Recaps

Lin Xiao visited Steve at the hospital with Hill and told him that he had awakened in 2012, not 1945. Steve passed out after learning he had missed seventy years, and Hill reported the news to Fury.

• Hill took Lin Xiao to visit Steve, after his new suit split at the seams and lost several buttons.
• Steve mistook Lin Xiao for Japanese, and Lin Xiao corrected him and pointed out that Steve was worried about being poisoned.
• Steve attacked Lin Xiao, who easily restrained him and revealed that he and Hill were together.
• Steve suspected he was still in wartime Germany, but Lin Xiao showed him a television broadcast marked 2012 and told him the truth.
• Steve asked to be alone, then passed out; Hill called Fury and reported that Lin Xiao had told Steve the year.

Lin Xiao waited for S.P.E.A.R. to arrange a rescue for Dr. Wu Zhengkai while learning that the superhero rental business had earned over a hundred million in three days. Gwen Stacy arrived after finishing her exams, demanding the promised Disney trip and reminding Lin Xiao that her coming-of-age day was tomorrow.

• Lin Xiao urged Blink to act quickly to rescue Dr. Wu Zhengkai, but Blink said S.P.E.A.R. planned to intercept him during Hans Kruger's trip to Switzerland next month, while Heartfire's condition continued to worsen.
• Lin Xiao messaged Tao Yuhan that he had a private plan if S.P.E.A.R. could not act directly.
• Jane showed Lin Xiao that the superhero rental business had earned 104,700,000 in net revenue in its first three days, with reservations booked two months ahead.
• Jane told Lin Xiao that Gwen Stacy had finished her exams and expected him to honor his promise to take her to Disney.
• Gwen Stacy kicked down Lin Xiao's front door, greeted Jane, and reminded Lin Xiao about the amusement park trip.
• Gwen Stacy told Lin Xiao that her coming-of-age day was tomorrow, and he suddenly realized he had forgotten.

Lin Xiao and Gwen Stacy spent the day together at Disney, where Gwen enjoyed rides and games while Lin Xiao arranged a fireworks show for her. After midnight, Gwen became an adult and Lin Xiao kissed her on the Ferris wheel.

• The ticket attendant questioned Gwen Stacy and Lin Xiao about their relationship, and Lin Xiao showed his S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials to get them admitted.
• Gwen dragged Lin Xiao onto rides, made him take photos, and won every plush toy at a carnival booth.
• Gwen turned off her Spider-Sense to experience the Haunted Mansion, where Lin Xiao scared a staff member with a face and phone light.
• Lin Xiao arranged a fireworks display that cost three hundred thousand dollars, and Gwen admitted she had secretly overheard his call.
• After midnight, Gwen told Lin Xiao she was an adult, and he kissed her at the top of the Ferris wheel.

George Stacy prepared an eighteenth-birthday party for Gwen, but she spent the day with Lin Xiao and missed the celebration. When George was called to stop Rhino's bank robbery, Gwen and Lin Xiao arrived at the scene to help, leaving George furious and worried.

• George bought decorations and a cake for Gwen's birthday, then grew angry when she did not answer her phone or return home.
• After Rhino broke into the John Compson Bank vault, George left the party to lead the police response.
• Gwen returned home after midnight with Lin Xiao, learned that George was confronting Rhino, and decided to go help him.
• Gwen and Lin Xiao transformed and raced across the rooftops toward Fifth Avenue while Helen watched them leave.
• Gwen swung into the bank and Lin Xiao entered through a second-floor window as George ordered officers to guard the rear exit.

Gwen and Lin Xiao stopped Rhino’s bank robbery, and Gwen persuaded him to surrender to the police. Peter and Ned returned to New York from Kamar-Taj, while Wong remained stuck in a toad’s body after Ned’s spell went wrong.

• Gwen dodged Rhino’s attacks and knocked him down while Lin Xiao advised her and taunted Rhino from the sidelines.
• Gwen offered to let Rhino walk out if he admitted guilt, and Rhino surrendered after realizing he could not defeat or escape them.
• George Stacy thanked Ghost-Spider for helping the police, then warned Gwen they would talk at home before forgiving her after she apologized and kissed his cheek.
• Wong told Mordo that Ned had altered a practice spell and turned him into a toad, while Mordo praised his apprentice and Wong angrily objected.
• Peter, Ned, and the Fool returned to Lin Xiao’s Manhattan mansion, where Ned defended his return from Kamar-Taj and Peter offered to find waffles.

