After being pushed back all the way from January to May, New Mutants 25 has finally released. And unlike the disaster of a movie, this time good things do come to those who wait. Spoilers ahead.

The issue opens with the preview pages of the mystery villain, who is so obviously Belasco, creating a 'soul-mace' for S'ym, before the first page of the 'little goblin' fairy tale, which is sprinkled throughout the issue. As expected, the little goblin represents Illyana.

On Krakoa, Magik is sparring blindfolded against Dani and Rahne, the latter of whom is transformed into her half-way state. Despite the blindfold and it being 2-on-1, Magik dominates the fight. During the match they argue over her choice to give up the throne of Limbo to Madelyne Pryor. Dani and Rahne believe that Madelyne can't be trusted with a position of such power, while Magik is taking it as they don't trust her judgement, and they spend most of the issue arguing past each other. She offers to let them come along when the rulership of Limbo is formally transferred. Maddie shows up for her appointment and sees how Rahne and Dani have a problem with her.

The second fairy tale page has Goblinyana meeting representations of the story's supporting cast, the mystical warrior wolf, the 'queen of echoes,' and the 'moon whisperer.'

The 4 ladies teleport to Limbo, where Illyana is upset to see a very human-looking demon searching through her drawers and stealing a hair comb. The demon talks funny and says he is helping Illyana before running off, obviously to return in a later issue. Dani convinces Illyana to let him go so they can get down to business.

Illyana leads them to Belasco's library, where she spent much of her childhood. Dani and Rahne are overwhelmed, and it's the first time Illyana has brought anyone there since that time she met another one of Belasco's apprentices in the 80s. It's here Illyana explkains why she wants to give up the throne of Limbo to Maddie. Limbo brings back her bad childhood memories and being there makes her feel like she's slipping back into old habits. She wants to be rid of this reminder of her trauma. This, I believe, is the character she must overcome in this storyarc. She is running from her past trauma instead of dealing with it, and the story will force her to confront it when she doesn't want to. This is why I don't think Labors of Magik will end with her giving up Limbo entirely like she is currently planning to. Maybe she and Maddie will share the rulership, but I believe this is being set up as leading to her recognizing that she can't run from her past or her responsibility. She opens a secret panel in one of the bookcases where she has magical scrolls, potions, and artifacts hidden away.

As Illyana prepares the ritual contract signing, Maddie asks why she's doing this given the Goblin Queen's checkered past. Illyana explains that Maddie's actions during Inferno left an imprint in Limbo that she's examined, that she's aware of what Maddie has suffered, and that the transfer will be through a magical contract written and signed with blood, which is implied to be something that will prevent Maddie from using Limbo to cause harm.

Third fairy tale page. The 3 champions are helping Goblinyana make her way to a sword in the stone while the text references Storm, Cat, and Colossus, and says that she needed to forget them in order to be free. This is also where the childlike aspect and helplessness of Goblinyana becomes apparent. She barely comes up to the knees of the 3 champions and is basically cowering in fear as they fight. It's a stark contrast to the way Illyana is in control in the main story and how she was able to outfight Dani and Rahne at the same time.

As Illyana and Maddie prepare to sign the contract transferring rule of Limbo, Dani voices her concerns again. She and Rahne don't seem to understand the purpose of the magical contract which would deal with their concerns. Illyana reiterates her desire to be free of the realm where her childhood was stolen.

Maddie takes all of them to task for how they are are treating her, pointing out that Sinister, the man who created her, is on the council and she deserves a chance after being allowed to be resurrected. It's never made clear why Maddie would want to rule Limbo. All we get is a statement about it being a 'chance to come into my own power.' My guess is that since her powers originally came from Limbo when S'ym and N'Astirh corrupted her, she can explore them to their fullest potential in Limbo in a way she couldn't do on earth. This may be explained more later on.

As they argue, S'ym kicks in the door and unleashes a horde of demons on them, making a threat against Krakoa.

Fourth fairy tale page: Goblinyana and her champions are sinking and drowning in a swamp as the harder they struggle, the more they succumb to hopelessness and anger, but Goblinyana refuses to give up.

The ladies are fighting the demons. Dani saves Rahne from behind hit from behind, but gets hit on the head from behind herself. Maddie kills the demon before it can finish Dani off, her first act towards earning their trust. Illyana has had enough of S'ym's treachery and cuts a path through the demons to deal with him once and for all. But when she tries to hit him with her soul sword he counters with his new soul mace, shattering the soul sword. This creates a shockwave which badly injures Illyana.

This seems to have an effect of the demons, one of whom says he 'didn't sign up for this while clutching his head. The demons stop attacking for a short while and merely surround the ladies, giving them time to come to Illyana's aid. Despite her power, Maddie realizes how serious it is to have Magik injured, curses when it happens and begs her to get back as quickly as possible. Illyana seems completely lost, suddenly stuttering and needing to be told by Dani told open a stepping disk back to Krakoa.

Maddie and Rahne deal with the demons who try to follow them through the portal as Illyana says her power over Limbo was destroyed along with her soul sword. She says they need to inform the Quiet Council to get ready for war, when Rahne points out they're still in Limbo, specifically the frozen wasteland where Illyana first formed the soul sword. If I was Rahne I'd assume we were in Siberia where Illyana was born since she's never seen this part of Limbo and has no reason to think Limbo has different biomes like earth does, but the caption confirms it's definitely Limbo.

The final fairy tale page depicts Goblinyana in front of a broken mirror showing a baby, her as a sword-wielding warrior, and the shadow which has been stalking her the whole time. The caption says that things become the most clear when all hope seems lost, and now she sees all the paths and possibilities in front of her and all she has to do is choose.

This is where the main story ends, but then there is a backup story from Illyana's childhood in Limbo. Little Illyana is hiding under a desk in Belasco's library as she reads the same fairy tale depicting Goblinyana's adventures. The library is her safe place. Belasco lets her read what she wants because he thinks she'll be easier to corrupt if she learns more dark magic on her own, but she thinks he would have a problem with her reading that book. Cat comes in and she quickly hides the book in the same secret panel she opened in the main story. This panel is hidden from Belasco by a concealment spell Illyana cast and contains fewer items than it does in the future. The items it does have are reflective of her still being a child, such as a doll and an apple. Cat tells her Belasco wants her to come to him and Illyana has no choice but to obey.

This is a continuity error. When Illyana became Belasco's apprentice he further transformed Cat into a more feral feline creature. She walked on all fours and lost the ability to speak. It is explicitly stated that she did not speak a single word after after Belasco transformed her until years later when she was barely able to say Illyana's name. So her walking upright and speaking in full sentences here doesn't fit. That's a nitpick since the story this takes during is almost 40 years old, but it stands out to me since I reread that story pretty regularly.

Her time in Limbo is summarized up to that point. She saw the X-Men, including her brother, corrupted and many of them killed, and faced the choice of either suffering their fate or becoming Belasco's apprentice. No child should have had to face such a choice, but beneath her fear hope still lives within her. Hope that she will one day find the power to go back and prevent all this tragedy from ever happening.

As she leaves, an actual Goblinyana enters the library and takes the fairy tale book from the hiding place to begin writing in it, presumably adding more to the story. As this happens the captions state that Illyana had to be patient, to play the fool in Belasco's play, but she always had a knack for adaptation.