Chapter Summaries

Sean survived Thanos’s devastating blow after awakening a power from beyond another dimension, then turned the battle around and overwhelmed the Mad Titan. He left Thanos badly injured and carried him through the planet’s core, tearing the planet apart as he declared himself nothingness.

• Sean’s life returned as golden particles merged with his battered body, and he rose with an alien power that let him distort space and gravity.
• Thanos attacked again, but Sean caught his fist, battered him, shattered his armor, and hurled him through the icy sea into snow-covered mountains.
• Thanos tried to pierce Sean’s mental defenses and crush him, but Sean resisted and struck him with three miniature suns.
• Sean found Thanos badly burned and injured, then lifted him and plunged with him through the planet’s magma core.
• Sean and Thanos tore through the planet, destroying it as Sean declared, “I am—nothingness!”

Jane Foster briefed U.S. leaders on Asgard and its civilization after the alien war became public. In the devastated Asgard, Thor mourned his mother and heard Odin call for the realm to change and build new ties with the outside world.

• Jane explained Asgard's history, biology, society, and magic to officials at the White House.
• Jane left the briefing as rain began and reflected that the world was about to change.
• Thor visited the weakened Odin after Frigga's funeral and said he did not know whether Thanos had died.
• Odin told Thor that Asgard had stood still too long and needed to establish new ties with the outside world.

After surviving the war that orphaned them, Pietro and Wanda struggled to make ends meet in Sokovia and argued over the mysterious amnesiac Sean Sipes, whom Wanda had brought home. As Sean watched The Godfather, memories of a catastrophic event and a yellow gem stirred, and his television addressed him as someone who had returned.

• A shell destroyed the Maximoff family home, leaving Pietro and Wanda trapped beside an unexploded shell until the fighting ended.
• After Sokovia's warlord was overthrown, the orphaned Maximoff siblings grew up relying on each other and scraping by with low-paying jobs.
• Pietro complained about their money troubles and questioned why Wanda had brought Sean Sipes home, while Wanda defended him and explained how he had saved her from thugs.
• Pietro and Wanda returned to their house, where Sean watched The Godfather and recalled fragments of an apocalyptic disaster, a black figure, and a glowing yellow gem.
• Sean connected the name Sokovia to buried knowledge, and the television suddenly flickered before a mechanical voice welcomed him back.

Sean recovered fragments of his memories and learned from Skynet that he had fought Thanos as the Void, though Thanos likely survived. He decided to stay with Wanda and Pietro, then agreed to join the medical experiments at Pietro’s factory, potentially changing the siblings’ path to gaining their powers.

• Skynet recounted Sean’s battle with Thanos, in which the Void dragged him into a planet’s core and caused an explosion that left both fighters badly injured.
• Sean concluded that Thanos had survived and learned that the Chitauri and Black Order had retreated to rescue him.
• Sean chose to remain with Wanda and Pietro so he could investigate his connection to the Mind Stone and the Void state.
• Wanda and Pietro returned home with food, and Pietro grew jealous as he watched Sean interact with Wanda.
• Pietro offered Sean a place in medical experiments at his factory, and Sean accepted.

Sean explored the Mind Stone’s ability to affect minds and suppress the Void state’s violent impulses, then opened a passage to the gauntlet. Meanwhile, Tony’s fear of an alien invasion drove him to develop the Ultron Program and an Iron Legion, and he finally fell asleep in his armor.

• Sean used his mental power to give Pietro an illusion of wealth and luxury, then ended it and sensed the Mind Stone suppressing the Void state’s aggression.
• Sean projected a flower-filled fantasy into Wanda’s mind and noticed that the Mind Stone seemed especially responsive to her.
• Sean opened an azure passage and saw the metal gauntlet embedded with two Stones.
• Tony, haunted by visions of the Asgardian war, went to his laboratory and reviewed the growing Ultron Program and his Iron Armor designs.
• Tony put on his armor to calm his anxiety about extraterrestrial threats, then fell asleep on the laboratory floor as Jarvis dimmed the lights.

