{"id":9248,"date":"2023-07-12T21:54:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T20:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=9248"},"modified":"2023-07-13T14:14:02","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T13:14:02","slug":"immortal-x-men-13-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=9248","title":{"rendered":"Immortal X-Men #13 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>IMMORTAL X-MEN #13<\/strong>
\n“Part 13: Deadlocked”<\/strong>
\nWriter: Kieron Gillen<\/strong>
\nArtist: Lucas Werneck<\/strong>
\nColour artist: David Curiel<\/strong>
\nLetterer: Clayton Cowles<\/strong>
\nDesign: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen<\/strong>
\nEditor: Jordan D White<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.<\/strong> Cypher, with Krakoan flowers. We’ve been through all the official members of the Quiet Council (except for new member Selene), and so we reach the spotlight issue of Cypher and, through him, Krakoa itself. Cypher, of course, has been a non-voting observer and presence at the Quiet Council all along, and offers an example of how that can be a more significant role than it first appears.<\/p>\n

PAGE 2.\u00a0<\/strong>Opening quote. This is indeed a quote from the post and cleric John Donne (1571\/2-1631), from one of his prose works. The passage is famous as the origin of the phrases “no man is an island’ and “Ask not for whom the bell tolls”, probably his best known coinages today. Donne’s original point is that because we are all part of society, every death is a loss to everyone; here, the island is Krakoa itself, suffering because the mutant society it sustains is suffering.<\/p>\n

The version here is in modernised spelling. Donne actually wrote “as well as if<\/span> <\/em>a Manor of thy friends or of thine own were”, which makes rather more sense. (Different modernisations also disagree about whether “Manor” should be “manor” or “manner” – “manner” seems to be more common online, as in “as if all manner of your friends were [lost]”, but “manor” seems to fit better with the following words “or of thine own”.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

PAGES 3-4.\u00a0<\/strong>Cypher asks Krakoa about the leaves.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cypher is apparently watching the debate on Colossus’s proposal to reveal the Sins of Sinister timeline to the world, which would place this scene between pages 21-22 of the previous issue.<\/p>\n

“[Krakoa’s] biotech that filled the space Warlock left.”<\/strong> Cypher’s techno-organic arm used to be Warlock, until they were separated in\u00a0Legion of X<\/em> – Cypher believes Warlock is dead. The “biotech” arm doesn’t look much like any other tech that Krakoa has produced, and this may be an attempt to cover for a continuity problem. At any rate, Cypher has apparently chosen to make Krakoa’s gift look like Warlock, his earlier partner.<\/p>\n

PAGE 5.\u00a0<\/strong>Recap and credits. Cypher and Krakoa don’t normally appear in the headshots here, but they get a listing in this issue for obvious reasons.<\/p>\n

PAGES 6-7.\u00a0<\/strong>Emma addresses the Quiet Council.<\/em><\/p>\n

Since the previous issue, the Krakoans have indeed made the world aware of the Sins of Sinister timeline, and of the possibility of resurrected people being compromised by Sinister.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t think Colossus could be so naive.”<\/strong> Despite his mastery of body language, Cypher hasn’t picked up on the fact that Colossus is being controlled by Scrivener.<\/p>\n

The Phoenix Foundation<\/strong> was formed at the end of\u00a0AXE: Judgment Day<\/em> as a charity project to offer resurrection to a small number of the deserving poor.<\/p>\n

The Krakoan economy.<\/strong> Understandably, the disclosure of Sins of Sinister has seriously undermined public trust in Krakoan drugs. Emma claims here that this is a catastrophe because Krakoa needs its drug exports in order to pay for imports. The claim that Krakoa isn’t self-sufficient seems a bit odd – pretty much everything seems to be supplied by the island itself. Nonetheless, the Krakoans do depend on the demand for mutant drugs to have economic leverage over the rest of the world. A collapse in demand is a catastrophe for that reason.<\/p>\n

Emma\u00a0<\/strong>apparently uses telepathy to fend off the protestors in a way that seems likely to be counterproductive, but can’t bring herself to lie to the mother of the Phoenix Foundation girl. She realises that Sebastian Shaw ought to have foreseen the consequences of making Sins of Sinister public, but doesn’t (at least openly) draw the obvious conclusion that he must have an ulterior motive which benefits from undermining Krakoa. However, she takes Colossus himself at face value, viewing him and Nightcrawler are moralistic simpletons.<\/p>\n