Lin Xiao and Blink rescued Dr. Wu Zhengkai from Hans Kruger’s men and brought him through a portal after explaining that Heartfire needed urgent surgery. Kruger later confronted Pierce about the failed pursuit, while the long-haired puppet silently clenched his hand.

• Lin Xiao emerged from a portal onto the interstate, subdued Klaus, and helped Blink protect Dr. Wu when attackers fired an RPG and submachine guns at them.
• Lin Xiao defeated five attackers, and Blink told Dr. Wu that Heartfire had been injured and needed surgery within two weeks.
• Dr. Wu agreed to go with Blink and Lin Xiao, and the three left through her purple portal for Dragon Country.
• Hans Kruger found the fallen puppets, called Pierce, and demanded an explanation for the failed attempt to keep Dr. Wu.
• The long-haired masked man followed Kruger back to the Chevrolet and briefly clenched his hidden hand.

Lin Xiao and Tony turned the viral footage of Lin Xiao and Gwen Stacy into a publicity opportunity for Vought, while Lin Xiao learned Dr. Wu’s surgery was scheduled and Hans Kruger was investigating. At S.H.I.E.L.D., Susan noticed Reed had changed and discovered he had altered the Cosmic Rays formula, but Reed deleted the altered version after she left.

• Tony told Lin Xiao that footage of him and Gwen Stacy leaving the police vault together had gone viral and that Vought staff were working to protect Gwen’s identity.
• Lin Xiao persuaded Tony to market the romance rumors, and Tony left to put the publicity plan into action.
• Blink told Lin Xiao that Dr. Wu’s surgery was scheduled for the next morning, Heartfire was stable for now, and Hans Kruger was investigating.
• Susan watched Reed and noticed that he had become unusually cold and methodical, then spotted changes to his Cosmic Rays experiment formula.
• After Susan left the corridor, Reed looked toward the vending machine and deleted the altered formula from his tablet.

Lin Xiao brought Kara to see S.H.I.E.L.D.'s partially assembled Helicarrier, where he found Reed arguing with Susan over the engineering design. Lin Xiao recognized Reed as Doom and arranged to meet him that night, leaving Kara wondering why.

• Lin Xiao took Kara from the trainee agents' office to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s engineering center to see the Helicarrier.
• Reed argued with Susan about changing the thruster parameters and deciding the rotor configuration, while Ben and Human Torch watched.
• Lin Xiao introduced himself to Reed, privately identified him as Mr. Doom, and said he admired his rule over a country.
• Lin Xiao told Reed to meet him at the west garden at nine that night to discuss the argument's parameters and data.
• Lin Xiao teased Susan, then left with Kara, who asked why he had invited Reed for coffee.

Lin Xiao met Doom in a café and negotiated for Doom’s research in exchange for keeping his identity secret. After their magical confrontation, both men privately realized how close they had come to losing control, and Doom left with his attention turning to Susan Storm.

• Lin Xiao finished Kara’s mission report, sent it to Rivich, and met Doom at the café.
• Lin Xiao offered to protect Doom’s identity in exchange for learning what he had changed in his parameters.
• Doom tried to probe Lin Xiao’s mind, but Lin Xiao’s mental defense threw him into a table and exposed Doom’s identity to nearby café patrons.
• Doom pulled Lin Xiao into a dark void and attacked with black flames, but Lin Xiao’s protection dispelled the flames and broke the illusion.
• Doom accepted Lin Xiao’s terms and left after demanding that Lin Xiao never approach him again.
• After leaving, Doom retched blood and feared Lin Xiao’s power, then watched Susan Storm through a distant window.

Lin Xiao kept visiting the S.H.I.E.L.D. engineering department to question Reed, whom he called Little bro Doom, while juggling Vought’s rapid marketing campaign. Reed finally confronted him and revealed that he had locked the real Reed in the Dark Void, but Lin Xiao mocked the prison and provoked him into ordering Lin Xiao to leave.

• Lin Xiao signed seventeen endorsement contracts as Vought’s marketing campaign rapidly drew attention, while May, Betty, and Jane managed the work around him.
• Lin Xiao visited Reed each afternoon, bringing coffee and asking about blueprints and the Śūraṅgama Sūtra despite Reed’s attempts to ignore him.
• Susan grew wary of Reed, while Ben greeted Lin Xiao and Jonathan continued to disapprove of him.
• Reed confronted Lin Xiao over his daily visits and accused him of staring at Susan, but Lin Xiao denied it and asked to learn Reed’s soul magic.
• Lin Xiao asked what had happened to the real Reed, and Reed admitted that he had locked him in the Dark Void.
• Lin Xiao said the Dark Void was easy to escape, and Reed angrily ordered him to leave.

