Avengers (vol. 3) #2
Once an Avenger… Part 2: The Call
Morgan le Fay has successfully combined the magic of the Scarlet Witch and the Asgardian Twilight Sword to shape reality to her whims. The island of Tintagel Head, off the coast of Cornwall, has now been transformed into the capital city of her medieval rule of the planet. The Avengers have also been transformed into her loyal guard, the Queen’s Vengeance.[1] Morgan rules this domain with an iron fist and the locals are fearful of her royal guard.
Morgan gloats over their victory and the fact that they have enslaved the Avengers. Her nephew Mordred, however, thinks they are playing with fire and insists that they kill the Avengers before they find some way of remembering what happened to them. Morgana is dismissing his concerns when they are soon visited by Donar (Thor) who has come questioning why he, the god of thunder, serves in her royal guard. Morgan assures Donar that everything is fine and offers him fruit being brought in from her servant the Ghost of Stone (Vision). Donar is confused by this as he struggles to remember his past and can sense a voice calling out to him. The thunder god decides to get to the bottom of this and flies off. This confirms Mordred’s fears and he insists that they must do away with the Avengers. However, Morgan is certain that her spell will hold and they’ll have nothing to worry about as long as the Scarlet Witch is their prisoner.
Down in the castle dungeon, Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, is indeed Morgan’s prisoner. Shackled to the wall of her cell, Wanda reaches out with her hex powers in attempt to get help from her fellow Avengers. The process is incredibly taxing as Morgan’s magic is causing interference and after a titanic struggle she passes out from exhaustion.[2]
Outside that castle, Yeoman America is walking through town when he suddenly remember who he is, Captain America, and what has been done to reality. He quickly spots another member of Queen’s Vengeance, Longbow, and convinces him that he’s really Hawkeye. Clint Barton soon remembers who he really is and can’t believe they are trapped in another reality again.[3] They both agree that they need to remind the other Avengers of who they really are and find a way to undo Morgan’s spell. They head to the castle and try to whoever they can find of the truth. They manage to wake up Pixie (the Wasp) and Daystar (Photon) and then try to awaken the Iron Knight (Iron Man). Unfortunately, Tony Stark is unwilling to listen to them and attacks them with his mystical armor. The battle draws the other members of the Queen’s Vengeance and Captain America finds himself in a battle of of wills between himself and the Iron Knight to convince the heroes what is the truth. Some of the others, such as Star-Knight (Quasar), and Squire (Justice) instantly remember. The others find themselves struggling as they hear a voice calling out to them in their minds. However, the not everyone is ready to believe as Sealord (Sub-Mariner) refuses to accept and attacks and tells the others to destroy the traitors.
Meanwhile, Mordred has found out what’s going on and heads to warn his aunt of what’s happening. While Morgan continues to think that this is something she can put under wraps she agrees to go and check it out. As they traverse through the castle, Morgan briefly feels a strange sensation but ignores it, little knowing that the Scarlet Witch is once more mystically calling out for help.
By this time, a schism has occurred between the members of Queen’s Vengeance that remember who they are, and those still clinging to this false reality. Soon a battle erupts and spills out into the court yard. Observing the battle, Morgan mocks Captain America’s efforts in trying to free the others. That’s when Thor returns, fully remembering who he is. However, with the Avengers outnumbered by those still under le Fay’s control, Captain America asks Photon to create a distraction while they retreat and regroup. Photon unleashes a blinding burst of light which allows Captain America and his group to escape. In the aftermath of the battle, the Priestess (Moondragon) asks to be allowed to go after the traitors, but Morgan denies this request, telling them that it will make hunt later more enjoyable. Mordred still thinks this is the wrong move, but Morgan is certain that as long as they keep the Scarlet Witch prisoner, she can just reshape reality again if things go completely off the rails.
However, down in the dungeon, the Scarlet Witch continues to frantically reach out for anyone to listen to her distress call. Suddenly, she makes connection with something and her hex powers summon them forth. She is shocked when she is able to summon the previously deceased Wonder Man who appears in a form of pure energy, telling Wanda that he heard her call.[4]
Recurring Characters
Queen’s Vengeance (Beast, Binary, Black Knight, Black Panther, Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Darkhawk, D-Man, Falcon, Firebird, Firestar, Giant-Man, Hawkeye, Hercules, Iron Man, Justice, Living Lightning, Magdelene, Machine Man, Moondragon, Spider-Woman, Photon, Quasar, Quicksilver, Rage, She-Hulk, Sandman, Scarlet Witch, Sersi, Starfox, Stingray, Sub-Mariner, Swordsman, Thor, Tigra, US Agent, Vision, Wasp, Wonder Man), Morgan le Fay, Mordred, Edwin Jarvis
Continuity Notes
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2 states that Morgan’s world is an alternate reality which has been designated Earth-398. In this case, Morgan’s spell caused Reality-398 to temporarily overlay itself with Earth-616, merging the count parts of both worlds. Such reality warps have also been seen in Uncanny X-Men #190-191, X-Men (vol. 2) #41/X-Men: Omega #1, House of M #1-8, and Heroes Reborn (vol. 2) #1-7, among other examples.
The narration does an exposition dump about the Scarlet Witch. Here are the facts:
The narration identifies Wanda as a mutant. However, this is later revealed to be false in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5. In reality, she was experimented upon as a child by the High Evolutionary and in order to cover up his work, made it so future genetic scans would have her register as a mutant.
It mentions that at one time she was married and had a family. She married the Vision in Giant-Size Avengers #4. A few years later, she used her magical powers to make herself pregnant in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3, she gave birth to twin boys — Tommy and Billy — in issue #12 of that series. Things went downhill from there…
The Vision was later disassembled and had all his emotions erased. This happened in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45. Although the Vision has since regained the ability to feel after he was given new brain engrams in Avengers Spotlight #40.
Wanda and Vision’s children were later erased from existence themselves. This happened in Avengers West Coast #50-51, although Wanda wouldn’t remember this because her memories of the children were wiped out. Billy and Tommy will be resurrected however, as seen in Young Avengers #1, although this will not be confirmed until Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #6.
Hawkeye and many of the Avengers found themselves living new lives in another reality after they sacrificed themselves to stop Onslaught. They were transported to a pocket dimension created by Franklin Richards, created to save their lives, and only recently returned home. See Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1, Avengers (vol. 2) #1-13, and Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.
Wonder Man died during a battle with the Kree back in Force Works #1. However, as it is explained in Avengers (vol. 3) #11, his spirit has managed to hang between life and death due to his love of the Scarlet Witch and hence how she was able to summon him with her powers.
