The command ship Damocles along with its mysterious commander successfully completes its time jump to the present day and is content to lurk just outside Earth's orbit for the moment. Meanwhile, Steve Rogers is confused by the media's characterization of Stark as a "futurist", thinking they are referring to the Italian art movement of the early 20th century. The discussion eventually leads to Rogers confronting Stark about his lack of actual fighting skill and he takes it upon himself to give Tony some pointers. With Hulk and Hawkeye as their captive audience, Steve knocks Tony around six ways from Sunday and Stark leaves in a huff, stating that he'll never need to know this stuff because he'll have a suit for every situation. Rogers disagrees, preferring to work on the basics.
Iron Man: Uh, slow? Down? I hear you talking but the words don't make sense.
Captain America: It's always a good idea to know some basics, no matter what year it is. Some things never change.
While this is going on, Thor, Wasp, and Ant Man have successfully apprehended Blizzard and brought him back to Avengers Mansion for incarceration. As alluded to in a previous episode, the Avengers collaborated with Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four to create a newer and better prison outside reality in a dimension called the Negative Zone. This way, even if there is another Breakout, the supervillains would have nowhere to go. They call it Idea No. 42.
Back at the Mansion, Captain America and Iron Man are attacked by the mysterious man from several episodes ago. He introduces himself as Kang the Conqueror and proceeds to start blasting the Cap. Iron Man tries to adjust to his equipment but its technology level is far in advance of anything he has ever seen and he is essentially impervious to all of Stark's gadgets. Without any other options, the two Avengers play for time and try to get Kang to expand on his motives for coming to the past. He explains that he is the ruler of Earth in the 41st century but that the entire planet will be wiped from existence by an anomaly in the space-time continuum; something that should not exist. Something like Captain America. By this time all the Avengers have gathered and they prepare to take Kang on, but he transports them to the future to show them exactly what has happened.
It turns out that future Earth is a blasted wasteland thanks to some action of the Cap in the future, and that it will all occur in just 10 years. There is no infrastructure, no Stark Industries or S.H.I.E.L.D., no anything. All life has been wiped out, retroactively wiping out Kang's empire in the 41st century. The destruction is revealed to be caused by the war between the Kree and the Skrulls although Captain America is indirectly responsible for the ultimate catastrophe. Kang's plan is to eliminate the Cap from the timeline and, just to be sure, conquer Earth in the present to advance its technology and unify its people in preparation for the coming war. Under his rule, Earth will survive.
Iron Man understands the merit in Kang's proposal and the Cap is willing to give up for the greater good of Earth, but unfortunately he's being a gigantic Jerkass about the whole thing and nobody out-jerkassses Tony Stark, so the Avengers decide they'll fight for the future on their own, thank-you-very-much. Kang prepares to strand them in the future, but Ant Man stops him with an army of cockroaches, which can survive anything. The Avengers create a distraction while Iron Man gets on the Throne of Power and tries to reprogram it. The technology is infuriating and defies analysis but on a sudden inspiration, he is able to gain control of the chair through a backdoor and transports everyone back to the present. It turns out that, as advanced as the technology is, it still has things in common with some very old tech. Stark Industries tech, to be exact.
With his technology turned against him, Kang decides that now would be a good time to regroup. Since he couldn't do the deed on his own, he decides to call in the rest of his army.
The story continues in "Come the Conqueror"
Tropes:
- Bad Future: The sun has been ripped in two and also human life has ended.
- Big "NO!": Kang when Iron Man gains control of his chair.
- Chekhov's Classroom: Captain America tries to talk to Iron Man about the importance of knowing history and the basics. Iron Man later cites this lesson to Kang, after gaining control of his chair because a small piece of it is based on Stark Industries technology.
- Cliffhanger: With the Avengers refusing to surrender, Kang intends to show everyone how he earned his title by summoning a massive invasion fleet.
- Empathy Doll Shot: After the team is brought to the Bad Future, there's a close-up of a doll, as Thor picks it up.
- Everybody's Dead, Dave: Surveying the ruins of the city, Iron Man tries to connect to various networks, but JARVIS can't find anyone or thing.Iron Man: There's... nothing out there. There's no one left.
Kang: Of course not. You see, very soon in your timeline, Earth will be consumed in a war. Earth's sun will be a casualty in that war, along with all life on the planet. - Foreshadowing:
- Kang states that Captain America caused the Bad Future, but "not knowingly." "Operation: Galactic Storm" reveals that Cap was forced to make a Sadistic Choice over leaving Black Panther to die. Trying to save him is what would've led to the sun being destroyed.
- At 42, Hank explains he's mass-produced the Ultron robots to act as wardens, and Wasp observes there sure are a lot of them. In the next part, they're used as foot soldiers against Kang's forces.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: Hank summoning a legion of cockroaches prevents Kang from escaping and leaving the team trapped in the future.
- Honor Before Reason: Cap is perfectly willing to surrender to Kang if it means averting mass destruction.
- Hulk Speak: "Stupid future man!"
- It Has Only Just Begun: Those the Avengers forces Kang to retreat, they realized that they haven't heard the last of him. Shortly after returning to the Democles, he calls on a full-scale invasion.
- Little "No": Iron Man, upon seeing the Bad Future.
- Meaningful Name: Hank called the interdimensional prison "42" because it was the 42nd idea he, Tony, and Reed Richards came up with to help the world.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Kang accuses Cap of this.Kang: In the end, it was Captain America that was truly responsible.
- Oh, Crap!: The team's reaction to the Bad Future. Iron Man and Hank also exchange worried glances upon hearing the Skrulls and Kree were somehow involved.
- This Is Gonna Suck: After Kang escapes, Cap is certain they'll be seeing him again soon.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Cap points out that Iron Man's fighting skills leave something to be desired.Captain America: You can't always count on your armor. You have to be ready for anything.
- Villain Has a Point:Iron Man: We know the Kree are coming. We've already met them. Kang's got technology more advanced than anything I've ever dreamed of. He could be the world's only hope. (Kang smiles) But he's bein' a real jerk about it. Avengers, take him!
- We Need a Distraction: Kang derides Hulk as a simplistic monster for throwing a big rock at him. Hulk retorts he's just acting as a distraction, and Black Panther immediately slashes Kang's back.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Kang wants to save his timeline, and the princess Ravonna, from temporal destruction and offers to help present-day Earth prevent their doom from a catastrophic event. The problem? He wants to conquer Earth and kill Captain America, whom he claims is responsible for both incidents. Naturally, the Avengers don't accept his help.
- Wham Line: It's clear from the start that Kang holds Captain America responsible for all this, but his allusion to a devastating war prompts this exchange.Wasp: What kind of war could do that?
Kang: A war between two alien empires: the Kree and the Skrulls. - Wham Shot: The Bad Future's ripped apart sun and desolated ruins of New York.
