{"id":6097,"date":"2020-12-30T22:02:33","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T22:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6097"},"modified":"2020-12-30T22:02:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T22:02:33","slug":"x-men-16-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6097","title":{"rendered":"X-Men #16 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

X-MEN vol 5 #16<\/strong>
“Sworded Out”<\/strong>
by Jonathan Hickman & Phil Noto<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1:<\/strong> Cyclops in the Quiet Council chamber, in front of the face of Krakoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 2-6.<\/strong> Cyclops, Cable and Prestige watch the appearance of Arakko.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So how’s this going to work?”<\/strong> There’s some very tongue in cheek technobabble here, for those who really care. Basically, Arakko is brought back to Earth via the External Gate (which doesn’t really<\/em> make sense, because the External Gate connected Krakoa with Otherworld, not with Amenth – let’s assume Saturnyne is helping out somewhere). The mechanics don’t matter, of course. But this does explain why Krakoa was so keen for the External Gate to remain open, in “X of Swords”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

“The Arakko Point is a small dormant piece of Arakko that joing with Krakoa.”<\/strong> In issue #2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The two halves of what was once a single island.”<\/strong> The history of Krakoa and Arakko as parts of a single island (Okkara) that was split in two to defeat the invasion from Amenth in ancient history has been covered ad nauseam in earlier issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arakko<\/strong> towers over Krakoa. We’ll see later that the population is also much bigger. The key point here is that Arakko drastically changes the political situation for Krakoa. Until now, Krakoa has spoken for the overwhelming majority of mutants on earth, with a position of economic power over humans. And they’ve been pretty cocky about it too. Now, they speak for only a minority of the mutants on Earth – albeit an overwhelming majority of those actually born there – and the dominant mutant force is a larger, rather unpredictable and intimidating bunch. On the other hand, it’s Krakoa that has all the flowers and drugs, as far as we know – does Arakko have anything similar to offer the world, and do its leaders have any interest in gaining influence that way? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all these downsides, it’s clear from the Quiet Council scene that the Council were expecting the two islands to merge, and saw that as desirable. It also seems that they didn’t appreciate just how large the Arakkan mutant population actually is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I don’t want to watch this again.”<\/strong> Calling back to a scene in issue #2 where Prestige seemed to be suggesting that the merging islands were making love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 7.<\/strong> Recap and credits. The title, “Sworded Out”, is presumably a reference back to “X of Swords” and a pun on “sorted out”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 8-10.<\/strong> Cypher helps Krakoa and Arakko to talk.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Krakoa and Arakko appear as giant humanoid trees here; they don’t often<\/em> do this, but we’ve seen Arakko do it in the flashback in issue #13, when it wanted to pass through the portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cypher<\/strong> is no longer wearing Warlock as a cybernetic arm. The right arm of his costume is now simply coloured black. His counterpart from Krakoa, Redroot, is missing; she was imprisoned in Otherworld in X-Force<\/em> #14 and evidently still hasn’t been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krakoa’s dialogue<\/strong> doesn’t use the substitution cypher from X of Swords: Creation<\/em>; it’s just symbols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 11-14.<\/strong> Cypher reports to the Quiet Council.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole of the current Council are present. The two empty seats belong to Jean Grey, who resigned in the previous issue, and Apocalypse, who left for Arakko in X of Swords: Destruction<\/em> #1. Their seats haven’t been filled. Sebastian Shaw appears in normal health and isn’t in a wheelchair, so presumably this issue takes place before Marauders<\/em> #16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Then what was the point of this?”<\/strong> Magneto’s question is a bit odd. Even if the two islands don’t want to merge, they succeeded in bringing Arakko back to Earth and rescuing its millions of inhabitants from a hellish dimension. Why does that become pointless, just because the two islands don’t merge? Was there some particularly pressing reason why the islands had to form Okkara? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’ve got a wife now.”<\/strong> Bei, whom Cypher was forced to marry in Excalibur<\/em> #14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m not.” <\/strong>Mystique is referring to the fact that her own wife, Destiny, still hasn’t been restored to life by the Krakoan resurrection process. As we’ve established in previous issues, Moira MacTaggert is adamant that Krakoa must not have any mutants with the power to see the future; Destiny cannot<\/em> be brought back, but Mystique is being strung along with promises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What about you, Sinister? You must have some insight into all this since you are, in fact, the only person in this room with experience on that island.”<\/strong> In Hellions<\/em> #5-6, the Hellions were sent on a suicide mission to Arakko at Mr Sinister’s suggestion. Supposedly he was leading the mission in person. In reality, he sent a clone in his place, which got killed there. Sinister seems to have picked up some information about Arakko from the Hellions who did<\/em> make it back (just before he killed them), but he’s dodging Magneto’s question because he hasn’t actually been to Arakko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So easily forgotten when you’ve never matched a name to a face.”<\/strong> Nightcrawler flags up the fact that we’ve heard <\/em>a lot about the vast number of mutants on Arakko, but we’ve seen very, very few of them. And note that that remains the case in this story – when Magneto and Xavier visit Arakko, they meet Isca, alone, and that’s it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What are we going to do with all of them?”<\/strong> That sounds like a callback to Angel’s “What are we going to do with fourteen X-Men” line from Giant-Size X-Men<\/em> #1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 15-19.<\/strong> Magneto and Professor X visit Arakko.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demon.