Okay, since no one asked for it, here is is:
A QUICK PRIMER ON WHAT THE SHIT HAPPENS IN NEW AVENGERS. I'll be answering most of your questions, so we can all be up to speed. Deal? Deal.
So what the shit is an incursion?
It's the most important thing to understand in all of New Avengers, so Get Hickman-diagrammed, Son:
In short: because of the early destruction of one Earth, the Multiverse is contracting, meaning entire universes are colliding with one another. And because that's the point where it started, the impact point of two universes colliding is Earth.
An incursion is the moment when two Earths that are about to collide are harmonically aligned and thus exist in the same place. It lasts for exactly 8 hours and it ends in one of two outcomes.
A) The two Earths collide, and both universes are destroyed. The loss of two universes means the Multiverse dies a bit faster.
B) One of the Earths is destroyed, and both universes are saved.
So to save one Earth they have to destroy one another? That's fucked up, man
Yup. Captain America managed to get the Illuminati to spare an Earth using the Infinity Gauntlet once. And then it broke. So nope, there's no better option, unless you wanna get mind-wiped by Doctor Strange.
Okay, so, now, what the shit are Builders and what do they have to do with this?
Well as the name implies, the Builders built the universe a lot of years ago, on the orders of, Captain Universe, who represents the will of the Universe. That's simple and easy to follow. Then they decided they were better than the Universe so they would run shit their way. They have classes and tasks associated with those classes, but you don't need to know anything about that.
What you need to know is this: the early death of the Multiverse is seriously fucking up all of space and time, leading to the collapse of the Superflow (yes we're talking about that Superflow, from Newuniversal, by the way. This runs hella deep) which is basically the space in between every universe. (It's also that collapse of the Superflow that led to the last White Event at the beginning of Avengers and the awakening of Starbrand and Nightmask)
Anyway, the Builders like their space-time very much, and so they launch a Multiversal assault on every single Earth, hoping destroying them would stop the further contraction of the Multiverse. One such assault happened in the 616 Universe, and that's why Infinity happened.
But it's over now, so don't worry about that. Worry about pretty much everything else, starting with:
Okay, let's talk about the Black Priests
Well that one's easy. They're a sect of high-powered Telepaths here to ensure the destruction of both universes during incursions. They won't take shit from anyone, be they Ivory Kings or Mapmakers. That's scary.
So what the shit's an Ivory King?
I don't know. From what's been said about them by one Black Swan, they're the ones who gave her people the gift of Multiversal travel, which the Black Priests took for themselves. They're probably serious players.
And what the fuck's a Mapmaker?
They're a travelling race of Aliens who go from Earth to Earth collecting all the resources they can. When an Incursion comes, they destroy the Earth they were on, which stops the incursion, send a bit of it to the other Earth as a Marker, then they and their masters all go there, collect, rinse and repeat. They're kind of a big deal.
Bonus question: What's a Rabum Alal?
According to Black Swan, he's the Great Destroyer. She says his birth is what caused the death of the Multiverse to happen in the first place.
So, in conclusion : Shit's fucked. Also,
EVERYTHING DIES. Thank you and good night.
