Marauders #10 annotations
And we’re back. Now, how did this go again…
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
PAGE 1 / COVER. It’s Emma, Storm, Iceman and Forge fighting the guys in the armour that we’ve seen in previous issues. As in X-Force, Forge is using the “organic tech” that he’s been working on since coming to Krakoa.
PAGES 2-5. Sebastian Shaw enjoys Krakoan whiskey. Storm tells Forge that his old power-dampening technology has resurfaced in Russia. Forge admits that one of his underlings from the time had a photographic memory.
Port Genosha. The first time we’ve seen Genosha’s first distillery. For some reason it’s been named after the previous mutant island nation, which was wiped out by Sentinels in New X-Men vol 1 #115. From the scale of this thing, it looks as if Sebastian Shaw is trying to develop a business that isn’t based on pharmaceuticals… which is probably quite sensible for the Krakoan economy, to be honest . But obviously the trope here is the rich villain who’s killed someone and is mostly interested in his luxury goods.
Tempo. Heather Tucker was a member of the Mutant Liberation Front back in the 90s. As the scene implies, she has the power to warp the rate of time in her area. The idea is that she’s using her powers to let the whiskey mature by 50 years in the course of a day. She has no apparent interest in this exercise, so presumably she’s being paid for it. 50 years is on the high side for whiskey, or indeed for whisky, but more because of the economics than anything else. (The cheapest 50-year-old whisky currently listed on my local specialist retailer’s website goes for £2,395 a bottle. A bottle of 70-year-old whisky is also available for anyone who has £17,500 to burn.)
Tempo has shown up on Krakoa before, in X-Force vol 6 #9. For what it’s worth, the ridges on her helmet are new.
Forge and his power-dampening weapons. Forge was a US government weapons designed when he first appeared in X-Men stories during the 1980s. It’s not expressly referenced here, but a major storyline involved him developing a neutraliser device that could remove a superhuman’s access to their powers. The device was used on Storm in Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #185, and she remained powerless (well, super-powerless) until Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #226, during which time she and Forge had a relationship. In fairness to Forge, the neutraliser wasn’t intended for use on mutants, but for the Dire Wraiths, the alien villains from Rom. At any rate, the Forge/Storm back story is an important piece of context for this scene.
PAGE 6. The recap page.
“Send one of theirs to the morgue.” This is from The Untouchables. “He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.”
Note, though, that what actually happens in this issue is not quite what the strapline implies. Kate was killed at the end of issue #7 (not just hospitalised). The strapline sets us up for the Marauders to head off on some sort of massacre. But what they actually do is capture a boatload of hostile soldiers and brainwash them to be nicer in future.
PAGE 7. Sophie Cuckoo tells the Quiet Council that the Marauders are off to exact retribution for Kate Pryde’s death.
Sophie. We haven’t particularly seen the Cuckoos act as spokesmen for Emma in this series, and it’s also somewhat unusual to see them acting individually. The Cuckoos have frequently been shown with four members in white and one in black, though which one doesn’t seem to be consistent (in House of X #1, one of the white-clad Cuckoos identifies herself as Sophie). At any rate, where stories have bothered to distinguish between the Cuckoos, Sophie has generally been one of the more heroic.
Emma (through Sophie) is presenting the Marauders’ retaliatory strike as a fait accompli and denying them the attempt to veto her. That may also be because she knows Shaw is in league with the bad guys and doesn’t want to give him the opportunity to tip them off.
X-Force are meant to be Krakoa’s black ops / CIA division, so Shaw is superficially playing by the rules by suggesting that the matter be referred to them.
Nightcrawler, the most pacifist member of the Quiet Council, is the only one to clearly raise any concerns about this. It’s not entirely clear whether Professor X is objecting alongside him, or cutting him off. We see more of Nightcrawler on this issue’s text pages, so it’s probably deliberate that he gets a line here.
Magneto removes his helmet in order to talk to Sophie, because the helmet contains psychic jamming devices. (This idea has been around for decades, since there had to be something to stop Professor X or Jean Grey from just putting him to sleep in the second panel.) That allows him to give instructions without being overheard by most of the room, but it’s less clear that Jean, Xavier or Exodus wouldn’t hear.
