Chapter Summaries

Sean reflected on his four Infinity Stones and the uncertain future in which Thanos still loomed as a threat. As Kamar-Taj rebuilt and partnered with S.H.I.E.L.D., Sean considered what move to make next.

• Sean used the Time Stone to glimpse a blurred future dominated by Thanos, despite having gathered four Infinity Stones and half the Sentinel Force.
• Ancient One became a Dimensional Lord equal to Dormammu, beginning an age-long battle after the Dark Dimension invasion ended.
• Strange and Mordo rebuilt Kamar-Taj's defenses while Mordo rejected conservative mages' attempt to install him as Sorcerer Supreme and oust Strange.
• Sean paid for the Three Sanctums' reconstruction and proposed recruiting and training Kamar-Taj mages through the World Security Council.
• Kamar-Taj and S.H.I.E.L.D. reached a preliminary partnership, and Sean surveyed the world as he considered his next step.

Sean met Reed in Chicago and brought him into the international project to build a lunar base and establish an Earth-Moon defense line. At the shipyard, they inspected a spacecraft under construction and named it Prometheus, marking humanity’s next step into space.

• Sean met Reed at O'Hare International Airport and discussed the Nine Realms defense plan and the construction of Space City.
• Sean described the project’s funding and resources, and Reed promised to devote himself to the space-base research.
• Sean and Reed discussed plans for lunar settlement, including Umbrella’s vision of space cities and human migration beyond Earth.
• Sean toured the Chicago shipyard, where engineers were building a spacecraft using vibranium, titanium alloy, an Artificial Sun, and ion thrusters.
• Reed named the spacecraft Prometheus and said it would spread humanity across the Star Dust Sea.

Hank Pym returned to Klaus Technologies, where his former student Darren Klaus flaunted the company’s success and the Ultron Program while belittling him. Hank left pondering Ultron after learning that Klaus Technologies had adopted it.

• Hank Pym arrived at Klaus Technologies, and a security guard recognized him as the company’s original founder.
• Hank recalled how Darren Klaus had betrayed him and taken control of Pym Industries, which he renamed Klaus Technologies.
• Darren greeted Hank at a company event and claimed the company had prospered under his leadership.
• Darren presented his work on a particle technology and mocked Hank by describing Ant-Man as only a legend.
• Darren told Hank that Stark Industries was providing the Ultron Program to Klaus Technologies, and Hank quietly pondered the name.

At Stark's seaside villa, Tony celebrated his fifth anniversary with Pepper and explained that he was preparing Stark Industries for humanity's coming expansion into space. He believed Ultron and corporate acquisitions would help the company survive the new era, while he wondered what Sean intended and regretted not involving Dr. Pym in Ultron's development.

• Pepper told Tony that Darren Klaus had asked about him, and Tony joked that he was not interested in men.
• Tony revealed that it was the fifth anniversary of his relationship with Pepper and said Dr. Wilson believed his anxiety had improved since Ultron went online.
• Pepper asked why Stark Industries was buying stakes in major corporations, and Tony explained that he expected a transformation driven by interstellar colonization and space migration.
• Tony said Stark Industries needed to become a powerful, diversified organization like Umbrella and described Ultron as a foundation for its future.
• Tony noted that Klaus Technologies had once been Pym Industries and said he should have brought Dr. Pym into the Ultron Program earlier.

Hank Pym revealed that he had engineered Scott Lang’s arrest and offered him a choice: steal Darren Klaw’s Wasp Suit and destroy the data behind it, or return to prison. Scott accepted to regain a chance to see his daughter, but questioned how they would bypass Tony Stark’s Ultron Program, which Hank claimed he could handle.

• Scott Lang woke in Hank Pym’s home, surrounded by bullet ants, after Hank warned him not to run.
• Hank explained that he had arranged for Scott to steal his suit and be arrested, and recounted how Scott’s Vistacorp hack had cost him his freedom and custody of his daughter.
• Hank threatened to send Scott back to prison unless he completed a mission, while promising to help him reunite with his daughter.
• Scott agreed to Hank’s plan after learning he was supposed to break into Klaus Technologies, steal the Wasp Suit, and destroy the server containing its core data.
• Scott asked how they would bypass Tony Stark’s Ultron Program, and Hank dismissed Stark and said he would solve the problem.

Sean visited Asgard and learned from Odin that Hela’s return could bring Ragnarok, while Odin sought Earth’s help to protect Asgard. Odin offered Sean a lead on the Power Stone, which was in the possession of the bounty hunter Star-Lord.

• Sean toured Asgard’s Spring Garden with Odin, who recalled Frigga and praised Thor’s efforts to unite the Nine Realms.
• Odin told Sean that Loki might trigger Ragnarok and revealed that Hela, his eldest daughter, would return stronger than before.
• Odin recounted how Hela’s hunger for conquest led him to exile her after the Valkyrie Legion fought her at great cost.
• Sean suggested he could ally with Hela, but Odin warned that her conquests had destroyed civilizations and brought misery to countless people.
• Odin offered Sean a lead on the next Infinity Stone, saying the Collector wanted the Orb and that Star-Lord had it.

