{"id":7164,"date":"2021-10-01T22:53:10","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T21:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7164"},"modified":"2021-10-01T22:53:10","modified_gmt":"2021-10-01T21:53:10","slug":"s-w-o-r-d-8-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7164","title":{"rendered":"S.W.O.R.D. #8 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>S.W.O.R.D. vol 2 #8<\/strong>
\n“Unbroken”<\/strong>
\nby Al Ewing, \u00a0Guiu Vilanova & Fernando Sifuentes<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.<\/strong> Storm fights some Arakkans.<\/p>\n

PAGES 2-3.<\/strong>\u00a0Storm descends to Arakko.<\/em><\/p>\n

Storm is making a point of using her powers to return through space, rather than doing the sensible thing and taking a gate, in order to assert her authority over the bunch of lunatics who live on Aarakko. As she descends, we get to see some of the landmarks of Arakko that were established in Planet-Size X-Men<\/em> #1: the statue of Apocalypse in the sacred valley (there’s one of Genesis next to it), the Lake Hellas Diplomatic Ring, and the town of Port Prometheus.<\/p>\n

Although Mars is terraformed, the art in this issue still largely depicts it as something of a desert wasteland.<\/p>\n

PAGE 4.\u00a0<\/strong>Recap and credits. Storm isn’t technically a member of S.W.O.R.D., but she’s joined the cast by virtue of her role on Arakko, and she’s our star character for this issue.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

PAGES 5-7.\u00a0<\/strong>Storm disposes of Calderak’s challenge.<\/em><\/p>\n

Calderak is a new character. Since he’s challenging for a seat on the Great Ring, presumably he’s either an Omega mutant, or fancies himself as one. In line with the usual tropes for this sort of society<\/a>, we establish that you get a seat on the Great Ring by challenging the incumbent and then defeating them in battle. This indirectly answers the question of how\u00a0Storm<\/em> got her seat on the Great Ring, which hasn’t really been addressed yet.<\/p>\n

There’s also a parallel here with the ritual combat of Crucible on Krakoa. Of course, on Krakoa, the death is largely symbolic because of resurrection. Death on Arakko appears to remain permanent – either the technology isn’t being offered to the Arakkans, or they don’t want it.<\/p>\n

Since we’re on Arakko, Khora gets to play the role of the local who understands the culture and interprets for Frenzy’s benefit. That’s an inversion of her normal role to date, as the character who doesn’t quite understand the values of her S.W.O.R.D. teammates. The story is also at pains to let us know that the Arakkans are warlike but they’re not irrational – they do understand the difference between dodging a challenge and just running late.<\/p>\n

PAGES 8-9.<\/strong> Data pages on the nine seats of the Great Ring.<\/p>\n

The nine members are collected into three groups of three: Dawn, Dusk and Day. All that was established in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> vol 5 #16. The data page in that issue also established that there were three rumoured “Night” seats, and that only Omega mutants are allowed on the Council.<\/p>\n

The material about the specific roles of the Dawn, Day and Dusk groups – and the symbolism of the individual seats within them – is all new. All of the individual characters have been mentioned before; Isca appeared extensively in\u00a0“X of Swords” and Tarn is a\u00a0Hellions<\/em> villain (a rough counterpart of Mr Sinister). The others are mostly bit characters. The name “Xilo Who-Was-Stulgid” squares away a conflict between the names given in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #16 and Hellions<\/em> #14.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, while the three Dusk seats are clearly secondary, they’re still apparently recognised as serving an essential role – speaking, effectively, to law and the humanities. So the Arakkans aren’t completely uninterested in such things. Indeed, they seem to stick firmly to their rituals and traditions.<\/p>\n

Storm’s seat, apparently, represents matters such as the weather and the environment, making it a natural one for her to challenge for. We’re told that she’s the “Regent” because her seat has an additional casting vote. I’m not exactly clear how that works. If everyone just defers to the Day seats, that’s three votes. If all nine can vote (and deference to the Day seats is merely a cultural value or convention) then that’s, well, nine votes. Either way, it doesn’t seem like ties should come up that often, though of course someone could always abstain. If she simply gets two votes then I suppose it gives her the ability to block things that would otherwise have passed with a majority of one…<\/p>\n

Arakko’s interpreter Redroot (the Cypher counterpart) has been a prisoner in the Crooked Market ever since X-Force <\/em>#14 (part of the\u00a0“X of Swords” crossover).<\/p>\n

PAGES 10-15.<\/strong>\u00a0The Great Ring meet.<\/em><\/p>\n

Your easy guide to recognising the members of the Great Ring, in page 10 panel 4, from left to right:<\/p>\n