{"id":5091,"date":"2020-02-13T22:32:17","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T22:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5091"},"modified":"2020-02-14T08:35:27","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T08:35:27","slug":"x-men-6-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5091","title":{"rendered":"X-Men #6 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.<\/strong> Mystique in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 2. <\/strong>Flashback. Destiny starts to tell Mystique about something she’s foreseen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mystique and Destiny.<\/strong> Mystique shouldn’t need any introduction. She’s been a major character in the Hickman run, and she’s a member of the Quiet Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Destiny was Mystique’s long-time teammate in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, later re-named Freedom Force. She died in Uncanny X-Men<\/em> vol 1 #255 (1989). Chris Claremont very, very<\/em> strongly implied that Destiny and Mystique were a couple, but this doesn’t seem to have been spelled out on the page until History of the Marvel Universe<\/em> #2, which is absolutely unambiguous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Though Destiny is long dead, we’ve seen her before in House of X <\/em>#2, in one of the earlier lives of Moira X. Destiny is unable to see Moira directly, but can detect her influence on the timeline. Destiny and Mystique killed Moira and demanded that she use her next life to help mutants, also maintaining that the Destiny of that timeline would already know to look out for her. (We still don’t exactly <\/em>know how much of that was bluff.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Powers of X <\/em>#6 establishes that Magneto and Professor X recruited Mystique to the Krakoan cause by promising to resurrect Destiny back. However, it also establishes that they promised to Moira that they wouldn’t<\/em> bring Destiny back, because Moira doesn’t want any precognitive mutants on the island. More precisely, they told Moira that they would put Mystique off for as long as they could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Destiny was blind, but it made no difference in practice because she could “see” using her precognitive powers. Hence the two black opening panels, and Destiny’s signature blank mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’ve seen more sunsets than you can imagine, Raven. The collapse of all things and the end of days.”<\/strong> Destiny seems to be saying here that her power of precognition extends right to the end of time. Traditionally, though, Destiny’s powers became less reliable the further into the future she tried to look – or at least less useful, as the number of possible timelines became overwhelming. Perhaps she can indeed see all the way to the end, but with no real specifics. Or perhaps she’s anticipating a “collapse of all things” and an “end of days” in the rather nearer future, such as the erasure of the timeline upon Moira’s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They why are we—“<\/strong> Mystique’s question is cut off, but Destiny seems to have brought her to this (unidentified) coast for some specific reason. Part of it, of course, is to brief Mystique on the plot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 3-4.<\/strong> The Orchis Forge is back online.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Orchis Forge.<\/strong> This is the space station that the X-Men (including Mystique) raided in House of X<\/em> #3-4, on a “suicide” mission in which they destroyed the Sentinel-making Mother Mold just as it came online, by dumping it into the sun. The X-Men from that mission were “killed”, and promptly resurrected back on Krakoa in the next issue. (Or shift the quote marks to “resurrected”, depending on your perspective.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think Mr Sand and Captain Craine, seen here, are both new. Craine has presumably taken over the position of Captain Erasmus Mendel, who sacrificed himself to try and stop the X-Men in House of X <\/em>#3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the destruction of the Mother Mold, the Orchis Forge is looking in good shape again. There are installations on Mercury and Venus (paralleling the X-Men’s outpost on Mars). There’s also a Sentinel City being constructed, apparently on Mercury. Nonetheless, Sand still calls the station a “motherless orphan”, referring to the loss of the Mother Mold (which would have been located in the ring shown in the same panel). How much of a problem that poses for Orchis isn’t wholly clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 5-6.<\/strong> Killian Devo finishes building a device for Alia Gregor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Killian Devo<\/strong> is the director of Orchis, last seen in issue #1. Given how keen Hickman is on the parallels between Orchis and the mutants, it’s worth noting that Devo is blind, and relies on his cyborg components to see. It’s not clear in this scene what he’s actually building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omega.<\/strong> This is former X-Man Karima Shapandar, who was allied with Orchis starting in House of X <\/em>#1. How she became involved with them remains unclear. Curiously, Devo describes her as “self-aware, evolving … a work of art”, as if she was a particularly advanced AI. But Karima is a human who was turned into a cyborg against her will, and who seems to be becoming less<\/em> human in her behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The courier<\/strong> who takes the device to Gregor’s lab is a disguised Mystique, as we discover later in the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 7.<\/strong> The device is brought to Alia Gregor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alia Gregor<\/strong> is an Orchis scientist and the wife of the late Captain Mendel. When we last saw her, in issue #1, she was working on a project to resurrect him from the dead, apparently using a crystal which was implied to be some sort of back-up of his personality. Presumably this is what she thinks she’s working on in this scene. Again, there’s an obvious parallel with Mystique’s attempts to resurrect Destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 8-9.<\/strong> Recap and credits. The story is “The Oracle” by Jonathan Hickman, Matteo Buffagni and Sunny Gho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 10-11.<\/strong> Flashback. Professor X and Magneto assign Mystique to plant a Krakoan seed on the Orchis Forge during the X-Men’s assault.