Rachel Anne Summers (Grey) 2021

[Will Evans]

It just sucks that both Jean and Hope are on the Omega list, but Rachel isn’t.

[Askani's Flame]

It just sucks that both Jean and Hope are on the Omega list, but Rachel isn’t.

Agreed but maybe down the line Rachel will jump on for TK? But as of right now she isn't and I'm more concerned for what happens to her post Trial than an upgrade in status.

[Subliminal]

Agreed but maybe down the line Rachel will jump on for TK? But as of right now she isn't and I'm more concerned for what happens to her post Trial than an upgrade in status.

Rachel being acknowledged for anything she's done is definitely more of a concern than being placed on an exclusive elitist list. The shadow cast by her parents is far and deep. It's great that Hope has found a relevant role as part of the 5. Rachel needs a role (maybe ORCHIS related?) I'm still not sure Rachel will stick with the X-Factor team, or if she'll move on to a different title. She still has a room on the moon with the fam right?

[askani_son]

At least she is now allowed to be in events! When she was Phoenix she was excluded because of Jean and she would likely be too OP for the event to work right without having to nerf her badly. So she, and all of Excalibur, were left out of events. Since AvX she has played cameo queen for the most part: appearing so readers and fans aren't screaming "where is Rachel???" but also not being allowed to have a larger role in the event especially if it involved Jean or the Phoenix. To be clear I'm not blaming Jean, it's all the editors and writers for their failure to understand her character or use her inclusion.

War of Kings - she had to be noobed to be allowed to participate, and she couldn't even protect Lilandra right.

AvX - Even though the event centered around the Phoenix, and Hope needed a former host to train her, Rachel was effectively written into the companion issues and not allowed any role in the main series. She never even spoke to Hope the entire event and her status as former host was a taboo topic.

IvX - Background and only had a role in the Uncanny issues under Bunn.

Battle of the Atom - background and cameo role, but it marked the first time Rachel ever spoke a word to Tean and Tott on panel.

Civil War II - brought in to bring Mags into New Attilan, which to be honest while the artwork was piss poor she had a great showing. She literally used her tk to mask all physical traces of their presence and break them into New Attilan untraced and then was masking them telepathically as well for an extended time. Thank god for Bunn.

Resurrection - She got a headache and then was taken out in the first issue. To be fair so was Cable but c'mon why was Kitty Pryde essential to Jean's return but not Rachel??

Extermination - Had a speaking role in the first two issues and then became a punching bag and perpetual victim for the remainder of the event extending til the Hickman era.

Disassembled - Was a slave so not available

X of Swords - Was too busy probing minds in Healing Gardens to do anything than interact with Nate Grey and appear in Jean's call to battle.

House of X/Powers of X - Nothing




I am with you buddy.
She's still powerful but when you have an island full of super powerful mutants and they only want to focus on a subset not everyone is allowed to play.




I know seriously if they have X-Man and both forms of Cable Stryfe should be there (and maybe Ruby).

Your post should be considered as the bible, a sacred text, I have not seen a more accurate summary of the apparitions during these years of Rachel, however, a long time ago I resigned that it would always be like that, it`s the price to pay for being Rachel's fan, always in the shade ... I'm curious to know what will become of her now ...

[cam18]

Hope being on the list but Rachel not is dumb the real deal is left off the list while the plot induced so called summers is......

[Will Evans]

Rachel being acknowledged for anything she's done is definitely more of a concern than being placed on an exclusive elitist list. The shadow cast by her parents is far and deep. It's great that Hope has found a relevant role as part of the 5. Rachel needs a role (maybe ORCHIS related?) I'm still not sure Rachel will stick with the X-Factor team, or if she'll move on to a different title. She still has a room on the moon with the fam right?

Rachel should stick with X-Factor. She’s their telepath.

Any other team except Hellions and New Mutants already has a telepath. And you can argue that’s what Empath and Karma already are.

[Askani's Flame]

Rachel should stick with X-Factor. She’s their telepath.

Any other team except Hellions and New Mutants already has a telepath. And you can argue that’s what Empath and Karma already are.

Well if X-Factor continues post ToM we'll see. I do have a large fear about Rachel and ORCHIS - Hickman introduced the notion of the black-brain hounds. My fear is that Rachel will be captured, experimented on, and then destroyed in an attempt to make a new version of hounds in this life of Moira. And of course by this point the resurrection protocols would be broken so she would be dead dead.

[Scott402]

Well if X-Factor continues post ToM we'll see. I do have a large fear about Rachel and ORCHIS - Hickman introduced the notion of the black-brain hounds. My fear is that Rachel will be captured, experimented on, and then destroyed in an attempt to make a new version of hounds in this life of Moira. And of course by this point the resurrection protocols would be broken so she would be dead dead.

Ah, I hadn't thought about it. I think you are right there. It would just be so in tune with everything. After so much hope with X-Factor I think it's going to all go down hill really quickly

[Daedra]

When I worry about Rachel future this is the stuff that keeps me up at night

[LordAllMIghty]

When I worry about Rachel future this is the stuff that keeps me up at night

Interesting, who de-programed Rachel?

[From The Shadows]

Rachel should stick with X-Factor. She’s their telepath.

