Marvel's INFINITY Annotated

[Infinity Act I - "War on Two Fronts"]

Infinity #1 - "Infinity"

• We open it up with a play-by-play of T'Challa destroying the blue incursion earth from New Avengers #6.
• "The Tribute"
• This was originally published in the 2013 Marvel free comic book day issue.
• An Outrider, parasite-assassin of Thanos, finds a planet to reap tribute from. Corvus Glaive, a member of the Black Order/Cull Obsidian, goes to this planet and kills its greatest warrior, then demanding a tribute of severed heads to present to Thanos.
• Apparently the Black Order had already visited this planet once before and genocided their population, but Thanos wants tribute anyway (maybe because he worships death?).
• Outrider has one more job to do: find another planet to demand tribute. But I guess he's also looking for something secret as well...
• And of course, he goes to Earth!
• "Constructing Apocalypse"
• On Galador (the planet Manifold and Captain Universe visited in Avengers #15-16) the space knights fight against the Alephs sent to raze the planet by the Builders in their campaign to remake the universe as they see fit.
• There are three types of Builders: Creators, Engineers, and Caretakers + the Curator droid (we saw some of them back in Avengers #7). We also see a female gardener!
• Captain Universe watches as the Builders deploy their world-destroying weapons and annihilate the planet.
• "Orbital"
• Abigail Brand and SWORD coordinate Cap and Hawkeye as they hunt down the Skrull refugees who came to Earth back in Avengers #15. They don't put up a fight since there are no warrior-caste skrulls there.
• Captain Universe suddenly teleports to the Peak, having escaped the blast from the previous sequence.
• "What Was Hidden, Now Uncovered"
• The Outrider sneaks into Black Bolt's chambers and infiltrates his memories:
• We get a rerun of Black Bolt's backstory: Kree experiments 1,000,000 years ago + Terrigen Mists make you who you are + midnight king son of prophecy + schism in family due to his partnership and plans with Maximus.
• This isn't what the Outrider is looking for, so he digs deeper...
• Cap, Tony, and Ex Nihilo take a look at the recovering Captain Universe while Brand shows them a transmission from a secret Kree outpost.
• The Kree have been overrun by the forces of the Builders, and based on the trajectory of the Builder's warpath; Earth is right in the middle.
• Outrider discovers Black Bolt's membership in the Illuminati and their destruction of the Infinity Gems from back in New Avengers #3. He digs deeper to learn of the ancient hidden inhuman kings and lost queen.
• Black Bolt wakes up and rips the Outrider's arm off. Outrider escapes... 
• "Outbound"
• Carol rallies the Avengers as they prepare to depart for the war against the Builders. Everybody goes except for Tony, who stays behind in case their efforts fail.
• Outrider returns to Titan and presents his yield to Thanos and the Black Order: Black Bolt hides what Thanos seeks...
• Outrider receives his gift of death. Corvus explains that even though all past plans have failed against the Avengers, they have all left Earth to fight across the universe.
• Apparently, some guy with a triangle on his temple who was working for SWORD was actually a pawn of Corvus Glaive?

Avengers #18 - "Avengers Universe 1"

• Big space battle!
• "World's Rise"
• Skrull leader Kl'rt unites the remnants of the empire following Secret Invasion, a decides a course of action as the Builders invasion nears. One of his lieutenants sacrifices himself to kill some Builder ships by drawing them into the death of a nearby star.
• He takes this info to the Galactic Council: Shi'ar, Kree, Brood, Annihilation Wave, and the Avengers.
• Supreme Intelligence recalls a battle strategy used in a conflict against the Sh'iar, a strategy which they will use against the Builders.
• "Fall Into Singularity"
• They hide in debris orbiting a black hole; they will lure the Builders between the singularity and their fleet as a trap.
• It all seems to go well until the Builders uncloak the rest of their fleet and destroy a third of the forces in a minute.
• Manifold gets the Avengers out of there as everyone retreats, but Carol tries to slingshot around the singularity, but an energy bleed from a nearby cruiser knocks them out.
• Their ship slowly drifts towards the black hole...

