Chapter Summaries

Alexander Pierce led Vought forces toward Sokovia to strike Baron Strucker, while Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanoff discussed Nick Fury’s coming public trial. The trial began assembling in Times Square before a global audience, with Fury’s fate still ahead.

• Alexander Pierce boarded three stealth transports with over a hundred Vought Security agents and planned a lightning strike against Baron Strucker’s Sokovia fortress.
• Steve Rogers said Nick Fury should answer publicly for hiding aliens and withholding a weapon during the Chitauri attack.
• Clint Barton said he could not stop Vought’s public tribunal, while Natasha Romanoff resolved to contact Hill and Coulson so Fury could defend himself.
• The next morning, Vought and the New York Police Department sealed Times Square as crowds and reporters gathered around the tribunal platform.
• Billions watched through Jade Balance as the world awaited Nick Fury’s public trial.

Lucian declined to attend Nick Fury’s public trial and ordered Jean Grey and Sara brought to him, while the court in Times Square read Fury’s charges before a global audience. Fury defended his actions as necessary to protect Earth, and the trial moved toward its verdict before an interruption.

• Lucian told Simona to proceed with Nick Fury’s public trial without him and asked her to bring Jean Grey and Sara to his office.
• Nine federal justices read charges against Fury, including secretly restarting Project Pegasus, sheltering Skrulls, recruiting unregulated Supes, and diverting defense funds.
• Fury argued that his actions had protected Earth from cosmic threats and secured allies, then declined to offer further defense.
• The crowd booed as the chief justice began to announce the verdict, but someone interrupted him.

Phil Coulson defended Nick Fury by describing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s sacrifices, and the court sentenced Fury to a life of exile aboard a Skrull ship. Fury gave Maria Hill his pager, keeping Earth’s last resort in her hands as he prepared to leave the planet forever.

• Phil Coulson testified that Fury’s unauthorized Tesseract research caused disaster but that he had used the diverted money to protect Earth from supernatural threats.
• The judges reviewed public opinion, which had shifted against the death penalty, while Tony asked Steve what sentence he would impose.
• Nick Fury took out his pager but chose not to summon Carol, then tossed it to Maria Hill and told her to use it only if civilization faced destruction.
• The court stripped Fury of his citizenship and political rights and sentenced him to serve as navigator for the Moderate Skrulls’ pioneering fleet for life.
• Fury accepted the sentence with a self-mocking smile, and the court adjourned.

Lucian questioned Sara and Jean Grey about other people with unusual abilities and learned that their mother had abandoned them after their powers emerged. The sisters had hidden their abilities and survived on the streets, believing they were the only malformed outsiders in the world.

• Simona told Lucian that Nick Fury had been stripped of his political rights and citizenship and exiled aboard the Skrulls' warship, while Hill kept his pager.
• Lucian asked Sara and Jean whether they had encountered people like Charles Xavier or Erik Lehnsherr, and Sara said they had not.
• Lucian asked why the sisters had suffered despite their telepathic abilities, and Sara explained that their mother had abandoned them after Jean's powers appeared.
• Sara said the sisters had been rejected by foster families and fled to the streets, where they hid their powers out of fear of being captured or killed.

Lucian persuaded Sara and Jean to leave their hidden life in the sewers and serve Vought, promising protection and support while Jean developed her powers. After Simona took the sisters to settle in, Lucian reflected on the powerful forces he had brought under his control.

• Lucian told Sara and Jean that Vought could protect and train them, and that they would work for him once they were strong enough.
• Lucian urged Sara not to let her wish for an ordinary life hold Jean back, and Jean agreed to repay him if he protected them and helped her overcome her fear.
• Sara agreed that she and Jean would serve Lucian.
• Lucian ordered Simona to arrange a top-floor suite, nutrition care, and confidential medical records for the sisters, with Jean's data restricted without his authorization.
• After the sisters left, Lucian reflected that Hydra, the Skrulls, and Jean, the Phoenix host, were now under his control.

