In this review of Deadly Hands of K’un-Lun #5, the battle against Chiyou reaches its conclusion at the hands of Lin Lie and Lin Feng. Lie’s status as the Iron Fist hangs in the air.
DEADLY HANDS OF K’UN-LUN #5
Written by: Yifan Jiang
Art: Paco Medina, Alessandro Miracolo
Main Cover: Leinil Francis Yu
Variant Covers: Leo Chiola
Page Count: 23 pages
Release Date: 6/17/26
This review contains spoilers
Deadly Hands of K’un-Lun #5 begins with the continuation of Lin Lie and Danny Rand vs. Chiyou. Lin Lie is in his burning chi form, but the duo of Iron Fists still cannot defeat Chiyou. The God of War overwhelms them and counters them gracefully, declaring he knows all martial arts strategies because they descend from the wars he sparked.
Chiyou goes on to remark that other pantheons didn’t seal him away to protect humanity from Chiyou. Instead, the Gods sealed him away to protect themselves from humanity, as Chiyou’s wars bred humanity into master killers.
Chiyou nearly kills Danny Rand, until Lie saves him. In this new mastered form, he effortlessly conjures chi swords to Danny’s astonishment.
As the fight continues, Lie appeals to Feng, begging his brother to take his body back. He succeeds, wanting control of his own destiny. The brothers’ reconciliation is halted by Loki kidnapping Feng to prevent Chiyou from ever returning.
Lie uses the last of his chi to bring Shou-Lou back. The dragon is grateful, but remarks that his young Iron Fist has used up a large portion of his lifespan to achieve this feat. He says Lie can give up the rest and be transported to a place where he can live out his stolen childhood.
Lie refuses, before settling on continuing his life as K’un-Lun’s Immortal Iron Fist. Loki seals Chiyou within the sword, and lets Feng live. The older brother, now branded the Immortal War Fist, sets his eyes on the throne Chiyou used to occupy.
Analysis
Framing some of the story through Danny Rand’s book of life and death was a nice touch. Since it is an Iron Fist comic, many readers go in expecting Danny Rand. Using his new abilities as the Egyptian God Osiris’ agent to tell the story of Lie’s decision gives a unique presentation for an Iron Fist book, helps the viewer get used to Danny’s new transition into the Ghost Fist, and invokes a joyful feeling when Lie’s status reads “Active”.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Feng overcoming Chiyou the way he did. I did like the concept and the emotional art of the brothers reconciling, but it felt way too much of a sharp turn. To me, most of the subtext behind Feng and Chiyou’s relationship in this series came across as devotion due to similar goals. There was enough devotion for Feng to go against his family.
Yet, the twist here is that he regains his body and defeats Chiyou because there wasn’t enough devotion to give up his body. I like the idea of giving Feng his agency back and having him overcome the God of War, but I don’t think it was developed enough to truly feel authentic. I could’ve maybe gotten behind it if it wasn’t immediately followed up by Feng hugging his younger brother the way he did after consciously trying to kill him the last 4 issues.
As for the main character moment of the issue, Lin Lie’s decision and triumph was very authentic. With all the shining moments and now Danny Rand’s approval, he has done more than enough to be worthy of the Iron Fist mantle. Lie himself knows it too, as his anxieties about the title are no longer a thought when he decides to resume life as K’un-Lun’s favorite son. He accepts himself as Iron Fist after a mini-series of self doubt, to the point he overrides a second chance at life for it.
In my opinion, it was one of the better completed arcs for Marvel so far this year.
Final Thoughts
Although the defeat of Chiyou arrives due to a mediocre development, the completed arc of Lin Lie acceptance of his Iron Fist title makes the conclusion a joyous read.
