Warning: major spoilers for Judgment Day #6 aheadMarvel Comic’s biggest crossover event in years, the critically acclaimed and already iconic Judgment Day, recently ended with the Earth being saved in Judgment Day #6, partially accomplished by the sacrifice of classic Eternals hero, Sersi.
The Judgment Day event began with The Eternals, as Druig launched a brutal assault on the X-Men of Arakko and Krakoa after being named Prime Eternal, so it is only appropriate that the event ended with the heartbreaking sacrifice of one of the Eternals’ most beloved heroes. Sersi, who has gained increased popularity since the character’s starring role in 2021’s Eternals movie played by Gemma Chan, so the decision to have the popular character killed without the ability to return is certainly an interesting move for Marvel to make.
The Judgment Day event saw a group of religious Eternals, Tony Stark, and Mister Sinister resurrecting the deceased Celestial Progenitor in an attempt to have the God stop Druig’s assault on mutantkind, only for the Progenitor to immediately turn on the planet Earth. The Progenitor judged the world’s heroes, villains, and citizens and found them unworthy, beginning a horrific apocalypse that slaughtered billions of people and threatened to destroy the planet itself, with Earth’s collected heroes unable to stop it. Finally, a ragtag group of Avengers, Eternals, and X-Men went on a Celestial strikeforce mission within the Progenitor itself in an attempt to stop the cosmic being from the inside. While Nightcrawler, Captain America, and Eros worked in excess to stave off the Progenitor’s destruction of Earth, the collaborative infiltration team were able to bypass the Progenitor’s “firewalls” during Judgment Day #6 – written by event architect Kieron Gillen with art by Valerio Schiti and Ivan Fiorelli – all while being tortuously judged by the Celestial, which is where the powerful Eternal Sersi finally took accountability for the Eternals’ greatest sin and secret, which led directly to her tragic demise.
Sersi’s Sacrifice Inspired Necessary Change.
As the A.X.E. team entered the Progenitor’s core the X-Men immediately attempted to kill the being, with Jean Grey using an awesome Psylocke/Wolverine psychic move, but the Progenitor quickly dispatched the powerful mutant and said their attack proved their unworthiness. Clearly, the team needed to change tactics, so Sersi did what she had been putting off for years, and in Judgment Day’s finale, revealed to all of Earth the Eternals’ biggest secret. Every time an Eternal dies and is resurrected, a human is killed to power their revival. Sersi has lied, manipulated, and hurt her loved ones and the people she was meant to protect by preventing this truth from coming out, so her choice to come clean about the Eternals’ darkest secret and leave her judgment up to the people of Earth was huge for her, especially since Eternals are known for being perpetually unable to change their behavior or ways of thinking. Unfortunately, the people of Earth judged Sersi unworthy because of her sins against them, so the Progenitor killed the Eternal without a second thought, however her untimely death was not in vain. Sersi’s vulnerability inspired Ajak, Jean, and Tony to find new ways to convince the Progenitor of its unworthiness, and its inherent inability to judge anyone. The Celestial decided that the heroes were right, it was not worthy of judging, so used its vast powers to restore almost everything back to normal, yet not resurrecting Sersi since she was judged by the people of Earth, and not the Progenitor.
The Progenitor also bestowed Celestial-like power upon Ajak, turning her into the Eternals’ new God, with the newly created Ajak Celestia building a statue to Sersi stating, “She brought a chance of redemption for our fallen people,” a powerful message honoring the life, truth, and sacrifice of one of Earth’s most powerful heroes.
Judgment Day #6 is available now in stores!
