Geeking Out
I know that I'm kind of a professional X-Men fan, but...this seems like some of the best content Marvel has ever put out. Hell, these stories are so good it might even be some of the best TV, period.
Take a second to read what fired Showrunner Beau DeMayo had to say about this episode: https://x.com/BeauDemayo/status/1778190058144866726
Synopsis
Trish Tilby Interview!
Let's start right here. To the initiated, Trish might seem like a random reporter, but she's actually a big deal in the comics. She first appeared in X-Factor Volume 1 # 7 (right around when Apocalypse was first introduced) and quickly developed a long lasting relationship with Beast. It's fun that you see them start to flirt during this interview, but it doesn't go anywhere yet. Probably because this episode has some serious shit to get into.
Genosha accepted into UN
I have to take you along for the ride in my head. I mentioned in my previous blogs that it was clear they were going to do something big with Genosha, but I wasn't sure what. I had been wondering if they would do the biggest thing, which was annihilate it, however I had mostly been dismissing it because Grant Morrison's run took place after 1997.
Mutant nation
Statue of Mags and Professor Xavier
So at this point I'm pretty sure that they are going to stay focused on Alan Davis's Magneto Wars story where Magneto is given the country of Genosha to rule as a way to appease him after he threatens the world. However, even this took place in 1999 so that would be going past the 1997 time stamp.
Glob Herman!
Then in this Utopia I see Glob Herman! He doesn't have any speaking lines, but they keep showing him. He's the guy with translucent purple skin and you can see his internal organs. This is a big deal because Glob was created by Grant Morrison. If they are going to include characters from Grant Morrison's run, then that means they could possible go all the way to destroying Genosha. But still, this episode had run for pretty long and that wasn't happening, so they wouldn't go there, right!?
Pixie
Signs
Welcome X-Men
Magneto is right
Madelyn Pryor is high ranking at Genosha
Interesting. So Maddy is in fact staying in the series and has quickly elevated herself in Genosha politics. I can't really think of a comics connection here, but that's quite alright because this is interesting.
Val Cooper
Nightcrawler shows up!
Mutants dancing
Multiple Man
Dazzler
Exodus
Azazel?
Boomer in the crowd?
Wait, is Genosha a stand in for Krakoa?!
It was around this time that I realized that Genosha is a stand in for Krakoa. That's crazy, Krakoa is a modern X-Men setting, so I guess they aren't holding themselves back from any storylines. For those that don't know, over the last 5 years all Mutants have left society and live together on a living mutant island called Krakoa. It looks as though Genosha here is showing the mutant utopia that Krakoa is often portrayed to be.
Jean hiding from Trish Tilby
Struggling to regain her memories and unsure which are hers
W with her below the water
Her and Scott not talking. He’s grieving his son
Jean kisses Logan
“You’re Jean Grey. He’s Scott Summers. Those are the rules, you just forgot them for a sec.”
The only thing better than seeing Wolverine and Jean kiss is seeing Wolverine refuse to take advantage of it. This is how it is in the comics too. Not the movies though.
Scott blows up at Trish. Says mutants are nothing like humans
Genoshan council The Genoshan council, AKA the Quiet Council of Krakoa. They are going all in here on the Krakoa bit, I love it. Also, I don't recall if the White Queen ever showed up in the original series but here she is prominent for a Genosha story. Fitting.
Madelyn, Mags, Moira, Banshee, Callisto, Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost
They want Magneto to rule Genosha
Magneto makes a great line, completely made up for the show:
"You don't want a terrorist to become leader of a country, yet you're ok when leaders of a country become terrorists"
*I know I didn't get the quote exactly right, but it's close enough to get my point across.
Magneto says Rogue needs to be his Queen
Holy shit. So the real Jean catches Scott using his psychic rapport with Madelyn to get comfort and make out.
“Don’t tell me, you can explain.”
Emma says “mind drift indeed.”
Alright, let me explain why this is crazy balls. In Grant Morrison's run, Scott has a psychic affair with Emma Frost (The White Queen after she goes soft.) Scott and Emma share a series of thoughts that eventually turn into them getting together mentally. This scene is almost exactly how it went down in the comics including the line "Don't tell me, you can explain," except that Maddy is the stand in for White Queen. Honestly, this is another excellent use of condensed storytelling. It makes a lot of sense to tell a similar story of Scott and Jean falling apart from each other and to have his ex-wife and mother of his child be the one he is cheating on Jean with. So with Emma making the comment about Maddy having a "mind drift," it's a clear wink and a nod to the comics. Amazing stuff here.
Rogue talks to Gambit about her and Mags
Her mom (Mystique) referred her to Mags for help with her powers
She was dressed in her Savage Land clothes!
His electromagnetic powers protected him from her touch
They slept together
He had a vision for the future. Mutant music, art, culture
Wow, this show is not fucking around. They are just taking the absolute best stories from the comics and shoving them in our face. Once again, I'm fine with this! As mentioned in my previous blogs, I had been wondering if they would be going near my favorite X-Men comic of all time, Rogue and Magneto in the Savage Land. They don't exactly adapt the story as this little tale of Rogue being brought to Magneto as a child is made up for the show, but they keep the outfit and the forbidden romance.
“You light up everything you touch, but never me.”
This quote was made up for the show, and it's fantastic!
Sammy Pare! Marrow!
I can't link to my Chuck Austen retrospective yet because I'm 75% of the way through writing it at the moment, but Sammy Pare is the fish face mutant who appears in this episode. He was brought into the Uncanny X-Men as a close peer of Juggernaut's (that's a massive oversimplification) and he means a lot to me.
Magneto and Rogue dance passionately in the air
They kiss and Gambit storms off
Archangel flying too
Rogue says that some feelings are skin deep, meaning that she’s picking Gambit?
This was amazingly animated!
Madelyn hears Cable saying to turn off the music
Maddy gets a bloody nose
Cable warns Maddy of something, then body slides out.
She recognizes his eyes and he says “I’m sorry Mom”
Have you not had enough awesomeness in this episode yet!? You've had Trish Tilby and Beast, Scott's psychic affair, Rogue and Magneto in the savage land (kind of), Krakoa, and even fucking Nightcrawler. Now you get Cable talking to his mommy. Can't wait to get more of this. But none of that matters because I guarantee it's what happens next that everyone will be talking about.
An explosion
The giant Sentinel attack commences.
Yo! Did you notice that the Watcher appears!?
Many people are being fricken obliterated.
Magneto fights head on while Gambit and Rogue go to save the Morlocks
Gambit saving the Morlocks is a quick plot point, but you have no idea how important it is. In the comics, there is something called the Mutant Massacre when Mr. Sinister sends a bunch of evil mutants (The Marauders, including Sabretooth) to the sewers and he kills hundreds of Morlocks. Many years later we learn during the Trial of Gambit that he was actually working with Sinister and led the Marauders to the Morlocks. He's been playing as a hero ever since to help alleviate his guilt.
The giant sentinel seemingly kills Magneto and the Morlocks
Gambit is stabbed too. He charges the spike and blows up the Sentinel. He dies.
The name is Gambit. Remember it.
I'm devastated.