Recaps

Golden Ape warriors defended the Crimson Dimension from a flood of skeletal monsters until a skeletal dragon emerged from a rift. Richard arrived with an army of magical beasts and challenged Dormammu.

• Natasha was swept away by crimson energy as she stepped out of a cross-dimensional passage.
• Zousuke Sarutobi, Danzo Sarutobi, and Sasuke Sarutobi led the Golden Apes in smashing back the charred skeletons and tearing apart mammoth skeletons.
• A gigantic skeletal dragon emerged from the rift and shattered nearby skeletons with its roar, leaving the three Sarutobi brothers facing an enemy they could not defeat alone.
• Hundreds of crimson portals opened, and magical beasts from the Crimson Dimension poured out to reinforce the Golden Apes.
• Richard arrived on the back of the Sky Island Giant Whale Liuge and called out Dormammu.

Richard’s Crimson Dimension Legion joined the Golden Ape Tribe against the endless charred skeleton army, but the skeletal dragon’s attack turned the battle against them. After Danzo Sarutobi, Zousuke Sarutobi, and Sasuke Sarutobi killed the dragon, a gigantic black energy hand reached through the rift and attacked the legion.

• Richard taunted Laoduo, who ordered the charred skeleton army to swarm the Golden Ape Tribe.
• Richard commanded the Crimson Dimension Legion to attack, and its forces rescued the trapped Golden Apes.
• The skeletal dragon emerged from the rift, killed a squad of Golden Apes with its flame breath, and drove the Crimson Dimension Legion back.
• Danzo Sarutobi and Zousuke Sarutobi broke the skeletal dragon’s rear claws while Sasuke Sarutobi reached its head and helped bring it down.
• The skeletal dragon’s body crushed skeletons as it fell, and an enormous black energy hand reached through the torn-open rift and pressed toward the Crimson Dimension Legion.

Richard used the six Infinity Stones to trap Dormammu’s Main Body in a collapsed Spatial Rift, leaving the Dark Dimension temporarily without its master. In the Dark Dimension, Natasha arrived in the Silent Corridor, where its mirrors revealed her deepest fears.

• Richard activated all six Infinity Stones and collapsed the Spatial Rift, trapping Dormammu’s Main Body.
• Richard bound Dormammu with Chaotic Energy, taunted him, and sent the Crimson Dimension Legion back to the Crimson Dimension.
• Richard told Dormammu that his imprisonment left the Dark Dimension temporarily without a master.
• Natasha was teleported into a labyrinth of black mirrors and saw a terrifying image reflected in one of them.
• Richard appeared beside Natasha and warned her not to look at the mirrors in the Silent Corridor.

Richard rescued Natasha from the Silent Corridor and asked her to locate prisoners who had rebelled against Dormammu. Natasha traveled to the Molten Iron Wasteland and began investigating the cursed mechanical workshops surrounding its great smelting furnace.

• Richard carried Natasha to a concealed space in the Silent Corridor and explained that its black mirrors concealed dangerous Soul-Eater Banshees.
• Richard asked Natasha to find the Dark Dimension prison holding rebels against Dormammu, and sent maps of the region into her mind.
• Natasha chose to investigate the Molten Iron Wasteland and opened a portal there.
• Natasha concealed herself and flew toward the great smelting furnace, where cursed mechanical workshops forged Shadow Iron.
• Natasha stealthily approached a workshop and noticed it had no entrance for raw ore, suspecting something lay beneath it.

Natasha was discovered by the Forge Priests and fought Soul-Forger Mendez before capturing him and escaping. She suspended Mendez over a river of molten iron to interrogate him, but realized she had not told him what she wanted to know.

• Natasha was discovered by Mendez, who attacked her with his hammer as the other Forge Priests gathered.
• Natasha turned invisible and fled into the air, but Mendez tracked her by her aura and shattered her Crimson Veil with a hammer strike.
• Natasha used an Eldritch Whip to distract Mendez, struck him unconscious, and escaped through a Portal with his body.
• Natasha suspended Mendez over molten iron, woke him with water, and threatened to drop him unless he answered her questions.
• Mendez agreed to tell Natasha everything, and Natasha realized she had not yet said what she wanted to ask.

