Chapter Summaries

Lynn spent two days resting and enjoying the snow with Wanda and Pietro before meeting the Ancient One and Tony to receive the prepared magic array and JARVIS terminals. He thanked Tony with a hug, but Tony reminded him that he still had to work off his debt.

• Lynn joined Wanda and Pietro at a frozen river, where he fell while trying to skate and laughed with them.
• Lynn took Wanda and Pietro to a snowy pine forest, where he recognized Wanda's drawing as an early trace of Chaos Magic.
• After two days of rest, Lynn went to the Ancient One's study, where she said the magic array was ready.
• Tony gave Lynn glasses and an earpiece connected to a backup of JARVIS, which would monitor him and remind him when to trigger the magic array.
• Lynn hugged Tony, who accepted the thanks awkwardly and said Lynn still had to work off his debt.

Lynn received a magic array that could remove memories, but learned it required mana he did not yet have. He returned to Kamar-Taj to study magic from the beginning, ending as he practiced creating mana through resonance.

• The Ancient One placed the memory-deletion array in Lynn’s consciousness and explained that activating it required a steady supply of magical energy.
• The Ancient One told Lynn he had to learn magic properly, and Lynn agreed to begin studying again at Kamar-Taj.
• Tony told Lynn to resolve his situation soon so he could return to work and repay his debt.
• The Ancient One brought Lynn to Mordo’s beginner class and explained that mana came from resonance between the soul’s frequency and dimensional energy.
• Lynn correctly repeated the Ancient One’s explanation, then began practicing mana resonance in his palm.

After two months at Kamar-Taj, Lynn’s returning memories led him to tell Tony where Bruce Banner was hiding and how to help him control the Hulk. Tony left to rescue Banner, while Lynn noted that Samuel Sterns’s lab samples remained a danger.

• Lynn continued his studies at Kamar-Taj, while Wanda trained in perception and Pietro grew faster.
• Lynn asked Tony whether he would help Bruce Banner, and Tony agreed that Banner belonged on the team he was assembling.
• Lynn told Tony that Banner was hiding at a guarana soda factory in Porto Verde, Brazil, and that the military might soon find him.
• Lynn warned Tony that Samuel Sterns’s attempted cure would create a worse problem and offered to help Banner control the Hulk instead.
• Tony opened a portal and left for Brazil to find Banner, while Lynn asked JARVIS to remind him about Sterns’s samples after Banner was found.

Tony found Bruce Banner in Porto Verde, Brazil, as military forces closed in, and offered to take him to someone who could help him control his transformation into Hulk. Banner remained wary but agreed to retrieve his belongings as the troops approached.

• JARVIS located Banner in Porto Verde and reported that military vehicles were converging on the town.
• Tony used a Sling Ring to travel to Porto Verde, where Banner intervened when three men cornered a local girl.
• After the factory owner helped Banner, Tony approached him and said he had come to get him out before the military arrived.
• Tony told Banner that Mr. Blue's method would not cure him and might create a worse problem, but that a friend could help him control Hulk.
• Banner questioned whether he could trust Tony, then said his belongings were upstairs as headlights appeared on the distant road.

Lynn explained to Banner that Hulk was an instinctive part of himself, not a monster created by gamma radiation, and urged him to pursue acceptance and integration instead of suppression. Banner began to consider reconciliation, and Lynn planned to ask the Ancient One and have Mordo arrange a room for him at Kamar-Taj.

• Banner arrived at Kamar-Taj with Tony and met Lynn, who asked about his time at the soda factory.
• Lynn told Banner that Hulk embodied his suppressed instincts and had been trying to protect him, while their conflict caused his destructive transformations.
• Banner asked how to stop losing control, and Lynn proposed accepting Hulk, choosing transformations voluntarily, and balancing reason with instinct.
• Lynn described a unified form in which Banner would retain his intelligence while gaining Hulk's strength, healing, and combat instincts.
• Banner asked about the stages of Lynn's method, and Lynn outlined overcoming fear, ending their confrontation, and integrating into a whole self.
• Tony asked whether Banner would stay at Kamar-Taj, and Lynn said he would consult the Ancient One and ask Mordo to arrange a room.

