“X-Men are pushed to their limits as their past comes back to haunt them.”
Storm says the Previously On the X-Men.
Sunspot was added to the opening credits.
X-Men vs X-Factor instead of vs Magneto.
Aw, Cable and his uncle Havok are working together. But do they know that?
Cable sums it up, Gambit has to die.
Beast, Rogue, and Nightcrawler found Apocalypse’s ship, Ship, on the ocean’s floor.
If the X-Men destroy Apocalypse, might suffer Celestial wrath.
Rogue goes into the chamber for the knowledge, and starts losing her skin. It is pretty intense.
Gambit is sleeping, they could have at least put a blanket on him.
Val Cooper confronts Xavier through a video call.
Val Cooper thinks she can take down the X-Men.
Alex warns Val that this would be declaring war on Xavier, but I’m pretty sure they’ve been at a cold war this entire season.
X-Men know they are up against both X-Factor and X-Force.
There’s definitely tension between Bishop and Polaris.
Rogue asks a Celestial for help. I thought she was a speck on my phone.
Oh Rogue, trying to punch a Celestial.
I really don’t want to lose Rogue for Gambit.
Rogue is going to get a power up. I can only imagine this costume will be an action figure or a Funko eventually.
Aw, Rogue and Kurt get a great hug.
Strong Guy gets a moment in the battle.
Siryn?! Was she always there?!
Cable gets confronted by Scott and Jean.
Logan vs Psylocke AND Archangel.
Actually Morph and Logan. Morph morphed into Doctor Octopus.
Psylocke can’t scramble Logan’s brain, as it is already scrambled.
Blue Jet vs Red Jet. Havok being weird against Jubilee. I guess he’s trying to be friendly. Jubilee shows off some impressive moves.
Doesn’t Bishop only absorb energy attacks? And Sebastian Shaw absorbs physical attacks?
Gambit is up. He fights Multiple Man.
Gambit is at 86% from beig taken over by Apocalypse.
Cable takes Cyclops’ visor, and for once, Scott remembers to simply close his eyes. He’s learning.
Cable has made his way to Polaris, Bishop, and Gambit.
Did Cable actually kill Gambit, or is Xavier playing games?
I love how silent this scene is, no music.
Gambit woke up.
Gambit has become Apocalypse, and all of the mutants are present for it. Where is Rogue?
Apocalypse body, but Gambit’s grey head, and jacket. Expect this to be a two pack with New Rogue.
Instead of a bo staff, but he has a red energy sycthe.
He has Apocalypse’s voice too.
Is Jean getting the Phoenix? Oh, Apocalypse took over everyone, except Xavier.
They clearly were not trained to RESIST.
Rogue is here, ya’ll!
Light Rogue vs Dark Gambit.
Did Rogue simply take the Death Seed?!
That was very fast.
Rogue gave Cable the Death Seed.
Rogue’s head band looks like the Wonder Woman WW.
Rogue and Gambit kiss!
Unfortuantely, a kiss goodbye.
Rogue lost her power upgrade.
Rogue and Beast making intense eye contact from a distance.
No! I was worried Kurt was going to sacrifice himself for Rogue. I rather still lose Gambit.
Get Beak, Nature Girl, Wing, Jubilee, and Sunspot.
Xavier teaching Quentin Quire, Artie, the gal from Marvels, maybe Oya? Bishop and Polaris are having a cute picnic. Right next to the outdoor lesson, that’s awkward.
Colossus is painting Illyana and himself.
Rogue got a new casual outfit, and she’s with Gambit.
Kurt does have faith.
Credits.
Post credit scene! Still have four minutes left.
Are we about to get the Mystique is Val Cooper reveal?
What?! President Kelly lost the election to Crayton Creed. This can’t be good.
Val Cooper is reading a Mystique file, and then is confronted by . . . Val Cooper?!
Mystique IS determined to attack the United States!
I say, indeed!
I’m already looking forward to a more grounded season three.
Such a great episode!
. . .
No Kitty Pryde, dang.
No more Nightcrawler, and now Mystique is even more motivated to attack Xavier.
Wild Ride, Part One, guest starring Gabriel, Devil-Hunter
Gabriel is very Nick Fury coded.
I don’t love him explaining what Rogue means to Rogue. Okay guy.
Did he deserve to be bitten by Gambit? Yes.
Once Gambit bit Gabriel, he got a vision of Gambit slaying everybody, with Rogue being the last to fall.
Haven House, Louisiana. Calico is both sleeping, and crying. Becca is still sleep walking.
