The Fall of Tenochtitlan was the acquisition of the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan by the Spanish Empire, and also the site of the last Deviant attack in the second millennium, until they resurfaced again in 2024. As the fighting of the Spanish and Aztec armies raged, the last active Deviants were hunted down and taken out by the Eternals, effectively completing their mission to exterminate them from Earth.
During the incursion into Tenochtitlan by the Spanish, Thena's affliction of Mahd Wy'ry caused her to turn against her fellow Eternals, although she was knocked unconscious by Gilgamesh. Druig's disillusion with the Eternals prompted him to directly interfere with the fighting between the Spanish and the Aztecs, controlling them into surrendering their weapons and ending the conflict. With the Deviants now wiped out, the Eternals disbanded to continue their own lives individually.
Background[]
- "You have Mahd Wy'ry. Your mind is fracturing under the weight of your memories."
- ―Ajak to Thena[src]
In 5000 B.C., Arishem the Judge sent ten Eternals to Earth to foster the development of humanity and wipe out the Deviants, who were a detriment to Arishem's grand plan of initiating the Emergence of Tiamut the Communicator by killing all developing life on the planet. Over the time spent on Earth, one of the Eternal warriors, Thena, began succumbing to Mahd Wy'ry, a psychological affliction that derives from the victim being driven mad by centuries of knowledge and memories being acquired over time.
1521 marked the height of the Spanish-Aztec War, in which the Spanish had planned to launch an offensive on the city of Tenochtitlan to defeat the Aztec Empire.[1]
Event[]
Siege of Tenochtitlan[]
The Spanish invade Tenochtitlan
During the Spanish's invasion into Tenochtitlan, the city was in flames, and the Spanish Empire were occupying the city, slaughtering the Aztec warriors fighting to defend it. Concurrently, the last of the Deviants were active in the area, but were being staved and killed off by the Eternals. While Ikaris, Kingo and Gilgamesh wiped out the rest of the Deviants, Makkari aided in protecting the innocent villagers in the crossfire of the invasion, before regrouping with Thena and the other Eternals - Sersi, Phastos, Druig, Sprite and the Prime Eternal Ajak.
Druig controls the villagers
As the city was being evacuated, Druig saw the villagers fleeing from the burning city through the forest, only to be slaughtered by the Spanish conquistadors. Disillusioned with the massacre and the state of the battle, Druig remarked to Phastos how it was a bad idea to progress humanity's technological advancement by introducing the arquebus. With a desire to end the fighting and save the city from devastation, Druig attempted to control the conquistadors, but was deterred by Ajak, who reminded him that they were not allowed to interfere in human conflict.[1]
Thena's Attack[]
The Mahd Wy'ry-afflicted Thena fights Gilgamesh
As the shooting continued, Thena began to fall under the affliction of Mahd Wy'ry. Once fully afflicted, she became violent and turned against her fellow Eternals, first attacking Sersi with an energy-generated cosmic spear, although she was saved by Makkari. Thena then stabbed Phastos, but was shoved away by Makkari. However, Thena generated daggers to stab her as well, critically injuring her.
Ajak's hand is impaled
Ajak stood off with Thena next, unfazed as she tried to stab Ajak through the palm. Ajak tried to control Thena's affliction, but ultimately couldn't contain it. The two had a duel in which Ajak kept regenerating from critical injuries such as being stabbed through the stomach, before Gilgamesh intervened and restrained Thena. Thena broke free and attacked Gilgamesh, while Ajak rushed to Makkari's aid and used her regenerative healing powers to heal Makkari and prevent her from dying. Gilgamesh tried to tame Thena, but when she attacked again, he was forced to knock her out by slamming her to the ground with a concussive blast.[1]
Druig's Interference and Ceasefire[]
As the fighting continued, the Eternals relocated to a temple safe from the crossfire and waited for Thena to awake, no longer under the affliction of Mahd Wy'ry. Now having fully come to her senses, Ajak regretfully informed Thena that she would have to report to Arishem the Judge and erase her memories to prevent her from turning on and attempting to kill them again. The Eternals became divided on this decision, especially Druig, who began to doubt Ajak's leadership.
Druig argued that the Eternals' mission to help foster humanity's development was a mistake if they were to sit idle as they watched humanity kill each other in wars and human conflict. Druig looked down upon the two armies at battle and continued loss of human life, deciding to end the fighting. Druig took the Aztec warriors and Spanish conquistadors, taking them all under his thrall and forcing them to drop their weapons. Ikaris confronted Druig, ordering him to let them go, but Druig refused, insinuating that they would have to kill him. Ajak stopped Ikaris, but Druig then departed, taking the possessed villagers and soldiers with him to refuge, ending the siege.[1]
Aftermath[]
The Eternals Disbandment[]
Eternals go their separate ways
Gilgamesh negotiated with Ajak to not brainwash Thena, instead volunteering to be her de facto partner in her exile. With the Deviants now wiped out, Ajak gave the rest of the Eternals permission to leave, and abandon their mission to live their own lives amongst humanity on Earth. For the next five hundred years, they were living their own individual lives, until they reassembled once a pack of Deviants, who were thawed out from melting ice caps in Alaska, resurfaced and began targeting the Eternals.[1]
Druig's Compound[]
The city of Tenochtitlan was an ultimate victory to the Spanish as the Aztec Empire surrendered and departured from the battlefield, paving the way for future Spanish colonization of the Americas. Druig remained in South America, taking the possessed villagers and soldiers to a life of their own isolation. For the next five centuries, he fostered a community at his compound deep in the Peruvian Amazonia.[1]
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