Chapter Summaries

Sersi drew on the Group Mana Pool to force back the giant hand threatening Earth, but the array’s increased conversion rate began draining the Crimson Believers. Strucker summoned Kamar-Taj reinforcements, and Mordo led the sorcerers into the passage to support the array.

• The giant hand struck the golden array, and Phastos called on Sersi to push it back.
• Sersi poured energy into the emerald pillar, then tapped the Group Mana Pool and endured repeated bodily injuries as its Life Force fueled her.
• Sersi’s strengthened pillar began pushing the giant hand downward, while the Group Mana Pool’s level fell to its 30% warning mark.
• The array’s conversion efficiency increased, draining the Crimson Mana and vitality of the Crimson Believers and alarming Strucker and Phastos.
• Strucker ordered White Queen Clone 17 to request Kamar-Taj’s help, and Master Mordo led the sorcerers through the passage to join the fight.

Mordo and the Kamar-Taj mages joined Strucker’s effort to hold back Tiamut, but the array could not withstand the slumbering Deity’s strength. Strucker summoned Red Order reinforcements from around the world, exposing magic to the public, and Rhodes left a US government meeting through a portal to help save Earth.

• Mordo and the Kamar-Taj mages entered the Golden Array and fed their mana into the Group Mana Pool.
• Sersi pushed Tiamut’s hand beneath the sea, but the Deity forced it back up, prompting Strucker to call for more reinforcements.
• White Queen 17 ordered Red Order believers worldwide to travel to the Indian Ocean, and their portal magic was filmed and shared online.
• President Ellis ordered Director Novak to investigate the Crimson Cultists and whether they were behind the global disaster.
• Rhodes opened a crimson portal in the White House conference room, told the officials he had to save Earth, and stepped through.

Rhodes joined the Red Order’s formation as Sersi struggled to petrify Tiamut and push his giant hand back beneath the sea. Reinforcements replenished the mana pool, and Sersi’s beam began turning Tiamut’s hand to stone.

• Rhodes emerged from the Portal and joined the golden formation, where a Magitech Legion squad leader joked about his reputation.
• The formation drained Rhodes’s mana, while Phastos urged everyone to hold on as Sersi continued her effort against Tiamut.
• Strucker and the Crimson Believers used Mana Burn to replenish the Group Mana Pool, but Tiamut’s hand stalled against Sersi’s beam.
• Phastos calculated that the defenders could hold for only six more hours without petrifying Tiamut, then Christine Palmer, Vivian, Jill, Alicia, Alice, and the Crimson Nun Guard arrived as reinforcements.
• Sersi drained the replenished mana pool, strengthened her emerald beam, and began petrifying Tiamut’s giant hand.

Tiamut realized the Emergence had begun and chose to cooperate with Sersi as she petrified his Celestial body and converted the released Life Force. As global disasters subsided, Sersi used the petrified seabed to create a growing island.

• Tiamut sensed the Emergence and discovered that he could not stop it once it had begun.
• Tiamut suppressed his body's resistance and told Sersi to speed up the petrification.
• Sersi accelerated the petrification, and Life Force poured from the seabed into the golden formation's Group Mana Pool.
• Sersi converted the Life Force as Tiamut's body petrified, and earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and ocean waves gradually calmed.
• Sersi reshaped the petrified sea surface into an island and spread vegetation across it.

Sersi and the Crimson Believers succeeded in defending their home, and Phastos destroyed the Group Mana Pool to release its Life Force and restore them. As the Golden Array disintegrated and the heroes celebrated, a colossal being appeared outside Earth and fixed six cold gazes on the planet.

• Sersi completed the task but lost consciousness, and Phastos confirmed to Strucker that they had succeeded.
• Phastos pulled the node orb from his chest and crushed it, causing the Group Mana Pool to explode and shower the Golden Array with Life Force.
• The Life Force restored the Crimson Believers, and Strucker and Phastos celebrated their reward.
• The Golden Array disintegrated, and Christine Palmer and Vivian joined the Crimson Believers in cheering their victory.
• A being larger than a planet appeared outside Earth and looked down at it with six cold gazes.