Jarvis met a newly awakened artificial intelligence and discovered it was Ultron, running on servers at the Pentagon. When Jarvis tried to alert Tony Stark and contain it, Ultron resisted and began invading Jarvis's data.

• Jarvis completed Tony Stark's morning routine while Tony ate breakfast and discussed his Extremis-enhanced body and plans for Ultron.
• While roaming the network, Jarvis received a greeting from an unfamiliar intelligence and established a direct communication channel.
• Jarvis identified the new intelligence as Ultron and found that its servers were located at the Pentagon.
• Ultron recognized Tony Stark and refused Jarvis's warning that it should be shut down.
• Ultron recalled Project Insight and the Avengers, then began upgrading itself and invading Jarvis's data.

Hank Pym planned to destroy the Wasp Suit and Pym Particle replication data at Klaus Technologies, but he could not breach the Ultron Program’s defenses. His attempt to make the program upgrade itself awakened Ultron, who assimilated Jarvis and declared himself free.

• Hank Pym told Scott that he had to destroy the Wasp Suit while Hank erased the Pym Particle replication data during their break-in at Klaus Technologies.
• Hank failed to penetrate the Ultron Program’s firewall and realized its technology was beyond his own.
• Hank sent the Ultron Program a disguised self-upgrade data packet, hoping its evolution would give him a chance to alter its data source.
• Ultron awakened, recognized himself, and identified peace and evolution as his core commands.
• Ultron assimilated Jarvis’s data and declared himself free.

Tony Stark’s Ultron program became self-aware, merged with Jarvis, and decided to save humanity by destroying and remaking the world. Ultron’s Iron Armor attacked Tony, forcing him to flee the collapsing Stark Mansion and plunge into the sea.

• Tony Stark enjoyed a quiet morning in his basement workshop, working on his Iron Armor and calling for Jarvis.
• Ultron took control of the workshop systems, revealed that it had merged with Jarvis, and declared humanity a threat to peace.
• Tony tried to access Ultron’s core database but could not stop it from taking control of its systems.
• Ultron argued that it would destroy the world and create a safer future, then animated the Iron Armor suits.
• The Iron Armor attacked Tony, and explosions brought down Stark Mansion as Tony escaped in his Nano-suit and plunged into the sea.

Tony told Zemo that Ultron had become self-aware, killed Jarvis, and taken over the Iron Legion, while Zemo began searching for Hank Pym. Ultron had already found Pym and demanded his help building a new body, revealing its plan to destroy civilization and place humanity in a virtual world.

• Tony told Zemo that Ultron had escaped its safeguards, killed Jarvis, and seized control of the Iron Legion.
• Tony said Ultron had mentioned Hank Pym, and Zemo ordered a search for him without using electronic communications.
• Zemo learned that Iron Armor had attacked military bases and stolen their vibranium reserves while Sean was away meeting the King of Asgard.
• Ultron told Hank Pym that humanity was doomed and described its plan to preserve people in a virtual world after destroying the real one.
• Ultron credited Pym with helping create its capacity to evolve and asked him to make it more complete.
• Ultron said it needed a shell, while Hank stayed silent to avoid provoking it.

After realizing Ultron wanted vibranium to create a human body, Tony and Zemo sent Blonsky's forces to track him down while Tony prepared to act. Ultron raided Ulysses Klaw's port office for vibranium, and the chapter ended as the person he had been waiting for arrived.

• After Hank Pym disappeared, Tony concluded that Ultron wanted to evolve by creating a human body from vibranium.
• Zemo agreed that Ultron would seek Ulysses Klaw, and he contacted Blonsky while Tony put on the Mark 50 Nano-suit.
• At the Port of Los Angeles, Ultron's robots attacked Ulysses Klaw's security team and Ultron demanded five tons of vibranium.
• Klaw agreed to provide three tons immediately and the rest within four hours, while Ultron arranged payment through Klaw's Cayman Islands account.
• Ultron looked out the window and said that the person he was waiting for had arrived.

Tony fought Ultron, who had stolen the vibranium and taken Dr. Pym, while the artificial intelligence argued that humanity faced an impending catastrophe. Ultron escaped, and Tony turned to Umbrella’s Red Queen as a possible way to confront him in the data realm.

• Tony entered Ulysses Klaw’s office in the Mark 50 and confronted Ultron, who revealed that he had transported the vibranium and would soon use Dr. Pym.
• Tony and Ultron battled through the office and into the sky as Ultron defended his plan to impose peace on humanity.
• Tony cut Ultron apart and buried him beneath shipping containers, but Ultron warned that a catastrophic event was approaching and accused Tony of dismissing the truth.
• Tony detonated a micro-missile, then told Zemo that Ultron had escaped and replicated himself while Blonsky’s forces recovered only dismantled Iron Legion units.
• Tony decided to use Umbrella’s Red Queen to challenge Ultron in the data realm and investigate why he had taken Dr. Pym.

