EE'RATH
Type:
Alternate Earth;
Core Continuum Designation: Earth-148
Environment: Glaciated planet lit by light from a red sun (formerly Earth-like)
Usual means of access: Magic, Vibrational attunement
Dominant Life Form: Humans (pink or orange skinned)
Population: Unrevealed
Significant Inhabitants: Excalibur (Yeoman UK, Black Knight, Spider-Man, Thor - all deceased), Kylun (Colin McKay who grew up on Earth-616), Necrom (deceased), Princess Sa'tneen (deceased), Queen Ai'sha (deceased), Zz'ria (deceased)
First Appearance: (Unidentified) Excalibur I#1 (October, 1988)
(identified as Ee'rath): Excalibur I#42 (October, 1991)
(identified as Earth-148): Excalibur I#44 (Late November, 1991)
History: (Excalibur I#42 (fb) - BTS) - Ee'rath is an alternate Earth which exists in a dimension where "time flows more quickly than in our reality." As a result, Ee'rath, its solar system and everything within the Earth-148 dimension are (at least) five billion years older than their counterparts in the Earth-616 dimension. Ee'rath is an ancient, icy world orbiting a Sun which has exhausted all the hydrogen in its core and expanded to become a red giant.
(Excalibur I#50 (fb)) - Long ago, the other-dimensional Sorcerer Supreme Necrom and his students Merlyn and Feron traveled to Earth-616 (considered by Merlyn to be the "Prime Earth") as part of Necrom's plan to create a permanent energy matrix by aligning a series of dimensional interfaces across the Multiverse. The interface on Earth-616 was "marked with a tower...erected to an elder god by a race that was ancient when Atlantis was young." At the moment of alignment, Feron called upon the celestial elemental now known as the Phoenix to project the essence of the tower through the Multiverse, thereby causing the tower to exist on every plane of reality simultaneously. On Ee'rath this tower came to be known as the Tower That Crosses Time.
(Excalibur I#46 (fb) - BTS) - "Twenty thousand years" ago was the last time that anyone (supposedly) set foot within the Tower That Crosses Time.
(Conjecture) - As time passed, the Chamber of Infinity was built up around the tower until both eventually ended up below ground level.
(Excalibur I#43 (fb) - BTS) - Sometime in the past, a mighty "Sorceress Sisterhood" was established on Ee'rath.
(Excalibur I#43 (fb) - BTS/Excalibur I#46 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in the past, someone became the ruler of Ee'rath and founded a dynasty whose family name has never been revealed. After ruling for an unspecified number of generations, the last member of the dynasty to ascend to the throne was Queen Ai'sha.
(Excalibur I#46 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in the past, four heroic guardians of Ee'rath (Yeoman UK, Black Knight, Spider-Man and Thor) banded together as the team known as Excalibur.
(Excalibur I#46 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in the past, Queen Ai'sha gave birth to her only (known) child, a daughter she named Sa'tneen.
(?) - Necrom arrived on Ee'rath, took possession of the Tower That Crosses Time and gathered an army with which he challenged the monarchy of Queen Ai'sha. Necrom's forces prevailed and the queen was dethroned (presumably by being forced to abdicate).
(Excalibur I#1/Excalibur I#46 (fb) - BTS) - In Brian Braddock's lighthouse on Earth-616, Nightcrawler stepped through a door leading down to storage cellars in the basement and found himself in the Chamber of Infinity on Ee'rath during a ceremony that was part of Queen Ai'sha's dethronement by Necrom. When two armed natives reacted with hostility, Nightcrawler teleported away (appearing in the kitchen of the lighthouse). From the viewpoint of the people of Ee'rath, a "blue demon" had emerged from the Tower That Crosses Time, spat out an alien curse and vanished in a burst of flaming brimstone. This event was remembered in legend as an omen that heralded the enslavement of Ee'rath.
(Excalibur I#46 (fb) - BTS) - For some reason, instead of executing them, Necrom exiled the dethroned queen to an unspecified part of Ee'rath. Queen Ai'sha, her daughter Princess Sa'tneen, and Ai'sha's counselor, the mystic Zz'ria, were joined by in their exile by thousands of royal supporters.
(Excalibur I#45-46 (fb) - BTS) - The four members of Excalibur tried to end Necrom's reign of terror but they failed and were killed by Necrom when they refused to deny their heroic ideal. Necrom had their bodies buried beneath the floor of the Chamber of Infinity but kept their deaths a secret for "decades" so as to allow the people of Ee'rath to believe that Excalibur had betrayed them.
(Excalibur I#2/Excalibur I#46 (fb)) - Colin McKay, a seven-year-old mutant boy from Edinburgh, Scotland on Earth-616 was kidnapped on the orders of the crime queen Vixen but managed to escape from her men and hide in the derelict Gateways Technologies factory on the shore of Loch Daemon. Widget appeared and befriended Colin and they played together until the Vixen's men tracked Colin to the factory. Widget responded to Colin being in danger by creating an interdimensional doorway through which Colin escaped.
(Excalibur I#46 (fb)) - After passing through the doorway, Colin found himself standing on the ice plains of Ee'rath where he soon encountered some of the locals. Believing that his arrival was a good omen, these natives took Colin to the exiled royal household and presented him to Queen Ai'sha. As Princess Sa'tneen watched from behind her mother's throne, the queen placed "Kylun" in the care of Zz'ria.