Lucian discovered a spatial rift in Brooklyn and recognized the Nine Realms Alignment, which could give him access to the Reality Stone. He traveled to Greenwich, where he found Jane Foster missing amid worsening gravitational anomalies.

• Lucian sensed a spatial disturbance in Brooklyn and found a rift causing gravity to behave erratically.
• Lucian identified the disturbance as part of the Convergence and realized the Reality Stone's seal might be weakening.
• Lucian opened a portal to Greenwich, where severe gravitational anomalies had suspended objects in midair.
• Darcy, Ian, and Erik Selvig searched for Jane Foster after she vanished near an energy disturbance.

Lucian went to the abandoned factory after learning Jane Foster had vanished into a spatial rift, but the Aether closed the passage before he could enter. He concluded Jane had become the Aether’s host and left, telling Darcy, Ian, and Erik Selvig that Jane had fallen into another dimension but would survive.

• Lucian learned Jane Foster had entered the central spatial rift and went into the abandoned factory to look for her.
• Lucian approached the red-misted rift, but it vanished as soon as his toes touched it, restoring normal gravity.
• Lucian searched for spatial traces and concluded Jane had likely become the Aether’s host, so he decided to wait for Thor instead of forcing his way in.
• Darcy, Ian, and Erik Selvig asked Lucian what had happened to Jane after he came back alone.
• Lucian told them Jane had fallen into another dimension and assured them she would not die.

Lucian reassured Darcy that Jane was safe for now and told her to direct Thor to bring Jane to Vought Tower when she emerged. He then learned that creatures from the Nine Realms were invading Earth and mobilized Vought’s security teams and the Avengers to fight them, while warning that Malekith and the Dark Elves were still to come.

• Lucian told Darcy that the Aether was using Jane as an incubator and that she would emerge within a few hours or days.
• Lucian instructed Darcy to tell Thor to bring Jane to him at Vought Tower instead of taking her to Asgard, and threatened Jane’s mother if Thor left.
• Simona told Lucian that spatial rifts had unleashed frost creatures in Norway, lava hounds in Africa, and winged reptiles in Canada.
• Lucian identified the creatures as beasts from Jotunheim, Muspelheim, and Svartalfheim, then ordered Vought’s regional security teams and the Avengers to deal with them.
• Lucian warned Simona that Malekith and the Dark Elves fleet might soon arrive on Earth.

Simona coordinated responses to spatial breaches releasing dangerous creatures across Earth while S.H.I.E.L.D. struggled to assemble enough forces. On Svartalfheim, Malekith awakened after sensing the Aether.

• Simona alerted the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. to breaches in Norway, northern Canada, and Africa, and Tony and Steve prepared to respond.
• Steve, Natasha, and Barton left S.H.I.E.L.D., while Maria Hill struggled to hold the agency together and recalled Coulson's team.
• Coulson reported that a bone-spurred wolf had emerged at a New Jersey farm and calmed down after hearing his story about a childhood golden retriever.
• Simona told Coulson to use heavy weapons, kill or contain the beasts, and said the Avengers had already gone after larger creatures.
• A red crystal activated in a buried warship on Svartalfheim, and Malekith awakened, sensing that the Aether had stirred.

Malekith awakened his Dark Elf forces to search for the reappeared Aether while the Convergence disrupted the Nine Realms. On Earth, Jane Foster emerged unconscious from a dimensional rift, and Thor left Vanaheim after Heimdall warned him that something had happened to her.

• Malekith ordered Kurse to locate the Aether before the Asgardians could react, but the overlapping realms scattered the signal.
• Jane fell into the Greenwich factory, where a red force within her knocked Darcy away and prevented anyone from approaching.
• Erik recognized the red energy as an ancient alien presence inhabiting and protecting Jane.
• Heimdall saw the substance inside Jane and summoned Thor from the battle in Vanaheim.
• Thor asked Heimdall to take him back to Asgard immediately so he could respond to the crisis involving Jane.