I agree lots. I can't really get into Hope, though, I have felt sorry for her.

[Daedra]

Interesting, who de-programed Rachel?

I think ….when they couldn’t/wouldn’t use her anymore she was thrown inside the internment camps as a prisoner …..under the assumption that the other prisoners would probably kill her for being a betrayer of her race but the remaining x-men forgave her and took her under their own wing

[Subliminal]

Interesting, who de-programed Rachel?

Rachel broke and resisted the conditioning herself as a teen. Then she got a new body from the Phoenix, when she died saving the multi-verse. Not sure if the Phoenix removed the conditioning as Rachel healed, but much later the Phoenix did revert Rachel back, houndmarks included when the Phoenix gave all it's power to Hope. I guess Mesmero poking around and then Ahab and those twins hounding her again made it official. Rachel got de-programmed in the future by Stryfe's psionic blob servants... and then Rachel's future self convinced Rachel to free her own mind.

It'll be sad, that after all these years of growth and the opportunities for Rachel to build any future she wants on Krakoa... that she'll just be used for a hound prototype again by the end of Hickman's run. Is it worse if they just don't involve her in that plot point? She could be excluded, just like with all the Phoenix-related stuff lately.

[RachelGrey]

Rachel broke and resisted the conditioning herself as a teen. Then she got a new body from the Phoenix, when she died saving the multi-verse. Not sure if the Phoenix removed the conditioning as Rachel healed, but much later the Phoenix did revert Rachel back, houndmarks included when the Phoenix gave all it's power to Hope. I guess Mesmero poking around and then Ahab and those twins hounding her again made it official. Rachel got de-programmed in the future by Stryfe's psionic blob servants... and then Rachel's future self convinced Rachel to free her own mind.

It'll be sad, that after all these years of growth and the opportunities for Rachel to build any future she wants on Krakoa... that she'll just be used for a hound prototype again by the end of Hickman's run. Is it worse if they just don't involve her in that plot point? She could be excluded, just like with all the Phoenix-related stuff lately.

Rachel was more of an early experiment in Hound Programming. She was deliberately captured on the attack on the X-Mansion that killed Xavier and Scott. They wanted a young telepath for the experimental program. Rachel wasn't genetically modified as future hounds were, she was tortured and brainwashed over a long period until Ahab had made her absolutely obedient. The flaw was that she still had her normal emotional responses and deep down inside she was compassionate for her victims. Thus Rachel started absorbing the memories of the people she killed, and eventually she was able to free herself from the programming. But she had been a hound for a while by this point. They were unable to reprogram Rachel as a hound so they threw her in the concentration camp with the other mutants. After the failure of Rachel, Ahab and the Sentinels tried finding new ways to create hounds using nanotech and genetic modification. They never had a chance to do these experiments on Rachel because she escaped from the concentration camp with Kate and ended up on a different Earth. But by the time the Days of Future Present story came around, Ahab had perfected his hound tech and he quickly reprogrammed Scott Summers and Sue Storm into hounds after he captured them. He used genetic modification to do it, which would technically be permanent. Rachel used her Phoenix Powers and Telekinesis to undo the damage to Scott and Sue's DNA and restored them back to normal.

Rachel was always the alpha test model for the hound program which was a direct descendent of the Weapon X program. The two programs are linked to each other. But Rachel was programmed using conventional torture and brainwashing, she wasn't programmed with genetic modifications. Genetically modified hounds came much later.

[Scott402]

Rachel was more of an early experiment in Hound Programming. She was deliberately captured on the attack on the X-Mansion that killed Xavier and Scott. They wanted a young telepath for the experimental program. Rachel wasn't genetically modified as future hounds were, she was tortured and brainwashed over a long period until Ahab had made her absolutely obedient. The flaw was that she still had her normal emotional responses and deep down inside she was compassionate for her victims. Thus Rachel started absorbing the memories of the people she killed, and eventually she was able to free herself from the programming. But she had been a hound for a while by this point. They were unable to reprogram Rachel as a hound so they threw her in the concentration camp with the other mutants. After the failure of Rachel, Ahab and the Sentinels tried finding new ways to create hounds using nanotech and genetic modification. They never had a chance to do these experiments on Rachel because she escaped from the concentration camp with Kate and ended up on a different Earth. But by the time the Days of Future Present story came around, Ahab had perfected his hound tech and he quickly reprogrammed Scott Summers and Sue Storm into hounds after he captured them. He used genetic modification to do it, which would technically be permanent. Rachel used her Phoenix Powers and Telekinesis to undo the damage to Scott and Sue's DNA and restored them back to normal.

Rachel was always the alpha test model for the hound program which was a direct descendent of the Weapon X program. The two programs are linked to each other. But Rachel was programmed using conventional torture and brainwashing, she wasn't programmed with genetic modifications. Genetically modified hounds came much later.

A great succinct rundown of the history. I worry though with the reintroduction of hounds with Ahab and now with ORCHIS that she is going to be drawn into it. I wouldn't mind it to be honest because it might mean more time on panel. Unfortunately though it is the logical stepping stone for that program to begin with Rachel again. It might actually be a great time to see the entire Summers family rally in support of her to free her, but I doubt that would happen. That chance was left behind only a couple of years ago when she was taken by Ahab again.