Avengers #357
The Night Visitors
The Avengers are preparing a dinner date for Hercules and his new love interest, Taylor Madison. Marilla — the nanny to Crystal’s daughter Luna — has insisted that they prepare a traditional Inhuman meal. In order to facilitate this, Marilla has called the best cooks the Inhumans have to offer. Seeing his kitchen crowded with strangers is deeply upsetting to Jarvis, despite Crystal’s attempts to smooth things over.
Downstairs, the other Avengers — Black Knight, Black Widow, Hercules and the Vision — are interrogating the captured Swordsman in order to learn more about the Gatherer and find out what their goals are.[1] They are particularly interested in learning how the Swordsman could still be alive when he died years ago.[2] The Swordsman has been plagued with headaches and is incredibly confused and begins pointing out contraditary facts about the Avengers. Deciding to show him images the Swordsman they knew would recognize, they are surprised by what it reveals. This Swordsman always knew the Vision in his white appearance,[3] claiming not to recognize his original red-skinned form. Even more surprising is that he recognizes Moondragon as Mantis, while he doesn’t recognize Mantis herself.[4]
Meanwhile, in SoHo, Sersi is about to end an evening out bar hopping. However, the man she has been hanging out with doesn’t want the night to end and insists that they go home together. When he won’t take no for an answer, the Eternal decides to remain for a little while longer but warns him he’ll wish that she didn’t.
Later that evening, Hercules is preparing for his dinner date as the Black Knight compares notes on what they know about the Gatherers so far. He has concluded that Magdalene must have been the counterpart to Marissa Darrow, a woman who recently went missing, and concludes that she was murdered.[5] They put the matter to bed for the time being as Taylor Madison has just arrived. As Hercules welcomes her inside, Dane sees the dress Crystal is wearing and is struck speechless.[6]
On far off Olympus, Hera is observing Hercules’ meeting with the Madison woman through her viewing pool and is pleased that everything is going according to plan.[7] She is almost caught red handed by Zeus who suspects that his wife has been interacting with the mortal world against his decree. Hera assures her husband that she is doing no such thing as she knows that to betray him would be to face his wrath.[8]
Back on Earth, Hercules and Taylor are engaging in small talk before dinner when suddenly Sersi returns home in a revealing red dress.[9] She instantly gravitates to Dane Whitman and asks him to escort her to the table. Slightly hurt by this, Crystal accepts the Vision’s offer to do the same. As dinner is about to be prepared, Jarvis returns to the kitchen where he complains to Marilla about Lockjaw chomping on a bone so close to the food. He’s surprised when Lockjaw understands what he said and gets upset. As Marilla goes upstairs to cheer Lockjaw up, Jarvis finds himself in charge of the kitchen and realizes he enjoys ordering people around.
At the dining room table, Hercules asks why Taylor works with sick children. She is coy about her reason, just saying that it is something personal for her.[10] Meanwhile, Sersi openly talks about how she feels that she can open up to Dane and tell him anything, all within earshot of Crystal. The Black Widow then decides to propose a toast. She uses the opportunity to give an assessment of the team has remained true to their original mission.[11] After finishing her toast, the Widow becomes aware that someone is now standing behind her and is shocked by who it is when she turns to look.
Upstairs, Lockjaw has retreated to the room where Luna has been staying. There Marilla is shocked to see one of Magneto’s Acolytes — Scanner — who is shocked to discover that the granddaughter of Magneto is a human. She then uses her mental powers to erase all memory of her presence from the minds of Marilla and Lockjaw before teleporting away to inform Fabian Cortez of what she has learned.[12]
Downstairs, the unexpected guest turns out to be Uatu the Watcher. However, the alien visitor only says one word “Beware!” before teleporting away.[13] While the other Avengers are concerned over the Watcher’s brief appearance, Sersi dismisses them as being over dramatic and prosposes another toast to the Avengers.