Lin Xiao used the Ring of Wisdom to deepen his understanding of magic and gained new abilities after it resonated with him. He ended the night with two awakened bracelets and eight still to discover.

• Lin Xiao joined May, Betty, Jane, Peter, and Ned for dinner after spending the afternoon studying magical runes.
• Lin Xiao asked Doupao to confirm his theory that magic used runes to guide elements through mental power, then put his first free attribute point into Spirit and sensed lightning elements gathering in the air.
• Lin Xiao spent his remaining attribute points on Spirit and triggered a resonance between himself and the Ring of Wisdom.
• The Ring of Wisdom gave Lin Xiao Elementary Five Elements Spells, Telepathy, and Magic Compression, while Matter Reorganization and Space Magic remained locked.
• Lin Xiao tested his new abilities, then went downstairs and reflected that two of the ten bracelets had awakened and eight remained.

Lin Xiao caught Susan trying to seduce him into revealing what he knew about Reed, and exposed her plan instead. After Susan attacked him with a force field, Lin Xiao flicked her forehead and left; Susan decided to investigate his connection to Agent Natasha.

• Lin Xiao found Susan crying alone in the engineering workshop and listened as she said Reed had grown cold and seemed like a different person.
• Susan flirted with Lin Xiao and tried to extract information about what had happened to Reed, while Lin Xiao used telepathy to confirm she was fishing for information.
• Lin Xiao pretended to accept Susan's offer of anything, then pulled her close without kissing her and told her he had seen through her act.
• Susan attacked Lin Xiao with a force field, but he stood firm and flicked her forehead, knocking her back against the shelves.
• Lin Xiao told Susan to ask him directly next time and left, while Susan resolved to look into his connection to Agent Natasha.

Lin Xiao gave Natasha an Invisibility Cloak after teasing her about being followed, and the two kissed before Coulson interrupted them with news about Fury and Dr. Selvig. Lin Xiao recognized the Tesseract storyline beginning and chose to stay out of the laboratory, leaving Selvig to study the cube while he warned Tony not to move his company into the sky.

• Lin Xiao gave Natasha an Invisibility Cloak in exchange for a kiss, and they kissed until Coulson interrupted them.
• Coulson told Natasha and Lin Xiao that Fury had brought Dr. Selvig to study equipment in the laboratory.
• Lin Xiao realized Fury was handing Selvig the Tesseract and decided not to enter the laboratory.
• Fury opened the briefcase and showed Selvig the Tesseract, which Selvig agreed to study in an underground laboratory.
• Lin Xiao used Doupao to look inside the laboratory, then messaged Tony to warn him not to move his company into the sky.
• Natasha brought Lin Xiao a folder, and he gave her the cloak before she walked away.

Natasha caught Susan searching her apartment and learned that Lin Xiao had inadvertently prompted Susan to follow her. After Susan escaped, Lin Xiao apologized to Natasha, and the two became intimate.

• Natasha evaded Lin Xiao's offer of a ride home by leaving on her motorcycle.
• Susan entered Natasha's apartment and searched for evidence linking Natasha to Lin Xiao.
• Natasha revealed herself beneath the Invisibility Cloak and struck Susan with the Widow's Bite, but Susan escaped through a window and turned invisible.
• Lin Xiao identified Susan as the Invisible Woman and explained that she had followed Natasha while investigating his connection to Reed.
• Natasha shocked Lin Xiao after he apologized for causing Susan's surveillance.
• Lin Xiao kissed Natasha, and they became intimate before resting together.

Lin Xiao considered how to help Natasha regain the ability to have children and decided Asgard might hold the answer. Meanwhile, Thor learned he could return to Midgard in three months, and Reed noticed Susan was limping as they worked apart at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s research center.

• Hill caught Lin Xiao and Natasha faking illness to take leave, then approved their requests.
• Lin Xiao and Natasha spent the day cuddled together, and Natasha watched a baby-care show before falling asleep.
• Lin Xiao asked Doupao about restoring Natasha's surgically removed organs and learned the available rewards were extraordinarily unlikely to obtain.
• Lin Xiao decided to seek help from Thor in Asgard after considering and dismissing other possible treatments.
• Thor learned he could return to Midgard in three months, while Sif reacted shyly to the news.
• Reed admired the propulsion system he had built and noticed Susan limping as she entered the research center.

