Recaps

Lucian reviewed the system’s new ability-copying rules and worked out how ability levels, contact, resistance, and the upgrade affected copying time. He left the chamber confident that he had solved the system’s formula.

• Lucian read Simona’s report on what Tony Stark, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Dr. Banner, Wanda, and her brother had done after returning.
• Lucian tested a golden gauntlet against his fist and concluded it was nothing special for him now.
• Lucian began copying Thena’s Energy Weapon Creation LV7 ability and saw that it would take 18 hours.
• Lucian asked the system how long copying LV7, LV8, and LV9 abilities had taken under its old rules, and it answered one month, three months, and one year.
• Lucian calculated that the upgrade sped up copying and that his level difference from a target further reduced the time, then declared that he had figured it out.

Lucian copied Super Physique from Ikaris and learned that unfinished copying progress could be transferred to background copying if a target died. He then told Shuri she could return to Wakanda, demanded monthly vibranium deliveries, and asked her to send Helen Cho to Vought International.

• Lucian completed copying Thena's Energy Weapon Creation and began copying Ikaris's Super Physique, which was estimated to take four and a half days.
• Lucian learned that he could transfer an ability's copying progress to background copying after its target died, or delete the ability entry.
• Jade Balance told Lucian that Shuri was calling, and Shuri complained that she was still waiting to return to Wakanda after making his armor.
• Lucian agreed to let Shuri leave but demanded that Wakanda send him vibranium every month, arguing that Earth had earned a reward for being saved.
• Lucian told Shuri to relay his demand to Wakanda's leaders and to have Helen Cho come to Vought International, then ended the call.

Helen Cho negotiated terms for joining Vought International and secured affordable pricing for future Regeneration Cradle treatments. She joined the company in exchange for studying Lucian’s healing ability and volunteered to experience it herself.

• Helen Cho met Lucian and described how Wakandan technology had given her new ideas for improving the Regeneration Cradle.
• Lucian offered to fund and protect her research independently or have her join Vought International, where employees would receive free treatment and she could make one request of him.
• Helen Cho worried that outside patients might be unable to afford treatment, so Lucian proposed charging one-thousandth of each patient's assets.
• Helen Cho agreed to join Vought International if the pricing terms were written into the agreement.
• Helen Cho asked to study Lucian's healing ability and volunteered to have him demonstrate it on her arm.

Lucian demonstrated his regeneration ability to Helen Cho, who used the process to devise a nanotechnology-based approach to the Regeneration Cradle. She left to bring her research team to Vought International and begin work, with Lucian agreeing to her conditions and assigning Jade Balance to oversee arrangements.

• Lucian disintegrated Helen Cho's arm and restored it in less than a minute while she observed the process.
• Helen questioned how the regeneration worked, and Lucian explained that he supplied energy while her body determined how to rebuild itself.
• Helen proposed using nanomachines to read the body's structure and coordinate tissue regeneration for the Regeneration Cradle.
• Helen asked to transfer her original research team to Vought, and Lucian agreed while warning her not to experiment on herself again.
• Lucian instructed Jade Balance to arrange Helen's team and laboratory with Simona and oversee the project.
• Lucian confirmed the treatment should be available to ordinary people and let Helen leave to begin the work.

Lucian completed copying several Eternals’ abilities and continued copying Matter Transmutation while keeping the captured Eternals confined at Vought Tower. He accompanied Wanda to choose furniture, where she told him that “boss” felt too distant after everything he had done for her, though she had not yet settled on another name.

• Lucian finished copying Ikaris’s Super Physique and added Druig’s Psychic Blast, Phastos’s Energy Device Creation, and Makkari’s Super Speed, noticing that his two energy types remained separate.
• Lucian brought Sersi, Sprite, and Ajak to Vought Tower and confined them separately with the other captured Eternals while he continued copying Matter Transmutation.
• Wanda asked Lucian to accompany her to shop for furniture, and he agreed to meet her in the lobby.
• On the drive, Wanda told Lucian that he had saved her, helped her find her parents’ killer, and given her a place and strength to start over.
• Wanda admitted she had not figured out what she wanted to call Lucian instead of boss, and he told her to let him know when she did.

