Recaps

Yelena reunited with Melina and recovered childhood keepsakes while the family discussed destroying the Red Room. Their dinner was interrupted by an attack from Red Room fighters, and Black Widow rushed outside as Red Guardian prepared to join her.

• Apocalypse and Red Guardian entered Melina's house while Natasha and Yelena followed Melina through the tunnel.
• Melina welcomed Natasha and Yelena, learned they planned to destroy the Red Room, and showed Yelena her childhood toys and photographs.
• Yelena told Melina that Red Guardian had threatened to spank Apocalypse, leaving him embarrassed when he learned Apocalypse's identity.
• The family sat down to dinner, but Red Room helicopters surrounded the house and the Widows warned that they were under attack.
• Black Widow destroyed a helicopter with a knife and fork and charged outside, while Red Guardian asked Melina for his suit.

Black Widow fought Taskmaster, recognizing her as Antonia, the girl she had believed she killed years ago, and struggled with the guilt of her past. After defeating her and discovering that a chip controlled her, Black Widow and Apocalypse sought help to free her without causing further harm.

• Apocalypse realized Black Widow was holding back against Taskmaster because she recognized Antonia, General Dreykov’s daughter.
• Red Guardian tried to help, but Apocalypse flung him away and let Black Widow face Taskmaster alone.
• Black Widow unleashed her divine power, defeated Taskmaster, and brought her to Apocalypse for the antidote.
• Apocalypse found that the antidote could not counter the chip controlling Taskmaster, and Black Widow warned that removing it could paralyze or kill her.
• Black Widow explained that a skilled hacker would need to crack and rewrite the chip’s programming.
• Apocalypse called Dr. Sterns and summoned him to Saint Petersburg to examine the chip.

Apocalypse brought Ivan and Dr. Sterns to examine Taskmaster’s chip, and they agreed to repair her nerves while preserving her choice to use it. After Ivan and Sterns both showed interest in Melina, Apocalypse called Happy and asked him to take the scientists out to meet women.

• A Quinjet brought Dr. Sterns and Ivan to Apocalypse’s house to inspect Taskmaster’s chip.
• Ivan and Dr. Sterns explained how the chip controlled Taskmaster’s emotions and obedience while bridging her severed nerves, and they agreed to repair her without removing her ability to use it.
• Melina offered her operating table, and Ivan and Dr. Sterns competed for her attention until the Red Guardian said she was his wife.
• Yelena challenged the Red Guardian’s claim by pointing out that he had been away from Melina for twenty years, leaving him unable to answer.
• Black Widow suggested Apocalypse play wingman for his scientists, so he called Happy and asked him to take them out to meet women.

After Antonia left the group, Dr. Sterns revealed his theory that the Recovery Potion was a Rule Artifact containing law force. Apocalypse confirmed that the potion contained an unfamiliar trace of law force, then suddenly vanished after realizing a more urgent problem needed his attention.

• Antonia refused to return to Dreykov and left alone, telling Black Widow that the chip had made him stop being her father.
• Red Guardian confronted Ivan and Dr. Sterns over Melina, but Sterns’ claims about Ivan’s armor and his own research weakened Red Guardian’s challenge.
• Dr. Sterns explained that the Recovery Potion might be a Rule Artifact that used law force to restore an organism to its original state.
• Apocalypse broke down a Recovery Potion and sensed a faint trace of law force, though he could not identify its structure.
• Apocalypse told Natasha to stay behind and vanished.

Apocalypse tested whether he could detect the Recovery Potion entering his sea of consciousness, but even three Infinity Stones could not reveal its source. Meanwhile, Black Widow and Yelena led the Widows in taking the Red Room's Sky Fortress and killing Dreykov, then began planning to find the remaining Widows.

• Apocalypse saved three people in separate accidents, but each Recovery Potion appeared in his sea of consciousness without him detecting it.
• Apocalypse used his divine power, mastered laws, and three Infinity Stones to try to trace the potion, but failed and returned to the cabin.
• Black Widow and Yelena led dozens of newly subdued Widows in an attack on the Red Room's Sky Fortress while Apocalypse created antidotes and guarded against timeline changes.
• Black Widow and Yelena fought through the Sky Fortress and killed General Dreykov in the control room.
• Yelena gathered the Widows and began leading them, while Ivan and Dr. Sterns prepared to help find the agents still embedded around the world.