Magneto tells Sophie that the Marauders should “leave none to tell the tale”, which would normally imply that they should all be killed. Technically Emma does comply with this instruction by erasing everyone’s memories of the last month – since they no longer remember “the tale”, she has “le[ft] none to tell” it.
Storm. Curiously, even though Emma has declined to attend this meeting because she’s already off with the Marauders, Storm is there. Nobody seems to question this. Storm is also shown on the attack later on, but perhaps she just flies very quickly in order to catch up.
PAGE 9. The credits. This is “Leave None to Tell the Tale” by Gerry Duggan and Stefano Caselli.
PAGE 10. An email from Kate to Kurt asking to meet up with him for some emotional support.
“Fuzzy elf” was Kitty’s standard term of endearment for Kurt throughout the Claremont era (once she got over her initial fear of him, anyway). Kitty seems to have been actively looking for Kurt and struggling to find him – but it’s not like he’s had that much to do in the Krakoa-era stories so far. Has he been avoiding her for some reason? Has she just been unlucky? Is somebody keeping them apart?
“When my old man tanked that savings and loan for the Yakuza…” Refers to the plot of the 1984 miniseries Kitty Pryde & Wolverine.
“When the OG Marauders almost killed me…” In the Morlock Massacre, specifically Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #211.
“When Ororo’s mohawk scared me” In Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #173. Kitty does indeed break down in tears and run off crying when the new-look Storm shows up.
“I’d love to walk to the moon sometime.” Referring to the Summer House on the moon, where the Summers family and certain associates live – accessed via the Krakoan gates that Kitty mysteriously can’t use.
“I can’t even phase through most of Krakoa.” Not sure this has specifically been claimed before, but it sure sounds as though something has been done to try and stop Kate from exploring the inside of the island and discovering Moira, doesn’t it?
“I know our big brains care and I know they are working on it.” Well, maybe. But given how Mystique is being strung along over in X-Men, maybe not.
“I’ve got to head to Asia to help Bishop with a caper in Taipei.” The story from Marauders #3. So this is an email sent between issues #2-3, just after Kate became the Red Queen and moved into the Red Keep. We’ll see later in the issue that Kurt apparently doesn’t write a reply until after she apparently dies in issue #7. That seems an inordinately long time to reply to a cry for emotional support from a close friend. What’s going on here?
The term “caper” is very, very Claremont, and this email really feels like Kitty reaching out to try and connect to her X-Men history at the same time that she seemed to be self-destructively distancing herself from it in the main story.
“Now I suppose you’re my rabbi too.” Kurt has always been the most religious X-Man, and has been shown training as a priest in the past.
“Grab your cutlass.” Claremont-era Kurt in particular always loved pirate movies and swashbuckling – as one of Kitty’s closest friends from both the X-Men and Excalibur, you’d have thought he would be a natural fit for the Marauders, yet he’s been virtually invisible in this series until now. Strange, isn’t it?
PAGES 11-20. The Marauders storm the bad guys’ freighter, capture all the bozos, and brainwash them to be nice, planning to dump them all in Red Square as a message.
Basically, this is one of those scenes where the Marauders beat up some people who obviously deserve it, but in a way that makes you slightly uncomfortable about their ends-justify-the-means philosophy. They don’t just erase people’s memories here (which is standard X-Men trail-covering stuff). Emma actually changes people’s personalities to make them less prejudiced. Traditionally this is a villain move, at least within the conventions of the superhero genre, since it violates personal autonomy and makes people nice in a meaningless way – entire stories such as Squadron Supreme have been built around why this sort of thing is an ethically terrible idea that always goes wrong in the end. Viewed another way, since the Marauders are constrained by Krakoan law not to kill, they retaliate with a gesture which is much more grand-scale and intimidating in every other respect.
“Bozhe Moi!” Russian for “My god!”, but in the X-Men context something that Colossus used to say all the time.
Daniels. As far as I’m aware, Forge’s sidekick is a new character, though I suppose it’s possible that he was hanging around in the background of an issue somewhere.
The Mercury is Christian Frost’s boat, and we’ve seen before that it has internal shapechanging features. The idea that it’s a UFO is completely new.