Lucian tested combinations of his Eternals abilities while Wanda sought his help decorating her apartment. Wanda made the space feel more like a home and asked Lucian to visit, while he left the door open for her to come to him whenever she needed.

• Lucian combined his abilities to create and control more than a thousand flying swords, damaging the training facility and prompting Simona to complain about the maintenance budget.
• Simona told Lucian that Wanda was waiting for him because she wanted his opinion on her apartment, and she suggested that Wanda liked having him around.
• Wanda asked Lucian to choose between traditional Sokovian stone and Pietro's neon fireplace design, and Lucian backed her preference for stone.
• Lucian and Wanda discussed furniture, colors, and reinforcing the apartment, and Wanda asked whether he would come over often.
• Wanda thanked Lucian, and he told her she could come to him if anything else came up.

Lucian copied Sersi’s Matter Transmutation ability and discovered that his limited energy restricted its range. While considering how to obtain higher-level energy, he was approached over the Indian Ocean by someone offering to teach him magic.

• Lucian turned his silk comforter into steel and back, then wondered whether Tiamut would regard him favorably after he had defeated the Eternals.
• Lucian flew to the Indian Ocean and used Matter Transmutation to probe for Tiamut, but his energy reached only about a hundred kilometers.
• Lucian tested the ability on a fish and realized he had copied Sersi’s power and energy, leaving the ability’s range limited by his energy level.
• Lucian considered finding the Infinity Stones or seeking Captain Marvel’s ability to absorb their energy.
• Orange-yellow sparks appeared behind Lucian, and an unseen speaker asked whether he was interested in learning magic.

The Ancient One invited Lucian to Kamar-Taj and offered to teach him magic, then revealed that he came from beyond her universe and that his search for higher-level energy had changed the futures she could see. She said many of those futures had Lucian becoming the next Sorcerer Supreme, while admitting that Strange had originally been her intended successor.

• The Ancient One opened a portal to Kamar-Taj and invited Lucian to join her for tea.
• Lucian agreed to learn magic and asked the Ancient One what she thought of Tiamut sleeping beneath the Indian Ocean.
• The Ancient One said she could not see beyond her death and expected her successor to handle the Celestial and Earth's future.
• The Ancient One revealed that the Eye of Agamotto could see neither Lucian's past nor his future because he did not belong to her universe.
• The Ancient One explained that Lucian's wish to seek higher-level energy had split the river of time into over a thousand new futures, many of which made him Sorcerer Supreme.
• Lucian named Strange as the Ancient One's intended successor, and she admitted that she had waited too long.

Lucian agreed to learn the Mystic Arts from the Ancient One and accept the responsibility she was passing on, though he intended to remain free to travel between worlds. She began his training by explaining how sorcerers draw power from other dimensions and demonstrating two spells.

• Lucian told the Ancient One he would not stay on Earth permanently to guard the Three Sanctums.
• The Ancient One confirmed she wanted to retire and trusted Lucian to take on the role she was leaving behind.
• Lucian weighed the offer and agreed to begin learning magic.
• The Ancient One gave Lucian a Sling Ring and explained how sorcerers use intent to channel energy from other dimensions.
• The Ancient One demonstrated the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak and the Sword of Vishanti.

Lucian learned to use a Sling Ring at Kamar-Taj and opened a portal directly into Wanda’s home by mistake. After explaining where he was, he asked the Ancient One to teach Wanda as well.

• The Ancient One explained how to focus and visualize a destination when using a Sling Ring.
• Lucian opened a large portal on his first try, sensing the dimensional energy that powered it.
• The portal led to Wanda’s living room, where she prepared to defend herself before recognizing Lucian.
• Wanda asked why Lucian had opened the portal to her home, and he said he was more familiar with it.
• Lucian asked the Ancient One to teach Wanda too.

Lucian brought Wanda to Kamar-Taj and asked the Ancient One to let her study there. The Ancient One agreed to teach Wanda to control her power, while Lucian began his own training with Mordo and Wong.