Apocalypse put Yelena in charge of the rescued Widows, who began organizing missions to hunt Hydra. He assigned Ivan and Dr. Sterns a new research topic before leaving Earth after hearing that Star-Lord had met his father.

• Apocalypse announced that Natasha and Yelena would lead the Widows, and Yelena laid out their rewards and punishments.
• Apocalypse gave the Widows a new mission to hunt Hydra, while Yelena eagerly offered to lead the effort and Natasha agreed to coordinate with Nick Fury.
• Apocalypse left Recovery Potions behind and told Ivan and Dr. Sterns to investigate his theories about electrons, ball lightning, and atomic nuclei, connecting them with Dr. Pym.
• Apocalypse received a message from Heimdall that Star-Lord had met his father and prepared to leave Earth.

Apocalypse removed Ego’s avatar from Missouri and chose Wanda to accompany him on his mission to kill the Celestial. Using the Space Stone, he crossed the void with Wanda and arrived on Xandar.

• Apocalypse met Fury and the others in Missouri, where S.H.I.E.L.D. had secured an Ego Root System avatar.
• Apocalypse told Fury that the avatar could rapidly consume the surrounding area and that he intended to take it away before killing the Celestial behind it.
• Daisy and Ava offered to join Apocalypse, but he chose Wanda because her mental magic could help against Ego.
• Apocalypse used an illusion shield to lift the root system without alerting Ego, then departed with Wanda through a wormhole.
• Apocalypse crossed the void with Wanda using the Space Stone and arrived on Xandar.

Apocalypse and Wanda arrived on Xandar to find the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Xandarians welcomed him as a revered benefactor. After buying yaro fruit for Nebula, Apocalypse told Nova Prime he might return with the Guardians in a few days, then traveled to Yondu’s ship instead of Ego’s Planet.

• Apocalypse and Wanda emerged from a wormhole in Xandar’s market, where soldiers recognized Apocalypse and the crowd bowed to him.
• Apocalypse bought ripe yaro fruit after explaining that a friend liked it, and Wanda sampled the fruit with him.
• Apocalypse told the squad leader to inform Nova Prime that he might return with the Guardians of the Galaxy in a few days.
• Nova Prime ordered yaro fruit to be kept in supply across the empire and planted on the resource planets gifted to Apocalypse.
• Apocalypse and Wanda departed through a miniature wormhole and arrived aboard Yondu’s ship.

Apocalypse joined Yondu’s Ravagers to find Star-Lord, while the crew exposed and expelled Taserface and some members chose to leave rather than face a Celestial. After the ship tracked Star-Lord’s route through several jumps, Wanda spotted three Watchers and an old man in a spacesuit on an asteroid.

• Apocalypse reassured Yondu that Ego probably would not kill Star-Lord immediately, then asked whether the Ravagers resented Yondu.
• A Ravager exposed Taserface for secretly messaging Stakar, and Taserface admitted he had hoped Stakar would discipline Yondu for favoring Quill.
• Apocalypse spared Taserface, but Yondu expelled him and warned the crew that they might have to fight a Celestial.
• Several Ravagers departed in shuttles, while the skinny fellow and fewer than twenty loyal followers stayed; Apocalypse gave them Recovery Potions.
• Yondu’s mothership followed Star-Lord’s jump route through seven or eight space jumps before Wanda spotted three Watchers and an old man in a spacesuit on an asteroid.

Apocalypse and Wanda met four Watchers in space, where Uatu explained that they had come because Apocalypse and Wanda could affect the fate of the Multiverse and Parallel Universes. The Watchers had initiated a meeting, leaving the reason for their interest in Apocalypse unresolved.

• Apocalypse recalled the Watchers’ history and their principle of non-interference, while suspecting there was a deeper reason behind it.
• Apocalypse took Wanda with him to meet three Watchers and Uatu on a meteorite, while Yondu told the space pirates they could seek treasure in a Celestial’s lair if Apocalypse won.
• Uatu greeted Apocalypse and Wanda, and Apocalypse asked whether he was Stan Lee or a Watcher.
• Uatu identified himself as a Watcher named Uatu, responsible for Earth’s sector, and said the other three Watchers had come to meet Apocalypse and Wanda because they could affect the Multiverse and a Parallel Universe.

The Watchers examined Apocalypse’s soul and discovered that his Recovery Potions came from a higher realm they called the Creator Dimension. They explained that they had watched the universe while seeking a way beyond it, and believed Apocalypse might be the opportunity they had awaited.

