The End of Which is Exactly Like the Beginning
Avengers 347 is an incredible issue, to be sure, but it’s hard to “like” it, if you know what I mean. It’s all about the destruction of the Kree Empire, and the deterioration of Captain America’s faith in the Avengers, himself, and everything for which he has fought his entire life. The first four pages are breathtaking in their destructive power. Even the Shi’ar, when their goal has been achieved, feel no elation for the devastating, pyrrhic victory. Quasar, faced with another failure on his part, comes across the seemingly-dead Kree Avengers floating lifeless in space. Planetside, Deathbird comes across Captain America’s seemingly-lifeless corpse. Things take a slightly positive turn when Thor finds Quasar, but Quasar is understandably in no mood for joy: the Avengers are dead. The Shi’ar Avengers, since they were far away from the blast, are left to gather their fallen comrades. Quasar and Thor soon find Vision and Wonder Man, miraculously still intact and miraculously still alive! Being at the center of the blast saved them, much like the security found at the eye of a hurricane. Watching over his allies, Starfox suddenly realizes the great news: they aren’t dead! Using his Eternal powers to counteract what Sersi did to them, he restores them back to living organic matter from the inert matter she had transformed them into to survive the blast. Despite their total failure in this mission, things may end up all right for them. Their final task: see if Cap is still alive.
On Hala, in an inverse of our perceptions, the nefarious Deathbird awakens the sleeping Captain America with a kiss, only to be surprised by the Supreme Intelligence, who starts to boast about the complete success of his plan. Cap and Deathbird can’t understand it, not being as amoral as he is. Deathbird is mad to discover she was a pawn of his plans; Cap is mad he killed billions of his people to secure a future for generations yet unborn. The frightening thing for the reader is that all the conflicting philosophies the Avengers have been espousing throughout the crossover are also embraced by various other players in the story: Vision’s argument for efficiency has been played out on a grand scale by the Supreme Intelligence, and we are grateful, in some small way, Vision yielded to Wonder Man. By this time, any doubt we may have had whether Simon or Vision was right is fully settled. Unfortunately for the Avengers, the worst is yet to come.
The Avengers return to Hala to save Captain America: what they do when they arrive, though, is destroy him by sacrificing their integrity (half of them, at least). Most of the Avengers are broken by the sight of destroyed Hala. They are joined, appropriately, by Captain Atlas and Dr. Minerva. Atlas still hold on to the belief they are responsible, but when Cap and Deathbird find them, Cap is the bearer of the bad news. He knows, though, his revelation about the Supreme Intelligence’s machinations is not news to Dr. Minerva. As the only scientist on Starforce, Minerva was in on the plan to save the Kree later by breaking them now. Soon enough they will be stronger, mightier, and unconquerable. Atlas, broken by the revelation his leader and his lover both conspired against (from his perspective) his people and his honor, requests the Avengers do what he cannot: assassinate the Supreme Intelligence. With that, Captain Atlas appears to commit a Kree form of seppuku, engulfing himself in an energy blast. Before he disappears, Minerva joins him in apparent self-slaughter. (Though we find out several months later they aren’t dead, their final act here is stunning.)
Unfortunately for everyone, some of the Avengers listen to Atlas. For the second time, Dane sets his neural-sword to kill, but this time he doesn’t heed Cap’s words. The dialogue here for the final dozen pages is too good to attempt any justice by offering selections; it truly must be read in its entirety. Such a painful experience is worth it. The only mistake made by the creative teams, I think, comes in having Wonder Man join the execution squad. After all his talk in his own series, I don’t think Wonder Man truly would have sanctioned this, especially while trying to grasp his humanity and embrace mercy. Of course Iron Man is the leader of the execution squad, once again pulling rank on Captain America. Vision (likewise a sensible choice, given his character), Hercules, Sersi (naturally), and the young Thor round out the squad. Deathbird attempts to join them, but Iron Man disagrees (in a very Brutus-like way): she wants revenge; the Avengers, though, says Iron Man, are after justice. The debate of morality’s role in war comes to an expected conclusion: the Avengers haven’t been able to agree on how to proceed in the war; it makes bitter sense they can’t agree on how to begin the peace. The Avengers who go justify themselves by saying the Supreme Intelligence is a machine, a collective mechanism of intelligences from already-dead beings, and thus he isn’t really a “he.” This line of reasoning does not sway the other Avengers, who somberly and sorrowfully let them go.