Emma Frost is dialling up the sex angle something fierce here. There’s a vaguely plausible in-story rationale offered: Emma seems to be claiming that it makes groups of men easier for her to control, partly because of the shock value and partly because it makes them all think the same thing. If you’re looking for a reason for her to keep dressing like that after leaving the Hellfire Club, it’s as good as any.
PAGE 21. Christian ducks Bishop’s questions about where the Mercury came from.
We’ve seen before that its control consoles change into things like pianos for him.
PAGE 22. Daniels catches up with Forge and realises that he’s going to get mindwiped.
Daniels seems like a perfectly nice guy, who deliberately sabotaged the weapon he was forced into building, and tried to get a message to Forge (which went completely unnoticed). This scene seems to take place on a Krakoan beach, and it would be unusual for the X-Men to bring a non-mutant there – though not unprecedented, since X-Force have done it to interrogate someone.
PAGE 23. Daniels – now “Dan Molina” – moves into the Morlocks’ golfing community in Rio Verde.
Daniels meets up with Masque, who is pleased to have someone to play golf with.
PAGE 24. Kurt’s reply email to Kate. The closing paragraphs make clear that it was written after her apparent death. That means he waited over four issues before replying. And even though he says “This letter will be waiting for you”, he hasn’t actually sent it – it’s headed as a draft.
Basically, Kurt says that (1) Kate needs to know that the refugees the Marauders rescue are flourishing when they get to Krakoa, so she’s doing good; (2) he wants her to feel that Krakoa belongs to her as well; (3) he is making his own separate investigation into why she can’t use the gates; and (4) he misses her very much.
Number 3 is particularly interesting. On the surface Kurt phrases it in a fairly standard “let’s pursue religion alongside science” kind of way, but he really does seem to be saying that he’s investigating, not just lending some supportive prayers.
PAGE 25. The Five throw in the towel on trying to resurrect Kate.
Egg concludes that for some reason she doesn’t seem to be resurrectable. Professor X agrees – “for now”. That could be taken simply to mean that he’s going to investigate the problem further before trying again, and no doubt that’s how the Five take it.
PAGES 26-27. Trailers. The release schedule hasn’t been updated from the original plans, so this issue is still shown as being released on 1 April 2020. Note that Children of the Atom #1 is highlighted in red, which normally indicates a story of especial wider importance.
The Krakoan reads NEXT: HESPED. (A hesped is a eulogy at a Jewish funeral.)
Paul> The Cuckoos have frequently been shown with four members in white and one in black, though which one doesn’t seem to be consistent (in House of X #1, one of the white-clad Cuckoos identifies herself as Sophie)
One Cuckoo wearing black is apparently meant to be a thing in the Cable book. It’s not a mistake that it’s a different one each time, judging from the interviews for that.
I really hope the “special” event in Children of the Atom #1 isn’t simply that it features the debuts of a new team of characters….
A real pleasure to read a new comic again! And this was a good one too. I really love the artwork and distinct characters. And the writing does an excellent job of juggling a large ensemble cast with everyone getting a ‘moment’.
I’m not sure Kate’s inability to access Krakoa is connected directly to her phasing. Otherwise, why resurrect Shinobi Shaw?
Letters to Nightcrawler made me sad and at least implied he wanted to join her – I guess he wasn’t in the book due to editorial fiat more than anything.
Interested to see if Kate’s parents show up for the funeral. She’s always been a more grounded character with a distinct family life. Or what does a ‘mutant’ funeral look like in Krakoan culture?
Was Tempo one of the only deaths to come out of Age of X (the Legion warp issues?). I seem to remember something like that. How much could she be swapped in for Eva Bell as one of the Five? Interested to explore that when we get round to it.
As for Emma’s reveal, I thought it was a bit on the nose, but in keeping enough with her character. But surely she’s powerful enough to not need distraction? Or just go diamond and thump them? Or it could just be the writer enjoys giving her
fun scenes…!
A real pleasure to read a new comic again! And this was a good one too. I really love the artwork and distinct characters. And the writing does an excellent job of juggling a large ensemble cast with everyone getting a ‘moment’.
I’m not sure Kate’s inability to access Krakoa is connected directly to her phasing. Otherwise, why resurrect Shinobi Shaw?
Letters to Nightcrawler made me sad and at least implied he wanted to join her – I guess he wasn’t in the book due to editorial fiat more than anything.
