Chapter Summaries

Deathstroke negotiated with Frigga to free Brunnhilde and Misty, then investigated the identity of the person who had summoned Mephisto’s demon army using the Handmaidens of Destruction. He suspected the hidden enemy might be the former All-Father who ruled before Odin.

• Frigga admitted she had known Odin was an impostor and agreed to stop Asgard from summoning Brunnhilde and Misty again.
• Deathstroke asked Gullveig to discuss Vanaheim’s future, then transformed back into Odin and sought a way to halt the demon army and its fleet.
• Frigga and Gullveig recognized the thirteen Handmaidens of Destruction and explained that their blood weakened gods and could turn bitten gods into Ghouls.
• Frigga ruled out Hela as the summoner because Hela had not been born when the Handmaidens were exiled.
• Deathstroke considered the former All-Father, whose rule preceded Odin’s, as a possible hidden enemy.

Su Ming explained the Serpent’s history and Odin’s prophecy, then organized defenses against the danger facing Asgard. He sent Brunnhilde to Sakaar to offer the Grandmaster a wager involving Thor and his arena champion.

• Su Ming told Frigga, Gullveig, Gin, and Brunnhilde that Odin’s brother, the Serpent, was alive and imprisoned beneath the sea.
• Frigga recalled Odin claiming the Serpent had died, and Su Ming explained that the prophecy required Thor and the Serpent to perish together.
• Su Ming agreed to handle the Serpent in exchange for Frigga healing Heimdall and Gullveig guarding the Golden Palace.
• Su Ming released Brunnhilde from service to Asgard and asked her to carry Odin’s wager to the Grandmaster on Sakaar.
• Su Ming proposed that Thor become the Grandmaster’s gladiator if the arena champion defeated Mephisto, or that the champion serve in Asgard if Mephisto won, with the wager set for seventy-two years later.

Su Ming sent Gin to warn Ancient One, then used his Odin disguise to manage the returning Asgardians and favor Thor while punishing Loki. He left Loki resentful and Gullveig complicit in a plan to remove the two All-Mothers.

• Su Ming sent Gin back to Kamar-Taj to inform Ancient One about what had happened in Asgard.
• Loki returned and reported Thor's failure against Surtur, then used Gin's greatsword to open the Bifrost and bring Thor and the surviving soldiers back.
• Su Ming questioned Thor about losing nearly two million soldiers, but praised him for learning the Will of Fire and sent him to rest.
• When Loki tried to protest Thor's lack of punishment, Su Ming accused him of unspecified misdeeds and ordered him to clean Thor's sheep pen for a month.
• Thor dragged Loki away, while Su Ming returned Heimdall's greatsword to the throne and winked at Gullveig, signaling their plan against the two All-Mothers.

Su Ming, posing as Odin, boarded the Kree mothership Dark Aster to meet Ronan and discuss the captured Malekith. He recognized that his actions had weakened Asgard against The Serpent and intended to hear Ronan’s plan while gathering intelligence.

• Su Ming acknowledged his responsibility for making Asgard less able to face The Serpent and told Gullveig to return Heimdall’s greatsword when he woke.
• Su Ming flew to the Dark Aster, where Ronan opened the hangar and Kree soldiers bowed to him.
• A light-skinned Kree diplomat welcomed Su Ming and escorted him toward the bridge.
• The diplomat explained that Ronan had held Malekith and wanted Odin to decide his fate because the crimes took place in Asgard’s territory.
• Su Ming accepted the diplomat’s flattery and continued toward Ronan, planning to hear his proposal and gather information about the universe.

Su Ming, posing as Odin, negotiated Kree shipbuilding assistance with Ronan after the Kree drove off Malekith’s fleet, then confronted a Cursed Warrior that had reached the Golden Palace. The warrior blocked Su Ming’s probing strike from Gungnir, leaving its strength to be tested.

• Su Ming met Ronan aboard the Kree warship and delayed discussing aid until after watching the Kree face the Dark Elves.
• Ronan served Su Ming nutrient gel, and Su Ming urged him to drive back Malekith before discussing their request.
• Ronan ordered the Dark Aster to ram Malekith’s flagship, but Malekith sent Cursed Warriors into the city and cloaked his fleet to escape.
• Su Ming agreed to help the Kree build a warship in exchange for materials and invited Ronan to the Golden Palace.
• Su Ming went outside after hearing weapons clash and found a Cursed Warrior, which blocked his strike with Gungnir and stepped back only a few paces.