Sean investigated Baron Strucker’s enhancement experiments in Sokovia and decided to let Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. weaken each other before eliminating them. Meanwhile, Nick Fury struggled with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s changing position and prioritized finding the Sentry and pursuing a partnership with Sean, who was away in the Arctic.

• Pietro completed the factory’s tests and collected a slip for his reward, while Sean entered the medical room for examination.
• Sean used his mental powers to freeze everyone in the medical room and searched the doctor’s memories about Strucker’s experiments and Satan’s Claw.
• Sean decided to let Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. fight before destroying both organizations himself.
• Nick Fury dealt with pressure to share S.H.I.E.L.D.’s information after Asgard’s emergence and considered recruiting the Sentry.
• Fury tried to contact Sean about a partnership but learned that Sean had left New York for an Arctic expedition.
• Fury reflected on the world’s dangers and looked forward to the return of a forgotten hero.

Sean gave Pietro a generous check and offered Wanda a place on his research team, hoping to keep the siblings from becoming Hydra test subjects. Wanda returned the check but stayed on the rooftop talking with Sean, while Pietro worried about their growing closeness.

• Pietro celebrated the check Sean gave him and imagined moving to a better home, but Wanda later lectured him and returned the money to Sean.
• Sean told Wanda that her kindness meant more to him than money and explained that he wanted to help her and Pietro avoid Baron Strucker's experiments.
• Sean invited Wanda to join his research team, and she felt an unexpected attraction as the gem in his mind flickered.
• Wanda and Sean talked and laughed together on the rooftop while Pietro eavesdropped at the door and vowed to oppose their relationship.

Sean infiltrated Strucker’s Hydra base by posing as Dr. Sipes and used the Mind Stone to control the Baron. Strucker realized he was helpless as Sean sat down to talk with him.

• Strucker learned that Dr. Sipes’s revised enhancement process had produced breakthroughs in Hydra’s experiments.
• Sean used the Mind Stone to make Stoke believe he was Dr. Sipes and to conceal his true identity from Strucker.
• Strucker recognized Sean when he entered the room and reached for his pistol.
• Sean compelled Strucker to lower the gun and sit down, leaving the Baron terrified and unable to resist his commands.

Sean studied the Mind Stone by examining psychiatric patients’ minds and emotions, then used its power to calm a violent patient and replace his painful memories. He continued preparing Pietro and Wanda for transformation, and Wanda agreed to have dinner with him.

• Sean spent a week studying the Mind Stone while Hydra’s leaders remained trapped in illusions and the medical staff believed his false identity as Dr. Sipes.
• Sean explored a psychiatric patient’s fragmented consciousness and witnessed memories of the man’s abusive childhood and violent attack on his parents.
• The Mind Stone revealed the patient’s extreme rage as red, and Sean recorded that emotions had distinct colors.
• Sean used the Mind Stone to soothe the patient and weave new memories, leaving Hydra’s researchers astonished at his transformation.
• Wanda told Sean that Pietro was energetic and enjoyed running, while she had begun having strange dreams and heightened sensitivity.
• Sean invited Wanda to dinner, and she accepted as bright pink and purple emotional halos appeared in her mind.

Sean monitored Pietro’s high-speed test at the Sokovia Medical Center and considered the immense potential of Pietro and Wanda. After Tony sent a distress message from an unknown location, Sean decided to go find him.

• Pietro ran for ten minutes in the underground testing chamber, broke the sound barrier, and stopped when Sean ended the test.
• Wanda worried about Pietro, while Sean sensed the dangerous, reality-warping potential of her Chaos Magic.
• Pietro described the exhilarating sensation of running at extreme speed, and Sean urged him to keep pursuing greater speed.
• Sean received Tony’s message saying he was lost, his Iron Armor had malfunctioned, and he could not reach Pepper.
• Sean decided to end his break and go find Tony.

