This scene, from House of X #3, fascinates me. It's basically the first substantial scene that we see between Scott and Xavier since Xavier died by Dark Phoenix fuckery.
(There's actually a quick scene about the mission in Powers of X before this, but it doesn't really get into much beyond "this is what we need you to do" Aside from a really interesting visual parallel to a Scott and Illyana scene much later, there's not much to it.)
But there's a LOT here. (I'm going to put this behind a cut tag, because it is LONG.)
I mean, on one hand, it's almost sweet. We have an Xavier who is openly calling Scott his son, who is offering comforting reassurance to his fear.
On the other hand, Scott didn't ask for this reassurance, did he? He's afraid, but he's putting on "a brave face". Something pretty standard for the kind of soldier Scott's always been. And Xavier calls him out, puts him on the defensive, and gently applies the pressure. "What matters is that you overcome it -- and you do so for your family."
It's not clear to me exactly when resurrection becomes known on Krakoa. It seems implied that the deaths on the Master Mold mission (the one Scott's going to embark on, in which there will be no survivors) are the first public resurrections at least. Scott SEEMS to believe that death is a real option here. And they carefully keep their reassurance very metaphorical. Immortality in memory, not in fact.
There's something interesting to me about how Krakoa is set up. Because Scott is NOT on the Council. And it seems like he'd be an obvious choice to be up there, right? Certainly other characters have commented on it, periodically throughout arc. Both Forge and Emma have said things that implied they thought he was kind of shirking a duty by not being there.
There's this ever present idea too, of the Summers family as a kind of "Krakoan Royalty". It's why Abigail Brand puts teen Cable on SWORD, figuring that he lacks any real experience or influence, but as a means to manipulate his parents. Gabriel's manipulated with the idea of said royalty on Arakko. It seems to mean something.
But WHY? At this point, Scott is either the Captain Commander of Krakoa - a field general role expressly subordinate to the Council, or the leader of the X-Men, which have asserted some independence, but are primarily Earth based and have no role in governing anything Krakoan.
They may mean Jean, since she was on the Council and is certainly powerful enough to be terrifying. But that's not really the impression I get.
There is a point where we see Scott specifically offered a seat on the Council. That's just after X of Swords, when Scott and Jean have their slight bloodless coup and basically reform the X-Men.
(X-Men #16)
The funny thing about this is that I don't get the sense that they'd ever offered Scott a seat before. And again, that seems surprising. For better or worse, Scott's was the head of the entire mutant race at one point. And even after his fall from grace, his time as a mutant revolutionary, he was still bizarrely influential. There was a Rolling Stone cover, remember?
(And isn't it kind of fascinating how this version of Cerebro rather looks like a blue, metallic version of Scott's post AvX mask?)
It's only now, once Scott and Jean have enacted their own bloodless coup to reform the X-Men and rescue their son and friends, that Scott's asked.
But I could be wrong. Maybe Scott WAS asked. But if so, there's a very obvious reason why Scott wouldn't have taken it.
Mister Sinister is on the goddamn Council. There is no fucking way that Scott would ever, I believe, be able to sit on a Council across from Mister Sinister. And there's no way that Xavier wouldn't have known that.
On some level, Charles Xavier chose Mister Sinister over Scott Summers, and while I don't think this is the literal cause of the fall of Krakoa, I think the fact that he COULD make this choice was an indicator of the failings that doomed them all.
It will forever frustrate me that, as far as I know, we never actually see the reunion of a resurrected Charles Xavier with the son who, under the influence of the Dark Phoenix, killed him.
But I do remember one part of that scene:
(Avengers vs. X-Men #11)
And I start thinking again about how, in Krakoa, Xavier is very open, very content to call him his son.
A prince, an heir, but not a rival or an equal. The man who cast Xavier out from the X-Men, twice. The benign dictator of Utopia. The face of the Mutant Revolution. Xavier has made sure that this won't happen again.
It's interesting though, especially light of the From the Ashes Infinity Comic that digs into Xavier's motivations for his actions during Fall of the House of X.
