Start confessing. You have a lot to write up...And nothing but time. There are no doors in the prison I've placed you in...And I'll be watching, Feilong. Perhaps with a heartfelt confession and offers of restitution, you might regain your humanity. Your future is unwritten and you are the author, Feilong. 
Appearing in "End of the Line"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- War Machine (Jim Rhodes)
- Jen Walters
- Feilong (Kevin Heng)
- Emma Frost (Main story and flashback) (As "Hazel Kendall" in flashback)
- Ironheart (Riri Williams)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Unnamed federal judge
- Orchis (Mentioned)
- Chet (First appearance)
- Portland Police Bureau
- Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange) (Mentioned)
- Bats (Ghost, soul or spirit)
- Stepford Cuckoos (Photo)
- Esme Cuckoo (Photo)
- Celeste Cuckoo (Photo)
- Sophie Cuckoo (Photo)
- Phoebe Cuckoo (Photo)
- Mindee Cuckoo (Photo)
- Hellfire Club (Mentioned in narration)
- Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) (Mentioned in narration)
- Minotaur (Dario Agger) (Cameo)
- Tombstone (Lonnie Lincoln) (Cameo)
- Sons of the Serpent (Cameo)
- Korean People's Army (Cameo)
- Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom) (Cameo)
- A.I.M. (Cameo)
- Yakuza (Cameo)
- Avengers (Mentioned in narration)
- West Coast Avengers (Mentioned in narration)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- Pacific Ocean
- Krakoa (Mentioned in narration)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
- Manhattan (Main story and flashback)
- Washington Square Park
- Upper East Side
- Hellfire Club (Ruins)
- Seneca Gardens
- The Treehouse (Ruins)
- Civic Center
- Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse
- Pensiero (First appearance)
- Greenwich Village
- Midtown Manhattan
- Financial District (Only in flashback)
- Wall Street (Only in flashback)
- New York Stock Exchange (Only in flashback)
- Wall Street (Only in flashback)
- Manhattan (Main story and flashback)
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
- Oregon
- Portland
- Powell's City of Books (First appearance)
- Portland
- California
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- Soviet Union (Mentioned)
- Russia (Mentioned)
- North Korea
- Latveria
- Japan
- Pacific Ocean
- Mars/Arakko
Items:
- Iron Man Armor
- The Assembling of Tony Stark (First appearance)
- Crimson Dynamo Armor Mark V
- Ironheart Armor Model 3
- Stark Sentinel (Head)
- Mandarin's Rings (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "End of the Line"
While reflecting on the disappearance of Krakoa, the fall of Orchis and the demolition of the burnt-down Hellfire Club, Iron Man arrives at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, where Jim Rhodes' case is dismissed by a federal judge. As the court is adjourned, Jen Walters informs Tony that she is almost finished with his marriage annulment. Tony leaves telling her to hold off on it. Rhodey changes the topic, wondering what happened to Feilong. On Mars, Feilong is imprisoned by Stark in a dome-shaped cell impervious to his blasts, monitored by a remotely-controlled classic Iron Man suit. Tony pays him a visit, holographically projecting his face on the armor. Feilong sits down as they play chess, the villain jeeringly having used a copy of Tony's autobiography that Stark gave him as a shim for his wobbly table. Tony argues against Feilong's request to face the justice system, recognizing it favors rich and influential people like themselves. Feilong understands the terms of his defeat. Before ending the call, Stark expresses his belief in redemption, handing Feilong a notepad and pen to confess and offer restitution.
Iron Man subsequently flies to Portland to begin his book tour at Powell's City of Books, where eager fans wait outside, some in costume. Tony steps out of his armor as the manager, Chet, walks him to a signing table, commending his book, The Assembling of Tony Stark. He unwittingly tips Tony off, commenting that one of the people in line has a Crimson Dynamo costume made of actual metal. Before Tony can retrieve his armor outside, the apparent cosplayer bursts into the store, revealing himself as an actual Crimson Dynamo, Valentin Shatalov, accusing Tony of besmirching the Soviet Union in his book. Stark takes off his watch and tosses it at his attacker, briefly stunning him with an electric discharge. Suiting up, Tony trades attacks with Crimson Dynamo onto the streets. Being thrown back into the store, Shatalov fires an energy beam from his chest, igniting a stack of copies of the book and causing a small fire. Tony shoots at Dynamo with a gunk that hardens into an amber-like substance, immobilizing him. The fire is put away as it rains by the time the police tow the villain away. Tony takes off after offering a dejected Chet to buy the damaged copies of the book.
