After spending some time in the Lower City with Michelle, Roach, and the McGrews Cerebus sets out to return to his residence. On his climb there, he encounters Astoria; in his clearest use of magic, Cerebus makes Astoria disappear to an unknown destination. He returns to the residence and answers the challenge to his authority by Thrunk (Necross), securing his role as Pope. He is soon informed that the Eastern Pontiff has been assassinated, and that Cerebus need only execute his assassin to become the pontiff of the united churches. When he discovers the assassin was Astoria (seemingly sent there by Cerebus' own magic), he refuses to cast sentence, and instead starts his ascension up the Black Tower. When it delivers him to the moon, he meets The Judge.
Introduces: Cirin (first pictured and identified) and The Judge.

1414

Cerebus #81:

Same day as Cerebus #80. Cerebus awakens in the Lower City to be "saved" by Secret Wars Roach, and his deputies, Drew and Fleagle (his Roach Allies). The Ascension is mentioned for the first time, and the coming conflict between Cirin and Astoria is alluded to. After getting drunk, Cerebus is consumed by the strange and mysterious white light.

Cerebus #82:

Same day. Inside the white light, Cerebus in a strange place, with the heads of Henrot and the "good sorcerer". Henrot and Apocalypse Beast has now incorporated the Artist to form "the Trinity of Tarim". Thrunk orders folks around. Julius meets Astoria at the hotel. Fred, Ethel, and the little fellow with the hair. Cerebus gets a nose job, breathes fire for the third time, and seems to now use the white light as a portal, even if he can't quite control it.

Cerebus #83:

Same day. Cerebus returns to the Sacred Wars Headquarters to find that it's really the home of Countess Michelle Detin. She recounts more of her history and relations with Weisshaupt and Lord Julius. All he knew about her from his last visit was a lie and she must now tell him something of great importance.

Cerebus #84:

Same day. Dinnertime. Michelle opts out of the Final Ascension, and passes on Weisshaupt's "gift" to Cerebus, telling him how to reclaim power. Michelle continues saying that Weisshaupt had wanted her to stand with Cerebus and help retake the papacy, but she won't have any part of it. It starts snowing "in the middle of summer".

Cerebus #85:

Same day, Cerebus has been walking for a while (a few hours?). While climbing the road to the upper city in a freak summer snow-storm, Cerebus meets the carriage of Princes Mick and Keef. Elrod returns to take part in the Secret Sacred Wars. Feeling quite high and friendly, Cerebus decides to give all his gold away.

After Cerebus #85:

"An Untold Tale of the 'Secret Sacred Wars'" Placed here as the smashed chest in the background suggests that it's after Cerebus' arrival at Michelle's in Cerebus #81.

Cerebus #86:

Same day. The Roach climbs the tower, with Cerebus in hot pursuit, Claremont and "Bunky Roach" (Elrod) terrified, and Mick an' Keef left behind. The tower (the mountain that Upper City rests atop) is definitely growing.

Cerebus #87:

Same day. More tower climbing, along with DarkKnightRoach. The Roach carries Bunky and gets all worked up about beating Cerebus to the top, since it is the Roach who is meant for the greatness that awaits. Thrunk starts playing tougher with his followers, and the Roach piles right past Astoria (he is no longer under her control) to get a piece of Thrunk.

Cerebus #88:

Same day. Cerebus reaches the plateau and is greeted by Astoria's dismay. She warns that he'll ruin everything just when she was so close to winning. Cerebus appears to unwittingly use his magic to make her dissappear (she kills Lion of Serrea, who presumably must have come to Iest). He reaches Weisshaupt's cannons, and destroys Thrunk, regaining the confidence of the crowds. Also, Powers was praying for Cerebus' imminent arrival.

Cerebus #89:

That night. Cerebus again has a bizzarre dream in which Bran and Weisshaupt are alive again (with appearences put in by Thrunk and the Elf). Important symbolism and mentions are made about Weisshaupt's relation to Suenteus Po, an allusion to Cerebus losing an ear, and the golden sphere (which Cerebus recalls the partially formed version of once he awakens).

Cerebus #90:

That night. Boobah, Julius, Leonardi, and Sophia have a match of wits in the darkened Pope's residence at night. No one notices that Cerebus' head has been replaced by the gold sphere. Powers arrives (with the albatross) saying that the Lion of Serrea has been assassinated, the churches reunited, and he blesses the ascension of Cerebus as messiah. Sophia tries to save the marriage.