Monet and Quicksilver finally make it to the St. Juniors house. Which the X-Men really need to repair.
I like Monet and Jubilee chatting, even if it is about Monet mistaking the St. Juniors as the X-Men’s housekeepers.
I love so much Quicksilver helping Becca back to her bed. That’s one way to make me really like Quicksilver. Unfortunately, Becca wakes up, and immediately tells him he isn’t even a mutant. She probably didn’t want to be carried by him either.
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Monet wants to see The New New Mutants in action. Even Ember got a new suit! I love this so much!!
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Calico falls of Ember, and Quicksilver catches her. She continues to be upset with him, but really, she’s upset that she’s never going to see Gambit again. Quicksilver will never be Gambit. Which I’m pretty sure Quicksilver does not want to be Gambit either.
We cut back to Gabriel and a giant lesser demon who is a giant fly.
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Quicksilver way oversteps, and makes a negative comment about Gambit. Calico was not far enough away, and she has Ember use his Rabies attack. Quicksilver is immediately defeated by Ember, and Monet has to get involved before Ember kills Quicksilver.
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This is all very intense. Calico and Ember could have killed Quicksilver, and Calico may still do it. All she wanted to be was sad for a minute, which she’s used to. Oh Becca, you break my heart. At least we saw in Unbreakable X-Men, that Rogue and Gambit do adopt her as their daughter, so we know the weight of their love.
The lesser demon’s name is Thenasseil, the Tormentor of Thieves. As Rogue has to fight him away from Gambit, or Wyvern now.
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Haven’s Non-Mutant Cemetery. Becca is having a cry, as Ember is nearby. Becca keeps breaking my heart with her quoting her horrible mother’s words. If she ever got outside, she’ll end up hurting people. She was the worst.
Deathdream has to put Sabretooth’s spirt away, as we see Feral, and two others I don’t recognize. A blonde male with a head sock, and an Iceman faced guy.
Logan finds Kurt in a chapel, as he’s prayer for his brother-in-law, Gambit.
Issue ends with Gabriel telling Rogue and Wyvern that they have to leave, and meet their next character in this RPG.
Odd the Next Issue box is still referring to them as The Outliers, and Gail Simone called them that on BluSky recently. Outlier is definitely more marketable for this grouping of characters.
Penultimate episode. We only got nine episodes this season.
Did Gambit kill Apocalypse or did Apocalypse take over Gambit’s body?
I need to get the Psylocke Funko Pop that was announced recently. I’m good on Sabretooth, Bishop, and Archangel.
Will Magik be a Horsewoman?
Rogue looked so nice at the gala.
Aw, she’s all by herself.
Gambit is there!
Kissing!
Dancing!
So cute they are holding their hands.
Rogue wakes up from this nightmare, as she’s being plagued. Odd she’ll see Gambit in his current phase.
X-Men are playing poker, in their Quitely suits. This is very Star Trek : The Next Generation. Except Xavier is there.
Beast playing The Dead Man’s Hand. Aces and Eights.
A whole team wrote this episode, including Beau DeMayo.
A jet with jammers is coming to the island.
Can’t Rogue fly up there?
Cable!
Jubilee too.
I would buy a Forge Funko Pop, odd he wasn’t one of the four.
They brought Apocalypse’s skeleton! In a tube.
“There’s been a murder.”
Jubilee gives Rogue Gambit’s Queen of Hearts card.
Ship confirmed Apocalypse is dead, and Gambit is uncontrollable.
Psylocke with her British accent.
Aw, Nightcrawler believes in Gambit’s soul still being there.
Xavier wants to confirm this is a rescue mission.
I love Rogue and Kurt spending time together. They are so close.
Rogue’s daddy spent so much time with Rogue.
Rogue can hug Kurt because everyone is decked out in full costumes.
They did make a Xavier Quitely suited Funko Pop, I saw it at Walmart.
Xavier used Cerebro to locate Gambit in New Orleans, and then Gambit found him.
“Gambit’s gone home” with a very dramatic close up on Rogue. Is Rogue his home?
The Tees Guild!
Belladonna, and a classic Parent Trap, er, trap.
Gambit’s Death persona, is just him with white hair, and covered in gray hues. He also has a fun echo voice.
Are all of his cards the Death card?
Wha?! Gambit just transformed the Tees Guild!
Is that glass Candra?
I like Jubilee checking in on Rogue.
Are we going to get X-Factor teaming up with X-Force and the X-Men?
Aw, Jean and Scott checking in with Cable.
Cable didn’t get to kill Apocalypse.