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an expansion of a scene in Powers of X <\/em>#1, in which Mystique hands over the data that she stole in House of X <\/em>#1 while reiterating her “demands” – which, with hindsight, were obviously to do with the return of Destiny. The original scene cuts off with the words “everyone who would live in it owes something.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this version, we’re now told that Mystique was instructed to plant a seed on the Orchis Forge. We’ll see later in the issue that it’s a gateway seed. This fits with House of X<\/em> #4, which did indeed imply that Mystique was running slightly late (from Cyclops’s point of view) because she was doing something else off panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note also that in House of X <\/em>#3, Cyclops specifically told the rest of the assault team that they weren’t<\/em> going to take any seeds that could grow an escape portal back to Krakoa, supposedly because it was far too dangerous to risk having a Krakoan seed fall into Orchis hands. This was never a very convincing reason, given the number of Krakoan doors dotted around the world that Orchis could have tried to get a sample from – and it now seems clear that it was a lie. They surely can’t be expecting an entire gate to go unnoticed for very long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Winter harvest”. <\/strong>This slightly odd choice of words feels like it ought to have something to do with the seasonal theme of the Quiet Council. The “winter” members are Mystique, Mr Sinister and Exodus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 12-14.<\/strong> Flashback. Mystique plants the Krakoan flower on the Orchis Forge.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mystique does what was asked of her, and the scene then plays out as seen in House of X <\/em>#4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 15.<\/strong> Flashback. Mystique is resurrected.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an excerpt of a scene from House of X<\/em> #5, replayed from Mystique’s perspective. The line about “your sacrifice was not in vain”, although a reply to Scott, is staged here so as to stress Mystique’s sacrifice in particular. It’s intentionally repeated in the next scene, directly addressed to Mystique. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 16-17.<\/strong> Professor X<\/em> and Magneto send Mystique through the gate that she grew.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You save us all, and for that we are grateful.”<\/strong> Call back to the previous scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But you need more.”<\/strong> Calling back to pages 10-11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Mother Mold is gone, yes, but as to the other…”<\/strong> Magneto and Professor X seem to have had some other target in mind all along. Since their stated reason for going after the Orchis Forge was the fear that it might result in the creation of Nimrod (the ultimate Sentinel), that would be the obvious thing for them to have in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE<\/strong> 18.<\/strong> Mystique was the Orchis courier!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repeats of panels from earlier in the issue, with the formerly-anonymous Mystique highlighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 19.<\/strong> Mystique considers killing Gregor, but decides against it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gregor’s project is much more advanced here than it was earlier in the issue, so either she works quickly or Mystique spends quite some time hiding on the station. The resemblance to Nimrod is much more pronounced. It’s not clear whether Mystique knows that Gregor is trying to bring back her dead husband, and recognises the parallel with her own situation, but it might well explain her decision not to intervene. Or she may just be keeping her options open while Professor X is still stringing her along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 20-23.<\/strong> Mystique reports back, and Professor X and Magneto want her to kill Gregor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have laws.”<\/strong> Mystique is referring to the often-stressed “murder no man” rule. Magneto simply brushes it aside as not applying to Orchis (well, he says “them”, but presumably he means Orchis). Xavier doesn’t seem to disagree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I want my wife back!” <\/strong>This is the first time Destiny and Mystique have been referred to as married. Given the Marvel Universe’s sliding timeline, there’s no reason not to take this literally. Even Silver Age stories are now presumably set after the first countries introduced same sex marriage (beginning with the Netherlands in 2001). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 24-26.<\/strong> In her “Oracle”, Mystique remembers Destiny’s advice, and raises a glass to her.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Oracle.<\/strong> The title of the story refers directly to Mystique’s underground home (presumably the staircase closes up once she’s inside, or else it’s going to be very uncomfortable in the rain). Obviously, it also refers to Destiny’s powers. Inside, Mystique appears to have Destiny’s mask, with some sort of energy behind it, hovering over a big crystal. This feels like it’s meant to be something more than just a shrine to a loved one – though Mystique doesn’t seem to think that it actually is<\/em> Destiny, since she’s recalling more of the conversation that we saw in flashback at the start of the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“An island – not the first, but the last.”<\/strong> Destiny is obviously predicting Krakoa. Like other more cynical characters, she recognises that it’s a repeat of Genosha and Utopia. Destiny does not outright<\/em> say that Krakoa is a fraud, though. Rather, she says that it will “sound too good to be true to your [Mystique’s] cynical ears” and that it will “seem to be hope for our kind” – strongly implying that it’s all appearances, but stopping short of making that claim. She seems to have some uncertainty about the place, perhaps because of Moira’s interfering effect on her powers. But she clearly directs Mystique to try and bring her back from the dead, and to destroy Krakoa if that cannot be done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. COVER \/ PAGE 1. Mystique in action. PAGE 2. Flashback. Destiny starts to tell Mystique about something she’s foreseen. Mystique and Destiny. Mystique shouldn’t need any introduction. She’s been a major character in the Hickman run, and she’s a member of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5091"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5093,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091\/revisions\/5093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}