(Excalibur I#46 (fb)) - For more than twenty (local) years, Kylun was trained to be a warrior by Zz'ria. During that time, Kylun's appearance changed significantly, and he and Sa'tneen fell in love. And then, when Kylun came of age, he pledged his heart to Sa'tneen as her mother, Zz'ria and others of the royal court looked on happily.
(Excalibur I#46 (fb)) - Sometime later, Necrom, having become fearful of the growing strength of Queen Ai'sha's army, had his forces launch a cowardly (surprise?) attack on the settlement where the exiles lived. Queen Ai'sha, Zz'ria and thousands of royal supporters were killed in the massacre, Kylun was badly wounded and left for dead, and hundreds of others, including Princess Sa'tneen, were taken captive and imprisoned.
(Excalibur I#43 (fb) - BTS) - Princess Sa'tneen was held prisoner in an undisclosed location for an unspecified period of time. During her imprisonment, Sa'tneen somehow learned of Necrom's true goals and the threat that his plans posed to all of creation.
(Excalibur I#42) - A Druid serving Necrom burned the homes in a small village and demanded that the villagers follow him to Necrom or die. Before they could respond, the Druid was confronted by Kylun and tried to kill him but was slain himself instead, impaled by one of Kylun's knives. When Kylun identified himself, the grateful villagers eagerly joined him in his quest for freedom and the defeat of the tyrant Necrom, and Kylun promised that Excalibur would pay for the devastation they had unleashed on the world.
(Excalibur I#43) - Two of Necrom's Druid acolytes and their armored retinue were transporting the mystically-shackled Princess Sa'tneen across the frozen wastelands to be sacrificed on Necrom's bloody altar when they were ambushed by a rebel horde led by Kylun. The Druids and their guards were quickly slain, Sa'tneen was rescued and reunited with her beloved, Kylun, and the rebels cheered when they kissed. Sa'tneen warned Kylun that Necrom was soon to attempt a "sorcerous coup that threatened all of creation."
(Excalibur I#44) - The rebellion against Necrom continued as the oppressed people of Ee'rath rose to challenge the massed forces of the evil tyrant. Wherever the battle was thickest, the people's champion, Kylun, and their princess, Sa'tneen, could be found fighting side-by-side.
(Excalibur I#45) - The rebel forces reached the Dark Citadel that was Necrom's last stronghold and overcame the resistance from the remnants of Necrom's once-mighty army. As Necrom retreated to the Chamber of Infinity which held the Tower That Crosses Time, Kylun and Sa'tneen led the chase down after him but they were separated from the other rebels following close behind when a door dropped down behind them, trapping them in the Chamber of Infinity with Necrom and his slave creature. As Kylun confronted Necrom, the sorcerer reminded him how he had rallied the rebels with his promise to kill Necrom and "those you called traitor, the guardians of Ee'rath, Excalibur." Necrom then revealed that Excalibur had never betrayed Ee'rath and that he had killed them when they refused to deny their heroic ideal. Necrom then caused the corpses of Excalibur to rise from the ground within the chamber and stated that they were now going to kill Kylun and Sa'tneen.
(Excalibur I#46) - Kylun and Sa'tneen battled the cadaverous Excalibur until the witch princess realized that the zombies were only mindless shells animated by Necrom's will (and not obedient slaves) so she dropped her guard to attack Necrom directly. Necrom managed to erect a defensive shield, but his concentration was broken, and the Excalibur zombies crumbled to dust. Necrom then unleashed the full force of his sorcerous might against Sa'tneen and mortally injured her, but Kylun responded by throwing one of his mystic swords and impaling Necrom. Kylun held Sa'tneen as she died and then realized that Necrom was still alive. Assisted by his slave creature, Necrom fled into the Tower That Crosses Time with Kylun following close behind. Necrom and his slave creature quickly climbed the internal staircase, opened a door, passed through the doorway, slammed the door shut behind them and...
(Excalibur I#43 - BTS/Excalibur I#46 (fb) - BTS) - Necrom and his slave creature materialized in the bathroom of the Excalibur lighthouse on Earth-616, transformed into energy and blasted out through the window. Technet member Bodybag was in the bathroom at the time and witnessed their arrival and departure, but Kitty Pryde and the rest of Excalibur either disbelieved him or dismissed the event as one of the unusual phenomena that plagued their lives.
(Excalibur I#46) - Following Necrom, Kylun crashed through the closed door only seconds later and found himself facing Nightcrawler in the bathroom of the Excalibur lighthouse on Earth-616. Suspecting that the blue-furred mutant was the "demon" from the dethronement ceremony, Kylun immediately attacked and would have beheaded Nightcrawler if his swords had not been enchanted so that they could not harm anyone of true virtue and pure spirit. Surprised that his sword had passed though Nightcrawler's neck without cutting him, Kylun stopped attacking and soon learned that he was in England and, when Widget joined them, Kylun realized that he was finally home.
