Chapter Summaries

Luke spoke with Yondu, prompting Yondu and Star-Lord to reconcile and acknowledge their bond as family. As Ego approached, Star-Lord chose to meet his biological father before Luke confronted him.

• Luke introduced himself to Yondu as Earth's lord, and Yondu thanked him for destroying the Kree Empire and credited him with protecting Star-Lord.
• Yondu confessed that he felt guilty for delivering children to Ego, and Luke argued that Yondu had saved Star-Lord from the same fate.
• Star-Lord asked whether Yondu had saved him only to atone, and Yondu explained how he had come to treat him as family.
• Star-Lord thanked Yondu and called him Dad, and Yondu urged him to treasure his family before ending their call.
• The Silver Surfer spotted Ego approaching, and Luke told Star-Lord that his biological father was on the way.
• Star-Lord decided to meet Ego before he died, while Luke offered to face him and discussed arranging a fleet contact for the Guardians.

Luke, Silver Surfer, and Star-Lord met Ego as he arrived in his living-planet form, and Star-Lord asked to speak with his father alone. Ego lied about why he had abandoned Star-Lord’s mother and murdered his other children, persuading Star-Lord to consider visiting his planet while Luke questioned Ego’s claims and considered how to deal with him.

• Luke explained that Ego was the planet itself, while Rocket and Yondu discussed Ego’s power and lack of an army.
• Ego recognized Star-Lord as his son and realized his Celestial Power had awakened; Luke suspected Ego might have lied about the source of that power and considered asking Galactus to deal with him.
• Star-Lord confronted Ego about murdering his other children and abandoning his mother, and Ego claimed he had killed his offspring to spare himself the pain of watching them die.
• Ego blamed the Kree Empire for keeping him from returning to Earth, and Star-Lord began to believe his explanation.
• Ego told Star-Lord he had searched for him and promised he would have cared for him regardless of his powers, then invited him to visit his planet.

Luke stopped Ego from absorbing Star-Lord, then helped Uncle Galactus destroy Ego and uncover his plan to seed more than a thousand inhabited planets. Uncle Galactus left to investigate the universe with Eternity, while Luke returned to Star-Lord and the others.

• Luke warned Star-Lord against trusting Ego, then burned Ego's tentacles and freed Star-Lord from his grasp.
• Luke transformed into a gigantic demon god and shattered most of Ego's planetary body, exposing the brain at its core.
• Ego begged Luke for mercy, but Luke said Uncle Galactus would deal with him because he had violated the rules of balance.
• Uncle Galactus arrived, destroyed Ego's consciousness, and explained that Ego's brain had belonged to a young Celestial.
• Uncle Galactus extracted the locations of Ego's seeds and sent Silver Surfer to remove them from more than a thousand planets.
• Uncle Galactus left to check the universe with Eternity, while Luke opened a portal back to Star-Lord and his companions.

After Ego’s death, Luke helped Yondu seek a return to the Ravager Alliance and rescued Mantis. When Mantis revealed Rocket feared his short lifespan, Luke offered the Guardians a contract that bound their lives and shared their lifespans, and they agreed to sign it.

• Luke offered to explain how Ego had deceived Yondu so Yondu could rejoin the Ravager Alliance, and Yondu left to return to his companions.
• Luke destroyed Ego’s powerless egg-shaped ship, rescued Mantis, and brought her aboard with Star-Lord.
• Star-Lord’s remarks about his long lifespan prompted Mantis to reveal Rocket’s fear of dying soon, and Rocket admitted the truth to his companions.
• Luke created a contract that shared the signers’ lifespans and tied their lives together, and Star-Lord persuaded the others to sign it without the Shadow Ninjas.
• Luke suggested adding Mantis to the contract, and Gamora agreed after hearing Mantis could read the minds of people they negotiated with.

Luke checked on Hela’s improving treatment, took her out for a walk, and helped her reconnect with life on Midgard. He then used the Infinity Stones to begin inscribing higher-order rules into the Shadow World, while Galactus and Eternity discussed helping him and the need for trials.

• Luke reviewed the Trading Station’s transactions, then learned that Hela’s treatment was progressing well, though pictures of Odin still unsettled her.
• Hela asked Luke to take her outside; after the doctor approved, they walked around Midgard and talked about her past, her anger, and the chance to reconcile with Odin.
• Luke told Thor and the others about Hela’s condition, then returned home and found that his system had updated into the Shadow World System.
• Luke used the AllSpark to extract fragments of six higher-order rules from the Infinity Stones and inscribe them into the Shadow World, replenishing the stones with dark energy afterward.
• Eternity observed the rules flowing toward the Shadow World as Galactus approved of Luke’s progress and said he would provide rules of balance; Eternity insisted Luke would have to pass their trials before receiving their rules.

