Eternals #9 (June 1986)

It's that time again! it's time to rejoin the Eternals in what it promises to be their greatest battle against their long-time enemies: The Deviants! Last time, Sersi threw a party, and the Eternal/Deviant war ended up crashing it. So, what happened next? Let's find out in Eternals #9!

The cover is a Keith Pollard piece. It's pretty cool in my opinion. It depicts Ikaris and Thena clashing with energy beams while Zuras strikes a pose behind them. It feels like the cover of a fantasy novel.

"You Say You Want a Revolution?"
Writer: Walter Simonson
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Inker: Danny Bulanadi
Colorist: George Roussos
Letterer: Rick Parker
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story picks up from the events of the last issue. Kro and Thena have fled, and Ikaris is enraged.

Ikaris wants Thena's head, but all Sersi wants is for the group to get out of her apartment and go wreck someone else's.

She finds it kind of sweet that Thena and Kro love each other. And she has a party to run. REO Speedwagon will be there. 

Naturally, the Eternals' resident party animal doesn't want the whole Deviant/Eternal war to wreck it. Ikaris, being a calm and reasonable sort...🙄...just flies off. He plans to head to the Eternals' home of Olympia. He vows there will be a reckoning next time they find Thena and Kro. In his rage, he leaves Margo Damien behind. Remember her? Ikaris's girlfriend? Yeah, Ikaris doesn't remember her either. But Ghaur has found her. And he shows her a pretty crystal in his hand. And she is utterly hypnotized by it.

“I heard diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but this is ridiculous.”

The leader of the Deviants decides to take her to Lemuria. When they arrive, his ally Ahqlau is amused that he brought her here. He explains that since Margo is Ikaris's girlfriend, she is useful to them. They can use his love for her to bring him to heel. He tells Ahqlau to put her in a device that will disguise her as a Deviant. As she leaves, he contemplates the crystal in his hand. As he talks to himself about how Ikaris taking up the role of Prime Eternal and its potential effects on his plans, the green-robed figure figure is shown to be overhearing this, and heads away as if he's got someone to alert.

Back in Olympia, Ikaris is brooding on a chair. He wants Thena, and he wants her bad. However, the Eternals' advanced technology is unable to find her. It's like she disappeared off the face of the Earth. Spooky.

So, where are Kro and Thena. They're right here.

“I told you we should have taken a right at Spokane, Thena!”

Their exact location is unrevealed, just they're in a place filled with mighty engines that pulse with power. Knowing those two, they're likely in Olympia's sewer system or something. Anyway, Kro is grumbling about how things are going for him. There is someone who knows where they are, and the warlord seriously is considering killing the person to keep himself and Thena safe. After all, dead people tell no tales.

Thena is against this, saying the person helping them is under her protection. Kro points out that Deviants are naturally a treacherous sort, and slaying their host would alert both the Eternals and the Deviants to their location. Back on Olympia, Ikaris finds the late Zuras's Prism of Knowledge from all the way back in issue #1. It's transmitting an incomplete message. Ikaris picks up the Prism and it starts to tell a tale.

Once upon a time, there was a Celestial regarded as the greatest of them all. 

“I’m pure 24 karat awesome, baby!”

However, during the time of the Second Host, it was discovered that this mysterious Golden Celestial had committed a very heinous crime. So heinous it caused a war between this Celestial and the others, as shown in Eternals #18 (December 1977). This fight was witnessed by some Eternals, who swore to secrecy about it. Presumably, Zuras may have been one of said Eternals. The renegade Celestial wasn't destroyed. In fact, it's believed that Celestials cannot be destroyed. Something was taken out of the Celestial and put in a vial. The Celestial's true name was forgotten, and he's only now known...as the Dreaming Celestial.

“Nobody went near the pyramid since. Because he can’t stop sleep-talking.”

This vial contained the Dreaming Celestial's heart, and it was placed in the Pyrmaid of the Winds. Yeah, that's what Ghaur was after earlier. Ikaris sees this as absolute proof of Thena's traitorousness. He calls for the other Eternals.