Interested to see if Kate’s parents show up for the funeral. She’s always been a more grounded character with a distinct family life. Or what does a ‘mutant’ funeral look like in Krakoan culture?
Was Tempo one of the only deaths to come out of Age of X (the Legion warp issues?). I seem to remember something like that. How much could she be swapped in for Eva Bell as one of the Five? Interested to explore that when we get round to it.
As for Emma’s reveal, I thought it was a bit on the nose, but in keaeping enough with her character. But surely she’s powerful enough to not need distraction? Or just go diamond and thump them? Or it could just be the writer enjoys giving her
fun scenes…!
Didn’t Kate’s dad die on Genosha? I’m pretty sure he died on Genosha.
It’s a good point about Shinobi, I haven’t connected those dots. To be fair he hasn’t used his powers in this book yet and he’s not the most memorable character… but yes, he phases, so the mystery can’t revolve around Kate’s phasing. Unless there’s some lame hand-waving about how Shinobi’s phasing is somehow different, but at this point I give Duggan more credit than that.
If Nightcrawler couldn’t be included in Marauders due to editorial mandate, it would be interesting to know why, considering he’s not doing anything in any other book, apart from the ‘I need to start a mutant religion’ bit in an issue of X-Men.
As for Emma – the scene could have been written without her using the distraction – as in, I’m pretty sure she’s powerful enough to manage it without the distraction – but then again Emma does like to not only win, but to utterly dominate and humiliate her opponents. This is pretty much on track.
Very good issue overall. Still lots of plates spinning, some little details that go unacknowledged – like Bishop, who was adamant red wasn’t his colour, wearing a new red costume. Which might be nothing but it could also be him doing it because it was sort of Kate’s last wish regarding him.
I wonder about the Mercury – the only straight up UFO-like object I recall from X-Men history was Fantomex’s EVA. Though obviously there’s also the New X-Men Mercury, but I struggle to connect her to a flying saucer. Then again it was said that the group scene in the tiki bar in X-Force contained characters that Percy and other writers have some plans for, and Mercury was there, so who the hell knows.
Evilgus- good point about Shinobi Shaw! If Xavier, Magneto and Moira were blocking Kitty from being able to use her powers on the island, use the portals, etc, then why not Shinobi too?
On Kate’s parents- her mom is still around, but her dad died on Genosha.
I’d agree that Emma probably doesn’t NEED the distraction- seeing as how she was powerful enough to permanently altered the personalities of all these guys later in this very issue. But it’s classic Emma. Why not give herself an edge?
Evilgus- good point about Shinobi Shaw! If Xavier, Magneto and Moira were blocking Kitty from being able to use her powers on the island, use the portals, etc, then why not Shinobi too?
On Kate’s parents- her mom is still around, but her dad died on Genosha.
I’d agree that Emma probably doesn’t NEED the distraction- seeing as how she was powerful enough to permanently altered the personalities of all these guys later in this very issue. But it’s classic Emma, and why not give herself an edge?
Oop, hadn’t yet seen Krzysiek‘s reply before saying a lot of the same stuff.
But the Kurt thing is interesting. I don’t think it’s editorial mandate either, since he doesn’t have a major role anywhere else. It just seems like there’s a greater plan we’re only starting to see. His absence from this book so far does feel strangely conspicuous.
The thing about Kate’s dad dying on Genosha was revealed way back in Mekanix.
Kurt has been portrayed in X-Men as somewhat conflicted over the political stances of Krakoa, and he has a seat in the council that he appears to take seriously enough.
Were he participating in any of the morally dubious titles such as Marauders or X-Force, that would pretty much require a spotlight on those conflicts and a plot point about how he attempts to cope.
That may well come to be in the near future, and I think it is. But it is not what Marauders is about.
I haven’t read this yet, as I don’t have it yet (I also don’t have the last week’s worth of books because of the shutdown. I’ll get them eventually). Having said that, I’m glad to hear they’re picking up on some old continuity, and it sounds like the characters are being handled well here. Nice to hear Kitty reached out to Kurt, but yeah. Why did he wait so long to respond? Also, did Lockheed appear this issue?
