X-MEN #3 Reviews/Spoilers Thread

[Mercury]

A fleet of vessels enters the Earth's atmosphere and arrives in Da Nang, Vietnam, where the X-Men stand guard. Brand of S.W.O.R.D. advises Jean, "They came out of the Sun--that's why we didn't catch them inbound," before offering, "Want reinforcements?" "We'll let you know," Jean replies.

Enter: Along with his daughter Luminous and members of his Evolutionary Guard, the High Evolutionary, who engages the X-Men in formalities, congratulating them on the formation of Arakko, noting, "[It's] birth has caused dominoes to fall in places that are beyond your sight." Luminous proceeds to present the team with "a gift for mutantdom" - a gold "nihility sphere" that contains a virus that "will sterilize humanity."

Before the High Evolutionary can finish weighing out the pros and cons of accepting and rejecting this gift, Rogue slams him in the face and notes, "That man kidnapped and tortured me, X-Men. The good news is he can take a Hulk-level beatin', so none of us need to hold back." Polaris follows suit and attacks Luminous and another member of the Evolutionary Guard.

A fight ensues, and the X-Men give it their all as Jean telekinetically secures the nihility sphere. Sunfire, Polaris, and Wolverine are taken out before Synch duplicates Luminous' powers and threatens the High Evolutionary and his Guard. However, the High Evolutionary is able to "nullify [his] gifts to [Luminous]...and [Synch's] theft of them." He offers to "withdraw with [his] gift" under the condition that Synch relinquishes a drop of his blood, which he agrees to do.

However, before the High Evolutionary and his Guard leave, Jean asks him, "Earlier you said Arakko caused some dominoes to fall...Is one of them this...thing?" She conjures up an image of Cordyceps Jones. The High Evolutionary refers to Jones as a "lower form of fungal life" and advises Jean that the X-Men can find him on Gameworld.

After the vessels depart, Synch questions whether he made a mistake by offering his blood to the High Evolutionary. Both Scott and Jean reassure him that he made the right decision, which "saved the most amount of lives." Afterward, the team accepts the invitation to dinner by locals.

Later, Jean has a telepathic conversation with the High Evolutionary, referring to him by his birth name, Herbert (Wyndham). He offers to collaborate with the X-Men, advising Jean, "You're getting bigger and bigger, but you're not preparing for the small scale of the next conflict." Jean asks him what mutandom is getting wrong, and the High Evolutionary responds, "You're extremely intelligent, so you understand why I find the idea of Gameworld offensive...Cordyceps Jones can be many at once. Gameworld was the natural progression of Mojoworld, but he initiated a hostile take over. Farewell, Jean Grey. You will see things my way later."

As the team enjoys the evening with the locals, Jean and Scott converse privately via telepathy, and she advises him that, "The Evolutionary lowered his defenses and showed me Gameworld. He was there recently. He did also try to wipe out all of humanity, but that was a stretch goal...I think we may need to split the team for a little while. We have a name and a place now." Scott agrees to Jean's suggestion and proposes they play "the noble game to see who goes." They proceed to play "rock paper scissors" telepathically, but the scene cuts before we can see "who goes."

Later, Henry Gyrich and Kelvin Heng (aka Feilong) have a private conversation. Gyrich advises Feilong, "We would like for you to continue to Mars." Feilong advises Gyrich that he already knows about Orchis and has his own plans, telling him, "If I survive the experience, I will have a seat at the Orchis table, and if I fail...then you shall have your martyr."

Later, Ben Urich meets with Dr. Stasis in Coney Island. Dr. Stasis recalls, "Back when the U.S. government loaned the services of a Super-Soldier to the Kingpin--what did you do?" "I told the truth," answers Urich. "Tell it again," responds Dr. Stasis," handing him a file that contains Cyclops' autopsy report, amongst other things. "I look forward to reading about mutant resurrection in the Daily Bugle," says Dr. Stasis before leaving.