Eternals #6 - "Only Death is Eternal, Finale"

[laughing_tree]

So, the Eternals have been secondary actors looking for a good place to be, and that's what the book does. By the end of the first issue, people will roughly understand exactly what they are and what they do. Then by the end of the first arc, you'll get why they're Marvel Universe characters. -- Kieron Gillen

Comments

[buttz]

I still can't get over how out of left field this issue was -- I was all but ready to give up on this title before reading it earlier this month.

[shakalooloo]

Mmm, this is actually an interesting take on things. Trying to not fight the Deviants is a good place to start.

[quatoria]

Yeah, I'm actually excited to see where they go from here, especially after firmly establishing that their immortality is morally intolerable.

[lordultimus]

Something about this feels "made as a possible MCU plotline".

It wouldn't be a BAD plotline, mind you, I'm just saying.

[silverhammerman]

Honestly you could say that about basically any Marvel comic published after 2013 or so (since the movies/TV are diving fully into a bunch of the 2013-2016 stuff rn), though half the time those clear attempts at tie-ins end up hilariously incompatible with the movies (remember the Captain Marvel arc that gave her a whole new origin right before the movie came out using the old one?). This pretty explicitly only came out so that there would be new Eternals TPB on the shelves to coincide with the movie, but personally it feels less like Gillen doing grist for the mill and more like he's taking the opportunity for an honest shot at making the Eternals interesting. It wouldn't be entirely surprising if the movies did pick up some of these elements, but that's par for the course at this point, I think Disney views the comics (not unreasonably) as a test bed for movie concepts at this point.

[doodleboy]

I like the direction. I mean the twist in this issue feels like something you would expect from Urobuchi, a cyclical repetition of mistakes, a price for something that feels too good to be true.

I like Sersi's line about it "We are just the same mistakes, echoing down the corridor of empty gods.". Like the blood-price would almost be tolerable if the Eternals had any purpose. But they were abandoned by their creators who have found no further use for them, made redundant by superheroes, and now live meaningless lives.

It feels like a rejiggering to try to make the Eternals more interesting or at least have a different role.

The line about how the Eternals are redundant with the earth populated by so many heroes feels very meta.

I also like how it justifies the Earth's narration being kind of goofy. Like it's almost affable until you realize that "It's the earth, a giant lovecraftian alien entity where a single life is meaningless to it.".

The scene earlier where they all started beating the crap out of Thanos was great.

I also like how it's changing their relationship with the Deviants. Although even in Kirby's original comic they were never "just orcs.". The Deviant's short-lives, changing society, and variety make them feel far more human than the Eternals.

[zachbeacon]

Telling Thanos he won't be resurrected if he dies isn't the deterrent you think it is, dude.

[doodleboy]

Part of me thinks what would happen to Thanos if they did make him part of the machine. Can't do anything that'll destroy the earth without bleeding from the orifices.

[bruinsfan]

Odds are it would just make sure his focus was entirely on destroying the earth to disable the machine that keeps resurrecting him. At least as it is he often concentrates on causing problems on other planets.

[bruinsfan]

Absolutely, and eternal life has been used as a threat against and punishment for him on more than one occasion. But it makes sense that Phastos wouldn't be that familiar with his motives, and I doubt Thanos would be vulnerable to having his mind read even if an attempt was made.

[gnarll]

Wasn't the prophesy that the Earth would be destroyed if Toby Robson died? Maybe using Ikaris for the fix was the wrong choice.

[doodleboy]

I think it was just that Toby Robinson will die and Ikaris would feel responsible.

Ikaris is the type of guy who'll be the guardian angel of a single normal human if he knew their life was at risk.

Thinking it had anything to do with the Earth being destroyed was just Ikaris drawing the wrong conclusion.

[shadowpsykie]

what if they make it so they take the lives of bad guys:?