My theory is Shinobi isn’t very inquisitive, and might not care if he found out about Moira. Or he may have been given a mental nudge to not go exploring. Whereas Kitty would explore, and do something about it if she found out secrets were being kept.
Or, on second thought, maybe Kurt’s just not that tech-savvy and rarely checks his e-mails? I’m going with that one. 🙂
I think it was mentioned in an earlier issue that Kitty’s exclusion makes some other mutants uncomfortable about her (because they’re enjoying the island paradise she’s not a part of). I think Kitty mentioned it as a feeling she gets from some others around her when she visits Krakoa? So Kurt’s belated response might be due to this unease, this difficulty to express his concern?
Unless I invented that whole thing and talked myself into believing it was actually in the book, which, I’ll be honest, I think sometimes happens to me. Maybe.
I think Col_Fury is on the right track with the distinction between Kitty and Shinobi. Kitty is 100% the X-man most likely to try to bring the entire system down if she learns there’s something rotten at the core. Shinobi, on the other hand, if I’m remembering XPlain the Xmen correctly (I know I read old comics he’s in but I remember little if anything about them) is an evil bastard who, if he does uncover something rotten, is certain to say “How can I profit from this?” rather than try to expose the system or bring it down.
And actually, this line of speculation makes the sudden entrance of Nightcrawler to the book seem very suggestive. Seems like his power also has the potential to help him discover hidden places, though it’s obviously harder and riskier for him. And he has a strong conscience and is also one of the most likely people to be spurred on by Kitty’s memory…
@Krzysiek Ceran, I don’t know if that unease of some mutants when around Kate has been portrayed in the books, but it makes sense that it would exist.
Krakoa has some very specific, more than slightly authoritarian expectations from its citizens. It also has a very nationalistic government, which is never a good thing either in fiction or in real life.
I should have thought of that before, but Kate’s situation is a perfect metaphor for that of people who just can’t bring themselves to repeat the party line of an authoritarian government. For reasons beyond her control or even understanding she just can’t play the part of a regular, well behaved Krakoan however much she might want to (or not to). She is an involuntary minority in a former minority culture that has recently turned the tables as well as reinvented itself as a whole separate culture of its own.
On that regard, she as a much necessary character. She is the person who is invited to participate in the glorious revolution but can’t quite pay the demanded price. By fulfilling that role, she puts pressure into Krakoa to consider and address the downsides and drawbacks of its very reason for being. She is the LGBTIQ person in 1950s America, the non-Muslim in the Middle East. The person who just won’t be polite enough to refuse to exist and thereby pollute our oh so harmonious environment.
Not that the character has been shown to consciosuly act that way, mind you. But the potential is right there and it may be a fascinating thing to watch. Particularly given this apparent new oddity of her person regarding the Krakoan expectations. Any good Krakoan would be glad to ressurrect, why won’t Kate?
I don’t think that the discovery of Moira hiding on Krakoa would be that major of a blow to Krakoan society.
How does the discovery of Moira change anything?
I would think the authoritarian and mutant supremacy aspects of Krakoan society is enough of a red flag to make people question if Krakoa is truly an utopian paradise.
Kitty is (was) already on the ruling council. She can (could) plainly see that there’s something apparently quite wrong with this mutant paradise.
As far as I can see, the only reason why it’s important for Moira to remain hidden on Krakoa is to attempt to protect her from being killed.
To be fair, it seems Kitty has never actually taken part in the council proceedings.
I had forgotten about Mekanix! I quite enjoyed it as a miniseries. And a potential “writing Kitty out the series” epilogue if you chose to read it that way. Also forgot it dealt with her father’s death. Thanks to the collective for reminding me.
@Luis: I do like that idea of Kitty’s position in Krakoan society…
I think Kitty’s one of the most compelling and developed X-characters out there, despite also being one of the most ‘ordinary’ and less brand recognisable outside of the main comics (hardly any cartoons, videogames, limited film presence etc…). And a very questioning and morally certain character (to the point of being slightly obnoxious!). But I can see her death working as an inspiration for characters like Storm, Nightcrawler, Iceman and Emma to get to the bottom of the Krakoa matter.
She was a main character on X-Men Evolution (though arguably she became less important as the series went on) and a pretty constant presence on Wolverine and the X-Men (though more of a background presence, to be sure), so that’s two out of three X-Men animated shows.
