Who is the Traitor in Eternals #5?

The Forgotten One comes out of hiding as the Eternal traitor is revealed at last in Eternals #5, written by Kieron Gillen, drawn by Esad Ribić, colored by Matthew Wilson, and lettering/design by Clayton Cowles.

Karen Charm: Zoe! It feels really good to be back with you in our little conspiracy, talking about Eternals. I can only assume that the long gap since the previous issue is related to the Machine malfunctioning but I’m sure someone is working on fixing that… Anyway, this series just really continues to deliver the hits – there’s so much to talk about here in this penultimate issue to the first arc. Did you make as many audible gasps as I did?

Zoe Tunnell: There were at LEAST three gasps, for sure. Things are starting to build to a climax and so Gillen is letting the dominos fall. It’s good to have this book back and even better when it’s building such strong momentum. God, I missed this.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Zoe: First things first: whoops, Sersi is evil! I’ll fess up and admit I actually bought this, which is a testament to how good of a job Gillen is doing at making the Eternals feel distinct from the rest of the MU heroes and on their own level or morality/scale. Of course, after some hilarious clowning on Tony Stark, it’s revealed to be a ruse meant to lure out Gilgamesh, the Forgotten One. Last time we saw him was when he was crashing on Hercules’ couch in the Marvel Now era. Buddy’s gotten his act together since, huh?

Karen: I had such a visceral rejection to Sersi being the traitor, I was about to get mad! I didn’t see the bait for what it was, but I did start to think that we might be dealing with a shapeshifter? Not my Sersi…

(I have not read that Hercules run, but I suppose I will be doing that promptly now)

But yes, a very good trick, it fooled us all. I have a soft spot for the Forgotten One (despite having one of the worst superhero costumes I’ve ever seen during his tenure as an Avenger). I’m happy to see him make such a splash here, and Gillen’s take on him is pretty interesting. He is portrayed as an Eternal whose loyalty is strictly with humankind, to the extent that Gilgamesh will kill any other Eternal who puts them in danger. Which of course makes Sersi and Ikaris’ ruse that much more clever – openly plotting the destruction of the human race is like the direct line to a Gilgamesh ass whooping.

I’m really curious about one detail here, though. After Sersi has admitted to her shenanigans to Tony, she then takes the moment to rewrite his memory of the exchange. Rather than have him remember any mention of Thanos, she instead has Stark remember her saying she was the one killing the Eternals and threatening the planet. What do you make of this? Is it a portent to something deeper going on, or is it just a way for Gillen to illustrate how Tony thinks of Sersi? (Leave it to a murder mystery to have me jumping at shadows, thinking they could be clues)

Zoe: I took it as Sersi just showing how little she really cares about most humanity. “Oh, sure, screw it uhhh I did it. Yeah that works” because she just truly isn’t really concerned about what Tony thinks of her. The thing that shocked me was Tony’s reaction. His response to Sersi rewriting his memory so that she declared she is the one wanting to rule the world was…so nonchalant! He wasn’t even a little upset! I know the mutants have shaken things up lately but come on, Tony.

Going back to Gilgamesh, I LOVE this take on him. Beyond the sick new costume from Ribić, making him the Eternal that decided to be a superhero is such a fun idea with this current take on the immortal weirdos. Everyone thinking he’s being a petulant little child and not keeping The Mission in perspective is such a fun idea when you think about how most superheroes would probably think this Gilgamesh is The Good Eternal. The little comparison we get from The Machine where Gilgamesh thinks himself Robin Hood while Eternals would see him as more of a Punisher type figure is just delightful. Opinions! They’re wild.

Karen: Yes! The data pages in this issue were particularly exciting because they follow up on the first issue. This one we get some more information about the other Forgotten, just enough to draw out our anticipation.

As Ikaris leads Gilgamesh away from the civilians (see, Ikaris is totally Goku), Thena and Kingo pop out of a portal to slap cuffs on the renegade Eternal. The gang interrogates him and discovers that, just like all their other suspects, Gilgamesh adheres much too closely to the second principle – protect the Machine – to ever willingly endanger it. Like we saw in Gaiman’s run, the Eternals can’t physically resist their programming even if they tried, not without severe bodily harm, and Gilgamesh is perfectly fine.

At this point, I can’t help but laugh at how badly the Eternals have been going about this investigation. Not the world’s best detectives, I’m sorry to say. At the very least they’re building up their ranks.

Zoe: I love how terrible they are at this. It’s hilarious but also makes perfect sense. They’ve been around since the dawn of time and this is the first occurrence of the Machine breaking down on this scale AND a traitor within that has gotten this far undetected. I love these morons, but they’re morons.

The Myth of Sisyphus

Phastos attempts to fix the reality room.

Karen: They literally can’t help themselves. Since the first issue, the text has consistently emphasized the unchanging nature of the Eternals. Here, he finally relates them to Sisyphus, doomed to carrying out the chore of existence without ever making any progress. This theme goes a long way to putting a finger on the melancholy quality that has been permeating the atmosphere of the comic. Even Tony Stark could tell how sad Sersi seemed.

We’re introduced to the Sisyphus connection as we check in with Phastos whose work fixing the Reality Room seems to be making negative progress. Everything is red (blowing another kiss to Matthew Wilson) and sparking lightning and uh, I don’t think things are going very well down there.