With the initial excitement over, Kylun and Nightcrawler had a conversation. Kylun identified himself as Colin McKay and revealed how, why and when he had been transported in Ee'rath by Widget, then told of the struggle against the tyrant Necrom. Nightcrawler then showed Kylun Necrom's slave creature which had been reduced to a petrified miniature ten days earlier. Nightcrawler then revealed that time was not consistent across the dimensional planes of the multiverse and that, just as Kylun had lived for over twenty years on Ee'rath while little more than one year had passed on Earth, Necrom and his creature had arrived on Earth over a month before Kylun even though they had entered the doorway in the Tower That Crosses Time only seconds before him.
(Excalibur I#50) - During the multiversal convergence caused by the contraction of the Otherworld energy matrix, Necrom entered the Excalibur lighthouse on Earth-616. Having been weakened by his encounters with Feron and Micromax, Necrom was afraid to face Kylun directly, so he animated the corpse of Princess Sa'tneen, cast an illusion that made her look and sound like she was alive, and brought her to Earth-616 in an attempt to distract Kylun so that he could attack from behind. However, Necrom's ploy failed because Kylun immediately realized that it was a trick and used Zz'ria's blades to impale the walking corpse while slashing Necrom's face, stating as he did so that he loved Sa'tneen more than life itself and would not permit her mortal remains to be possessed by a diseased vermin like Necrom. The evil sorcerer attempted to intimidate Kylun by stating that he would soon possess the Phoenix because its human host would have to release it in order to stop the convergence but Kylun pointed out that the convergence had already stopped. Surprised at this, since the Phoenix was still dormant, Necrom sensed that the Phoenix had risen through the Multiverse and he departed to follow it, leaving Kylun behind on Earth-616 with Sa'tneen's body.
(Excalibur I#50 (fb) - BTS) - Later, Roma sent a warning (as an irresistible impulse) to anyone in or near any version of the multiversal tower that compelled them to get clear of the tower. Everyone who was at the Excalibur lighthouse complied and Kylun brought Sa'tneen body, now wrapped in a sheet, with him.
(Excalibur I#50) - Very soon afterwards, when Captain Britain and Meggan used their increased power to destroy Merlyn's tower on Otherworld, all the incarnations of the multiversal tower were also destroyed, including the Excalibur lighthouse on Earth-616 and the Tower That Crosses Time on Earth-148.
(Excalibur I#50) - Following the destruction of Excalibur's lighthouse, Kylun brought Sa'tneen body with him to Braddock Manor.
(Excalibur I#55 (fb) - BTS) - Brian Braddock allowed Sa'tneen to be buried in the private cemetery on the grounds of his family's estate, beside the bodies of Brian's own parents.
Comments: Created (at least technically) by Chris
Claremont, Alan Davis and Paul Neary.
Much more fully developed by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer.
Although Chris Claremont wrote Excalibur I#1-2, the two issues that introduced Ee'rath and Colin McKay, he did absolutely nothing else with them. When asked if he and Chris Claremont had had any further plans or ideas for the scene in which Nightcrawler briefly visited that alternate Earth, Alan Davis replied, "None at all. A lot of the time Chris would give only the vaguest descriptions for the ‘throw-away’ scenes. ‘Nightcrawler opens the door and sees some really weird alternate Earth—Have fun!’" Mr. Davis similarly regarded Colin as another throwaway and had no idea what plans (if any) that Mr. Claremont had for he character.
Necrom's world was identified as "Ee'rath" in Excalibur I#42-43 and 45-46. It was first designated "Earth 148" in Excalibur I#44 but the exact phrase used was "Earth 148, known as E'erath to its inhabitants." Since the "E'erath" name was only used once, it seems that that was an error and that "Ee'rath" is its correct name.
The fact that Brion Burdack's code-name was "Yeoman UK" suggests that the name of the territory within which the Tower That Crosses Time was located was something that could be abbreviated to "U.K." This probably means that some version of the United Kingdom existed on Earth-148 and that it may have been the kingdom ruled by Queen Ai'sha before Necrom dethroned her. However, the exact name that was abbreviated may have been somewhat different, like "Unified Kingdom."
The People of Ee'rath
Although the saga of Ee'rath took place over the course of five issues, it occupied only 13 pages in those issues. As a result, there was not a lot of room in which the native civilization could be explored. Aside from Kylun and Necrom, both of whom were not natives, the only three inhabitants of Ee'rath to be named were Queen Ai'sha, Princess Sa'tneen and the mystic Zz'ria.
Despite the lack of names, the population of Ee'rath exhibited some variety. While Queen Ai'sha, her daughter and most of the royal court appeared to be identical to Caucasian humans, there were Ee'rathians who looked like orange-skinned humans. Among the rebel forces there were also some individuals who looked human except for their unusual hairiness and/or facial features that seemed more simian than human. And of course Zz'ria was apparently a humanoid reptilian and not human at all.
As for Necrom's forces, they were all two-armed bipeds but otherwise none of them could have passed for human. Aside from the Druids, who wore robes that hid everything except their gnarled hands with orange or pale green skin, Necrom's soldiers seemed to come in three varieties: tall and muscular brawlers with hairless orange skin; shorter knights who rode two-legged steeds and wore armor that completely covered their faces and bodies; and soldiers whose non-human faces featured gaping mouths full of sharp teeth. Images of some of these warriors can be seen above in this profile.