And of course, who could forget the Pryde of the X-Men pilot. I certainly can’t get the theme song out of my head.
But you’re definitely right about the movies and games.
Come to think of it, if Kate is that keen to catch up with Kurt, it seems odd that she never goes to the Quiet Council meetings, where she could be virtually certain of meeting him.
Does she actually know she’s on the Council?
If Moira were to be discovered, wouldn’t most mutants see her and assume she was the same supporting human from before? It may be weird and creepy that she’s been in hiding, but unless Destiny’s around, no one is going to have any clue about the implications of her existence since they have no clue she’s a mutant.
Or maybe it’s been that long and I’ve forgotten why the above is wrong.
I also can’t think of any reason why Moira’s existence on the island should be kept a secret. Aside from some mildly awkward questions about why she’s still alive, all I could come up with is something to do with Mystique? Although the theory that she’s more likely to stay alive if no one knows about her is a good one, especially with how often characters have been dying lately.
Moira faked her death for a reason, right? The timeline in whatever issue of HOX/POX explicitly says she faked her death using a Shi’ar golem. She wants to be hidden, and this was years after Destiny’s death. And that reason is, she doesn’t want mutants in general to know they ALWAYS LOSE.
The only ones who knows she’s alive is Xavier and Magneto, with the possibility of Apocalypse (~*maybe*~). That’s it. AND she’s living underneath Krakoa.
As far as anyone knows, she’s a regular human. Generally speaking, humans aren’t allowed on Krakoa. So if she’s discovered, how is she alive? Why did she fake her death? How/why is she living on/under Krakoa if she’s a human? In secret no less? Wait, she’s a mutant? What’s her power? Reincarnation? Wait, we always lose? REVOLT!
Just a theory, of course. 🙂
That was my original train of thought, too, but it breaks down in multiple places:
— Moira isn’t living on the island, but visits her upside-down secret room through a portal from (I believe) Paris.
— Humans can use portals if mutants ask for special exceptions. Which Xavier certainly would for Moira since she is mutantkinds most trusted human ally (as far as anyone knows).
— There’s no reason to suspect she’s a mutant, so no one would ask about that.
— Xavier, et al. could easily come up with some reason she’s not dead. Coming back to life has happened for literally dozens of other X-characters at this point.
I completely agree that she has some reason for faking her own death. I just don’t think we know what it is yet. It may have to do with mutants always losing, but it’s not even clear what that saying means at this point. Hopefully, some things about Moira will become more clear in her series (if Marvel still plans to publish that).
With regards to faking her death…why wouldn’t she? If Mystique had killed her, it would have been another reboot, so Moira would have wasted another life in trying to set up Krakoa. And it doesn’t seem like it was something she had planned with Mystique, unless there was a retcon I missed.
The question isn’t why Moira faked her death, but why most people haven’t been told she did/is alive now.
Thom-I used to believe that Moira deciding to keep her still being alive secret had something to do with Destiny’s prophecies and Mystique.
It could have related to why Mystique wanted to kill Moira in the first place. A convenient plot hole left by Claremont.
Now, Destiny is dead and Mystique believes she killed Moira, so Moira wants to keep her continued existence secret from Mystique.
I’m no longer sure if that direction is where Hickman is headed with Krakoa though.
This is probably a minor point, all things considered, but did Kate ever pick a new code name?
@Chris V: It does seem like Destiny, Mystique, and Moira are inextricably linked in this story. And it could be that Hickman is applying a continuity patch over Mystique’s original motivation for killing Moira.
But why kill Moira before Krakoa is even founded as a mutant nation? As far as I recall, Destiny hasn’t foretold anything specific about Moira, just about Krakoa. Unless Destiny (and thereby Mystique) knew about Moira’s connection to Krakoa in advance of its creation. But that’s just speculation at this point.
Honestly, if I were Moira I might hide from Mystique no matter the circumstances. She’s already “killed” her twice!
Well, Destiny did say in that early life that if Moira ever betrayed the mutant cause again, then her and Mystique would hunt Moira down and kill her again.
In order for that threat to mean anything, then Destiny’s prophecies must include something about watching Moira closely.
That may be why Mystique went after Moira earlier, because Moira did something which went against Destiny’s warnings. Maybe.
