First Things First…
This originally aired as Episode 3.10, so it’s barely out of place. Knowing that the previous episode aired two years late but was about Jean’s death, and ends with the X-Men finding out she’s still alive, I’m curious if this one deals with her at all. It sounds like a standalone.
I’m also excited because it’s about Archangel and Apocalypse. I love Apocalypse episodes, and I like that he now has an archenemy. So even if it’s standalone, I’m pumped for it.
3 Things I Like
3. Surprise Love Triangle
“He’s not Warren anymore, chere. Apocalypse machine make him L’ange de mort—the Angel of Death—now and forever.”
Gambit
In the end, Archangel leaves in a huff, pissed off that nobody understands him. But there’s a lot to like about the dynamic among him, Rogue, and Gambit.
The tension revolves around Rogue and Archangel’s brief but intimate history, when Rogue absorbed his energy when he was still a heel enslaved by Apocalypse. Thanks to that experience, she really does have a better understanding of who he is, what he’s been through, and how he feels, particularly when it comes to Apocalypse. That understanding gives them a connection no one else has with Archangel, and that’s different from Rogue’s connection with Gambit.
For his part, Gambit does the right things. Even when he chases after the two of them, rather than sticking with the rest of the team to execute Beast’s plan, he’s trying to prevent Rogue from getting killed. Archangel is so single-minded in his pursuit of vengeance that, no matter how he feels about Rogue, I don’t think he’d bat an eye if he got her killed.
That said, Gambit tries to convince Rogue that Archangel isn’t Warren Worthington anymore from the beginning. It probably doesn’t help the tension that the first time he tells her this, she’s sitting on a park bench with an unconscious Archangel’s head in her lap.
Gambit also stands in a doorway to an infirmary, unnoticed, seething, eyes flashing red, as Rogue wipes Archangel’s face with a damp cloth and says, “You’re right. Part of you is part of me now.”
Now, about her pledging her heart and soul to Archangel… hopefully he’s not gonna hold her to that, because she said it under a bit of duress, and her heart clearly wasn’t in it.
2. Apocalypse Returns
“Return to me, oh sweet Death, my Horseman, and all shall be forgiven.”
Apocalypse
I’ll pop for Apocalypse anytime he shows up in this series. For being the most ancient, most powerful mutant, he’s so ridiculous with his grand proclamations. But I love him so much.
It’s great to have you back, big guy.
1. Archangel’s Obsession
“It’s him, everywhere the same since the beginning of time, Apocalypse, the bringer of chaos, the destroyer of worlds.”
Archangel
There’s no denying it. Archangel is a dick.
I don’t think he means to be, though. He just can’t see anything clearly besides his thirst for vengeance.
During the battle aboard Apocalypse’s ship, Beast’s plan works—briefly—and Apocalypse is trapped in an impenetrable forcefield. Yet Archangel soars in, proclaims, “Come to me, demon, and give me your tender back, for the time of your judgment has arrived!” and actually tries to free Apocalypse because he needs to be the one to have his vengeance.
But his obsession goes far beyond the battlefield…
Archangel is spending a fortune having archeologists dust off ancient tablets with their little brushes like they’re Fr. Merrin scouring Iraq for religious relics. He’s got them translating ancient Babylonian, or Mesopotamian, or Egyptian hieroglyphics—maybe all of them. He’s reading scrolls that were unearthed during the Ming Dynasty. And he won’t even let his team leave to get some sleep.
All this is in the name of understanding Apocalypse through the ages, hoping some civilization, somewhere along the line, found a vulnerability. He’s hoping against hope that Apocalypse’s immortality is simply a lie perpetuated by the big guy himself.
You have to admire his relentlessness.
We’ll have to wait a minute, though, to talk about the one “weakness” he finally finds, because it’s a doozy…
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Beast’s AI Girlfriend
“Ship, you are a work of art.”
Beast
There’s a fun cat-and-mouse element to Beast working with Apocalypse’s ship, which is sentient. (Beast, by the way, is quite excited by this.)
They work together to enact a plan to trap Apocalypse, but at the same time, Beast has to figure out some overrides, because Apocalypse foresaw this. He has defense mechanisms in place to protect himself, forcing the ship to do his bidding, even as the ship and Beast continue to flirt. It’s hard to keep track of all the back and forth, but as Beast summarizes, “It appears an override may be overridden.”
I like all of it up until the ship is destroyed. It feels like an actual death. But Beast puts his head down to cry like a sixth-grader putting their head down on their desk at school.
Get it together, Hank.
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Apocalypse’s Super-Secret Weakness
It turns out this is all bogus anyway. The guy who shows up at Archangel’s bunker of vengeance claiming to have discovered a hidden vulnerability is actually Apocalypse in disguise, luring Archangel into a trap.
But still, it’s so silly when Archangel is going to such great lengths, excavating ancient artifacts, sparing no expense to find some vulnerability… and when someone finally shows up claiming to have found one, it’s—DUN DUN DUN—the back of the neck?
Could there be a more obvious weak spot?
Isn’t everyone’s neck vulnerable—especially the back of the neck? Wouldn’t Archangel already instinctively attack him there? I mean, the guy might as well have shown up and said, “Hey, if you kick him in the balls, it’ll hurt.”
I don’t know… it made Archangel seem a little dumb when he’s like, “Aha! After all my searching, I’ve finally found his weak spot—and you’ll never believe where it is!”
Tim Matassa