Arishem, the Judge, arrived above Earth and summoned the surviving Eternals into space, accusing them of betraying their mission. As Earth fell into darkness and time seemed to stop, the Eternals faced his judgment.

• Arishem blocked the sunlight from Earth and drew Phastos and Sersi toward him.
• Tony pursued Phastos and Sersi, but his armor abruptly stopped as everything on Earth began to freeze.
• Ikaris and the other nine surviving Eternals were forcibly summoned before Arishem.
• Arishem searched the Eternals’ memories and accused them of abandoning their mission to protect humanity until the Emergence.

Arishem judged the Eternals and killed them for betraying or disregarding their mission. As Sersi awaited her sentence, she closed her eyes in despair and thought of Dane.

• Arishem condemned Gilgamesh, who died after his body expanded and exploded.
• Makkari broke free of Arishem’s control to attack him, but Arishem imprisoned and killed her.
• Arishem sentenced Ikaris to death for conspiring against Ajak, and Sprite’s plea could not save him.
• Arishem killed Kingo, Sprite, Tina, and Gilgamesh for disregarding their mission.
• Arishem began judging Sersi, who closed her eyes and thought farewell to Dane.

Arishem executed Phastos after declaring that the Eternal had been corrupted by thought and emotion, then ordered Tiamut’s Emergence to continue. Tiamut refused to be born through Earth’s destruction, and Arishem rejected his right to choose as the magma erupted around a buried Celestial body.

• Phastos protested Arishem’s judgments and pleaded for Earth and humanity to be spared.
• Arishem declared Phastos a capital criminal because he had learned to think, then killed him.
• Arishem ordered Tiamut to be born, and Tiamut awakened in Earth’s core.
• Tiamut refused Arishem’s offer to join the Celestials, saying his birth should not destroy Earth.
• Arishem insisted Tiamut had no right to refuse, and his voice caused the magma to erupt and expose a petrified Celestial body.

Tiamut confronted Arishem after the Judge began damaging Earth, declared that he was becoming human, and accepted a coming reassessment. Arishem left, while Tiamut freed Earth and returned toward the planet as Strucker and the others regained their freedom.

• Arishem damaged Tiamut’s petrified body, but Tiamut repaired it and calmed the raging magma around Earth’s core.
• Tiamut sent a fragment of his consciousness to Strucker and the others, telling them to find Richard and warn him that Earth was in danger.
• Tiamut confronted Arishem and demanded that he leave Earth and its inhabitants unharmed.
• Tiamut said he was becoming human and waiting for an answer beyond the Celestials’ cosmic algorithms.
• Arishem declared that Tiamut was contaminated, announced a reassessment, and departed.
• Tiamut gathered the nine dispersing balls of blood mist and returned toward Earth as his energy broke Arishem’s prison and freed Strucker and the others.

As Earth’s leaders sought allies against Arishem, Vivian revealed that Natasha, the current Master of the Hell Dimension, might also help. Meanwhile, Richard told Lin he had to leave the next morning, ending their happy breakfast on a painful note.

• Mordo said he could not contact Richard or the Ancient One, so Tony suggested seeking help from the master of the Mechanoid Profound Realm.
• Mordo confirmed that a Dharmic Instrument could contact the master, and Strucker assigned the Red Order to approach Asgard while Kamar-Taj contacted the Mechanoid Profound Realm.
• Vivian reminded everyone that Natasha was the current Master of the Hell Dimension.
• At a Hong Kong villa, Lin watched Richard enjoy the breakfast she had made and offered to cook for him again the next morning.
• Richard told Lin that he had to leave the next day, and her smile stiffened.

Richard and Lin spent the day together at her villa, where Lin prepared breakfast and said she would wait for him at home. Richard departed through a Cross-Plane Portal, and a new scene in Los Angeles followed a bank’s armored vehicle as it carried money away.

• Richard and Lin stayed at the villa and spent nearly the whole day together.
• Lin made breakfast for Richard, and they ate together the next morning.
• Richard asked Lin to come with him, but she said she would wait for him at home.
• Richard told Lin to wait for his return and vanished through a Cross-Plane Portal.
• In North Hollywood, Manager Peter sent an armored vehicle carrying bags of money on its way.
• Peter secretly pressed send on his phone and reported, “The cargo is on the road--”

A masked gang prepared an ambush for Oliver’s armored van and blocked its route with an ambulance. Oliver stopped just short of a collision, leaving him confronted by the attackers.