Yeah I looked at the Xavier/Moira/Magneto modern day scene from HoXPox again.
Moira calls her secret chamber “her home.”
And she says “I am a weakness because my death ends all of this.”
Anyone knowing she’s alive, even if they think she’s human, puts her way more at risk.
Xavier died, they “resurrected” him.
Moira dies, she has to try and do it all again.
Because she’s the most important person in all the multiverse, evidently.
I can’t believe that I never noticed this before. Do we have any indications of how Moira’s power would interact with the ressurrection procedure that the Six are using?
Would it simply not work with her? Or what?
The timeline would reset before they could use the procedure.
@Talbak She hasn’t had a new codename since picking up Shadowcat.
Well, that’s not true – the O5 (or at least young Iceman) called her ‘Professor K’ and later she became the new Star Lord for a bit when she ditched the O5 to have adventures with Guardians of the Galaxy. Or at least the wiki says she picked up that mantle. (Peter Quill was trying to rule his home planet at the time, I think?)
But after coming back to Earth she didn’t pick a new codename. I think technically she was still Shadowcat, though come to think of it, I’m not sure if anybody actually still called her that. Mostly she was just Kitty, now Kate.
Does Red Queen count as a codename, or is it more of a title?
@Ben: “Moira calls her secret chamber ‘her home.'”
Oops — I totally misremembered that. Thanks for clearing it up. I guess I thought it was stupid to live in an upside-down bubble by yourself instead of living somewhere nice and only visiting the depressing bubble.
@Chris V: “That may be why Mystique went after Moira earlier, because Moira did something which went against Destiny’s warnings. Maybe.”
That makes sense. But if Mystique is such a danger to Moira (and therefore the entire plan), then why resurrect her, especially if she’s going to demand Destiny’s resurrection? And why does Moira seem to be more afraid of Destiny than Mystique? Every time I think I’ve figured out the connection between those three, I find out I don’t. Wait and see, I suppose.
Honestly I totally misremembered the scene as well.
I thought it was more antagonistic between her and the guys.
And that she couldn’t leave.
I must have been tuning out by that point.
Yeah really, why let Mystique be involved at all?
Or most of the dangerously unstable villains?
Sure they needed Sinister for his DNA and maybe Apocalypse for his knowledge.
But the rest of them are a pretty enormous liability.
It seemed like Moira’s plan had something to do with wanting all mutants alive and on the island.
However, if so, then why does that not include Destiny?
It seems like Xavier considers Mystique very important to the plan for some reason. I can’t figure it out, because yeah, it’s not like she’s someone like Sinister or Apocalypse. A number of characters could fill Mystique’s role.
Yet, Xavier felt the need to bribe her (with the promise if resurrecting Destiny) and gave her a spot on the Ruling Council.
Yeah, why not not just leave Mystique dead too?
Unless Moira is lying to Xavier and Magneto.
She very well may be (we know she is hiding things from the journal entries), although the idea that Xavier’s new dream really is mutant supremacy is highly troubling…
Maybe Xavier really wanted Mystique on the Ruling Council.
Moira couldn’t think of a valid reason to not resurrect Mystique, as she did with Destiny.
So, Moira has to give in to Xavier and Magneto on Mystique.
Of course, that is complete conjecture.
Okay, I can buy that she’s so critical to the timeline that she must be protected at all costs, and even if 99% of mutants are like “Hey look, it’s our human ally, she’s cool,” one human-hating mutant is all it takes takes to reboot things.
She must not have felt this paranoid until after the fake death by golem, since she engaged in all sorts of risky public behavior before then, but such is the price you pay for a retcon.
And it’s probably why we haven’t seen Blindfold resurrected yet.
Moira replaced herself with the golem at an earlier point.
It was just fortuitous that she replaced herself with the golem before Mystique decided to kill her.
Moira has no way to know that Mystique would attempt to kill her, so her replacing herself with a golem just before Mystique happened to attempt her murder makes no sense.
Moira actually says that she was afraid that she was influencing events too directly, so she decided to retreat from public life to further her ultimate plot. She then replaced herself with the golem.
It’s not exactly clear at what point she replaced herself with the golem.
She must have created a golem that had the majority of her memories, but not the knowledge of her mutant power or her past lives.