Tony Stark became stranded in a remote town after the Mandarin’s attack destroyed his Malibu home and left his Iron Armor powerless. Alone and shaken, Tony waited for Sean to answer his call for help.

• The Mandarin and the Ten Rings carried out repeated terrorist attacks, prompting the government to unveil the Iron Patriot while Tony focused on his anxiety and the Ultron Program.
• After a bombing at Stark Tower seriously injured Happy, Tony publicly challenged the Mandarin and began investigating the Ten Rings’ attacks.
• Tony found inconsistencies in the explosions, including extreme heat and a lack of bomb wreckage, and developed leads from the evidence.
• The Mandarin attacked Tony’s seaside villa with a cruise missile and six helicopters, and Tony managed to save Pepper before the blast knocked him unconscious.
• Tony’s powerless Iron Armor carried him to a remote town, where he messaged Sean and huddled in a phone booth, reminding himself that Stark men never surrendered.

Sean investigated the Ten Rings and learned that Aldrich Killian’s A.I.M. had advanced Maya Hansen’s Extremis Virus research, whose deadly trials were being disguised as terrorist bombings. He suspected a hidden force—possibly Hydra or the Mandarin—was backing Killian.

• Sean read about the Ten Rings and connected the organization to the warlord involved in Tony Stark’s kidnapping.
• Sean identified Aldrich Killian as A.I.M.’s founder and recalled how Tony’s cruel joke at a 1999 symposium had turned Killian’s idol worship into hatred.
• Sean reviewed the Extremis Virus’s potential and its dangerous rejection reactions, which had led Umbrella to stop supporting the research.
• Sean concluded that Killian had used retired soldiers as test subjects and that failed experiments had caused the bombings attributed to the Mandarin.
• Sean wondered whether Hydra or the Mandarin was secretly supporting Killian’s work.

Sean rescued Tony in Canada and revealed that he knew the Mandarin’s Tennessee hideout and the truth behind the bombings. He then stunned Tony by tracing the conspiracy back to a prank Tony had played on Aldrich Killian thirteen years earlier.

• Sean met Tony, who was disguised as a plumber, and Tony sent the boy accompanying him home to guard the Iron Armor.
• Sean showed Tony a newspaper reporting Iron Man’s death and said they would go to Tennessee to find the Mandarin’s hideout.
• Tony was shocked that Sean had independently uncovered the link between the bombings and the experiments on soldiers.
• Sean explained that the bombings were failed experiments and that the conspiracy began with Tony’s prank on Aldrich Killian thirteen years earlier.
• Tony asked who Killian was, still unable to remember him.

Killian prepared Trevor Slattery to portray the Mandarin in a Hydra-backed plan to threaten the White House and seize power. After speaking with the real Mandarin, Killian celebrated the coming opportunity while the mysterious leader warned him to stay calm.

• Killian demanded a definite answer about Tony Stark’s fate and told his Hydra contact to continue with the plan.
• Killian oversaw preparations for Trevor Slattery to appear as the Mandarin in a staged broadcast.
• Killian and Hydra planned to hijack East Coast signals, threaten the White House, and use the crisis to take control of the government.
• Killian called the real Mandarin and described how Tony Stark’s humiliation had driven him to work behind the scenes.
• The Mandarin warned Killian that he would have to bear the consequences of his choices.

The Mandarin broadcast a threat to President Ellis while Tony learned that Killian’s Extremis experiments had caused the bombings and suspected the president was the real target. Tony and Sean split up to pursue the crisis, while Sean hinted that he had his own plans for the president.

• The Mandarin hijacked broadcasts across the East Coast, threatened President Ellis, and shot Thomas Richard during the live broadcast despite Ellis calling him.
• Tony reviewed Sean’s footage of A.I.M.’s Extremis experiments and discovered that the virus had regenerated soldiers’ limbs but caused some subjects to explode.
• Tony accused Sean and Umbrella of allowing the technology to reach A.I.M., and Sean argued that Umbrella could not prevent every crime or deception.
• Tony realized that Killian might be targeting President Ellis and asked Sean to help Rhodey while he pursued the Mandarin.
• Sean refused to act as a hero on Tony’s terms and hinted that he had his own way of dealing with the president.