New Avengers #9 - "The Cull Obsidian"

• "The Stones, Shattered"
• Thanos and the Black Order watch a replay of the Outrider's memories from Infinity #1.
• The Illuminati had the gems, but they were destroyed except for the time gem.
• Thanos sends his lieutenants to search for the gem at the homes of each Illuminati member while he acquires his tribute...
• "The Cull Obsidian"
• Tony and Reed activate Stark Tower's defenses to protect NYC from the invasion.
• T'Challa and Shuri successfully fend off Black Dwarf and his warriors from invading Wakanda.
• Ebony Maw restrains Wong and interrogates Doctor Strange while he's in the middle of some kind of ritual that he can't move from (I assume?). He doesn't really care about finding the time gem, he's more interested in what Thanos is looking for...
• Supergiant and Corvus Glaive besiege the Jean Grey School. Wolverine gets impaled.
• Proxima Midnight approaches Namor in the ruins of Atlantis. She offers to leave him and the rest of Atlantis alive if he tells her the location of the time gem. Wanting vengeance, Namor tells her that the gem is in Wakanda...
• Black Bolt and Maximus enact their secret plan they've been putting together, calling all the Illuminati members to convene. Apparently he knows why this invasion is occurring, and they prepare to use the machine while setting greater plans in motion...
• Thanos' flagship approaches the floating city of Attilan...

Infinity #2 - "Fall"

• "From Titan, The Horde"
• Thanos' forces invade the Peak, but Brand and her gang outsmart them.
• Brand and Sydren find out that the invaders messed with the station weapons and alignment, presumably leaving them vulnerable to the fleet heading in their direction.
• "The Gauntlet"
• We get a recap of what happened in New Avengers #9.
• Corvus Glaive's ship arrives at Attilan, and he reveals what the tribute is: a sacrifice yield of the heads of all Inhumans aged 16-22.
• He also tells Black Bolt that Thanos knows his secret, he knows what he is hiding...
• When Medusa threatens Corvus, he explains that none of Thanos' followers fear death, but instead seek it. A group of Corvus' men slit their own throats to send a message.
• Corvus gives them 24 hours to decide: tribute and live, or die...
• "A War In The Heavens"
• We get a recap page of what happened in Avengers #18.
• The council is hunted by the Builders, so they make a stand above a planet Whaan Prime.
• The heroes look to be succeeding until a gardener goes down to the planet and turns himself into a death-bomb that poisons the entire world.
• Interesting that the gardener, Jerran Ko, longs for the days of life before the Builders went on the warpath.
• The council retreats from the dying world with refugees, a pyrrhic victory...
• "A Convenient Lie"
• Black Bolt summons the Illuminati to the pocket dimension Maximus created.
• Of course Maximus is eavesdropping.
• Strange is yoinked from his encounter with the Maw and doesn't even mention it...
• Bolt gives them a drive with information on the kings and queens of the Inhumans, inside is what Thanos is seeking.
• He will go and confront Thanos, because the tribute is complete bs. Thanos has enacted the tribute on countless worlds to ensure the death of one specific person: his son!

Avengers #19 - "Building Towards Collapse"

• "Binary Collapse"
• Carol, Clint, and the X-Bros are captured by the Builders.
• Carol is chosen to have an audience by a female gardener called Ex Nihila.
• "Behemoth"
• On the ring world, Ex Nihilo feeds the refugees with make-shift gardens.
• The council debates the next step, either glorious death in battle or something more elaborate.
• Cap and Thor think a strategy would arise from meeting with Ex Nihilo.
• J-Son of Spartax is a total tool.
• "All These Things We've Made"
• Carol is brought before the Builders.
• They have Abyss, Starbrand, Nightmask, and Captain Universe in stasis. They ask her how the Avengers got a hold of them.
• Apparently all of the Abyssil are gone so the fact that this one exists is significant.
• The Builders see the manifestation of Captain Universe as heretical. They rejected her long ago in favor of rebuilding the universe in their image, but they operate on a platform of pride that only they can do it...
• So what sets the Avengers and Earth apart? Why are they special?
• Ex Nihilo never met the Builders, his education from the Aleph cemented a purpose of creation, which is why he's at odds with the current agenda.
• Cap proposes to use their perceived disadvantage as an infiltration tactic to trick the Builders.
• J-Son is an idiot and tries to betray the council so his empire can survive. The Builders reveal that their main goal is to destroy Earth, but they don't really care about making alliances. They hack his signal and discover the location of the ring world sanctuary, firing on the station.

