Chapter Summaries

John recruited Maya Hansen to develop a safer Extremis-based healing treatment for Taran Industries, then honored Wenwu’s invitation to watch Trevor Slattery perform. Meanwhile, Xu Xialing decided to leave Wenwu, Shang-Chi began learning magic from John, and Hattie summoned John back to work after Maya arrived at the company.

• John gave Maya a modified Extremis formula and ordered her to restructure Pioneer Technologies with Helen, developing a healing capsule for Taran Industries.
• Wenwu arranged for Trevor Slattery to perform for John and threatened to kill him if he failed to make John laugh.
• Xu Xialing saw Wenwu ignore her and decided to leave, following Shang-Chi’s example.
• John trained Shang-Chi to channel magic through emotion, and Shang-Chi broke his arm against John’s magical shield before John treated him with Skele-Gro.
• Peter and Ned visited the injured Shang-Chi, then fled when John offered to make them boneless too.
• Hattie called John back to work and told him that Maya had come to Taran Industries claiming John sent her.

John dealt with the fallout from Killian’s Extremis plot and watched his company help restore Manhattan while he tried to enjoy Christmas without work. Meanwhile, Tony survived a perilous operation, and John confronted him over an old promise, ending with Tony revealing that he had hit on John’s mother.

• John refused government and military demands for Extremis research, while Maya Hansen accelerated work on the Healing Capsule.
• John arranged for damaged Hell’s Kitchen homes to be bought and redeveloped, as Silverhand Fashion Architecture helped rebuild Manhattan and Wizards’ public image improved.
• Dr. Wu operated on Tony with Shaun Murphy assisting, and Tony’s sudden hemorrhaging and falling heart rate repeatedly interrupted the surgery before Dr. Wu saved him.
• John visited Tony with strawberries, then destroyed Tony’s television when Tony failed to remember his promise.
• Tony put on Armor and called Banner as backup before recounting his old feud with John’s father, until John learned Tony had hit on his mother in an elevator.

Tony told Pepper that John had beaten him after Tony boasted he had almost become John’s stepfather, while John later reviewed Maya Hansen’s progress on the Treatment Capsule and saw Ivan unveil his Third-Generation Fighter. John agreed not to stop Ivan from seeking revenge on Tony, then returned home to find Natasha Romanoff waiting for him.

• Pepper found Tony bruised, learned John had beaten him, and discovered Tony had provoked John by saying he had almost become his stepfather.
• John recalled beating Tony after the insult and learned that Maya Hansen and Doctor Helen had completed a Treatment Capsule that regenerated lost limbs in animal trials.
• John visited Ivan’s damaged laboratory, where Ivan revealed his Third-Generation Fighter and explained its upgraded armor, weapons, and remote-control system.
• Ivan told John he intended to go after Tony, and John agreed not to stop him.
• Natasha Romanoff picked the lock to John’s home and greeted him as he arrived.

Natasha questioned John about Silverhand Fashion Architecture and the exposure of wizard repairs. John argued that superheroes would eventually face public blame for collateral damage, and explained that wizards could repair the damage for a fee; Natasha left with a clearer sense of why Fury distrusted him.

• John told Natasha she would have to pay for the damaged lock out of her salary, and she dropped her seductive pose to ask about Silverhand Fashion Architecture.
• John said friendly wizards were repairing New York, while Natasha recalled S.H.I.E.L.D.'s suspicion of his motives and its investigation into his identity.
• Natasha asked whether filmed wizard repairs violated the International Statute of Secrecy, and John warned that the public would eventually turn against its heroes.
• John explained that Silverhand Fashion Architecture could repair damage caused while superheroes fought villains, provided residents and the city paid for the service.
• John criticized S.H.I.E.L.D. for relying on Stark's goodwill and intelligence while claiming to protect the world.
• Natasha asked whether John had read her mind, and he said he did not use Legilimency on friends.

Natasha brought John to her quiet house to ask for help with a pink teddy bear that had come alive through Ariana’s magic. John discovered Ariana’s package contained a powerful spellbook he had made for her, and he grew uneasy about why she had sent it to Natasha.