Sean secured Vice President Underwood’s support for a succession plan while Tony infiltrated the Mandarin’s hideout and discovered the terrorist leader was a fictional persona played by Trevor Slattery. Tony learned Killian was carrying out his final plan elsewhere and activated the Iron Legion.

• Sean called Vice President Underwood and offered to help him move into the White House in exchange for accepting Sean’s conditions.
• Underwood agreed, and Sean told him to stay home and prepare a eulogy.
• Tony infiltrated the Ten Rings hideout and found that its Mandarin videos, weapons, and set were staged.
• Trevor Slattery confessed that Killian had created the Mandarin persona and used him to take responsibility for the terrorist attacks.
• Tony learned that Killian and his super army had gone to carry out their final plan, then called Jarvis to activate the Iron Legion.

Sean protected President Ellis aboard Air Force One while Tony went after Killian and Pepper. Sean killed Eric Savin, found the president, and asked for his help.

• After learning that Killian had targeted the president and kidnapped Pepper, Tony asked Sean to protect the president while he went after Killian.
• Sean restrained Eric Savin, who had infiltrated Air Force One in the Iron Patriot armor, and demanded to know where the president was.
• Savin attacked Sean with his Extremis-enhanced strength, but Sean tore off his arm and survived Savin’s fiery self-destruction.
• Sean found President Ellis hiding beneath a table in the conference room and asked him for help.

A week after the Ten Rings attack, Tony and Sean discussed the aftermath, Tony’s regrets, and the possibility that the Mandarin might be real. Tony left with an interest in the Extremis Virus and a determination to make himself stronger before the next crisis.

• Maya Hansen pushed Pepper in her wheelchair across Umbrella’s lawn while Sean teased Tony about leaving his ex-girlfriend and current girlfriend together.
• Tony recalled how Killian’s Extremis soldiers had nearly overwhelmed him and how President Ellis had died when the Ten Rings destroyed Air Force One.
• Tony reflected that his cruel treatment of Killian in 1999 had helped set the tragedy in motion, and Sean joked about his sudden self-criticism.
• Tony told Sean that Killian had promised the Mandarin would avenge him, but Sean dismissed the idea and urged Tony to see a psychiatrist.
• Tony admitted he had taken a sample of the Extremis Virus and hinted that he planned to use it to become stronger.

ABC reporter Jackson Norris revealed himself as a Ten Rings operative during his interview with Trevor Slattery and attacked the prison guards. He captured Trevor and prepared to take him to meet the real Mandarin.

• Jackson Norris began interviewing Trevor Slattery in his prison cell, hoping to expose the truth about his past.
• Trevor dodged Jackson's questions and insisted that the Mandarin and the Ten Rings were fictional.
• Jackson claimed that the real Mandarin and the Ten Rings existed, then used a concealed pistol to kill the guards and a baton to knock down Herman.
• Jackson revealed the Ten Rings insignia on his arm and told Trevor that he would live as a stand-in for the Mandarin.
• As gunfire and explosions erupted throughout the prison, Jackson told Trevor he was taking him to meet the real Mandarin.

Jackson Norris brought Trevor to the real Mandarin in Chinatown, where the Ten Rings leader explained that he wanted Trevor to resume impersonating him. The Mandarin revealed his pursuit of immortality and caught a tracking device hidden in Trevor’s throat.

• Jackson Norris broke Trevor out of prison and took him to Chinatown under armed guard.
• Jackson led Trevor to a teahouse, where the owner revealed a Ten Rings tattoo and introduced them to the real Mandarin.
• The Mandarin ordered Trevor to return to the stage as a puppet for the Ten Rings.
• The Mandarin told Trevor about his discovery of the Ten Rings and his pursuit of immortality and greater evolution.
• The Mandarin abruptly seized Trevor by the throat and removed a tiny tracking device.