[Infinity Act II - "Spawn of the Mad Titan"]

New Avengers #10 - "The Thanos Seed"

• "The Thanos Seed"
• Black Bolt gives the Terrigen Codex to the members of the Illuminati to find the son of Thanos.
• Inhuman Lore: four kings and one queen, lost tribes splitting up across the Earth and the stars. One of them met Thanos, and sired a son. The son was brought to Earth, hidden in one of the tribes. Thanos has come to get/kill his son.
• They leave Black Bolt, Maximus reveals himself having heard everything. Black Bolt shows him that he didn't give them the real codex, and now it's time to activate the machine Maximus has been building since New Avengers #7.
• "Favor & Disfavor"
• Thanos meets with his Black Order. They prepare their next moves.
• Ebony Maw is still missing, but Thanos is not worried...
• Proxima Midnight tells him of Namor's claim that the final stone is in Wakanda.
• Thanos banishes Black Dwarf for his failure against the Panthers.
• "The Hunt"
• Illuminati discusses whether they should be focusing on the Inhuman stuff or the Incursions.
• There is a lot of tension between Namor and T'Challa...
• Strange says he's been fine...
• The group splits up to the locations.
• Beast finds some guy encased in ice...
• Strange finds the hidden village, and Thanos's son who hasn't become Inhuman since he wasn't exposed to Terrigenesis yet.
• It's revealed that he's been controlled by the Ebony Maw this whole time, and won't remember anything he's done!
• An incursion occurs, all the Illuminati go to deal with it just as Thanos' fleet arrives over Wakanda!

Infinity #3 - "Kingdoms Fall"

• "Submit or Perish"
• After destroying the Behemoth, the Builders give an ultimatum to the empires of the stars: surrender or die.
• Most agree to give up, specifically the Kree and Spartax, even though Ronan would prefer to die as a warrior.
• The Super-Guardians of the Shi'ar. the Annihilation Wave, and the Skrulls stand by with the Avengers because apparently Captain America has a plan, he just needs bait...
• "World Killers"
• As the Builder fleet surrounds New Hala and accepts the Kree surrender, the Avengers descend with the counterattack.
• Manifold teleports squads into the Builder World-Killer ships and reprograms them to fire on their own fleet.
• The Builders retreat, but tell Ex Nihila to finish them off.
• The prisoners from #19 are freed and Widow convinces Starbrand to unleash his full power, destroying the rest of the Builder ships.
• "What Maximus Built"
• As the Illuminati go to deal with an Incursion in the middle of the invasion, Black Bolt receives Thanos in the abandoned Attilan.
• Beneath the city, Maximus evacuates all of the Inhumans through Eldrac, sending them where they need to be.
• He and Lockjaw stay behind as he activates the machine he has built...
• When Thanos tells him to reveal his child, Black Bolt screams no and destroys Attilan just as the machine is activated...

Avengers #20 - "The Offer"

• "The Words Of A Gardener"
• While the Avengers assaulted the Builder ship with the captive heroes, Abyss encountered Ex Nihila who looks at them and leaves. Abyss tells Ex Nihilo that she actually told her something telepathically: "Come find us."
• "The Edge of Annihilation"
• A lone Builder continues to hold Hala.
• Ronan is pissed, but the Builder uses Supremor to calculate percentage of success if they resist: it doesn't look good.
• Gladiator sends down a drone to the Builder: they wish to parley...
• "Without Judges We Are Lost"
• Ex Nihilo and Abyss meet with the Gardeners who reveal that the Builders changed their purpose when they made the New Universal Superstructure...
• So the new system of Builders was indeed Hickman's reintroduction of Jim Shooter/Warren Ellis New Universal stuff with Starbrand and Nightmask. That's what made the Gardeners and Abyssil obsolete.
• The Gardeners build worlds and the Abyss judge them, but the Builders removed the Abyss and made the Gardeners World-Killers.
• Ex Nihilo goes obsidian as it appears that he leads the Gardeners on a new crusade...
• "No more!"
• "One Man Kneels"
• The Builder agrees to parley with the Avengers, but only one representative can appear.
• Gladiator does not understand the strategy, but Cap claims that even with the victory they just had they are still at a disadvantage.
• All that's left to do is surrender...

