{"id":5742,"date":"2020-10-14T22:05:23","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T21:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5742"},"modified":"2020-10-14T22:05:23","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T21:05:23","slug":"hellions-5-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5742","title":{"rendered":"Hellions #5 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

HELLIONS #5<\/strong>
“X of Swords, part 6”<\/strong>
by Zeb Wells, Carmen Carnero & David Curiel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.<\/strong> Just a group shot of the team, with Psylocke holding swords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 2.<\/strong> The now-usual epigraph from Nightcrawler. Here, he seems to be warning against using mutant powers for battle because (I suppose) mutants need to nurture something so personal to them. It sounds as thought he’s cautioning against the way some of the Hellions have turned out, and doesn’t feel like a ringing endorsement of the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 3-5.<\/strong> Flashback: Empath is resurrected.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Empath was killed by Greycrow in issue #2, for using his powers on a teammate. (Greycrow specifically warned Empath that he’d do so in issue #1.) His resurrection is a flashback because Krakoa’s resurrection facilities are currently offline following X of Swords: Creation<\/em>. He was indeed killed on a mission to Nebraska, and his backed-up memories only go up to the start (so he doesn’t remember how he died).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor X tries to do the familiar nation-building ritual of welcoming back the resurrected mutant and recognising them as the real person, a routine which we first saw in House of X<\/em> #5 and which has been repeated in a few scenes since. This is why Empath is expecting “the crowd of fawning idiots”. Note that the only two people on hand for Empath’s resurrection are Professor X and Hope, who are both telepaths, and presumably able to resist Empath’s powers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empath is traditionally sadistic, but he isn’t usually quite as obnoxious as he is here – in the past he’s at least been capable of superficial charm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 6-7:<\/strong> Recap. I’m not sure it’s that<\/em> unsurprising that none of the Hellions were chosen by Saturnyne as champions for Krakoa – she chose Gorgon and Apocalypse, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 8-11:<\/strong> The Quiet Council discuss Mr Sinister’s plan to subvert the scheme.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, Saturnyne has forced Krakoa and Arakko to settle their differences by some sort of mystic contest where they each send ten champions with special swords to fight it out by proxy. Sinister’s proposal is that which everyone else is gathering their own swords, the Hellions should try to get to Arakko and sabotage the other side’s team. In theory this is actually quite a sensible idea, considering the stakes, and you can see why it appeals to someone like Emma.. In practice, trying to break the rules of magical tournaments rarely goes well in stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Quiet Council<\/strong>, on this occasion, are Professor X, Magneto, Mister Sinister, Exodus, Mystique, Kate Pryde, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw and Nightcrawler. Apocalypse is apparently missing because he’s still in the infirmary following Creation<\/em> (or maybe off looking for his sword, but we’re told he was “mortally wounded”). Storm is presumably off in Wakanda where we saw her in Marauders<\/em> last week. Jean Grey is on the SWORD orbital platform in a subplot that we’ll pick up in Cable<\/em>. The absence of these three characters tips the balance of power, allowing Sinister’s proposal to pass on a 5-4 majority – Storm and Jean would almost certainly have sided with the other conventional heroes on the Council and voted against, while Apocalypse also seems willing to play by the rules of mysticism (for the most part).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Apocalypse mortally wounded, the External Gate sealed, and Rockslide’s mutilation…”<\/strong> All in X of Swords: Creation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exodus<\/strong>, who has been something of a background character on the Council so far, proposes that Sinister should lead this insanely dangerous mission in person. Exodus is a Very Serious kind of character and doubtless finds Sinister deeply offensive, but he’s biding his time and picking his fights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I heard about his little trip to Otherworld.”<\/strong> Havok was among the X-Men who went to Otherworld in X of Swords: Creation<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Following your daughter around…”<\/strong> Magneto’s daughter is Polaris; she and Havok were a long running couple for many, many years. That didn’t seem to be high up Havok’s reasons for going, though, so most likely Sinister is just winding up Magneto because he can’t resist. It won’t work out well for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My boy.”<\/strong> Sinister is referring to the fact that Havok is meant to be on his team, but Havok also spent some time at Sinister’s orphange in Nebraska as a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 12.<\/strong> Data page about Dryador. This continues the series of background pages about the realms of Otherworld that have appeared throughout the crossover, and which seem to have no particular connection to the stories in which they appear. Dryador is the realm that we saw getting conquered at the start of X of Swords: Creation<\/em>. Apparently it used to be an oceanic realm before the Horsemen got their hands on it. “Del Di Lorr” was spelled slightly differently – “Del Di’Lorr” – in Creation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 13-14.