Biography - Page 5
Per the terms of his will, the Black Knight’s statue form was returned to Garrett Castle in Washington, where Victoria Bentley was waiting to tend to it. Victoria hoped to use her limited magic to restore Dane to full life and brought together the Crystal of Bas-Lyoness with the shards of the Brazier of Truth to seek answers. The spirit of Sir Percy rematerialized and directed Victoria to a hidden alcove that contained the armor of the original Black Knight. By placing the helmet of Sir Percy over Dane’s head, Victoria caused his statue form to become reanimated, except with the spirit of Sir Percy directing him. Sir Percy’s spirit could inhibit the effects of the blood curse so long as he was on the mortal plane. His enchanted spirit even proved capable of restoring Valinor as a winged steed. Dane Whitman was still under the restrains of the curse, however. Removing the helmet of Sir Percy allowed Dane to think and act for himself, but only for a limited time until the statue curse immobilized him once more.
As Sir Percy and Victoria sought the means to permanently restore Dane to his own body, they also faced the threat of Mordred and Morgan le Fay seeking re-entry to the mortal plane themselves. At the former site of Castle le Fay in Northern Ireland, Percy adopted a new squire named Sean Dolan. Through the aid of Captain Britain, Valkyrie and Doctor Strange, the Black Knight eventually located the keystone for Castle le Fay at a bridge in Arizona, where Morgan was intending to re-materialize her castle. In battle with the Fomor and an enchanted Wicker Man, Sir Percy used the Ebony Blade as a magical conduit and transferred his spirit from the helm and body of Dane Whitman into the blade itself. In this manner, Percy’s spirit would remain on the mortal plane and inhibit the blood curse, while still allowing Dane Whitman control over his own body. Mordred and Morgan were defeated and Dane reclaimed the role of the Black Knight of the modern age. [Black Knight (2nd series) #1-4]
Victoria and Sean took up residence at Garrett Castle outside of Washington D.C. as the Black Knight reconnected with his role as a super-hero. With the constant threat of the Ebony Blade’s curse on his mind, Dane began experimenting with other weaponry, such as his uncle’s old power lance. [Avengers Spotlight #39] The Black Knight also renewed his association with the Avengers. Under the new United Nations charter, the Avengers now maintained a full roster of seven and a secondary group of reserve substitutes to be called upon as needed. The Black Knight joined the reserves at first, but quickly ascended to the main roster as vacancies developed, alongside his old teammate Hercules. [Avengers (1st series) #329-336]
As Black Knight and Hercules became fully active on the team, they joined Vision in a training session that simulated an ambush at the mansion. Crystal of the Inhumans and the substitute Thor were put to the test as the team’s newest members in this scenario, which also debuted Dane’s new photonic blade. The curse of the Ebony Blade remained hovering over him, but the Black Knight chose not to tempt fate anymore by wielding the sword constantly and risking a renewal of the blood curse’s effects. Instead, he returned Merlin’s creation to the stone in Garrett 
Castle he first drew it from and constructed his own 21st century weapon, sometimes called the Sunsword or (honestly) a light saber. The Black Knight’s new sword could be tangible enough to cleave through metal or serve as a conductor for neurosynaptic impulses, causing no physical injuries but leaving his opponent numb, paralyzed or suffering from neurological shock. At full intensity, however, the neuro-disruptors could be potent enough to kill, if Dane chose.
The Avengers were summoned into conflict when they received a distress call from the Human Torch at Four Freedoms Plaza. The new team was caught in a genuine ambush this time, set by a man claiming to be the long-dead Avenger known as the Swordsman. He and his companion Magdalene accosted the Avengers in the name of the Gatherers. They blamed them as a group for leaving Swordsman to die, a version of events that Vision and other Avengers who were present at the time disputed. It was only natural that the fighting narrowed to a duel between the Black Knight and the Swordsman, with each of them scoring hits against one another. The 
Swordsman suffered a migraine that ended the fight early, leading Magdalene to teleport them away with the Avengers left grasping for answers. Back at Avengers Mansion, Black Knight reviewed video materials of the original Swordsman in action. He confirmed for Captain America and the others that the body language, fighting style and other physical indicators for the late Swordsman perfectly matched those of the man they had faced that night. [Avengers (1st series) #343-344]
The Avengers’ attention was diverted by the growing escalation of the Kree-Shi’ar War. Hostilities between these two extra-galactic empires concerned the Earth because of a star gate passage near Sol being used by both factions to facilitate troop transport and other matters. Overuse of the star gate was creating instability in Earth’s sun, leading the Avengers to make diplomatic overtures to both races. Black Knight and many East Coast Avengers under Captain America acted as the Kree delegation, but they were captured and brought to Hala as prisoners. Faced 
with local Kree Accusers and their super-team, Starforce, the Black Knight was prepared to set his energy sword on “kill,” but Captain America insisted the Avengers avoid such drastic measures. The Avengers got involved in a game of thrones as the Kree rulers were assassinated by the Shi’ar Deathbird, allowing the deposed Kree Supreme Intelligence to reclaim control of the empire.
When the Kree continued fighting even after power changed hands, the Shi’ar sent a weapon of mass destruction called the Nega-Bomb through the star gates. Despite the efforts of both the Kree and Shi’ar delegations of Avengers, the bomb detonated. Incalculable force and Negative Zone-derived radiation devastated the Kree Empire, killing a full 98% of the population. To make matters worse, the Avengers returned to Hala to search for survivors and learned the Supreme Intelligence had orchestrated the whole thing. The Intelligence was a computerized conglomerate of millions of Kree minds over the centuries and took a long view towards history. It believed the Kree were at a genetic dead end and their evolution needed a kickstart. The Supreme Intelligence used its psychic powers to seed the idea of the Nega-Bomb in Shi’ar scientists and aggravated the border skirmishes which led to the war. Yes, most of the Kree race was wiped out, but those that survived would carry the altered genetic material necessary to ensure future generations of Kree would be stronger.
