Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2022

[G0RM]

Twitter thread I wrote on why people should stop treating New Mutants Truth or Death as part of Illyana's history.

@sunofdarkchild: was the twitter thread link deleted by CBR?

Could you compile it here for those of us who don't limit ourselves to 240 characters at a time?

Personally, I'm OK with Truth or Death.

Personally, I count it as the key to Illyana 1.0's irredeemable act of passing Legacy into Illyana 0.0, so Piotr would sacrifice himself to cure Legacy etc, but also the human sacrifice lock and key to prevent Illyana 1.0 herself from re-entering earth 616, and to prevent anyone from questioning her disappearance (as with Peter Parker's deal with Mephisto.)

[sunofdarkchild]

I've posted a review thread for today's issue, and I am extremely disappointed. The whole thing seems like filler that interrupts the main plot instead of having any bearing on it and ensures there won't be room for meaningful character interaction in this storyline. Dani and Rahne are wallpaper, not a single plot thread set up in the first issue is advanced in the slightest, and the idea that Illyana is going through a difficult time is told instead of being shown.

[sunofdarkchild]

In other news, Illyana cameos in one of Destiny's visions in Immortal X-Men 3.

[sunofdarkchild]

Here's a bunch of scenes that I think would have greatly improved the issue. I wasn't able to find anything for Rahne, but it gives Dani something to do, advances her relationship with Maddie, lets Illyana actually suffer the consequences of the situation, gives the Old Woman Magik a chance to serve as the wise old mentor for a scene, and ties this story to the larger narrative.

[sunofdarkchild]

Dani found Rahne standing outside the room where Illyana was supposed to be resting after her ordeal.

“Is she asleep?”

Rahne shook her head sadly, and Dani sighed and entered the room

Dani stopped in front of the cot where Illyana lay facing the wall.

“Hey, d’you want me to help you fall asleep? I’ve been using my power to help Xi’an and Rahne that way.”

“Just leave me alone.”

Dani bent down and put her hand on Illyana’s shoulder.

“You’re not alone.”

“I should be,” Illyana whispered.

“You heard what the older me said. You and Rahne are trapped here because of me. And now you’re both going to die because of me.”

Dani scowled and grabbed Illyana by the shoulders, pulling her up. “Look at me.”

“This isn’t your fault,” she assured Illyana. “Rahne and I chose to come with you, because you’re our friend. And there is no way you could have foreseen S’ym breaking your soul sword. That’s never happened before.”

“And if we did die here, that’s not your fault either. I know you did everything possible to protect us.”

“It wasn’t enough,” Illyana protested.

“You asked earlier if I trust you or not. I do. I have complete faith in you. I know that you’re going to get us out of here. But you can worry about that tomorrow. For now, get some rest. Let us help you, so you can help us when it really counts.”

“Please, don’t make me watch you suffer in silence. I can’t do nothing while my friend is in so much pain.”

Illyanas lips quivered as she struggled for breath. Finally she closed her eyes and nodded.

“Thank you,” Dani said, helping Illyana lie down on her back. “Try to relax as much as you can, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

[sunofdarkchild]

Dani looked exhausted as she left Illyana’s room and approached the window looking out over the frozen window.

Madelyne walked up next to Dani as the Cheyenne rubbed her eyes.

“She’s asleep?”

Dani nodded. “I used my power to calm her down enough that she could sleep.”

“Good,” Madelyne said. “We’ll need her at her best if we’re going to survive this.”

Dani looked out the window of their hideout. They were safe for the moment, but sooner or later the demons of Limbo would come for them again.

“We’ll restore Limbo to its rightful ruler,” she said.

“Rightful ruler,” Madelyne repeated, “meaning Magik.”

Dani barely held back her wince as she was reminded of the argument they had had before S’ym interrupted the transfer of authority of Limbo from Illyana to Madelyne.

“All of your concerns were addressed in the terms she wrote in the contract,” Madelyne told her. “I wouldn’t have been able to use Limbo to attack Krakoa or Earth. You’d know that if you asked to look at the contract instead of attacking me.”

“I think she was right,” Madelyne observed. “Your problem isn’t with me. It’s with her giving Limbo to anyone.”

Dani looked back at the doorway behind which Illyana was sleeping.

“It’s difficult to explain what Illyana means to us.”

“Try me.”

