Chapter Summaries

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.

After learning that Skrulls had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and that Nick Fury was in a coma, Hill tasked Coulson with investigating Lucian's clash with them and tracking their escapees. Coulson briefed his newly assembled team and launched their first official mission.

• Hill called Coulson through a secure hotline and told him that Lucian had exposed the Skrulls inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury was in a coma, and Pierce was acting director.
• Hill ordered Coulson to investigate why Lucian had fought the Skrulls and to track those who had fled headquarters.
• Coulson gathered May, Skye, Fitz, Simmons, and Ward aboard the Bus and announced a top-priority deployment.
• Coulson activated the main screen and told his team to get to work on their first official mission.

Coulson briefed the Bus team on Director Fury’s coma, the Skrull infiltration, and orders to investigate Lucian, known as Pivot, and find the escaped aliens. Ward knew Hydra considered Lucian overwhelmingly dangerous, but Skye hacked Vought International before Ward could stop her.

• Coulson told the team that Skrulls had infiltrated the Triskelion, injured Fury, and escaped into society.
• Coulson relayed headquarters’ orders to investigate why Lucian attacked the Skrulls and trace the escaped aliens’ hideouts.
• Ward warned that investigating Pivot was far more dangerous than pursuing the Skrulls, but the team did not understand his fear.
• Skye began hacking Vought International’s servers, and Ward urgently tried to stop her.
• Skye announced that she had finished the hack before Ward could explain the danger of triggering Lucian’s AI defenses.

Lucian entered S.H.I.E.L.D.’s aircraft through a golden portal after detecting Skye’s attempt to hack Vought’s servers. He recognized the team members and became interested in recruiting Fitz and Simmons and obtaining the Kree Obelisk, while Ward prepared to flee.

• Skye breached Vought’s server, but found no personal files on Lucian, and Ward realized the intrusion had triggered a dangerous response.
• Ward put on a parachute and warned Coulson to turn the plane around and have everyone bail out.
• A golden ring of sparks opened in the cabin, and May and Coulson aimed their guns at it as the others readied themselves.
• Lucian stepped through the portal from Vought Tower, and Coulson addressed him as Mr. Pivot.
• Lucian recognized Fitz, Simmons, Skye, and Ward, and considered recruiting the scientists and pursuing the Obelisk.

Lucian subdued Coulson’s S.H.I.E.L.D. team with a psychic blast and transported their aircraft to Vought Tower. Coulson woke in a private lounge, where Lucian greeted him with a taunt about his surgery.

• Coulson tried to explain the team’s intrusion, but Lucian rejected his claim of a misunderstanding.
• Lucian used a psychic blast to knock May, Fitz, Simmons, Skye, Ward, and Coulson unconscious.
• Lucian opened a huge portal beside the aircraft and sent it through to Vought Tower’s helipad in New York.
• Lucian ordered his security team to carry the unconscious agents to a lounge and put Ward in a holding cell.
• Coulson woke in the lounge and reached for his missing weapon, but Lucian told him the surgery had succeeded and that he was a girl now.

Lucian offered to let Coulson’s S.H.I.E.L.D. team help track down Skrulls, but demanded Fitz and Simmons as compensation for their unauthorized intrusion into Vought International. He offered to provide a replacement for the two recruits, leaving Coulson wary of who Lucian intended to send.

• Coulson apologized to Lucian and proposed that S.H.I.E.L.D. help find the Skrulls hiding in human society.
• Lucian mocked Coulson’s team but accepted that its agents could use their skills to locate Skrulls.
• Lucian demanded that Coulson leave Fitz and Simmons at Vought’s underground laboratory to compensate for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intrusion.
• Coulson began to object, but Lucian offered someone else to join the team in their place.