Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina: MAGIK appreciation 2021

[Havok83]

After today's issue of Inferno there's a lot of talk about how Emma is super pissed at how Xavier, Magneto, and Moira have possibly manipulated her for years. Could they have done the same to Illyana?

We see that Illyana existed as Magik in at least one of Moira's previous lives. Her becoming Magik is the result of very specific circumstances involving the island Magneto used as a base and which the X-Men used after the mansion was attacked by the Hellfire Club. Moira had to have known about the island from her past life and could have warned the X-Men not to use it or even Magneto to leave it under the sea so as to keep Belasco and Limbo far away from Illyana, the X-Men, and the world at large. Xavier may have known from reading Moira's mind, but maybe he didn't get everything. Either way, the first thing he did with Illyana when she emerged from Limbo was to ship her off to Muir Island to be Moira's problem. Were Moira and Xavier playing a long game to ensure Illyana became the most powerful asset she could possibly be?

Then there's the Legacy Virus. If that existed in any of Moira's previous lives, then it was also probably cured in those lives, and Moira would have deliberately held back the cure and let little Illyana die, as well as all of the other people who died from the disease until it was finally cured. She used it as a cover to fake her own death, but could she have had another motive? The resurrection protocols were already being prepared. Could Moira, having already ensured Illyana would be taken to Limbo to be trained as a demon sorceress, have allowed her child version to die so that they could bring back a back-up of her older, more magically-inclined self?

We know that Moira, Xavier, and Magneto knew of threats like Mr. Sinister, Apocalypse, and the Phoenix beforehand. And we know that they have been willing to lie, manipulate, and do all sorts of unscrupulous things in pursuit of their larger goals. When it comes to Illyana, in a sense they lucked out that Belasco brought her back when he did and that she wasn't either a kid who hung out with other kids like Fauna or had to be brought back now with her mindset what it was back in the 80s when she tended to run from all her problems. The retcons leave a lot of room to speculate that this could be more by design than not. And if it turns out that anyone knew she would be abducted to Limbo and let it happen so she'd be stronger, or that anyone let her younger self die in order to bring back her older self, there will be hell to pay if she ever finds out.

Inferno ends in two issues and Illyana barely factors into this story so this isnt likely to come up at all. And everyone has been manipulated for years. Emma only realized she had been

[Peace]

Mmmh every life of Moira was different in many ways, I don't think that is possible that every single fault of 616 was in the other life.

[sunofdarkchild]

Screenrant puts Illyana as the 3rd most powerful magic user other than Dr. Strange in the MU , behind Wanda and Doom.

https://screenrant.com/marvel-comics...octor-strange/

[rcaguy]

Screenrant puts Illyana as the 3rd most powerful magic user other than Dr. Strange in the MU , behind Wanda and Doom.

https://screenrant.com/marvel-comics...octor-strange/

Heh. Doom on a level with Strange,Wanda and Illyana? Since when? Hell,Belasco could kick Doom's Ass...

[Aetherna]

Doing some rereading and I found Illyana's door in New Mutants 44 amusing:



(Good Magik issue in general, would recommend)

[WallStreeter]

After today's issue of Inferno there's a lot of talk about how Emma is super pissed at how Xavier, Magneto, and Moira have possibly manipulated her for years. Could they have done the same to Illyana?

We see that Illyana existed as Magik in at least one of Moira's previous lives. Her becoming Magik is the result of very specific circumstances involving the island Magneto used as a base and which the X-Men used after the mansion was attacked by the Hellfire Club. Moira had to have known about the island from her past life and could have warned the X-Men not to use it or even Magneto to leave it under the sea so as to keep Belasco and Limbo far away from Illyana, the X-Men, and the world at large. Xavier may have known from reading Moira's mind, but maybe he didn't get everything. Either way, the first thing he did with Illyana when she emerged from Limbo was to ship her off to Muir Island to be Moira's problem. Were Moira and Xavier playing a long game to ensure Illyana became the most powerful asset she could possibly be?