At that same moment, along a forgotten pier, the police have been called to investigate a body. The victim turns out to be the man that Sersi was out with the night before. This is the sixth such victim that Detective Joe MacNamara has encountered in as many months. Suspecting that there is a serial killer on the loose, Joe is determined to stop the killer before they claim another victim.[14]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Hercules, Vision, Black Knight, Black Widow, Sersi, Crystal), Scanner, Swordsman, Taylor Madison, Luna Maximoff, Marilla, Lockjaw, Edwin Jarvis, Alpha Primitives, Zeus, Hera, the Watcher, Tomas Delgado, Joe MacNamara
Continuity Notes
The Gatherers are Avengers from alternate realities. The process in which they cross realities requires them to kill their counterparts in order to exist in that reality. They have come to this Earth on behalf of their leader, Proctor, who is trying to kill every version of Sersi in the multiverse because he got dumped one time. See Avengers #362-363 and 372-375. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2, Swordsman comes from Earth-921.
The Swordsman of Earth-616 died back in Giant-Size Avengers #2. Per the Sliding Timescale, he died about 4 years prior to this story.
On Earth-616, the Vision originally had red skin and wore a green costume. This changed after he was disassembled by the government organization known as Vigilance. When he was rebuilt, his skin and costume were bleached ghostly white. See West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45.
Also on Earth-616, both Mantis and Moondragon were trained to become the Celestial Madonna. Mantis was Swordsman’s lover until she learned this truth. Following his death, Mantis went into space to fulfill her destiny. See Avengers #129-135 and Giant-Size Avengers #2-4.
Marissa Darrow was indeed murdered by Magdalene, as seen in Avengers #348.
The tension between Black Knight and Crystal is quite complicated. Quicksilver and Crystal have been married since Fantastic Four #150. More recently, Crystal had an affair in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #6-12 and got caught. The pair have been trying to make their marriage work since Fantastic Four Annual #21. However, this has been made more difficult since Quicksilver joined X-Factor and Crystal the Avengers, as seen in X-Factor #71 and Avengers #336. Further complicating things is the fact that Dane has been attracted to Crystal almost since the moment she joined the team.
Hera had orchestrated the meeting between Hercules and Taylor as part of a scheme to break him back in Avengers #349. Little does she know that Zeus is on to her and used his magic to create Taylor Madison to catch her in the act, as seen in Avengers #384.
Zeus has decreed that the gods of Olympus are barred from going to Earth. This happened after Hercules was seriously injured on Earth. See Avengers #273-277 and 281-285. Only Hercules is exempt from this rule, after he recovered form his injuries in Avengers Annual #17.
Hercules mentions how Thor is away on business and hence his absence. This is putting it lightly as Eric Masterson has found himself on an epic conflict that takes him across Earth, Asgard, and Hell that will see the return of the true Thor. See Thor #450-460.
It’s later revealed that Taylor believes that she is terminally ill. She’s not entirely wrong, since the magic that created her only allowed for a short life. See Avengers #384, again.
The Black Widow is referring to Captain America’s earlier concerns that the Avengers are no longer a close knit team, back in Avengers #343.
Whoo boy, the whole family tree between Magneto, Quicksilver, and Luna is an incredibly complicated one:
At the time of this story, everyone thinks that Quicksilver is the son of Magneto, after they were told as such by Bova in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4.
This was later revealed to be a lie, orchestrated by the High Evolutionary. In fact, Pietro isn’t even a mutant. He was experimented upon by the High Evolutionary (Bova’s creator) and he covered up his work by having him register as mutant when tested. His mother is Natalya Maximoff, his biological father is unknown. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 and Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3 to 11.
Here, Magneto is stated to be dead. He seemingly died in X-Men (vol. 2) #1-3, after being betrayed by Fabian Cortez. He survived this attempt on his life and he’ll turn up alive again in X-Force #24-25.
This whole scene is setting up the events of the upcoming Bloodties event that will occur in Avengers #368, X-Men (vol. 2) #26, Avengers West Coast #101, Uncanny X-Men #307, and Avengers #369.
The Watcher doesn’t explain what the Avengers must beware of due to the fact that his race of people have sworn an oath of non-interference. See Tales of Suspense #53 and Original Sin #0.
This story leaves you to believe that the man was murdered by Sersi. However, this turns out not to be the case. In reality, he was murdered by Proctor who is trying to ruin Sersi’s life before destroying her. See Avengers #374-375.
Errors
Scanner is incorrectly identified as Screener in this story.