• Wanda worried that her powers might affect parallel universes, and Apocalypse promised to face the consequences with her.
• The Watchers said Apocalypse’s presence could profoundly affect every universe in the dimension, but refused to explain how.
• Apocalypse showed the Watchers Recovery Potions that he could summon from within his soul.
• The Watchers tested a potion and identified its restorative power as a law from the Creator Dimension, likely made by an ultimate civilization.
• The Watchers explained that they had reached the limits of their universe and had waited as observers for a chance to transcend it.
• The Watchers told Apocalypse that they had finally found that opportunity in him.

Apocalypse and Yondu reached Ego’s Planet, where an enormous defensive net blocked their way as they waited for Star-Lord to discover Ego’s true nature. A fleet from the Golden Race of Sovereign arrived to capture Star-Lord for stealing children, and Yondu’s panicked response made them attack.

• Apocalypse discussed the danger of others seeking his soul imprint with the Watchers, gave them more Recovery Potion, and watched them leave.
• Apocalypse and Yondu arrived at Ego’s Planet and found it surrounded by a vast, electrified defensive net.
• Apocalypse sensed Star-Lord on the planet and told Yondu they had to wait until Ego revealed the truth himself.
• A golden fleet from the Sovereign surrounded Yondu’s ship and announced that it had come to capture Star-Lord for stealing children.
• Yondu denied teaching Star-Lord’s group to kidnap children but left the communications channel open, prompting the Sovereign fleet to order an attack.

Apocalypse, Wanda, and Yondu reached Ego’s Planet after Ego and Apocalypse destroyed the Sovereign fleet, where Ego explained the damage to his world and invited Wanda to become his mate. The chapter ended with Ego courting Wanda as Star-Lord and the others looked on.

• Apocalypse deflected the Sovereign ships’ attack and crushed their fleet, while Ego’s planetary defenses shredded three more swarms.
• High Priestess Ayesha ordered Sovereign’s forces to recover the child after learning the fleet had been destroyed.
• Ego opened a passage through his defenses, and Apocalypse, Wanda, and Yondu entered Ego’s Planet to find Star-Lord and his companions.
• Ego explained that a beam of Prismatic Divine Light had struck his planet years earlier, and Apocalypse realized he had caused the damage while trying to stop Loki.
• Ego recognized Wanda’s Chaos Magic, took her hand, and asked whether she would become his mate.

Ego revealed that he had deliberately caused Star-Lord's mother to develop a fatal brain tumor, then tried to force Star-Lord to join him in spreading his roots across the universe. After Ego threatened Wanda, Apocalypse freed Star-Lord and Wanda destroyed Ego's avatar, though the fight continued into the temple.

• Ego flirted with Wanda and explained that he planned to spread his roots across the universe with Star-Lord's help.
• Ego confessed that he had caused Star-Lord's mother to develop a brain tumor so he would not return to her and abandon his ambitions.
• Star-Lord attacked Ego in grief and fury, but Ego stopped him and pierced his chest with a streak of blue energy.
• Ego threatened to keep Star-Lord as a source of energy and spoke of having children with Wanda.
• Apocalypse severed Ego's hold on Star-Lord and pulled him to safety.
• Wanda tore Ego's avatar apart with Chaos Magic, and her attack crashed into the temple.

Apocalypse and the Guardians fought Ego as he unleashed the Cosmic Brain’s planetwide attacks. Wanda, Star-Lord, and Mantis restrained Ego long enough for Apocalypse to tear away nearly half of Ego’s planet, leaving it shaped like a crescent.

• Apocalypse shielded the Guardians and destroyed Ego’s blue energy pillars with a Nuclear Blast Fist.
• Ego activated the Cosmic Brain and attacked with a rotating metal mass and lightning-filled tornadoes, but Apocalypse’s shield held and his punches scattered the storms.
• Apocalypse called on Wanda, Star-Lord, and Mantis to hypnotically restrain Ego through three energy tentacles.
• Drax lunged at one tentacle and was thrown aside, prompting Mantis to overcome her fear and hypnotize it.
• Apocalypse struck the planet with successive Thousandfold Nuclear Blast Fists, blasting away nearly half its continental landmass.

Apocalypse and his allies attacked Ego's exposed Cosmic Brain, while Wanda began erasing his consciousness with Chaos Magic. As Star-Lord and Mantis joined the effort, Ego sent a human-shaped avatar toward Wanda, preparing to use Soul Seizure.