Lin Xiao watched S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier make its first flight and anticipated the coming Avengers crisis as a chance to earn system rewards. As a strange blue light appeared over New York, he prepared for trouble to begin.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. raised the Helicarrier from underground and held a ceremony attended by Fury, Tony, and Reed.
• Lin Xiao noticed that Susan was absent and wondered whether Doom was involved.
• Lin Xiao considered the approaching Chitauri invasion and planned to exploit the battle for system rewards.
• The Helicarrier hovered above the base as fireworks went off, and Lin Xiao spotted a faint blue streak in the clouds and prepared for action.

Lin Xiao spent half a month obsessively targeting New York’s villains to earn free attribute points, alarming May, Betty, and Jane with his nightly excursions. After arranging for the women to stay at Kamar-Taj in two months for their safety, he worried that Doom was hiding Susan’s whereabouts and decided to confront him.

• May learned from Hill that S.H.I.E.L.D. had assigned Lin Xiao no missions, so she, Betty, and Jane summoned Dr. Gardner to find out what he was doing.
• Lin Xiao told Dr. Gardner that he had been patrolling New York and confronting Bullseye, Electro, and Hedgehog Man, then reassured the women that he was safe as Homelander.
• Lin Xiao continued harassing villains to earn system points, prompting Electro to turn himself in, Bullseye to move away, and Doupao to rebuke Lin Xiao for inventing flimsy reasons to attack people.
• Lin Xiao told May, Betty, and Jane that he wanted the family, along with Gwen Stacy, Hill, and Natasha, to go to Kamar-Taj in two months, and they agreed after discussing the food.
• Lin Xiao failed to reach Susan and suspected Doom was concealing something about her and the Aether project, so he decided to make trouble for Doom before Loki arrived.

Lin Xiao confronted Doom at Reed Richards's villa and defeated him despite Doom's anti-magic defenses. He found Susan imprisoned in the basement and revealed his identity to her.

• Lin Xiao entered Reed Richards's villa to search for Susan, and Doom confronted him with an anti-magic barrier.
• Lin Xiao tore through Doom's magical domain, resisted his dark-energy chains, and revealed that dark magic strengthened him.
• Lin Xiao grabbed Doom and electrocuted him, then warned him to stop scheming against him.
• Lin Xiao sensed Susan's breathing underground, opened the basement, and found her imprisoned.
• Lin Xiao removed his mask, showed Susan his face, and offered to take her home.

Lin Xiao rescued Susan from Doom’s control and stopped himself from taking advantage of her, then purified the magic planted inside her. Doom’s plan failed, and he escaped after vowing to remember Lin Xiao.

• Lin Xiao helped Susan from the basement, and she said Doom had attacked her with green magic after an argument.
• Susan kissed Lin Xiao and tried to pull him into the bedroom while Doom watched through her and prepared to detonate a bomb inside her.
• Lin Xiao recognized the magic and stopped, binding Susan with Blue Silver Grass vines before purifying her with the Ring of Protection.
• The purification expelled and destroyed Doom’s dark magic, injuring Doom and restoring Susan’s awareness.
• Susan covered herself with a blanket and angrily sent Lin Xiao out, while Doom fled the water tower after swearing revenge.

Over two months, Susan avoided Lin Xiao while he continued causing trouble at S.H.I.E.L.D. When Loki's arrival threatened the Avengers Initiative, Lin Xiao offered Fury Vought's heroes for hire and overwhelmed him with a mountain of contract paperwork.

• Susan stayed away from Reed and searched with Human Torch and Thing for Doom, while privately fuming over her encounter with Lin Xiao and Natasha.
• Lin Xiao kept up his usual mischief at S.H.I.E.L.D., slapping Hill's backside before Natasha and Hill scolded him.
• Coulson told Fury that Hawkeye had defected with the Tesseract, while Tony and Banner were unavailable to the Avengers Initiative because of Vought.
• Lin Xiao proposed renting Vought's heroes, including Hulk, War Machine, Iron Man, Thor, and several mutants, to help S.H.I.E.L.D. face the coming crisis.
• Kara delivered a huge stack of contract documents, and Fury erupted at Lin Xiao when he learned the paperwork included payment protections and a lawyer's letter.