Infinity #4 - "Thane"

• "The Last Lesson"
• Builder communicates with his brothers, alerting them of the coming parley with the heroes. They want to broadcast it all over the universe to display the surrender.
• The Accuser Corps are gathered to witness the parley.
• "The Change"
• We learn that Thanos' son is named Thane, and he is a healer in the lost tribe of Lor. They don't have a big chunk of the Terrigen crystal, so only a few have undergone terrigenesis.
• Attilan falls and the machine is activated, unleashing Terrigenesis upon the entire world.
• Thanos fights Black Bolt and wins, now going to find his son.
• The Inhumans believe that terrigenesis unlocks an inhuman's true self, stripping it of lies and facades.
• Thane is affected by the terrigenesis and his power spreads death!
• "A Prayer"
• Thor meets with the Builder to surrender, but he has to be unarmed so he sends Mjolnir off-world while whispering a prayer.
• The Builder pretty much dunks on Thor, slapping him and claiming that even though the surrender will spare the space empires, the Builders will still go and annihilate Earth and all of humanity.
• However, Thor summons Mjolnir back through the freaking Builder's abdomen!
• The Builder says that killing him means the end of everything...
• If they can be killed, they can be beaten! The Accuser corps raises their hammers, the world is free!
• Now we win!

Avengers #21 - "Emancipation"

• "The Promise of the Universe"
• Ex Nihilo believes that Captain Universe can save them all...
• "The Second Wave"
• Ronan rejects the Supremor's desire to surrender and smashes his tank. He leads the Accusers to join the Avangers against the Builders.
• Even though the Avengers liberate a couple planets, the Builders are still too powerful.
• The Annihilation Wave is released once more from the Negative Zone to fight the Builders, but they turn them on each other and the Wave consumes itself.
• Gladiator is a badass and doesn't care: he will die a warrior and face the enemy head on.
• "The Promise Fulfilled"
• The gardeners band together, led by Ex Nihilo, and combine power to awaken the mother. Captain Universe comes back, but warns them that a day is coming when she will close her eyes forever...
• She confronts her children on the Builder command vessel: they claim that they stopped worshipping her when the incursion began. If they can destroy Earth, the axis point, they might save all of the universes.
• She won't let them, because "she has lost something, and must find it..."
• Captain Universe solos all the Builders, but they unleash a protocol to the Alephs: destroy everything!
• Also, one of them escaped into another universe...

New Avengers #11 - "Builders"

• "All These Worlds"
• Illuminati arrive at the incursion site but are met by an Aleph from that universe. He takes them to the World-Killer of his masters, Builders from the other universe.
• Their Gardener rips the mind-web left behind from Ebony Maw within Strange's mind.
• They present the one Builder who escaped from Captain Universe in Avengers #21; he swam to the nearest reality, not knowing that it was under an incursion.
• There is an implication that the Builders emerged from the 616 universe and spread out across the multiverse, building ascension stations in the Superflow between realities like the one we saw in Avengers #7-8, but because of the incursions they can't travel as easily or safely.
• They tell the Illuminati to destroy their own Earth with the weapons they've made, and send them back as they use their world-killer to detonate the incursion Earth.
• Meanwhile in Wakanda, the Black Order succeeds in breaching the walls of the golden city.
• They discover the Necropolis base of the Illuminati, finding the Anti-matter injection devices and the prisoners Terrax and Black Swan.
• Thanos enjoys the surprise, but does not release the captives.

[Infinity Act III - "Avengers Into Oblivion"]

Infinity #5 - "Left Hand of Death"

• "Of Suns And Storms"
• The war in space is won by heroes!
• Planets rise up to destroy  the remaining Alephs, brandishing the banner of the Avengers!
• They are all Avengers Worlds!
• As Thor and Cap enjoy a drink, Gladiator brings grave news: Earth Has Fallen...
• "This Ebony Now"
• Ebony Maw encounters Thane in the ruins of the hidden city.
• He gives him new armor that will contain his power, but it's a trick that imprisons him.
• The pawns of Thanos try to unlock the power of the anti-matter injection devices while Supergiant pries secrets from the mind of a captive Black Bolt.
• Maw contacts Thanos: he has found his son.
• The Illuminati return to Wakanda with Maximus and Lockjaw, hoping to stop the Black Order from turning the golden city into one more Necropolis.
• Thanos meets his son, but receives communication that his base on Titan has been attacked.
• "In The Shadow Of Giants"
• The Avengers return to the Solar System with remnants of the galactic council.
• It's time to repay the debt and free one last world...

Avengers #22 - "To The Earth..."