And there are a few bits that stand out:
So this little story arc establishes a few important things.
a) Xavier didn't actually kill the crew of the ship, he had them replaced with mindless drones made by Sinister.
b) Xavier planted clues based on Arthurian Legend, specifically hoping SCOTT would find it and understand.
c) And Xavier has been pretty active in telepathically influencing other people away from conclusions he doesn't want them to draw. But he can't be really subtle - it causes a nosebleed.
And it's fascinating, I think, that Warren gets a nosebleed HERE. When he thinks about Xavier's role in Krakoa. And then he thinks of Scott's.
Later, Xavier will explain to Sally that he chose his actions because of Scott's trial. And I find myself wondering, is it because Scott's in danger of death (which would be funny as Xavier actually ends up sabotaging their best hope of rescuing Scott by calling Rasputin IV to him, WHILE they were in place to extract him, so she can serve his purposes instead). Or is it because, scapegoat and target or not, Scott Summers has suddenly become the face of Krakoa after all.
But now, Xavier's "the Butcher of Krakoa."
In AvX, before the Phoenix Five start fraying at the edges, Scott challenges Xavier, suggesting that part of the reason he has a problem with what they've done is because Scott did it. Not Xavier.
I think maybe there's some truth to that. And it will be very interesting how much, if anything, gets addressed in Raid on Graymalkin.
how do you imagine he ended up like that? did he choose to look like that or did he just kinda forget what he was supposed to look like after so long?
oh gosh anon I’ve thought about this a lot... ;w; So, uh, with a brief apology in advance for what will undoubtedly be a formidable chunk of text, here’s my wild speculations and headcanons regarding the big meanie cartoon ghost:
First off, a while back I ended up dumping my thoughts into @artisticdoodler‘s inbox, and they had a really good addition to that too so I’mma just link that here to start with: https://artisticdoodler.tumblr.com/post/190792774437/14-yes-hi-i-read-your-tags-and-absolutely-agree
But yeah basically, I think it was a gradual process brought on by several different factors, mainly psychological and magic-based. I mainly covered the psychological factor in the link above but to sum up: The Snoodle built up a TON of walls and defense mechanisms to ensure he would Not be Hurt by Feelings nor Empathy Ever Again Forever and Ever, So There. Can’t let someone get under your skin enough to hurt you if they’re too scared to go anywhere near you, or you kill them before they get the chance, after all! And it wouldn’t do at all for someone who needs souls to feel bad about taking them. At some point you run out of tears to shed and it just becomes normal. In fact, it’s their fault for being too stupid to heed any warnings about this place! How hard is it for these fools to just stay away??
And so on, and so forth.
As for magic- In the second to last page of the storybook, you can see what looks like tendrils of shadow trailing up from a grate in the floor next to him, and he’s become all shadowy- possibly already dead by that point if not soon after. Vanessa was engulfed by similar shadows when she transformed, so it seems like... Maybe the place itself is permeated with some nasty twisted magic that reacts to strong negative emotions? And if that’s the case, he had plenty of time to marinate in that. Might be why he ended up as a shadowy ghost instead of a dweller like the other remaining souls. Even then, I don’t think he was immediately ‘monstrous’ at that point, and probably looked closer to how he appeared in that second to last page (at least until he got hangry for souls and feeding into that magic further for power :’D). Here’s a small collection of doodles I made regarding that to maybe illustrate my point a lil bit: https://fedoraspooky.tumblr.com/post/190779866314/been-thinking-about-penultimate-page-storybook
So yeah to answer your question, I think it was more on the intentional side and less in the forgetting-what-he-looked-like side. That memory might have gotten a little fuzzy with time, sure, but he embraced the role of Big Scary Forest Cryptid for better or for worse, and by golly he’s sticking with it! Who cares if he could turn back or not?
Shirayuki seems more and more uncomfortable being alone with Zen. She stopped his kiss during their Bergatt reunion, she called him by his title at the inn, had so many unhappy expressions with sweatdrops during their last reunion, and kept her eyes wide open when he kissed her. She looked disappointed that Obi was the one knocking at her window. She also could have went alone with Zen to the harbor in chapter 89 but she chose to to invite Obi. She seems more comfortable when Obi is there too.
hi anon! thank you for the ask / discussion! I love bouncing ideas off of each other!
