Powers of X #6 *spoilers*

[terrancejameson]

I once heard that human beings aren't born with prejudice, but are made for them, by someone who wants something.

And like you mentioned with human extinction, although doesn't justify atrocities and irrationality, still plays a role in people who don't want to go extinct.

And sure, the relationship between human mutates and human mutants has gotten very inconsistent in its worldbuilding, and why humans ending up hating the mutants more than the mutates seems to have been pretty poorly handled by most accounts, but with that said, I quite liked the explanation Marvels #2 (1994) gave, and reminds me that human/mutant relations, at least when written well, have more complexities than what's seen on the surface:

Lmao I’m so excited that you made the point that you did about prejudice. The idea of it and why it appears as it does makes total sense. We are taught our prejudices absolutely and without a doubt. Everything we consider to be instinctual about the human condition is actually our given set of prejudices designed to enhance our sense of self preservation. We all do it. We all want to preserve our individuality. What is a culture but a collective individuality of a group of people?

I’m getting so many vibes from modern day American culture and the black community’s place within it. The scan you posted only further expresses a greater complexity to the relationship. The black community was always framed as a threat to the white majority in the mainstream media. Movies like Birth of a Nation carried this narrative to new heights. A growing and thriving mutant (black) community breeds feelings of inferiority in human (white) majority. The prejudices that naturally arise from a sense of being replaced as the true race of humans is used to fuel the fear and rationalized into a set of laws to justify the system/social customs that maintains that majority under threat of violence. I don’t know if Hickman was conscious of these parallels or if he simply stumbled into them, but I love it all the same. There’s just so much to draw from here.

[Stormultt Divine]

Hmm...

Lmao
Great strip right here.

[Gladiator]

Random thought. Why didn’t they resurrect OG Cable? Hope wouldn’t think to do so? Domino? Anybody?

[Killerbee911]

Random thought. Why didn’t they resurrect OG Cable? Hope wouldn’t think to do so? Domino? Anybody?

Because OG Cable and kid cable is the same person. I thought it was going to hard to bring back older Cable because the young version who overwritten the old one but if the younger one dies at any point. Xavier has Cable back up with all the old memories (which kid cable doesn't have) and can age him up.They have simple fix to bring back older Cable now I thought they would have do some sort of crazy time travel story to undo what they did with kid cable.

[jamesslow]

Mutants respond to the advent of Post-Humans (essentially homo sapiens augmented with cutting edge tech such as sentinel enhancements) by creating Post-Mutants (i.e. homo superior augmented with cutting edge tech such as a Cerebro helm which can record minds and souls to resurrect indefinitely).

[jamesslow]

And, in this regard, isn't Krakoa itself a Post Mutant, since it appears to have been infected by Douglock's transmode virus in a benevolent way?

[tuck frump]

yhea, I got that but I don't see how homo novissima would pose any threat to this iteration of the 616 mutant nation, the point I'm trying to make is that as it stands the mutant race holds all the card to ensure their further evolution and empowerment far ahead of the homo novissima we saw on life six

Like someone else pointed, mutants as a whole have not been focusing on improving themselves bc they always assumed they were the next step in natural evolution. While you slept the world has changed applies as much to them as to baseline humans.

Of course its worth pointing out mutants have not been attempting to self improve because they ve been busy trying to survive one attempt at being wiped out after the other. Its difficult advancing when they have to hide their gifts from the world or try not getting murdered by giant robots. Which then circles back to Xavier's trying to create a mutant society where brilliant minds can be fostered. Magneto has a line in one of the HoX issues abt creating a society where its not abt the strongest mutant but the smartest or some such.

[Killerbee911]

Like someone else pointed, mutants as a whole have not been focusing on improving themselves bc they always assumed they were the next step in natural evolution. While you slept the world has changed applies as much to them as to baseline humans.

Of course its worth pointing out mutants have not been attempting to self improve because they ve been busy trying to survive one attempt at being wiped out after the other. Its difficult advancing when they have to hide their gifts from the world or try not getting murdered by giant robots. Which then circles back to Xavier's trying to create a mutant society where brilliant minds can be fostered. Magneto has a line in one of the HoX issues abt creating a society where its not abt the strongest mutant but the smartest or some such.