Cerebus #91:

Cerebus again meets with the supposed Suenteus Po in that mystical dream-place. Cerebus finally gets an explanation of exactly what the Final Ascension is, why he should be a part of it, and what he must do. When Cerebus returns to the residence where Powers, Lord Julius, Duke Leonardi, and Boobah are still waiting, the now-complete gold sphere is in his hands.

Cerebus #92:

Morning, T-3. Powers informs Cerebus of the assassination of the Lion of Serrea and stresses the importance of bringing the assassin to justice promptly. Now that he rules a vast united empire, Cerebus is no more satisfied than usual and orders a draft and immediate expansionist conquest. Amidst his immortalization by two artists, the gold sphere melts, and Powers reveals the identity of the assassin - Astoria.

Cerebus #93:

Same day. Cerebus informs Powers to have the gold coins melted and reformed into the sphere, while he and Lord Julius go to Astoria's holding place. Along the way, the carriage encounters the Roach, Elrod, Mick and Keef. Cerebus comes face to face with a chained and gagged Astoria.

Cerebus #94:

Same day. Cerebus and Astoria discuss her situation and if in fact Cerebus "owes her" for killing the Lion of Serrea (whom she claims was about to have Cerebus killed). She also claims that she is solely responsible for getting him to where he is today. Cerebus dismisses this and makes the point that she has always manipulated him. When Astoria starts tempting Cerebus, the Pope fights fire with fire.

Cerebus #95:

Same day. Cerebus, having not gotten much sleep, takes a nap and dreams. Cerebus pictures himself being dragged down by a chain, only to awaken in Astoria's lap. After disolving their impromptu "marriage", Cerebus' mind wanders into dream again to see the construction of his "statue", which bares striking resemblance to the mold that Cirin will later use to form the sphere; he even comments on how "it's hollow instead of solid like the plans call for".

Cerebus #96:

Same day. The interrogation continues, centering on male versus female. Astoria tries to intellectually engage Cerebus on theological and philosophical issues without much luck. Tarim and Terim are more fully discussed for the first time as well as "male virtues". Powers also delivers word on Astoria's trial (and expected execution) are scheduled.

Cerebus #97:

Same day. Astoria once again bombards Cerebus with an apparently inescapable situation: kill her and Cirin's forces attack; hold her and people will think she's pulling his strings; release her and lose the faith of his own followers. She presents him woth the option of letting her knock him unconcious and "escape", but Powers arrives to take him to the trial site: his new throne room.

Cerebus #98:

The Trial starts at midnight (Cerebus #96). A carrier pigeon is released. Astoria tells how she killed the Lion. Cerebus flexes his muscle against the procedure of trial that Powers had laid out. Using Posey to ensure tradition is followed instead, Cerebus allows Astoria to tell her side of the story. The story of the Lion's death parallels and coincides with the death of Weisshaupt. When she includes that she didn't know who it was that she killed, Posey informs us that the charges must be altered. We also find where Astoria was sent when Cerebus made her dissappear.

Cerebus #99:

Still that night. Astoria uses sorcery to "show" Cerebus that the cycle is repeating itself, that this is a process that keeps happening, and somehow involves the two of them or two individuals of similar characteristic and belief. In the vision, Cerebus and Astoria have switched places. Astoria even gets Cerebus to use the phrase "In the name of Our Lady"... a profane blasphemy in his Church. Powers calls for an immediate end to Astoria's life realizing what has just transpired.

Cerebus #100:

Still that night. Cerebus tries to escape the duty of sentencing Astoria but finds that the murderer of a western pontiff is the successor, so Cerebus must kill her if he wants to unite the two churches. Also, Cirin gets word of the trial and orders a full-scale invasion of Iest. I suspect few readers were prepared for the last page of this issue, where something... notable is revealed about Cirin. The pigeon arrives, and Cirin launches her armies.

Cerebus #101:

Still that night. Cirin's invasion is signaled as Cerebus delays sentencing. He notices a box in the throne room which had previously been overlooked, and opens it to find a perfect gold sphere, compliments of Weisshaupt. Astoria, who had been declaring this doomed to repeat history recognizes that things are different this time, much to her dismay. Cerebus grabs the sphere, bursts through a window, and begins The Final Ascension.

Cerebus #102:

Takes place over seconds, or minutes at most. In the instant the Cerebus bursts through the window, individuals all over the land are somehow aware, to some extent, of what has begun. Something odd happens to the Abbess of GoodAbbey, Astroia, the corpse of Bran, Bear, Jaka, and Blakely in this moment. The tower cracks at the level of the upper city, and the growing spire above begins to rise at the speed of light, with Cerebus holding on.