• Natasha invited John to her house and explained that she had returned to the home she planned to live in after retiring.
• A pink teddy bear struck Natasha, fled upstairs, and was revealed to have come alive through Ariana’s magic.
• John followed the bear to the attic, where he found Ariana’s package and a blank book the bear pointed out.
• John used his wand to reveal the book’s title, “Practical Magic Picture Book,” and recognized it as the magical guide he had prepared for Ariana.
• Natasha told John the package had been sent from a small town in New Jersey two weeks before Christmas, making him wonder why Ariana had sent the book there.

John found Ariana’s letter and set out to learn about her situation while Natasha investigated its delivery. After returning to school, Peter was teased by John at the shore, where John spotted Fisk meeting someone at sea and suspected the meeting was connected to the remaining person involved in the attack on his parents.

• John found Ariana’s letter, learned from Natasha that she was a reporter, and asked Natasha to investigate while he left the bear with her.
• Peter returned to school, where rumors that John was his godfather made teachers and students treat him differently.
• Peter complained about John to Ned, but John overheard them and took both boys to the shore.
• John spotted Fisk meeting someone on a boat and remembered that one person involved in the attempt on his parents’ lives was still unaccounted for.
• Fisk told the person he was meeting that Killian was dead and that they could take over everything Killian had.

Fisk worked with Kate Desmond to target John Wick’s supposed weakness, while John deliberately made Peter appear close to him. Dax gained Ray’s trust and received a USB drive listing agents suspected of taking bribes, leaving Dax with evidence against Fisk’s allies.

• Fisk told Kate Desmond he had found John Wick’s weakness: a woman and a child hidden in Queens, and Desmond agreed to celebrate.
• John overheard their conversation and began taking Peter to busy places to make his connection to the boy visible to Fisk’s men.
• Ray told Dax that his debts and family expenses threatened his promotion, then shared his investigation into Night Ghost and suspected corruption within the FBI.
• Ray gave Dax a USB drive listing agents whose spending suggested they had been bribed and asked him to watch for suspicious activity around Fisk.
• Dax accepted the drive and resolved to use the list of agents Fisk had bought off.

John investigated businessman Kate Desmond and learned that his records were hidden inside S.H.I.E.L.D., leading Natasha to suspect there were traitors within the agency. Meanwhile, Fisk prepared to manipulate Dax, and John waited for Fisk’s plans to escalate.

• Hattie told John that Desmond was a German businessman who had joined the Mitte Brotherhood and funded organizations and political figures, while Natasha discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. had blocked access to his files.
• Natasha and Barton agreed to investigate the concealed information together, and Natasha later told John she needed to inform Fury and use Desmond to expose traitors.
• Fisk reviewed Dax’s files and therapy recordings while Dax encountered Polaris in a park, then received a call from Ray about an operation in Hell’s Kitchen.
• John watched reports of Fisk helping the FBI and complained that no one had tried to kidnap Peter yet.
• Natasha asked John to leave Desmond alone while S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated, and John warned her that the agency might have more traitors than she expected.

Fisk kidnapped Peter and May to force John Wick to choose between rescuing them and stopping his return to power. John found and rescued them, while Hattie recorded evidence of the kidnapping, and they prepared to expose Fisk publicly.

• Peter and Ned tried to avoid John’s constant invitations to eat, but Peter returned home and was abducted with May by Fisk’s men.
• Wesley brought the captives to an unfinished building, where Fisk planned to use them to keep John Wick occupied while Fisk regained his freedom.
• John learned Peter and May were missing and used a magical blood-tracking charm to follow them to the building.
• John collapsed the ground and rescued Peter and May from a buried metal box containing oxygen tanks.
• Hattie arrived with recordings of the kidnapping and the kidnappers’ conversations, and John planned to show the evidence on a courthouse screen.

Wilson Fisk tried to recruit Dax by appealing to their shared childhood violence, but Dax rejected him. As Fisk’s trial ended in acquittal, he began reclaiming power, while Leland fled to Sicily and Julie was murdered on Fisk’s orders.