Agree with this mutants haven't been trying to get to fourth and fifth generation of mutants quicker. The easy way to explain it is whole generation of mutants like Franklin and Legion. It is has always been a race but mutants(the hare) never saw the need to try their hardest against humans(the tortoise). Humans took advantage of this win the race. Mutant(well Moria) is aware of this now and they are trying to slow down humans from getting to post human stage while they speed up to their next stage. The drugs extend human lives and keep them from getting sick is preventing them from using tech to do the same thing and thus slow them down reach the posthuman stage. Mutants are now buying time for themselves.

[JKtheMac]

This probably have been already discussed but the reason of why we always are reaching the same conclusion could be that the leader of Orchis is a mutant with the same power as Moira ??. So she is figthing another chessmaster who is forcing the same conclusion and it seems that he/she is winning because he/she knows something.

I don’t think anyone has discussed that. It would certainly fit with his inspiration ‘The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August’. It would be an interesting twist.

[JKtheMac]

As presented, you have to look at evolution as a zero sum game.

Excellent analysis which I pretty much agree is the thrust of this story. I pull out this quote because it is essential to what we are dealing with in this story. It is enough that humans see it as a Zero Sum game, and that their perspective influences how mutants act.

I disagree that Xavier’s dream contains this ‘manifest destiny’ style ‘fade away’ outlook. I don’t think Xavier ever saw it as a zero sum game. Many scientists would disagree that evolution has such a rule for hominids, and Xavier seemed to represent the perspective that we can all win.

Whether Moira believes in the zero sum game is the key question in this story, and whether Xavier came to believe her is the million dollar question.

Moira’s lives give us a reason as to why Moira might think like this, but they also beg the question how much she has influenced this by her own observation and outlook.

[jamesslow]

I don’t think anyone has discussed that. It would certainly fit with his inspiration ‘The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August’. It would be an interesting twist.

The as-yet unidentified man seen wearing what resembles a slimmer version of Charles's Cerebro helmet who may be Dr Killian Devo, maybe?

[useridgoeshere]

I don’t think anyone has discussed that. It would certainly fit with his inspiration ‘The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August’. It would be an interesting twist.

That would be a confusing twist based on how time works. I think it’d be easier to have it be a force from within the black hole network, if he wanted to go that route. Hickman had the Librarian say that if they reached Ascension, outside of space and time, the machines wouldn’t accept Moira having power over them. They didn’t get the knowledge of her because of his convenient villain monologue, but that could be resolved as people have entered a singularity.

[JKtheMac]

And, in this regard, isn't Krakoa itself a Post Mutant, since it appears to have been infected by Douglock's transmode virus in a benevolent way?

Yes. Ignoring Doug for now. I do believe we are supposed to see Krakoa and it’s new culture of ‘the death of death itself’ as a kind of post-mutant, directed evolutionary step. Xavier has taken a new direction (importantly this was not Moira’s doing) and changed what being a mutant means. Part of the resurrection recognition ceremony was about building a culture around resurrection. Integrating this idea into mutant society.

The bigger questions are born out of the fact that this is a reactionary move. An arms race of competing technologies. Krakoa has the semblance of natural selection because the island itself is a mutant and resembles nature. The Five are simply using their powers in innovative ways. None of this takes away from the fact that this is a radical tipping point in the culture of mutants and at least an attempt at a post-mutant culture.

[JKtheMac]

That would be a confusing twist based on how time works. I think it’d be easier to have it be a force from within the black hole network, if he wanted to go that route. Hickman had the Librarian say that if they reached Ascension, outside of space and time, the machines wouldn’t accept Moira having power over them. They didn’t get the knowledge of her because of his convenient villain monologue, but that could be resolved as people have entered a singularity.

The twist would certainly not be necessary, and I don’t think it will actually happen, but it could.

[jwatson]

PLEASE stop putting yourself and your issues at the center of this discussion , We are not talking about real life, we are discussing what was shown during moira's 10 lifes, the issue presented to us by the writer is a matter of genetic and technological competition against 2 sides locked in a race for survival, it's only natural to wonder why the mutants haven't been using all tech at their disposal to avoid being slaughtered

Apparently your just looking for someone to agree with you? IN story mutants aren't trying to better the humans and they aren't trying to fight them. So in story there is no reason for them to violate their own genetic self to turn into the very thing they don't want to be. Better?

They are avoiding being slaughtered by creating a safe space.

Now please stop putting your conjecture into the story.