Recaps

Richard and his allies defeated the Illusory World’s hold over Source Star, while Clone No. 1 became Li Ze and Richard gained new power. Richard returned to Kamar-Taj and continued managing the Skrull threat and his growing organization, as fresh trouble erupted in Harlem.

• Mother of Source Star emerged beneath the Vast Sea Plain, revealed her plan to reclaim her scattered consciousness, and ordered Old Li to kill Richard and Clone No. 1.
• Richard killed Old Li in battle, secretly restored him with the Space Stone and a Sealed Spiritual Bead, and joined him and Clone No. 1 against Mother of Source Star and the Illusory World.
• Richard and Clone No. 1 sabotaged the God of War World’s Mainframe, then entered the Illusory World and found Yan, its level 120 core.
• Mother of Source Star sealed the portal feeding Yan’s power, and Source Star upgraded as its dungeons and creatures returned to the real world.
• Clone No. 1 found the Mechanoid Profound Realm’s original star core, became Li Ze, and freed Yan from his control, and he and Richard then raised Richard and Old Li to level 110.
• Richard returned to Kamar-Taj, where the Ancient One left him in charge, and he began preparing the sorcerers while coordinating with Clea, S.H.I.E.L.D., and his staff.
• Richard and Tony uncovered Gravik’s plan to steal Stark’s weapon data and learned that Skrulls had infiltrated Peru’s government, while Richard recruited Baron Strucker and arranged for him to study magic.
• Alexander Pierce sought a favor from Mr. Whitehall, Grant Ward tried to bring John Garrett into Richard’s fold, and Jarvis alerted Tony to a terrorist attack in Harlem.

Richard separated Hulk from Bruce Banner, persuaded Tiamut to protect Earth, and began drawing Tony Stark into the conflict with HYDRA. As HYDRA’s threat list drove its leaders to eliminate targets, Zola survived in a new form and Rumlow considered defecting to Baron Strucker.

• Richard’s Crimson Nun Guard subdued Hulk and Abomination in Harlem, then protected Bruce Banner from General Ross’s soldiers as Betty Ross left with Natasha.
• Banner joined the Red Room, and Richard used the Grigori Soul Splitting Technique to separate Banner and Hulk into independent souls before sealing Hulk’s soul in an orb.
• Richard convinced Tiamut to protect Earth and helped him create a virtual world, though the Space Stone’s activation caused a global earthquake.
• Baron Strucker gave Richard evidence that Bucky Barnes had murdered Howard and Maria Stark, and Richard showed Tony the footage before healing Tony’s chest wound.
• Richard explained HYDRA’s Zola Algorithm to Tony as Coulson and May discovered Zola’s hidden system, but a S.H.I.E.L.D. missile destroyed the warehouse where they confronted him.
• HYDRA used its threat list to target Captain Benson, who died when Crossbones attacked the Lemurian Star, while White Queen rescued Zola’s consciousness from the network.
• Richard sealed Zola’s soul in an orb after Zola chose to become human again, while Thomas warned Rumlow that HYDRA had marked him for elimination and urged him to defect to Baron Strucker.
• Thomas arranged to report Rumlow’s decision to Adele and advised him to hide in Sokovia, while Cass warned Sitwell that he was going to die.

The exposure of Nick Fury’s secrets triggered a coup at the Triskelion, a global warrant, and attacks on S.H.I.E.L.D. bases, while Richard backed Baron Strucker’s takeover and confronted Carol Danvers at Kamar-Taj. The arc ended with Richard’s attempt to use the Space Stone releasing Carol’s sealed power and leaving her poised to attack him.

• Pierce refused to return Item 84 to Whitehall as Clint Barton, White Queen, and Yelena prepared to target Skrulls, and a golden-orange light raced toward Earth.
• Selena launched the Nick Fury Exposé Operation, and Phil Coulson and Melinda May uncovered Pierce’s HYDRA allegiance before Pierce’s strike team cornered them at the Triskelion.
• Zieg and other Skrulls helped Fury, Coulson, and May escape, but Pierce’s Quinjet was later destroyed by a hypersonic missile, and Yelena’s actions led Natasha to bind her for punishment.
• Talbot’s troops confronted S.H.I.E.L.D. at headquarters, where Carol Danvers deflected their gunfire, demanded Fury, and left after learning he had gone.
• The Five Powers issued a global warrant for Fury, and attacks on S.H.I.E.L.D. bases prompted Phil Coulson and the branch leaders to establish a Temporary Council.
• Baron Strucker recruited Pierce’s former HYDRA agents into the Red Order and sent elite soldiers through portals to defend besieged S.H.I.E.L.D. bases.
• Carol reunited with Fury aboard the Wanderer, learned Richard had taken the Cosmic Cube, and went to Kamar-Taj, where Richard’s sorcerers sealed her power.
• Richard used the Space Stone to release Carol’s sealed energy, and she entered Binary Form and threatened to kill him.

Richard defeated the Skrulls’ plans, pursued the Infinity Stones, and used their combined power to strengthen his Crimson Mana while confronting a lingering influence. Back on Earth, he collected money from Nick Fury and began arranging to acquire New York Presbyterian Hospital, where armed men forced a shareholder to sign away his shares.

• Richard subdued Carol Danvers, took the Space Stone, seized control of the Wanderer, and declared war on the Skrulls after Varra confirmed their plans for Earth.
• Richard stopped Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange from stealing the Eye of Agamotto, learned about his quest for the Infinity Stones, and discovered that Gamora’s timeline was being obscured by a mysterious force.
• Through Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange’s memories, Richard learned how Alex became Doctor Strange and pursued the stones across other universes before Richard killed him and took the stones he had gathered.
• Richard traveled to Vormir with Baron Strucker, obtained the Soul Stone by offering Red Skull’s soul, and gave Strucker Nick Fury, Carol Danvers, and Arnim Zola’s sealed soul.
• Richard placed all six Infinity Stones in an energy gauntlet and transformed their power into Chaotic Mana, then tore out and destroyed a hidden wisp of abnormal energy before a mysterious entity tried to trace him.
• Richard signed Vivian’s document, spent time with her and Maria Hill, and learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. still owed him salary and a surgical subsidy, so he collected fifty million dollars from Nick Fury’s account.
• Richard visited Rat Prison with Phil Coulson and Yvette Oliveira, challenged the prisoners’ view of HYDRA, and offered Coulson a chance to leave.
• Richard asked Dean Elwin to stay on as dean if he acquired New York Presbyterian Hospital, and armed men seized Donald Bessimo and ordered him to sign a share transfer agreement for one dollar.