Thor returned to Asgard, retrieved the Tesseract and thirty tons of refined magic metal as repayment to Lucian, and brought Jane to Vought Tower. Lucian identified the Aether inside Jane as the Reality Stone and agreed to accompany Thor to Asgard to seek treatment.

• Thor retrieved the Tesseract and thirty tons of refined Asgardian magic metal from Odin's treasury to repay Lucian.
• Thor returned to London, found Jane gravely ill, and learned from Darcy that Lucian had summoned him to Vought Tower in New York.
• Thor carried Jane and the repayment toward New York, but Lucian opened a portal that sent them directly to his office.
• Thor delivered the Tesseract and magic metal to Lucian, who explained that the Aether was consuming Jane and could not be forcibly removed safely.
• Thor insisted on taking Jane to Asgard for treatment, and Lucian asked to accompany him; Thor welcomed him.

Lucian and Thor brought the unconscious Jane Foster to Asgard, where healers discovered that the Aether was consuming her life and could not be removed by their methods. Meanwhile, Malekith sent Kurse to infiltrate Asgard and destroy its shield generator as Dark Elf warships approached under concealment.

• Heimdall welcomed Lucian and Thor to Asgard and directed them to take Jane to the healers while Odin waited in the Golden Palace.
• Malekith confirmed that the Aether was inside Jane and ordered Kurse to accept the Cursed Stone and infiltrate Asgard as a prisoner.
• Kurse accepted the Runestone, pledging to destroy Asgard's shield generator from within when Malekith's warships arrived.
• Healer Eir told Thor that the Aether was consuming Jane's life and that Asgard's Soul Forge could not break it down.
• Dark Elf warships concealed themselves from Heimdall and silently approached Asgard.

Thor and Lucian met Odin to seek help for Jane Foster, who was being drained by the Aether inside her. Odin said Asgard could not extract or destroy the ancient force, leaving Jane’s fate unresolved.

• Eir told Thor that Asgardian magic could not treat Jane because the energy inside her resisted it and drained her strength.
• Thor asked Lucian to support Jane before Odin, then explained his father’s prejudice against mortals and his wish for Thor to marry Sif.
• Odin rebuked Thor for abandoning his command during the Vanaheim battle to return to Jane on Earth.
• Lucian told Odin that he had come to Asgard to investigate Earth’s spatial rifts and find a solution for the Aether inside Jane.
• Odin revealed that even Bor had only buried the Aether and warned that it would drain Jane’s life until she became a dried corpse.

Lucian told Thor that Malekith would have to draw the Aether out of Jane, creating a chance to strike, while a disguised Kurse entered Asgard among the prisoners. When the Dark Elves attacked, Thor rushed to the front and left Lucian to protect Jane and Frigga, as energy shields shattered near the dungeons.

• Lucian explained that Malekith could extract the Aether from Jane, and Thor agreed to use that moment to attack him.
• Sif and the Warriors Three returned with prisoners, including Kurse, whom Lucian recognized but chose not to expose.
• Jane woke in Asgard and reunited with Thor in the Medical Hall.
• A messenger announced that a Dark Ship had breached Asgard's defenses, and Frigga ordered Thor to join the battle.
• Thor left Lucian to protect Jane and Frigga, while Lucian heard energy shields break near the dungeons.

Kurse broke out of Asgard’s dungeon and disabled its defenses as Malekith’s forces attacked the Golden Palace. In Frigga’s bedchamber, Lucian stopped Kurse and allowed Malekith to extract the Aether from Jane, leaving Malekith poised to claim it.