• The Ancient One rejected Lucian's request for Wanda to study mystic arts, explaining that Wanda's future did not lie in them.
• The Ancient One changed her mind and offered to teach Wanda how to control and channel her power, and Wanda crossed the portal to Kamar-Taj.
• The Ancient One told Lucian that his spiritual awareness had opened and directed him to build his foundations before accessing more advanced knowledge.
• The Ancient One introduced Lucian to Mordo and Wong, who would help with his early studies.
• Lucian joked that Wanda might someday protect him, and Wanda earnestly promised to work hard and do so.
• Mordo and Wong led Lucian away to begin his studies while the Ancient One took Wanda to train.

Lucian copied Wong’s Mystic Arts and quickly learned to form the Sword of Vishanti, then discovered he could force his own energy into its spell framework. He began planning a dangerous way to trap borrowed dimensional energy and use it to power his abilities as the Ancient One sensed trouble from afar.

• Mordo left Lucian and Wong to attend to patrols and defenses at the Sanctum.
• Wong gave Lucian advanced spell scrolls, and Lucian copied Wong’s Mystic Arts through a handshake.
• Lucian formed and deliberately dispersed a Sword of Vishanti on his first attempt, astonishing Wong.
• Lucian formed a second, unstable energy sword using his own stored energy instead of borrowing power from the Vishanti’s dimension.
• Lucian devised a plan to block a spell with his own energy and exploit the brief presence of borrowed dimensional power to strengthen his abilities.
• The Ancient One sensed Lucian’s experiment from the courtyard while teaching Wanda, and golden sparks crackled as forces collided inside him.

Lucian confirmed he could power his abilities with borrowed dimensional energy and began studying high-level spells while copying Kamar-Taj sorcerers to improve his Mystic Arts. As Wanda continued training under the Ancient One and grew closer to Lucian, Jade Balance alerted him to a call from Ms. Simona.

• Lucian used Vishanti Dimension energy to fuel his flame ability, producing a far stronger pale-golden fireball, and decided to improve his Mystic Arts by copying experienced sorcerers.
• Lucian persuaded Wong to take him to the training grounds, where he shook hands with sorcerers and accumulated spellcasting experience.
• The Ancient One helped Wanda control her scarlet power, and Wanda began visiting Lucian in the library every day to tell him about her progress.
• Lucian studied forbidden high-level spells and dismissed Wong's warnings about the cost and backlash of borrowing power from dimensional demon gods.
• Jade Balance told Lucian that Ms. Simona was calling.

Lucian ordered Vought to test Compound V on vetted staff, track their abilities, and recruit Maya Hansen to develop the serum alongside Helen Cho. After discussing the Extremis Virus and dismissing Pierce’s Helicarrier project, he ended his call and encountered Wanda bringing him milk tea during a break at Kamar-Taj.

• Lucian told Simona to inject selected Vought staff with Compound V, record their data and abilities, and dispose of anyone who concealed their powers.
• Lucian asked Simona to have Helen Cho test Compound V in the Regeneration Cradle and to find Maya Hansen for Vought’s biological laboratory.
• After hearing about explosions with no conventional explosive residue, Lucian identified the Extremis Virus as a possible source and considered combining it with Compound V and nanoregeneration technology.
• Lucian told Simona to warn Pierce to stop wasting resources on Project Insight and Helicarriers, and said others could reverse-engineer Compound V because their research would ultimately benefit him.
• Wanda came to Lucian carrying freshly brewed milk tea after receiving a half-hour break from her training at Kamar-Taj.

Simona selected fifty Vought personnel for Compound V trials and conveyed Lucian’s latest orders to Alexander Pierce. The call ended with Pierce hearing Lucian’s sharp rebuke of Project Insight and its Helicarriers.

