Biography - Page 2
Dane Whitman had always been haunted by the curse of the Ebony Blade. His first act upon claiming the sword of his ancestor was to attack his former assistant Norris in prison, as the man had betrayed him during the experiment with Magneto. [Uncanny Origins #11] Still, Dane believed he had the sword’s blood curse under control until one fateful night when he and Aragorn attempted to foil jewel thieves escaping in a helicopter. The Black Knight severed the thieves’ rotors and nearly sent them to their deaths before saving the criminals at the last moment. Fearing for his soul, Dane consulted with Percy again over his fears that the Ebony Blade was becoming too dangerous to wield. Sir Percy directed Black Knight to the Well at the Center of Time, where the Ebony Blade could potentially be destroyed, separating Dane from its curse.
Magically transported to the Well, the Black Knight was initially unaware that it lay on the other-dimensional realm of Polemachus, domain of the Avengers’ foe Arkon. Dane was captured at the Well and brought before the Imperion and his new ally, Amora the Enchantress. Amora used her enchanted kiss to subvert Dane’s will, compelling him to serve her and reveal his purpose for being there. Despite hearing of the Knight’s personal quest, Arkon remained paranoid that the Avengers planned to attack him and the Enchantress only stoked his fears. He had Avengers Mansion summoned to Polemachus, to attack his foes before they attacked him. The Enchantress compelled Dane to aid Arkon at first, but her control over him faded as she was forced to redirect her attention to the Scarlet Witch’s hexes. The Black Knight confronted Arkon and finally disposed of his sword, casting the Ebony Blade into the Well where it vanished. Finally convinced the Avengers were innocent, Arkon ended the conflict. [Avengers (1st series) #84-85]
The Black Knight was not so easily rid of his curse, however. The Ebony Blade survived, passing into the realm of Olympus where it was retrieved by Ares, God of War. The Enchantress followed after the sword and joined forces with Ares as he wielded the blade to take control of Olympus, with plans to assault Earth and Asgard next. Dane observed this through the power of the Brazier of Truth and he sent forth a call for all Avengers to assemble at Garrett Castle and prepare for war. Olympus was saved, as Black Knight and Thor together defeated Ares. Dane Whitman reclaimed the Ebony Blade and made no further attempts to rid himself of it… at this time. [Avengers (1st series) #100]
Dane had little time to rest, for the Enchantress soon escaped imprisonment on Olympus and again placed the Black Knight under her love spell. Dane joined her in attacking the realm of Casiolena, a sorceress queen who lured the Enchantress’ traditional partner the Executioner away from her service. They failed to defeat Casiolena’s forces and were thrown in the dungeon until, by happenstance, the Defenders were drawn to Casiolena’s realm as well. The Defenders were caring for a girl named Barbara who had been driven mad by the Nameless One. Seeing 
opportunity, the Enchantress cast her Valkyrie spell upon Barbara, transforming her into a woman warrior who smashed their way out of the dungeon. Casiolena was defeated and the Enchantress swayed the Executioner back to her side. The love-struck Black Knight objected to giving up Amora and challenged the Executioner to a duel. The cruel Enchantress instead embraced her pawn in a final kiss, turning him to stone. [Defenders (1st series) #4]
Doctor Strange and the Defenders spent some time trying to find a way to revert the Black Knight from stone to flesh. The Valkyrie, also abandoned by the Enchantress, joined the Defenders and cared for Aragorn and the Ebony Blade in Dane’s absence. In time, Doctor Strange discovered the Knight’s spirit had left the statue entirely and now resided in a timeless void. Strange sent out a mystical call to Dane’s spirit and asked if he had any insight to his plight. Dane had no knowledge of how to escape his situation, but this communication was intercepted by the duo of Loki, God of Mischief, and the Dread Dormammu. They rewrote Dane’s response to the mystical signal, so that Strange received a message from the Black Knight claiming the power of the Evil Eye could be used to free him.