Luke reunited with Galacta, then transported Megatron and his forces through the Shadow World to Transformers World so Megatron could return to Cybertron. As Megatron’s fleet arrived, a Chinese military meeting was interrupted by an alarm announcing nearly two hundred unidentified spacecraft approaching.

• Luke met Galacta after she returned from helping Shuri design Wakanda’s armor, and they heard Megatron had arrived.
• The secretary of defense suspected the people supplying the United States’ Trading Station goods were Muspelheim survivors seeking revenge on Asgard, but the president had him detained to protect their cooperation.
• Luke gathered Megatron’s forces at Far Moon Base and carried them through the Shadow World to Transformers World.
• Megatron sent a squadron ahead to scout the passage, while Luke recognized that he wanted to make a triumphant return in front of Optimus Prime.
• At a meeting in China, officials discussed their Dark Energy Cannons and the retreat of Decepticon ships before an alarm reported nearly two hundred unidentified spacecraft approaching.

The Autobots and China prepared to repel a suddenly appearing Decepticon fleet, while Megatron explained to Luke that he was testing Optimus Prime and their rival ideals. As the battle began, both sides revealed new dark-energy technology, and the clash remained unresolved.

• A fleet emerged through a spatial gate near Earth, and Optimus Prime and China's leader agreed that the Autobots would attack the gate with their new equipment and a Type-II Destruction Bomb.
• Megatron told Luke he intended to test Optimus Prime and let the Autobots and Decepticons develop according to their opposing ideals.
• Optimus Prime led the Autobots into space, where they faced nearly a thousand starships and activated equipment that formed black energy barriers around them.
• Earth-based Dark Energy Cannons struck the fleet, and Luke controlled the spreading dark energy while Megatron ordered damaged Starship Giants to withdraw and the remaining ships to transform.
• Optimus Prime warned the Autobots that the Decepticons had grown more resistant to dark power, then Ironhide and the others fired dark-energy weapons that made the enemy ships tremble.

The Autobots fought Megatron’s Starship Giants and tried to destroy the portal, but Luke stopped the Destruction Bomb from detonating and revealed the attack was a test. Megatron challenged Optimus Prime to compete in reviving the Cybertronian Race, and Optimus accepted.

• The Autobots and Earth forces attacked the Starship Giants, while Arcee and her sisters damaged their shields before Star Rock drove them back and Ironhide rescued them.
• Optimus Prime led the Autobots toward the portal as Bumblebee volunteered to distract Star Rock, but Star Rock captured him.
• Optimus Prime charged through the Starship Giants and tried to throw the Destruction Bomb through the portal, where Megatron stopped it as its countdown reached zero.
• Luke emerged from the portal, controlled the bomb’s dark energy to prevent its explosion, and stopped the fighting.
• Megatron explained that the battle had been a test of the Autobots’ progress and proposed competing with Optimus Prime to see whose ideals could revive the Cybertronian Race faster.
• Optimus Prime accepted Megatron’s challenge, saying their actions would prove which approach was better for Cybertron.

Luke discussed the Xia Dynasty’s dark-energy weapons with Galacta, while Surtur prepared to use his Flame Demons and crown to gain the Eternal Flame and destroy Asgard. Supergiant reached Thanos’s warship, and Luke told Odin where to find Thanos before Odin urged him to act at once.

• Luke told Galacta that the Xia Dynasty had used a Dark Crystal to develop weapons powered by what they called dark power, and he reflected that Thanos was the last unresolved story he knew.
• Surtur prepared an army of Flame Demons and ordered them to deliver his crown to Asgard, intending to retrieve the Eternal Flame and destroy Asgard while Odin was away.
• Supergiant reached Thanos’s warship and boarded it with several subordinates, while Luke sensed that a big fish was about to take the bait.
• Luke opened a portal connecting Transformers World to the Trading Station and showed the Xia Dynasty’s leader around after leaders from other countries declined his invitations.
• Luke told Odin that Supergiant had reached Thanos, and Odin blamed Thanos for influencing Loki and possibly Hela before insisting that they go find him.

Supergiant returned to Thanos to report Gamora’s betrayal, but Luke and Odin confronted her and learned Thanos had already escaped. Luke offered to help Odin enlist the Nova Empire to track Thanos, who headed for a frost-covered planet, while an envoy on Earth brought Zha Hamiao a helmet found beneath lava.