“If Kurt hadn’t gone off to have a little cry…”<\/strong> In X-Men: Before the Fall – Sons of X<\/em> #1.<\/p>\n

PAGE 8.\u00a0<\/strong>Emma and Xavier argue.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Kurt has suffered almost unimaginable trauma…”<\/strong> Professor X is summarising the plot of Before the Fall – Sons of X\u00a0<\/em>and the last few issues of\u00a0Legion of X. <\/em>The part about Nightcrawler having “the very concept of hope torn from him” is literal, and refers to Margali conjuring the Hopesword from him in\u00a0Legion of X\u00a0<\/em>#10.<\/p>\n

“During Judgment Day, he resurrected himself over twenty times, choosing to remember each death.”<\/strong> Issue #7.<\/p>\n

“Me, who pretends not to care…”<\/strong> A rare example of Emma explicitly acknowledging that her schtick is an act in front of a hostile audience.<\/p>\n

“I wish Hope had acted earlier…”<\/strong> In the previous issue. Xavier responds making the same argument as he did in that issue regarding the importance of sticking to the rules.<\/p>\n

“Destiny speaks, and everyone is suspicious. No one trusts her any more.”<\/strong> Partly because of her role in Sins of Sinister, partly because her accusation of Sebastian Shaw last issue didn’t stand up, and partly because she was resurrected by the potentially tainted Five process in the same issue. Ironically, Destiny is one of the only members of the Council left who does basically want to promote Krakoa’s interests.<\/p>\n

“However, if she’s speaking, she’s saying things that she thinks can make a difference.”<\/strong> Destiny’s powers ought to tell her what the consequences of making a statement will be, but of course that also just reinforces the suspicion that she says things to achieve a result rather than because they’re necessarily true. Here, as we’ll see in a couple of pages, Destiny knows she’s not going to get her way, but she’s trying to drop hints to put an idea in Exodus’s mind – so that Selene gets killed and she can deny responsibility.<\/p>\n

Note the fingerprints in the background throughout this page, particularly around Destiny in the final panel.<\/p>\n

PAGES 9-10.\u00a0<\/strong>Selene annoys everyone.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Selene attacked Krakoa…”<\/strong> In issues #1-2.<\/p>\n

“We sent one Council member to the Pit.”<\/strong> Mr Sinister, in\u00a0Sins of Sinister: Dominion<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“Do you want me to shoot you through the head again?”<\/strong> Hope shot Selene in issue #2.<\/p>\n

PAGES 11-15. <\/strong>Exodus tries to kill Selene.<\/em><\/p>\n

He picks up on Destiny’s hint – even if he doesn’t realise it was a hint – that Selene can be denied a vote by killing her and then making sure the Five resurrect her this time.<\/p>\n

“I don’t see any magic metal to help you here.”<\/strong> Hope used a mysterium bullet to kill Selene in issue #2, specifically because its effects counter magic. However… in issue #2, Selene was resurrected by the Five, and then Exodus then just mentally commandeered her and broke her neck. He didn’t seem to have any trouble with her there, but perhaps it made a difference that she was fresh out of the cocoon.<\/p>\n

Storm<\/strong> steps in to defend Selene, essentially arguing that Exodus<\/strong> has crossed a line. But she also makes the point that a direct conflict between the more powerful members of the Quiet Council would destroy the island. On backing down, Exodus makes the reasonable observation that the more powerful mutants can only be governed by consent, and that Krakoa is only sustainable as a society for as long as that continues. He has been willing to sign up to this arrangement in pursuit of a common purpose but has now decided that the whole thing is collapsing. Despite his religious framing, his basic point is that of\u00a0course<\/em> the likes of Mr Sinister were not on board with any sort of idealistic cause.<\/p>\n

Hope<\/strong> intervenes to calm Exodus down, despite having been fighting with him last issue after learning about how he killed her in the Sins of Sinister timeline.<\/p>\n

PAGES 16-18. <\/strong>Cypher tells Professor X to quit.<\/em><\/p>\n

“I let Moira go when Destiny and Mystique schemed to kill her.”<\/strong>\u00a0Inferno<\/em> #4.<\/p>\n

“You, Emma, Exodus, Hope and Sinister were the only people who actually got the ‘trapped feeling nothing’ thing [from the Pit].”<\/strong> In issue #11.<\/p>\n