In Excalibur I#65, Kylun used his mutant ability to reproduce any sound to emit the roar of an "Ee'rathian gn'zgdagia" in order to dishearten the younger Warpies working for Cloud Nine. The resulting sound was a huge GRRRARG! that successfully scared away the Warpie children whose abilities had been neutralizing Excalibur's powers. As the only native Ee'rathian life form ever even mentioned, the gn'zgdagia might merit its own sub-profile but, since no image of it has ever been provided, this mention in the comments section seems sufficient.
Languages spoken on Ee'rath
Although all of the dialogue in the scenes set on Ee'rath in issues #42-46 seems to be spoken in English, it turns out that it was just being translated for we readers (but without any footnotes to let us know that that was happening). In Excalibur I#46, Kylun speaks a few non-English words to Nightcrawler but when Kurt replies, Kylun recognizes that he's speaking English and immediately switches himself. There are only two other issues where real Ee'rathian languages are depicted. The first time is in the very first issue when Nightcrawler briefly visits Ee'rath and four of the natives respond to his surprise appearance in no less than three different languages. The second time is in Excalibur I#63 when Kylun has a nightmare featuring himself, Necrom and Sa'tneen and all three of them are speaking in the same (untranslated) language. It's a nice reminder that beings from other places, be they extraterrestrials or extradimensionals, should not all automatically speak English.
However, it should be noted that, although
the language spoken by
Necrom's rise to power on Ee'rath
The main weakness in this whole Ee'rath storyline is that
nothing is revealed about how and when Necrom got to Ee'rath in the first place or how he
had control of an army mighty enough to defeat Queen Ai'sha's forces and conquer the planet.
Sure, the fact that the Dark Citadel was Necrom's last stronghold suggests that it was probably
also his first base of operations and that in turn implies that he arrived via the Tower That
Crosses Time that was situated beneath that citadel, but this idea is never explicitly stated
or confirmed. More importantly, no mention is made of WHEN Necrom first arrived on Ee'rath or
where he acquired his army. So, maybe Necrom and his army all appeared on Ee'rath at the same
time, only a few years before Colin showed up and became Kylun. Or maybe Necrom, who was hiding
from Merlyn, arrived alone a few decades or centuries earlier, discretely acquired some property
and then slowly and secretly gathered together an army until he finally had enough forces to
confront the native ruler and win. With so little hard data available, it is impossible for
anyone (except for Alan Davis) to say exactly how Necrom came to power on Ee'rath.
Asgard-148 and Camelot-148?
As mentioned below, the mere existence of a "Thor" and an
"Ebony Blade" implies that counterparts to the other-dimensional god-realm of Asgard and the
kingdom ruled by King Arthur must have also existed in Reality-148. However, given how little
has been revealed about the history of Ee'rath, it's hard to even speculate about how similar
and how different those realms might have been from their counterparts in Reality-616. Also,
the presence of "Thor" as a member of Excalibur raises questions about the Asgardians from
that reality. Were there other Asgardians alive during Necrom's reign or was "Thor" alone? If
"Thor" was alone, was it because he was the sole survivor of his race or had he somehow been
transported far into the future from his native time period? And if other Asgardians were
present in that time when "Thor" was killed by Necrom, why didn't they avenge him?
Problems with Ee'rath
At first glance, the whole idea of Ee'rath being an Alternate
Earth from a reality in which the Sun is much older and has expanded into a red giant is a
really striking one that sounds like a great science fiction concept. However, once the reader
starts to consider it seriously, like a thought experiment, problems emerge.
All things considered, the idea that Earth could still be inhabited by humans (or even habitable to any form of life) by the time the Sun has expanded into a red giant seems really, REALLY unlikely. However, these scientific predictions do not take into account the possibility that a future human civilization might possess technology (or magic) capable of preventing or counteracting the negative effects of the Sun's increasing luminosity. Who knows, maybe something as "simple" as a giant tinted shield placed between the Sun and Earth would be enough to keep the amount of solar radiation reaching Earth down at a safe level.
The only Marvel character I can recall who lived in a future anywhere close to when the Sun should have been a red giant was Gaunt from Cable I#83-86. A cyborg warrior who tried to conquer the future universe where he lived, Gaunt killed trillions in a war that lasted ten millennia before he was finally defeated, captured and punished by being sent forward in time to two billion years after the 20th Century, to "the end of time, to the Borderline of Reality." This "Earth-Borderline" was an ancient and empty near-dead far future Earth. Oddly, this Earth orbited a Sun that seemed to have already expanded somewhat into a red giant, something that shouldn't even begin to happen until at least five billion years from now. Worse yet, that sun would eventually go nova, something that the real Sol will never do because it is not (and never has been) massive enough.
Profile by Donald Campbell.
Clarifications:
Ee'rath has known connections to
The Chamber of Infinity has known connections to
The Tower That Crosses Time has known connections to
A tower located somewhere on the surface of Ee'rath, the Dark Citadel was the last of Necrom's strongholds. Once the rebel forces had defeated the remnants of Necrom's once-mighty army and taken control of this citadel, Necrom's evil empire had effectively been brought to its end.
Although the Dark Citadel may have served as Necrom's capital, the place from which he ruled his empire, its true significance was due to the fact that it controlled access to the Tower That Crosses Time. One had to get past the citadel's walls to reach the upper end of the long staircase that led down to the Chamber of Infinity which had been constructed around the Tower That Crosses Time. However, the citadel's odd appearance, including the fact that it didn't seem to be a very defensible structure, suggests that it was designed more for aesthetic purposes than to serve any military function. Perhaps it had been built as a marker instead of as a defensive fortification?
