Al Ewing pulled out all the stops with these last two issues, which went a long way to redeem Empyre in its final hour. Now, with Empyre #6, many of the series’ problems still remain, but characters are given their time to shine with major moments. There’s even a bit here where Reed Richards addresses Tony Stark acting out-of-character (seems like Reed would agree with this take on the first issue), to which Tony gives a fairly compelling speech. It doesn’t excuse the poor characterization in earlier issues, but it does make for a powerful moment that harkens back to the forging of Iron Man. There’s a lot of speechifying in this issue, and more than a little “Let’s explain the situation all of the characters already understand to remind the reader.” Still, the writing overall is much better than the first half of the event. The climax gives the key characters major hero moments, especially Black Panther, who shines as the ultimate victor of the event. This solid ending may not save the entirety of Empyre, which was still ill-conceived from the start, but the improvement is stunning in and of itself.