The Last Farewell

The war against Kang the Conqueror is finally over, and now the world is taking a moment to mourn those they lost. In the ruins of Washington, DC, a memorial stone with an eternal flame is quickly erected for people to mourn those who lost their lives there.[1]

At Avengers Mansion, a court martial has been called to judge Warbird on her conduct during the war. When trying to seize control of the arsenal of the Master of the World, Carol took it upon herself to kill their foe, against the usual “no killing” policy all Avengers abide by.[2] In attendance are Captain America, Iron Man, Yellowjacket, the Wasp, the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Silverclaw. Carol insisted on the court martial as she feels her actions led to the destruction of Washington, DC.

The Avengers present have all discussed it and given the circumstances, what was at stake, and the alternatives, they all unanimously agree that Warbird had no choice but to take a life. What happened in Washington was beyond her control and her taking out the Master gave them a needed asset in their war against Kang, in fact, they believe that she saved countless lives as a result. Carol still isn’t happy about what she had to do but accepts that it was the right thing. She also admits that she feels like she turned a corner since the last time she found herself under court martial.[3] Wanda then takes her outside into the main living room where many of the other Avengers are currently celebrating. They all congratulate Warbird for a job well done.

As everyone is celebrating, Firebird is asking around if anyone has seen Thor recently. While in the study, others are watching the news footage about the memorial services and celebrations happening all over the world. Jarvis, the Avengers butler, interrupts to tell Iron Man that Mister Freeman is on his way. Iron Man thanks him and asks to be informed when Freeman arrives.

In Los Alamos, New Mexico, Peggy Chandler exits her home when she sees the merged form of Triathlon, 3-D Man and her husband Hal Chandler, float down from the sky. Then with a little will power, the three men separate. Surprisingly, Hal and Chuck are no longer merged together and, astonishingly, Chuck hasn’t aged a day since the accident in 1958 that turned him and his brother into 3-D Man.[5] Triathlon retains his powers and when asked what he wants to do next, he wants to check in on the Triune Understanding and make sure they continue on their proper path, but first he wants to return to New York as he still has a lot of work to do as an Avenger.[6]

Back in New York, the Vision — in his human guise of Victor Shade — is among the crowd of people to watching the final reconstruction of the UN Building. He is recognized by Darby, a woman he had previously met in Chicago. She works for a company called Impossible Engineering which was task with rebuilding the UN. She is surprised to see him here after he suddenly disappeared. The Vision drops his disguise and reveals his true identity to her, and apologizes for leaving abruptly as he was only in Chicago on Avengers business. Darby figured it had to have been something like that, and gives the Vision her business card and tells him to call if he ever feels like getting back in touch again. The Vision thanks her and thinks that he probably will.[8]

While at the mansion, Iron Man is getting a status report from the Black Knight in the Arctic Circle after the Master of the Earth’s base suddenly collapsed in on itself. They have searched the pit and there is no trace of it, or the complex network of tunnels that he burrowed across North America. Even more astonishingly, the barrier walls he erected around various cities have also crumbled to dusk, leaving no trace that they were ever there either. That’s when Jarvis enters and tells Iron Man that Mr. Freeman has arrived.

However, this isn’t Duane Freeman — the Avengers government liaison, but his brother, Derek. As it turns out Duane died in the bombing of Washington, and Derek has come to gather personal belongings Duane left at the Mansion the last time he was in New York.[9] Iron Man wanted to talk to Derek about his brother. He feels bad because he and Derek had it out with one another over the Triune Understanding’s dirty dealings, something that Duane didn’t appreciate because Duane was a member himself.[10] He regrets not making amends with Duane before his death. Derek had looked at some of his brothers notes, and reveals to Iron Man that his brother took the accusations seriously and began his own independent investigation. He worried that the Triune’s got ahold of the Avengers com frequency by scanning his mind during a mental cleansing ritual of some kind.[11] He was determined on resigning from his post if it turned out that he was the one who inadvertedly leaked the information.

When Iron Man continues on about his guilt, Derek stops him. He explains that his brother idolized the Avengers from a very young age. He respected them all, including Iron Man. Even though they had a disagreement, Duane respected Iron Man more for recognizing he was wrong and changed course, confirming what his brother always knew: Iron Man was a honorable person. By this point, Derek had finished packing up his brothers things and leaves, unaware that he left his brother’s autographed copy of an Avengers comic behind.

Back out in the living room, everyone is waiting for the food to arrive. Jarvis assures everyone that he has prepared a surprise for everyone. Firebird is also expressing her concerns about Thor to the others. That’s when the thunder god comes in through the front door with a number of Asgardians who have come to deliver a feast that has been prepared in the Avengers honor. Proposing a toast, Thor tells them how during the war with Kang he feared for the lives of his mortal comrades. This made him realize that he had grown close to them and contemplated distancing himself from humanity from thereon. However, Firebird convinced him of the folly of his thinking and he pledges that he’ll fight beside the Avengers now and forever.

As everyone celebrates, the Wasp notices Iron Man heading upstairs. When he asks him what’s wrong, he says he doesn’t feel like partying and has something else to do. Janet figures she knows and says that she and Captain America want to tag along. The trio head down to Washington, DC where they pay their respects at the memorial. By this time, photos of the deceased have been taped to the memorial by loved ones. Finding the photo of Duane Freeman, Iron Man tapes his autographed comic book next to it. He says goodbye to Duane, saying he — and everyone else they lost — will be dearly missed.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Black Knight, Black Widow, Captain America, Firebird, Firestar, Hercules, Iron Man, Jack of Hearts, Justice, Living Lightning, Photon, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, Silverclaw, Stingray, Thor, Triathlon, Vision, Warbird, Wonder Man), 3-D Man, Hal Chandler, Peggy Chandler, Derek Freeman, Edwin Jarvis

Continuity Notes

1. Kang’s invasion lasted from Avengers (vol. 3) #41 to 54. Washington, DC was victim of a massive explosion in issue #49.

2. The so-called Master of the World offered defensive walls that he erected around every major city in North America in exchange for people submitting to his rule. The Avengers then broke into his base to seize control of these weapons. In the final battle, Carol killed the Master of the Earth. At the time, she believed that it was necessary as they were in the middle of a war, as seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #45-48. Carol requested the court martial last issue.

3. Carl was hauled before a court martial over her problematic drinking to cope for her reduced powers, keeping this a secret, and other instances of poor judgement. Rather than face punishment, Carol quit, as seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #6. Carol cleaned up her act since then, deciding to get sober after almost crashing a commercial airliner in Iron Man (vol. 3) #23. She started Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in Avengers (vol. 3) #26, and was invited back onto the Avengers in the following issue.

4. The concern over Thor comes from the fact that the thunder god was reminded of how fleeting mortal lives were when Captain America was briefly transformed into a radioactive zombie by the Presence in Avengers (vol. 3) #44. Although he was restored to normal, the incident convinced the thunder god to reconsider his connections to humanity. Believing his connection to humans is important, Firebird has made it a point to try and change his mind since issue #45. Firebird got frustrated with Thor’s stubbornness and yelled at him last issue.

5. For more on how Triathlon and the Chandler brothers got merged together, see Avengers (vol. 5) #50. TL;DR they all became conduits of an energy source created by powerful entities called the Trion. Many years earlier, Chuck and Hal Chandler were merged together by part of this power source, becoming 3-D Man in Marvel Premiere #35. The reason Hal and Peggy appear to be only in their middle age is because their aging process was slowed by the 3-D Man’s power, as explained in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #12.

6. As of this writing (February, 2023), the fate of the Triune Understanding has not been explored.

7. The UN Building was blown up during Kang’s opening salvo against the Earth, as seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #41.

8. The Vision befriended Darby when he was tracking the Grim Reaper in Chicago, as seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #31. After this moment here, we never see Darby again at least time of this writing. I wouldn’t hold your breath on this plot ever being revisited.

9. As of this writing, Duane Freeman is also still considered among the deceased. Among his possessions, Duane has a signed copy of Avengers #57.

10. The Triune Understanding was manipulating the Avengers public relations to make it look like the team was persecuting the Triunes. This was an effort to boost sympathies and membership. This began in Avengers (vol. 3) #14. It ended in issue #27, the same time Duane was revealed to be a member. He and Iron Man argued over recruiting Triathlon — another Triune — onto the team. Duane forced the Avengers to accept him or risk losing their security clearance.

11. The Triunes were able to get ahold of the Avengers priority channel circa Avengers (vol. 3) #13. Triathlon admitted to being given the frequency in issue #45.

Topical References

• The TVs in this story are depicted as CRT models. This should be considered a topical references as this is an obsolete technology.