WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man #56 by Nick Spencer, Mark Bagley, Andrew Hennessy, John Dell, Rachelle Rosenberg, Edgar Delgado & VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
Over the last few months, Spider-Man's continuing battles with the Kindred have been nothing if unpredictable, especially given the unlikely role of Normans Osborn, the original Green Goblin, in the fight.
In The Amazing Spider-Man #56, Norman Osborn teamed up with Wilson Fisk to take down Kindred and Spider-Man. Norman rushed in as The Green Goblin and seemingly tried to kill Mary Jane Watson, and then attacked Kindred in battle. At that moment, Wilson Fisk used an old ally named the Spot to encase Kindred in an impenetrable cell, and it seemed the two villains had won the day before Osborn made another surprising revelation.
In Amazing Spider-Man #56, Norman Osborn was standing and examining the encased body of Kindred, trying to learn everything he could about his son's condition. When Wilson Fisk showed up, wanting to take Kindred away to study for himself, Osborn convinced him to leave him with Norman for a while longer because he promised he could hurt Kindred worse than anything Kingpin could do to him. Loving the idea of destroying Kindred, Fisk agreed and left. That is when the other shoe dropped.
When Spider-Man tried to save Norman Osborn at Ravencroft after Sin-Eater attacked, he realized Norman was not worth saving and tossed him back for Sin-Eater to take. At that time, Sin-Eater blasted Norman with his shotgun, cleansing him of his sins and stealing his Golbin powers. Norman seemed completely cured of his madness at that moment, and all he wanted to do was save his son. He even went to save Mary Jane Watson when the Order of the Web attacked a bridge, all possessed by Kindred. He then asked Mary Jane to help save Harry, and she reluctantly agreed. Then, it seemed Norman betrayed her.
Mary Jane went in to talk to Harry, which is when Norman revealed he was working with Wilson Fisk to capture Kindred. However, this was all a double-cross. The pumpkin bomb that Green Goblin threw at MJ was a flash bomb that purposefully did no damage. It was to fool both Kindred and Wilson Fisk. Norman never reverted to his evil state and said he was still cleansed and wanted to help his son. He and Mary Jane planned the entire fake-out to help him get Kindred away from Spider-Man and try to find a way to help him.
After Spider-Man saved Mary Jane and the Order of the Web, he and Green Goblin faced Kindred, and that is when Harry told them both that he just wanted them to face the facts of what they have done to people over the years, Spider-Man with his hubris and Norman with his hatred. Kindred was then encased, and Norman Osborn, still cleansed of his sins, is trying to find a way to save Harry.
Norman even said after Sin-Eater died, all the sins went back to the original hosts, but he was spared, and now he wants to do his part to help free Harry from his demons. While Norman has usually used his duplicitous nature in service to those demons, this shows how he can be a force for good in his own warped way. The one Spider-Man villain that seemed to be beyond redemption seems to have received a chance for it, which was the most unlikely twist of them all.