He fills them in on Zuras's message, and tells them that's why she betrayed the Eternals. She was working with them to get the heart of the Dreaming Celestial. Makkari points out one flaw with the theory: The motive. Why did Thena betray them? The debate is tabled by a new arrival to Olympia: The green-robed figure.

“This isn’t my office!”

An enraged (as ever) Ikaris recognizes the figure. We learn here why he's called the "Forgotten One". A long time ago in a galaxy far away, the Forgotten One defied Zuras for some unrevealed reason. Evidently, it was seen as such a terrible action he was stripped of his name and exiled. The two end up briefly brawling. Despite the battering that he endures, the Forgotten One is able to reveal something to the Eternals: He knows what Ghaur's ultimate goal is: To become mightier than any Eternal. Mightier than any Deviant. Mightier than any being on Earth. His goal? To become a Celestial.

Ikaris realizes that he himself is not worthy of the rank of Prime Eternal due to his temper. The others point out that Ikaris is a hothead, but he was the Eternal that actually was trying to do something. Ikaris points out that the Forgotten one struck Kro at the Pyramid of the Winds and helped delay the Eternals...where? I looked back at previous issues to see what Ikaris was talking about, and I found nothing.

Anyway, it's revealed that Karkas knows where Thena and Kro are: they're underneath Olympia. How does he know this? Ikaris had asked earlier in the issue if Karkas had seen anyone enter Olympia when the Forgotten One arrived. Karkas said "no one unknown to [him]". Those were his exact words. And he was right. Thena and Kro are not unknown to him. He saw then enter Olympia. Ikaris goes to grab them. He wants Thena's head, but he's going to learn a lesson here and just get some answers. The Eternals capture the two.

The Eternals never quite grasped the game of “tag”.

Ikaris wants to know where the vial Kro stole from the Pyramid of the Winds is. Thena has no clue what he is talking about. Ikaris orders a nearby sealed door to be opened. It's a door to a chamber that has not been used since before Zuras became the Prime Eternal. Inside the chamber is the Hall of Eternal Judgement. Inside the hall is a gigantic Kirbyesque green machine. Both Thena and Ikaris enter the machine.

Once the two enter, they are greeted by what seems to be the specter of Zuras. 

“Wooooo…I’m a spooky ghost…”

He warns that if one fails in the challenge of the Prime Eternal's rule, they will lose their sanity. Ikaris understands, but challenges anyway. The two fire energy beams at each other. The chamber erupts with light, and the challenge ends. Ikaris stands tall and triumphant. To Kro's horror, Thena seems to be dead. However, she actually lives. She's weak, and she's lost her position as Prime Eternal, but she will live. Ikaris understands that she acted out of love and finds that he can't bring himself to punish Thena too harshly for it. As such, he exiles Thena from Olympia. Her power as an Eternal will be intact, for her to use as she wishes. She and Kro leave. 

Ikaris knows that Thena was telling the truth. Neither she nor Kro have the essence of the Dreaming Celestial. Which means Ghaur has it. And that's where the story ends. 

This issue is...an interesting one, as this is the first issue of this maxiseries that was not written by Peter B. Gillis, but Walter Simonson. Yup, he takes over writing duties for this issue from Gillis. Evidently, from what I understand, it was because Jim Shooter (Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time), was not too fond of Gillis's scripts. I find that to be a bit of a bizarre decision on Shooter's part. If he was not very fond of Gillis's scripts, why did he let eight issues of this series go on with his scripts? 

It now also has me wondering if some things here (and in future issues) were originally from Gillis or were altered by Simonson. I can understand why Shooter chose Simonson to take over. Simonson was doing what would become regarded as one of the greatest runs on Thor's book at the time, and I'm guessing Shooter figured since the Eternals were "god-like" beings, he'd be a good fit to finish things up here.  

If you want to read this, I recommend tracking down the 2020 trade paperback Eternals: The Dreaming Celestial Saga. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!