First off, spoilers.

spoilers:


Strange destroys the Great Society. Only Sun God (barely) and Spectrum are still alive.

T'Challa and Stark stop Strange from going any further via a reverse repulsor blast.

Black Bolt gets the bomb and defeats Spectrum. Meanwhile, Maximus tells Black Swan that she may have underestimated the Illuminati, but then provides her with an option to ally with him (subtly).

T'Challa is told over and over again to do what he's meant to do (kill Namor, save Wakanda, blow up Earth) by his dad, T'Chaka, and disregards all three. And for that, he outright gets the "You are no longer my son" speech. With an extra "you're aren't a Black Panther" on the side. Holy s**t, I REALLY want to see where Hickman goes with this.

But the biggest question is... Who ends it? Who blows up Great Society's Earth? It's not Black Bolt, though he gets the bomb back. It's not Strange, because he's hella pissed about what happened. It's not Hank nor Reed nor Bruce nor Tony. And it could have been T'Challa if that annoying bit called morality hadn't gotten in the way.

So... It was Namor. Namor blows up Great Society's Earth, committing mass genocide.

Again, holy s**t. Then again, it totally makes sense since one of the pages I saw for NA #22 was T'Challa fighting Namor.

end of spoilers


This issue was heavy, filled with gravitas. If Ghost Rider was the feel good issue this week (buy it, it's awesome), this is the polar opposite. Sun God, a borderline Superman, begging in an old and crippled state will definitely haunt the Illuminati for issues to come. I also love how T'Challa went not only against the rest of the Black Panthers, but also against Maximus' speech. In a sense, he went Cap, but too late. I really want to see where this goes; I have faith in Hickman as a writer to really make this story arc work for the Illuminati members that don't have books, as well as Reed. This is the low point for pretty much everyone involved... Unless "Time Runs Out" says other wise.

BTW, Namor's speech was chilling, absolutely chilling.

Fantastic work by Hickman but also Schiti in making what was a game changer really feel like one. I can't wait for the fallout of this issue. The Illuminati are definitely done after this; you don't even need to see the "Time Runs Out" covers to know that.