It was revealed in her mini that she's a mutant and then she traveled through a Krakoan gate where she was welcomed by Wolvie
Explody Boy
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Explodey_Boy_(Earth-616)
It was revealed in her mini that she's a mutant and then she traveled through a Krakoan gate where she was welcomed by Wolvie
Explody Boy
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Explodey_Boy_(Earth-616)
I think a lot of people just glossed over this but they explained it in this issue why she's displayed this much power only now as well as why she didn't do more/make everything go the way she wanted: the prophecy cards. it boosted her powers but seems she was also limited somewhat to what cards would appear, and from there it seemed she could interpret the cards in one way or another to be close to what result she wants but still not necessarily get what she does want.
I'm not letting the undeniably pretty art fool me. This event started off cool and even though the conclusion was better than the horrendous middle, it was just decent.
I will say that I like how Hickman writes Scott, Xavier and Magneto. Especially Scott honestly. I always enjoy reading him under Hickman's pen. I also like what he did with Apocalypse. Yes the world-building was cool as always with Hickman. But Apocalypse's children were all incredibly one-note, even though some of them like White Sword and Death were intriguing on the surface. They don't get any character development whatsoever, nor are their unique relationships with Apocalypse really fleshed out. None of the Krakoa mutants really interacted with each other in a way that would have further developed their relationships or could have made the stakes feel more tangible. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the actual contest was just a overly silly game that Saturnyne manipulates in whatever way she wants. We can talk about how an actual serious sword fight tournament would have been more generic or predictable, but I feel like that approach would have actually married the set up and conclusion of this event a lot better if it was written well. A part of me just thinks the entire middle was just Hickman and co deliberately subverting expectations without much thought as to why, just so nobody would say it was predictable. The problem is, by doing so they took away all the stakes this event presented to have.
As for these last three issues, we have the final fight between Apocalypse vs Genesis which takes the background to the political discourse of the Quiet Council. I think that's a great microcosm of this event. As I said I like how Hickman writes certain characters so I actually found the Quiet Council scenes very interesting. It just isn't great that the rest of the mutants come to the rescue out of nowhere in this way. The Apocalypse vs Genesis fight is supposed to be emotional (I think?) but because there isn't enough time building up the actual tournament as an emotional affair it all just falls flat for me. The fight itself isn't. These swords aren't treated as special in anyway whatsoever. All they do is just break another sword and stab. Individual mutant powers don't seem to matter in any way at all. Apocalypse wins initially with a simple disarm? Not to mention that the fight takes place inside an arena in the citadel, only for the next issue to suddenly be a huge battle outside the citadel everyone is taking place in, including Apocalypse and Genesis/Annihilation? How did that happen? There's no build up to that at all. And as hard as these writers are trying to make Cypher and Bei's romance look cute, it's still underwritten and came out of nowhere. I'll only accept it if they're both under some kind of love spell.
The conclusion is definitely good enough to end things well, but I just can't shake the feeling that this event was all that well thought out beyond the concept stage of "Mutant sword fight tournament arc".
Agree with all of these.
Sorry I had to edit your posts. Just didn't want it to look like a wall of text.
Yeah, X-Men #15 and Destruction were great reads, on their own, but don't help fix the rest of the inconsistencies. The swords and tournament shouldn't have been the focus, but rather the development and interaction with these characters. I'd love to have seen a flashback to the OG Horsemen as children, and hear how they truly feel about their fates. War had a husband, so we know she's got wants that are separate from that of Annihilation. Death is clearly a curious and thoughtful soul. Show us why we should care about the Arrakii side, beyond Apocalypse caring so we should.
Cypher not understanding Bei, despite understanding everything prior, should be a bigger deal. Why Bei would put her life on the line for a stranger needs to be explored. Could it be emotional longing to be understood that makes Doug fascinating, because he can't understand her? Give us something.
Gorgon vs White Sword should've had a similar feel to this:
They should've pressed into us the magnitude of a man, who's fought everyday of his life for several millenia, yet has never been defeated. In fact, besides Genesis, Apocalypse, maybe Storm and maybe Wolverine, WS could likely easily wear the Helm of Annihilation. This should've had that Vagabond, Blade of the Immortal, Berserk or Shigurui feel!
Last edited by TooFlyToFail; 11-27-2020 at 05:45 PM.
Or this:
Having WS break down and criticize all the flaws and disappointment in Gorgon's style, as he casually rips through his defenses.
If any fight should've been given respect, it was this fight, since both characters meant nothing to each other and both lived only to fight on the battlefield at this point.
The event was alright, overall. It had its good and bad spots.........It was certainly cool having Hickman bring back the Captain Britain Corps.
My only complaint is Hauptmann Englande not being in the list of Captain Britain Corps members.........How could the good Hauptmann and his wonderful version of Excalibur be left out?!?!?!?