• Simona chose thirty-eight former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and twelve Hydra loyalists for the Compound V trials, ordering detailed monitoring of every injection.
• Simona called Alexander Pierce and told him Lucian wanted him to find botanist Maya Hansen and deliver her unharmed to Vought’s biological laboratory.
• Pierce agreed to send the intelligence department after Maya Hansen and asked Simona to explain the second order.
• Simona told Pierce to stop focusing on Project Insight and wasting resources on his Helicarriers, leaving him silent.

Simona relayed Lucian’s demand that Pierce stop Project Insight and warned that Lucian would confront him in person if he refused. Pierce halted the project and ordered a worldwide search for Maya Hansen, leaving Hydra’s plans suspended under Lucian’s threat.

• Simona told Pierce that Lucian called the Helicarriers wasteful targets and demanded that he stop building them.
• Simona warned Pierce that Lucian would visit him personally if he could not find Maya Hansen or refused to halt construction.
• Pierce considered the threat and shut down the Helicarriers’ construction progress.
• Pierce ordered his agents to suspend Project Insight’s testing and send its technical personnel underground.
• Pierce mobilized Hydra’s intelligence networks to find Maya Hansen within twenty-four hours.

Simona released footage showing Compound V granting agents superhuman abilities, and Vought announced an unrestricted civilian rollout. The announcement triggered a rush toward New York and alarmed government officials, crime bosses, and Matt Murdock.

• Simona reviewed the results of fifty Compound V injections: forty-eight agents reached super physique LV3, while Subject 017 gained exceptional durability and Subject 042 awakened flight.
• Simona ordered Vought to publish the uncut testing footage as the documentary "Awakening" across its global channels.
• Vought announced that anyone could buy the drug after visiting its injection hall for monitored registration, sparking a worldwide rush for tickets to New York.
• Military officials in Washington demanded federal control of the formula after Vought representatives refused them entry.
• Wilson Fisk sought to secure early injections for his people, while Hand executives considered using the drug to create enhanced assassins.
• Matt Murdock heard that civilians could become superhuman and wondered whether his vigilante work would still matter.

Lucian watched Tony Stark publicly threaten the Mandarin, then learned from Simona that a Vought genetic biologist had been kidnapped. The scientist remained missing, and Vought had no leads on who had taken her.

• Lucian saw Tony Stark announce that he would kill the Mandarin and give him his home address after Happy Hogan was hospitalized.
• Wanda brought Lucian pastries she had made after practicing meditation at Kamar-Taj.
• Lucian remembered Maya Hansen and called Simona to ask about Vought’s efforts to recruit her.
• Simona told Lucian that a Vought genetic biologist had disappeared after apparently being kidnapped.
• Simona reported that Vought’s agents had found a kidnapper’s corpse at a safe house, while the biologist and all useful evidence were gone.

After learning that genetic biologist Rosa Dalton had been kidnapped, Lucian recognized her connection to the Super-Skrull project and suspected the Skrulls might be involved. He prepared to return to New York, leaving Wanda at Kamar-Taj and Wong relieved to see him go.

• Simona told Lucian that a researcher had been kidnapped and suspected the military wanted Compound V; she described the security measures she had put in place.
• Lucian learned the missing biologist was Rosa Dalton and remembered that she had worked on Gravik's Super-Skrull project, leading him to suspect the Skrulls.
• Lucian told Simona to gather the evidence and said he would return to New York; Wanda promised to train harder so she could protect him someday.
• Wong hurried over to bid Lucian farewell with exaggerated enthusiasm, and Lucian opened a golden portal.

Lucian learned that Rosa Dalton had been abducted by someone posing as a special forces soldier, and deduced that Skrulls were behind the scheme. He left Vought Tower and opened a portal to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters to confront the threat.

• Lucian warned Wong not to change the library Wi-Fi password, then returned to Vought Tower.
• Simona told Lucian that Rosa Dalton had been abducted and that a third party had killed her captor and stolen her equipment and hard drive.
• Lucian identified the supposed military operation as a likely Skrull plot to obtain Rosa’s expertise and improve Compound V.
• Lucian concluded that Nick Fury was likely involved because he had brought the Skrulls to Earth and built a covert intelligence network with them.
• Lucian opened a portal and stepped through to the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.