I’m assuming you meant she was visibly disappointed that Zen was the one knocking on her window? Maybe a small typo but I got what you mean
Especially disappointed because he used Obi and Shirayuki’s special knock ... so of course she thought it was Obi, which I think makes her reaction all the more telling.
we can attribute some of her discomfort to the risk it poses to her mission but it’s been growing steadily since the beginning of the Bergatt arc (which tbh is not over yet, this group of Northern Dissenters are not going away).
And why on earth did she not want to be alone for the day with Zen? Not sure. But you are right, she did not want to be alone with Zen. Aren’t they ... in a relationship still? We have had kisses recently but no affirmation of love or romantic permanence.
In Ch 100, Mitsuhide / Kiki / Obi conspired to give Zen and Shirayuki time alone. At the hotel room, Shirayuki is embarrassed and asks Zen if they can relax. They eat and hang out, but it lacks romantic tone. Then they find out they have to spend the night because of the snow storm shocked faces
(dont even get me started on the way Obi was acting a few rooms over)
Shirayuki apologizes and says she’s acting weird, Zen says yeah you are acting weird, Zen says he’s pretending to be relaxed, and Shirayuki says, “I wonder if it’s okay for me to stay in the same room as his Highness, Zen?”
And so instead of getting intimate - which they have when alone previously - they sit apart and talk because Shirayuki is visibly uncomfortable. When music starts playing Shirayuki eagerly gets up with a blanket so they can go listen, but Zen asks her to wait and they kiss. Lots of blushing, Shirayuki ends up not looking at him, and making kind an odd face.
I got the feeling during that WHOLE chapter that Shirayuki was uncomfortable. Maybe it’s just jitters of being alone with your boyfriend but idk.
THEN Zen leaves Lyrias and the goodbye they share is grasping hands. Granted they were out in the open, but no scene of a private goodbye?
So, it’s fairly obvious/likely that Revolver was one of the kids involved in the Hanoi Project 10 years ago, (he doe the 1-2-3 thing, knows a fair amount about it etc...).
And a common theory I’ve seen is that Dr. Kogami is the one who was behind it.
Do you realize who, fucked up that’s going to make things if that is the case?
He puts 6 kids through hell for 6 months(there are, a startling number of 6′s involved with the whole thing now that I look at it...) and since it was stated that they were all abducted, then clearly none of them were his(i.e Revolver is not his biological son).
This means, that after the kids were rescued, he adopted one of his victims.
We don’t know if Revolver actually knows who exactly was behind it, just that SOL Tech had a hand in it. But if he doesn’t, how utterly betrayed do you think he’s going to be, if/when he finds out that the man he calls father, the man he’s been caring for, was the one that put him through hell?
Like, that would be a whole new level of fucked up.
Also, a trigger to start a heel-face-turn/redemption arc for Revolver should he realize that he’s been lied to and betrayed.
Honestly, the more I think about the season 3 synopsis for Legends of Tomorrow, the more tentatively enthused I am.
I mean, a LOT of it will depend on exactly why Rip ends up having a change of heart. Because honestly, when it comes to the team’s methods, he isn’t wrong. The team is nearly uncontrollable, and they seem to approach every aberration with all the subtlety and finesse of a sledgehammer. Tokugawa Iemitsu, Lily Stein, Mick’s statue (though that one was at least in part Rip’s own fault) would all seem to prove that point.
It’s not like Rip himself is innocent, of course. He’s the one who recruited them. He chose them for this job. He turned the Waverider over to them twice. And he was reluctant, but did take part in the whole “meet ourselves” debacle.
But I could also imagine Rip saying “this is my mistake, so it’s my job to fix it.”
The big issue of course is that it seems like a drastic change of heart from the finale. He supported and praised them then. But we don’t know what will happen in the premiere. Out of Time was the game changer last season, so I bet this premiere will be the same way. Whatever happens to make Rip doubt the team will likely be in this episode.