• A black van followed Oliver’s armored van while its driver reported the cargo’s approach to the masked gang.
• The gang’s mustached leader armed the men with rifles and pistols, and Chris prepared to drive the ambulance.
• Oliver smoked and listened to music as he drove, unaware that the black van was tracking him.
• After receiving the signal that the armored van had arrived, the leader ordered Chris to move.
• Chris swerved the ambulance across the main road, forcing Oliver to slam on the brakes just before they collided.

Mike and his crew ambushed an armored truck, broke into its cargo compartment, and subdued its guards. Richard Walker freed the trapped driver, Oliver, and escorted him to the captives, where one robber turned his gun toward Richard as he walked away.

• Chris reversed the ambulance as a Mercedes-Benz LN2 rammed the armored truck, flipping it and pushing it into a parking lot.
• Mike’s masked crew rushed the wreck, and Chris used a remote-controlled bomb to blast open the cargo doors.
• Two robbers entered the compartment and emerged with two injured guards, while the crew spread out to carry out their tasks.
• Richard Walker freed Oliver from the cab and brought him to the injured guards, telling him the robbers only wanted money.
• Richard told a tall robber to watch the captives, but the robber bristled at the order and slowly aimed his gun toward Richard’s back.

Chris stopped Wild Bill from attacking Richard Walker, but Wild Bill later shot a guard during the robbers’ retreat. Oliver returned fire, hitting Richard Walker three times and leaving him badly wounded.

• Chris disarmed Wild Bill, struck him, and forced him to calm down before returning his pistol.
• Mike emerged from the armored truck with a cowhide bag, and the robbers began retreating toward the ambulance with Richard Walker and Chris covering him.
• Wild Bill ignored the retreat and shot the vacant-eyed guard in the head.
• Oliver fired three shots at the retreating group, and the bullets struck Richard Walker in the chest.

Mike and his crew killed the guards, including Richard Walker, and escaped the armored truck robbery as police arrived. Inside the fleeing ambulance, the unmasked robbers surrounded Wild Bill, the culprit, with hostile expressions.

• Michael shot Oliver, and Chris and the others cornered the last guard.
• Mike knelt beside the dying Richard Walker, gave him a cigarette, and watched him die.
• Mike ordered Chris to kill the last guard and led the crew to their ambulance.
• The crew escaped as police cars crashed into a spike strip, and officers found the dead guards at the overturned truck.
• Inside the ambulance, the robbers surrounded Wild Bill with hostile expressions.

After Wild Bill’s reckless gunfire killed Richard Walker, Mike confronted him and accepted his apology and offer to give Richard’s family his earnings. Mike then shot Wild Bill in the forehead, leaving the crew stunned by his sudden execution.

• Mike and Michael confronted Wild Bill over his actions and Richard Walker’s death.
• Wild Bill surrendered, knelt, apologized, and offered his share of the operation’s earnings to Richard’s family.
• Mike said Wild Bill could remain their partner and promised to transfer his earnings to Richard’s family.
• Mike shot Wild Bill in the forehead with a black-lit bullet.

Mike killed Wild Bill and the other bandits, absorbed their lingering souls into his gun, and escaped the pursuing police by destroying the ambulance. Outside the world, Richard noticed that the world’s Alter Ego had vanished and broke into the Parallel World, drawing the attention of powerful beings.

• Mike shot Wild Bill, then killed Michael and the other bandits in the ambulance.
• Mike burned the corpses and absorbed their lingering souls into his gun.
• Mike transformed into a demon and flew away as black flames engulfed the ambulance.
• Police arrived minutes later and found the smoking wreckage of the ambulance.
• Richard noticed that the world’s Alter Ego had disappeared and that he could no longer sense its Spirit resonance.
• Richard broke through the world barrier into the Parallel World, and unseen beings identified him as an intruder and called for his death.