Synopsis
Avengers, The (1963 series) #339 synopsis by
T Vernon
Rating:
The Collector has assumed his true, fearsome form, holding the Avengers and the Brethren at bay as he vows the human race will be destroyed. Captain America and others try a direct attack but are easily repulsed. Cap wants to know what is going on and the villain explains that he has realized that his collection of races is meaningful only if they are the last survivors of their species; to that end, he released the Brethren, intending that they wipe out humanity so he can collect the survivors for his museum. Despite the claims of Thane Ector, he was always in control, freeing the Brethren, arranging for them to crash on the moon then invade Earth….
The Fool has brought Sersi to a rooftop so she could see his plan come to fruition, the Brethren destroying the Avengers, before he kills her. She knocks him out with a single punch and focuses on Thane Ector and the rest of the drama….
As Sybyl Dorn tends to Ector’s wounds, the Collector reveals the origin of the Brethren: the Celestials fashioned the majestic Eternals out of primates but as a check on their power, the Celestials also formed a race out of bacteria they called the Brethren. As Arishem the Judge moved through the cosmos, he decided some races were not worthy to continue so the Brethren were called in to wipe them out like a pestilence. Then, eons ago, the Celestials lost interest in them and the Collector added them to his collection for just this sort of occasion. Sybyl Dorn does not believe this account until confirmed by Ector; she promises to console him forever—so the Collector zaps her, returning her to her original mindless germ stage. He does the same to all the other Brethren as their sentient qualities are now interfering with their purpose of wiping out humanity. The Avengers take action to contain the deadly bacteria to the roof but with every blow they strike they only cause the bacteria to multiply. Sersi rejoins her teammates but then dashes off to find Thane Ector….
While the battle continues, the Watcher tries to dissuade the Collector from doing what he knows is wrong. But the Collector knows that the Watcher’s nature is to observe without intervening just as it is his nature to collect, maintaining a cosmic balance….
Sersi finds Ector in misery, knowing that his dreams of his race rising above its disgusting origins has failed. Sersi tries to convince him that his people have risen but they are interrupted by the Fool who is in telepathic contact with the disembodied brethren. Vision suggests to Cap that the Brethren may be capable of something like the Eternals’ Uni-Mind which could be the key to defeating the Collector. Cap orders Hercules, Crystal, and Iron Man to keep Collector occupied while he, Sersi, and Vision talk to Thane Ector. Sersi persuades him to prove that he and his race have a destiny by stopping the villain so she creates a protective bubble around them as Ector and the Fool makes mental contact with all the surviving Brethren in their simplified forms; they draw together in semblance of the Eternals’ Uni-Mind. The Uni-Mind then overwhelms the Collector and they are all consumed in an explosion. The Avengers survive and Thane Ector dies in Sersi’s arms, marveling at the first time his race has healed, rather than killed….
Later, Cap finds Sersi brooding on the roof. She is puzzled at why she should have been so taken with a man she should have detested and how such a destructive race could have saved them all. Cap reminds her that Ector died achieving his dream for his race. And, as if in agreement, the Watcher appears behind them….