MAGIK vol 3 #7
”Beneath the Veil”
Writer: Ashley Allen
Artist: Germán Peralta
Colour artist: Arthur Hesli
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Editor: Darren Shan

MAGIK

Since Dani took Cal (in issue #5), she hasn’t been able to sense the tracking spell she put on him (as mentioned in issue #3). Dani says that this is because the base’s defences are interfering with her tracking spell.

Before realising that Cal is possessed, she uncharacteristically hugs him and apologises for “involv[ing] you with Liminal”. That’s not quite what happened – he rather insisted on coming along with her – but she did decide to accept him on the view that she would be best placed to keep him safe. Protecting him is her top priority, and she doesn’t trust the Society of the Eternal Dawn to take care of him. Since they seem to be focussing entirely on Liminal and ignoring Cal himself, and their treatment of him seems at least harsh, her scepticism is understandable.

She’s now carrying both her own Soulsword and the Wrathsword from last issue.

SUPPORTING CAST

Dani Moonstar.  Her relationship with Illyana is still strained after issues #4-5. She remains a loyal member of the Society of the Eternal Dawn, but lets Magik in, since she figures that she’ll break in anyway. She chose to keep Cal’s condition secret from Magik because she knew that Magik would blame herself (as indeed she does).

Cal Isaacs. He’s completely possessed by Liminal following the end of issue #5, where he offered himself up as a seal to contain Liminal in Illyana’s place.

The Society of the Eternal Dawn. Their headquarters – which we saw at the end of the previous issue – turns out to be a rather conspicuous tower in the South Dakota badlands, complete with a prominent logo. Since it has magical defences against Dani’s tracking spell, we can probably take it that some sort of magical shielding prevents people from just stumbling across the thing.

We get some slightly conflicting information about the history of the Society. Its leader, the Embodiment, claims at one point to have founded it – but also blames the prophecy about Illyana as Darkchild (from issue #1) as “the chaos that ran wild before I took over”. She says that the Society was formed by uniting “disparate groups of hunters”, so the idea may be that Cal’s grandmother was a member of one of the groups that was merged into the Society. We’re told that Agnes refused to hand over the journal containing the prophecy, which may suggest that she didn’t accept the Society’s takeover of her group.

The Society has access to the Library of the Fates, a realm of prophecy which the Embodiment somehow obtained access to. Magik objects that their prophecy about her was incorrect; the Embodiment brushes this aside on the grounds that Agnes never made it available to them for full inspection (which seems dubious), and that in any event it was misinterpreted rather than wrong (which seems to be true).

Magik points out that their Society’s pro-active approach didn’t prevent the fall of Krakoa, Limbo’s invasion of New York (either the original “Inferno” or Dark Web, or both), or “the vampires plung[ing] the world into darkness” (Blood Hunt). The Embodiment claims that there are limits to what she can change.

The Embodiment. The Society’s leader and founder was also seen briefly in the previous issue, and referred to by that name. We see her face for the first time here. She’s much more friendly to Illyana than anyone else in the Society (other than Dani), but the attitude of her followers raises questions about how far this is an act, particularly given the amount of control she has.

Magik puts up her usual show of cynicism when dealing with the  Embodiment, but privately reflects on the apparent success of her proactive leadership style. For Magik, that stands in contrast to her and Madelyne Pryor’s hands-off approach to Limbo, something she was also worrying about last issue. She implies that if she had taken the initiative then she could have avoided the Limbo rebellion in the previous issue, or come to terms with Darkchild more quickly, thus saving Cal from Liminal.

The Exemplars. The Society includes three Exemplars, apparently the most senior fighters in the group. Their leader, Yanisa Suwain, is described as the “Exemplar of Weaponry”; she carries what seem to be two stun batons (though Magik dismisses them as “wooden sticks”) and seems a bit triggerhappy. Kiam Mir is “the Exemplar of Prophecy”; his powers seem to involve manifesting some sort of red jagged stuff by touching the ground (it’s not a very clear scene) and he can use “astral magic” to banish Magik’s swords back to Limbo. Lexi Larsen is the “Exemplar of Recruitment”, whatever that means. She wears a half-smiley face mask and seems to be able to summon up golems. The Exemplars are all very antsy about the Darkchild, in line with the established prophecies.

VILLAINS

Liminal. According to Liminal, Magik’s spell from last issue has “failed” and left him with full control of Cal’s body. No longer bound to his exile dimension, he claims that he’ll be “limitless” just as soon as Cal’s body adapts to his power. In the meantime, he seems to be an effective prisoner. Dani claims that the Society have him under control, which in practice seems to mean that they’re working on finding a cure to separate Cal from Liminal, and imprison Liminal more permanently. Magik suggests bringing in Dr Strange to help, but Embodiment says that he’s “no longer in this realm” – presumably referring to the Dr Strange of Asgard miniseries.