Su Ming defeated a Cursed Warrior, brought Gullveig to the treatment area, and questioned the recovering Heimdall about the attackers. Heimdall identified Baron Zemo as their masked leader, and Su Ming turned to his next plans, including speaking with Frigga and finding Hela.

• Su Ming killed the Cursed Warrior with Godslayer, and the Asgardian guards cheered as he returned to the palace.
• Su Ming brought Gullveig to the treatment area, where Frigga and the healers were tending to Heimdall.
• Su Ming urged Heimdall to wake for his duty, and Heimdall regained consciousness and reported that Ge Zhe had brought Frost Giants and Midgardians.
• Heimdall described the Midgardian leader as a man wearing purple cloth over his face, and Su Ming identified him as Baron Zemo.
• Su Ming told Heimdall to rest, then led Frigga aside to speak privately and planned to find Hela and learn what she was doing.

Su Ming learned that The Serpent had escaped and Winter Hammer had vanished, then set out for the Underworld to investigate Hela’s possible connection to The Serpent and her attack on the Asgardian army. Meanwhile, Hela and Tyr celebrated their victory, unaware that Fenris had gone missing.

• Gin reported that Ancient One had confirmed The Serpent’s escape and Winter Hammer’s disappearance, and Su Ming decided to seek another way to seal The Serpent.
• Su Ming told Frigga to watch the palace for an insider and left with Gin on the Eight-Legged Steed for the Underworld.
• Su Ming told Gin they would investigate Hela and her attack, but said their target was a dog rather than Hela herself.
• Hela and Tyr discussed the Underworld’s enlarged army, Odin’s puzzling actions, and the possibility that he had lit Yggdrasil himself.
• Hela realized Fenris was missing, and Tyr guessed the wolf had gone looking for food among the newly arrived corpses and souls.

Su Ming trapped and subdued Fenris in the Underworld by using his blood to lure the wolf and Strangle to cover its muzzle. With Fenris captured, he and Gin prepared to approach Hela and negotiate for the Valkyries’ sisters’ souls.

• Fenris followed the scent of blood to what appeared to be Odin’s corpse and bit into it, allowing Strangle to cover its muzzle and bind it to Su Ming.
• Su Ming anchored Godslayer into the ground, but Fenris dragged him across the Underworld as it struggled against the suffocation.
• Gin arrived on her Pegasus and helped pull Fenris down until the wolf collapsed unconscious.
• Su Ming and Gin discussed Dragons, Ciri, the Enchantresses, Natasha, and the threat Leviathan might pose to New York.
• Su Ming fastened his helmet and set off with Gin to meet Hela and negotiate for her pet.

Su Ming used an Empty Fort Strategy to make Hela believe he was Odin, then traded Fenris for the souls of the Valkyries. He left Hela with warnings about the escaped Serpent and Ragnarök, and his farewell using the name Leah stunned her.

• Hela and Tyr followed strange music and found Su Ming, Gin, and the captive Fenris atop a spire.
• Su Ming pretended to be Odin and negotiated with Hela, learning that she knew nothing about the Serpent’s escape.
• Su Ming warned Hela that Ragnarök would come in seventy-two years and demanded the Valkyries’ souls in exchange for Fenris.
• Hela ordered Tyr to hand over the souls, and Su Ming tossed Fenris back, crushing Tyr beneath the wolf.
• Su Ming left with Gin and the souls, then called Hela “Leah,” leaving her frozen in place.

Su Ming rescued Gin and the other souls, then escaped Hela by revealing a riddle about her origins that left her stunned. After returning toward Asgard, he discovered that Hydra had made a move on Yggdrasil and found a giant frost staircase spiraling down from it.

• Su Ming told Hela that Leah had been imagined by Loki and sent into the past, leaving Hela confused long enough for him and Gin to escape with the souls.
• Hela freed Tyr from Fenris and ordered him to investigate newly arrived souls for information about The Serpent and the Winter Hammer.
• Su Ming and Gin discussed how to restore the souls, and he decided they would return to Asgard and wait for Hydra to act.
• Su Ming circled Asgard on Pegasus and spotted Yggdrasil covered in frost after Hydra had taken advantage of the battle's distraction.
• Su Ming sent Gin to settle the ghosts, then rode to Yggdrasil and found an enormous icy staircase spiraling down into the clouds.