• Fisk studied Dax’s history and tried to persuade him that they were alike, but Dax dumped the food and walked away.
• Fisk arranged for Julie to be killed, then told Leland to launch a newspaper campaign portraying him as a victim of injustice.
• Leland reported that Fisk had begun, received reassurance from an unknown contact, and fled to Sicily with his cash.
• Fisk arrived at court for his verdict and learned that Dax had taken leave.
• Fisk’s lawyer blamed John Wick for Fisk’s troubles, and the jury unanimously found Fisk not guilty.

Fisk was acquitted and tried to turn the crowd against John Wick, but John exposed Fisk’s crimes on a public screen. As police moved to arrest him, Fisk injected himself with a syringe, and Daredevil appeared.

• Ray learned that Fisk had been acquitted while his FBI colleagues showed no surprise, making him suspect they were connected to Fisk.
• Fisk emerged from court and accused John Wick of corruption and violence, presenting himself as a victim who would expose the truth.
• A video displayed Fisk’s crimes, including his orders to seize a mother and son, bribery, threats, and a conversation about hiding people underground.
• Ray arrested Fisk as the crowd turned against him, but Fisk attacked him and FBI traitors opened fire before police arrived and forced them to surrender.
• Fisk spotted John, struggled free of the officers, and injected himself with a syringe as Daredevil appeared.

After Wilson Fisk escaped custody and transformed himself with the Extremis Virus, Matt and Dax pursued him through the sewers with Ray’s help. They subdued Fisk, but Dax was about to finish him when someone ordered them to stop.

• Fisk used his Extremis-enhanced strength to escape the courthouse, and Matt chased him into the sewers while Ray called for backup and followed.
• Matt ambushed Fisk underground, but Fisk overwhelmed him with his heat, strength, and combat instincts, then recognized him after tearing off his helmet.
• Fisk threatened Matt’s loved ones and threw a baton at Ray, but Dax intervened and saved Ray before joining Matt to trap Fisk.
• Fisk fled through the sewers as Dax and Matt pursued him, with Ray providing support despite his gunfire having little effect.
• Dax immobilized Fisk with seven knives, Matt broke both of Fisk’s hands and smashed his jaw, and Dax broke Fisk’s neck before preparing to kill him.
• An unseen speaker ordered Dax to stop.

Dax stopped Fisk from escaping and Ray returned him to prison, where a call from Vanessa persuaded Fisk to surrender. The FBI began pursuing the corruption and financial network around Fisk, while John headed to Westview to investigate his sister’s disappearance.

• Dax relented when Ray promised to hold Fisk accountable, but pinned the escaping Fisk to the ground with throwing knives after he woke.
• Matt let Fisk speak with Vanessa, and Fisk surrendered to Ray after she promised to wait for him.
• The FBI director promoted Ray and Dax and gave them documents exposing Fisk’s financial dealings and corrupt associates.
• John noted that Desmond was also being targeted and left for Westview to follow the last route his sister had taken.

Natasha uncovered signs of an infiltrated force within S.H.I.E.L.D. and connected John’s amulet to the organization’s magical artifacts while growing worried about Ariana’s disappearance. Hattie searched for John after he vanished, and John arrived in Westview to investigate the place Ariana’s package had been sent from.

• Fury learned that Desmond and the implicated S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had died, ending the investigation and leaving him suspicious of the enemy’s methods.
• Barton left on a mission while Natasha investigated Ariana’s unexplained trip to Westview and worried after her communicator lost its signal.
• Natasha compared the broken pieces of John’s amulet with the amulets from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Small Handbag and wondered about John’s place in the Wizarding World.
• Hattie went to John’s house, learned he was headed to New Jersey, and heard MOSS shut down before answering a call from a man who claimed authority over her.
• John arrived in Westview, where Ariana’s package had been sent from, and found the town surrounded by abandoned military bases.

John followed Ariana’s trail to a decaying house in Westview, but his tracking spell could not locate her. While a struggling mother bought the house for two thousand dollars and toured it with her children and the agent, they discovered a rocking crib and a puppet in an upstairs room.