I don’t however think that Rip is a villain. The synopsis says this:
Once reunited, the Legends will challenge the Time Bureau’s authority over the timeline and insist that however messy their methods may be, some problems are beyond the Bureau’s capabilities. Some problems can only be fixed by Legends
This implies to me that it’s not a matter of the Time Bureau being evil, or even wrong. It’s that the Legends will be proving their worth TO the Time Bureau, which could be a really interesting dynamic.
The Legends have never really had to prove themselves to anyone. Sure, the JSA had doubts, but their doubts really didn’t matter in the long run. They certainly couldn’t stop the Legends from doing what they do. They were all rebels with a cause in season one, and Rip wasn’t in any state to control them then. So they were basically free to do whatever they wanted to achieve their goals.
So this is new. And one imagines that, if they succeed, then they’ll actually have assignments and missions to follow. For the first time ever, they’ll have oversight and supervision. (At least until the Bureau inevitably turns on them. :-P)
One thing that interests me of course is how exactly the crew would end up with the Waverider again. If they’re disbanded, then Rip should reclaim the Waverider. So that would imply they either steal it, or they succeed and Rip/the Time Bureau awards it to them.
I am a little sad, because it does sound like Rip won’t be part of the team anymore. At best, he may end up being their control/supervisor. And that’s really sad, given how he’s never really felt on the same page with them. But maybe more surprises will happen. :-D
It’s funny, but I actually really liked the Mandalorian Season 3. It’s just been really busy lately, so I haven’t had time to blog about it.
I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed not to see Din Djarin as the galaxy’s most reluctant King Arthur, but I was intrigued by the way that most of advantages/triumphs that folks imagined for Mand’alor Din Djarin were things that Din actually accomplishes anyway.
And it’s really interesting, because I’m not sure how much of Din’s actions in the Mandalorian Season 3 were deliberate. We’re used to him stumbling about, ignorant and serendipitous, making lives better through sheer bull-headed stubbornness, honor, and getting bullied by everyone around him. But I’m not actually sure that’s what happened here.
When Bo-Katan fights Axe Woves, he’s frustrated that she never fought for the saber. Din’s the one who points out that actually, she won it already, when she saved him on Mandalore. (This was something I saw some viewers point out too, and I was pretty entertained to see that Din had the same thought.)
So when did Din realize this interpretation? When did he decide his course of action? As straightforward and simplistic as he can be, we’d have expected him to just give back the darksaber immediately, right?
Instead...he drowns in the waters of Mandalore. Called that one! That was great! She dives after him and rescues him.
He brings her to the Children of the Watch. Ordinarily, they’d view her as a heretic. They’d never give her the time of day. But she’s bathed in the Waters too. Which means, Bo-Katan suddenly ends up in a position to be welcomed into the “cult” that she dismissed before, and they’re in a position to be receptive to a woman that they would normally have dismissed as a heretic. Eventually, she wins them over through her own actions, and by the end, even the Armorer and Paz Vizsla are willing to follow her: helmet or no.
More than that, they’re willing to fight alongside Bo-Katan’s other followers. People who they normally wouldn’t acknowledge as Mandalorians at all.
If you think about it, Din Djarin just united Mandalore. Just not in his own name.
(And not in a way that takes away from Bo-Katan’s own achievements. I appreciate how her return to grace comes from choosing to help a man rescue his baby - even with other motives, then responding to a baby’s call for help to save a man from his own stupidity, then saving Paz Viszla’s son and bringing back some new “foundlings”. In a way, it seems like Bo-Katan herself is shedding her years of bitterness, and reconnecting to a more traditional ideal of Mandalorian-ness?)
Din Djarin isn’t the king. He’s the kingmaker, a role that suits him much much better. And I still have no idea if he did it on purpose.
It makes me intrigued for Season 4. We might stay with Mandalore, of course, but I think it’s more likely that we’ll be sticking with Din. Who is now a freelancer working for/with the New Republic.
We’ve seen the New Republic’s flaws this season. We’ve seen how Elia Kane expertly wields their own idealism and buried corruption against them. It’s interesting, actually, to compare the role Elia plays for Gideon to the role Din plays for Bo-Katan this season. She’s still out there as far as we know.
Will the man who united Mandalore be able to blunder his way into fixing the nascent New Republic?
