LOL...nah Mother Righteous has been around for a couple of years now and was a major figure in Sins of Sinister and Immortal X-men.
Jean wasnt exactly alive but she was in the WHR, where she tends to go when she dies. Gillen's completely done alot of new things with that that hasnt been capable before such as MR even being able to access it the way she has.
My take...when Jean's physical body dies, her soul goes to the WHR until its time for her to make her return. "Killing" her there broke the life/death cycle she has with the Phoenix and made it vulnerable to now die itself bc Jean finally accepted that they were one in her mini.
That explains it. One of my blindspots from more or less ignoring this recent era.
I didn't even realize it was possible to kill Jean in the WHR let alone for a non-Phoenix host like MR to be able to access it.
That makes sense to me. Killing her in the WHR would break the cycle because it's not supposed to be possible. Setting up all the recent Phoenix stuff with Jean more or less creating the Phoenix.
I agree with both of you. To paraphrase Claremont, as one aspect of Jean—a multitudinous being if there ever was one—was fragmented and dying, another aspect of her reached out with all her heart to Scott to comfort him, herself, or, perhaps, both of them. This notion that she's had no agency when, in reality, she made it possible for Hope and Exodus to bypass the White Hot Room's safeguards by imbuing the former with her fire (Hope admits as much in X-Men Forever #2) and has been in what amounts to a meditative state, repeating the mantra "NowAndForeverNowAndForever" throughout, is puzzling.
In fact, Simonson's Jean Grey implied that she was safeguarding Phoenix deep within her own psyche or being since the two are inseparable. One can even argue that this is what prevented the White Hot Room—the heart and home of Jean and Phoenix and the center of all creation—from imploding. She may not have been obviously active, but readers with basic knowledge of Phoenix, the White Hot Room, and spiritual or metaphysical concepts and states should recognize that she was operating on a level that transcends mortal actions and communication. After all, she never truly died. Even after Mother Righteous stabbed her, she continued repeating her mantra, as if by doing so she was holding everything together.
Jean Grey in the words of Walt Whitman, from his masterpiece Leaves of Grass, "Song of Myself" (51 and 52):
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
"Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you."
In other news, I started a thread on Twitter some days ago centered on Jean's journey from Messiah Complex onward. I'm still adding to it, but it's received some positive responses.
https://twitter.com/Jean_RED_Grey/st...52558869623206
The first post reads and includes the following four pages/panels:
She gave life to herself before birthing life and gave life to countless others before creating life in another. 🤌🏻🔥
Jean Grey in the words of Walt Whitman, from his masterpiece Leaves of Grass, "Song of Myself" (51 and 52):
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
"Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you."
Jean Grey in the words of Walt Whitman, from his masterpiece Leaves of Grass, "Song of Myself" (51 and 52):
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
"Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you."
Jean Grey in the words of Walt Whitman, from his masterpiece Leaves of Grass, "Song of Myself" (51 and 52):
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
"Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you."
Jean Grey in the words of Walt Whitman, from his masterpiece Leaves of Grass, "Song of Myself" (51 and 52):
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
"Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you."
With the current revelation about Hope, what do people think about Firehair, the Phoenix of 1,000,000 BC? She obviously looks like Jean. You think Jean created her too? I noticed that in XMF4, Louise refers to Jean as "fiery hair" and I wonder if that was Gillens' way of acknowledging Firehair without being direct
I still say that's a really big mistake. Whatever CC says about Scott in real life, his writing for him on-panel has never let Scott down (minus the Lee Forrester nonsense that upset people even back in the 80s). I know people were upset about CC's X-Men Forever portrayal, but lack of Jott aside, Claremont did a really good job of characterizing him there too.