Su Ming discovered that Zemo had attacked the Fates, severed their thread of fate, and drunk from Mímir's Well at a terrible price. Suspecting Zemo had gained the knowledge needed to decipher the runes and would head for the Golden Palace library, Su Ming returned to investigate and found no trace of the invading force.

• Su Ming descended the World Tree's melting ice stairs and found the Fates shaken, their thread of fate severed after an attack by Zemo and the Frost Giants.
• The Crone told Su Ming that Zemo had strangled her, while the Maiden confirmed he had drunk from Mímir's Well.
• Su Ming saw a human face at the bottom of the well, restored the broken thread of fate, and suspected Zemo had paid that price for wisdom to understand the runes.
• Su Ming hurried back to the Golden Palace, reasoning that Zemo would seek its library to learn more about Asgard and the runes.
• Su Ming found no signs or smells of Zemo, Hydra, or the Frost Giants in the palace, then went to the medical room to find Heimdall.

Su Ming searched the Golden Palace for the sleeping Odin and tried to take Gungnir from his immovable grip. He left the chapter tickling Odin with Strangle in an attempt to pry the spear free.

• Heimdall told Su Ming that tiny rune-carved stones had floated above the enemies, though he did not know what they did.
• Su Ming reasoned that Asgardian runes drew power from Yggdrasil and decided that keeping both Gungnirs would be safest if Zemo came.
• Su Ming wandered through the Golden Palace, eating and drinking as he searched for Odin's resting place.
• Su Ming found Odin's Slumber and discovered Odin asleep in a longship-shaped bed, clutching Gungnir.
• Su Ming failed to pull Gungnir from Odin's grip, so he sent Strangle to tickle Odin beneath the ribs.

Su Ming woke Odin while trying to take Gungnir and told him about Zemo and the Serpent, but Odin went back to sleep and left the crisis to him. Su Ming took Odin's silence as agreement to a set of demands, though he could not get Odin to put a fingerprint on the contract.

• Su Ming tried to take Gungnir while Strangle tickled Odin, but Odin woke and caught him.
• Su Ming explained the situation involving Zemo and the Serpent, then watched Odin lie back down and resume sleeping.
• Su Ming decided Odin was leaving the Serpent's threat to him and began listing conditions for dealing with the crisis.
• Su Ming demanded the Valkyrie be freed, permission to visit and impersonate Odin, and an end to Vanaheim's enslavement.
• Su Ming drafted a contract, but Odin kept his fingers clenched around Gungnir and could not be made to leave a fingerprint.

Su Ming searched the Golden Palace for Zemo and discovered that an invisible group of Frost Giants had ransacked the archive and taken a heavy object. He recruited Heimdall and brought Monark from Midgard to help pursue them, leaving the group assembled at the Bifrost.

• Su Ming found the trashed archive room and ordered the guards to spread fine sand through the Golden Palace to expose the invisible intruders' footprints.
• Su Ming reconstructed the intruders' movements and deduced that Zemo had taken a heavy, four-legged object from the archive.
• Su Ming decided to recruit Heimdall and Monark, then brought the recovered Heimdall from the infirmary to the Bifrost.
• Heimdall activated the Bifrost and summoned Monark, who arrived holding a struggling rabbit.

Su Ming brought Monark to Asgard to help investigate Hydra and Young Zemo, while concealing his identity as Odin. They reached Gin’s home, where they found the Valkyries’ transparent souls gathered around a Beast Hide.

• Su Ming chose Monark as the mage to bring to Asgard, and Monark recognized him through their London meeting.
• Su Ming impersonated Odin and asked Monark to help, while Monark agreed because he owed Ancient One and Kamar-Taj a favor.
• Su Ming reflected on Odin’s apparent plans for Thor, Loki, and Hela, and chose not to interfere in Asgard’s family affairs.
• The chapter recounted how Monark had used powerful water magic against Hydra and Leviathan, leaving him with fluid inside his abdomen that he was slowly exchanging away with rabbits.
• Su Ming told Monark that Hydra leader Young Zemo was in Asgard, then had Heimdall lead them to Gin’s residence.
• Gin opened her door to Su Ming, revealing the Valkyries’ transparent souls gathered around a Beast Hide.

