Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be

Incredulous Zed[]

During a romantic moment between Eternity and the Queen of Nevers, Incredulous Zed used the Edge of Reality, a sword which could cut through reality itself, to infiltrate the Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be and steal the Never Queen's heart, all in order to build the Impericon with it. After the heart was recovered with the help of Dawn Greenwood and the Silver Surfer, Eternity expelled Zed from within himself for his crime. In the Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be, Zed was enslaved by his mysterious benefactor,^[10] Glorian, the Maker of Miracles.^[1]

Secret Wars[]

When the Multiverse began to fade away as a consequence of the last incursion, the Queen of Nevers alerted Dawn and the Surfer about the impending end before ceasing to exist, buying them enough time to escape to the Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be. There, Glorian and Incredulous Zed (under the guise of the Lowly Zee) convinced the couple to recreate the old universe using the energy of Glorian's master, the Shaper of Worlds.^[1]

The task eventually depleted the Shaper's power and Glorian took advantage of this to slay him, usurping his position in the process. Dawn and the Surfer then found the Never Queen's heart and used it to bring her back, making it possible for them to choose the reborn Earth-616 over Glorian's duplicated universe, seemingly resulting in his death.^[11]

Around the same time, Loki and the ghost of Verity Willis also avoided the erasure of their universe by going to the Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be, albeit a different part of it. Those Who Sit Above in Shadow confronted the duo there, but Loki frightened them away by menacing to reveal their possible true origin. He subsequently reconciled with his alternate future self before moving on to what was next.^[12]

Eternity War[]

For having perished outside reality, the Shaper of Worlds was able to see the incarnations of previous Multiverses alive in the Far Shore. Since they were supposed to be dead after going through a renewal cycle (process in which a Multiverse dies and is replaced with a new one), the Shaper's ghost sought Galactus to warn him about their survival.^[13][3]

Later, the Queen of Nevers rescued the One Above All from Logos while he slaughtered the few Celestials who managed to survive the Beyonders for his master, the First Firmament.^[14] From the safety of the Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be, the Never Queen kick-started the rebirth of the Celestials through the One Above All to help Multi-Eternity against the First Firmament.^[3]

Defenders[]

In their journey into the "Mystery" beyond the Multiverse, the Defenders entered the Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be, the "Abyss," after leaving the White Hot Room.^[2] They encountered a still-alive Glorian, who used pieces of himself to trap the Defenders in a "maybe-verse" of their fantasies. However, the Defenders broke free and Loki used the Eternity Mask to call upon the Queen of Nevers. The Queen revealed herself to be Pilgrim, the Sentience of the Fourth Cosmos, and was joined with Cloud. The Queen brought the Defenders to the door to the House of Ideas and left Glorian in the abyss.^[4]

• Cloud^[4]
• Glorian^[1]
• Incredulous Zed^[5] (deceased)
• Queen of Nevers^[5]
• Shaper of Worlds^[1] (formerly)
• The archetypes of the Fourth Cosmos^[4]

• The Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be has been depicted as both an empty void and a desert-like landscape,^[5] with the former being its most prominent depiction.
• The Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be's nature as a plane of non-existence allowed it to remain after the Multiverse collapsed; however, it should be noted that Glorian stated it too could have been destroyed by the last incursion if the rift he left open for Dawn Greenwood and the Silver Surfer had not been closed.^[1]

• In Defenders: Beyond, Al Ewing associated the Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be with the Abyss from the occult religion Thelema. Thelema's founder Aleister Crowley described the Abyss in his book Little Essays Toward Truth as follows: "In the Abyss all things exist, indeed, at least in posse, but are without any possible meaning; for they lack the substratum of spiritual Reality. They are appearances without Law. They are thus Insane Delusions," which matches closely with the previously established nature of Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be.
• Al Ewing associates the Land of Couldn't-Be-Shouldn't-Be with the Sephiroth Da'at in Defenders: Beyond #4.