Marvel has revealed the X-Men’s new world order, following the brutal deaths of mutant leaders Prof. X and Magneto. (Warning: Marvel Comics SPOILERS Follow!) The current “House of X” era of the X-Men reached a pivotal point this week with the release of Marvel’s Inferno #4. The deepest secrets of the X-Men’s new mutant nation Krakoa came bursting out into the light of day, as Mystique and her wife Destiny attempt to end the threat of Moira X and her multiple lifetimes. While trying to save Moira, Magneto and Charles Xavier end up in a fight for their own lives – and it doesn’t go well, at all.
(WARNING: Marvel’s Inferno #4 SPOILERS Follow!)
Mystique and Destiny used Moira’s severed arm (and the tracker inside) to trick Xavier and Magneto into walking themselves into the lion’s den: a base of operations for humanity’s latest anti-mutant coalition, Orchis. Not only was the base stocked with Orchis soldiers and scientists (with plenty of anti-mutant weaponry), the facility also got a visit from Omega Sentinel, and the new incarnation of Nimord that Orchis has brought online.
In Inferno #4, Omega Sentinel and Nimrod throw down the gauntlet by murdering the entire Orchis team in the facility and declaring their independence in the name of the machine race. “House of X” and the many lives of Moira X have painted a dark picture of the future: it seems inevitable that man, mutant, or both eventually have to go to war with machines. Nimrod and Omega Sentinel seek to jumpstart that process sooner in this current timeline – starting with killing Prof. X and Magneto. ‘
A brutal fight ensues, as both Xavier and Magneto let loose with their powers against their nightmarish machine adversaries. That fight ends in a stalemate: Nimrod gets Xavier in his death grip, but Magneto is just as ready to tear Omega Sentinel apart with his powers. Nimrod proposes a draw but quickly proves a machine is capable of lying, as he fries Xavier point-blank with an energy blast. Magneto makes good on his threat – he tears Omega Sentinel to pieces – but Omega’s cybernetic form allows her to still use a torn off-hand to activate a power dampener, shutting down Magneto’s powers. Nimrod promptly blasts Magneto in half and gloats over the corpses of mutantkind’s leaders.
Marvel fans who have kept up with this House of X storyline know that the X-Men have conquered death with their new Krakoan methods of resurrection – so Xavier and Magneto don’t stay dead long. However, when they are awoken in The Cradle, Charles and Erik find that the game has been greatly changed.
Destiny and Mystique take away Moira X’s mutant power but don’t kill her. Instead, The White Queen finally exposes the truth about Moira’s lifetimes to everyone on the Quiet Council that governs Krakoa – Xavier and Magneto no longer truly rule the land. It’s a move that’s rife with potential (and likely) future drama: Krakoa’s quiet council has mutant villains like Mir. Sinister, Exodus, and Sebastian Shaw now carrying a universe-bending secret; it’s a weight on Xavier’s most dedicated students (Nightcrawler, Storm); and one murderous spy (Colossus) who is secretly working on behalf of humanity.
Should go well.
The next event in X-Men’s Krakoa Quiet Council Saga will be the new Immortal X-Men series launching in March.
