NEW STORY ARC A PHANTASMIK APOCALYPTO BEGINS The Crown Eats Men. Hafez is steeped in a cunning poison. Son of Reza, hes under the sway of Zahhak, the serpent-shouldered king of Persia. Reza rages as the boy teeters between myth-spinning prodigy and fever-dream of comic-book tropes. Day one on the throne, Zahhak shreds royal ceremony and butchers his reign before it begins.