The following contains spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #5, now on sale from Marvel Comics.
Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #5 discloses the origin of the titular hero's all-powerful weapons, while also revealing there are actually twelve rings instead of ten.
Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #5 comes from writer Gene Luen Yang, artist Marcus To, colorist Erick Arciniega and letterer VC's Travis Lanham. In the issue, Shang-Chi has found himself competing in something called the Game of Rings, a deadly high-stakes tournament run by two mysterious strangers. Nine others -- including Leiko Wu, Shen Kuei and new villain Red Cannon -- are also competing in the tournament and whoever wins gets the right to wield the Ten Rings.
Shang-Chi and Shen Kuei find the game's administrators, Jinzha and his brother Muzha, during the competition, who proceed to explain the history of the weapons. Long ago, a hero by the name of Nezha, who is also the God of Youth, wielded a singular weapon called the Universe Ring. Nezha used said weapon to trap a deadly enemy called the Desolation Wyrm; however, the Desolation Wyrm still managed to infect Nezha's soul from inside the Universe Ring. When a corrupted Nezha began causing chaos, the Ta Lo's Jade Emperor tried to execute him and confiscated his weapon. The Jade Emperor proceeded to smash the Universe Ring into twelve pieces, which then created twelve separate rings.
Reuniting the Twelve Rings Results in Certain Death
"Twelve rings that we scattered across the dimensions," Jinzha and Muzha narrate. "Over the millennia, one by one, several of them made their way back to Ta Lo...Until the Jade Emperor had collected ten of them. He kept them in his armory, deploying them only in the direst of situations." While nobody knows where the missing two rings are located, the brothers assure Shang-Chi and Shen Kuei that only destruction and death would follow if they're ever found and reunited with the other ten, as doing so would free the Desolation Wyrm from its prison.
The Game of Rings will come to an in the following issue, Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #6, which releases Dec. 28. The synopsis reads, "Shang-Chi has made it to the final round of the Game of Rings. Whoever wins will be the true Ring Keeper. But will the Rings’ dark secret prove to be too much to bear for the winner?"
Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #5 features cover art by Dike Ruan and Matthew Wilson and variant cover art by Cully Hamner and Jordie Bellaire. The issue is on sale now from Marvel.
Source: Marvel