Lin Xiao paid S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and his recruits with funds transferred from S.H.I.E.L.D., then laid out survival-focused tactics and benefits for the coming alien invasion. In Paris, Loki reviewed Lin Xiao’s actions and decided that the conflict on Midgard had become interesting.

• Walker supervised movers transferring S.H.I.E.L.D.’s contingency funds to Vought, while Fury signed the contracts and took medical leave, leaving Hill in charge.
• Lin Xiao distributed cash to Banner, Rhodes, Tony, Bobby, Hank, Steve, Natasha, and others at a meeting in the Vought Building.
• Lin Xiao warned the group that Hawkeye had defected as part of an invasion plot and ordered them to prioritize survival, use group tactics, and avoid fighting alone.
• Lin Xiao announced that Steve would lead pre-battle training beginning the next day and promised participants villas, expense reimbursement, and insurance.
• Loki studied a report on Lin Xiao’s use of contracts and money to assemble allies, then expressed interest in the unfolding conflict on Midgard.

Lin Xiao discovered that Sitwell had brought Wanda into S.H.I.E.L.D. and arranged for her to become his assistant. He suspected Wanda carried dangerous energy and planned to keep her under his watch.

• Two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents gossiped about Lin Xiao and Hill, then panicked when Lin Xiao caught them talking.
• Lin Xiao helped Hill sort documents while she rested and noticed Pierce had been placing new personnel in S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Sitwell introduced his niece Wanda to Lin Xiao, who recognized her as a dangerous figure and suspected she was the Scarlet Witch.
• Hill reviewed Wanda's suspiciously clean résumé, but Lin Xiao asked to take her on as his assistant, and Hill approved the assignment.
• Lin Xiao told Hill that Wanda's energy was dangerous and said he would keep her close, then went to meet his new assistant.

Lin Xiao put Wanda through a day of dubious accounting work and shameless teasing, while Wanda tried to investigate him and gain access to Vought. He took her to dinner near a Sokovian restaurant, where her Chaos Magic flared, then evaded the moment and ended the chapter stealing her food.

• Lin Xiao gave Wanda inflated expense slips to revise and peeked under his desk while pretending to look for a pen.
• Wanda considered following Lin Xiao to Vought to get intelligence, but he left without asking her to come.
• Kara visited Lin Xiao, grew jealous of Wanda, and fed Lin Xiao grapes while he rested his head in her lap.
• Lin Xiao dragged Wanda to dinner in New Jersey, and Wanda's Chaos Magic surged when she saw a Sokovian restaurant sign.
• Wanda asked Lin Xiao for Captain America's autograph, and he promised to get one before eating most of her chicken wings.

Lin Xiao lured Wanda to a bar by promising she could meet Captain America, then kept her waiting and spun stories until they drank and danced together. Wanda woke beside Lin Xiao with a hickey and confronted him, but he blamed her and threatened to tell Sitwell, leaving her realizing he had tricked her again.

• Lin Xiao called Steve in front of Wanda, prompting her to agree to go out with him for a chance to meet Captain America.
• Lin Xiao cleared out the Midnight Knight bar, and Wanda watched him discover that the gold chain left behind by a departing customer was fake.
• After Steve failed to arrive, Lin Xiao entertained Wanda with stories, and she shared memories of growing up in Sokovia before they danced.
• Wanda woke in bed beside a shirtless Lin Xiao and found a hickey on her neck, then recalled that he had carried her to the room and kissed her neck while she was half-conscious.
• Lin Xiao claimed Wanda had gotten drunk and taken advantage of him, then threatened to tell Sitwell, so Wanda stopped him and realized he had played her again.

Lin Xiao and Wanda received footage of Loki attacking a charity concert in Stuttgart, prompting S.H.I.E.L.D. to summon senior agents. Lin Xiao identified Loki as Thor’s brother and headed to the conference room, while Wanda worried about him.

• Lin Xiao teased Wanda at work, and she rebuffed him while keeping her scarf wrapped tightly around her neck.
• Sitwell brought coffee to Lin Xiao and Wanda, but Lin Xiao suspected Sitwell’s hidden Hydra loyalties and threw his coffee away.
• An emergency alert showed Loki reveal his identity at a Stuttgart concert and kill a politician with his scepter as the audience fled.
• Lin Xiao told Wanda that Loki was an Asgardian prince and Thor’s younger brother, and Wanda sensed something disturbing about the scepter.
• Hill summoned all agents Level 5 and above, and Lin Xiao went to the conference room while Wanda worried about his safety.