Magic comes in many forms, but magicians... magicians adhere to two dominant philosophies. What they call "white magic"--that which remakes the world from a place above the world. Leaving hands as clean as a surgeon's. And what they call "black magic"--that which works in the world for the world... and knows the world's suffering. Leaving hands stained with blood... and heavy with venom. 

—The Hand (Eddie Brock)

Appearing in "Temptation"

Featured Characters:

• ⏴ Bedlam / King in Black (Eddie Brock) ⏵
• Bedlam / Wilde / Tyro / Meridius (Eddie Brock) (Origin partially revealed)

Supporting Characters:

• Venom's Disembodied Hand (Eddie Brock) ⏵

Antagonists:

• "Techno-Demons"
• ⏴ Darkoth (Desmond Pitt) ⏵ (Bonds to Bedlam's Child)
• Darkoth (Desmond Pitt) (Meridius' Timeline) (First appearance; dies)

Other Characters:

• Goblin Queen (Madelyne Pryor) (Only in recap)
• Chasm (Ben Reilly) (Only in recap)
• Synch (Everett Thomas) (Only in recap)
• Spider-Man (Peter Parker) (Only in recap)
• Venom (Dylan Brock) (Only in recap)
• Bedlam's Child ⏵ (First appearance chronologically) (Bonds to Darkoth)

Races and Species:

• Humans (Main story and recap)
• Mutants (Only in recap)
• Symbiotes (Main story and recap)
• Technarchy
• Demons

Locations:

• Limbo
  • Madelyn Pryor's Castle (Only in recap)
• Earth (Only in recap)
  • North America (Only in recap)
    • New York City (Only in recap)
      • Manhattan (Only in recap)
• Furthest End of All That Is
  • Garden of Time (Cameo)
• Symbiote Hive-Mind
  • Un-Beyond

Items:

• Symbiote matter (Lost by Eddie Brock and claimed by Bedlam's Child)
• Spider-Man's Suit (Only in recap)
• Transmode Virus
• Promethium (On Darkoth's bones and implants)
• ⏴ Soulsword ⏵
• Soulsword (Meridius' Timeline) (First and only known appearance; destruction)

Events:

• Dark Web (Only in recap)

Synopsis for "Temptation"

Plunged from Chasm's nightmarish copy of Manhattan into the depths of Limbo, Eddie Brock finds himself utterly alone -- abandoned by his so-called allies, his friends, and even his own son -- save for a mysterious observer narrating that they have known Eddie and seen him suffer for his entire life but are not yet able to lend a hand. Crash-landing in a rocky wasteland, Eddie -- robbed of his positive memories -- transforms into Bedlam and is confronted by a trio of demons transformed by the Transmode Virus. As the Techno-Demons declare their intent to consume Bedlam's lifeforce, the mysterious observer narrates that due to time in Limbo being treacherous, the boundaries between past, present, and future have little meaning. Ripping off one of the demon's arms, Bedlam is infected by the Transmode Virus, which begins to assimilate his symbiote body. Instinctively drawing on the power of the King in Black -- Knull's dragon emblem appearing in his empty eye socket -- Bedlam overcomes the Transmode Virus and devours one of the Techno-Demons, the others fleeing in terror.

A voice interrupts Bedlam's meal, demanding to know who and what he is, and Bedlam looks up to see Darkoth wielding the Soulsword -- the mysterious observer narrating that Darkoth preceded Madelyne Pryor as a ruler of Limbo but no-one knows for sure how his reign ended... possibly until now. The confrontation between the King in Black and the King of Limbo causes time to split -- the mysterious observer breaking the fourth wall to say they'll have to follow both tracks. In one version of events, Bedlam web-yanks the Soulsword from Darkoth's hands and snaps it in two, stabbing him with the pieces before ripping off his head. Revelling in his victory and eager for another fight, Bedlam turns to see a time portal to the Garden of Time opening, his slowly-returning memory calling him to the moment where "Finnegan" attempts to warn their past self of Meridius' plans. Consumed with rage and hatred towards his other selves, Bedlam leaps through the portal and attacks Finnegan -- continuing the time-loop that leads to him attacking Dylan and eventually becoming Meridius.

In the other version of events, Darkoth slashes Bedlam with the Soulsword, sending him into a berserk rage at being wounded. Blasted by bolts of Promethium-powered hellfire, Bedlam is subdued and begs for mercy, but Darkoth says it's too late for that and impales him through the heart; painfully expelling Eddie's codex from the symbiote matter it inhabited. Lashing out, a new symbiote -- forming a nascent consciousness from the residue of Bedlam's rage and bloodlust -- latches onto Darkoth. At this moment Loki opens a portal to Limbo from Asgard, and the symbiote-possessed Darkoth flies through it,^[1] leaving the discarded Soulsword to eventually be reclaimed by Magik.

Eddie's codex descends even deeper into the dark reflection of the Mystery, arriving in the core of the Symbiote Hive-Mind -- the Un-Beyond. Finally able to interact with Eddie, the mysterious observer says that he walks the path of the magician. Eddie laments that his journey to return to the past has taken so much from him that he barely remembers anything. The mysterious observer replies that the magician's journey involves the sacrifice of the ego, and that while magic comes in many forms all magicians adhere to one of two paths: white magic like that used by Doctor Strange, and black magic that leaves the world stained with blood and venom. Narrating that they intend to lend Eddie a hand in the most literal sense possible, the mysterious observer manifests as a disembodied version of Venom's hand with burning fingertips -- revealing themself as the seventh iteration of Eddie's codex.

Solicit Synopsis

Notes

See Also

• 6 image(s) from Venom Vol 5 17
• 1 reprint(s) of Venom Vol 5 17

Links and References

References