Dani sighed and looked down. “From the beginning, Illyana was everything the X-Men, everything Professor Xavier’s dream was supposed to be. She fought day-in and day out to protect people who hated and feared her – us.”
“She called herself an ‘outsider among outsiders,’ because after we learned she was a sorceress we treated her the way humans treated mutants. But she still raised her sword to protect us whenever danger arose, no matter badly we treated her.

“It took us a really long time, I’m ashamed how long it took, to realize how wrong we were, to really see who she truly was. It’s always scary when a person, human or mutant, acquires near-godlike power, especially after they’ve suffered. So often grief and power combine to make people go mad. That’s what happened to you when you were first given power.

“But Illyana was different. She’s suffered so much, enough to break anyone a hundred times over. We saw a tiny glimpse of what she went through during one trip to Limbo, and it was so much worse than I could have ever imagined.

“At the same time you were bringing hell to earth and trying to kill your own son, the same demons that you made a deal with were trying to push Illyana down the same path. But unlike you, she never gave in. No matter how much pain she as in, her focus was on protecting us, the people who treater her like a leper for so long.

“That’s when I realized that if there’s anyone who deserves to have that kind of power, it’s Illyana. Once we started to understand who she really is, Illyana became the person who makes us feel safe. We can always be sure that her power will be used to keep us from harm instead of taking over the world. That’s why she’s a war captain, and why our students love her so much. Even now, with what happened to her soul sword, she’s totally focused on getting us home and protecting Krakoa. She’s not letting herself hurt because she’s more concerned for our well-being than her own.”

Madelyne looked back at the door to Illyana’s room. “That sounds like the kind of person I’ve been missing in my life.”

“If you’re smart, you won’t make the mistake we did,” Dani told her. “Embrace her friendship, because there’s no one else who would fight for you the way Illyana Rasputin does.”

“I want to accept her decision. I want to do something to make up for all the pain we caused her all those years ago. But it’s so hard to accept that authority of Limbo is moving from someone I trust so much to someone I don’t trust at all, from someone who has proven herself so many times to someone who has wasted so many chances to do better.”

“You do remember that I once sacrificed myself to save the world,” Madelyne pointed out. “It’s not like I’ve done only evil.”

“I’m not knocking that, or denying that you have the potential to be good. But one good deed, no matter how self-less, doesn’t cancel out the lifetime of evil that followed. You could never take her place.”

“There it is,” Madelyne hissed. “You think I want to take her place?”

“No, I-“

“You say you trust her to hold power. But you don’t trust her enough when it comes to giving up power.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Dani admitted. “Maybe I’m just afraid of change.”

“Change is terrifying,” Madelyne said, growing thoughtful. “If I hadn’t been so afraid of it, maybe things could have been different with Scott.”

“I’m never going to be Magik, and I’m not going to try. From what I heard, things didn’t go well for the last woman who tried to do that. This is a chance for me to discover who Madelyne Pryor is without Sinister or Jean Grey or one of the Summers brothers deciding that for mer. And Magik is the only one who has been willing to give me that chance. I’m not about to turn around and stab the one person who’s treating me as more than just a clone in the back.”

“Look,” Dani said, “I can accept that I need to have an open mind about this. But I’ll be keeping an eye on you. And if you betray Illyana’s trust, I’ll make sure you pay for that.”

Madelyne smiled. “Fair enough. I can take the good cop-bad cop routine.”

[sunofdarkchild]

Illyana found her older counterpart looking out over the previous day’s battlefield.

“Come on over. It’s been a long time since I was temped to commit suicide by killing my past self.”

Illyana approached and stood to the left of her counterpart, who handed her a cup of hot coffee.

“Here. I hope I remember how I -you- used to take it.”

Illyana took the coffee and gulped it down in one long sip.

She wiped her lips and asked: “Do you remember meeting us?”

“Nope. Looks like Limbo’s caused another split timeline. Good for you. Means you can avoid the fate we suffered.”

“I was wondering if you have any advice, maybe some wisdom to share.”

“Ha. I should have expected you to ask that. Afraid I’ve been accumulating more years than wisdom. If there’s anything I regret, it’s not listening to Dani more after I lost my soul sword. Maybe if I’d been in a better headspace I’d have been able to save them. You’ve still got that option. Also not spending more time with Piotr on Krakoa, or even confessing to Roberto.”

“Oh no. No way. Never. He’s not even interested.”

The older Illyana gave her a knowing grin. “There’s only one way to find out.”

“I get it. I need to be more open about my feelings. But there are limits. Or have you forgotten after all these years why we don’t date?”

