Hands of the Mandarin Part VI: There Shall Come an Ending!

This story continues from War Machine #10…

The Mandarin is attempting to roll back human civilization back to the feudal period using the combined power of the ancient Heart of Darkness as well as Century’s powerful weapon, the Parallax.[1] The only heroes that can stop him now are Force Works who are finally reunited. However, when Iron Man tries to pull rank, this leads to some bickering among the team, particularly the Scarlet Witch who reminds Stark that she is the leader of the group.[2]

The Mandarin, now in an energy form that booms over the city, isn’t going to wait for Force Works to sort out their differences as he intends to plunge Earth into another dark age right away. Iron Man decides to be proactive and tells the Witch to figure out strategy with thew rest of the time while he attacks the Mandarin directly. As Force Works tries to figure out their next move, Century — whose mind becomes unstable whenever he is separated from Parallax — goes into another fit of dementia. He has to be restrained by War Machine who manages to calm him down enough to get himself back in check.

Iron Man’s fight against the Mandarin doesn’t go as well as he expected as he is soon knocked away. However, despite the fact that the Mandarin is victorious he suddenly withdraws from the scene of battle. When he returns to human form at his castle he suddenly collapses to the ground. Seeing the villain’s retreat, Century believes that he has not yet mastered the full power of Parallax and they still have a chance to stop him.

When Iron Man pulls himself out of the rubble, the Scarlet Witch asks if he’s ready to be a team player yet. While War Machine figures that’s not likely, Tony admits that Wanda is right and tells the team he won’t let his personal grudge against the Mandarin prevent them from working together from now on. Taking Century back to the Hong Kong branch of Stark Enterprises for treatment, he tells them that he struck off against the Mandarin alone because he sensed that the madman had acquired an ancient power known by his people to cause chaos and destruction in its wake. When Iron Man explains how the Mandarin is using a powerful mystical artifact called the Heart of Darkness, Century recognizes its description as the Thuviskaroth of Cataphylaxis. He is horrified to learn that it is on Earth, warning his teammates that every world the Heart of Darkness has been on would later end up committing planetary suicide. He says that the Mandarin is in control of a nexus of potentiality that channels malignant powers. Hearing all this gives Iron Man some inspiration and he suggests that they turn that power against the Mandarin.

To this end, Tony Stark pays a visit to scientist Su Yin, after giving his condolences to her regarding the death of her husband, he convinces her to help him stop the Mandarin.[4] With the aid of Suzie Endo, Tony and Su Yin work on altering the genetic structure of his artificial nervous system and weaponize it against the Mandarin. While they are working, the Mandarin finally awakens and orders his Avatars to attack Stark Enterprises and bring him Iron Man so he can finish him off once and for all. When the Avatars come crashing through the wall, Force Works are there to stand in their way.

Although Tony, Su Yin, and Suzie finish their work, there is no time to test it and make sure it works. Tony decides to take a gamble and surrenders to the Avatars who teleport him away to the Mandarin’s castle. Upon his arrival, the Mandarin opens the face plate of Iron Man’s mask so he can look his enemy in the eye. Suddenly, the Mandarin begins to wither with old age. Tony then reveals that he had coated his armor with a technorganic virus that has infected the Mandarin’s body and his anti-technology barrier is working against him. The Mandarin races to one of his Avatars for help but they violently explode at his touch. As his body has begun to crumble, the Mandarin then races to the Heart of Darkness for help. However, this only causes a massive explosion that destroys his castle and sends the Heart of Darkness off to points unknown, leaving Iron Man the lone survivor.

In the aftermath of the battle, Force Works is making repairs to their hex ship and updating the Recorder of what went down since the alien robot was shut down by the Mandarin’s anti-technology barrier. Tony thanks Su Yin for her help and hears how she is going to help restore her country after the Mandarin’s attack. Tony and Jim also make peace with one another after their long feud.[5] As they prepare to leave, they pass by a janitor that War Machine finds familiar but can’t quite put his finger on. This turns out to be the Mandarin, who has been transformed into an ordinary janitor whose mind is lost in dreams of conquest.[6]

Several days later, Tony returns to his California headquarters and ignores all the demands for his attention to spend some time alone in his office. Tony has been struggling with an urge to drink ever since VORTEX took over his body and drank some liquor.[7] Feeling the temptation to drink, Tony takes the bottle of burbon and tosses it in his desk drawer and slams it shut.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, War Machine, Mandarin, Avatars (Butterfly, Deluge, Foundry, Lich, Q’wake, Scikle), Su Yin, Bambi Arbogast, Chu Lo Yan, Force Works (Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, US Agent, Century), Suzie Endo, Recorder RE-404

Continuity Notes

1. The Mandarin was blasted into a coma and lost his original hands during the Dragon Seed Saga which took place in Iron Man #270-275. He remained in a coma until Iron Man #306. Since then he grew new reptillian hands, recovered his rings, found the Heart of Darkness, and created his Avatars. This was all chronicled over the course of Iron Man #307-310, Marvel Comics Presents #169-170 and War Machine #8. The Mandarin’s quest for power has been chronicled inForce Works #6, Marvel Comics Presents #169-171, War Machine #9, Iron Man #311, Marvel Comics Presents #172, Force Works #7, and War Machine #10.

2. When Iron Man first formed the team from the ashes of the Avengers West Coast (who were disbanded in issue #102 of their own series), Tony appointed the Scarlet Witch as leader, as seen in Force Works #1.

3. Tony’s nervous system was completely replaced with an artificial one. It’s a whole thing. He got crippled by a gunshot, got a bio-chip installed in his spine, the bio-chip was hacked and it destroyed his nervous system forcing him to have an artificial one created. See Iron Man #242, 248, 258-266, 284 and 289-290.

4. Here it is mentioned that Tony and Su Yin had romantic feelings for one another in the past. This happened when Tony sought out her assistance to repair his damaged nervous system. She had to turn him away because she was still devoted to her husband. See Iron Man #269-275. Su Yin’s husband died when the machines keeping him alive were shut down by the Mandarin’s anti-technology barrier, as reported in War Machine #9.

5. Jim and Tony have been on the outs with one another ever since Tony briefly faked his death and kept his survival a secret from nearly everyone, including Jim. See Iron Man #284 through 289.

6. The Mandarin will remain like this for some time, resurfacing again back to normal in Iron Man (vol. 3) #1-10.

7. VORTEX took over Tony’s body and got drunk in Iron Man #307-309. Prior to this, Tony had been sober since issue #182.

Topical References

• The narrative of this story states that Hong Kong is “at the brink of the 21st century”. This should be considered a topical reference. Due to the Sliding Timescale, the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe has been pushed forward in time that it does not begin until after the start of the 21st century.

Hands of the Mandarin Reading Order

Force Works #6, Marvel Comics Presents #169-171, War Machine #9, Iron Man #311, Marvel Comics Presents #172, Force Works #7, War Machine #10, Iron Man #312