Cerebus #103:

Passage of time is highly uncertain and subjective. Cerebus finds that he can now stand on the verticle surface of the rising tower without holding on. He begins to walk towards the top, even as the tower rises, and is baunted by the faces in the stone... particularly a few that resemble Weisshaupt.

Cerebus #104:

Making a lot of references from modern Earth (which Cerebus doesn't understand at all), Carrot convinces Cerebus he needs him to find the way to the top. When the tower stops spinning, Cerebus must hang on again, and Carrot falls back to Earth. It's at this point we see the destination: the Moon.

Cerebus #105:

Cerebus reaches the top of the still-rising tower to find the trinity... the Apocalypse Beast/Artist combination (Cerebus #82). He named them Fred and Ethel and sees himself as prepared for either eventuality, Terim or Tarim. While trying to shove Cerebus off the tower, they make him drop his sphere, and claim that he is now ill-equipped to complete the Ascension.

Cerebus #106:

The Apocalypse Beast/Artist combination continues to tell Cerebus how this is it's Ascension, not Cerebus'. The Artist details how Cerebus' surrender to fate would make it easier on everyone, but before it realizes, the Artist/Beast falls off the top of the ever-contracting tower, leaving Cerebus alone to complete the Ascension as the Moon draws nearer.

Cerebus #107:

Cerebus arrives on the Moon to be the first to ever meet the Judge:. a man in black robes hovering on the Moon. He says he is not Tarim, but an observer, alone for hundreds of thousands of years doing nothing more than listening, watching, remembering, and judging everything that everyone has ever done. He tells of the patterns that have surfaced throughout the history of sentient life and answers a few of the questions that Cerebus has come to ask.

Cerebus #108:

The Judge answers Cerbus' fourth un-asked question by telling how Suenteus Po successfully conquered the most of Estarcion, including how he died the moment after sending his armies forth. The Judge also tells of how religion has continued to rule and mesmerize the masses over the years by garbling the simple truths of existance.

Cerebus #109:

The Judge tells Cerebus the story of how creation began:. with Tarim and Terim, darkness and light, nothing and something, void and presence. Tarim was the void and Terim was a single star which altered the nature of the void by bringing light, energy, heat, and matter. In observing "her", Tarim sees the first birth:. a new star being born at the expense of the first.

Cerebus #110:

The Judge finishes the story of Tarim and Terim, telling of Tarim's anger and denial about what happened to Terim, of how Terim had become the heavens and everything in it, leaving it's mark on the void, expanding as the big bang, but destined to slow and return one day, only to coalesce and repeat the cycle.

Cerebus #111:

The Judge tells the story of what mankind will do in about 6000 years. Cerebus has now been told that he will never again come so close to conquering Estarcion as he already has; that his followers have deserted him since the world didn't end; that Cirin and her forces have conquered Lower Felda and Iest in his absence; and that he will die alone and unmourned. The Judge then returns him to the Upper City.

---

Late July/Early August:

Boobah has left the hotel but apparently not the city (Melmoth), presumably just before the Cirinists arrived (Cerebus #112/13).

The Cirinists, under the military leadership of Normina Swartskof (Flight), have invaded Lower Felda and Iest (Church and State2), apparently without serious opposition (Cerebus #112/13). Apparently, they put out the story that the Tower was an illusion (Flight). They portrayed theselves, not as conquerors, but as a peace-keeping force (presumably there was considerable rioting in the aftermath of the Ascension) (Women). The true Cirin is 'cut loose' (Melmoth).

Pud's wife dies ("more than a year" in July 1415, Jaka's Story). [He later thinks "just about a year ago".]

Fall:

Michelle was supposed to take care of Artemis "for a month or so" (Church and State2). Jaka and Rick move in with Pud (Exact timing uncertain). Pud's money is used up "in less than a year", and Jaka has been there for "almost a year". Jaka visits 13 Little College Street "in her sixth month" (Jaka's Story). Given that she wasn't visibly pregnant in July, this is almost certainly after she and Rick had moved in with Pud.

Cirin recommends Lady of Palnu "shortly after the invasion". Victor Reid's popularity begins to grow. Victor makes peace with being popular "several weeks"(Reads) after first noticing that he is, but "after a time" grows uneasy with it again.

Church and State 1	Jaka's Story