Cyclops is tired of all of this time nonsense.
Is X-Factor using Mech-Sentinels? Are Sentinels not already mechs? Maybe they are piloted by people like the O*N*E* Sentinels?
Gambit and his goons found them!
Rogue is surprised to see them, but Cyclops wants to skip the shock and awe.
Jean saved Sunspot, but I’m sure he would have figured out he could fly eventually.
Rogue attempts to talk to Gambit.
That’s right, Gambit died thinking Rogue chose Magneto over him.
Rogue can’t absorb Death Gambit!
No! Did Gambit give Rogue a Death Seed?
I love so much Nightcrawler coming to Rogue’s defense.
We don’t get nearly enough of Gambit and Kurt together.
Psylocke using her butterfly effect, Evil Jeff of Comic Book Queers is going to love that.
X-Force’s ship crashed, but did it crash safely?
Morph, Logan, Storm, and Forge stayed behind, because of all of the students. Storm is trusting the students with Colossus as they roll out. We didn’t see Colossus.
Oh no, Kurt was taken over! But not Rogue.
Rogue and Gambit are going to have drinks with their dinner.
Gambit isn’t wasting this second chance at life.
We see Apocalypse make Candra, who immediately betrayed Apocalypse.
Gambit wants Rogue to be X-ternal, so they can finally get married.
Rogue got dressed up, in her gala red dress. Or a blacker red version of it.
They are the Assassins Guild. I really need to pick up my Assassins Creed III playthrough.
Candra came in hot, but then was surprised by New Gambit.
Whoa, Gambit just killed Candra!
Rogue does NOT find this at all romantic.
Can Rogue say, no, if she wanted to? Or is the implication it is Gambit or Death? Or Death Gambit.
X-Jet, Storm got both X-Men and X-Force. This should be cute as we see Assassins Guild hold their own against the X-Men.
Oh, that’s right, they have Nightcrawler, thus, a chance.
No! Gambit forced Rogue to wear Candra’s pendant.
Xavier took down Gambit, and now they are fighting within Gambit’s mind. So, maybe Xavier has a chance?
Xavier was in space during Genosha. That’s why he wasn’t there, Gambit.
Giant Xavier turned into his Anti-Shadow King armor. Still doesn’t stand a chance against Gambit. Wait, he is winning now, and old Gambit is returning. We found his soul.
Psylocke has a psi-knife to Cyclops’ neck.
X-Force is going to kill Gambit while he’s knocked out. Not knowing about Xavier’s attempt.
Wait, so Death was Apocalypse in Gambit’s body. Xavier is holding Good Gambit.
Jean should probably jump into this battle.
Apocalypse is taking over Xavier too.
Apocalypse re-absorbed Gambit!
Is the power of love saving him?! It is! Rogue is here! Rogue saved Gambit’s soul!
Rogue’s love for Gambit killed mental-Apocalypse.
Gambit is back to his pink fleshy self.
Xavier tells the X-Men to retreat, and Cable hesitates to kill Gambit.
What is the final episode going to be? Maybe set up for Season Three? We know we’re getting Seasons Three and Four, and we don’t have to wait two years between seasons, which is outstanding.
We have five minutes left.
Beast confirms Gambit should be okay, but his brain scan shows Apocalypse is still in there.
Rogue won’t lose Gambit again.
Archangel called Rogue Cable’s honeypot. Gross.
Jubilee went back to the X-Men.
X-Factor!
Val Cooper!
X-Factor and X-Force are teaming up to storm the castle! Which I can only imagine is the Genosha X-Men base.
No post credit scene.
Such a great episode! Definitely top three of this season. 2, 6, and 7.
Issue opens with Mojo being pitched a new show, Murder Television, by his Major Domo.
I recognized three of the four famous Marvel murders. Jean dying on the moon, Bullseye killing Elektra, someone being straight shot from behind, and Bucky knocking Steve out of a plane, before it explodes.
BluSky friend, and terrific follow, Jonathan Loves X-Men, hipped me to the third one is Doug Ramsey saving Wolfsbane in New Mutants V1 60. Of course that is what it is. I saw a wolf, but was thrown off by the giant green person, and I’ll admit, I thought Doug was a yellow cape of the green person. So clear once someone explained it. Thanks Jonathan Loves X-Men.
Meanwhile, in the Outback, Colossus and Betsy are enjoying a run, fun how they are both armored here.
Rogue and Dazzler are being very catty about Longshot, as he wrestles an alligator.