Lynn arranged for Bruce Banner to stay at Kamar-Taj so he could learn to accept Hulk, with the Ancient One agreeing to watch over him. Tony Stark told Lynn about revealing himself as Iron Man and meeting Nick Fury, then left to keep searching for a cure to his palladium poisoning.

• Lynn asked the Ancient One to let Bruce Banner stay at Kamar-Taj, and she agreed while making Lynn promise to take responsibility for him.
• Mordo arranged a secluded room for Banner, and Lynn reminded him to attend meals on time.
• Tony told Lynn that he had publicly announced he was Iron Man and that Nick Fury had visited him afterward.
• Lynn warned Tony against joining Serpent S.H.I.E.L.D. and asked whether he had found a way to fix his palladium poisoning.
• Tony said he was still looking for a cure, opened a portal to his Malibu laboratory, and left.

Tony struggled to find a palladium replacement as his blood toxicity worsened, and he confided his fear about telling Pepper to Lynn. Lynn told him Howard Stark had left something in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files, and Tony went to find it.

• JARVIS told Tony his blood toxicity had reached thirty-one percent and would become critical in three weeks, but every screened element failed as a palladium replacement.
• Tony spiraled into agitation, neglecting work and sleep as Pepper noticed his condition but did not press him about it.
• Tony vented to Lynn about his failed search and admitted he was afraid to tell Pepper the truth.
• Lynn revealed that Howard Stark had hidden something for Tony in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s old files.
• Tony questioned why his father had not given him the item directly, then opened a portal and went to look for it.

Tony rejected Congress’s demand for the Iron Man Armor at a hearing, where he mocked Senator Stern and Justin Hammer. He brought Lynn and Yinsen to his Malibu mansion and invited them to watch him race in Monaco the next day.

• Tony ignored the reminder about his father’s belongings and agreed to attend the congressional hearing after Pepper delivered the subpoena.
• Tony called Lynn and asked him to bring Yinsen to Washington to watch the hearing.
• At the hearing, Tony refused to hand over the Iron Man Armor and declared that he had privatized world peace.
• Tony used JARVIS to replace Hammer’s footage with clearer videos of failed attempts to copy the armor, making the audience laugh at Hammer.
• Tony left the hearing with Lynn and Yinsen, brought them to his Malibu mansion, and invited them to Monaco for a Formula race the next day.

Lynn traveled to Monaco with Tony, Yinsen, Pepper, and Natasha, whom he knew was Black Widow operating under the name Natalie Rushman. During the journey, Lynn tried to get closer to Natasha while she quietly assessed whether he was the person who had saved Coulson.

• JARVIS woke Lynn and reminded him that he was leaving for Monaco with Tony in forty minutes.
• Pepper introduced Natalie Rushman to Lynn and Yinsen, and Lynn struggled to hide his attraction to Natasha.
• Lynn chose to ride with Natasha in the Mercedes-Benz while Yinsen joined Pepper in the Rolls-Royce.
• During the drive, Lynn asked Natalie about her work and résumé, while Natasha studied his mannerisms and suspected he had opened the portal that saved Coulson.
• Aboard Tony's jet, Lynn sat near Natasha and discussed Tony's plans to race in Monaco, while Natasha questioned whether he needed a more responsible way to relieve stress.

Lynn and Natasha quietly discussed his knowledge as Tony raced in Monte Carlo, where Ivan Vanko attacked him on the track. Tony put on his armor and faced Whiplash as the crowd fled.

• Lynn told Natasha that she was not acting like herself, and they agreed to talk somewhere else later.
• The group arrived at the Monte Carlo circuit, where Lynn predicted Tony would overtake on the first lap.
• Tony overtook a car at the first corner, while Lynn spotted Ivan Vanko crossing onto the track with electrified cables.
• Lynn warned Tony, who dodged Whiplash's attacks and escaped his race car as Happy delivered the armor suitcase.
• Tony assembled his armor and took Whiplash's next electrical lash head-on, standing his ground as Iron Man.

Tony defeated Vanko at the Monaco racetrack despite struggling in his portable armor, then confronted him about his attack and family grievances. Lynn offered Vanko an alternative to violent revenge and left him to consider using his intelligence to prove his family's superiority.