Back in New York, Tony rushes to the restaurant Pensiero for a date with Emma Frost, who is already at their table. Stark argues for them to stay together, but she explains that she needs to be alone for a while, albeit cherishing their time together. When Tony reaches out to Emma, she disappears, revealing she had been a telepathic projection all along. She apologizes telepathically as the waiter hands over an envelope on her behalf, which Tony opens to reveal a check for a fortune. Sitting on a park bench nearby, Frost wipes tears from her eyes and walks away. Before leaving, Emma asks for one favor with the money. In exchange, Tony asks one favor of Emma. Frost subsequently knocks on the door of the Sanctum Sanctorum, greeted by Doctor Strange's ghost dog Bats, who gives Emma the Stepford Cuckoos' memory book. She cuddles the book and later makes her way out through Grand Central Station. At dusk, Iron Man works with Ironheart to mount a wooden ring at the foot of the X-Men's former headquarters in the burned-down Treehouse. They turn it on to display a message in the center of the ring, a memorial for Orchis' victims. Expressing his pride in Riri and his gratitude for her help against Orchis, Tony turns on a lantern on each side of the ring. They take off, and before parting ways, Tony offers Riri to join him on the West Coast.
On the west side of Los Angeles, Tony meets Rhodey at an airstrip he purchased using Emma's money, where he has decided to recreate the "happy place" Emma once projected into his mind to comfort him during a panic attack. As they set out to begin their new enterprise, Tony reflects on how fortunate it is that Emma gave him from the coffers of the Hellfire Club, keeping it away from the hands of the Kingpin. His narration reveals that he would later find out that Emma used her powers to manipulate the stock market, rebuilding Tony's fortune by funneling resources from numerous super villain ventures. Later, Stark and Rhodes play on a basketball court, suited up and using a ball of pure metal in a game Tony dubs "Ton Ball." After Rhodey accidentally sends the ball into Tony's car, Iron Man receives a mayday call from a launched rocket. Iron Man and War Machine fly to intercept the falling craft. In his narration, Tony admits that he and Rhodey are not simply idling around; they are putting together a new West Coast Avengers.
Solicit Synopsis
THE WAR IS OVER.
• The war with Orchis is over.
• What does the future hold for Tony and Emma Frost?Notes
- This issue marks the ending of Gerry Duggan's two-year run as writer of Iron Man.
- Like most Marvel comic books released on July 2024, this comic opens with a tribute to Ray Chan, a production designer for Marvel Studios who had died on April 23 at 56 years of age.
- In the opening of the issue, Tony Stark's narration reflects on the disappearance of Krakoa, the fall of Orchis and the fire of the Hellfire Club, these events happened in X-Men (Vol. 6) #35, Fall of the House of X #5 and Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #15, respectively.
- As Jim Rhodes' case is dismissed by a federal judge, Tony's narration recaps that he was framed and imprisoned. This happened in issue #7.
- This issue marks the first appearance of Valentin Shalatov since 1995's Iron Man #317.
- In his narration, Tony recalls retrieving Emma Frost's memory book from Krakoa. This happened in issue #11.
- With Ironheart's help, Tony mounts a memorial at the foot of the burned-down Treehouse. This place became the X-Men's headquarters in X-Men (Vol. 6) #1, and it was burned down by Grant Rogers in X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 #1.
- Tony's narration recalls when Emma once used her powers to calm him down from a panic attack by mentally taking him to his "happy place," which was a Sark Industries hangar. This happened in issue #9.
- In his narration, Tony expresses gratitude that Emma gave him what he believed to be the coffers of the Hellfire Club since that kept them from the Kingpin's hands. Emma signed off her fortune to the Kingpin to keep it from Orchis in issue #8, and the details of their contract were revealed in X-Men (Vol. 6) #26.
- One of the villains Emma Frost steals from is Dario Agger, the CEO of Roxxon. This places the events of this issue chronologically before May's Immortal Thor #10, since Agger dies in that comic.
- A soldier commenting on Emma's theft is wearing a military uniform from North Korea, but it is colored blue instead of green.
Trivia
- As he reflects the demolition of the burnt-down Hellfire Club, Tony Stark remarks that "things in the mutant orbit do tend to rise like phoenixes," a reference to the X-Men's recurring involvement with the Phoenix Force.
- When Jen Walters asks Tony about making money off his autobiography, Stark mentions that his publisher warned him that "people are kind of 'super hero'ed out'." This is a reference to the box-office collapse of super hero movies in 2023.
- For the beginning of his book tour, Tony visits the real-life location of Powell's City of Books, which is the headquarters of the Portlander bookstore chain Powell's Books.
- When Ironheart points out the Stark Sentinel head that Tony places at the Treehouse, Tony remarks that "war is hell," evoking the phrase attributed American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman.