Black Knight (vol. 2) #3
The Black Knight Has a Thousand Eyes
With Morgan le Fay and Mordred threatening their return, the spirit of the original Black Knight —Sir Percy of Scandia — has taken possession of the cursed body of his descendant Dane Whitman to stop them.[1] In order to do so, he and his allies — Victoria Bentley and Sean Dolan — need to locate the remains of Morgan’s castle which have long since been moved from their original location in Northern Ireland.
The trio head back to the United States and New York City’s Greenwich Village to seek out the assistance of Doctor Strange. Victoria, tells them that Strange owes her a favor after he briefly took her mystical powers to defend the Earth from the demon Shuma-Gorath.[2] Impatient to carry on his mission, the Black Knight attempts to crash through the skylight atop of Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. However, the protective spells that defend the property repel them, knocking Victoria off the Knight’s flying horse, Valinor. Luckily, Doctor Strange arrives and saves her and then invites them in.
Once inside, Strange is brought up to speed and he agrees to assist them.[3] Using the Orb of Agamotto, Strange picks up the mystical vibrations of Morgan’s castle and locates its position in another dimension. He suggests that they try to attack Morgan there before she can bridge the gap to Earth. Everyone agrees and Victoria and Sean are ordered to stay behind. However, Sean leaps onto the back of Valinor as they all cross the dimensional portal opened by Doctor Strange. After traversing this bizarre dimension, they soon find Morgan’s castle where Le Fay and her nephew Mordred are waiting for them.
Morgan is prepared for them and has brought the Evil Eye to deal with them. Using the powerful weapon she resurrects the Fomor entity that powers the enchanted weapon, a creature known as Balor.[4] Ultimately, Balor proves too powerful for Strange and the Knight to deal with alone and they are knocked out. Confident that they have won, Morgan uses a spell to restrain both heroes with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. Discarding the Evil Eye, both she and Mordred depart so they can complete their plan for Earth. They then leave Strange and the Black Knight at the mercy of Balor.
Watching the battle through the Orb of Agamotto, Victoria fears for her friends until she comes up with an idea of how to save them. Moments later, when all seems lost, the Valkyrie arrives on the scene and attacks Balor. Although Brunnhilde had been dead for some time, she was able to come back when Victoria willingly accepted to become a host body for her.[5] Valkyrie is able to use the Ebony Blade to cut the Black Knight free but not before Balor grabs her. The Knight in turn uses his enchanted weapon to smash the Evil Eye. This causes Balor to crumble into fragments which Doctor Strange casts away with a spell in order to prevent the Fomor from reforming.
In the aftermath of the battle, Doctor Strange is happily reunited with his old friend and the Knight offers Sean a boon for his bravery in battle. When Sean asks to become the Black Knight’s squire, Sir Percy agrees. Soon, they are on the trail of Morgan le Fay and Mordred, following their mystical trail to the location on Earth where the remains of Morgan le Fay’s castle now reside. They appear over the Lake Havasu City where London Bridge was relocated decades earlier. As they make sense of where they are, Morgan and Mordred open a mystical portal to Earth and unleash an army of the Fomor to attack the people of Lake Havasu.
Recurring Characters
Black Knight (Sir Percy/Whitman), Doctor Strange, Valkyrie/Victoria Bentley, Sean Dolan, Morgan le Fay, Mordred, Tuatha De Danaan (Balor, Cernunnos, Morrigan, Taranis)
Continuity Notes
Due to a blood curse on his Ebony Blade, Dane Whitman had slowly transformed into a statue of metal from Avengers #293 to Thor #400, leaving him completely immobilized. Victoria Bentley restored him in a fashion by freeing the spirit of Sir Percy so it could take possession of Dane’s body as we saw issue #1.
Doctor Strange’s battle with Shuma Gorath took place in the classic Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #12-18.
The Black Knight sternly warns Doctor Strange not to use his magics to remove the wings off Valinor’s back. Strange had previously done that in Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #68 because the original spell that gave Valinor its wings was slowly killing the horse. These wings were restored when Sir Percy took possession of Dane Whitman back in issue #1.
A footnote here denotes Fantastic Four #54, the first appearance of the Evil Eye, as well as Avengers #225-226, the stories in which Balor becomes the Evil Eye.
Valkyrie sacrificed her physical form in Defenders #159 to stop Moondragon after she was turned evil by the Dragon of the Moon.
Topical References
References to the present day taking place in the 20th century should be considered topical. Due to the Sliding Timescale, the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe is gradually bumped forward in time. It has now been pushed forward enough that the Modern Age doesn’t begin until after the start of the 21st century.
Doctor Strange states that London Bridge was relocated and rebuilt in Arizona two decades prior to this story. The London Bridge in question was originally constructed in 1830 to cross the Thames River in London. This bridge was replaced with a contemporary bridge that completed construction in 1973. The 1830 bridge was sold to Robert P. McCulloch who had the old bridge relocated to Lake Havasu County. It opened to the public in 1971. That said, the length of time between 1971 and this story will always be in a state of change due to the Sliding Timescale, which continually bumps the Modern Age forward in time making the gulf between it and other periods grow longer with age.