• Supergiant boarded Thanos’s warship, where the Chitauri commander detained her and Thanos’s projection revealed that her mind had been influenced.
• Luke and Odin arrived through a portal, and Supergiant attacked Luke before he destroyed her mind with a stronger psychic blast.
• Thanos revealed he was not aboard the warship, and a search by Luke found no trace of him.
• Luke told Odin that Supergiant had managed Thanos’s intelligence network and offered to bring him to the Nova Empire’s Supreme for help tracking Thanos.
• Thanos received word that his forces had reached a frost-covered planet.
• Jell brought Zha Hamiao an enormous helmet that had floated up from underground lava at a United States production site.

Zha Hamiao brought an ancient Flame Crown to Loki, unaware that it held the Eternal Flame, while Thanos negotiated passage through Jotunheim to reach Earth. Flame Demons attacked the Trading Station and invaded Asgard, where Surtur emerged from the treasury and struck the palace's defense barrier.

• Zha Hamiao discovered a crown radiating fire energy and brought it to Loki, who rejected it and ordered it stored in the new treasury.
• The crown began glowing, and Surtur's shadow emerged as he whispered that he was coming for his flame.
• Thanos offered the Frost Giant King an enormous fleet and promised to avoid drawing the Sorcerer Supreme's attention in exchange for passage to Earth.
• Flame Demons attacked the Trading Station, and its factions fought back before the monsters breached the defenses and poured through the portals toward Asgard.
• Loki and Thor prepared for the invasion as Asgard's army defended its portal, but Surtur emerged from the treasury with the Eternal Flame restored.
• Surtur attacked the palace with his flaming sword, and Loki's defense barrier held against the first strike as Surtur raised his sword to strike again.

Surtur attacked Asgard, and although Thor and Loki’s Defense System brought him down, he recovered and surrounded the palace with a deadly firestorm. Loki used the Casket of Ancient Winters and revealed his Frost Giant form to save the Asgardians, then collapsed as his people accepted him as their king.

• Surtur battered Asgard’s barrier while Flame Giants overwhelmed the defenders at the teleportation hall, and Heimdall fought to hold them back.
• Thor attacked Surtur, while Loki activated Tony’s Defense System; its concentrated beam blasted through Surtur’s head and toppled him.
• The Flame Giants blew themselves up in the teleportation hall, and Surtur revived as their fiery fragments gathered into a firestorm around the palace.
• Loki and Thor found Asgardian civilians collapsing from the heat, so Loki used the Casket of Ancient Winters to cool the council hall and revive them.
• Loki revealed his Frost Giant form and unleashed the Casket’s full power, spreading ice through the palace and saving the civilians.
• Loki collapsed from exhausting his bloodline’s power, and the Asgardians bowed to him as their king.

Surtur attacked Asgard, and the Ancient One intervened before Hela joined the fight. The Ancient One and Hela prepared to face Surtur together as Sylvie watched.

• Thor tried to take Loki through the Bifrost to seek help, but Surtur severed it; Heimdall escaped to Earth and warned the sorcerers that Asgard was in danger.
• The Ancient One brought Sylvie to Asgard and trapped Surtur in the Mirror Dimension, but he broke out and returned to the main world.
• Sylvie summoned Hela, who refused Surtur's attempt to turn her against Asgard and fought him.
• The Ancient One rescued Hela and Sylvie from Surtur's attack, and she and Hela agreed to face him together.

Hela used death force to fight Surtur and his Flame Demons while the Ancient One restrained him and Fenris led the Undead Legion to her aid. After Surtur triggered a catastrophic self-destruction, Hela’s Death Storm contained the blast until Luke erased it, and she then spotted Odin behind him.

• Hela drew on death force to extinguish Surtur’s flames, while the Ancient One trapped him with a magic circle and dark chains.
• Surtur broke free by igniting Asgard’s ground, then summoned Flame Demons as Hela called up fallen Asgardian warriors and the Undead Legion.
• Fenris returned to Hela, helped her fight the Flame Demons, and carried her clear of Surtur’s thrown Twilight Sword.
• Surtur began gathering energy for self-destruction, so Hela unleashed a Death Storm that contained the resulting firestorm.
• Luke arrived with Odin and obliterated the firestorm with dark power; Hela withdrew her Death Storm and noticed Odin behind Luke.

Hela reunited with Odin, Frigga, and her siblings after Asgard’s battle, while Luke recovered Surtur’s Flame Crown and arranged for Hela to destroy his soul. Back at the Trading Station, Luke proposed hidden guards for security and kept the United States envoy behind after the meeting.