• Kurse transformed with the cursed Runestone, smashed the dungeon’s barriers and console, and freed more than a hundred prisoners.
• Malekith’s warship crashed into the Golden Palace while Thor fought attacking raiders in the sky.
• Frigga hid Jane with an illusion, but Malekith and Kurse entered the bedchamber and found her apparent double.
• Lucian caught Kurse’s wrist and blocked his punch with telekinesis, then exposed the real Jane behind a pillar.
• Malekith drew the Aether out of Jane, and Lucian caught her as she fell.
• Malekith prepared to absorb the floating Aether and vowed to return the universe to darkness.

Lucian fought Malekith and Kurse in Asgard, drove Kurse through a wall with lightning, and used the Tesseract to snatch the Aether into folded space. With Malekith enraged and his attack stopped, Lucian seized and twisted the Dark Elf leader’s wrist.

• Lucian fired a golden beam at Malekith, but Kurse stepped in front of him and absorbed the blast.
• Malekith used a seal to call the Aether away from Lucian as Kurse charged, but Lucian hurled Kurse through a palace wall with lightning.
• Lucian activated the Tesseract and pulled the Aether into folded space, leaving Malekith unable to sense it.
• Malekith roared at Lucian and attacked him with a bone spike, but Lucian caught his wrist and twisted his arm, breaking it.

Lucian thwarted Malekith’s attempt to recover the Aether and saved Frigga and Jane from his Black Hole Grenades. Kurse then charged toward Frigga, while Loki abandoned his attempt to protect her after seeing Lucian nearby.

• Lucian shattered Malekith’s shield, and Malekith threw two Black Hole Grenades toward Frigga and Jane.
• Lucian carried Frigga and Jane to a terrace before the grenades destroyed much of the Side Hall.
• Loki directed Kurse toward Odin, hoping the monster would attack the All-Father.
• Kurse spotted Frigga and charged at her, prompting Loki to rush after him and try to stop him.
• Loki saw Lucian beside Frigga, calmed down, and slipped away while Frigga apologized for his behavior.

Lucian fought Kurse, the pain-proof, heavily armored berserker empowered by the Cursed Stone, and tested ways to stop him without taking on his defective ability. After a portal severed Kurse’s lower leg, the monster kept attacking, and Lucian summoned the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to restrain him.

• Lucian summoned a formation of enchanted flying swords, but Kurse endured the barrage and charged through it.
• Lucian punched Kurse back into the sword formation and examined a panel describing the Cursed Stone’s effects, deciding not to copy its ability.
• Kurse recovered from his wounds and charged again, but Lucian opened a portal in his path and severed half of Kurse’s lower leg.
• Kurse kept hopping toward Lucian and tried to bite his neck.
• Lucian summoned the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, which flew toward Kurse as he sensed danger.

Lucian defeated Kurse by binding him with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak and transmuting him into stone, saving Frigga and Jane Foster. Frigga promised that Asgard would reward him after the battle ended.

• Lucian used super speed to strike Kurse into a crater, where the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak bound him.
• Lucian drew more dimensional energy through the bands and turned Kurse into a stone statue.
• Frigga and Jane Foster watched in shock as Lucian finished Kurse and dissolved the chains.
• Frigga thanked Lucian for saving her and the Golden Palace, and promised Asgard would repay him after the battle.
• Thor continued attacking the Dark Elves' ships as Frigga looked toward the smoke on the horizon.

Lucian healed Jane after the battle and went to pursue Malekith before he could escape. While Jane rested with Frigga, the Queen of the Gods asked whether Lucian had a girlfriend in Midgard.

• Lucian accepted Frigga's promise of a reward and used Healing Energy to restore Jane's vitality.
• Jane reflected on Lucian's power and felt less overwhelmed by the divide between humans and Asgardians.
• Lucian tracked Malekith's escape toward an evacuation ship and left to stop him.
• Frigga brought Jane to a side hall and offered her Healing Fruit Wine.
• Frigga learned that Lucian was young and influential on Earth, then asked Jane whether he had a girlfriend.