Spoilers for Future State: Justice League #2 ahead!
A central mystery facing the Justice League Dark team in Future State revolves around Etrigan and his refusal to attack the wizard Merlin, who is waging war on Earth’s magic users. In the backup story in Future State: Justice League #2, readers learn exactly why he will not do it—and it leads to a shocking betrayal at the hands of his former human host: Jason Blood. The story, written by Ram V with art by Marcio Takara and colors by Marcelo Maiolo, is available in stores now and on all digital comics platforms.
Sometime in the near future, the wizard Merlin and his forces will attack the Earth, declaring war on all magic users. His forces are successful, and many prominent sorcerers are either killed or driven underground; John Constantine and Doctor Fate are missing. Zatanna puts together a new Justice League Dark to stop Merlin once and for all; one of her new recruits is Etrigan, but he is no longer bound to Jason Blood, as his new host is Detective Chimp! Since this shocking revelation, readers have wondered the fate of Jason Blood as well as why Etrigan was reluctant to attack Merlin, and now DC has revealed the answers to both these questions - and they are both intertwined.
Merlin reveals himself to Zatanna and the Justice League Dark, ready for the final battle. Readers learn that he separated Blood and Etrigan and took the human host hostage, explaining Etrigan’s reluctance to confront the wizard. If Etrigan attacked Merlin, Merlin would almost certainly kill Blood. The truly shocking moment came when Blood returned; it was revealed he had allied himself with Merlin. Once free from Etrigan, Blood realized his life was better without the demon and moved on to wanting to kill Etrigan - and would have been successful if not for the intervention of Doctor Fate.
While this may seem a shocking betrayal - and it definitely is - there actually is some precedent for it. Blood and Etrigan have never enjoyed a truly harmonious relationship, and Blood has actively tried to rid himself of the Demon in the past. What is interesting is that Blood would ally himself with Merlin, as it was the wizard who joined the two together in the first place. It is also heartbreaking—Etrigan refused to attack Merlin out of respect for Blood—who he thought was on his side. If Etrigan had known Blood’s intentions, might he have gone for the kill on Merlin, and potentially spare DC’s magic community a lot of heartache?
The fates of Etrigan and Jason Blood have been intertwined since the days of Camelot, and now, in the world of Future State, it has come to an end. And while the two had a contentious relationship through the ages, seeing Blood try to kill Etrigan will rank as one of Future State’s most memorable moments.