Warning! Spoilers ahead for Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #2
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade series, Dane Whitman in freaking out about his previously unknown ability to come back from the dead. While it's certainly a unique and valuable power to possess, he soon learns where his new power comes from thanks to the spirit of his ancestor Sir Percy, the first Black Knight. However, there's also a terrible twist and cost that accompanies Dane's new ability to come back from the dead, and it may lead to the dark tendencies of the current Black Knight to become even darker.
In Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #2 from writers Si Spurrier and Sergio Dávila with artist Seasn Parsons, Dane Whitman has risen from the grave despite having been decapitated in the first issue by a mysterious foe wielding an Ebony Dagger. This causes Dane to justifiably freak out, as he has no idea how or why he can now be resurrected. While the meta-reason is a desire on the publisher's part to retcon and make Black Knight's story more dynamic by adding power to his deadly sword, Dane gets a solid explanation from none other that Sir Percy's ghost, Dane's ancestor who was the first Black Knight in the days of King Arthur, Camelot, and Merlin.
According to Sir Percy, he was tasked by the great wizard Merlin to forge four Ebony Items of great power from the Starstone. After picking the Ebony Blade as his weapon of choice, Merlin appointed Sir Percy to be the Black Knight, a hero working in the shadows and doing what needed to be done to protect the light and purity of Arthur and Camelot. However, Sir Percy now recalls words spoken by Merlin himself, imbuing the Blade and its wielder with a resurrection power that may prove to be problematic in Dane Whitman's future, specifically due to what it requires of the Black Knight.
Essentially, so long as the Black Knight is wielding the Ebony Blade, he cannot die and will be resurrected thanks to having the blood of Arthur within him. While this seems like a valuable power to have given all the dangers Whitman faces, the problem comes with the fact that the resurrections will only happen if he's holding his sword. This means that Dane is now going to be more motivated to always have his dark and cursed blade in hand, rather than attempting to find other solutions that don't require his sword. Now, if Dane's life is even remotely threatened, he has a very good reason to always draw his sword, which already influences his darkest tendencies and encourages him to be his worst self.
As a result, it's going to be very interesting to see where Dane Whitman's Black Knight goes from here. It was also revealed in this issue that the Ebony Shield, Chalice, and Staff that were thought to have been destroyed are actually still intact, and Mordred is seeking to collect this new magic arsenal in the Marvel Universe. This includes the Ebony Blade, as Mordred was the mysterious foe who killed Dane with the Ebony Dagger, which he had forged from the Staff. However, he was unable to pry the sword from Dane's grip before he had to flee from the Avengers. Seeing as how Mordred is the dark nephew of Arthur, the Ebony Blade would certainly offer its resurrection power to him just as much as Dane. As a result, here's hoping Black Knight can secure all of the other Ebony Items in future issues of the series from Marvel Comics.