Excalibur [02]: A Tower of Flowers SPOILERS

[CGAR]

They are sailing to the lighthouse

Starting from the previews the team of Kate, Betsy, Jubilee and Gambit are attacked by the Selkies. Which are a sort of magi seal people. Thought they were mermaids but they weren’t.

Betsy lures them away because they almost overrun the ship. ( I still don’t get why the X-Men aren’t using their jets and planes in this DoX era )

Once they get to land the seal people can’t attack because they can’t walk on land. They are having a difficult time finding the lighthouse.

We learn Marianna Stern and the Coven Akkaba destroyed the lighthouse.

Morgan La Fey really has it out for the Braddocks.

Another group of druids are protectors of the land and show Betsy this because she is a ‘seer’.

They recognize that she is Captain Britain and a protector. The way the leader of the druids says “We will let the earth here bear the fruits of Krakoa,” makes me think they did something that allowed Krakoa Rogue to create a whole new lighthouse. (Yes, she is still in slumber) And she is at the top of the lighthouse. Like a blue light.

Gambit is frustrated because of whats going on with Rogue and doesn’t want to leave her side. Jubilee wants to go get Shogo. (She has a nightmare that Apocalypse is active looking for her human child on Krakoa). She wakes up and makes a gate just to go get Shogo.

Betsy has a dream where the wolf with the broadsword shows up and leads her to a statue of Apocalypse which has two plates stating “He will use us, we can use him.”

The druids of the land come back to speak to Betsy to seek her aide. Coven Akkaba is a threat and as they are having this conversation. Guess who shows up. COVEN AKKABA.

As they are battling it out. ( I think this was my favorite part) Apocalypse and Betsy are having a psy conversation about what is going on.

He clarifies that Coven Akkaba were the human servants who ended up thinking they were just as good as mutants because they know magic. And you know Apocalypse was having none of that nonsense. So he rejected them.

Betsy accuses Apocalypse of putting that gate in otherworld to provoke Morgan. And he just says that the “gate is a spark of a cleansing flame”

He keeps imploring her to go save her brother for some reason.

But she states she won’t leave when her family land is being attacked. And Rogue is there.

So in like the most bad ass scene Apocalypse is like “I shall defend it”.

Comes through the Krakoa portal that Jubilee created earlier in the issue and just blasts the fawke out of Coven Akkaba. I don’t know if they are all dead.

Once again Apocalypse is like go get your brother. The longer they wait the more change and influence he will suffer.

Jubilee, Betsy and Gambit teleport to Otherworld and come face to face with a big dragon.

End.

I really like this issue. Even though the artist is the same I like the art here better than issue one.

Actually issue 2 starts moving the story a long quickly. And delves into many of the questions we may have had in issue one.

I really like the pacing but it may not be for everyone.

I'm really digging the Betsy/Apocalypse dynamic.

Gambit and Jubilee are kind of just there which I know many on these boards will not like but I'm hoping the writer gives them their moment to shine soon.