I really like Storm’s remark after Logan points out how people shouldn’t crush on teammates, it never ends well, and she comments about how he would know.
Havok checks in with Madelyne Pryor. I love so much him telling her that she doesn’t have to keep earing her spot on the team, she has it. She hears it, but wants the distraction of trying to hack into the Reavers’ computer. Unfortunately, she’s able to hack in, setting off the Godshreddar program.
Turns out, when Logan clawed his way through three Hellfire Goons during that segment of the Dark Phoenix Saga, he actually tore into a fourth one pretty badly, leaving only his head and hand. So, the Reavers put what was left inside of the Godshreddar, and the Godshreddar was able to take over the bodies of the X-Men. Which gives us an awesome sequence of Logan having to single handedly defeat the X-Men, and not hurt them, too badly.
Now that we have a Godshreddar, can we get god turtles to fight him? That’ll be pretty cool.
Is there a rule about Marvel created their own set of turtles? As a fun homage? Seriously, just give me TMNT / X-Men already. I would want TMNT / Daredevil first, but then X-Men immediately after.
Such a great issue! Saladin Ahmed really has Bishop, and Shard’s voices down. Mario Santoro & Reese Hannigan are amazing artists. We meet Skipping Stone in his issue, and I really noticed how great Federico Blee’s coloring is. And of course, VC’s Travis Lanham’s lettering is top notch.
Bishop spends most of the issue in shock that Shard is really here, and I love how he just knows in his heart that this is actually his sister. I have a head canon that Bishop being in the present, is changing his future, and that’s how Shard is alive. They defeat Flamequake, a mix of Pyro and Avalanche, but not before she sends out a distress signal. Skipping Stone arrives, a guy dressed as Toad, but with Fred Dukes’ powers, so he can jump far and high, but also land heavy, like a bomb, a great power set. He reveals that he has to focus on an attack to stop an attack, which felt like a very old school delivery, which I loved.
Bishop was just about to warn Shard about the trap that gets her killed, but is attacked by Skipping Stone.
I also really loved that Shard is not impressed that Bishop joined the legendary X-Men, and just went by his last name. Silly Bishop.
Issue ends with Shard about to be killed by Skipping Stone. Bishop really has to get his head in the game.
Wolverine has gotten all of the Generates to Logan’s safehouse. X-99 wants to go by X-6-7, so she has been quick to Google things. X-97 thinks the name change is a disgrace to X-67, but X-6-7 points out it is two different number / names. X-6-7 is sleeping in the room with Gabby and Jonathan, the most real of Wolverines. X-6-7 calls X-97 mid, and Gabby finally steps in, and tells X-6-7 that she can’t use her phone anymore. X-74 is going around, portaling into neighbors’ rooms, which seems to go against the very idea of hiding out. Jonathan startles X-74, and he almost loses concentration as he falls into one of the rooms, but gets himself back in time, unnoticed. Except he lands on Jonathan, so he very much notices him, and begins an attack. X-97 destroys the toilet, and X-6-7 says both cringe, and the Skibidi Toilet War is real, so even I’m losing the joy here.
Wolverine takes them all, in costume, to pay respects at the Krakoa Treehouse in Central Park. X-6-7 uses the word, rizz, when Wolverine finds a secret note. A man and his very much mutant presenting family are being harassed, and the Kinney sisters and the Generates head to Jackson Heights to help the family out. I like that the Generates are not very good at the whole rescue thing. X-74 teleported the family to safety, but X-97 threw too many, and too big of, time bombs everywhere. X-6-7 took too long trying to figure out what she should shift into. She finally settled on a giant cat, which was pretty cute.
They all get a great post-battle dinner, a Number 25, with Chicken, which does sound amazing. At dinner, they pick their mutant names.
X-6-7 will be Surprise!, don’t forget the explanation mark, just like Bling!.
X-97 will be Time Bomb.
X-74 will be Point.
Wolverine provides her origin story. Gabby mentions how you can change your codename, she’s already been Badger, and now Scout. She’s still open to a name change.
Issue ends with a thud, as in, Logan collapsed at the safe house, and we finally see his broken right claws, as I’ve been curious if other titles would reflect it. He only popped the left claws in Hellfire Murder, which I needed pointed out to me.
Such a great issue here. Giving the Generates their non-number name shows that these are characters worth investing attention into.
I got the Marvel Snap Magik Beach variant cover, but resisted paying the $25 for the card in the game itself.
Magik is part of the cast list, so I can just relax and enjoy the comic.
Greg Land doing interior art, feels like forever since he did an X-Men comic.