Through this deception, Dormammu intended to make the Defenders do his dirty work to reassemble the Evil Eye for him. Loki suspected Dormammu would betray him, however, and so he also communicated with the Avengers about the Evil Eye. The Avengers had already become suspicious of Doctor Strange and the newly-formed Defenders after a mystical barrier prevented them from entering Garrett Castle and they were rebuked again at the Sanctum Sanctorum. This led to a war between the Avengers and Defenders, as each thought the other team intended to assemble the Evil Eye for nefarious purposes. Despite their differences, the two teams eventually put their animosity aside and discovered how they were being manipulated. Dormammu and Loki were neutralized and Strange learned the Evil Eye would, in fact, be useful in saving the Black Knight. [Avengers / Defenders War crossover]
Upon activating the power of the Evil Eye, Doctor Strange was surprised to discover the Black Knight’s spirit was not in the void where he left it. Merlin’s magic had summoned Dane elsewhere and this spell drew up the Defenders in its wake. The Defenders found themselves in the 12th century during the Third Crusade. The spell that ensured the Black Knight would appear to oppose Mordred wherever he arose had drawn Dane Whitman’s spirit from the void and placed him in the body of his ancestor, a previous Black Knight called Eobar Garrington. Black Knight and the Defenders fought against Mordred and his alliance with King Richard the Lionhearted’s nefarious brother Prince John. The fiends claimed the Evil Eye briefly, but it was recovered by Prester John, the true master of the Eye. In the end, Dane chose to stay in the 12th century rather than return home, for he felt this era of chivalry and adventure suited him more. He reclaimed the Ebony Blade from Valkyrie, but asked her to continue treating Aragorn well in the present. [Defenders (1st series) #11]
[Note: The original story made it seem as if Merlin’s magic gave physical substance to Dane Whitman’s spirit after transporting it through time. Only subsequent stories would clarify that he possessed an ancestor’s form. One story even indicated Eobar was already dead and the arrival of Dane’s spirit revived his body. Also of note is that Black Knight didn’t have the Ebony Blade until Valkyrie brought it back in time with the Defenders. So the location of the 12th century’s Ebony Blade is a mystery.]
All told, the spirit of Dane Whitman spent five years in the 12th century. His influence over Eobar’s life varied with time. For a certain period, Dane was fully in control of Eobar’s body, yet at other times he was reduced to a mere silent passenger as Eobar lived as he normally would. Eobar of Garrington was sent by King Richard to assassinate Saladin, the Kurdish commander of the forces opposing the Christians. Only the whisper of Dane Whitman in his mind prevented Eobar from killing Saladin and changing the course of history. [Marvel Comics Presents (1st series) #73] Eobar and his friend Bennet du Paris would leave the main force of the Crusades for a time to seek treasure and destiny, but Dane Whitman was so deeply buried at this time that he scarcely remembered the quest years later. [Black Knight: Exodus]
Towards the end of the Crusades, Dane Whitman’s mind was fully in control of Eobar. He reveled in the swordplay and honor of the era, sailing from Cyprus to Acre and many battles in between. Many fell before his bloodied blade, but Dane told himself that was simply the nature of the times. After one battlefield, he chased down Al-Adil, Saracen brother of their commander Saladin. Despite their animosity, they shared an adventure together against the demon Moloch and parted with a mutual respect. [Marvel Fanfare (1st series) #52]
In time, Richard charged the Black Knight with carrying out his direct will. The people of the captive city of Acre drained the campaign’s supplies. Some among the Crusade wanted the lot of them put to death and Richard charged the Knight with bringing him an alternative. He sent Dane to Saladin to negotiate an exchange of the prisoners for the True Cross captured by the Saracens earlier in the Crusade. The Black Knight encountered Al-Adil on his quest and his old foe agreed to escort him on his mission of mercy. However, Hassan ibn-Sabbah, the Lord of Assassins, wanted the war to continue and he sent his agent Karna to intercept the Knight. Once again, Dane Whitman fell to a beautiful woman with an enchanted kiss and his sleeping form was brought back to ibn-Sabbah. Hassan failed to seduce the Black Knight to his service, but the delay was enough. Without word from the Black Knight, King Richard ordered the entire city and its inhabitants burned. [Marvel Fanfare (1st series) #53]
Whitman was furious at the massacre and barged into the Lionheart’s tent demanding answers. The Black Knight’s disobedience towards his king only further frayed the alliances between 
Richard and the other kings who served under his military command. As Dane fled from his hotheaded assault on King Richard, agents of Hassan ibn-Sabbah planned to assassinate the king. In the hills, Black Knight met a German Crusader named Johann, a younger version of the time traveler Prester John whom Dane had met in the past. The symmetry struck Dane and he agreed to return Johann to the camp.
