What "Death Is My Reward" Means In Eternals Credits Scene
Olivia Owen Eternals' post-credits scene contains an iconic Marvel sword and a box inscribed with the words "Death Is My Reward," but what does this mean?
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Marvel's Eternals.
One of Marvel's Eternals post-credits scenes reveals a mysterious blade whose box is inscribed with "Death is my reward" - but what does this ominous text mean? Despite a decidedly frosty critical reception, Eternals still introduces a rich trove of new characters that look to set integrate into the wider MCU as phase 4 develops. Eternals also follows the MCU franchise's formula of treating fans to seismic mid and end credits scenes that introduce two tantalizing Marvel properties in Starfox and Black Knight.
Eternals' end credits scene sees Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington) reveal the "complicated" family history he alludes to in his last conversation with Sersi before she is whisked away by the Celestial Arishem. Whitman hesitates while staring at a thin, rectangular box before lifting its lid to reveal a whispering Ebony Blade, whose alloy seems keen to merge with Dane's skin. The lid of the box is inscribed with the foreboding motto "Death is my reward," before an off-screen Blade (Mahershala Ali) asks: “Sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?”
The Ebony Blade's "Death is my reward" inscription is an allusion to the potency and the danger that comes with wielding this legendary sword. The Ebony Blade is afflicted with a blood curse due to its chequered history, which brings out the darkest urges in all of its wielders. Even the forthright Dane Whitman has been overcome in Marvel Comics canon by the desire to kill or maim, with the blade said to imbue its' holder with an unquenchable bloodlust passed down from generations of Black Knights.
The history of the Ebony Blade is an illustrious one, with the weapon itself first forged by Arthurian legend Merlin from the remains of a fallen meteorite. This magic sword has several abilities in Marvel comics, with the most potent ones being indestructibility and the ability to cut through any obstacle, whether physical or magical. The original Black Knight first wielded this mightiest of weapons alongside King Arthur as he protected England from multiple Saxon invasions in the early 6th century.
Yet the continued potency of Black Knight's Ebony Blade comes at a high cost, with the original Black Knight spilling so much blood that the sword became imbued with a curse from the thousand that died by the blade. This curse takes the form of an insatiable bloodlust, eventually turning each of its' owners mad as they are driven to kill endless swathes of enemies by the sword's whispers. In this way, "Death is my reward" is an explanation of the sword's true nature, with the Ebony Blade's owner tasked with providing endless deaths in an attempt to sate this most cursed of weapons.
In Marvel Comics canon, Dane Whitman is the most resistant to the blade's curse in a long line of Black Knights, with the hero able to join the Avengers and add the weapon's considerable powers to their ranks. However, this consistent internal struggle will likely characterize Kit Harrington's Black Knight in his next MCU outing, with Dane looking dead-set on drawing the Ebony Blade to save Sersi. While Eternals only provided a brief look at this most fearsome of weapons, the Ebony Blade's inscription is likely to prove an ominous portent as phase 4 continues to develop.