This is the Juggernaut issue.
Juniper, Pennsylvania. Someone jerks put up a Bolivar Trask statue. So gross.
O*N*E Agent Lundqvist is back! Possibly not by popular demand, but I like what he brings out of Cyclops.
Juggernaut is also there, in a very nice brown suit. He definitely shops at a Big & Tall store.
I like Juggernaut not missing a step to comment on how Lundqvist used to be on the big X-Men assignment, and now he’s watching a statue. I mean, it makes sense, he wasn’t very good at the X-Men issue, getting Cyclops’ to reveal his Hellions team, and wrecking several Sentinel factories.
Juggernaut tells Lundqvist that he can go home early today, as he’s going to wreck the statue, except . . . he can’t. It is being protected somehow.
Two hours later, it is still not wrecked. I would have stopped after the second attempt. Not only are there cameras seeing Juggernaut be literally stopped from his mission, but also, two hours is such a long time to fail at one activity.
I sort of wished this entire issue was just Juggernaut and Lundqvist chatting, as what were they talking about during the last two hours. They are getting real here. Lundqvist knows he’s at a transition in his career, but is confident he’ll get his career back on track. Juggernaut recognizes, sadly, that he can’t trust his judgment anymore, and is just trusting Cyclops to make all of the right decisions for him.
Three more hours later. This is just getting silly, as Juggernaut keeps trying to wreck the statue. This is hard to watch. Not entertaining like the end to Tin Cup. I love that movie.
Chris Coleman, a human who wants the statue down, is now Juggernaut’s pal to chat with. Juggernaut is the human ally who is also on the X-Men, which is good to point out for new readers who may think the Juggernaut is a mutant. Sometimes he is in other media.
It is around now, that I’m wondering when Magik is going to be seen, or even mentioned.
Juggernaut promised Cyclops he’ll handle the statue, and he’s not happy with himself.
Juggernaut can wobble the statue, so shouldn’t he just lift the thing and take it somewhere else?
Coleman lets us in on the fact that Trask lived in Juniper, so he’s unfortunately their local celebrity.
Two more hours later, so five total from the beginning of this awkwardness. Angela Harmon, the free speech advocate is now Juggernaut’s pal. So now we have to “both sides” the issue.
Angie, as she prefers over Trask fan, gets to say, “Magneto was right.” Which is always nice to hear.
Aw, Juggernaut mentioning how he eats dinner with Magneto, that’s cute. Imagine Magneto, Juggeranut, and Magik all sharing a meal? I want to see that page.
Dang, Angela, we’re no longer friends, calls Juggernaut out. Magneto is a dog, and Juggernaut is the X-Men’s pet sapien.
Juggernaut as since removed his helmet, so any telepath could be giving him better direction at this point.
He doesn’t care for Angela’s “points”. She has a real them vs us, and he’s one of us.
One hour later. This is getting beyond sad. Now the statue is talking to Juggernaut.
I apparently can’t spell Juggernaut, I keep swapping the “a” and the “n”.
The statue claims it is actually a mirror, reflecting Coleman’s shame, Harmon’s fear, and Marko’s weakness. It goes on to claim it is the Mark of Cain (get it?), the Stain of Sin, all sins.
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His best bud, Magik, finally checks in with him, and has brought Cyclops along as well.
I love so much that she’s quick to try to comfort him.
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Juggernaut is muttering to himself how much of a failure he is.
I appreciate so much Cyclops calling him an X-Man. That’s nice, especially after the nonsense he’s had to hear.
Cyclops thought it was a simple mission, but turns out, it is a puzzle. Magik says they’ll figure it out together. I really like these three together.
Magik makes a Godzilla in Ginza reference, which is odd, as she’s battled Godzilla. Did they make a Godzilla attacks Ginza, a district of Tokyo, after Godzilla attempted to destroy the Marvel Universe? That must be it.
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Dang, Juggernaut is still taking the “lost” hard.
Cyclops is such a great leader, the mission wasn’t a failure, the parameters were changed. Juggernaut gave more than anyone can expect, which is why Cyclops’ can count on him, that’s what makes him an X-Man.
But also, punching it the fifth time, clearly, nothing was going to happen, he wasn’t weakening the force field. He did waste six hours, but also, waste it instead of doing what? I guess enjoying himself, but if he wanted to spend six hours doing this, sure. His manager clearly was okay with it.
Next issue is a Beast spotlight, which I feel like we just got with the Science arc, but also, we have to now set up DNX, as we compare and contrast the Tale of Two Beasts.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 