After Vision gathers data from inside the Energy Rings, Black Knight determines that the Rings have been overcharged by their repeated reigniting, and that excess energy must be drained to save Polemachus. The Knight forms a plan, and while Black Widow and Vision coordinate the mission, their teammates and Arkon undertake a dangerous space walk during which Crystal, Sersi and Akon combine their powers to siphon excess energy from the Rings into a temporary dimensional portal. The Rings are stabilized and the heat wave ends on Polemachus, but Anskar kills the maiden Astra as a sacrifice to the gods despite the heroes having proved no such sacrifice was necessary to save the world. Anskar says the Avengers could not have succeeded without the gods’ approval and that Astra has been slain as a gift to them, but a furious Sersi blasts Anskar to ashes. Back on Earth, Jarvis, Marilla and Luna encounter an oddly upset Taylor Madison, who asks them not to tell Hercules they saw her. Meanwhile, Proctor has revived Tabula, a shape-shifting Gatherer whose “curiosity” compelled Proctor to place him in stasis long ago, and the other Gatherers return with their newest recruit, a “madman” who nearly killed them all. Proctor says this recruitand Tabula are needed to rescue the Swordsman, but he privately tells Tabula he wants the Swordsman dead.