Synopsis
The Eternals' Great Machine continues to give us a 4th-Wall-breaking voiceover. It reminds us that it is spread throughout the world and to a large extent *is* the Earth. Hence the fact that it is currently malfunctioning is causing global problems that are accelerating global warming. It's Resurrection Machine subsystem keeps the Eternals eternal by resurrecting them when they are killed. However that part is now broken which means that the Prime Eternal Zuras and others recently killed by Thanos are for now 'permanently' dead. A Transit subsystem portals Eternals quickly around the globe. The Excluded Titanian Eternal Thanos shouldn't be able to use it, but he *is* successfully doing so to facilitate his killing spree. And the Machine can't detect where he is within the system.
Ikaris, Kingo Sunen, Phastos, Sersi and Thena believe that a traitor must be helping Thanos. The prime suspect as always was Druig but he managed to convince them of his innocence. Then he gave them another lead to follow - Thanos is hiding in the Transit system which is a technique used by Gilgamesh and the Forgotten. However after they left him Druig contacted Thanos and *offered* to help him.
Now Sersi is having lunch with Tony Stark in New York. It appears that she had previously warned him and Reed Richards about the Great Machine's problem and its affect on the world, but he can report no progress in solving it. Now she confesses that she hadn't been completely truthful with him. She mentally locks down his nervous system while she does what she has to do. She tells him now that Thanos is killing Eternals and she is helping him. She's going to mess with Tony's mind to make Iron Man kill Mr Fantastic, which should keep the Avengers and Fantastic Four busy.
But at that point the Forgotten One portals in and grabs her. As he beats her up she calls for Ikaris, who speeds in through a wall like a red and blue blur (Superman, anyone?) and carries the FO away. (The Machine reminds us that Ikaris can see through walls and has never really got to grips with the idea of windows.) Sersi apologises to Tony and says it was all a deception to get the Forgotten One (who Stark knows as ex-Avenger Gilgamesh) to come out of hiding so they could question him about the Machine breakdown. But the Eternals don't want humans to know about Thanos' involvement so before she leaves she tweaks Tony's memory so it seems she claimed that *she* was doing all the bad stuff alone (but he still knows it was all a trick).
Now the Machine gives us 1 of those diagram pages explaining the Forgotten, a relatively new Eternal political group (a mere 10,000 years old). They are 4 Eternals who have seceded from the Uni-Mind gestalt so as to act independently to protect humanity from Eternal meddling, with lethal force if necessary. The Forgotten One likes to think of himself as Robin Hood but to the Eternals he's more like the Punisher. The FO was the 1st of the Forgotten and the other 3 allied with him later. They have individual specialisms. Gilgamesh is Heroism. Dumuza is Support/Logistics. Ishta is Underworld Operations. Utunaa is Morale/Intelligence.
Ikaris has taken the Forgotten One far from the city to avoid collateral damage as they battle. But it's all a delaying tactic until Kingo and Thena port in with taser-shackles. The Machine's ramblings mention Gilgamesh helping translate the Rosetta Stone, but that's not important now because *this* is ...
... Druig and Thanos having a chat in the Transit Network's subdimensional threads where Thanos has been hiding in a loop in the subspace buffer. (Hang on! I thought the Machine said it couldn't detect *where* Thanos was hiding!) Druig had heard that the Forgotten do this, but he doesn't know where they learned how to do it. Or how Thanos learned it. The Titanian Eternal replies that "*We* decided that a blade should strike from the shadows." Druig is astonished that Thanos would consent to being someone's weapon. The Titan reveals a hole in his chest with an artificial heart (or something like that). He says someone saved him from a black hole (the Machine feels somehow compelled to mention Guardians Of The Galaxy (2019) #6, whatever that is, here) and they made a deal, which of course Thanos doesn't expect to be honoured. All he has to do is kill (specified?) Eternals. Druig tries flattery but the Mad Titan says Mephisto did that better (the Machine doesn't mention the Infinity Gauntlet event). So Druig cuts to the chase - he believes he can suggest some options.