<\/strong> Psylocke briefs the Hellions on their mission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intriguingly, this has one of the most direct exchanges yet questioning how (or even if) resurrection works. The Orphan-Maker, who has at least the mind of a child, can’t understand how resurrection works. Nanny gives him the don’t-worry-about-it version which is basically the X-books’ official line: they made a new body for Empath and put his soul in that. But Greycrow basically says that the previous Empath is really dead<\/em>, and this new one is just a copy that everyone pretends is Empath because no one can tell the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I very much doubt that we’re ultimately going to be invited to believe that that’s how resurrection works. It doesn’t really fit with the plot device of “no resurrection while in Otherworld”. But it’s apparently what Greycrow thinks, which suggests that he doesn’t place much stock in resurrection as a way of returning from death. Interestingly, that didn’t stop him approving the cloning of the legacy Marauders in the previous issue. (It’s possible<\/em> Greycrow is simply winding up Orphan-Maker, but he doesn’t seem like the sort of character who’d get much out of that.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 15-16.<\/strong> Sinister argues with his own clone about which of them is going on the mission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This scene is fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We enter through the Avalon gate, gain the favour of King Jamie, pass under the Starlight Citadel, trek through Dryador and enter Arakko.”<\/strong> The Avalon gate is the gate from Earth to Avalon that Apocalypse created in the first arc of Excalibur<\/em>. “King Jamie” is Jamie Braddock, who was put on the throne of Avalon in the same storyline. The Starlight Citadel is Saturnyne’s base in the centre of Otherworld, and Sinister’s route is basically in line with the map of Otherworld in Creation<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 17.<\/strong> Data page on Avalon, which (unusually) is actually relevant to the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Long under the personal protection of the wizard Merlyn…”<\/strong> This was the Avalon status quo in older Captain Britain stories. We’ve been told that Merlyn and his daughter Roma are now ruling different worlds in Otherworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tir na n\u00d3g <\/strong>is the realm of the Celtic gods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Green Chapel<\/strong> is a location from the story of Gawain and the Green Knight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In recent history, the witch Morgan Le Fay laid claim to the throne and swore that the King’s absence was of his own doing.”<\/strong> This was the status quo as at the start of Excalibur<\/em> #1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But no sooner had she claimed the throne than she made war against the Lady Opal Luna Saturnyne…”<\/strong> In Excalibur<\/em> #1, Morgan seemed pretty insistent that Saturnyne’s forces were the aggressors and that she was trying to keep Camelot safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“After a battle lit by dragonfire … Morgan Le Fay was defeated…”<\/strong> This paragraph is recapping Excalibur<\/em> #6. It doesn’t mention that Morgan is still a prisoner of Jamie (and by extension Apocalypse).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 18-21.<\/strong> Mr Sinister and the Hellions travel to Avalon to speak to Jamie.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original Avalon Gate was next to the Excalibur Lighthouse in England. This one seems to be on Krakoa proper. Maybe Krakoa can open a gate from any the island to anywhere that a portal exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Princess Silkmane.<\/strong> The horse is new. Presumably Jamie has given it the name; we’re told later that he stole it from Saturnyne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I will allow you one visit to Bar Sinister, where you’ll be provided with a black market clone of your choosing.”<\/strong> I’m not clear how this really helps Jamie. The problem with resurrection (according to Creation<\/em>) is that if a mutant dies in Otherworld, their soul is irretrievably lost and only a randomised alternate version can be retrieved for use in a resurrection. How does a spare body address that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 22-26.<\/strong> The White Priestesses show up.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guards here (including the men) are Priestesses of the White, the Saturnyne cultists who serve as her main enforcers in Excalibur<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not immediately obvious to me why Sinister needs Empath to do this; isn’t this within Psylocke’s abilities too, or even Sinister’s own?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 27:<\/strong> Trailers. The Krakoan text reads NEXT: WARLOCK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. HELLIONS #5“X of Swords, part 6”by Zeb Wells, Carmen Carnero & David Curiel COVER \/ PAGE 1. Just a group shot of the team, with Psylocke holding swords. PAGE 2. The now-usual epigraph from Nightcrawler. Here, he seems to be warning […]<\/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-5742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5742","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=5742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5744,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5742\/revisions\/5744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}