Warning: this article contains spoilers for Excalibur #13!
Brian Braddock, the hero formerly known as Captain Britain, has a new superhero identity - he is now Captain Avalon. The story of Brian Braddock is the stuff of comic book legend. Dying after a motorcycle accident, he received a haunting vision in which he was approached by Merlin and his daughter Roma. He was offered the chance to become the Captain Britain of Earth-616, champion of the British Isles and all its peoples.
But Brian is Captain Britain no more. He was briefly forced to become sworn servant of Morgana Le Fey, ruler of the Otherworld realm of Avalon. His sister Betsy Braddock became the new Captain Britain, and the torture Brian suffered at Morgana's hands left him so angry he has become temperamentally unsuited to regaining the title. He has become something of a lost soul, seeking a new identity, struggling to ascertain his new place in the world. Finally, in Excalibur #13 he has chosen a new title - and claimed a different power.
Brian first became Captain Britain when he chose the Amulet of Right, but now he is mystically bound to the Sword of Might instead. In Excalibur #13 he finally allows himself to draw the Sword of Might in defense of his brother Jamie Braddock, now ruler of Avalon. Brian is transformed into a new superhero, and Jamie christens him Captain Avalon. No doubt to Jamie's surprise, Brian accepts this role. "Then Captain Avalon I shall be," he resolves.
Jamie Braddock may believe Captain Avalon is his, but it's important to note that by title Brian is bound to the conquered realm of Avalon, not to its ruler. This is actually quite a fitting role for Brian, because Avalon is the collective subconscious of the British Isles. He and his sister have essentially become yin and yang, one bound to the British Isles and the other to the magical realm linked to it. It is the continuation of a theme running through Tini Howard's Excalibur run, the mystical principle of "as above, so below."
Brian isn't the first hero to wield the Sword of Might - the Avenger Lionheart was empowered by the blade, but it came with the terrible price of being unable to reveal her true identity to her children, who subsequently believed her dead. The Sword is said to have been forged in the fires of creation itself, tempered with the power of the universe. For all its power, though, the Sword of Might is normally associated with failure; Roma customarily rejects any who choose the Sword above the Amulet of Right, and Brian has always been a hero marked by a huge ego and less than perfect judgment. Brian Braddock is going where no Captain Britain has gone before, and he may not be coming back.