• Tony struggled against Vanko's electric whips despite Lynn's advance warning, but eventually defeated him and destroyed his reactor.
• Vanko shouted that Tony had lost as Monaco police took him away, leaving Tony troubled by the claim.
• Tony visited Vanko in detention, where Vanko named Anton Vanko as his father and accused the Stark family of theft and destruction.
• Vanko told Tony that exposing his vulnerability would encourage others to attack him.
• Lynn told Vanko that Anton Vanko had wanted to sell the reactor technology and urged him not to let inherited hatred waste his talents or endanger civilians.
• Lynn offered Vanko a choice between proving his family's superiority through intelligence and continuing violent revenge, then promised to return and said he had sent someone to find his bird.

Tony struggled with worsening palladium poisoning and the military’s demand for his armor, while Lynn urged him to trust Rhodey with the MK2 and remember that Howard had left his life’s work to him. Tony gave the armor to Rhodey as a gift, leaving their friendship strengthened as the military crisis continued.

• Tony returned from Monaco and shut himself in his laboratory to investigate Ivan Vanko and Howard Stark’s history while JARVIS warned that his palladium toxicity had exceeded the safety threshold.
• Rhodey told Tony that the military was ready to seize his armor after the Monaco race exposed replicated Stark technology.
• Tony admitted his palladium poisoning was advancing and asked Lynn whether Howard had truly left something for him.
• Lynn told Tony that Howard had left him his life’s work and advised him to give the MK2 to Rhodey rather than leave him caught between Tony and the military.
• Tony summoned Rhodey and presented him with the MK2 as a gift, joking that he should read the manual before wearing it.

Tony received Howard Stark’s belongings and discovered that his father had hidden the key to a new element in the 1974 Stark Expo model. After watching Howard’s recorded message, Tony reconstructed the model’s atomic structure, leaving him with a new path forward and a belated understanding of his father’s love.

• Tony asked Nick Fury to deliver Howard Stark’s belongings, while Lynn stayed to witness Tony’s reunion with his father’s legacy.
• Coulson delivered Howard’s suitcase, thanked Lynn for saving S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and invited him to join the Avengers Initiative; Lynn said he would join when Tony did.
• Tony opened the suitcase and watched Howard’s recording, in which Howard called Tony the greatest creation of his life.
• Tony summoned Pepper and Lynn through a portal to bring the 1974 Stark Expo model to his lab.
• Tony used JARVIS to scan the model and reconstruct a previously unknown atomic structure, then thanked his father.

Tony began tearing apart his mansion to build a particle accelerator, but Lynn used his ability to transform a crude frame into the new reactor core. The reactor ran steadily, leaving Tony with a safer replacement for the palladium reactor in his chest.

• Tony smashed through a load-bearing wall to gather materials for a homemade particle accelerator, while JARVIS warned him about the danger.
• Lynn offered to use his ability to make the new element, and Tony admitted he had avoided asking because Lynn had nearly died after using it before.
• Tony made a triangular frame from gold-titanium alloy and showed Lynn the new element’s atomic structure.
• Lynn used his ability to transform the frame into a new reactor core and handed it to Tony.
• Tony installed the core in the reactor base, and JARVIS confirmed that its energy output was stable.
• Lynn asked why Tony had not let him remove the shrapnel from his chest, and Tony said he feared Lynn’s ability might cause unknown changes to his body.

Lynn spoke with Ivan Vanko, who agreed to set aside his revenge temporarily and become a partner while he verified Lynn’s warning about a future threat. Vanko still demanded a contest with Tony to settle their rivalry, and Tony agreed to compete after finishing his current work.

• Tony confirmed that the new reactor ran steadily and began redesigning the Mark VI armor around its increased power output.
• Ivan Vanko called Lynn and asked what Lynn had meant when he said Earth’s enemies should not be each other.
• Lynn explained that he could foresee a difficult future and offered Vanko a choice between attacking Tony or proving the Vanko Family’s intelligence through a technological contest.
• Ivan agreed to be a temporary partner while he verified Lynn’s claims, but insisted that he and Tony first establish who was better.
• Lynn told Tony about Vanko’s challenge, and Tony agreed to arrange a contest after completing his current work.
• Lynn relayed Tony’s response to Vanko, who accepted and ended the call.