Aside from being Necrom's last stronghold, very little is known about this structure and even its actual name is uncertain. The Omniscient Narrative refers to it only as "THE DARK CITADEL" but, depending on how those words were meant to be capitalized, they could have been either a name ("the Dark Citadel") or a description ("the dark citadel"). Furthermore, even if its actual name was the Dark Citadel, there's no way of telling if it had always had that name or if Necrom had renamed the place after he had taken possession of it. The "Dark" part of its name could have been due to its connection to the Tower That Crosses Time, a haunted edifice that Ee'rathian legend associated with "worlds of ghostly insanity and dark glass demons."
Although it's not impossible that Necrom had the citadel built, either before, during or after his conquest of Ee'rath, it seems more likely that it had been constructed long before Necrom first arrived on Ee'rath. The fact that the citadel was situated (almost) directly above the subterranean Chamber of Infinity is almost certainly NOT a coincidence and it may well have been built at the same time as that chamber. However, the date (or era) of the citadel's construction would then depend on where the multiversal tower first appeared on Ee'rath. If that tower had manifested within a underground cavern, then the citadel may have been built on the ground above the cavern to serve as a marker and a defence of the upper terminus of the stairway that led down to the cavern. On the other hand, if the Tower That Crosses Time had originally existed on the surface of Ee'rath, then that would mean that the Chamber of Infinity had been built significantly later in order to protect the tower from being buried by a build-up of sediment over the ages. This would also mean that the citadel must have been erected either during or after the Chamber of Infinity had been constructed.
As can be seen in the image to the left, the citadel's one entrance could only be approached via a single wide ramp that sloped up to it. At a VERY rough estimate, the entrance to the citadel (at the top of the ramp) was maybe 18 feet high (or three times the height of an average adult human), and that entrance was about 42 feet above ground level. The total height of the citadel was about 280 feet, with the upper 140 feet of that height being occupied by the featureless tower. In between the entrance level and the tower was a section about 50 feet high which had a large recessed area in one of its walls and which seemed to overhang the levels beneath it.
Okay, I give up. I really wanted to provide a good description of the citadel but its appearance is just so...unique...that I can't find the proper words.
If the Chamber of Infinity collapsed once the Tower That Crosses Time disintegrated, then the ground upon which the Dark Citadel was built may have given way beneath it. Or not.
--Excalibur I#45
Note: If the Dark Citadel and the Chamber of Infinity are two parts of the same structure, then the citadel is also BTS in Excalibur I#1, 46 and 50.
The version of the super hero team Excalibur which existed on Earth-148 was made up of only four members: Yeoman UK (Brion Burdack), the Black Knight, Spider-Man and Thor. These four were known as the guardians of Ee'rath. Nothing has yet been revealed about this team's origin and barely anything is known about what adventures they may have had while defending Ee'rath.
Over twenty years before the fall of Necrom, Yeoman UK was present in the Chamber of Infinity when Queen Ai'sha was dethroned by Necrom. He and the mystic Zz'ria were there to support of the queen, and they were among those who were witnesses to the visit by the "blue demon" who emerged from the Tower That Crosses Time, spat out an alien curse and then vanished in a burst of flaming brimstone.
At some later point, after Queen Ai'sha had been dethroned, Excalibur had a final confrontation with Necrom which ended with them all dead. Exactly what happened has not been revealed. Claims that "Excalibur tried to end Necrom's reign of terror, but failed" implies that they attacked Necrom but were defeated and killed by the sorcerer. On the other hand, Necrom's statement that he killed them because "they would rather die than betray their heroic ideal" suggests that it was Necrom who confronted them, demanded that they serve him and then killed them when they refused. It has also not been revealed if they died in battle with Necrom or if the sorcerer simply executed them, either after defeating them or after they refused to serve him.
No matter how the members of Excalibur died, Necrom chose to keep their deaths a secret, presumably so that the will of the people of Ee'rath to resist him would be weakened by their belief that their champions had betrayed them. To that end, Necrom had their bodies secretly buried beneath the floor of the Chamber of Infinity. Necrom presumably either buried them himself or had some of his minions bury them (and then disposed of those minions to ensure their silence).
"Decades" later, Kylun and Sa'tneen led a rebellion that ended Necrom's evil empire. To avenge himself on the rebel leaders, Necrom allowed them to pursue him into the Chamber of Infinity and then sealed the door behind them to prevent the rest of the rebel forces from following. Necrom then confronted the duo and prepared to claim his revenge. Necrom reminded them of how Kylun had rallied his rebel horde with promises of killing Necrom and the traitorous Excalibur, then revealed that he had killed that team because they would rather have died than deny their heroic ideal. With those words, Necrom then animated the buried corpses, causing them to burst up through the floor to attack Kylun and Sa'tneen. As the watching Necrom gloated, Kylun and Sa'tneen battled the undead Excalibur but that battle came to an end when the witch princess realized that the zombies were not slaves obeying their master but only mindless puppets being animated by Necrom's will. Taking a chance, Sa'tneen stopped fighting long enough to fire a bolt of mystical energy at Necrom. The sorcerer was able to protect himself but by doing so he broke his concentration. Without Necrom's will animating them and holding them together, the zombie Excalibur collapsed and their bodies crumbled.
