Originally Posted by
lefthanded
Fun issue. Definitely a palate cleanser after last week's X-men deaths.
I'm really enjoying Gillen's and Hickman's use of Sinister. I never really got into him, as his design just seemed like a Colossus knock-off and he just seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with Jean Grey, and Scott Summers. Why didn't he ever go after Havok as much, who would presumably be less defended? Now, with Sinister and his clone army, we have a villain who can have charisma and different personality quirks while still being quite menacing due to his varied abilities and long term planning.
Sinister's secrets gives us a lot to puzzle over. Its unclear what time period this is from, but I presume its from everything that has happened in the X-men history so far.
#1 "red shoes" seems to refer to a female Sinister
#2 speaks of a "trendsetting mutant who was cut down in his prime", which seems to most likely refer to the death and return of Cyclops, but could also seem to refer to Wolverine, and Cable. I dunno what the 'island full of flowers to the flower that's the fullest' means (maybe flowers = mutant, so Cyclops to Jean?)
#3 speaks of a 'deceased red pretender' and a 'pack with the devil' seems to refer to Madelyne. Dunno what secrets she had though.
#4 speaks of 'current events' and something 'washed ashore' and to not 'embrace the revelry'. Dunno what that means.
#5 speaks of essentially adultery involving four mutants. Implies Wolverine involved, and thus theoretically Cyclops, Madelyne (who had a kid), and Emma. Could be another group of three, but one of them would have to be married with a kid.
#6. Speaks of a 'progerian mutant' with Sinister ties, and some 'destroyed' samples. Dunno who this refers to.
#7. Speaks of Summers brothers, and how there are possibly more out there.
#8 Speaks of Apocalypse and his four horseman, and how he prefers the originals.
#9 Speaks of 'kids are all right' and 'non-couple couple' being apart 'that when they see each other again fireworks are going to ensue.' Non-couple couple implies non-romantic pairing, and with fireworks suggests Wolverine and Jubilee. Could be wrong.
#10 Says that Sinister managed to ignore Xavier's mind wipe and so will ruin Xavier's plan.
There are also two Sinister secrets revealed - the John Proudstar DNA as Sinister's primary mutant power, and Inferno as the word that will bring everything crumbling down.
This goes with what we learned in the previous issues - Xavier got Sinister to create mutants from multiple sources, and some generations had pre-programmed code by Sinister to ruin everything. #10 partly explains why Xavier 'trusted' Sinister not to betray him, thinking that his telepathy could prevent Sinister from consciously knowing the plan.
With the story of Cypher speaking the Krakoa and creating a language, the revelation that Black Tom Cassidy is essentially a part of the island defense, and Sinister Secret reveal of 'Inferno', it makes me worried that Sinister will burn down Krakoa.
As others have said, not really caring about the future storyline with the Phalanx. It seems this story is just about finding a way to assimilate with the Phalanx. Dunno how this is affected with what happens in the previous eras (X^0, X^1, X^2). Only possible link would be how Cypher is able to understand and create language, so potentially he came up with a way for language of assimilation?