Natasha interrogated Soul-Forging Mendes to learn where the prisoners were held, but he did not know. He revealed that Grand Master Blacksmith Bapros might know, along with Bapros’s weaknesses, leaving Natasha headed for the Great Forge.

• Natasha threatened and tortured Soul-Forging Mendes until he named Bapros as someone who might know where the prisoners were imprisoned.
• Mendes told Natasha that Bapros was a powerful smith protected by exceptional armor and weapons, and warned her against confronting him without a way to break through them.
• Mendes revealed that Bapros was a dwarf and a heavy drinker who had once ruined a weapon while drunk, earning a punishment that left his skin burned.
• Mendes told Natasha that Bapros stayed inside the Great Forge and that following the molten iron rivers led there.
• Natasha released Mendes alive and warned him not to reveal information about her.

Natasha and Richard confronted master blacksmith Bapros in the Great Forge and learned he was willing to help overthrow Dormammu. Bapros revealed a hidden cache of weapons and armor and offered it all to them.

• Natasha left Mendez after making him swear to keep quiet, then flew down the Molten Iron River toward the Great Forge.
• Bapros attacked Natasha for entering uninvited, but Richard appeared, shattered his hammer, and pulled him back when he tried to flee.
• Richard asked Bapros where the prisoners who had failed to rebel against Dormammu were held and said he wanted to overthrow Dormammu.
• Bapros excitedly agreed to help after learning Richard opposed Dormammu, then activated a mechanism that revealed a hidden stockpile of weapons and armor.
• Bapros offered Richard and Natasha any weapons and armor they wanted, and they decided to take everything.

Richard and Natasha tricked the Great Forge master into supplying weapons and arranging their transport to the Wailing Abyss, where they arrived disguised as prisoners. When a pain servant tried to steal their armor, Richard grabbed him by the neck.

• Richard flattered the Great Forge master, who appointed himself head of the resistance’s logistics department and promised to supply its weapons.
• Natasha stored the donated weapons, and the Great Forge master provided two cyan armor sets and arranged for Richard and Natasha to join a transport convoy bound for the Wailing Abyss.
• The Great Forge master and Priest Reim discussed a future Pillar of Fear staff, and Reim offered a rare Heart of the Dread Nightmare as its core.
• Priest Reim sent the convoy through a spatial worm to the Wailing Abyss, where a pain servant ordered Richard and Natasha to surrender their armor.
• Natasha mocked the pain servant’s lie about returning the armor, and Richard seized him by the neck.

Richard defeated the Council of Pain’s priests in the Wailing Abyss and forged their remains into a nine-toothed key. He used the key to open a tunnel and escaped with Natasha, arriving somewhere unknown.

• Richard killed Priest Lime and used eight magic clones to capture the other members of the Council of Pain.
• Richard turned the eight captured priests into soul-lost ones and performed a ritual that combined all nine priests’ afterimages into a nine-toothed key.
• Richard analyzed the key and told Natasha to take cover behind a boulder and raise the Crimson Veil.
• Richard blew away the purple mist to reveal a magic array, then inserted the key into it and opened a pitch-black tunnel.
• Richard carried Natasha through the tunnel, and they landed on solid ground as a cautious woman asked who they were.

Richard and Natasha encountered the silver-haired Clea in a pocket dimension, where she mistook them for Dormammu’s hunters and attacked. After learning Richard was from Kamar-Taj, Clea trusted him and asked him to reveal her family’s identities, offering Dark Dimension secrets in return.

• Richard severed Clea’s mental tendrils after she attacked him and Natasha, causing her severe pain.
• Clea apologized and explained that she had mistaken Richard and Natasha for Dormammu’s agents.
• Clea revealed that she knew where Dormammu had imprisoned the dark natives Richard and Natasha sought.
• Richard recognized Clea and introduced himself as Kamar-Taj’s Acting Sorcerer Supreme, earning her trust.
• Richard claimed to know Clea’s parents and uncle, and Clea became emotional at learning she had a family.
• Clea clung to Richard and begged him to identify her relatives, while Natasha jealously twisted his waist.