Zoe: Oh, I’m sure Phastos has it handled. He’s very responsible. The Sisyphean parallels are doubly interesting as we see two Eternals who are actively trying to break the cycle, Druig and Thanos. Thanos is exempt from the Eternals biological directives from The Machine so he can do whatever he damn well pleases, but Druig sure manages to walk a fine line of telling the Mad Titan what he needs to hear without crossing the line into outright malicious intent towards The Machine.

On top of THEM we get the little scene with Toby and Sprite which only serves to reinforce the melancholy. A teenage boy worried about death and the ever-teen who has seen more death than anyone ever should. God this issue is a BUMMER. I love it.

Karen: Not Gillen giving Sprite some of the most chilling narration – ”… no one could ever be frightened of ‘oodles’ of dead people. Until they see them.” *chills* I’ll give Ribić credit here for drawing a Sprite who looks a touch more… normal, I guess. Ribić is really so good every issue that it’s hard to say any is better or worse than the other, but there is slightly less spectacle to gush about here.

The scene between Thanos and Druig is SO FASCINATING. I love how you tied it to the Sisyphus metaphor, though I wonder if Druig is really trying to change that much. He’s compelled to scheme and worm his way to the top. He gets offended by Thanos relegating him to the Z leagues compared to someone like Mephisto, and that tells me that Druig really wants to be a top tier villain. You can almost read it as a statement of purpose for this series to accomplish just that. Would love to see it.

More importantly, though, is what Thanos shares. He unzips his windbreaker to show a glowing red, mechanical heart. That seems significant.

Zoe: BOY DOES IT. Handy explanation of how he’s back after being Mega Murdered in Guardians of the Galaxy, isn’t it?

Before we get to the final act, I do want to note my very petty joy in Druig’s offense at being compared to Mephisto when we have had 2 years of Mephisto being built up as the biggest, schemiest schemer in the Marvel Universe, and Druig has been a better whispering shadow in just 5 issues of Eternals than Mephisto in Avengers (very different than the Mephisto of, say, Gillen’s Journey into Mystery) could dream of.

Who Dunnit

Gilgamesh reveals that he taught Phastos how to sabotage the machine.

Zoe: Alright, Karen. It’s time to address the hammer-wielding elephant in the room. Phastos is the traitor. I was legitimately shocked! I mean it makes perfect sense but also PHASTOS NO!!

Karen: Aaaaaaah. How fitting that the issue started with making us think Sersi was the traitor and it ends with the revelation being not that much easier to take!

But yes… Gilgamesh takes the Eternals to the source of the sabotage only to find that the traitor didn’t even bother to cover his tracks. Surely Phastos should have been able to figure out what happened and how to fix it… and that’s when all the pieces lock into place. It turns out that everything that made Gilgamesh a suspect was taught to him by Phastos, the Eternal who knows how make everything work.

Like Sisyphus, the rock has rolled right back to where it started, since in the first issue, Phastos was the first to announce Zuras’ death and send everyone off on their goose chase. So classic, so text book, and yet we had no idea. When I reread the issue I could see all the clues laid out in the open that, without context, looked like something else entirely. One I thought was particularly brilliant was Gilgamesh’s comment about how the Machine will naturally repair itself, no matter what damage was done to it. Unless, of course, Phastos is smashing the hell out of it with his hammer. Funny how Gillen tried to play that off as “no really, it’s fine, that’s a surgical hammer.” All tasks are nails, indeed.

Zoe: The Phastos reveal is so heartbreaking because he really looks like he is doing this with all the confidence in the world that he’s doing the right thing. He’s not happy. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone. But it’s the only way to do…whatever the mysterious puppet master who is pulling his and Thanos’ strings has convinced him will help the world. Ribić really brings the heat here, the shots of Phastos as his own body turns against him, blood spewing out of his nose and agony in his eyes are HEARTBREAKING.

I can’t wait to see where the next issue ends things, because whoever is behind this disaster has a LOT to answer for.

Karen: Oh yeah, don’t get me wrong, I am devastated. You clearly have the same thought as me, because I can not believe that he’s not under duress by an as-yet unseen puppet master. I mean, who would have the power to yank Thanos back to reality? Mephisto?!

But seriously, I also have to admit to having a wary reaction to the one Eternals presenting as Black turning out to be evil, so I really hope Gillen is more thoughtful than that. My gut is saying there’s more to all of this.

All that said, the issues ends with things being Very Bad. The Reality Loom explodes and Thanos lies in wait to body our unsuspecting heroes.

Zoe: Oh God. Karen. I think I know who the puppet master is.

Through all of this, one person has been missing.

Someone we know is in Gillen’s plans.

Someone who has seen the face of Celestial eternity and been changed by it.

Hey Karen…

Where’s Makkari?

Karen: :O

Marvelous Musings

I need to see more of the Forgotten!
First mention of the Uni Mind, if I’m not missing something…
Ikaris at his most Superman in this issue, a streak of blue and red
A correction from our last chat – I mistakenly referred to Gilgamesh being brainwashed by Druig, but it was Ajak who turned the Forgotten One against the other Eternals. One million apologies.
I’ll never forgive you.