Tony completed the Mark VI and hosted a private contest with Ivan Vanko at a refurbished Stark factory. The two men left without revealing who won, but Tony invited Vanko to his home, and Vanko went with him.

• Tony finished the Mark VI and asked Lynn to call Vanko to arrange their contest.
• Tony prepared a well-equipped Stark factory on Long Island as the contest venue.
• Lynn checked Vanko for hidden threats before Tony and Vanko entered the factory alone.
• Tony and Vanko spent the day competing, then emerged without saying who had won or what they had competed in.
• Tony invited Vanko to his home for burgers, and Vanko followed him while Lynn walked behind them.

Vanko explained that the unmanned suits he left Justin Hammer were deliberately limited, then chose Tony’s quiet cliffside lab as his home. Lynn opened a portal to retrieve Vanko’s parrot from Wong, and the bird returned to Vanko’s shoulder.

• Vanko told Lynn and Tony that he had left Justin Hammer basic, self-destructing reactor technology and a limited batch of unmanned suits.
• Tony said Hammer would not understand how to copy even a complete reactor, and Vanko agreed that Hammer was out of his depth.
• Tony offered Vanko nearby houses and a coastal-cliff lab, and Vanko chose the quiet cave because the world believed him dead.
• Vanko asked Lynn for his bird, and Lynn opened a portal to the New York Sanctum.
• Wong brought the parrot through the portal, and the bird flew to Vanko’s shoulder while Wong warned him not to let her get thin.

Tony arranged for Ivan Vanko to stay at his home, where the two began collaborating on the Mark VI armor. Lynn learned that a hammer had fallen in New Mexico and arranged to meet Coulson there the next day, then returned to the Sanctum after reminding Tony to finish his house.

• Tony showed Vanko the guest room and brought him into the basement laboratory to work on the Mark VI thruster design.
• Vanko and Tony debated materials for the energy transfer lines and developed a layered composite solution.
• Lynn called Coulson, who said he was in New Mexico investigating a hammer that had fallen from the sky.
• Lynn told Coulson he meant no harm and arranged to visit him the next day to discuss something important.
• Tony and Vanko dismissed the hammer as uninteresting and returned to their technical argument.
• Lynn warned Tony he would sell Yinsen to buy a house if Tony did not hand his over, then opened a portal back to his room in the Sanctum.

Lynn wrestled with whether warning Coulson about Fury’s dangerous research would expose him to S.H.I.E.L.D. scrutiny or save countless lives. After hearing Vanko and Tony’s advice, he decided to tell Coulson only the central threat and let him judge what to do.

• Lynn debated whether to warn Coulson that Fury’s research would trigger a disaster and cost thousands of lives.
• Unable to sleep, Lynn went to Tony’s laboratory and explained his dilemma to Tony and Ivan Vanko.
• Vanko recalled failing to warn a fellow prisoner and advised Lynn to control what he revealed, telling Coulson only the necessary information.
• Tony agreed that Lynn should tell Coulson alone and offered to act as a liaison if S.H.I.E.L.D. became involved.
• Lynn settled on warning Coulson about the central threat without explaining how he knew about it.

Lynn warned Tony not to neglect Banner, then met Coulson in New Mexico to discuss three impending crises and offered to begin with the one connected to the hammer. Coulson agreed to hear about that threat first, leaving Lynn poised to explain what S.H.I.E.L.D. could do to limit the damage.

• Lynn reminded Tony to visit Banner at Kamar-Taj and explained that Banner was lonely and eager for conversation.
• The next morning, Lynn waited in a bar near S.H.I.E.L.D.'s restricted zone and called Coulson to meet him.
• Coulson arrived, and Lynn asked him to clear the bar before checking for surveillance devices and listening equipment.
• Lynn told Coulson that three life-threatening matters were coming: one he could address immediately, a later revelation, and a disaster that could kill thousands within a month or two.
• Coulson chose to hear first about the threat connected to the hammer, and Lynn confirmed the connection.