Oh man. Perhaps one of the Phoenix experts can fill in the implications and such, I'll just report what happened.
We open with the preview pages, Sinister and Destiny talking in the partially destroyed QC chamber. Basically Sinister tells Destiny that her hyper-focus on Mystique's future fate makes her overestimate Raven's deaths. He says she's off about fifty percent based on studying her predictions via the Moira engines. Destiny then goes to Mystique saying she'll guide her to Xavier so they can get him to unlock Destiny's love for Nightcrawler. Mystique is still angry at Destiny.
Hope and Legion and Jean are chatting as they're gearing up to "kill" the Phoenix. However in Alaska, Enigma is in a diner talking with the woman who will eventually be Hope's mom, nine months before her birth. He tells Louise that in nine months she will be dead, killed in the hospital by men with flamethrowers. He momentarily makes her experience the pain she will feel at that time. She asks him what he's suggesting and we see Hope holding her own head in pain.
Enigma says he can lift Louise from the timeline at the moment she is to die. In return he simply needs to be Hope's father. Hope is on the ground struggling so Jean keeps the Phoenix at bay for a bit and flys away to help Louise. Louise is close to accepting Enigma's deal and we see Hope look up, the Enigma crown symbol on her forehead.
Up in an Orchis base Mystique and Destiny break in, kill a bunch of soldiers and find Xavier. Destiny demands that he let her love her son. Xavier says he doesn't remember any of what he may have done to her but that he would have left a simple mental lock. He finds it and unlocks it. Destiny's eyes grow wide as she says, "My son. I abandoned my..."
Three Nimrod's suddenly appear and one of them grabs Mystique. Destiny begs Nimrod not to kill her, saying her vision was right about Mystique dying in this moment. Nope! Exodus appears via a portal and teleports the loving couple away. Sinister was right, Destiny's prediction was off and Mystique didn't die.
Jean appears in the diner and orders a milkshake. Just kidding. She appears and immediately works to convince Louise not to accept Enigma's deal. She tells Louise flat out that Hope was sent by the Phoenix to make the Phoenix, that that's what Louise will choose. Hope is destined to save mutantkind and everyone else, she tells her. Basically Enigma and Jean go back and forth trying to convince Louise which path to choose and Louise eventually tells Enigma to 'eff off.
:-(
The Phoenix is smaller now, reborn. It confirms to Jean, calling her "mother-me", that this is where it ends, begins and ends, begins and ends. It is the Phoenix, now and forever, an unbroken circle of fire. I can't help but laugh because it looks like one of those rubber chickens that make funny noises but I digress. It then tells mother-me that in order for them to fight Enigma it must feed.
Exodus returns to Krakoa with the couple of the year and Destiny runs to Nightcrawler and hugs him. At the same time his Hopesword appears in his hand and Destiny confirms that means Hope is dead. Exodus at first doesn't believe it then announces that Hope has returned to whence she came. "The word made flesh, the flesh made immortal. She is with Krakoa in exile in spirit." Nightcrawler says Krakoa is trapped in the WHR, lost forever. But Exodus, returning to the fight and attacking a Sentinel, says the people of Krakoa will return, that the Krakoan age will come again. Kurt asks Destiny if they can win but she still sees no victory. As for the fate of Krakoa she says
Krakoa in Exile, the White Hot Room. Mutants including the Five minus Hope and Jumbo are arguing around a table trying to figure out how they will function, who will do what, etc. Little Kafka gets annoyed and tells everyone to shut up. He tells the room that they have to be better than this, that they have no rulers, no leaders, no heroes. That they have to be the Quiet Council and that means they have to listen. He takes charge and starts working to assign tasks such as tuber supply, tutoring, teaching. It's a bittersweet last page as that little hero is determined to make Krakoa, despite being lost in the WHR, carry on.
The end.
The death of Hope made me sad even though many of us suspected it was coming. She fulfilled her destiny by rebooting the Phoenix and thus hopefully saving all of existence. Her brave sacrifice was powerful and I'm glad it was Gillen who wrote it. My heart also hurts for Atlantic Krakoa, knowing they are stuck in the WHR but still carrying on. Seeing Elixir, Egg, Proteus, and Tempus as part of that group made it sting even more.