• John used a tracking spell in Westview, but it spun without finding Ariana, so he searched the town for the address from a shipping label.
• John bribed a supermarket clerk for directions and kicked open the door of the neglected house at the end of the road.
• John searched the empty, damaged house and found a wedding photograph before spotting a real estate agent showing it to a mother and her two children.
• The mother bought the house for two thousand dollars and insisted its broken furnishings and bullet-scarred walls were worth keeping.
• The mother and agent went upstairs, where they found a rocking crib, a wooden puppet in a white dress, and a bottle rolling toward the agent.

John investigated the haunted house, found evidence of a magical summoning ritual, and followed its lingering magic to a witch named Agnes. Agnes led him to a church, where he spotted the blond witch he was seeking and realized Agnes knew his name without being told.

• John used a Disillusionment Charm to explore the house and found a summoning circle in its basement, along with traces of magic tied to chaos particles.
• A woman bought the haunted house for eight hundred after the salesman repeatedly lowered the price when doors opened and closed by themselves.
• John turned the residual magic into a raven, followed it to a house, and confronted the witch who lived there.
• The witch introduced herself as Agnes and told John that she had seen a blond witch near the town church.
• Agnes led John into the church and pointed out the blond girl in the first pew, but John noticed that Agnes knew his name without being told.

John defeated Agnes, a powerful witch who used interdimensional magic and drained other wizards, after she tried to trap and siphon his power. Agnes revealed that an unknown Hell Lord had targeted John’s sister Ariana, who may have been taken by its worshippers as a sacrifice.

• John approached Agnes and the blonde woman he suspected was his sister, but the woman split open and attacked him with tentacles while Agnes revealed her hostile magic.
• Agnes trapped John with an Anti-Space Magic Spell and tried to drain his magic, but he let her absorb energy from the Casket of Ancient Winters, freezing her through the conduit.
• John broke free, disarmed Agnes, and used Eternity Freeze to immobilize her and the tentacles before threatening her.
• Agnes pleaded for her life and said she had drained magic from passing wizards, but she had not attacked John’s sister because someone else had already targeted her.
• Agnes told John that a powerful Hell Lord had sought Ariana and might have taken her through its worshippers as a sacrifice.

John confronted Agnes, uncovered her bargain with a Hell Lord, and followed her to the hidden basement where Ariana was held. After Agnes escaped her restraints and attacked him, Ariana emerged from behind one of the doors.

• John recognized Agnes's powerful Occlumency, shattered the ice around her, and ordered her to lead him to the Hell Lord.
• Agnes secretly planned to use a paper rabbit to ambush John, but he forced his way into the protected house across from hers.
• John reached the bloodstained basement door, slammed Agnes against it, and kicked it open before throwing her inside.
• Agnes's paper rabbit transformed and attacked John, but he sliced it apart as Agnes freed her hands and struck with Hell-powered magic.
• John interrupted Agnes's spell, then saw Ariana approach from among the doors beyond the basement.

John confronted the Hell Lord possessing Ariana in a battle inside hell’s projection while trying to avoid harming Ariana’s body. After revealing his name, John snapped his fingers and froze the entire projection.

• The Hell Lord’s consciousness appeared through Ariana, and Agnes admitted she had brought Ariana to serve as a sacrifice.
• John attacked the Hell Lord and Agnes, using water, ice, and conjured swords while trying to destroy the projection and interrupt the sacrifice.
• Agnes and the Hell Lord counterattacked, with the Hell Lord spreading dark-red energy across the projection and crushing John’s sword barrage.
• John revealed his golden dragon scales, said his name was John Wick, and snapped his fingers to freeze the projection.

John pursued the Hell Lord into Hell to free Ariana, using soul magic and his own Obscurus to fight it. When the Hell Lord hid inside Ariana and refused to surrender, John summoned the Gate of Matter and threatened to bury Hell unless it released his sister.

• John shattered the projection of Hell and followed Ariana and the Hell Lord into the dimension.
• John used Ancient Elvish and the Soul Scalpel to separate the Hell Lord from Ariana, but the entity retreated inside her body.
• The Hell Lord transformed Ariana’s power into an Obscurus, and John transformed into one as well before driving the entity back into her.
• The Hell Lord refused to leave Ariana and offered to coexist with her, believing John would not harm her.
• John summoned the Gate of Matter into Hell and demanded that the Hell Lord release Ariana or face the destruction of Hell.