Richard told Clea that her father was Prince Orini, her mother was Umar, and her uncle was Dormammu, who had defeated and imprisoned Umar. Clea suspected her mother was held in the Rotten Garden, so Richard teleported her and Natasha there, where an aged voice called for someone named Plum to stop.

• Richard revealed that Clea's father was Prince Orini, her mother was Umar, and her uncle was Dormammu.
• Richard explained that Dormammu had seized control of the Dark Dimension and imprisoned Umar after defeating her in a power struggle.
• Clea reasoned that Umar might be imprisoned in the Rotten Garden and urged Richard to take her there.
• Clea used Mind Projection to show Richard the Rotten Garden's location, and Richard teleported there with Clea and Natasha.
• Huge boulders struck the Rotten Garden's vegetation as an aged voice called, "Stop, Plum!"

Richard and Natasha arrived in the Rotten Garden with Clea, where Plum and Urgot mistook them for intruders until Clea stopped the fight. They met Hecate, the Shadow Witch and leader of the survivors, who welcomed Richard and Natasha into the dilapidated palace.

• Plum and Urgot argued over driving corrupt plants away and complained about Hecate before a crimson energy ball appeared.
• Plum attacked Richard and the women with boulders while Urgot fired corrosive rays, but Richard countered their attacks.
• Clea identified herself to Plum and Urgot, ending the misunderstanding, and the pair escorted the group to the survivors' palace.
• Hecate returned from the Shadow Labyrinth, greeted Clea, and welcomed Richard and Natasha to the Rotten Garden.
• Clea introduced Richard as Kamar-Taj's next Sorcerer Supreme and Hecate invited him and Natasha into the reception hall.

Richard and Natasha offered Hecate’s faction a huge cache of weapons crafted by Grand Master Bapros, stirring them to plan an immediate revolt against Dormammu. Richard’s mocking reaction helped Hecate and her followers regain their composure, and Richard then accompanied Hecate and Clea into a hidden underground passage.

• Natasha produced a pile of enchanted weapons, and Lord Yin recognized them as works of Grand Master Bapros.
• Hecate discovered that Natasha had more than fifty thousand pieces of equipment and became excited about forming an army to reclaim the Dark Dimension.
• Hecate and the Rotten Garden leaders began calling for an attack on Dormammu, while Clea grew tense and struggled to object.
• Richard’s mocking chuckle stopped the gathering, and Hecate slapped herself before thanking him for breaking their battle frenzy.
• Natasha followed Lord Yin to store the weapons, while Richard went with Hecate and Clea through a hidden passageway underground.

Richard, Little Clea, and Hecate found Umar imprisoned in an energy cage, where Little Clea learned Umar was her mother. After Richard revealed that he had imprisoned Dormammu’s main body, Umar broke free, and Richard shielded the group from the blast.

• Hecate brought Richard and Little Clea to Umar’s energy cage, and Umar challenged Hecate for breaking their agreement.
• Little Clea recognized Umar as her mother, and Umar angrily condemned Orini for abandoning their daughter.
• Richard introduced himself as the acting Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj and Lord of the Crimson Dimension, then told Umar that Dormammu’s main body was imprisoned by him.
• Umar rejoiced at the news, told Little Clea to step back, and gathered white flames to attack the energy cage.
• Umar shattered the cage, unleashing flames and violent energy toward the group, and Richard cast Crimson Veil to protect them.

Umar broke free from Dormammu’s energy prison, and her escape triggered an explosion that devastated the Rotten Garden. She left Clea with Richard and flew toward the Eternal Night Throne as Dormammu realized Richard knew about Umar and prepared to unleash his true power.

• A massive underground explosion destroyed much of the Rotten Garden and caused the dilapidated palace to collapse, so Lord Yin and the Dark Dimension Natives fled and began rescuing people.
• Richard, Hecate, Umar, and Clea flew out of the crater, and Hecate worried about the damage to the settlement.
• Umar asked Richard to look after Clea while she rushed to the Eternal Night Throne, and Richard agreed while warning that his Main Body would try to stall Dormammu.
• Umar transformed into a blazing white, feathered energy form and flew toward the sky.
• Dormammu learned from his warning array that Umar had escaped, then threatened Richard and announced that he would unleash his true power.

