Powers of X [01] : The Last Dream of Xavier *spoilers*

[King_Thor13]

-I'm ridiculously intrigued by the Chimera X-Men and who Cardinal, Cylobel & Percival are DNA combinations of. I'm sure we'll get to see their DNA strands, possibly in the next PoX issues. Particularly Cardinal given he's obviously a prominent character. My guesses are:

Percival: Foley (Elixir) + Ramsey (Cypher) given his appearance. Both make sense as an Omega level biokinetic and a big part of Hickman’s HoX/New Mutants respectively. I’d say there’s possibly some Tager (Cipher), Abbott (Trance) or Voght in there given Percival is referred to as a ghost on pg 38. It's hard to say without seeing him in action, and he mightn't even be particularly relevant anymore given he died early one, but it’s fun to speculate.

Cylobel: My guess is Johansson (No-Girl) + Sage + Haddad (Cerebra). Maybe Caliban, Manon/Maxime, Wyngarde or Vertigo in there too. Ex-Hound seems to imply that tracking abilities and psychic abilities would be of use. A somewhat understated but useful powerset given what the hounds are created for.

Cardinal: I'm stumped to be honest. Obviously Nightcrawler and/or Azazel but I've no idea who else. Some seem to think Gambit but outside of the eyes kinda matching I'm not sure I see it. Cardinal possibly has offensive capabilities we won't really see in action, or ‘invisible’ mutations like empathy or enhanced sight or something. It’s plausible that the specific combination or usage of mutations are what cause the outliers, in their pacificism.

-Black Tom, Magneto, Xorn and Wolverine are among the last remaining X-Men, stationed on Asteroid K. Unless if Magneto is a clone or something, I’ve absolutely no idea how he’s lived this long. Exodus, Apocalypse, Selene, Legion, Proteus, Dead Girl and Emma Frost (while in her diamond form) are functionally immortal, and would make more sense as having outlived all other mutants. There are two other mutants on Asteroid K, one of which is referred to as ‘old man’- I can only assume this is Xavier himself. As for the other, perhaps they are one of the others I mentioned. I would hope that the other survivors aren’t white men only. It would have been nice if X-23, Honey Badger or Daken had outlived Logan but alas.

-Xandra is a nice nod to what’s going on in current storylines, and it’s nice to think that she rightfully inherited the rule of the Shi’ar empire. It makes sense for her to have been established in a prior title so that Hickman could make use of her.

-I’m really hoping now that this isn’t the last we see of Rasputin IV. I imagine now that she’s apart of X-Lore she’ll resurface somewhere regardless, but I do hope it’s sooner rather than later. Hickman did say he’s tackling a crazy concept only he could really do, and I’m hoping this is a ‘Chimeras’ book, examining the future history and world he’s building. We’re all falling for Rasputin & co. already, so it’d be great to have a fully-fledged title with her as the lead, rather than a five-issue miniseries. If it panned out this way, it would mean Hickman has free reign to use blank slate characters of his own creation, and full access to whatever X-Stuff he wants without worrying too much about their current roles in the X-Men of ‘now’.

I know we were complaining about Karima being white washed last week, but turning her red isn't better

Yeah, you’d think we’d be at a point where miscolouring characters didn’t happen but apparently not. I love that she’s relevant again, but Karima should be retaining her ethnicity, not be another victim of whitewashing. And yeah, making her ethnicity invisible by making her skin colour red for whatever reason isn’t a better alternative either…

Mystique's demands?
Destiny?

It lines up. If Krakoa is capable of reviving mutants, then I’m betting Mystique is going to ask for Destiny to be returned to her in exchange for her services.

[Park Slope Pixie]

I've always been pro-Shi'ar.

[Strong Girl Daken]

So Cardinal is an outlier mutant, right? So Cardinal isn't quite his name, but rather the name of the whole group of variants from the third generation? But I'm also assuming that he's the only one left after whatever it is that the generation four chimeras did, effectively making his name Cardinal anyway?

