Posted by jsf So here's what I think the big secret was (which was pretty disturbing, imo): that Robert didn't want to be the Sentry. Seems to me that, for the Sentry persona, it has to be a pretty big blow to find out that your alter ego is actually a mentally disturbed drug addict who'd rather be a hideous killer, than an actual hero ... which is what the series started hinting at midway into things, and really made clear in the last issue. In thinking this through, two particular scenes became that much more important to me: the first being the early scene where Lindy wants Bob to assume the Sentry persona 'cos she's feeling "frisky" (and he doesn't ... which now makes sense as he apparently didn't think of himself as the Sentry so much as the Void); the second being the scene in issue 7 where Sentry breaks out while shouting "I'm real" (or whatever it was). Seems to me that the secret is that Bob identified more with the evil aspects of his personality than the good, which means he was more interested in repressing his powers as the Sentry than restraining his abilities as the Void. If you're the Sentry persona (and I assume schizo personas seem themselves distinctly from one another), then that HAS to be pretty deflating. Basically, my understanding of things now is that Bob wasn't in hiding because if he became the Sentry, the Void would show (ala the New Avengers storlyine). Rather, it was the reverse: he was in hiding because if he acted as the Void he would also have to act as the Sentry ... and THAT'S what he didn't want to do I could be wrong about all of this ... and will definitely re-read the story from start to finish ... but if what I've said IS the case, then yeah: that's a pretty damaging secret, so far as the Sentry persona itself goes (and is a major threat to the world, if the Sentry saves tons and tons of lives before the Void returns). Good stuff, I thought, and my hats are off to the creative team for making this a "must read" for me while it was coming out. JRjr turned in some stellar work (as usual), and now I'm really looking forward to his work on the Eternals ... and hopefully the Inhumans, 'cos I really want to see Black Bolt drawn "the way he should be." Cheers folks. 
on April 28, 2006, 8:32 am
132.206.230.12
I just wanted to start a thread on the big secret, since it seems there's some confusion/dispute about how 'big' it was. I haven't gone back and re-read the series from start to finish, but it seems to me that a lot of folks thought the big secret would "doom the universe." Given how things turned out in issue eight, it seems to me the big secret relates to the Sentry, alone, which doesn't really undercut its importance. 
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