Richard defeated Dormammu in the Dimensional Void, though the fight nearly exhausted him and his strength was mostly an act. After the Dark Dimension’s destruction was assessed, Richard and Natasha told Dark Witch Hecate they were leaving.

• Dormammu broke free of the Chaos Seal and attacked Richard, who used the six Infinity Stones to fight back.
• Richard pierced Dormammu’s palm and chest with his Death God Spears, then taunted him until Dormammu retreated.
• Richard searched the area to make sure Dormammu was gone, then collapsed from exhaustion and resolved to seek greater strength after dealing with the Skrulls.
• In the Dark Dimension, the surviving natives were rescued, and Lord Yin led the recovery of the weapons and equipment buried in the ruins.
• Richard and Natasha found Dark Witch Hecate and told her it was time for them to leave.

Richard and Natasha helped Hecate establish the Dormammu Resistance, with Richard as Supreme Advisor and Natasha as an instructor, while warning Hecate about the coming war between Umar and Dormammu. Richard took Little Clea back to Earth, and a sudden upheaval shook the Dark Dimension after they vanished.

• Hecate founded the Dormammu Resistance and appointed Richard its Supreme Advisor and Natasha an instructor.
• Richard warned Hecate that Umar and Dormammu would wage a brutal war and urged her to keep the Resistance hidden and beware of Umar.
• Hecate teased Little Clea, who cried and sought comfort from Natasha.
• Richard offered to take Little Clea to Earth, and Hecate agreed.
• Richard used Crimson Mana to transport himself, Natasha, and Little Clea away, then the earth trembled and heaven and earth wailed.

Dormammu and Umar's battle sent catastrophic streams of flame raining across the Dark Dimension, forcing its inhabitants to defend themselves. The destruction stopped after Umar rejected Dormammu's offer to surrender and escaped, promising to trouble him in the future.

• Hecate enveloped the Rotten Garden in a shadow curtain as the Dark Dimension shook.
• Bapros activated the Great Forge Formation, while the Silent Patrol tried to pull the Silent Corridor into the Mirror Plane but was burned away by flowing flame, causing its energy vortex to explode.
• Bargas ordered the Scorched Legion to assemble and then defend against the falling flames, which its soldiers mostly destroyed or dodged.
• The powerful beings across the Dark Dimension looked toward the Eternal Night Throne as Dormammu declared Umar had lost and offered to spare her if she surrendered.
• Umar refused Dormammu's offer, said she would evade him and send him surprises, and the disaster abruptly stopped.

Richard returned to the Sky Fortress with Natasha and Little Clea, where Hill briefed him on preparations to purge the Skrulls and Nick Fury’s release from Rat Prison. The chapter ended as an ocean-going freighter quietly docked near the mouth of the Hudson River.

• Richard introduced Little Clea, the Dark Dimension’s princess and sole heir, to Hill, who agreed to arrange a tour of Earth.
• Hill reported that the Wanderer’s railguns were nearly ready, Medical Pods had been relocated, and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s forces had been consolidated.
• Hill revealed that Nick Fury had been allowed to escape Rat Prison and was under surveillance because of his ties to Skrull refugees and G'iah.
• Hill told Richard that Nick Fury had invited the Skrull refugees to Earth and that Xiao Bai’s simulations predicted they would invade within ten years.
• Richard declared that Earth would deal with the Skrulls on its own terms, and a freighter quietly docked at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Nick Fury escaped the cargo ship and evaded his pursuers, while Jeremy Torres secretly followed him. After finding his safe house sabotaged, Nick Fury fled by taxi toward Brooklyn's Greenpoint Apartments, unaware that Jeremy was still tracking him.

• Nick Fury ran out of ammunition, killed Sherke and Ben, and leaped into the sea as sailors fired after him.
• Jeremy Torres followed Nick Fury underwater using Levitation.
• Nick Fury opened a cliff safe house and found that its medicine had been replaced with chili powder and its guns with squirt guns.
• Nick Fury suspected mages had read his memories, then changed clothes and took forged IDs and cash from the safe house.
• Nick Fury hired Mihawk, a taxi driver, and ordered him to take him to the Greenpoint Apartments in Brooklyn.

