Beware of spoilers for the show in the article. Please do not continue reading if you haven't seen the 8th episode yet and you are not okay with being spoiled.
Introduction :
This show is so expertly thought out that whilst it is set in a different universe it reminds me so much of how well planned the early phases of the MCU used to feel right down to Bastion appearing in early episodes in the background before the Genoshian massacre as background setup.
Bastion’s origin :
This week we finally learned Bastion’s backstory. His father was infected by a virus from the future which altered his DNA resulting in Bastion being born a human-sentinel hybrid. Bastion’s story is interesting because he feels very much like a take on a self-hating mutant because for all intents and purposes he is just like a mutant.
Bastion using the footage of Lilandra and Professor Xavier’s wedding announcement video to make the world turn against the X-Men was a very smart move and something I didn’t think about when I was watching episode 6. It makes the events in episode 6 have greater far reaching consequences in the show because it plants a seed of distrust between the X-Men and humanity because of Bastion making it seem like the X-Men faked Professor Xavier’s death inorder to make people feel sympathy for mutants. I can see that plot point remaining as a obstacle for the X-Men long after Bastion’s defeat.
Bastion’s goal :
Bastion’s goal was also revealed in this episode , he wants to level the playing field between humans and mutants. Ironically if his plan works humans will get annihilated too if human-sentinel hybrids become the dominating force on earth. Cable confirmed this when he explained what happened to mutants in his future and we saw enslaved mutants being put to work. Bastion feels that mutants will take away jobs from humans e.g… why would you need a driver if you have a person who can teleport or why would you need to hire human construction workers when you have a person with superstrength. His plan clearly resulted in mutants becoming enslaved and working for human-sentinel hybrids in Cable’s future.
The Summers :
In the beginning of the episode Jean had a conversation with Nightcrawler and told him that she had Madelyne’s memories which makes her feel like she is Nathan’s mother too (she remembers being pregnant with him). Cable however doesn’t seem to see her as his mother. Nighcrawler describing himself as being too blue for his mother (Mystique ) and him and Rogue choosing each other was a beautiful piece of dialogue. Rogue was still unconscious after being attacked by Bolivar Trask at the end of the last episode. I’m wondering if Rogue is a threat to Bastion, Bastion doesn’t do anything without a reason so Rogue getting taken off the board first makes sense due to how powerful she is. Rogue was also in Genosha during the attack. That makes me wonder if Rogue is more important for stopping Bastion’s plans than we think.
Scott , Jean and Cable went out on a mission to Bastion’s home town where things took a turn when Bastion’s mother turned into a human-sentinel hybrid and attacked the trio which resulted in another major reveal that Bastion had turned his entire town into human-sentinel hybrids. Back at the X-Mansion, Beast's tracking machine activated human sentinel hybrids who attacked the mansion and also led to another major revelation that Trish Trilby was a human-sentinel hybrid. Bastion has been going after anti-mutant humans for his experiments which makes me wonder how Trish ended up becoming one especially considering she seems to be empathetic to mutants, unless that was all just a cover (if that’s true then poor Beast like Wolverine said he needs to reevaluate his taste in women).
Jubilee and Sunspot :
Jubilee and Sunspot went out shopping and Jubilee upgraded her suit to a black bodysuit with her iconic yellow jacket (Jubilee never got a superhero costume in the original show- she has had that one outfit for everything). The young love birds' moment was however interrupted by human-sentinel hybrids who were activated and started attacking them including Roberto’s butler. Jubilee and Sunspot got separated for a bit until Jubilee fell off a skyscraper and Sunspot caught her and flew across the city as they tried to evade the human-sentinel hybrids until they made it to Roberto’s mother’s fundraiser for mutants in Genosha. Roberto told his mother that the human-sentinel hybrids were trying to hurt him but the human-sentinel hybrids said they were trying to protect them. Mrs da Costa told Roberto and Jubilee to go with them after briefly looking around at her guests. Roberto and Jubilee were collared with super power inhibitors and taken away. I feel Roberto is going to join the X-Men and publicly declare himself as a mutant against his family's wishes.
Sentinels Unleashed :
The Human-sentinel hybrids attacking various mutants around the city led to two excellent action sequences towards the climax of the episode with Wolverine and Nightcrawler ( Kurt Wagner) fighting the human-sentinel hybrids at the X-Mansion. Wolverine getting dragged into the sky was such a great visual and the shot of him slashing the human-sentinel hybrids (who are able to reconstitute their bodies) was amazing. Nightcrawler and Wolverine teaming up was cool especially with Kurt using his prehensile tail to hold one of his swords. Whoever had the idea of showing Wolverine’s perspective of being teleported by Kurt is awesome , that looked incredible. It makes sense that this show had a long post production process , you can see the time and effort on screen.
The other brilliant action sequence featured the Summers vs the human-sentinel hybrids from Bastion’s town. Bastion’s mother deflecting Cyclops’ power was a cool visual to show just how dangerous the new sentinels are especially after how easily the team defeated the old sentinel models in episode 1. The human-sentinel hybrids destroyed the X-Jet again which resulted in a car chase scene where the Summers all used their powers together which was pretty cool. The X-Jet getting destroyed frequently will probably be a running gag in the show now.
Val’s Decision :
Whilst I'm still shocked Val Cooper isn't Mystique I was more surprised that she was in on Bastion’s plan or at least a version of it considering how horrified she looked during the massacre. Her admission to Bastion that Magneto was right after all hit hard. Magneto has gone through unimaginable hardship as a mutant and has witnessed the prejudice of humanity to people who are different to them due to the holocaust. I liked that Val saw his skin tag , Magneto’s stance makes sense because of what he has been through and this time around he did try to see things from Charles’ point of view and reality forced him to think that he was right to think like he did before. Magneto unleashing the full extent of his power to turn off all the human-sentinels and power on earth was incredible , we fully got to witness why Magneto is an Omega level mutant.
Omega level mutants are mutants whose upper power limit is deemed to be immeasurable. These omega mutants are as a result capable of performing extraordinary feats that can affect the entire planet, for example Magneto affecting the entire planet with his magnetic power in episode 8. Storm could also theoretically affect the weather of the entire earth on that scale as an Omega level mutant. An interesting fact about omega level mutants with multiple powers is that usually only one power is omega level whilst others are not for example Jean Grey is an omega level telepath but she isn’t an omega level telekinetic.
Whilst I want coexistence like Professor Xavier stands for, at this point in time that might not be possible. The mutants built a separate country for themselves and still prejudiced humans destroyed what they created. The Genoshian massacre reminds me of the Tulsa riots the more I think about it. I disagree with Wolverine that Magneto started a war , his actions saved many mutants in one fell swoop. The war was started by humanity through Bastion’s actions. Professor Xavier showing up at the end of the episode and saying his famous line “To me, my X-Men” made me think about how the team might be divided by the end of this season.
I can see both Rogue and Cyclops siding with Magneto. I think an excellent cliffhanger for this show to end the season would be to have both Charles and Magneto say the “To me, my X-men “ line and have members of the X-Men team pick a side essentially setting up season 2 to feature a different roster which would be interesting.
Verdict :
This episode provided a pretty epic setup for the rest of the three part finale. This show has been a pleasant weekly surprise. I’m glad Marvel started production on season 2 in advance so hopefully X-Men 97 isn’t plagued by the same in-between season breaks as Invincible and we get season 2 in 2025.
Rating :
Story: 10/10
Visuals: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Performances: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Join me weekly for more reviews of the first season of X-Men 97.
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