First Things First…
I have so many questions now! Are the Prime Sentinels really done? If so, has Bastion been neutralized? Does that make Magneto the primary antagonist for the end of this season? How will things play out between Magneto and the X-Men, especially with Professor X back and ready to reclaim his mantle as leader of the team? Will they see Magneto’s point the way Val Cooper did?
Let’s find out!
5 Things I Like
5. Old School Unis
With the mansion being leveled, more or less, the team has to travel to their old base on Muir Island for gear and supplies. There are some old school uniforms in store. Jean wears the green and yellow that we saw in the original series, Cyclops wears the goofy one that covers his hair, and Wolverine wears the maroon and yellow.
But it’s not just the X-Men turning back their style clocks…
As he returns to his old point of view, Magneto goes back to the classic red costume, helmet in tow. Now that Charles is back, Magneto is NOT letting him in his head again (he hopes), and he won’t be talked out of following through on his plans.
4. Turncoats
“How many more of your bones will pave the way to Xavier’s future, where we simper like beggars for tolerance? Your professor’s dream is dead. So I offer a new one. A home to replace what they stole from us. A new Genosha. We have gotten here by walking this man’s path. We are left with but two choices. Cling to this dying world, or rise to your future and look down upon this fallen pigsty planet.”
Magneto
Rogue is a given. We’ve already seen her more violent side emerge since Gambit’s death. She’s had enough of Professor X’s ideology. It makes total sense that she’d align herself with Magneto when he opens the door for the team to join him in his war on humanity.
Sunspot is a sneaky-good pick to switch sides, too.
After his own mother turned him over to the Prime Sentinels, he’s got every reason to doubt the basic goodness of humanity.
Finally, after all the time they’ve put into the Roberto/Jubilee storyline this season, this is the first truly interesting thing he’s done.
3. Holding Xavier Responsible
“Magneto, sir? Really? What did you expect was going to happen when you tossed him the school?”
Cyclops
Cyclops, Rogue, and Sunspot all call out Professor X. Cyclops might feel vindicated now that Magneto has broken bad again. He always should’ve been the Professor’s choice to take over. But he mostly expresses sadness and resentment.
Sunspot simply points out the obvious—what did he think would happen when he gave Magneto the reins?
Rogue has a more nuanced argument. She holds the Professor responsible for Gambit’s death. But she comments on how, even now, Xavier sees them as students, not people. And that’s how he still views Gambit, even in death.
(Of course, knowing that he left control to Magneto rather than to Cyclops so that Scott and Jean would have the freedom to live their lives and raise a family, I’d say she’s not entirely correct. But I can’t blame her for feeling this way, based on what’s most important to her.)
Even President Kelly is pissed at Professor X. When the Professor asks for his trust in letting the team handle Magneto, Kelly says…
“You expect me to trust you? The world is falling apart because you left your legacy to a lunatic.”
It’s a shame that this is what has happened to Xavier’s legacy. I mean, he left Earth in an effort to save his life after an assassination attempt. He shouldn’t be blamed for that, or even for wanting to pass on the fight for mutants to others so he could live out his remaining years with his love. But turning things over to Magneto and believing that, even if the fight against mutants took a drastic turn like happened on Genosha, that he’d continue to walk Xavier’s path, was pure hubris. He deserves to have his feet held to the fire for that.
2. Back to the Old Disagreement
“Your home? When you abandoned us for your Shi’ar Bird-Queen, you bequeathed it to me, asked me to walk your path. Are you prepared to walk mine?”
Magneto
Magneto tried Charles’ way. It didn’t work. Humanity showed their true colors. Or so goes Magneto’s argument.
Charles, meanwhile, can’t just let Magneto destroy humanity. Thousands are already dead and all First World infrastructures are in ruin thanks to his EMP. If the effects become permanent—and they’re racing the clock to avoid that very proposition in this episode—who knows how many more will die. It’ll be mass casualties, to say the least.
But, as Magneto asks, what about the thousands of mutants killed on Genosha? Do human lives count for more than theirs?
Magneto also tells Charles how magnificent Genosha was—just as Charles envisioned at a bar many years ago. He says it was “a promise realized.”
But now, that promise is destroyed… Magneto believes Charles is a race traitor… and these two are back to square one of their philosophical disagreement.
So, with the fate of the planet, and everyone on it, hanging in the balance, Charles crosses a line and forces his way into Magneto’s mind, trying to hijack his powers so he can set the Earth right.
1. Metal Ripped from Bone
I didn’t expect the show to get this violent.
This scene is so barbaric that it plays out in still frames.
After Wolverine sneaks up on Magneto while he’s distracted and guts him with his claws, Magneto’s rage takes over…
… and he rips the adamantium from Wolverine’s skeleton and out of his body!
It took me a few minutes to remember I actually read this. The “Fatal Attraction” crossover was one of the big ones I bought all the issues of with my allowance money in the 90’s. (Those nice covers with the cool holograms were $3.50 a pop instead of the usual $1.25, though!)
It’s an insane visual, and it also raises the question I’ve often wondered about—why does Wolverine ever try to fight Magneto?
I don’t remember how the story ends in the comics (not that they’re tied to that version of the story). But I don’t know how this gets fixed. Maybe the Professor can finally do something right and fix it with his telepathy. Otherwise, we’ve got a very neutered Wolverine on our hands.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Battle on Two Fronts
Maybe it’s through no fault of their own… maybe it’s just that Magneto is so enthralling that I couldn’t bear to have my attention diverted elsewhere… but I didn’t care nearly as much about Bastion and Mister Sinister.
In the second half of the episode, the X-Men split up into Gold and Blue teams, which is kinda cool since that’s how they do it in the comics (or at least it’s how they did it in the 90’s when I read them regularly). But Bastion and Sinister, the Sentinels, and the team fighting them all feel like afterthoughts.
And it’s not like these villains are getting beaten down. Despite losing control of his Prime Sentinels, Bastion still powers an army of regular Sentinels, which proves too much for Storm and Forge. Bastion himself overpowers Beast and Morph.
Sinister even taunts Jean with…
“Only I know where you end and Madelyn begins. If you ask nicely, I can tell you when I switched you.”
That’s a question I desperately wanted the answer to just a few episodes ago. But now, there’s so much more interesting things going on with Magneto.
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Cable Crosses Jean
I was confused by this. Why is Cable suddenly battling against Jean?
Clearly, I had it wrong last time when I thought that, despite Jean not being his mother, he still had affection for her because he understands how much she and Madelyne are the same.
But what’s going on here? Is he being controlled by Mister Sinister? Jean says that’s what’s happening, but he seems to think otherwise. And he apparently has his own telekinetic power that I never realized.
Tim Matassa