Later, their four decayed corpses were still lying in the Chamber of Infinity when the Tower That Crosses Time disintegrated. Their remains were presumably buried in debris when/if the chamber's ceiling then collapsed.
Aside from what can be observed in the image to the right, very little is known about the individuals who made up this version of Excalibur. Even the real identities and code-names of three of the members are not known for sure.
Yeoman UK - The (presumed) leader of Excalibur was an adult male with bushy red hair (unless that was just part of his helmet) and a red mustache. He wielded a sword (possibly a falchion) with a four-pointed star set between its hilt and blade. The only team member whose code-name has been revealed, his real name was Brion Burdack, suggesting that he was a red-haired counterpart of Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) from Earth-616.
The "Black Knight" - This caped swordsman was an adult male who wielded what appeared to be his world's version of the Ebony Blade, an enchanted sword that was almost indestructible. Based on the design of the armor he wore, including the red eagle symbol on his chest, this knight is presumed to have been a counterpart of Dane Whitman from Earth-616 but neither his real name nor his alias have yet been revealed.
"Spider-Man" - This individual with unusually-hairy arms and sideburns was apparently an adult male. His costume resembled that of Spider-Man from Earth-616 but with significant differences, including a mask that only covered the top half of his head, arms that were bare except for gloves that extended halfway up his forearms, and the three short blades that seemed to be attached to the back of each glove. Also, his mouth appeared to have some larger than normal, fang-like teeth. Although some researchers have suggested that this hero was an amalgamation of Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Wolverine (James Howlett) from Earth-616, this theory has never been confirmed, and neither his real name nor his alias have yet been revealed.
"Thor" - This warrior was an adult male with long blond hair who wielded what appeared to be Mjolnir, an enchanted hammer of incredible power. Based on his appearance and the fact that he was wielding Mjolnir, this being is presumed to have been a counterpart of Thor Odinson, the Norse God of Thunder from Asgard in Reality-616, but this has not yet been confirmed.
The fact that counterparts to the Ebony Blade and "Thor" existed on Earth-148 strongly suggests that versions of Camelot and Asgard, respectively, were also part of Reality-148. However, no details about what these locales were like there have ever been disclosed.
Note: Yeoman UK's alias and real name were first revealed in the Alternate Earths Appendix for Earth-148 that was included in the hardcover Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Volume 2 (May, 2008), almost twenty years after the character first appeared in Excalibur I#1 (October, 1988). No official information about the other three members of this Excalibur team has ever been provided.
--Excalibur I#1 (45-46, 50
The Tower That Crosses Time
Note: This sub-profile only deals with the aspect of the tower
that existed in Reality-148
The tower whose essence Feron had the Phoenix avatar project through the multiverse originally existed on Earth-616 which was considered to be "the Prime Earth" by Merlyn. After the Phoenix had performed its task, the spatial configuration of that tower existed on every plane of the Multiverse simultaneously, and all of these towers were both separate and yet the same. The version that existed on Ee'rath was known to the natives as the Tower That Crosses Time, but Necrom used that term to refer to every aspect of the tower, including the original from Earth-616.
Although all other (known) incarnations of the multiversal tower were located on the surfaces of their respective alternate Earths, the Ee'rath tower was underground, within the subterranean Chamber of Infinity. Since this type of dimensional interface seems to have occurred naturally only on the surfaces of the planets where they existed, it seems unlikely that the multiversal tower manifested itself below ground level when the Phoenix Avatar projected its essence through the Multiverse. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that this tower was originally located on the surface of Ee'rath and that the Chamber of Infinity was constructed around it in order to protect it from being buried by a build-up of sediment over the ages. Alternatively, the tower might have manifested itself on Ee'rath within a large subterranean cavern, one that was a counterpart to the natural cavern that existed beneath the tower on Earth-616. If so, then the natives of Ee'rath must have discovered the tower within the cavern, then reshaped the cavern into what became the Chamber of Infinity.
Whatever its origin, the Chamber of Infinity had the form of a rotunda, a round room whose floor and ceiling were both circular in shape. The tower was situated in the center of the room and seemed to support the ceiling. At some point another structure had been built between the top of the tower and the ceiling. This addition was in the shape of an inverted cone whose base was just as wide as the top of the tower but which widened significantly as it rose up to meet the ceiling. The floor was divided into several sections that were at different levels, with over half of it (including the tower's base) being higher than the rest with a wide staircase that stretched from wall to wall allowing easy movement between the two levels. The entrance into the chamber was in the wall that rose from the lower floor, and could be sealed by a stone slab that dropped from above. The only access to the chamber from the surface was via several long flights of stairs that descended from the citadel that had been built on the ground above the chamber. Aside from the entrance, there was also a wide opening along part of the wall that formed a gallery about twenty feet above the floor and which could presumably be reached via passageways that ran through the earth that surrounded the chamber.