• Ego exposed his Cosmic Brain after Apocalypse's Thousandfold Nuclear Blast Fist destroyed much of his planet, then tried to persuade Star-Lord to make peace.
• Apocalypse revealed Ego's roots on Earth and blasted aside the metal construct protecting the brain.
• Wanda used Chaos Magic to erode Ego's consciousness, while Ego gathered his mental power to resist.
• Star-Lord interfered with Ego's consciousness and Mantis hypnotized him, helping Wanda's red influence spread across the brain.
• Ego formed a human-shaped avatar and flew toward Wanda, but Apocalypse recognized his attempt to use Soul Seizure.

Apocalypse and Wanda erased Ego’s consciousness from the cosmic brain, then helped Star-Lord take control of it. Star-Lord became a Celestial with the brain as his avatar, while his gratitude toward Apocalypse increased.

• Apocalypse split Ego’s psychic avatar with an enormous guandao and devoured the remaining psychic energy.
• Apocalypse joined his psychic power with Wanda’s, allowing her to erase Ego’s consciousness throughout the cosmic brain.
• Wanda and Apocalypse remained connected after the battle until Yondu’s ship arrived, and Apocalypse offered the empty brain to Star-Lord.
• Star-Lord moved his consciousness into the cosmic brain and gained control of it, becoming a true Celestial.
• Rocket Raccoon asked whether the cosmic brain or Star-Lord’s human body was his real body, and Star-Lord said the brain was his avatar.

After Star-Lord took ownership of Ego’s planet, Apocalypse restored its continents and buried the Cosmic Brain again. Rocket Raccoon revealed he had stolen a Golden Race child as a model for changing his own body.

• Yondu asked Star-Lord for permission to let the space pirates search the planet, and Star-Lord allowed them to take anything outside the Cosmic Brain and temple areas.
• The skinny alien told Star-Lord about the pit of skeletons, and Yondu admitted he had once transported Ego’s descendants there; Star-Lord let the alien take bones if he wanted them.
• Apocalypse pulled the planet’s continental fragments back into place, though Star-Lord still had to repair the enormous fissures and Apocalypse left the smaller fragments behind.
• Rocket Raccoon rushed to the temple and dragged out a biological chamber containing an unharmed, unborn Golden Race young man.
• Rocket Raccoon explained that he had stolen the Golden Race child to use as a reference for transforming himself into a more perfect form.

Rocket Raccoon reflected on his painful past and chose to become an Earthling rather than a Golden Race descendant. After Apocalypse converted him, Rocket saw his new human form and complained that the transformation had stopped too soon.

• Rocket Raccoon recounted how a scientist’s experiments gave him intelligence despite the pain, and he decided the experience had made his life meaningful.
• Rocket Raccoon rejected becoming a Golden Race descendant and chose to become an Earthling, despite Star-Lord’s warnings about human limitations.
• Rocket Raccoon asked to call Apocalypse his father, but Nebula and Gamora teased him, and Apocalypse suggested he call Vision his brother instead.
• Rocket Raccoon accepted the conversion and drank the highest-grade Purple Potion under Apocalypse’s protection.
• The conversion remade Rocket Raccoon into a human child, and he looked at his reflection and cursed that it had stopped.

Rocket Raccoon completed his conversion into a human child, while Yondu’s crew salvaged Ego’s treasures and Apocalypse shared Yaro Fruit he had bought for Nebula. The chapter ended with Nebula learning that Thanos monitored her through her mechanical body and asking Apocalypse whether he thought she looked ugly.

• Rocket Raccoon discovered that his converted body was eight years old, and Nebula teased him before Apocalypse gave him an Asgardian cultivation technique.
• Yondu stopped a space pirate from throwing away the Yaro Fruit, and Apocalypse told the crew to wash and share it.
• Nebula learned that Apocalypse had bought the fruit for her, hugged him, and wondered whether he might be interested in her.
• Apocalypse revealed that a surveillance program in Nebula’s body sent everything she saw to Thanos’s mothership.
• Nebula declined to repair her mechanical body before killing Thanos and asked Apocalypse whether she looked ugly.

After Rocket Raccoon removed Nebula’s surveillance chip, Thanos learned of Apocalypse’s power and ordered his forces to prepare the Stellar Array. On Ego’s Planet, Ayesha came to retrieve the Sovereign’s unborn child, Adam, and left after asking Apocalypse whether he could ascend to the God Race.