[Park Slope Pixie]

Nimrod and Mystique stole this issue. Rasputin is an utter bore.

[loke13]

Nimrod and Mystique stole this issue. Rasputin is an utter bore.

I'm sure more appearance will help people warm up to her.

[ISnowNothin]

As for the other, perhaps they are one of the others I mentioned. I would hope that the other survivors aren’t white men only.

I agree completely that it would be very nice to see some non white male survivors, and the ratio is definitely not good, though it's worth mentioning that it isn't quite "only," just "overwhelmingly" white thus far, as Xorn is Chinese.

[Park Slope Pixie]

I'm sure more appearance will help people warm up to her.

I did like how she offered to kick NightCardinal's ass for watching/bailing.

[dimo1]

Not as good as House of X but still a good issue. Felt a bit dragged at times but I don‘t want to be overly critical.

[Park Slope Pixie]

This was a re-reader. Nimrod's dialogue and art:. A+

[Jesse-James]

I was wondering, those two robotic characters, the lady and the triple-head, were they actually named?

[JKtheMac]

It might be fun if the ‘Black Brains’ were based on Xavier’s genes.

Actually I wondered if that was why Xavier says "oh". He realizes that he can't actually read her mind.

Yes, that’s one of the questions. This would also allow things to not have changed in the past too much. We kind of assumed that Xavier received a huge reveal, when he may just have had a very significant clue and nothing more.

So Cardinal is an outlier mutant, right? So Cardinal isn't quite his name, but rather the name of the whole group of variants from the third generation? But I'm also assuming that he's the only one left after whatever it is that the generation four chimeras did, effectively making his name Cardinal anyway?

It kind of depends exactly when the X^2 story is taking place. Before or after the ‘singularity’ event. Which is also an interesting word to use because it usually implies things like black holes or high technology weapons, but can also have cultural meanings.

[Frobisher]

A singularity is a point beyond which it is impossible to make predictions. One example of this is beyond the event horizon of a black hole, where the rules of physics are supposed to break down. Another is a hypothetical point where self-improving artificial intelligence gets out of control - a form of technological singularity.

[JKtheMac]

A singularity is a point beyond which it is impossible to make predictions. One example of this is beyond the event horizon of a black hole, where the rules of physics are supposed to break down. Another is a hypothetical point where self-improving artificial intelligence gets out of control - a form of technological singularity.

There are other forms too. A cultural singularity is when every part of the culture is subsumed to capital. Knowledge = wealth creation. Which is an extrapolation of social media.

The way Xavier and then Sinister are using knowledge could be being subsumed into the “dream”. Prophecy as an end point for culture.

[King_Thor13]

It might be fun if the ‘Black Brains’ were based on Xavier’s genes.

Could it be the usage of Whisper Doll's X-Gene? She's immune to telepathy https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Whisper_Doll_(Earth-616)

[JKtheMac]

Could it be the usage of Whisper Doll's X-Gene? She's immune to telepathy https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Whisper_Doll_(Earth-616)

Could be an interesting use of the Raksha. They were a little more interesting than the standard ‘team of foils’. But that would make the themes a little less focused.

It kind of depends exactly when the X^2 story is taking place. Before or after the ‘singularity’ event. Which is also an interesting word to use because it usually implies things like black holes or high technology weapons, but can also have cultural meanings.

Thinking about this, the infographic on Sol Mutants very clearly places the story after the Sinister event. So perhaps the story being told is about the “surprising” end to the war. There is still some wiggle room as to how that could go. Do the Satellite K mutants discover something surprising about the man-machines that changes everything? What information were they seeking? What really happened with Sinister? He has never been easy to kill.

I know certainty is only temporary, but I think I have convinced myself there is no time travel or circular time here. The clues are in the art. This issue is entirely about fortune telling and prophets. Looks like time to do the hard work and cut out some art and build an argument.