Story: Braddock Business
Spoilers: Early in his career as Captain Britain, Brian Braddock travels aboard Jamie’s new plane with his twin sister Betsy, Sebastian Shaw, and Tessa, heading to Braddock Manor for Christmas dinner. Neither Betsy nor Jamie knows about Brian’s secret identity. During the flight, Brian questions Jamie about rumors involving money, his racing victories, and his suspension, but Jamie dismisses the accusations and boasts that he never loses. Their journey is interrupted by Dr. Synne, who attacks the aircraft from horseback, determined to punish the Braddocks for crossing him and those he serves. As the plane burns around them, Brian uses the Amulet of Right to transform into Captain Britain and catches Betsy as she falls, inadvertently revealing his identity to her.
When Betsy takes hold of Brian’s Star Sceptre, energy flows through the weapon and his amulet, engulfing both twins. Betsy cries out as the power surges through her, while Brian reassures her that the pain will pass. Before his eyes, she transforms into another Captain Britain, complete with a red, white, and blue costume and matching hair. Betsy is delighted by her new powers, but Brian reminds her that lives are at stake. He asks her to save the plane while he confronts Synne, leaving the questions about her transformation for later.
Still astonished that she can fly, Betsy quickly focuses on the rescue. She reaches the cockpit and tells Jamie to strap himself in and make sure the passengers do the same. Inside, Tessa privately notes that her true employer, Charles Xavier, will be interested to learn that both Braddock twins possess powers. Betsy positions herself beneath the damaged plane, steadies her breathing, and prepares to bring it down safely despite her uncertainty about her new abilities. Meanwhile, Brian struggles to concentrate on Synne, wondering whether Betsy’s transformation means that their shared role was always intended. After narrowly avoiding Synne’s attacks, he knocks him from his horse. Having brought the plane to the ground, Betsy joins them and demands a chance to confront the man who nearly killed their family and friends.
Brian warns Betsy to stay back because her powers are new and she has never fought anyone like Synne. She agrees, but Synne strikes her from behind with an energy blast. Believing that his sister has been killed, Brian furiously attacks him, knocking him down and standing over him with his sceptre. Synne responds by triggering an explosion, escaping while promising that they will settle their conflict another time.
Later, Brian regains consciousness outside Braddock Manor to find Betsy alive and back in her ordinary clothes. He cannot clearly remember what happened, and Tessa tells the Essex police that Captain Britain saved them from Synne’s attack. Brian notices both women looking at him strangely but does not understand why. Watching from a distance, Synne is equally troubled by Betsy’s transformation. He wonders whether it happened because the Braddocks are twins and decides against another attack until he understands the consequences. For now, he concedes the victory to Captain Britain, while vowing that their next encounter will end differently.
When Does This Story Take Place?
The editor’s note places Braddock Business between panels of Captain Britain (Vol. 1) #9 (1976), although fitting it into that issue requires some interpretation. In Captain Britain (Vol. 1) #8, Betsy picks Brian up in London to fly him back to Braddock Manor after Jamie has been involved in a minor car accident. During the flight, Dr. Synne makes Betsy hallucinate monsters, causing her to lose control of the plane and crash-land. Issue #9 continues with Brian rescuing Betsy and briefly fighting Synne, who retreats when Jamie arrives to help his siblings.
Our best theory is that the special takes place immediately after that initial confrontation. Jamie could have brought Brian and Betsy aboard his own plane, with Shaw and Tessa already traveling with him, intending to complete the journey to Braddock Manor. Synne would then attack this second aircraft, setting the special’s events in motion. This would make the special’s flight a separate incident from the crash depicted in the original story. However, that connecting sequence is not shown in either comic; it is a possible way to reconcile the editor’s note with the differences between the two accounts.
The special’s ending explicitly leaves Brian with an unclear recollection of what happened. Betsy’s own memory of her transformation is less certain, although a similar gap could explain why this early experience as Captain Britain never came up afterward. Under this interpretation, the narrative would then return to issue #9’s nighttime scenes at Braddock Manor, after the Christmas dinner mentioned in the special, when Synne makes Betsy see her brothers as monsters. The two pages below therefore mark our proposed insertion point, rather than a placement definitively established by the stories themselves.
Story: Chain of Command
Spoilers: At the Darkmoor stone circle, where interdimensional ley lines intersect, Brian Braddock finds himself confronted by Major Archibald Payne, a senior commander of the Multiversal Corps serving Saturnyne. Brian dismisses him, but Payne responds by immobilizing him with his sceptre. The weapon is a node of the Omniversal Computer, capable of accessing and projecting memories. Determined to fill the gaps in Brian’s heavily redacted records, Payne begins interrogating him about his career as Captain Britain.
Visions of Brian’s past surround them, beginning with Merlyn and Roma offering him the choice between the sword and the amulet, followed by his early battles. Payne demands to know why Merlyn personally selected him and who authorized his change of uniform. Brian answers sarcastically, explaining that Merlyn and Roma manipulated him without sharing their plans. When the visions reach the Jaspers’ Warp, Payne does not recognize the catastrophe. Brian suggests asking Saturnyne, who witnessed it, but Payne refuses to bypass the chain of command. Brian accuses him of being more concerned with his wounded pride than the missing reports, pointing out that Merlyn and Saturnyne themselves ignored that hierarchy whenever it suited them.