“Everyone else, I gave them a psychic place to be. Sabretooth used that…”<\/strong> In the\u00a0Sabretooth\u00a0<\/em>miniseries.<\/p>\n

“[T]he Pit is actually empty bar Sinister and the Struckers.”<\/strong> Sinister has been there since\u00a0Sins of Sinister: Dominion.<\/em> Fenris were stuck there – without any involvement by the Quiet Council – in\u00a0Bishop: War College<\/em> #5.<\/p>\n

“Sabretooth getting out changed things. Everyone realised what the Pit was – and what you’d done.”<\/strong> Again, the first\u00a0Sabretooth<\/em> miniseries. A key theme of that story is that the underclass of bit part character at least learned about the existence of the Pit and Xavier’s reputation was badly damaged among the public as a result. That hasn’t shown up anywhere else until now, but Gillen is tying it in to Krakoa’s wider rot.<\/p>\n

“Beast going completely out of control…”<\/strong> In current issues of\u00a0Wolverine<\/em> and\u00a0X-Force<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“Krakoa – the island – feeds off us<\/b> all.”\u00a0<\/strong>This has come up repeatedly in the Krakoan era but hasn’t really mattered until now.<\/p>\n

“Moira’s experience showed purity failed.”<\/strong> Referring to the various past lives depicted in\u00a0House of X<\/em> #2; the lesson Moira gains from all that, and shares with Xavier, is that the mutants need to work together as a whole in order to survive, even at the cost of serious moral compromise. Xavier spells out directly that he\u00a0does<\/em> still believe in the classic version of his dream, which is one of mutants and humans living together as a single people – something that the Sinisterised Xavier also stressed in “Sins of Sinister”. The mutant separatism of Krakoa is, for Xavier, a serious moral compromise and an admission of defeat.<\/p>\n

“Eri… Max.”<\/strong> Professor X starts off referring to Magneto by the name he knew him by, then corrects to his actual real name. Storm laid some stress in issue #11 on the fact that Professor X never really knew the real Magneto, using that name as a symbol.<\/p>\n

PAGES 19-21.<\/strong>\u00a0Professor X announces the Quiet Council’s disbandment.<\/em><\/p>\n

Professor X, Emma, Kate and Hope clearly discuss this in advance. Exodus, Mystique, Selene and Shaw clearly don’t. Nobody directly indicates whether Colossus was told, but presumably he’d have sold them out if he had, so let’s assume not. Similarly, it’s not clear whether anyone asked Storm.\u00a0Destiny warns against the plan, so presumably she wasn’t in on it – of course, she’s Cassandra now, so everyone ignores her.<\/p>\n

The proposal is apparently for the new ruling body to be appointed by consensus through the psychic voting procedure using for the X-Men roster over the last two years. Professor X’s commitment to not voting on the Quiet Council apparently doesn’t prevent this, perhaps because he’s persuaded that the Council really has failed, and it’s not like he’s proposing to re-take power himself. Besides, it ought to have been obvious that “twelve people make it up as they go along” is not a long-term governance plan.<\/p>\n

Cypher, who never was a voting member, formally proposes the resolution and nobody challenges him. Either the villains figure that the Council is unsustainable as a vehicle for their plans without the assent of the other members, or they already know that this suits their personal agenda – after all, Destiny did warn against it.<\/p>\n

Note that Cypher is surrounded by falling leaves as he proposes his resolution, and while they’re coloured in the lush green that’s normally a positive on Krakoa, Cypher went out of his way earlier in the issue to tell us that this is a symptom of rot.<\/p>\n

PAGES 22-24.\u00a0<\/strong>Krakoa sucks Cypher into the Pit.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cypher told us back on page 13 that he knew Krakoa would look after him if things got bad. This is it happening.<\/p>\n

Krakoa’s dialogue has never taken the form of a consistent substitution cypher, so it can’t be translated.<\/p>\n

PAGE 25.<\/strong> Trailers. The story title of this issue is repeated, which is probably a mistake.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. IMMORTAL X-MEN #13 “Part 13: Deadlocked” Writer: Kieron Gillen Artist: Lucas Werneck Colour artist: David Curiel Letterer: Clayton Cowles Design: Tom Muller with Jay Bowen Editor: Jordan D White COVER \/ PAGE 1. Cypher, with Krakoan flowers. We’ve been through all […]<\/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,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9248","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=9248"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9252,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9248\/revisions\/9252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}