spell to make the Dark Dimension collide with a dead universe. As the universes began to annihilate each other, Wanda and Stephen celebrated, but Apocalypse sensed something was wrong.

• Dormammu realized Apocalypse had lied about Pym Particles and used Dark Devouring to pull Apocalypse and Stephen toward his mouth.
• Stephen completed the spell and triggered a new Time Loop, while Dormammu sensed that another universe was about to collide with his Dark Dimension.
• Apocalypse saw that Wanda and Stephen had used the Darkhold and the Book of Vishanti to draw a dead universe toward the Dark Dimension.
• The universes collided, unleashing destruction that shattered stars and planets and sent devastating light and gravitational waves across both universes.
• Wanda and Stephen rejoiced at their apparent success, but Apocalypse sensed that something was wrong.

Apocalypse realized the collision would destroy the Dead Universe but barely harm the Dark Dimension, so he sent Ava to find a cat that could help with his new plan. Ava confronted Nick Fury at S.H.I.E.L.D., and Fury contacted a Skrull as the chapter ended.

• Apocalypse calculated that the Dark Dimension would survive the collision while the Dead Universe collapsed, and devised a new plan.
• Apocalypse wrote Ava’s name in the sky, and Ava flew to him while Dormammu focused on resisting the collision.
• Apocalypse explained his plan to Ava, who embraced him before leaving to find Nick Fury.
• Ava arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. and demanded the cat that had scratched out Fury’s eye, as Tang had requested.
• Fury reluctantly agreed and placed an encrypted holographic call, revealing a Skrull on the screen.

Fury brought Goose, a Flerken, to help Apocalypse and Stephen fight Dormammu inside the Time Loop. After the loop repeatedly erased her potion treats, Goose attacked Dormammu and swallowed his foot, leaving the battle ongoing.

• Fury summoned a Skrull to bring Goose from the space laboratory, and the Skrull delivered her to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
• Black Widow and the other women fed Goose a Green Recovery Potion and petted her before Ava carried her to Apocalypse.
• Apocalypse explained to Stephen that Goose could devour almost anything because her stomach connected to another universe.
• The Time Loop reset the effects of Goose’s Golden and Purple Recovery Potions, making her furious.
• Apocalypse blamed Dormammu for the resets, and Goose lunged at him and swallowed everything below his left ankle.

Apocalypse and the Flerken attacked Dormammu as the Cosmic Collision threatened to destroy the Dark Dimension, while Stephen closed the portal to prevent the catastrophe from spreading. Ava joined Apocalypse in the Dark Dimension, leaving him and the Flerken to weaken Dormammu as the world-ending light grew brighter.

• The Flerken realized Dormammu had recovered while its Recovery Potion was gone and furiously resumed biting him.
• Apocalypse told Ava to stay in her Quantum Body and ordered Stephen to be ready to remove the Time Loop when the moment came.
• As the Cosmic Collision’s light spread into the Dark Dimension, Apocalypse plunged into Dormammu’s skull and attacked his soul with a Psychic Storm.
• Stephen closed the opening to New York, but Ava slipped into the Dark Dimension before it shut, choosing to stay with Apocalypse.
• The Flerken and Apocalypse attacked Dormammu’s body and soul, weakening him and accelerating the Dark Dimension’s collapse.

After the black hole vanished, Stephen accepted his responsibility as a sorcerer and chose to guard the New York Sanctum as Doctor Strange. Meanwhile, powerful beings from across the Multiverse began watching Earth, the Sacred Timeline splintered into countless branches, and Nick Fury gathered the heroes in New York.

• The time loop ended, revealing that more than ten days had passed outside it, while Apocalypse vanished with the dark opening above New York.
• The Ancient One named Stephen a Master, but Stephen insisted on being called Doctor Strange and committed himself to protecting Earth.
• Stephen chose to guard the New York Sanctum, and projections of powerful beings from other universes appeared around Earth to investigate the collision.
• The Time Variance Authority recalled its timeline agents as the events involving Wanda and Stephen caused the Sacred Timeline to split into countless branches.
• Nick Fury gathered the superheroes S.H.I.E.L.D. could contact in New York.

Phantom figures of powerful beings appeared across the universe, and Stephen concluded they were observing from beyond its barrier. As the group learned the figures were visible across the galaxy and feared the beings were coming for Tang after the cosmic collision, they turned to Stephen for a solution, but the chapter ended with the threat unresolved.

• Stephen said the phantom figures were at the edge of the universe's barrier, and Nick Fury asked NASA to verify their presence.
• Rocket Raccoon contacted the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Gamora confirmed they could see the figures too.
• Rocket Raccoon and Nebula explained that Tang had disappeared after entering the Dark Dimension to drive out Dormammu, leaving his fate unknown.
• Wanda said she believed Tang would return and vowed to protect Earth if he did not.
• The group looked to Stephen for a solution, but he recognized that the threat was worse than the cosmic rift he had faced before and could not be resolved by erasing memories.

As powerful beings gathered beyond the universe, Earth prepared for an impending invasion. Uatu regretted dismissing a mysterious bartender’s offer, while a giant warrior emerged through a passage and attacked New York.

• Stephen explained that universe-breaking powerhouses could appear anywhere in a universe, and Nick Fury realized his hidden Captain Marvel trump card might not save ordinary people.
• Uatu dismissed a bartender’s key after the bartender offered him transcendence, then realized the bartender knew he was a Watcher and had vanished with the key.
• Uatu searched Earth and the Solar System but found no trace of the bartender, and he decided that forcing the opportunity could bring disaster.
• The threat beyond the universe intensified across Earth, the Nova Empire, the Kree Empire, and Asgard as Nick Fury mobilized humanity’s defenses.
• A passage opened above Earth, and a rider on a red warhorse emerged as a mountain-sized figure and hurled his golden spear toward New York City.