Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Warlock and the Infinity Watch #11 Synopsis by
Rob Johnson
After the end of the Infinity War event Eternity has an audience with the Living Tribunal. After the Infinity Gauntlet event the Tribunal (in our #1) ordered Adam Warlock to give up all of the Infinity Gems except his Soul Gem. Eternity now tells LT that Warlock has chosen unsuitable recipients for the other 5 Gems and he suggests that they should be taken from the Infinity Watch and given to himself (just as the Tribunal expected). But the LT asks for evidence of this unsuitability. So Eternity relates the members' life stories.
Gamora has the Time Gem. She was of the Zen Whoberi race who were slaughtered by the Badoon. Only the little girl survived, saved by Thanos. He had her trained in martial arts and her body augmented (as we learned in #9) into the 'most dangerous woman in the universe'. Eternity complains that apart from her warrior abilities she has no scientific or mystical skills, and doesn't even know how to *use* the Time Gem. LT points out she no longer serves Thanos and she has the skills necessary to *protect* the Gem. And the Gem is safer with someone who can't use it.
LT tells Et to move on to the next protector. Pip has the Space Gem. He's equally lacking in knowledge and doesn't have *any* fighting ability. He used to be Prince Gofern of Laxidazia whose only talent was painting black and white starscapes. 1 day he went carousing with some decadent Trolls and learned to his cost that doing that turns you into a Troll. (This was related in Warlock #12.) Pip The Troll somehow became an ally of Warlock and Gamora against the Magus (starting from Strange Tales #179). Later he annoyed Thanos who turned him into a mindless husk (Avengers Annual #7). But Adam saved his soul and the trio lived for years in Soul World within the Soul Gem. Thanos also died (Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2) but was later returned to life by Death (Silver Surfer #34), and then Warlock resurrected the trio to oppose him (Infinity Gauntlet #1). Eternity has to admit that Pip can only use the Space Gem for simple teleportation, but the Tribunal says that's enough for him to keep the Gem out of more dangerous hands.
Eternity now tells the story of Drax (Power Gem) and Moondragon (Mind Gem) combined. Arthur and Yvette Douglas and their young daughter Heather were driving home from a Las Vegas vacation through the Mojave Desert when Thanos' spacecraft blasted their car in case they witnessed anything. Heather was the only survivor but Mentor, father of Thanos, took her to Titan where she was trained in telepathy by Kaluba monks. As she matured she surpassed her masters and gained a superiority complex. As Moondragon she returned to Earth where she initially fought Iron Man (in his #54), but soon joined Captain Marvel and the Avengers in opposing Thanos (in the Thanos War epic).
Kronos, the god of Titan, took Arthur Douglas' soul to animate a being he created from earth. Drax The Destroyer's only purpose in life was to kill Thanos. He too met IM and joined in the CM/Av battle against Thanos who had used the Cosmic Cube to become a god (in the Thanos War). But it was Adam Warlock in a later conflict who ended Thanos' life (MTIO An#2).
Moondragon became an Avenger (#133-151) but her pride led her to leave them and journey to the stars. She mentally enslaved the alien Ba-Bani for their own good, but Drax and the Avengers tried to stop her and it ended when Heather mentally killed her own father (Av#219-220). After a term of imprisonment (in Asgard) she joined the Defenders (#123-152). When Thanos was 'reborn' Kronos reanimated Drax, but because of the way Moondragon killed him he's now mentally impaired.
The Living Tribunal still maintains that the pair are clever or strong enough to guard their Gems. Eternity counters that all 4 got captured by the Man-Beast (#3-6), but LT points out they were rescued by Warlock. Eternity falls back on claiming that the guardian of the Reality Gem (whose identity we still don't know) is the worst choice of all, and here the Tribunal is forced to agree. However Warlock was omnipotent when he made the choices so they deserve respect. And none can deny that he can keep it secure from almost anyone. But Eternity asks if he can be trusted, and senses victory when LT replies that he doesn't know if *any* of the Watch can be.
However the Tribunal then questions Eternity's motives. When the Infinity Gems were combined in the Infinity Gauntlet, wielded by Thanos and then by Warlock, Eternity's supreme status was challenged. But when LT decreed that they must not be held by a single being that threat faded. So the Tribunal now suspects that Eternity desires the Gems himself, and Et admits it. So LT rules against him.
The hearing concludes with some advice from the Tribunal. Eternity was used to omnipotence and omniscience, but now the 6 Gem bearers are outside his control and knowledge and are a source of unpredictability. This is a spice that he should learn to savour.