• "Homecoming"
• Cannonball and Smasher begin a romance!
• The galactic council touches down on Titan, it's time to get their planet back!
• "Plans And Intentions"
• Black Dwarf has been relegated to command the Peak for his failure back in New Avengers #10.
• The heroes evaluate their plan of action: the blockade and the Peak will be problems, but Cap has a strategy to deal with them both.
• "A Greater Purpose"
• Manifold has some doubts about this final battle. The stakes are higher than ever before, and it feels more real than the war in space somehow since it's on Earth.
• Cap and Carol give him some pragmatic assessments as they prep him to teleport Avengers behind enemy lines, but it's Thor who truly inspires hope and perseverance in his heart.
• Time to take Earth back!

Avengers #23 - "...To The Very End"

• "A Word From The Heavens"
• Tony talks to Cap before he and the Illuminati prepare to retake the Necropolis.
• He sends Cap coordinates of where Thanos will be so they can ambush him after the blockade is lifted and Wakanda is freed.
• "Homecoming"
• The heroes besiege the Peak.
• Avengers take on Black Dwarf, but he's pissed and solos all of them.
• Manifold takes the heads of the galactic council to the Peak, and they have an awesome fight against Black Dwarf.
• Ronan bashes his head in. It's amazing.
• With the pirate armada in shambles, the Avengers are free to take down Thanos and liberate Earth.

Infinity #6 - "Amber"

• "Tyrant"
• The Avengers break the blockade as Cap, Carol, Hulk, Thor, and Hyperion venture to the hidden Inhuman city to take down Thanos.
• The illuminati confront Supergiant amidst the weapons room where she has Black Bolt under her thrall.
• As she prepares to detonate the bomb, Maximus reveals he has the trigger and activates it himself, but not before Lockjaw teleports both her and the bomb to a barren ice planet!
• Thanos is about to off his son, but not before the Avengers arrive to brawl!
• Hulk gets merc'd, but Cap deflects Proxima Midnight's tri-part spear onto Corvus Glaive, who then gets incinerated by Hyperion. Awesome.
• His staff survives, so he might live again...
• Thor goes head to head with Thanos, but Ebony Maw frees Thane to make his own decision...
• Thane's left hand was death, but his right hand unleashes something else, trapping Thanos and Proxima in amber!
• Oh yeah, and Starbrand uses his powers to destroy a big chunk of the pirate armada.
• "Epilogue"
• Black Bolt hides the Inhuman codex in the Himalayas for another to find one day. Apparently the royal family presumes both of them dead...
• Maximus is surprised that he always was going to unleash the Terrigen machine to start a new Inhuman age.
• Earth and the space empires rebuild.
• The Gardeners make the planet Whaan Prime (when the one gardener Jerran Ko from Infinity #2 detonated himself) their new home.
• The Shi'ar imperial guard rebuild while the Accuser corps are accepted back by the Supremor.
• The Skrulls crown Kl'rt, but they plan on conquering once more...
• The Annihilation Wave secure a stable portal to the Negative Zone, turning the planet Praxis II into an Annihilation World.
• Thane and the Ebony Maw go do whatever across the universe.
• The Illuminati bring the amber prison to the Necropolis.

New Avengers #12 - "Epilogue"

• "Endgame"
• Apparently Black Bolt has been left weaker since the detonation of the Terrigen Bomb.
• Wong thinks Strange seems different since the Infinity event. Strange is going to confine himself as he confronts the demons of the Blood Bible; he hopes to find a solution to the incursions. He tells Wong that if he does not emerge in three days, Wong must call Reed Richards and dispatch the Sanctum from this plane of reality...
• Is the Blood Bible the same as the Blu'Dakorr mentioned in New Avengers #4?
• T'Challa is banished from Wakanda after the Dora Milajae snitch on him to Shuri about Namor's presence. He refuses to reveal the plans of the Illuminati nor the nature of the Incursions to his sister. Namor gives him a slow clap as he gloats.
• Tony, Beast, and Reed converse with Black Swan. They had to deactivate some of the anti-matter injection devices since Thanos and Supergiant tampered with them.
• She tells the three that the threat of the Builders is nothing compared to what is coming along with the Incursions: the Map-Makers and their Sidera Maris, the Black Priests, or even the Sinnu Sarrum, the Ivory Kings...
• We get some interesting commentary from her regarding the Builders: their ships are not used to traveling across universes since they relied so much on interdimensional travel via Superflow. They were desperate, confined to current universes, unable to escape the Incursions and the offerings to Rabum Alal.
• Everything they just dealt with, the entire Builder saga and the coming of Thanos... it was all just playtime.
• The end is here. Everything dies...