Lucian searched the Triskelion for Skrulls and discovered that nearly all of them had already fled, leaving only four sidelined veterans behind. A thought about recent major events led him to head for the intensive care unit.

• Steve, Natasha, and Barton discussed Vought's serum rollout and the danger of letting anyone obtain it without restrictions.
• Lucian immobilized everyone in the Triskelion with his psychic power and searched their minds for Skrulls.
• Lucian found only four Skrulls in the building and realized the others had fled after kidnapping Vought's core scientists.
• Lucian considered whether the Skrulls had obtained useful superpowered DNA and then headed to the intensive care unit on the third basement level.

Lucian broke into Nick Fury’s memories and discovered the Harvest Plan, a secret stockpile of superhuman blood and tissue samples that had been emptied. After copying the recovered inventory—including a sample of Lucian—he released his psychic hold on the Triskelion and prepared to collect what he was owed.

• Lucian searched Nick Fury’s subconscious and learned that Fury had ordered Skrulls to collect superpowered samples under the Harvest Plan.
• Lucian found the Harvest vault empty, then used Jade Balance to reconstruct its deleted inventory records.
• Lucian discovered samples from Bruce Banner, Emil Blonsky, Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, Loki, the Maximoffs, and others, including a sample codenamed Pivot (Lucian).
• Lucian copied the inventory into his private database and erased the remaining traces.
• Lucian released his psychic grip on the Triskelion, freeing Steve Rogers, Natasha, Barton, and Alexander Pierce.
• Lucian decided to collect the interest he was owed before leaving.

Lucian captured four Skrulls and exposed Nick Fury’s secret plans to S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Hydra members through a shared mental illusion. He left them to face the fallout and returned to Vought Tower, where he asked Jade Balance to contact Dr. Banner.

• Lucian seized four wounded Skrulls in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s warehouse and brought them into the atrium.
• Lucian confronted Steve and revealed that the Skrulls were tied to Nick Fury’s hidden schemes.
• Lucian showed the gathered agents Fury’s memories of the Harvest Plan and the Skrulls’ infiltration of world governments.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Hydra members reacted with shock and anger as Lucian left through a portal with the Skrulls.
• At Vought Tower, Lucian contained the Skrulls and told Jade Balance to contact Dr. Banner for help.

Lucian brought Bruce Banner to his office to develop a detector that could identify Skrulls, who were infiltrating human society and had kidnapped one of Lucian’s scientists. Banner agreed to study the captured Skrulls and requested a top-of-the-line laboratory, promising a preliminary data model within three days.

• Lucian opened a portal to a remote lake in northern Canada and brought Banner back to his office.
• Banner discovered four Skrulls pinned in a corner and offered to transform into Hulk, but Lucian said he needed Banner’s scientific expertise instead.
• Lucian explained that the Skrulls could perfectly mimic people, had infiltrated powerful positions, and had kidnapped a Vought International genetic engineer.
• Banner recognized the danger of Skrull infiltration and began examining one of the captured aliens.
• Banner asked Lucian for a top-of-the-line laboratory and said he could produce a preliminary data model within three days.

Banner agreed to help Lucian develop a device to identify Skrulls after Lucian said he intended to drive them all from Earth. At S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce took command after Nick Fury was removed, and Hill discovered that deep wounds could reveal Skrulls’ green blood, but she needed a trusted contact outside headquarters to act on the discovery.

• Banner asked Lucian what he planned to do with the Skrulls, and Lucian said he would drive every last one off the planet.
• Pierce angrily blamed Fury for bringing Skrulls into S.H.I.E.L.D. and said the World Security Council had removed Fury as director, leaving Pierce in temporary control.
• Pierce ordered Hill to find a way to identify Skrulls and hunt down those who had escaped the Triskelion.
• Hill reviewed Fury’s memories and realized that deep wounds could disrupt Skrull mimicry and expose their green blood.
• Hill hesitated to use the secure phone because she feared S.H.I.E.L.D.’s network was compromised, and decided she needed help from someone outside headquarters.