Season 4: Heart of the Dragon/Lore

Overview[]

This page will provide a condensed version of the story-line told for Season 4: Heart of the Dragon through Events, Gallery Cards, and Hero Stories. Some of the lore texts may be broken up into parts in order to put the story chronologically. Side-Stories are events which are not directly related to the rest of the storyline and/or could take place at any point during the season.

Main Storyline[]

Background[]

The Heart of Heaven is located in the Collapsing Timeline, where gods and demons are locked in an endless war. The Timestream Entanglement led to the convergence of the Seven Capital Cities into the Heart of Heaven as well as the disappearance of most of the Immortal Weapons. The Prince of Orphans, one of the Immortal Weapons, found Laussa abandoned in K'un-Lun, who Lin Lie would then take care of once The Prince of Orphans too vanished.

Her Sister's Keeper [Angela Hero Story #1][]

Angela, the daughter of Odin, was stolen from Asgard as an infant and thought dead by her royal family. She was secretly raised as an Angel in Heven, the secret Tenth Realm which had been removed from the World Tree by Odin as retribution for the Queen of Heven's affronts upon the other realms.

Angela's baby sister, Laussa, was taken by the Dísir, undead Valkyries devoted to Hela. As she went to chase them, the Timestream Entanglement struck and swept up Heven, leaving it in the Collapsing Timeline. The conflict in this timeline led to the demise of many angels, including the Queen of Heven, leaving Angela as the new queen. During her time on the battlefield, Angela met Magik, who was able to return Angela to her original timeline to look for Laussa. Angela ventured across the Nine Realms until she reached Svartalfheim where she learned the Dark Elf King, Malekith, was visited by Hela not long ago. She defeats him in battle and he tells her Hela wanted to use Laussa's abilities to manipulate Nidhogg the Black Dragon. Angela goes to the base of the World Tree to find Nidhogg but it is nowhere to be seen, instead finding Munnin, one of Odin's ravens, who tells her about Hela's time on Klyntar and that she fled after her scheme failed. Angela assumes Hela returned to her own realm of Niffelheim (aka Hel). She reaches Niffleheim's Shore of Corpses, where some of the most dangerous souls in Hel wander, and finds the soul of the previous Iron Fist, Danny Rand, who she does not know. Danny tells Angela that Hela is in K'un-Lun before he is escorted to Valhalla. When she arrives in K'un-Lun she finds the current Iron Fist, Lin Lie. She notices the scent of Laussa on his garments and attacks him.

Inner Devil [Gallery Card #5] (Part 1)[]

Matt Murdock spent his days protecting those who could not protect themselves, both as a lawyer and as Daredevil. As the war between gods and demons raged on, he sought a way to continue to protect innocents. Daredevil ventures into Hell to claim the power of the demon lord of The Hand, the Beast. He defeats the Beast, which releases the captive spirit Yinglong, who offers to help Daredevil absorb the Beast's power if he becomes Yinglong's new champion to help restore the Eighth City to its true glory.

Let The Sleeping Dragon Lie [Gallery Card #1][]

For eons, Shou-Lao has watched over K'un-Lun and granted some of his power to his Immortal Weapons, the Iron Fists. The Timestream Entanglement led to the fusing of the Seven Capital Cities to form the Heart of Heaven as well as freezing Shou-Lao in time. While the Iron Fist (Lin Lie) was away protecting other realms, Doctor Doom seized the opportunity to invade and gain the chi from Shou-Lao's heart, the source of the Iron Fists' powers, which had also been infused with chronal energy.

Angel and Devil [Gallery Card #2][]

Dizang comes to speak to Shou-Lao, but finds him frozen in time. He reminds Shou-Lao there are not Seven, but Eight Capital Cities. The Eight City has often been excluded as the realm was used as a prison for criminals and monsters, but Dizang has worked to reform the Eighth City into a refuge for those escaping the war between of the gods in their timeline. However, while speaking to Shou-Lao, Angela arrives, and attempts to attack Dizang. Angela is angry that he is offering sanctuary to Hela, but he says everyone deserves a second chance, including Laussa, who he says he can reunite Angela with if they survive the upcoming battles.

Road to The Heart of Heaven [K'un-Lun Cinematics][]

With the help of the other heroes, Iron Fist uses an ancient rite inscribed in The Tablet of Iron Fist to awaken Shou-Lao from his slumber.