Then there's the Legacy Virus. If that existed in any of Moira's previous lives, then it was also probably cured in those lives, and Moira would have deliberately held back the cure and let little Illyana die, as well as all of the other people who died from the disease until it was finally cured. She used it as a cover to fake her own death, but could she have had another motive? The resurrection protocols were already being prepared. Could Moira, having already ensured Illyana would be taken to Limbo to be trained as a demon sorceress, have allowed her child version to die so that they could bring back a back-up of her older, more magically-inclined self?

We know that Moira, Xavier, and Magneto knew of threats like Mr. Sinister, Apocalypse, and the Phoenix beforehand. And we know that they have been willing to lie, manipulate, and do all sorts of unscrupulous things in pursuit of their larger goals. When it comes to Illyana, in a sense they lucked out that Belasco brought her back when he did and that she wasn't either a kid who hung out with other kids like Fauna or had to be brought back now with her mindset what it was back in the 80s when she tended to run from all her problems. The retcons leave a lot of room to speculate that this could be more by design than not. And if it turns out that anyone knew she would be abducted to Limbo and let it happen so she'd be stronger, or that anyone let her younger self die in order to bring back her older self, there will be hell to pay if she ever finds out.

They aren’t going to have Illyana go crazy because no one tries to stop her from being kidnapped. Changing time like coukd have made things worse, as Magik herself has almost singlehandedly saved mutants more than once. So if someone knows she becomes such a good hero, why would they even try to prevent her from being Magik? She helped Dr. Strange save the world more than once.

[RadarBlackout]

fdfr.jpg Illy is coming to Marvel Strike Force in a upcoming update

[sunofdarkchild]

Illyana has an unnoticed feat in X of Swords - she and Gorgon tie against Isca the Unbeaten.

When she and Gorgon drop their glasses to test which hand Isca favors and Isca repays the favor, she uses her portals so that she and Gorgon can catch them. Both sides don't spill a drop. Neither side wins and neither side loses. The challenge is a draw.

This seems like pretty definitive proof that if the conditions are right it is possible to face Isca without losing even if it's impossible to win outright.

[sunofdarkchild]

Illyana has a small but pivotal role in today's Savage Avengers.

[Oldandevil]

Interview with Leah Williams (What If? Magik)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5sg...gok3pmkPQ&nd=1

[sunofdarkchild]

Interview with Leah Williams (What If? Magik)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5sg...gok3pmkPQ&nd=1

Leah's talk about how her What If story specifically takes place after the Magik mini makes no sense to me and seems to be another example of writers either forgetting or ignoring what happened in the Magik mini. The story ends with Illyana creating the soul sword, fighting and defeating Belasco, and driving him from Limbo with his tail between his legs. Leah's story cannot take place after that. The Illyana she wrote never created the soul sword and never fought Belasco. Her story only works if it takes place in the middle of the Magik mini and assumes that Illyana simply teleported out of Limbo without problem when her mutant power first manifested. The creation of the soul staff was always a little off to me since she was trained to use swords and knives, but I could take it as a product of her having different hand-to-hand training using less lethal weapons under Dr. Strange. But if the entire Magik mini happened then she already has the soul sword and all the drama over creation magic is moot, and her crating the soul staff is redundant at best. The story is dependent on her being at an earlier point in her development.

I also cringed when they said their first exposure to Magik was in Inferno and the Slumber Party issue. Neither is a good representation of the character. Inferno is a regression that again assumes all of her development in the Magik mini never happened and that she never spared Belasco or learned any life lessons as she attained her power. And the Slumber Party issue only makes sense if Illyana is putting on an act to try to seem more normal since she should still be in her 'I'm weird because I grew up in hell and only interacted with demons so I have no idea how to be socially acceptable' phase. To be fair, Leah seemed to get that very well in her handling of Illyana in the What If. There it was obvious that the character wasn't used to the human world. The biggest problem with Claremont's writing of her was how he would tell instead of show that she was weird or off. Characters would describe her as strange, but in terms of how she acted she was almost always too normal. The only time she came across as properly strange during the entire Claremont run was when she teleported Moira from Muir Island to the mansion to help treat the victims of the Mutant Massacre. Most writers this past decade have done a better job than Claremont did of making Illyana seem less normal than people who didn't grow up in hell.

