WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Savage Avengers #17 by Gerry Duggan, Kev Walker, Java Tartaglia, and VC's Travis Lanham, as well as Conan the Barbarian #18 by Jim Zub, Luca Pizzari, Israel Silva, and VC's Travis Lanham, both on sale now.
There are a lot of incredible heroes in the Marvel Universe, spanning not just the globe or the galaxy, but time as well. One of the oldest and greatest of these is Conan of Cimmeria, who has been hacking and slashing his way through hordes of warriors and evil sorcerers for as long as he's appeared in print. Conan is, without a doubt, the most savage Avenger, and one of the most brutal heroes of all time, but throughout his adventures he has developed some nasty habits. One of these recurring issues is in fact so bad that it goes beyond being mildly problematic all the way to a glaring weakness, and it might just get Conan and everyone around him killed.
King in Black has been a sprawling event, and the dark god of the symbiote's tendrils have crept across every panel imaginable, including those of Savage Avengers. Conan has already faced an Asgardian dragon, but he's still unprepared for those of the symbiote variety when they come crashing through the clouds down to Earth. Conan is at least inside when the invasion starts, but stuck in a jail cell is not how he intends to spend the rest of his night, and together with an also incarcerated Deadpool they make a gruesome escape. Once outside, the heroes can only stab and shoot for so long before one of them is overcome by the symbiote dragons. In the face of one of the beasts, Conan does his best to fight back, but is caught off guard when the monster speaks to him directly. The symbiote remembers Conan, and it wants him to remember it, too.
Back during the "City of Sickles" arc from the first issues of Savage Avengers, Conan and Wolverine were trapped in the Savage Land together, which happened to be where the evil sorcerer Kulan Gath was attempting to summon the ancient Marrow God. Part of Kulan Gath's process involved torturing a symbiote which would later bond with Conan's sword.
Armed with a living blade, Conan cut down more than his fair share of Hand ninja and cultists before the symbiote perished. Of course, as with all things Knull related, that symbiote and its memories of Conan are preserved within the Hive, each as their own Codex. Now that they have the chance, not to mention sharing the same goal, the living blade is calling out to Conan again, offering to rejoin forces to end Kulan Gath once and for all. It's a tempting offer, but it's one that Conan has been on the receiving end of before.
In Conan the Barbarian #18, Conan falls to the influence of another living blade, one forged in blood with the souls of the damned. The sword's maker had too strong of a will to fall to its temptations, but one of his apprentices was willing to take it up and kill the forge master before turning it on anyone else he could find. The blade had many owners over the years, all of whom killed with it indiscriminately until the day it was lost in the rubble of an earthquake. Years passed before it was found, and then the cycle began again, all leading up to it falling into the hands of one of the most skilled warriors in the world.
Unwilling to be reduced to little more than a vessel, Conan was eventually able to overcome the possession of the sword when it tried to kill the barbarian for not giving in to his more savage impulses. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that he will be able to resist the lull of the symbiote. The symbiote blade never tried to kill Conan, and they have a shared hatred for the sorcerer Kulan Gath who just happens to be Conan's primary target at the moment. In this instance, Conan's recurring bloodlust may ultimate prove to be the keys needed for the symbiote to once again become one with the savage warrior.