@CJ
I figure we haven’t seen Blindfold as it’s implied she has similar powers to Destiny due to a familial link (was that in X-Necrosha?). And therefore same risk to Moira.
Shame as Blindfold’s been intriguingly developed over the years, but I doubt she’ll be as prominent again as she was in Spurrier’s Legion series. In fact, shame as many of the Young X-Men characters have moments in the sun but never quite get the chance to graduate. But that’s always been the way..! But they do make a great supporting cast.
X-Men Legacy’s tie-in to Necrosha, yes.
I guess the Young X-Men will become more prominent again in 5 to 10 years, once people who were fans of theirs start writing the books. Seems that’s how it was for New Mutants (and to a lesser extent Generation X; though there just was a fun Gen X revival two years ago…)
“In fairness to Forge, the neutraliser wasn’t intended for use on mutants, but for the Dire Wraiths, the alien villains from Rom.”
He got the idea from Rom’s and later made an advanced version that could affect Dire Wraiths, but the one in the X-men was intended for mutants.
Xavier and Magneto appear to need Mystique to plant the gateway on the Orchis station and continue to infiltrate it.
My theory about why Moira bans precogs is that her plan involves genocide of baseline humans and that would be too far for Destiny. She’d expose it.
Why would it be too far for Destiny?
When Mystique thought she killed Moira, it was due to Moira refusing to help her change the Legacy Virus so that it only targeted humans.
If Moira’s plan was simply a genocide against humans, she could have just agreed to Mystique’s plan and allowed humans to go extinct from a virus.
I agree with Chris. Mystique and Destiny would probably be okay with killing all humans.
The real reason might be simpler: Moira doesn’t trust Mystique after the assassination attempt. Refusing to revive Destiny is a way to keep Mystique in line so that she doesn’t try again and reset the timeline if she succeeds.
Destiny has human children. She was depicted initially as willing to assassinate Senator Kelly, but nothing about genocide. She’d been lightened up after that until her death.
As for Mystique killing Moira, that was long after Destiny’s death, and Mystique was described as insane. Moira would have replaced herself with the Shiar golem by then. Could Mystique have actually killed all humans with the altered virus before they developed a vaccine? It isn’t even sure how it could be spread. It would have led to full scale human-mutant war before Moira was ready.There’s also the question of whether Mystique’s improbable madness inspired creation of the virus was actually real. Could Xavier have been influencing her as a cover to fake Moira’s death?
Where was it revealed that Destiny has human children, or any children?
I thought that Destiny met Mystique when she was very young and that the two became lovers.
I got the idea that Destiny had never been with a man.
I highly doubt that Mystique is going to be revealed to be the hero, while Xavier and most of the X-Men are revealed as genocidal maniacs.
I can’t see the future of post-Hickman X-Men franchise being Mystique, Destiny, and the Non-Genocidal Mutants. I don’t see a lot of sales potential in that direction.
X-Men Legacy’s tie-in to Necrosha establishes Blindfold as Destiny’s great-granddaughter. Spurrier’s Legacy establishes Blindfold’s brother as being a mutant, but nothing is mentioned of the two generations between Destiny and Blindfold. It could be they were human.
Also wiki mentions a ‘Trevor Chase’ who was Destiny’s grandson. He also has dead parents who probably were humans (there’s no mention of mutant powers and Sabretooth killed them, so they had cause to use them if they had any).
Destiny’s daughter and Trevor’s mother Justine Chase is listed as human. So is Blindfold’s mother and aunt.
The X-Men don’t have any idea about Moira and her plans. It’s possible the finale will have them trying to stop it, outnumbered and against all odds. Who could have predicted the members of the Illuminati could recover after Hickman made them come close to genocide in Time Runs Out?
The X-Men still realize about a lot of things going on with Krakoa, and have accepted it.
I think, more likely, Hickman wants to build up all these threats against Krakoa, so that the reader is concerned about which one is going to mess up Krakoa.
Will Mystique mess up Krakoa for the mutants?
I wanted to think that there is something more going on with Krakoa too, but the longer “Dawn of X” has gone on, the less likely it seems to be that Hickman is going somewhere dark and disturbing with everything.
I think the readers are just supposed to accept that this is the new status quo for the X-Men.