First Things First…
We left off on a solid cliffhanger. Warren Worthington III has gone to Dr. Adler to be cured of his mutation. Except we know Dr. Adler is dead, Mystique is posing as him, and there is no cure. This procedure will turn him into Apocalypse’s slave.
2 Things I Like
2. Rogue Saves Archangel
“Worthington is no more. Now there is only Archangel. Let the world beware.”
Archangel
When Warren emerges from the procedure, he’s been transformed into Archangel, and he’s pretty badass. There are a lot of X-Men from this era whose look I dig, and he might be atop the list.
Of course, part of his enslavement is that he’s somehow adopted Apocalypse’s hatred for all humanity AND mutants.
So he leads the newly created Four Horsemen in their terrorist acts, and eventually in their fight against the X-Men.
During this fight, Rogue finally defeats him by taking off her gloves and touching him, using her powers she wanted to get rid of to save him from Apocalypse’s clutches. When she absorbs his energy, she removes his hatred, turning him back into Warren—at least mentally.
Rogue says to Archangel…
“Don’t worry, I took the evil away when I touched you. It’s a part of me now.”
And therein lies the problem…
Rogue now has that evil and hatred inside of her, and she’ll have to control it much better than Warren did.
I suspect this could be an ongoing story, and I’m down for it.
1. A Different Breed of Mutant Terrorist
Apocalypse spends most of the episode spouting off clumsy monologues with goofy proclamations.
I absolutely love it!
I mean, how do you not love this…
“I am Apocalypse! Look upon the future and tremble!”
Who else could get away with something so ridiculous except for someone as powerful as him.
And then there’s this…
“The old world passes away. Together we shall forge a new one in fire and blood! The future is transformed! I am the instrument to purify the world! The evil of human and mutant must be cut away! You shall help me tear down the old order! Those who oppose me shall perish through my agents of destruction.”
And honestly, there are like six more, I just can’t include them all.
But there’s more I like about Apocalypse than his dialogue.
When Apocalypse reveals himself to the public at the World Peace Conference in Paris and sets his Four Horsemen upon the world, Professor X instantly recognizes that the X-Men haven’t dealt with anyone like him before. He says…
“This is what I’ve feared the most, a powerful mutant driven completely mad by his powers. This isn’t like Magneto or the conspirators who produced the Sentinels. They could be appealed to, reasoned with…”
He’s not wrong, either. As Mystique says, Apocalypse hates everyone—humans and mutants. Magneto may be willing to kill for mutant supremacy, but he’s not trying to wipe out the entire world. Nor does he have Apocalypse’s powers.
No one is to be feared as much as this guy.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Is Mystique Conflicted?
The Mystique we’ve seen these past two episodes is worlds better than the one from “Slave Island,” who was there basically just to have another recognizable mutant. She had no role to speak of… but this Mystique has a real personality.
That said, a couple of things make me wonder if Mystique is conflicted about working for Apocalypse, because her words and actions don’t totally add up…
First, her fear of Apocalypse is palpable. The way she gasps when she realizes he’s in the lab with her goes beyond just being startled.
Also, when she was disguised as Dr. Adler in the last episode and Rogue came to her for the “cure,” I sensed maybe a touch of sympathy from Mystique. It made me wonder if she’s more of a disciple of Magneto than Apocalypse—actually caring about other mutants.
That’s why the way she treats Warren at the beginning of the episode surprised me. She drops her disguise after she hooks him up to the machine and laughs in his face because he’s about to become a slave, and it’s all thanks to his funding making the research possible. This mutant-on-mutant crime is truly evil.
Her intentions get even murkier later when Rogue turns the tables on her…
When Mystique is trapped and reveals her identity to Rogue, she claims she’s being forced to work for Apocalypse. But then she shoots Rogue as soon as she’s freed.
Makes you think it was all a ruse so Rogue would let her go, right?
Maybe…
But when she’s still trapped, she also gives Rogue some vital information—including Apocalypse’s whole plan for creating slaves AND the location of his secret fortress beneath Stonehenge. She didn’t have to give all that up—so is there a part of her that really isn’t on board with Apocalypse’s plans?
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. The Four Horsemen Are Jobbers
“Apocalypse, a band of mutants has defeated us! We are not worthy!”
Archangel
Ric Flair would never stand for failure like this.
As badass as Archangel is, the others—Famine, Pestilence, and War—kinda suck.
I mean, they do some damage at first. But they get whooped by the X-Men mere minutes after we see them start their reign of terror for Apocalypse.
With Archangel no longer under his control, and the other three failing spectacularly, it looks like we can chalk this up as a failed experiment.
Tim Matassa
