For the 50th issue, Mark Bagely gives his final turn as artist, the team disbands, and about a half-dozen ongoing plots finally come to fruition.
We learn that the new Citizen V is the grandson of the original Citizen V–the one that Helmut Zero based his false identity on.
We learn Henry Peter Gyrich is kind of a bad guy. He was in control of the nanites that compelled Jack Monroe, as Scourge, to try to assassinate the Thunderbolts. Now, I say he was kind of a bad guy because the Thunderbolts are technically enemies of the state and Gyrich is just taking a forceful approach to domestic terrorism.
Hawkeye, in response, decides to go “all in” and attack Gyrich’s team and base. Citizen V seems to be assisting them in going against Gyrich’s Redeemers until the nanites take over and he rejoins the “good” guys.
As the attack continues, Gyrich threatens to release trillions of explosive nannites into the atmosphere.
Okay. In the grand Thunderbolts tradition of misdirection, by now we’re pretty sure this is not the real Gyrich.
Jolt realizes that she has the power to disarm all of the nannites simultaneously, given her electrical abilities, and she also realizes that Gyrich, too, is infected with the little mind-controlling buggers.
In the end, Valerie Cooper recognizes that the Thunderbolts just prevented mass murder at a global scale–and pardons all of them (as long as they give up their costumes and promise never to use their powers again)…Except Hawkeye.
Clint goes to prison.
Jack Monroe disappears. The Citizen V’s V-Battalion gets a spin-off series where they will try to find out who was the real person behind the nannites–and recruit them.
And The Redeemers take over the role of Thunderbolts, to be under the tutelage of Captain America.
