The Unmasked Raider

Defenders #5 (March 2022) followed the characters to the Third Cosmos, home to the concepts of "Is" and "Is Not." In that early plane of existence, time-traveling scientist Carlo Zota unmasked the Masked Raider only to see that the Raider looked like Zota himself—a suitable revelation given the Raider's ability to mimic his opponents and his preoccupation on stopping Zota. Equally satisfying was the revelation that the Eternity Mask worn by the Raider was a personification of Eternity, or rather one aspect of the entity known as Eternity. Having left behind the laws of science in the Sixth Cosmos, this issue brought the limited series to a poetic close.

Names of the archetypes from #4 did not appear as expected, but the credits page noted that the Defenders will return in Summer 2022.