After this shocking revelation was relayed to the Avengers, the Black Knight initiated a movement among the Avengers present to kill the Supreme Intelligence. A heated debate raged among the team whether the Supreme Intelligence (an organic computer) was technically alive at all and whether it deserved to be killed for the genocide of trillions regardless. With founding member Iron Man as a ringleader, the Black Knight’s allies including Hercules, Sersi, Vision, Wonder Man and the new Thor. Ignoring the cries of Captain America, Crystal and the others, Dane and the kill crew entered the Kree Citadel of Science to seek vengeance. They fought through the Intelligence’s constructed defenses and revealed the organic brain mass at its core. Some like 
Thor and Vision had begun to question whether the Supreme Intelligence was in fact a living being by this point and expressed their doubts. When faced with the legions of the dead that could be laid at the Intelligence’s feet, though, Dane Whitman felt there was no other choice. The Black Knight turned the neuro-disruptor effect of his blade to maximum and plunged it into the Supreme Intelligence’s core. The ruler of the Kree Empire was no more and the Kree became the conquered subjects of the Shi’ar. [Operation: Galactic Storm crossover]
The Avengers struggled to move on after the war. Captain America took a leave of absence after failing to gain support for a motion to bring charges against the Avengers who executed the Supreme Intelligence. [Captain America (1st series) #401] Dane had always valued Cap’s support and was weighed down with doubts over the key role he played in the execution. He was also concerned over his growing attraction to his teammate, Crystal. The Inhuman elemental was currently separated from her husband Quicksilver of X-Factor, but they were hesitantly trying to repair their marriage for the sake of their daughter, Luna. Dane didn’t want to complicate their 
family drama further, but found it harder and harder to ignore his feelings. While out drinking with Hercules, Dane and Herc encountered a woman named Marissa Darrow who appeared to be an exact doppelganger for their new foe, Magdalene. After Hercules insisted on following her, the two Avengers overheard Darrow being attacked and then she seemingly disappeared in a blast from her own apartment. [Avengers (1st series) #348-349]
Avengers Mansion became host for numerous guests as the X-Men came to warn Crystal and the visiting Quicksilver about the Acolytes, fanatical followers of Quicksilver’s father, Magneto. Xavier feared for how the Acolytes would respond to Luna, an otherwise human granddaughter of Magneto. The Black Knight deliberately avoided the summit in order to put more distance between 
himself and Crystal. He was brooding on the roof when he was found by his Eternal teammate, Sersi. An immortal with millennia of life experience, Sersi showed no regrets over their role in the Supreme Intelligence’s demise. She comforted Dane and even made advances on him to show her interest in taking their friendship further.
Lost in thought over these new developments, Dane returned to repairing the Quinjet as the summit grew to include the Starjammers. The X-Men’s sometime allies had ostensibly come to Earth to visit Binary, their former member who was recuperating at the mansion after Galactic Storm. However, Raza of the Starjammers had actually been hired by a decommissioned Kree admiral to assassinate Dane Whitman for killing the Supreme Intelligence, in exchange for information about Raza’s own long-missing son. Raza attacked the Black Knight and they fought, sword to sword, neither able to gain an advantage over the other. Unfortunately, Luna and her nanny Marilla heard the commotion and unwittingly entered the fray. Raza seized the child, forcing 
Dane to drop his guard and charge the Starjammer to save her. The Black Knight was impaled on Raza’s blade and barely survived the surgery that followed. Raza’s dilemma was uncovered and Dane recovered to accept his apology and warning that the Kree would not forgive his actions. Inadvertently, Dane found afterwards that his heroic actions had raised his standing in the eyes of Crystal, despite his best efforts to avoid her attention. [Avengers (1st series) #350-351]
In Captain America’s absence, the Black Widow rose in his place to become chairwoman. However, the Black Knight started to distinguish himself more as the team’s field leader, leading the charge and acting as tactician coordinating the team as a unit. [Avengers (1st series) #352-354] After deducing that the ambush and sabotage caused by the Gatherers meant their foes were somehow secretly accessing the mansion, Dane and the Vision constructed the means to detect and counter their cloaking. The Avengers confronted the Gatherers the next time they breached the mansion’s security, with the conflict spilling over to distant Wakanda. The Gatherers wanted to eliminate the Black Panther, who was an exact doppelganger of their latest recruit, the Coal Tiger. Adding Marissa Darrow and the original Swordsman to the picture and it seemed the 
Gatherers were alternate reality counterparts to people who existed on this Earth. To exist safely (and sanely) in a new universe, the doppelganger must “Gather” the original onto themselves, eliminating the template so the Gatherer survives. The Panther lived as the Tiger died and the Avengers also caught the Swordsman before he could be teleported to safety with the other Gatherers, netting themselves a prisoner.
The Avengers tried to gather intelligence from the Swordsman’s clouded memories of his home reality and the Gatherers’ mysterious patron, Proctor. Meanwhile, Crystal approached Black Knight about the growing distance between them, but Dane still couldn’t express the true reasons for their issues. Sersi continued her pursuit of the Black Knight and he accepted her affections as a 
distraction from his feelings for Crystal. Matters became more complicated when Sersi bared her soul and revealed her time with Dane wasn’t just another of her many dalliances with mortals over the centuries, but that she was developing true feelings for him. Dane attempted to return Sersi’s love, but couldn’t shake his feelings for Crystal either. [Avengers (1st series) #355-357]