The Lies of Lin Lie [Gallery Card #3] / Crossing The Sea of Stars [Iron Fist Hero Story #2][]

Due to the awakening of Shou-Lao, Doctor Doom decides to change his plan. To become the Iron Fist, one must complete the Shenloong Trial and defeat Shou-Lao in combat. However, Doom learned that Lin Lie did not complete this trial and was instead gifted the power when he was gravely injured. Rather than fight Shou-Lao and all the heroes, Doom challenges Shou-Lao to a proper trial since the current Iron Fist did not earn his power legitimately. Shou-Lao invokes an ancient law which Doom was unaware of which states that if the title of an Immortal Weapon is challenged when the Cities of Heaven have converged, each city gets to send their Immortal Weapon to compete in a tournament for the title. Doom decides that rather than fight himself, he would send a champion of his own. Lin Lie is angry that Shou-Lao is going along with the tournament but relents that he must follow the ancient traditions and this would allow him to truly prove himself worthy of the title of Iron Fist.

All-New Immortal Weapons [Gallery Card #4] / Scroll of Immortal Beasts [Season Event][]

The tournament allows an Immortal Weapon for each city to compete, but all of the Immortal Weapons besides Iron Fist were lost in the timestream, so new champions must be chosen for the tournament. The picks include the following:

Shou-Lao of K'un-Lun chooses Iron Fist
Xiezhi of Z'Gambo chooses Storm (who defeated Black Panther)
Baihu (the White Tiger) of Tiger Island chooses Angela
Xuanwu (the Black Tortoise) of Peng Lai chooses Groot
Shan-Zhizhu (the Mountain Spider) of the Spider-Kingdom chooses Black Widow
Huodou of Under City chooses Wolverine
Zhuque (the Vermilion Bird) of K'un-Zi chooses Loki
Yinglong of the Eighth City chooses Dizang, aka Daredevil

Destined For Doom [Loki Hero Story #2][]

Doctor Doom makes a bargin with Loki, saying that if he can secure a place in the tournament, Doom will help him defeat all of his opponents if he gives over the grand prize, the Chi of Shou-Lao, once he wins. In return, Doom will give Loki one of a Phoenix Feather, which combined with a canvas made from sap from the World Tree and the right ink, could allow Loki to rewrite his own destiny. Doom decided he would find a way to remove Invisible Woman and Loki would go to convince the Crane Mother, Zhuque, to choose him as her replacement. Loki claims he will give Zhuque a Phoenix Feather to show his thanks, presenting her with a fake, which she falls for and makes him her champion.

Inner Devil [Gallery Card #5] (Part 2)[]

Daredevil joins the tournament with an ulterior motive. Yinglong told him that they can end the endless war if they can obtain the Sword of Fu Xi, which can free his master, Chiyou, an ancient god who can restore balance to the universe. However, the sword is broken and the fragments were absorbed into the arms of Lin Lie, and Daredvil does not expect him to give it up without a fight.

The Long Road Back [Daredevil Hero Story #1][]

Spider-Man comes to talk to Daredevil to ask how he ended up as leader of the Eighth City and gained his new powers. He tells Spider-Man how in his timeline, the Collapsing Timeline, the Timestream Entanglement led to a war between ancient deities. This included The Beast, a demonic overlord which was worshiped by The Hand, a clan of ninjas Matt has fought many times over the years. Along the way in his fight against The Hand, many of his friends perished, including his timeline's Spider-Man. Matt decided to venture into Hell to face The Beast, defeating it and claiming its power as his own. However, in Hell he saw millions more primordial horrors, and learned the war wasn't even close to over. The Beast had imprisoned a divine spirit named Yinglong, who offered to help Matt control The Beast's power, bringing him to the Eighth City. In return, he wanted Matt to obtain the Sword of Fu Xi and unseal the tomb of Chiyou, who he claimed could end all wars in every timeline. Matt is of course skeptical of this claim, especially since the Sword of Fu Xi is currently embedded in the arms of Lin Lie, and now he must decide if he will betray Lin Lie and the heroes, or betray Chiyou.

Raising The Stakes [Gallery Card #6][]

The Grandmaster sends a letter to Shou-Lao, thanking him for delaying the upcoming tournament. He says he would have been unable to attend the tournament due to events that took place at one of the Collector's facilities. The Grandmaster says he has his own game planned soon and was worried the player he selected may not be able to participate due to injuries in Shou-Lao's tournament, but it seems to have worked out for him in the end.