<\/strong> We’ve seen creatures like this in Amenth before. Evidently, Arakko has returned to Earth complete with some of the fauna that it picked up while in Amenth (and Isca specifically describes it as a “creatur[e] of Amenth”, not of Arakko). That seems unhelpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor X<\/strong> has brought the Krakoan plant for a practical reason – to create a gate between Krakoa and Arakko – but he really does look out of his depth, standing there with his pot plant to greet the neighbours. Note that Isca leaves without taking it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isca<\/strong> is the only character still carrying her sword from “X of Swords”, because it was an everyday part of her life. Much as we’ve seen her in “X of Swords”, she’s hard but seems perfectly constructive. At the same time, she strongly implies that the mutants of Arakko opposed the reintegration with Krakoa, not just Arakko itself. The suggestion seems to be that Magneto and Xavier are (for some reason) very keen to see Okkara reformed, but the Arakkans are culturally so unimpressed by the Krakoans that they want nothing to do with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Great Ring<\/strong>, the Quiet Council’s counterpart on Arakko, is named here for the first time – though we do see it briefly in the flashback that appears in issues #12 and #14. When Isca says that it has ruled for thousands of years “beyond the fallow years”, she presumably means that its rule was interrupted when the city fell to Genesis\/Annihilation and got absorbed into the Amenth\/Annihilation forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magneto’s response to the Ring’s pedigree is painful, attempting to claim the same sort of pedigree for a group that Isca instantly realises has been cobbled together very recently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans.<\/strong> Magneto and Xavier give Isca very<\/em> mixed signals about the place of humanity and their relationship with mutants. Isca is surprised that they survived alongside mutants, but assumes that technological advance is to do with it – which ties in with Hickman’s general cosmology from Powers of X<\/em>. Magneto seems keen to shut down any suggestion that humans might be equivalent, perhaps thinking that it makes Krakoa look weak in Isca’s eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 20-21.<\/strong> Data page on the Great Ring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The obvious point here is that the Great Ring follows precisely the same structure as the Quiet Council – four groups of three, although in Arakko’s case the fourth group is secret. Both islands have group names based on time as well, with Krakoa using the seasons and Arakko using the time of day. The obvious explanation is that Krakoa played some part in prompting the Quiet Council to take the form it did, and both share a common inspiration that dates back to Okkara. But it’s also possible that this is something that Moira picked up in an earlier life – she did<\/em> retrieve the Horsemen in one of them, which implies she made it to Arakko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The members of the Ring who actually get named are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Isca herself.<\/li>
  • Idyll<\/strong>, the mutant prophet who predicted the fall of Arakko in the flashbacks in issues #12 and #14. That could be important – if Moira doesn’t want precognitives on Krakoa, she can’t be thrilled about having one in the government of Arakko.<\/li>
  • Tarn the Uncaring<\/strong>, the mad scientist who fought the Hellions in Hellions<\/em> #6.<\/li>
  • Ora Serrata the Witness.<\/strong> A new character. The ora serrata is a part of the eye.<\/li>
  • Stulgid<\/strong>. Another new character, and the name has no apparent meaning.<\/li>
  • Lodus Logos<\/strong>. Ditto.<\/li>
  • Lactuca.<\/strong> Again, a new character. Lactuca is the technical name for lettuce.<\/li>
  • Sobunar<\/strong>. And again, a new character. It appears to be an archaeological site near Sarajevo.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    The symbol in the middle of the floor (where the “X” is in the Quiet Council chamber) isn’t a Krakoan symbol; the Arakkans have their own language, just as Cypher indicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We’re expressly told that all of these people are Omega Mutants and that nothing less would command respect on Arakko. That’s a dodgy basis for a society in the first place, but it hardly suggests that they’re going to be impressed on learning that the Krakoan Council includes Nightcrawler and Mystique. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    PAGES 22-24.<\/strong> Cyclops and Marvel Girl decline to join the Council.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Despite the division of the Council into its four groups – intended to represent different strands of Krakoan opinion – Magneto and Xavier want to put Cyclops on the Council in place of Apocalypse. That would clearly tilt the balance in favour of the X-Men. When they say that they have the numbers to push it through, presumably they mean on the Council. That would require six votes, and the obvious ones are Professor X, Magneto, Storm, Nightcrawler, Kate Pryde and Emma Frost. Exodus might vote for them too, given Magneto’s endorsement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As foreshadowed in the previous issue, Scott and Jean want to formally re-establish the X-Men as something separate from the Krakoan government. They want the X-Men to serve as the Krakoans’ national heroes and to represent the masses; the proposal is to have an election to determine the members. Though they don’t quite say it, they seems to be building a competing political power base – and one which, thanks to the election, may have more legitimacy than the Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    PAGE 25.<\/strong> A data page with a poster announcing the election. Note that the Quiet Council are the only group specifically not “eligible” – presumably that means ineligible for membership, rather than ineligible to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The “Hellfire Gala”, at which the new team will be unveiled, has been mentioned repeatedly as an upcoming event in Marauders<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    PAGE 26.<\/strong> Trailers. The Krakoan reads NEXT: TYRANTS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. X-MEN vol 5 #16“Sworded Out”by Jonathan Hickman & Phil Noto COVER \/ PAGE 1: Cyclops in the Quiet Council chamber, in front of the face of Krakoa. PAGES 2-6. Cyclops, Cable and Prestige watch the appearance of Arakko. “So how’s this […]<\/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-6097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6097","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=6097"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6101,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6097\/revisions\/6101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}