Sersi has joined the other 3 Eternals in interrogating Gilgamesh, who still thinks she is planning to destroy mankind. She points out that she'd never do that, she enjoys sleeping with them too much. And she explains about the trick to lure him out. Kingo says that 'Gilgy' is an obvious prime suspect for what's going on. He's sabotaged the Resurrection System before (as mentioned last issue) and the Forgotten hide in the Transit system. And his mission is to kill 'bad' Eternals so he might be using Thanos as a weapon. The FO objects that no-one can control Thanos, and anyway he prefers doing the killing himself. Also he just attacked Sersi because he thought *she* was working with Thanos.
They accept his arguments but won't let him go until he answers some more questions. They want to know how he disabled the Resurrection Machine before. He tells them that he spent 20,000 years hitting it in various places until he found the spot that worked, but only temporarily. Thena tells the others to release their captive. She knows he is dedicated to the Eternals' 2nd Principle 'Protect The Machine' (even though he extends it to include protecting the Earth and its inhabitants). That very Principle made him rush foolhardedly into the trap they set. But now he points out that the same driving pressure has made *them* make the same mistake, as they are painted with laser dots from guns held by his 3 stealthed compatriots in the surrounding woods. Sersi says she doesn't want to die because she's holding a party at the weekend, and Kingo says he's attending it. Ikaris wonders why the laser dots target the other 3 not him. Gilgamesh says it's because he'll kill Ikaris himself. But he also offers a way to convince them he's innocent.
Phastos is in the Reality Loom within the Isolation in the South Polar Exclusion when Sersi contacts him. He says he's found a way to stabilise the Great Machine so that the Earth's climate will settle down, but it's only a temporary fix. And he hasn't had time to do anything about the Resurrection Protocol. She tells him that they are coming to the Isolation with the Forgotten One who's going to show them how *he* previously stopped the Resurrection System. Gilgamesh and his 4 captors enter the Transit system. The other 3 Forgotten stay behind to hunt them down and kill them if they double-cross him. He also asks Ikaris about the boy he's sworn to protect ...
... and we look in on Sprite guarding Toby Robson in a park in New York. Sprite has persuaded him to bunk off school because he doesn't normally do that so it will throw anyone who's after him off the scent. The subject turns to death, which apparently Toby thinks about a lot. Sprite says the Eternals *don't* because death is only temporary for them. That's why Ikaris is willing to die to protect him. Toby asks her if she's ever killed anyone and she replies "Oodles". The Machine comments that Sprite used that word to defuse the statement.
Time for another diagram, this time of the Exclusion. This houses the Resurrection Machine and enforces the exclusion from its use by the Excluded who are just designated by letters. We already know who some of them are and the 'crimes' that caused their exclusion. U is Uranos for attempted omni-genocide (of all non-Eternals). K is Kronos for auto-deification (which destroyed the city Titanos as a side-effect). A is A'Lars/Mentor and S is his wife Sui-San excluded for unsafe lineage (ie having Thanos as a son). We still don't know who E, H and T are (and Eros and Thanos and other Titanian Eternals are supposedly not in the system at all). But we do now get told that Ur-Luciva is Warden Of The Exclusion and Kharon is Exclusion Security And Transport.
We are also told of another purpose of the Exclusion. It contains the Reality Loom where Eternals can interact with the Great Machine. And the Loom is within the Isolation which is where the Forgotten One has taken Ikaris & co. He shows them where he once hit the Machine to stop the Resurrection Protocol. But is surprised to find that section now ripped apart. He wonders how come Phastos hasn't noticed this, especially as he told *him* where the spot was. The others of course now move their focus to Phastos himself.
Sersi mentally contacts him again and puts their suspicion to him. We see him with a nose-bleed and mumbling that he just needs more time to save the Machine. Then he cuts the mental link and contacts Thanos and tells him to stop the Eternals who will be coming here. Thena can't believe it. Sersi thinks he probably thinks he has a good reason for what he's doing. The Machine tells us, a bit late, that there was another clue that pointed to Phastos - he was the 1 who taught the Forgotten how to hide in the Transit system, a method now used by Thanos. The 5 Eternals transport to the Loom where Thanos is waiting for them in hiding. And we see Phastos hitting the Machine again with his big 'hammer' saying that he's just destroying the Eternals, not the Earth. The Machine says he's wrong about that.