In 1848, Pestilence was a ship's captain leading an expedition to the frozen north. Desperate for food, he led his dying men across the tundra, and before he died himself he drank an elixir to preserve himself until spring. But his men buried him, thinking him dead, and he remained trapped beneath the permafrost. Aurora flirts with Roger while Alpha Flight flies to a place of power to deliver Snowbird's baby. They are met by Elizabeth, has developed a decidedly haughty attitude. The gods appear, giving Snowbird a last chance to join them, but she wants to remain human. Spirits of decay attack the baby, and Elizabeth prevents Michael or any spirits from helping. She wants him to be shown up as a failure, like he failed her mother and herself. Pestilence lives again through Snowbird's baby, and when Elizabeth steps in to save the day, she finds she cannot stop him, since he was never dead and is not a spirit. Pestilence removes her tiara, returning her humanity and removing her power. Namor arrives in Atlantis to fight Attuma and rescue Marrina.