The tower itself was about five "floors" tall, or about 50 feet in height. The only opening on the lowest floor was a single doorway and the only other openings were rectangular windows on the four upper floors, one on each floor. The tower's shape was that of a truncated cone that was widest at its base and narrowed slightly but steadily as it rose. As described above, an extra structure had been built atop the tower to physically join it to the ceiling of the Chamber of Infinity. Unlike some of its other versions, this tower was apparently never inhabited and the only features known to exist within the tower were a staircase that spiralled up along the inner surface of the exterior wall in a counter-clockwise direction and the door (or doors) that could be reached via that staircase. The doorway through which Necrom, his creature and Kylun all passed opened onto the bathroom of the Excalibur lighthouse on Earth-616 but it could presumably have led to other rooms in other versions of the tower on other Alternate Earths.
Very little has been revealed about the history of the aspect of the tower which existed in Reality-148. According to legend, the Tower That Crosses Time was a large haunted building that was a doorway to worlds beyond Ee'rath, "worlds of ghostly insanity and dark glass demons." The fact that the natives believed that no one had entered it for twenty thousand years indicates that the tower must have existed on Ee'rath for at least that long but its true age has never been revealed. It's also unclear what, if anything, had previously existed on the site. Since the original tower marked a dimensional interface on Earth-616 and the Phoenix projected the essence of that tower through the multiverse at a time when a series of interfaces across the multiverse were aligned, it seems likely that the tower on Earth-148 also existed at the location of a natural interface. If so, then there may have been something there to mark the site of the interface, possibly a monolith or a stone circle or some other structure, and that pre-existing marker was either fused with or displaced by the multiversal tower when it manifested on Earth-148.
The people of Ee'rath believed that no one had entered the tower for twenty millennia but nothing has been stated about how few (or how many) people had exited the tower prior to that period. The only person known to have done so was a "blue demon" (actually the mutant Nightcrawler) who inadvertently travelled to Ee'rath by going through a door in the lighthouse on Earth-616 that normally led down to storage cellars. Surprised by the strange experience, Nightcrawler teleported upward and unknowingly traveled back to the lighthouse. When he tried to show Meggan the creatures that he had seen in the basement, Nightcrawler was puzzled to find that they were no longer there and that the empty basement was far smaller than the chamber that he had first entered, leaving him wondering if he had imagined it all. It was later determined that this uncontrolled cross-time interface, the first of several, had been an early effect of an imminent multiversal convergence that was eventually prevented.
Although Nightcrawler is the only being known to have arrived in Ee'rath via the tower, it's possible that Necrom also used it to enter Reality-148. However, no evidence of this possibility has ever been presented.
In any event, after remaining almost entirely inviolate for twenty millennia, the Tower That Crosses Time experienced a flurry of activity shortly before it met its fate. First, over twenty (local) years after Nightcrawler's brief visit, Necrom was preparing to depart Ee'rath to continue his plan to acquire the Phoenix. However, before leaving, the cruel despot wanted to have his revenge on the leaders of the rebellion that had ended his evil empire so he trapped Kylun and Sa'tneen in the Chamber of Infinity with him and then animated the long-dead corpses of Excalibur to kill them. When Sa'tneen destroyed them, Necrom fatally wounded her with a direct attack but was injured by Kylun in return. No longer able to deal with Kylun, Necrom had his slave creature help him flee into the tower. With an enraged Kylun following closely behind, Necrom and his slave managed to reach a doorway and pass through it to the Excalibur lighthouse on Earth-616. Oddly, although Kylun passed through that same doorway only seconds later, he arrived on Earth-616 over a month later. While the time flow differential between the two dimensional planes usually meant that time flowed over twenty times faster on Earth-148 than it did on Earth-616, in this one instance time passed over FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND TIMES faster on Earth-616 than it had on Earth-148. No explanation for this unique occurrence has been provided but I suspect that Necrom somehow used what he knew about the tower to arrange things to help him escape.
The next use of the tower occurred as the multiversal convergence neared its final phase. Still seeking the Phoenix, Necrom had entered the Excalibur lighthouse but, weakened by an earlier encounter with Feron and Micromax, he didn't want to face Kylun directly. To create a distraction, Necrom sent his power through the tower into Ee'rath where it animated Sa'tneen's corpse, enshrouded it in illusions that made her look and sound alive, and then walked her back through the tower to Earth-616 where "Sa'tneen" approached a shocked Kylun and claimed that her wound had not been fatal after all. As his pawn seemingly kept Kylun's attention on her, Necrom snuck up behind Kylun but before he could drain his foe's life-force Kylun struck both Necrom and the animated corpse with the blades of Zz'ria, revealing that he had not been fooled by Necrom's desperate ploy. Kylun's final encounter with Necrom ended when the sorcerer fled into the Multiverse, leaving Kylun behind, unable to follow. It should be noted that, although from Kylun's perspective on Earth-616, his final confrontation with Necrom took place "barely a day" after Sa'tneen's murder, on Ee'rath much more time (probably at least three weeks) would have passed. The fact that Sa'tneen's body was still lying there in the Chamber of Infinity suggests that the other rebels had not been able to gain entry into the chamber after it had been sealed by Necrom.