• The Ancient One calmed Hela so she could reunite with Odin, and Luke and the Ancient One recovered Surtur’s Flame Crown after a Flame Demon tried to escape with it.
• Odin introduced Hela to Thor and Loki, and Frigga arrived with Sylvie to embrace her daughter.
• Luke showed Odin’s family the crown, and Hela asked to use Surtur’s death to replenish her Death Force; Luke handed her the crown and offered to help if she needed more.
• Luke returned to the Trading Station, summoned Shadow Ninjas to clean up, and called envoys to a meeting about the monster attack.
• Luke proposed stationing hidden guards in public areas of the Trading Station, and the envoys agreed.
• Luke adjourned the meeting and asked the United States envoy to stay behind.

Luke questioned the American envoy and confronted the former secretary of defense, who gave him a list as Luke began tracking those involved. Meanwhile, Thanos abducted a Skrull posing as Nick Fury, and the real Fury prepared to use himself as bait while S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated.

• Luke questioned the American envoy about the suspicious items, learned that the secretary of defense had supplied them, and let him leave.
• Luke found the former secretary of defense, who handed him a list of names.
• Thanos attacked a Nick Fury double on the outskirts of New York, recognized him as a Skrull, and carried him away.
• The real Fury returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. and ordered Captain America, Natasha, Barton, and Bucky back to investigate the attacker.
• Fury proposed acting as bait, then went to the police station and reported the attack, where the chief and deputy chief laughed at his description.

Natasha and Fury used Fury’s public humiliation as bait to draw out an attacker, while Thanos tortured a Skrull double for information and followed a lead toward a nearby safe house. Fury’s trap was complicated when an armed squad attacked the villa, prompting him to call on an unidentified ally.

• Natasha, Captain America, Bucky, and Barton watched Fury leave the police station, while Natasha explained that the FIB would publicize his visit and help lure the attacker out.
• Thanos questioned a Skrull who had served as Fury’s double, learned that Fury had returned to Earth weeks earlier, and tortured him until he revealed a lead.
• The FIB spread news mocking Fury online, and Fury used the growing publicity to draw the unknown attacker toward a safe house near New York.
• Thanos read a report about a mysterious meeting, noticed that its location was near the address the Skrull had given him, and decided to investigate cautiously.
• Fury’s agents spotted an armed squad approaching the villa and exchanged gunfire with them, so Fury contacted an unidentified ally to take action.

S.H.I.E.L.D. used a villa as bait to draw out the mysterious attacker, but Blade and his fighters instead wiped out several groups of assailants while Thanos watched from afar. Fury abandoned the plan and evacuated with the others, only for their Quinjet to crash after its wings were cleanly severed, suggesting the attacker had finally struck.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fought off numerous attackers near Fury's safe house until Blade and his people arrived and slaughtered the enemy forces.
• Thanos watched the battle, recognized Fury's trap, and followed the trail of the strange inhuman fighters instead of approaching the villa.
• Fury called off the operation when the mysterious attacker failed to appear and ordered Hawkeye and Black Widow moved to another safe house.
• Fury, Captain America, and the others boarded a Quinjet, which suddenly plunged to the ground after its wings were severed.
• Fury inspected the smooth cuts on the missing wings and suspected that the mysterious attacker had caused the crash.

Steve and his team discovered that Thanos had captured Fury and was attacking them, but Steve’s medal summoned reinforcements. Thanos broke free of Barton’s restraint and charged at him while Hawkeye froze after hearing something.

• A cloaked attacker knocked Fury unconscious, ambushed Steve, and left a deep slash on his shield.
• The attacker struck the cabin with a flying wing, injuring Natasha and destroying the team’s communications equipment.
• Steve’s medal contacted JARVIS, who sent the Ultron Legion and alerted Scarlet Witch while Thanos prepared to steal the team’s wristbands.
• Thanos hurled a tree at the team and charged Steve, whose shield caught Thanos’s blade before the archers attacked.
• Hawkeye and Barton blinded Thanos and encased part of his body in a hardened substance, but Thanos shattered it and charged Barton as Hawkeye froze.

Thanos killed Hawkeye, took his and Black Widow’s wristbands, and survived the Ultron Mechanical Legion’s assault. Luke’s allies arrived and engaged Thanos, but the fight remained unresolved.

• Thanos killed Hawkeye and took both wristbands after Black Widow failed to stop him.
• The Ultron Mechanical Legion bombarded Thanos, but he survived and deflected its laser attacks.
• Ultron’s robots froze Hawkeye’s wounds and sent him through a portal to the Defenders’ dedicated hospital.
• Tony, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Ghost Rider, Death Knight (Carter), and other superheroes arrived to confront Thanos.
• Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch failed to injure Thanos, while Johnny and Carter attacked him with a chain and scythe.