Time. Space. Universes. The shape of all things. The shape of God. The Concordance Engine is a map of everything. 
Concordance Engines are devices created by the Beyonders (also known as Omegas) to manage the Multiverse.[7][8] They can alter reality, space, and time; grant wishes; and act as a gateway to the Multiverse.[10]
The Engines come from the Outside in the "Engine Room" of creation.[7][8] The Beyonders also placed various Concordance Engines on Earth.[6][11] These Engines are guarded by Beyonder sentries known as "Presters," such as Prester John and Prester Omega.[3]
History
The Concordance Engines were created by the Beyonders to aid in their task of shaping and maintaining the Multiverse, and they seem to produce and/or utilize the Enigma Force.[7][8] The Beyonders power them from higher planes such as the White Hot Room.[7]
When the First Firmament sent its Aspirants to invade the Multiverse,[12] the Beyonders placed the Engines on the planet Earth to draw miracles to the planet and create the conditions for the extraordinary heroes that might defend their realities from being destroyed by these "Death Celestials."[13]
The Engines have been on the planet since at least the time of Pangaea.[9] To protect them, they each have their own "Prester" guardian, and they also concealed themselves from history and from the minds of anyone trying to reveal their existence.[6][14] One was hidden beneath the Wundagore Mountain, guarded by Prester Omega.[3] Another one was at the North Pole with an unnamed Prester.[15] Prester John also had one, but he lost it at some point.[16]
After the Prince of Orphans (John Aman) and his companions discovered the Engine in the North Pole,[2] it revealed to them its purpose.[11] They decided to protect these Engines and incorporated one into the engine room of the Nautilus, the ship of Captain Nemo,[9] that Aman and his group were using to travel the world in.[2] However, the Confederates of the Curious also found out about the Concordance Engines and the two groups fought over one of them in Z'Gambo.[1] Aman survived and later hid one of the Engines as King Solomon's Frogs; he vowed to defend them at all costs, even if it meant eliminating those who pry.[17]
When the Defenders assembled to take down Nul, who was heading to Wundagore Mountain, they were unexpectedly captured by Prester John. He showed them the Concordance Engine guarded by his "brother" Prester Omega, explained that Nul was after the Concordance Engine, and revealed his plan to leave the universe for a better one by letting Nul destroy the Engine, which would also cause the end of the universe they were currently in. However, Prester Omega destroyed Nul. The Defenders then stole the Engine and the Prester along with it.[18] Strange accidentally brought Martha back to life using it.[6]
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Soon after, Namor found an underwater tomb with a carving shaped like a Concordance Engine. Inside was the sunken Nautilus, with a deceased Captain Nemo and a Concordance Engine still inside. The Rand Corporation salvaged it.[9] However, this alerted the Prince of Orphans, who began killing the Immortal Weapons as he mistakenly believed they were with Rand in messing with the Engines. After going through the diaries of the Confederates of the Curious, he learned about the fight at Z'Gambo over another Engine.[1] Aman had disguised this Engine as three frogs and used it to send the Defenders away in both space and time, to another reality.[2]
When the Defenders returned thanks to Prester Omega,[14] they discovered that their world was being destroyed by a Death Celestial. The Silver Surfer got separated from them and was brought into "Heaven" by the Beyonders calling themselves the Omega Council. He was told about the conflict between the Omegas and the Death Celestials, about the Engine's purpose as weapons against the Death Celestials, and how Earth was being used as an armory for the miraculous heroes to stand against them. Meanwhile, John Aman used his dying breath to tell the other Defenders the same thing and that the Death Celestial was attacking because of their meddling with the Engines. When the Silver Surfer returned and reiterated that this was their fault, Doctor Strange went to the past to stop himself from finding the Concordance Engines, diverging the timeline, while everything died. In the other timeline, the Engines remained undisturbed so the Death Celestials did not attack it.[13]
When the Beyonders foresaw a threat to the Multiverse (the Seventh Cosmos at the time), they attempted to avert it by destroying the Multiverse themselves. However, the new Eighth Cosmos ended up a direct continuation of the previous one with the same looming threat, so the Beyonders decided to contain the threat to a few narrow realities with their Concordance Engines.[7]
Capabilities[]
You see, it...it prevents one from speaking of it, while one isn't nearby the thing. [...] This machine has...somehow displaced us not just in time but in...well, space. Of a sort.
_and_Martha_(Earth-11127)_from_Defenders_Vol_4_4_001.jpg){kind=link}
Resurrecting the dead
Concordance Engines are virtually omnipotent. An Engine reacted to Doctor Strange's wandering thoughts about his old dead flame Martha, which caused her to spontaneously come back to life. Strange believed it to be a "wishing machine" after this.[6]
They map the Multiverse and can be used to travel across space, time, and realities.[16][19] Hitting an Engine unleashes a reality distortion wave.[20] The Engines can erase things from existence and recontextualize them for other universes. The Engines located on Earth draw miracles from the Multiverse to implement on Earth. They make time move differently and they change physics and science to serve their needs.[11] Breaking an Engine rips a hole in space and time and it leads to the destruction of the universe,[3] although it is not clear if the cause of death is by this hole specifically or if it leads to the Death Celestials coming to dissolve the universe from conception.[11]
These Engines hide themselves and prevent people from discussing them, unless near the Engines.[21][14][5]Notes
- It is implied that the Concordance Engines are responsible for the sliding timescale.[11]
- It is also implied that the Engines are behind the convenient happenstances and connections that are found in comics and that they are why people do not remember phenomenal figures or events from the past unless it is brought up in the present (retroactive continuity).[1]
Trivia
Prester John's Concordance Engine from FF #54
- The Concordance Engine debuted in Fantastic Four #54 along with Prester John, but at the time, it was nothing more than a funny-looking contraption.
See Also
- 11 appearance(s) of Concordance Engine
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Concordance Engine
- 3 minor appearance(s) of Concordance Engine
- 1 mention(s) of Concordance Engine
- 16 image(s) of Concordance Engine
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Defenders (Vol. 4) #6
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Defenders (Vol. 4) #8
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Defenders (Vol. 4) #2
- ↑ Defenders (Vol. 4) #3
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Defenders (Vol. 4) #12
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Defenders (Vol. 4) #4
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Defenders: Beyond #2
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Venom (Vol. 5) #18
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Defenders (Vol. 4) #5
- ↑ Defenders (Vol. 4) #2–4
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Defenders (Vol. 4) #11
- ↑ Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #6
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Defenders (Vol. 4) #10–12
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Defenders (Vol. 4) #9
- ↑ Defenders (Vol. 4) #7
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Defenders (Vol. 4) #2–3
- ↑ Defenders (Vol. 4) #6–8
- ↑ Defenders (Vol. 4) #1–3
- ↑ Defenders (Vol. 4) #8–9
- ↑ Defenders (Vol. 4) #3–4
- ↑ Defenders (Vol. 4) #6–7