First Things First…
This originally aired as Episode 3.9.
I was disappointed with Part One of this arc, but there’s still potential here. Hopefully they clear up the convoluted mess they’ve made of the plot so far.
1 Thing I Like
1. Scylla and Charybdis
“Our fighting Sauron is preferable to this. I fear we have no other choice.”
Ka-Zar
Beast invokes the names of the proverbial “rock and hard place,” Scylla and Charybdis, that Odysseus had to choose between during his odyssey. Here, Beast, Wolverine, Rogue, Jubilee, and Ka-Zar are left with two similarly terrible choices…
Either face Storm directly while she’s raging out of control, causing untold harm with the weather, even using it to cause dinosaur stampedes…
Or let Karl absorb Storm’s energy to stop her—turning himself back into Sauron in the process.
That’s ultimately the option they go with. And you know it’s a difficult choice, because Sauron is no pushover. His mind control is strong enough that he even bent Professor X to his will last season. Yet dealing with him is preferable to facing an unhinged and unleashed Storm.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Storm Cuts Loose
“Rage, winds, your mistress craves more!”
Storm
One thing I liked about Part One was that Storm was finally at the forefront, with her powers being fully realized, because she’s way more powerful than she’s given credit for. So it’s cool to see her here, as I already mentioned, “unhinged and unleashed.” She has the power to literally resurrect a god, and she should be given her just due.
So why is she only in this category?
Because she acts like a dumbass even after Sauron’s control over her is broken.
Garokk tells Storm that her attacks empower him, yet she doubles down and summons more elemental power to throw at him. Beast then implores her to stop, but she shrugs him off. She fights off Rogue, too. She won’t listen to reason.
Despite not enjoying the way she comes off there, the episode ends with the promise of a more fun, freer Storm in the future. Though she apologizes to Rogue for her behavior, she admits…
“All these years of caution and denial, to finally unleash my true feelings. I liked letting go. Never before have I felt so free.”
3 Things I Don’t Like
3. Sale at Statue Depot?
Early in the episode, Storm destroys what I assumed was the only statue of Garokk. This upsets Zaladane for about a second, before she realizes it helps to bring about Garokk’s plan.
Then, there’s another statue that Ka-Zar’s people worship. But Storm—after being released from Sauron’s control—destroys that one, too.
Then there’s a third! Zaladane and Sauron argue in front of another statue.
I don’t remember any indication that there were multiple Garokk statues in the Savage Land. Were they there all along? Or is this a plot hole nobody gave a shit about?
2. Garokk’s Plan
I won’t even try to summarize the plan here. All I know is, Garokk gives a huge exposition dump. He starts by explaining…
“In a bygone era, I alone ruled this land, until a powerful enemy defeated me, calming the raging elements of the Savage Land, leaving me powerless, banished to this rocky prison.”
Who the eff is the enemy who defeated him? No idea! Maybe someone who knows the comics better would recognize him. But I guess it’s not important enough to tell the audience…
Then he goes on to explain that Storm’s power feeds him, and he’s going to somehow connect with the volcanos, which apparently are responsible for heating the Savage Land. This will make him supremely powerful, so he can be reborn out of whichever statues haven’t been destroyed.
It’s a messy, nonsensical plan. And other than being reborn, what exactly is the plan? To corrupt the land? To turn everything to dirt? Whatever he’s doing to the land already is unclear and doesn’t look like it serves a purpose.
1. Sauron’s BIG Adventure
Even though Sauron is evil, he also works against Garokk because he wants to rule the Savage Land and won’t cede that position to anyone else—not even a god.
That’s all well and good. But then we get some nonsense here, too…
Sauron touches a volcano—not Garokk himself—but (I guess because Garokk has fused with the volcanos) he absorbs Garokk’s energy. And (I guess because this energy is overwhelmingly powerful) it turns him into a giant.
It makes for a cool visual—a giant stone man fighting a giant pterodactyl. But, just like last episode, the story is a convoluted mess.
Tim Matassa