The Black Knight and Prester John arrived in time to interrupt the assassins of Hassan before Richard was killed. The conjurer manifested himself through the body of one of his assassins as a fiery elemental to face the Black Knight again. He tried to disarm the Black Knight and wield the magic of the Ebony Blade himself. Curiously, he remarked upon studying the blade that it carried no magic of its own, but was a mirror that reflected the darkness of the bearer’s soul. Ignoring Hassan’s remarks, Dane reclaimed the Ebony Blade and had Johann douse it with holy water, 
allowing him to strike down the fire elemental. In the aftermath, King Richard acknowledged both Dane’s treason and his valor. He knighted Dane officially under the sword of the king, but also exiled him from his lands and his sight. A man who followed the dictates of his own conscience instead of his king should be lauded, but could not be trusted in a monarch’s presence. [Marvel Fanfare (1st series) #54]
Curiously, the stone statue of the Black Knight’s original body did not remain idle during the years Dane Whitman was away from the present. It was animated by Ultron at one point, somehow imbued with consciousness and convinced it was the real Dane Whitman, even though it was only a ghost in stone. The statue attacked the Avengers for abandoning it all this time. Upon realized the truth, the statue destroyed itself by pummeling the Vision’s indestructible body until it was nothing but rubble. [Avengers (1st series) #157-158] Doctor Strange restored the statue temporarily, but it was possessed again, this time by the demon Ningal through the power of his 
patron, the Dweller in Darkness. It crumbled again after Ningal’s essence left the stone. (Oddly, when Strange first reformed the statue, the Ebony Blade appeared at its side. Fearing this meant the Black Knight was weaponless in the past somehow, Strange and Clea brought the blade to the Brazier of Truth at Garrett Castle and apparently returned it to the 12th century. Dane Whitman’s perspective of this was never shown.) [Doctor Strange (2nd series) #35-37]
Meanwhile, the Black Knight of the 12th century eventually made his way to Avalon, the fabled land where Camelot was preserved beyond time in the realm of legend. He stood in defense of Avalon alongside its High Druid Amergin when the evil Fomor lay siege to it. With Avalon’s population safely away, Amergin reached out to the future and his descendant Anthony Druid. Doctor Druid made contact with the Avengers and sent them through time and space to reunite with Dane and aid him against the Fomor. The Black Knight was initially stunned when he heard his stone statue had been destroyed in the present, leaving him without a body to return to.
Amergin hoped to use the Avengers to draw out Balor, a powerful but uncontrollable member of the Fomor. He would then use Balor’s power to recharge the Evil Eye and defeat all the Fomor. Amergin was weakened fighting the Fomor’s leader Erathan and dropped the Eye. The Black Knight leapt between the two and used the Ebony Blade to deflect the Fomor’s blast back at him. In the process, though, Balor attempted to reclaim his energy from the Evil Eye, setting off a mystical explosion that disintegrated Balor and critically wounded Amergin. The Black Knight was forced to wield the Evil Eye himself, even though the power would destroy a man unaccustomed to channeling sorcery. He sealed the gate connecting Avalon to Earth so that the Fomor could not invade, but the body of Eobar Garrington gave out in the process. As the Avengers returned to the present, though, Doctor Druid showed them the statue of the Black Knight being restored in Garrett Castle, as both Dane Whitman and his horse Valinor emerged safely into the modern age. [Avengers (1st series) #225-226]
[Note: Valinor has received contradictory origins at times. One story set in the Crusades had the Black Knight riding a wingless horse named Valinor. Another showed him acquire an unnamed bat-winged steed from Karna, servant of Hassan ibn-Sabbah. This appeared to be Valinor as well. However, Valinor is most commonly referred to as an enchanted horse from Avalon, whom the Knight bonded with after reaching the fabled land.]