Originally Posted by
BobbysWorld
I'm honestly not sure what to expect from Judgment Day or the conversations about mortality/the resurrection protocols at this point. I think people have valid reason to think the res protocols will be scaled back or even done away with after Judgment Day, but tbh I also think there's an equal possibility they're just getting started with them, considering its only in this past month that they've really started exploring some of the bigger questions of mortality and ethics re: the protocols, whereas up until this point they've just been used as a fix for mutants dying in superhero fights. The cover and solicits for XMR #6 feature Magneto's broken helmet and talking about something that might change Arakkii culture or the shape of its future forever, I forget the exact wording....but honestly, I do wonder if the obvious cover implication that Magneto will die is a red herring, and if the big change might be that the death toll on Mars is high enough it gets some Arakkii to reconsider using the protocols or Waiting Room, or one of the Great Ring dies and decides to come back, even if just to continue the fight against Uranos.
Like, the Arakkii might not fear a life that ends, granted. But if there's anything that might get one to reconsider using the protocols, it might be a desire to continue the fight against a worthy foe, or in defense of their people. Not "I'm afraid to be done" but "I'm not done yet, I still have more fight in me."
*Shrugs* But we'll see.
Either way, I think this conversation about not getting your seat on the Great Ring back once you lose it might be about more than just the consequences of dying and returning. There's a very clear carry-over between X-Men Red and Legion of X. Ewing dragged out showing Ora Serrata and making sure not to use her or let anything slip about her character or powers or appearance before her creator, Spurrier, got to unveil her and her personality and powers in Legion of X #1. Like, there's definitely a high degree of coordination between Ewing and Spurrier about the overall Arakkii culture and the Great Ring members and their history.....with Ewing already picking up a lot of what Spurrier laid down in just the first two issues of LoX.
And I'm wondering if the same holds true for another plot thread from Legion of X....Uqesh the Bridge.
There's going to be at least some turn over in the Great Ring's future. Whether Magneto dies and loses his seat regardless of whether he returns or not, the same with Lodus Logos, and potentially Idyll (since her death has been teased as well).....we're likely to get at least a couple new GR members within the next year. And I wonder if part of the aim of this issue's discussion about who holds the seats, like, might be paving the way for Uqesh's return.
The solicits for LoX #5 mentioned 'a conspiracy on Mars' and frankly, there's not a whole lot of likely conspirators FOR that book. For a conspiracy to have weight, and for it to relate to Weaponless Zsen, as the solicits also talk about her getting to the heart of the conspiracy....it likely has to involve Arakkii characters, because there'd be no weight to it for her, if it was something Krakoans were doing. And the conspiracy also doesn't seem to be about Ora herself, judging by the way the solicit is worded....so tbh, ever since I read that solicit, I've been assuming there's a high chance the conspiracy involves Uqesh himself, who has a HELL of a lot of reason to be conspiring against someone, whether that's just Ora and the Inward Watch, Arakko as a whole, etc. Obviously he doesn't have a hell of a lot of mobility in his current state, but with Mother Righteous running around, and a fugitive god who may or may not be Loki....that's two figures who could reach out to him to form some kind of conspiracy, offering him a regained body and the chance for revenge against Ora, in return for access to his powers or something else.
Basically...I think the conspiracy alluded to in Legion of X solicits is between Uqesh and Mother Righteous, and she's found a way to meet with him (well, his head) in secret and use his powers to make the various bargains for gods and spirits that she's been offering around....with the eventual expectation that she will arrange for him to get back his body somehow. I think a renewed Uqesh - who by the Arakkii's own logic never actually died, so can't be discounted as a future challenger for Great Ring seats on that basis - I think he's going to challenge to take up one of the empty seats in the near future, whether its Lodus Logos' Seat of Dreams, Magneto's Seat of Loss, or something else. After all, he might not be able to get his OWN seat back due to having lost it, but that just rules out him taking back the Seat of Law. Doesn't necessarily mean a restored Uqesh couldn't challenge or hold the Seat of Dreams or the Seat of Loss.
And there's a lot of drama, tension, and animosity that could be milked out of having Uqesh and Ora on the same council.