The Tower That Crosses Time met its final fate soon after the convergence was ended by the merged Excalibur. Angered by how Merlyn had betrayed her and manipulated others to achieve his ends, Roma had realized that her father had to be stopped and devised a plan to do so. As part of that plan, Roma secretly arranged for Captain Britain to retain the matrix energy that had super-charged him. Later, after the merged Excalibur had arrived on Otherworld and split up, Phoenix had defeated Necrom and Merlyn had shown up, Roma secretly sent an irresistible command that warned everyone in or near any version of the tower on all the alternate Earths to get clear. Finally, while Nightcrawler was arguing with Merlyn, Roma used her telepathy to secretly explain her plan to Captain Britain and Meggan but left the choice to them. Agreeing with her plan, Meggan used her powers to absorb the excess matrix energy from Captain Britain, then she metabolized that enormous power and discharged it in a tightly-focused beam of incredible force into a single square centimeter at the base of the tower. Despite its near-invulnerability, the matter of the tower was damaged by the beam, causing a minute crack to appear that rapidly grew and spread into a splintering web of cracks that soon caused the entire tower on Otherworld to disintegrate. And, since all aspects of the tower were essentially the same tower, every other form of the tower that existed across every plane of reality also disintegrated, including the Tower That Crosses Time on Ee'rath and the Excalibur lighthouse on Earth-616.
The Chamber of Infinity (a sub-profile within a sub-profile)
The subterranean rotunda within which the Tower That Crosses Time was situated. As mentioned above, the origin and history of the Chamber of Infinity have been largely unrevealed, and only five events involving it are known, all of which occurred within the last few decades.
The first of these events was Queen Ai'sha's dethronement ceremony that was interrupted by Nightcrawler's unintended brief visit. The fact that the ceremony was held there presumably indicates that by that time (if not earlier) Necrom considered the Chamber of Infinity to be (part of) his seat of power on Ee'rath.
The second event occurred sometime later when Necrom had the bodies of the dead Excalibur members buried beneath the chamber's floor. It has not been revealed if the chamber was also the place where Necrom killed the heroes.
The third event occurred over twenty (local) years after the dethronement ceremony (and "decades" after Excalibur's death) when Necrom retreated to the chamber after rebel forces had overrun his dark citadel and were coming for him. However, Necrom's retreat was also a trap for the leaders of the rebellion, Kylun and Princess Sa'tneen, and he sealed the entrance to the chamber behind them. Necrom then animated the corpses of Excalibur, causing them to rise from their graves and attack his enemies. Although Sa'tneen destroyed the cadaverous Excalibur, Necrom was able to fatally injure her but, but was wounded himself by Kylun in return, Necrom was forced to flee into the tower with his slave creature and was followed seconds later by Kylun. After their departure, the chamber remained sealed and the five corpses lay there undisturbed.
The fourth event occurred during the convergence when Necrom reached into Ee'rath, animated Sa'tneen's corpse and brought it to the Excalibur lighthouse on Earth-616 as a distraction for Kylun. Although this event took place just over one day after Kylun had arrived on Earth-616, the differing rates at which time passed in the two realities means that probably at least three weeks had passed on Earth-148 between Sa'tneen's death and her reanimation by Necrom. The fact that her body had lain there for so long without being claimed by the rebels suggests that they had so far been unable to enter the chamber after Necrom had sealed it.
The fifth and final event occurred soon afterwards when, following a plan suggested by Roma, Captain Britain and Meggan used their increased power to destroy Merlyn's tower on Otherworld. Since the tower was multiversal in nature, the destruction of one aspect of it caused all the diverse forms of the tower that existed throughout every plane of reality to also be disintegrated. It is likely that the Chamber of Infinity collapsed once the tower that supported its ceiling was gone but this has not been confirmed.
--Excalibur I#1 (Excalibur I#50 (fb) - BTS, Excalibur I#1, 45-46, 50)
images:
Excalibur I#43, page 21, panel 1 (main image)
Excalibur I#1, page 14, panel 2 (Queen Ai'sha's dethronement)
Excalibur I#46, page 14, panel 2 (Colin meeting the royal household)
page 14, panel 4 (Kylun and Sa'tneen)
page 14, panel 5 (Necrom's attack)
Excalibur I#44, page 11, panel 4 (rebellion)
Excalibur I#45, page 21, panel 2 (final battle)
Excalibur I#42, page 22, panel 5 (orange-skinned Ee'rathians with Kylun)
Excalibur I#44, page 10, panel 2 (purple-skinned rebel with simian features)
Excalibur I#45, page 21, panel 1 (the Dark Citadel)
page 22, panel 5 (undead Excalibur rise from their
graves)
Excalibur I#46, page 4, panel 5 (the Tower That Crosses Time)
Excalibur I#50, page 33, panels 1-7 (disintegration of the tower)
Appearances:
Excalibur I#1 (October, 1988) - Chris Claremont (writer), Alan Davis (penciler), Paul Neary
(inker), Ann Nocenti & Terry Kavanagh (editors)
Excalibur I#2 (November, 1988) - Chris Claremont (writer), Alan Davis (penciler), Paul Neary
(inker), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#42-46 (October, 1991 - January, 1992) - Alan Davis (writer/penciler), Mark Farmer
(inker), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#50 (May, 1992) - Alan Davis (writer/penciler), Mark Farmer (inker), Terry
Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#52 (July, 1992) - Alan Davis (writer), Will Simpson (breakdowns), Jimmy Palmiotti
& Dave Hoover (finishes), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#55 (October, 1992) - Alan Davis (writer/artist), Mark Farmer (inker), Terry
Kavanagh (editor)
First Posted: 12/14/2018
Last updated: 12/14/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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