Silent and Swift
Though the cover and title of this issue give away the ending rather boldly, by the time we get to it, we are still surprised and shocked by what happens. Back in the Kree Empire, the Avengers (minus Iron Man and Hawkeye) are poised to enter the capitol citadel of Kree-Lar on Hala. The narrator, again, is the Supreme Intelligence, and the reader is reminded from the beginning of the issue he is the grand designer of these events, or at least he thinks he is. He is the master weaver tightening all the threads, preparing to trim the loose frays, finishing his tapestry in which all the players are merely pawns deceiving themselves they have the freedom to act willfully. It’s an unnerving issue from beginning to end, even 20 years later.
The Avengers feel the disquiet and can’t help but comment on it: how could they have so easily got so far into the heart of the Kree Empire? Sersi, in her discordant way, likens their journey to storming the Bastille: an appropriately ironic allusion, since they are escaped prisoners about to storm the stronghold of government. For the first time in the series, we see the co-rulers of the Kree: Ael-Dan and Dar-Benn. Again, the Supreme Intelligence tells us (on page 3!) they will be dead before the day is over. The bluntness of the issue adds to its unnerving atmosphere.
Two-thirds into the series, the Supreme Intelligence tells us the “endgame” begins with the arrival of Deathbird. He has no respect for the Avengers (or Earthers), and he has no respect for Deathbird as a person, but he does admit to some mild impressiveness with her abilities to bring death (her name is fitting) – yet we are chilled again when he intimates even though this is the “endgame” of one plan, it is only the prelude to the true “nightmare” to come!
One page later we finally see the culmination of the Supreme Intelligence’s gathering of disparate Kree warriors: Starforce is together! At least, version one. By the end of this issue, the roster will be modified already. Even with such a finely paced series, once or twice a plot thread is moved inexplicably from one location to another (that it only happens a couple of times in a 19-part crossover is a testament to the fine crafting and skill of the creative teams involved, abilities seemingly lost – if not temporarily misplaced – by the end of the decade). Case in point: Dr. Minerva. When last we saw her in AWC 81, she was still a prisoner of the Avengers homeguard (the last remaining prisoner after the massive breakout). The partially inattentive reader will think this is a mistake: however, based on the dialogue here, it is fairly evident Shatterax not only rescued Captain Atlas (seen in Quasar33), but also he must rescued Dr. Minerva around then as well. As with all the teams in this series, Starforce is disunified from their onset. Oddly enough, Ultimus is the one who urges unity based on remembering “what it means to be Kree,” which he hadn’t known he was until just recently. Though, as always when dealing with the Supreme Intelligence, we are dubious as to what he says and why. Immediately after Ultimus’s brief laud, the Supreme Intelligence tells Starforce the Avengers are here to assassinate Ael-Dann and Dar-Benn, which some readily believe, though Minerva is skeptical the Avengers are in league with the Shi’ar. They all tow the company line soon enough and head out for the latest battle in the crossover. Hercules is more right than he knows: the Supreme Intelligence does not overlook the passions of free men in his empire.
The battle is the most typical of the battles to date, and thus unique that way, but it does include one important scene. Recognizing they are outnumbered and outgunned (without Iron Man and Hawkeye), Dane Whitman makes the declaration: “It’s time for drastic measures.” That’s always the sign something horribly bad and morally bankrupt is about to happen. Dane says he’s switching his neural-sword setting to kill. Cap, naturally, is having none of it: “No! The day I countenance a move like that is the day I leave the Avengers! Understood?” Dane understands. This time. It’s a brief moment and thus easy to overlook – but don’t.
Somehow the battle leads into the Imperial Citadel, and Deathbird is already there watching from the rafters. The battle ends abruptly, though the Avengers don’t know why: Ael-Dan and Dar-Benn have arrived. Full of pompous recriminations, the pair castigate the Avengers and the members of Starforce, condemning them all to death for not operating the way they want. Cue: Deathbird.
As they are wont to do, a force field springs up around the Avengers and Starforce, preventing them from interfering. Deathbird swoops down, puts Ael-Dan and Dar-Benn in their places and sends them to their maker. We knew it was coming, but it is still starting in its swiftness and in her brutality. Her exit speech is equally startling: she is willing to consider the Kree and Shi’ar square, but if they continue their assault, all the Kree will pay. It’s an issue bursting with irony and foreshadowing.
The Supreme Intelligence wastes no time in resuming his throne (metaphorically, considering he is a disembodied projection of eons’ worth of Kree leaders, thinkers, and scientists. Dane is right: now they are in real trouble. The Supreme Intelligence links in to the Kree network: instantly he blames the death of the leaders on the Shi’ar and the Avengers, declaring the Shi’ar will pay in total war and the Avengers will be put to death publically the next day. Ronan the Accuser takes over as the head of Starforce on a new mission to bring back the head of Lilandra; Minerva and Atlas stay behind to watch the Avengers. With all the pieces in place, and his master plan of resuming the throne successful, the Supreme Intelligence concludes the issue like he began it, ruminating on the life and death of billions. Despite the superiority and contentment he has instilled in his people, the Supreme Intelligence knows it is all a façade: his real conclusion is yet to come – the death of the Kree Empire. It’s a haunting issue, made more so by the distance the reader feels to the events. With the narration driven by the passively observant Supreme Intelligence, we feel even more distanced from the action than usual, like we are watching some horrible series of car crashes and explosions, knowing the worst is about to happen but we can’t look away. This sense of stasis is oddly set off by the rapid pace of the issue. It’s a chilling issue that’s tough to enjoy but impossible not to be astounded by.