Angered by Brian’s defiance, Payne pushes further into his memories and detects his fear of the Fury. He initially dismisses the cybiote as merely an ugly machine, only to realize that the projected creature is aware of them. The Fury seizes his sceptre, strikes him aside, and absorbs the weapon into its body. Brian explains that it evolves by consuming technology, energy, and matter—and Payne has just given it access to a node of the multiversal computer.
Freed from his restraints, Captain Britain intervenes before the Fury can kill Payne. He grapples with the creature, deflecting its weapon arm and enduring its attacks as it reshapes its body around him. Brian tears an opening in its torso and retrieves the absorbed sceptre. He then smashes the weapon against a standing stone, destroying it and causing the Fury construct to dissipate.
After checking that Payne is unharmed, Brian returns the broken sceptre and explains that destroying it was necessary. He observes that they were fortunate to face only a pale imitation of the real Fury. Payne thanks him but immediately announces that the incident will go into his report. Unimpressed, Brian leaves the major behind and flies away, declaring that he will find his own way home.
When Does This Story Take Place?
Chain of Command fits more comfortably into Brian’s established history, as it revisits his past without substantially rewriting it. His memories establish that the events of Jaspers’ Warp have already occurred. A likely placement is sometime after that storyline and before the formation of Excalibur, during his subsequent adventures as Captain Britain. The story does not identify a precise issue or date, however, so this remains a broad chronological placement rather than a confirmed gap between specific adventures.
Story: Another Day, An Otherworld
Spoilers: In Avalon, beneath Glastonbury Tor, Betsy Braddock participates in the Beltane ceremony marking the end of winter and the beginning of summer. Wearing the classic Captain Britain Corps uniform, she plays the Green Knight of Summer against the Red King of Winter, who adopts Brian’s appearance in his older costume. Their duel is ceremonial: Betsy is meant to win, allowing the seasonal cycle to continue. Mad Jim Jaspers, Albion, and King Jamie watch under a truce, while Roma and Saturnyne serve as neutral marshals. During the transition, the gates of Annwn beneath the Tor stand open, briefly exposing the underworld’s secrets before the completed ritual seals them again. Betsy enjoys taking part in these traditions, finding reassurance in Otherworld’s enduring cycles.
The performance suddenly turns dangerous when Betsy’s opponent strikes her with genuine force. Jamie protests from the crowd, and Betsy realizes that the Red King is trying to kill her. Roma and Saturnyne acknowledge the violation, but Betsy must defend herself as the attacks continue. She counters with a powerful blow, knocking her opponent down and ordering him to accept defeat so the rite can conclude. Instead, he abandons Brian’s appearance and reveals his monstrous form as the Red Lord, refusing to surrender winter’s place to summer.
Betsy discards her ceremonial outfit, resumes her own Captain Britain armor, and meets the Red Lord with her psychic sword and shield. As she battles him, she questions why he would disrupt the ancient cycle and realizes that the spectacle provides a perfect distraction for someone to enter Annwn and steal its secrets. Suspecting that someone has deliberately engineered the attack, she unleashes a massive burst of psychic energy that brings the Red Lord down. She immediately orders the marshals to secure the meadow, declares that the Captain Britain Corps will close the realm’s borders and secure the Siege Perilous, and directs Albion to have his Pendragons search Annwn’s approaches and seal its gates.
Betsy explains her suspicions to Roma and asks where Saturnyne has gone. Finding that she has disappeared, Betsy identifies her as the person behind the attempted theft. Albion soon reports that Annwn’s gates are locked and nothing has been taken, although the Pendragons have apprehended several intruders attempting to enter. With the danger contained, Betsy intends to pursue Saturnyne and hold her accountable, but Roma stops her.
Roma explains that Saturnyne’s deceit is itself part of Otherworld’s familiar order: its ancient cycles preserve stability, while mischievous powers continually seek to exploit or disrupt them. Betsy refuses to accept Saturnyne’s nature as an excuse and argues that traditions so rigid and predictable may have become a weakness. She suggests changing the cycles to make them less vulnerable. Roma replies that such crises are precisely why the Captain Britain Corps exists—to take extraordinary action whenever those cycles are broken and restore Otherworld’s balance. Betsy walks away with her psychic sword in hand, having protected the traditions she loves while questioning whether they should remain unchanged.
When Does This Story Take Place?
Another Day, An Otherworld appears to revisit Betsy’s earlier Krakoan adventures rather than depict her present-day circumstances. Saturnyne is still the Majestrix of the Starlight Citadel, and Jamie remains King of Avalon, placing the setting most naturally before the war against Merlyn and the events of Knights of X. Rachel’s absence is consistent with that reading, although it does not establish a date on its own. Our proposed window is after the conclusion of the opening arc in Excalibur (Vol. 4) #6 and before the war begins in Excalibur (Vol. 4) #24, with Betsy already established as Captain Britain.
Her instruction to secure the Siege Perilous introduces another detail to consider. If she is referring to the intact object, this adventure would also need to precede its pulverization by Mister M in Mercator. That offers a possible way to reconcile the reference with later events, but the special does not explicitly establish the order. For now, an earlier Krakoan setting is the most plausible reading, while the exact placement within that period remains open to interpretation.
“For so long, my life has been out of control. Chaos and serendipity, wrapped in insanity. I have suffered, I have lost. Not just my life, but my very soul, my self. But no more. Now I know who I am.” – Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock, daughter of Otherworld, mutant, telepath, telekinetic, defender of the realm and, above all, X-Man.