The Supreme Intelligence, knowing the Avengers are coming (telling he calls them the “renegade Avengers”), confronts them with the same trick he pulled on Captain America only hours before: pulling them from their memories, he conjures appropriate antagonists for each Avenger to face. The new Thor must face the original Thor; Hercules must face Cerberus; Dane Whitman must face the original Black Knight; Wonder Man must face his brother Eric Williams (the Grim Reaper); Sersi must face her kinsman Kro; Vision must face his robotic offspring Ultron; and Iron Man must face the Mandarin. Unlike for Cap’s fight, though, the Supreme Intelligence has created paltry versions of the real thing; he is putting up an intentionally weak defense. The Avengers recognize this but don’t realize the implications of it, being too caught up in their desire for “justice” (i.e., “revenge”), claiming he must have been damaged in the explosion. Too easily, the Avengers break through the Supreme Intelligence’s screen to reveal what he really looks like: a part organic/part technological complex of brain tissue, tentacles, and circuitry. It’s not a pretty sight. The revelation of his part-organic nature causes Thor to reconsider his role: if the Supreme Intelligence is actually a living being – even in some small way – and not just a computer driven by genetic imprinted material, he can’t kill him. Thor cautions Dane, urging if he has any doubts at all not to do it. Vision responds with the frightening “[t]here can be no absolute certainty at this point.” Wonder Man tells Dane “[r]emember what he did!” That pushes Dane over the edge: “How could I forget?” he says, plunging his neural-sword into the Supreme Intelligence. With a terrifying unforgettable scream, the Supreme Intelligence matrix explodes out of his casing into the sky. If there was any doubt about the morality of what they did, the editors make it clear: “But it is the scream … the cry of agony that echoes across the fallen city … that will haunt the Avengers for a lifetime.” The Avengers flee the exploding wreckage and rejoin their comrades. No one wants to discuss it, though they exchange halfhearted comments. Fortunately, the mood is interrupted again.
Empress Lilandra arrives, claiming the Kree Empire as her own. In a final stunning move, she appoints Deathbird as her Vice-Roy, with Starforce as her personal Imperial Guard. It is no reward, though: she does it to better be able to keep an eye on her unpredictable, power-hungry sister. Lilandra dismisses Captain America and the Avengers, claiming the stargates by the sun will not be used again and the Shi’ar must pick up the pieces of the war alone. “Return to Earth and leave us to our destiny,” she says.
Fittingly, Captain America is given the final words of the story. It is a lengthy but appropriate response to Lilandra and his fellow Avengers:
We wish you luck, Lilandra. You’ve assumed an awesome responsibility. Today you’ve become one of the most powerful beings in the universe. A day in which we witnessed the expression of authority so absolute that the sanctity of life meant nothing before the destiny of empires and the cause of self-righteousness. It’s a story as old and sad as time and one that must end now before there are more Nega-Bombs, more dead. You have a great opportunity to do that … to be powerful enough to cherish life … not destroy it. But you were right about one point, Majestrix…. Things will never be the same.
The final panel as Cap walks away alone while uttering his final sentence is as gut-wrenching a panel you will ever find in comic history (which says a lot more than most of you think it does).
The brief epilogue brings a variety of responses: the Supreme Intelligence matrix last seen fleeing its destruction on Hala beams safely far away to an awaiting space ship piloted by a Skrull (!) and a Kree. Even his apparent demise by the Avengers was part of his plan: he is ready to wait “the fruits of this day. My plan went perfectly … and I can afford to be patient.” It was all part of his plan. Some antagonistic to religion may see it as a vengeful perspective of God, allowing and even orchestrating catastrophic events for some inscrutably selfish master plan, but I see none of those implications or inferences here. The Supreme Intelligence is clearly in the wrong, regardless of whether his plan was “successful” or not. Captain America is right, just as Wonder Man was in his own issues earlier: mercy is not subordinate to efficiency. The needs of the many do not outweigh the needs of the few (or the one). It’s a remarkable issue from beginning to end, concluding one of the last of the great crossovers. The final dénouement issues guide us gently through our emotional and intellectual responses to this mighty experience, but Avengers 347 is a fitting conclusion all its own.
