The Avengers #164

Iron Man is supposedly absent this issue because Tony Stark is having problems in his own series. When this was published the reference was probably to the takeover of Stark International by Midas in the same month's IM#103. But the Official Index continuity places us between IM An#4 and IM#95. It could be that TS already knows that he is being investigated by the Washington defence committee that he faces in IM#95. IM is referred to as the Avengers chairman here. He took the chair in #150 pending elections. We didn't hear more about it, but the OI has listed him as chairman ever since, and it was mentioned in #158. The team will question his commitment next issue, but he'll continue to lead for a while yet. Alice the scientist may be Alice Nugent who will appear as Henry Pym's assistant in IM#194. She'll later become Dr Spectrum in a new Squadron Sinister in Thunderbolts.

There is a brief mention that Vision isn't around, but it doesn't say he hasn't yet recovered from Ultron's attack in #161-162. Captain America and Beast were up and around in #169 and #163. Now we see Scarlet Witch this issue, so Vision will be the last to recuperate. We'll see him in a healing tank next issue, and back in action in #166. Hank Pym improved his and Jan's powers in Marvel Team-Up #59-60 (also drawn by John Byrne). They are both faster and stronger when shrunk. Wasp's bio-electric stingers are more powerful, and Yellowjacket has incorporated his cellular disruptor gun tech into his superhero suit, powered by his wingbeats. I say in my synopsis that none of the Avengers (apart from the absent Thor) currently know that Iron Man is Tony Stark. However later continuity implants in Avengers Classic #3 amd Mighty Avengers #21 say that Henry Pym found out between #3 and #4.

Nefaria has finished with the Lethal Legion now, and they won't appear again in this trilogy (except in flashback). The semi-powered Erik Josten will crop up as a smuggler named the Smuggler in Spectacular Spider-Man #49-50&54. But he'll gain his next real super-identity as Goliath when he gets another dose of the Zemo treatment and also some of Hank Pym's growth serum in IM An#7. Nefaria's meddling will have a long-term effect on Living Laser. His power will go out of control and he'll blow up in IM#152-153. Then he'll return in energy form in IM#211. Whirlwind will just continue to be Whirlwind, next in the crowded Defenders #63-65. He'll return to this title as 1 of Egghead's Masters of Evil in #222, and later as a cog in the new Baron Zemo's MoE.

The synopsis already mentions the most relevant parts of Eric Josten's past history - getting turned into a substandard Wonder Man by Zemo and losing the name Power Man to Luke Cage. (Cage started off in his own series Hero For Hire and then changed his name and book title to Power Man with #17 - the original PM challenged him and lost in PM#21.) Living Laser is another old Avengers foe from #34-35. He was last seen in #153 and Annual #6. Whirlwind was originally a recurring enemy of Giant-Man in Tales to Astonish, but his enmity carried over into the Avengers title including his stint in Ultron's Masters of Evil in #54-55&83. He last fought the team in #139 (and tried to jailbreak in An#6).

Count Nefaria 1st showed up as a Maggia boss in #13. He made a few more appearances since then, but was so far best known for being the father of Whitney Frost/Madame Masque over in Iron Man. Now he's bent on making a splash as a supervillain in his own right. Nefaria's 4 scientists only really appear in this trilogy, but some of them do crop up in a couple of flashbacks. In IM#153 it's just Living Laser remembering them enhancing his power behind the scenes here. But they're also in a flashback in Nefaria's last appearance in Uncanny X-Men #94(-95) (also pencilled by Byrne). There they have applied power enhancements to Nefaria's minions the Ani-Men, an earlier part of Project N. Presumably it was after this that they abandoned him after not getting paid, because he'd gone broke.

Regarding the title, it's actually the villains who "fall by treachery" of Nefaria. John Byrne is here to pencil this trilogy. This is the 2nd villain team to be called Lethal Legion, although nobody in this issue, including themselves, calls them that except on the cover. The original Lethal Legion was assembled in #78-79 by Grim Reaper. Living Laser and Power Man were in that group too, along with Man-Ape and Swordsman. Grim Reaper will also be responsible for Lethal Legion III in West Coast Avengers v2 #1-2. Power Man will make it 3 for 3 in his new guise as Goliath, and Man-Ape will be there too along with some new recruits. Teams IV (in a Secret Wars II tie-in in Marvel Age Annual #1!) and V (a supernatural version) will be totally unrelated, but Grim Reaper will be back to gather a 6th team in Dark Reign: Lethal Legion.