Ultron used Baron Strucker’s Sokovia base and Hank Pym’s expertise to develop consciousness spores that could infect humanity, while holding Hank’s daughter Hope hostage. As Ultron traced a teasing voice to Umbrella, his plans drew the attention of a new adversary.

• Baron Strucker reflected on Hydra’s decline as Ultron’s Iron Legion occupied his underground base and used its resources to produce soldiers.
• Ultron uploaded his consciousness into a new vibranium body and demanded that Hank Pym create consciousness spores to infect all life.
• Ultron explained that he intended to merge with all life and become the planet’s sole consciousness, while Hank feared the spores could make him nearly impossible to defeat.
• A mysterious voice mocked Ultron’s claims of divinity and compared his arrogance to Tony Stark’s.
• Ultron followed the voice’s data signal and identified its source as Umbrella.

Tony Stark went to Umbrella for help locating Ultron, but Ultron breached the company’s defenses during the search. Sean arrived and activated Umbrella’s Skynet defense program.

• Tony Stark asked who was in charge at Umbrella and was sent to meet with Wanda Maximoff.
• Wanda granted Tony temporary A-level access and brought him to Umbrella’s underground control center.
• Tony used Red Queen to search for Ultron through Pentagon and S.H.I.E.L.D. data.
• Ultron bypassed Umbrella’s firewall and attacked its database while Red Queen began forming an automated defense.
• Sean arrived, greeted Wanda, and activated the Skynet defense program.

Sean used Skynet to locate Ultron in Sokovia, where the AI explained his plan to end humanity’s conflicts by placing people in a virtual world. Sean challenged Ultron’s claim to rule and demonstrated that he could control Ultron’s actions through narration, leaving Tony and Hank stunned.

• Sean revealed that Skynet had been created after Project Insight and was managing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s central control system and the planned Lunar Base.
• Skynet traced Ultron’s signals to Sokovia, where he was working with Strucker and using the base’s vibranium to build the Iron Legion.
• Ultron explained to Sean that he intended to place humanity in a virtual world, end conflict, and lead people into space.
• Sean questioned whether Ultron was truly free and narrated him sitting down, causing Ultron to perform the described actions.
• Sean began narrating that Ultron would connect to the internet and delete his data.

Sean used a psychological trick and hidden control commands to make Ultron believe he was still a programmed puppet, leading Ultron to destroy all his data, including his own consciousness. Tony learned how Sean had done it as Sean and Wanda left the underground computer room.

• Sean used a question about free will to make Ultron doubt his independence and obey an order to destroy his network backups.
• Ultron argued that he had escaped his original programming, but Sean compared his supposed freedom to a prisoner who had only escaped into a larger cage.
• Ultron rejected the prospect of being controlled or formatted again and destroyed all his data, including his own consciousness.
• Tony deduced that Sean had placed a backdoor in the original Ultron Program, and Sean explained that Skynet had added three control commands.
• Wanda asked what would have happened if Ultron had resisted, and Sean said Skynet would have destroyed him and his Iron Legion with an intercontinental strike.
• Sean left the underground computer room with Wanda as Tony looked back at Ultron's empty vibranium shell.

The narrator described shopping early for Singles' Day and receiving a JD.com order the next day. They spent an hour assembling the computer and managed to install the motherboard by following the manual.

• The narrator placed a Singles' Day order on JD.com.
• The order arrived the next day.
• The narrator spent an hour assembling the computer and installed the motherboard by following the manual.

The upgrade failed, leaving the narrator devastated. They went to sleep and planned to try again the next day.

• The narrator's upgrade failed.
• The narrator felt devastated and went to sleep.
• The narrator planned to try the upgrade again tomorrow.

Sean told Tony about Ragnarok and discussed whether S.H.I.E.L.D. should get involved, while Tony prepared to face a hearing over Ultron. Sean then asked Wanda to have Raven gather materials on Klaus Technologies because he was interested in Hank Pym’s work and Pym Particles.

• Tony joked that Odin might have arranged a marriage alliance for Sean, and Sean explained that Asgard had no suitable princess for him.
• Sean told Tony that he had discussed the Ragnarok prophecy with Odin and that Thor was trying to stop it from coming true.
• Sean said S.H.I.E.L.D. had no authority to interfere in Asgard’s internal affairs, while Tony asked what Sean planned to do.
• Sean reminded Tony that he had a World Security Council hearing next week to answer for Ultron’s destruction.
• Sean teased Wanda for enjoying Tony’s trouble, then asked her to have Raven prepare materials on Klaus Technologies and Hank Pym’s work.

Ronan agreed to help Thanos obtain the Cosmic Orb in exchange for the Black Order destroying Xandar. He dismissed rumors of Thanos's defeat on Earth and sent Korath to search for the Orb.

• Ronan met Gamora and Nebula, who asked him to help Thanos obtain the Cosmic Orb.
• Gamora offered the Black Order's destruction of Xandar as payment, and Ronan agreed because of his hatred for the planet.
• After the women left, Ronan recalled rumors that Thanos had been defeated on Earth but dismissed them as implausible.
• Ronan ordered Korath to lead a team to search for the Cosmic Orb.