“I always knew I was stubborn. I’d have to be to keep going this long. But it’s something else to see it in person.”

Illyana looked out over the horizon with a serious expression. “Why do you do this? Why stay and fight?”

[sunofdarkchild]

“Are you sure you won’t come with us?” Illyana asked.

The elder Magik shook her head. “Now that my fight is over, I must return to my own world. In my condition I would be of little use to you in the battle to come.”

Her eyes narrowed at her younger counterpart. “You’ve realized it by now, haven’t you?”

Rahne looked between them. “Realized what?”

Illyana paused for a moment before answering. “That the enemy isn’t S’ym. He’s just a pawn.”

Her counterpart nodded. “Someone who has discovered how to create weapons like the soul sword. A secret only the two of us should know.”

“Just like back then,” Madelyne observed. “A figure in the shadows using S’ym” and others to do his bidding, granting power in exchange for servitude.”

“If the demons of Limbo have their own versions of the soul sword,” Dani said, “then they’re a greater threat than they’ve ever been before. Do you two have any idea who could be behind it?”

“A couple,” Illyana said gravely. “I don’t know which one would be worse.”

“You have a difficult path ahead,” the older Illyana said. “But if your spirit is strong you will prevail.”

Illyana bowed to her older self. “Thank you for everything. I hope you find the peace you seek.” She turned around and held out the sword she had forged from the techno-S’ym’s remains. The blade had been forged around the hilt of the remains of her soul sword, but could not contain that energy for long and was already beginning to crack.

She summoned a stepping disk. Its edges moved and bent instead of remaining perfectly circular as they were supposed to, but it remained open.

Illyana, Madelyne, Dani, and Rahne stepped through the poral, and into the unknown.

[Fokken]

That was really delightful sunofdarkchild.

Hearing Dani's unfiltered mix of regret and borderline-hero-worship of Illyana was beautiful.
ElderYana offering guidance to YoungerYana was also a treat -- and encouraging her to spend more time with Piotr AND confessing feelings to Roberto(!!)

I'm fully on board with whatever direction the X-creatives take when it comes to Illyana's romantic future -- lesbian, bisexual, ace, etc. -- or even nothing at all, but I won't lie that she, Roberto and Doug are my favorite New Mutants so the prospect of suave, get it done, short king 'Berto finding love with bad bitch, get it done, kween Yana does make my heart sing.

[sunofdarkchild]

Roberto and Doug are also my preferred ships for her. The Kitty ship I can't really see because I see Kitty as more of her mother figure than anything. Xavier says as much in the Hutch issue of X-Men Unlimited. Sure she prefers having her friend back over anything, but she still misses telling Illyana bedtime stories and pinching her cheek as much as Piotr does. And that's why Illyana hasn't been looking for a mother figure the way she's always looked for a paternal figure in Xavier, Magneto, and finally Dr. Strange.

The overprotectiveness for Doug was always adorable, and it seems to me to be crystal clear that Robert was Illyana's first love in the 80s. But again, she'd never act on that because she's too afraid of herself, and I believe she actively encouraged Roberto to be afraid of her so there'd be no chance of ever acting on her feelings.

In terms of her sexuality I choose to interpret her as pansexual, so she could go for men or women.


With regards to Dani, I figured there are multiple reasons she's got no problem with Illyana being the leader and war captain instead of her. I'm sure she recognizes how Illyana was making hard calls that were too much for Dani back in the 80s. And I think the New Mutants as a whole have been carrying around a lot of guilt since they saw S'ym torturing Illyana as a child and lost her as a teammate immediately afterwards during Inferno. All of them really regret being so cruel to her in the early days. And if anyone would make the connection between how Illyana fought to protect them despite how they treated her and the lesson Xavier was trying to teach about protecting a world that hates and fears them, it would be Dani.

[sunofdarkchild]

Also, I actually don't want Illyana to get romantically involved with anyone of any gender or species right now. I'm going through a phase where I'm done with romance in comics because I'm so disgusted with things DC has done recently.

[Fokken]

Roberto and Doug are also my preferred ships for her. The Kitty ship I can't really see because I see Kitty as more of her mother figure than anything. Xavier says as much in the Hutch issue of X-Men Unlimited. Sure she prefers having her friend back over anything, but she still misses telling Illyana bedtime stories and pinching her cheek as much as Piotr does. And that's why Illyana hasn't been looking for a mother figure the way she's always looked for a paternal figure in Xavier, Magneto, and finally Dr. Strange.