Su Ming, Monark, and Gin continued their hunt for Zemo in Vanaheim, where Monark’s divination had brought them. After learning Hydra’s Rune Stones might explain how its agents crossed the Nine Realms, the group prepared to search for clues.

• Su Ming reassured Monark that Gin’s sisters were heroic spirits, then told him they might have to face The Serpent, Odin’s brother, as well as Hydra.
• Su Ming gave Monark Zemo’s preserved face skin so he could use voodoo divination, but Monark said the distance had drained him too much to divine again yet.
• Before leaving Gin’s house, Monark trapped Gin’s sisters inside with a magic circle, and Su Ming carved them wooden mahjong tiles.
• Su Ming, Monark, Gin, and Little Eight arrived in a village in Vanaheim and agreed to search for Zemo while Monark recovered.
• Monark wondered how Hydra had reached Vanaheim without the Bifrost, and Gin said the agents’ Rune Stones seemed to let them travel through the Nine Realms.
• Monark said his knowledge from drinking the Well of Wisdom might help him understand the Rune Stones and their link to Zemo severing the threads of destiny.

Su Ming, Monark, and Gin discovered that Zemo planned to use the Destiny Stone and the Heart of the Sun to create more Destiny Stones. They found a rapidly expanding lava pool in Vanaheim, where Gullveig’s pact with Surtur threatened to turn the realm into a sea of fire.

• Monark explained that the Destiny Stone and the Heart of the Sun were forged alongside Mjolnir and carried the Odinforce.
• Su Ming concluded that Zemo had gathered the Destiny Stone, the Heart of the Sun, and a strand of Fate Thread to mass-produce Destiny Stones.
• Su Ming armed Gin with firearms and explained that Odin had hidden the valuable artifacts in the Database to misdirect thieves.
• The group sensed heat and a magical disturbance, then rode toward a lava pool appearing in the grasslands.
• Monark identified the lava as fire projected from another dimension, and Su Ming realized Gullveig’s agreement with Surtur had taken effect.
• Su Ming approached the expanding lava and told Holloway to prepare his magic to save Vanaheim.

Su Ming and Monark stopped Surtur’s lava from spreading across Vanaheim by invoking Vishanti’s power at the cost of their lifespans. As they continued toward the capital to deal with Zemo, a massive army of flame demons attacked, and Su Ming jumped into their ranks to clear a path for Gin and the others.

• Su Ming and Monark used a Magic Circle and Su Ming’s lifespan to freeze Surtur’s spreading lava into black rock.
• Monark lost five years of lifespan, while Su Ming’s Tenth Metal restored the lifespan drained from him.
• Su Ming decided Zemo was their first target and set Earth, the Golden Palace, and Vanaheim as his priorities.
• Over one hundred thousand flame demons emerged from Magic Circles and attacked Pegasus with fireballs.
• Su Ming jumped down to fight the demons and create an opening for Gin and the others to reach Vanaheim’s capital.

Su Ming battled Surtur’s enormous arm as it struck through a crimson Magic Circle, then worked out how the Fire Giant sensed him and where its attacks could not reach. He prepared to exploit those weaknesses with Godslayer as he tried to keep Surtur occupied and give Gin and the others time to escape.

• Su Ming dodged Surtur’s Laevateinn and recognized that the Fire Giant could extend only one arm through the Magic Circle at a time.
• Surtur’s arm swept through its own demon army while Su Ming realized it sensed temperature differences and pursued him into the densest crowds.
• Su Ming reasoned that Surtur’s inward-bending elbows left blind spots in the arm’s fan-shaped attack range.
• Su Ming summoned Godslayer as a Chainsword and recalled that its enchanted electricity could power the weapon like a tool.

Su Ming used the Godslayer to strip the skin from Surtur’s arm, forcing the Fire Giant to retreat. He collected the fireproof skin and rejoined Gin and Mage, telling them to keep moving.

• Su Ming transformed the Godslayer into a Chainsword and lured Surtur’s arm into striking range while the demon army scattered.
• Su Ming cut an inverted T-shaped wound into Surtur’s arm, then used a flexible sword to slash its other side.
• Su Ming changed the Godslayer into a rake, hooked the wounded arm, and peeled off its skin as Surtur pulled back.
• Surtur withdrew his arm and the demon army retreated, so Su Ming rolled up the giant skin and stored it in the Silk Pouch.
• Su Ming flew to Gin and Mage, told them Surtur had retreated for now, and urged them to keep moving.