Yeah that's the impression I get now and knowing that Rachel stays enslaved right to the end. Ahab extrapolated what was going to happen using Deathlock's computer interface and determined that Cable would probably have to kill Rachel and Ahab was enjoying that this was his last dying gift to Cable, that Cable was going to have to kill his own sister.
So in the end this comic really isn't about Rachel at all, she isn't going to have agency or dialogue, she is going to go out as a mindless slave, and it's really just about Cable and Stryfe and the writer is using Rachel to further their storylines and Rachel serves no other purpose than to be a tragic character who gets no agency over her own fate.
I'm kinda just meh about it right now. It's the same 3 scenarios in my head (none of which are ideal):
1) Cable somehow manages to trigger a response in Rachel and she breaks free and helps stop Stryfe.
2) Rachel remains a hound throughout the entirety of the storyline and dies a hound with her last words being "Mutants! Die! with Kytty cradling her body. She's either killed by Cable or Stryfe.
3) Rachel remains a hound until the very end, and then for some poor writing it's determined she has to return to being Mother Askani (which would be problematic for a number of logistical reasons).
Given the shear amount of deaths happening right now, I almost feel like if she does die it will get reversed with some of the others. I feel like my convo with Jordan gave me some glimmer of hope but not enough to combat the idiocy of these writers.
This is so humiliating but hopeful this houndification will end soon.
I agree. Poor Rachel has been through the wringer lately. But I have a feeling she will break free of the programming and will return to normal. I hope she gets some good moments. I think Askani would be a good codename for her.
Pretty much. I mean I don't know what use she is to Stryfe as she has no real memories as Askani or knows anything of the Clan. Additionally they only know her as old Mother Askani. She currently seems more like a deranged Madame Sanctity than Askani. thinking back to that interview Brisson about exploring the relationship between Cable-Rachel-Stryfe, so far there is literally nothing on the Rachel end. It's only what she means to Cable and Stryfe and she's technically not needed to to be there to review this.
I just want this series over at this point so we have a resolution on her state.
I really think that the X-Office needs more female voices when it comes to writing and editing. The lack of agency and care for women in the books right now is astounding when you look at the ways Rachel and Rahne have been written, and the lack of agency and voice the other women (outside of AoXM) are getting.
Place your bets here. How will Rachel get screwed over in 2019?
She'll be rewritten into Stryfe's puppet.
She'll job and get possessed since X-Office doesn't feel like being creative.
She'll be killed and replaced by a younger teen from another timeline to have the Cable-Rachel sibling rivalry that no one asked for or will want ever.
Add your options here. All participants get the right to whine, moan, and complain about the stupidity of it all. Bet now.
The reason I'm so disillusioned is that it doesn't look like there's any plan - it's just random story arcs thrown together by various writers who take various pieces of whatever continuity they want and try to force the elements into a story idea they've come up with. Who knows what's next. Maybe Rachel dies and then is resurrected again for an Excalibur book which ignores everything that's happened in the last 20 years. It all depends on what whatever the next writers come up with.