Jeremy reported that Nick Fury was heading to Greenpoint Apartments, while Richard and his allies prepared a plan to gather Skrulls in Australia. The White Queen revealed that the apartment’s current owner was Sam Koenig.

• Jeremy called the White Queen after Nick Fury took a taxi to Greenpoint Apartments in Brooklyn, and she told him to follow Fury.
• Richard teleported Tony Stark to the Sky Fortress and introduced him to Clea from the Dark Dimension.
• Hill explained that the team had summoned Earth’s Skrulls to Australia under the pretext of building a new home, receiving over 800,000 replies.
• Tony said Nick Fury had stayed out of contact since escaping the Rat Prison, and Jeremy had tracked him toward Brooklyn.
• The White Queen told Richard that Nick Fury was heading to Greenpoint Apartments, whose current owner was Sam Koenig.

Richard discovered that Sam Koenig looked identical to two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and suspected the Koenig family was connected to cloning. After extracting Sam’s memories, Richard learned about the family and waited for Nick Fury, who arrived at Sam’s apartment injured.

• Xiao Bai found that Sam Koenig looked identical to S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Eric Koenig and Billy Koenig, and Tony concluded they were likely clones.
• Richard asked Hill to watch Little Clea, then went to Sam Koenig’s apartment in Brooklyn.
• Richard found Sam monitoring empty rooms, disarmed him, and used magic to extract and read his memories.
• Over an hour later, Nick Fury climbed through the apartment window, and Richard greeted him.

Richard confronted Nick Fury over his plan to use the Skrulls and accused him of selling out Earth's sovereignty. After Nick admitted defeat, he revealed that Sam Koenig had handled contact with G'iah but could not explain how she left Earth.

• Richard revealed that Sam Koenig was alive and demanded that Nick Fury trade information to see him again.
• Richard accused Nick Fury of secretly selling Earth's sovereignty by dealing with G'iah and the Skrulls.
• Nick Fury defended his plan to make the Skrulls Earth's allies, but Richard warned that the Skrulls were notorious across interstellar society.
• Richard threatened Sam to force Nick Fury to explain his contact with G'iah and how she had left Earth.
• Nick Fury admitted that he had lost and said Sam had managed contact with G'iah, who was also connected to another mysterious faction.

Richard questioned Nick Fury about the Koenigs, revealed that Eric, Billy, and Sam were clones, and sent Fury back to the Rat Prison to help fight the Skrulls. Fury arrived at the operations conference room, survived an attack by Victor Sanchez, and declared that he had chosen to lead the purge of Skrulls on Earth.

• Richard asked Nick Fury about Ernest Hazard Koenig, and Fury said he had never heard of him.
• Richard revealed that Eric, Billy, and Sam Koenig were clones and suspected someone had guided them into the S.H.I.E.L.D. Communications Academy.
• Richard offered Nick Fury a choice between returning to the Rat Prison and helping purge the Skrulls on Earth, and Fury chose to help.
• Richard sent Nick Fury by magic to the Rat Prison, where Victor Sanchez attacked him until Phil Coulson intervened.
• Nick Fury told the assembled agents that he had chosen to fight the Skrulls and offered to lead them, citing his knowledge of the Skrulls he had brought to Earth.

White Queen informed the former S.H.I.E.L.D. commanders that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been absorbed into the Red Order under Mage Richard, and that they would not return to their former posts. Nick Fury was appointed to oversee Skrull intelligence, while the others were told to earn their release by completing their assignments.

• Victoria Hand and the other former commanders objected to Nick Fury leading them, but Park Min-jung announced that White Queen had issued her decision.
• White Queen told Victoria Hand that the former S.H.I.E.L.D. officials could not return to their old positions and appointed Isaiah Banks Director of the Red Order Logistics Department 1.
• White Queen revealed that Mage Richard was the Lord of Crimson and that HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D. had been incorporated into the Red Order.
• White Queen appointed Nick Fury as an advisor responsible for intelligence about the Skrulls and warned the former commanders to stop scheming and complete their tasks if they wanted to leave the rat prison.
• Victoria Hand accepted White Queen's ruling, Victor Sanchez left after criticizing his role, and Isaiah Banks tried to slip away as a Crimson Believer emerged from a portal.