• Rocket Raccoon found and removed the encrypted chip in Nebula, while Thanos saw the transmitted battle and ordered Ebony Maw to focus resources on the Stellar Array.
• Ayesha sent a message asking for the return of the Sovereign’s child, and Apocalypse invited her to meet him on Ego’s Planet.
• Rocket Raccoon claimed to be the planet’s strongest being until Nebula grabbed him by the ear, and Star-Lord introduced Apocalypse to Ayesha.
• Apocalypse returned the child without asking for payment and learned that Ayesha’s people intended to use him to ascend to a god race.
• Ayesha’s attendants carried the biological pod to their ship, and Ayesha knelt to ask whether Adam would ascend to the God Race.

Ayesha allied the Golden Race with Apocalypse in exchange for a drop of his blood essence to improve Adam’s potential. Afterward, Star-Lord made Ego’s roots wither across thousands of worlds, and Apocalypse received a system notification.

• Apocalypse told Ayesha that Adam could not become a member of the God Race, and he refused her offer of a living planet for his blood essence.
• Ayesha pledged the Golden Race’s loyalty and proposed a lasting alliance, persuading Apocalypse to give Adam a drop of his blood essence.
• Apocalypse infused Adam with golden blood, and Ayesha learned that Adam would be born after three months of fusion.
• Apocalypse and Ayesha formally established an alliance between the Golden Race and Earthlings.
• Star-Lord said he could not retrieve Ego’s roots remotely, but he made them wither across thousands of living planets.
• Apocalypse received a system notification after Star-Lord’s psychic wave spread through the universe.

Apocalypse prepared to leave Ego's Planet with Rocket Raccoon and Nebula while the others stayed behind, then received a private call from the Ancient One. She asked for his opinion on Stephen Strange's approaching timeline, leaving Apocalypse wondering why she needed his advice.

• Apocalypse watched the Recovery Potions accumulate and saw Earth's withered root system crumble into ash.
• Apocalypse asked the Guardians of the Galaxy who wanted to return to Earth; Star-Lord, Gamora, Mantis, and Drax stayed, while Rocket Raccoon and Nebula chose to go with him.
• Apocalypse surprised Rocket Raccoon by describing Earth's research into Pym Particles, the Quantum Realm, and giant-scale materials.
• Heimdall arranged a private Bifrost connection so the Ancient One could speak with Apocalypse on Xandar.
• The Ancient One told Apocalypse that Stephen Strange's car accident was approaching and asked how his timeline should unfold.

The Ancient One warned Apocalypse that his influence had diverted Stephen Strange from his destined path and offered him the Eye of Agamotto, but Apocalypse refused the role of Sorcerer Supreme and agreed to correct Stephen’s timeline. After returning to S.H.I.E.L.D. with Wanda, Rocket Raccoon, and Nebula, Apocalypse reunited them with his allies and heard Nick Fury complain about Yelena’s Widow Army.

• The Ancient One explained that Stephen would likely use S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Recovery Potion instead of going to Kamar-Taj, and offered Apocalypse the Eye of Agamotto and the duty of guarding the Dark Dimension.
• Apocalypse refused the Eye and the Sorcerer Supreme’s responsibilities, agreed to correct Stephen’s branching timeline, and the Ancient One disappeared.
• Apocalypse left Xandar with Wanda, Rocket Raccoon, and Nebula, then arrived above S.H.I.E.L.D. through a wormhole.
• Black Widow greeted Apocalypse and teased Rocket Raccoon, who later befriended Vision and claimed the title of big brother; Nebula also comforted Wanda and became her friend.
• Nick Fury met with Apocalypse and Black Widow to complain that Yelena’s Widow Army was causing him trouble.

Apocalypse intervened in Stephen’s car crash, ensuring he survived but removing an unseen thread that would have led him down another timeline. Stephen woke with irreparable hand injuries, exhausted his savings trying to regain his surgical abilities, and rejected Palmer’s support.

• Apocalypse told Natasha to rein in Yelena’s Red Room Widows and promised to explain their actions to other countries alongside Nick Fury.
• Yelena arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters with more than a dozen women who had made outstanding contributions.
• Apocalypse watched Stephen crash on a mountain road, confirmed he would live, and pulled an indescribable thread away from him.
• Billy found Stephen hours after the crash, and the delayed treatment left his hands severely damaged.
• Stephen underwent numerous operations, spent his money, and ran up debt without regaining the use of his hands.
• Palmer continued caring for Stephen, but he rejected her comfort and said they were neither friends nor lovers.