[Aetherna]

Death of Doctor Strange 4 variant cover:

[Oldandevil]

Leah's talk about how her What If story specifically takes place after the Magik mini makes no sense to me and seems to be another example of writers either forgetting or ignoring what happened in the Magik mini. The story ends with Illyana creating the soul sword, fighting and defeating Belasco, and driving him from Limbo with his tail between his legs. Leah's story cannot take place after that. The Illyana she wrote never created the soul sword and never fought Belasco. Her story only works if it takes place in the middle of the Magik mini and assumes that Illyana simply teleported out of Limbo without problem when her mutant power first manifested. The creation of the soul staff was always a little off to me since she was trained to use swords and knives, but I could take it as a product of her having different hand-to-hand training using less lethal weapons under Dr. Strange. But if the entire Magik mini happened then she already has the soul sword and all the drama over creation magic is moot, and her crating the soul staff is redundant at best. The story is dependent on her being at an earlier point in her development.

I think the logical point in the “Magik” miniseries, where “What If? Magik” splits from 616, is the moment when Illyana plunges her hand into the energy sphere to create the soul sword. This happens just after the death of Ororo’s oak and Illyana’s emotional reaction is to fight, to seek vengeance. What if her reaction was not fight but flight? What if her emotional reaction was to escape Belasco’s Limbo? When her hand is plunged into the sphere, what would happen? In the intro to ‘What If? Magik’, we are told that “Illyana was eventually able to overcome Belasco and escape from Limbo”. Does that fit? Probably not, but it is the best I could do.

My biggest issue with that is my own headcannon. The Illyana I know would not make that choice, she is strong, courageous, and fearless. I am a true fan, my first exposure to Magik was when I picked-up the second issue of the Miniseries new, off the rack of our local grocery store when I was 15 or so (I am 53 now). I hate it when writers don’t respect her Nature or shoehorn her into stories that are outside her Archetype.

[sunofdarkchild]

I think the logical point in the “Magik” miniseries, where “What If? Magik” splits from 616, is the moment when Illyana plunges her hand into the energy sphere to create the soul sword. This happens just after the death of Ororo’s oak and Illyana’s emotional reaction is to fight, to seek vengeance. What if her reaction was not fight but flight? What if her emotional reaction was to escape Belasco’s Limbo? When her hand is plunged into the sphere, what would happen? In the intro to ‘What If? Magik’, we are told that “Illyana was eventually able to overcome Belasco and escape from Limbo”. Does that fit? Probably not, but it is the best I could do.

My biggest issue with that is my own headcannon. The Illyana I know would not make that choice, she is strong, courageous, and fearless. I am a true fan, my first exposure to Magik was when I picked-up the second issue of the Miniseries new, off the rack of our local grocery store when I was 15 or so (I am 53 now). I hate it when writers don’t respect her Nature or shoehorn her into stories that are outside her Archetype.

It doesn't work. She escaped Limbo without having created the soul sword or reaching a point where she could create anything. Also, that's not right after Storm's death. It's a full year after Storm's death. The only time it makes sense for the What If to take place is when her mutant power first manifests at the beginning of issue 3 - when both Cat and Storm are still alive and she's only tried to make an acorn once.

[sunofdarkchild]

Continuing to listen to this podcast where he says that Simonsen's work with Illyana was so good and so in sync with Claremont's run, and I'm just 'no! It was a complete betrayal of the character as Claremont wrote her! Claremont had her spare Belasco and learn the danger of killing in anger. Claremont's Illyana would never throw villains into Limbo or try to murder Forge. Simonsen got her so wrong she forgot that she spared the life of her greatest enemy in the most seminal moment of her entire life!'