The overprotectiveness for Doug was always adorable, and it seems to me to be crystal clear that Robert was Illyana's first love in the 80s. But again, she'd never act on that because she's too afraid of herself, and I believe she actively encouraged Roberto to be afraid of her so there'd be no chance of ever acting on her feelings.

In terms of her sexuality I choose to interpret her as pansexual, so she could go for men or women.


With regards to Dani, I figured there are multiple reasons she's got no problem with Illyana being the leader and war captain instead of her. I'm sure she recognizes how Illyana was making hard calls that were too much for Dani back in the 80s. And I think the New Mutants as a whole have been carrying around a lot of guilt since they saw S'ym torturing Illyana as a child and lost her as a teammate immediately afterwards during Inferno. All of them really regret being so cruel to her in the early days. And if anyone would make the connection between how Illyana fought to protect them despite how they treated her and the lesson Xavier was trying to teach about protecting a world that hates and fears them, it would be Dani.

Same. Agreed.
Beautifully worded.

Honestly, there has always been a part of me that couldn't fully enjoy(?) the idea of Kitty and Yana as a romantic pairing because of how complex their relationship was -- specifically, as you pointed out, the age issue. It has.... okay, its not EXACTLY like the Madrox / Layla thing, but .... it the parallel is really strong. You know?

Anyways, I dig pansexual Yana and we share a preference toward Yana not being romantically linked to anyone but I've also never been shy or quiet about my love for Doug and Berto as potential love interests.

[sunofdarkchild]

In one fic idea I have for a 'Magik and the New Mutants' tv series, a lot of the things that happened in the OG New Mutants would have different contexts and happen in a different order. So for instance, instead of the Beyonder taking away Illyana's dark side and magical powers for an issue, it would be Dr. Strange offering her the chance to use something like Wonder Woman 84's wishing stone to free herself of her dark side. Being free for an episode she'd ask Roberto out, he'd say yes, but then she'd have to undo it all at the end to save Kitty. At the end Roberto would still want to go out with her, she'd feel that she can't risk it, and he'd convince her to give it a chance by saying he wants to take that risk and kissing her. This would be after he goes through an arc of being jealous of Illyana for being sent to help the X-Men when the other New Mutants aren't allowed to. The New Mutants would see the scene of S'ym beating little Illyana in an earlier episode as well, though instead of during Inferno it would be during an attempt by Witchfire to take over Limbo.

In another idea for a fic I have which is a crossover with Sailor Moon where Illyana is the Moon Princess, she'd end up with Doug because Kitty set them up after realizing Doug has a crush on Illyana, and this would play into Doug's feelings of inadequacy.

[WallStreeter]

I liked New Mutants 26. Illyana’s broken powers took her to a place where she sees what could happen if she cannot pull it together. Yet she helps her alternate self win and pulls together.

Storm and Illyana: Magik had two teams of XMen and two Illyanas. Two me it’s gone full circle, now that she is passing the throne to Madelyne.

And I suppose the horned villain at this point can only be Belasco. We just met another version of Illyana so I doubt it’s the Darkchilde.

[G0RM]

I liked New Mutants 26. Illyana’s broken powers took her to a place where she sees what could happen if she cannot pull it together. Yet she helps her alternate self win and pulls together.

Storm and Illyana: Magik had two teams of XMen and two Illyanas. Two me it’s gone full circle, now that she is passing the throne to Madelyne.

And I suppose the horned villain at this point can only be Belasco. We just met another version of Illyana so I doubt it’s the Darkchilde.

I'm also fine with #26.

The return of technovirus is fine with me, and overall, it seemed respectful.

Technically it shouldn't be Belasco, since we've seen the horned figure's right hand.

I vote for a future version of Illyana who has already gone through this, or Ideally, the Illyana 1.0 who became Lightchilde, who is trying to free Illyana 2.0 to become her own being, instead of the Homunculus created by Belasco.

There have been a number of mysterious 'interventions' throughout Illyana 1.0s history, from the appearance of the SoulArmour, to teleporting out of the way of the bomb in Karma's apartment, to ending up in the Brood ship, to teleporting to the Shi'ar Galaxy, the planet Xavier happened to be visiting...

The possibility that those interventions were directed by a version of Illyana lurking in the Shadows, including the 'repository of all Magic' in the Magik mini where Amanda Sefton was playacting, and Limbo was destroying all other splinter realms...

I vote shadow Illyana