Knights of X #5 - Recap/Spoilers

[JB]

You guys, I loved this so much which is no surprise! Everything I wanted to happen happened so I'm doing this in three posts with extra scans. Big status quo change for Krakoa and Otherworld.

We open with the preview pages. As the knights discuss with Mercator the implications of the Siege and Gambit's death, they spot a castle that suddenly appears.


Shogo is flying above and telepathically tells "Aunt Betsy" to find Gambit while he keeps Merlyn AND Saturnyne and Roma away from "my precious mutant friends!" (He knows from last issue that the women want to control the Siege and Captain Britain).

They enter the castle and realize it's a manifestation of what's left of Remy. They come across a beautiful statue of Rogue.



Mordred dips his finger in a small basin in front of her statue and he's grabbed by an emerging King Arthur who tries to pull him in. Betsy and Bei try to pull Mordred back but he tells them to let him go as he must face his father. In he goes. *Glorp*

Walking the halls they pass several statues of Gambit. Shatterstar says, "though he pains my ass" maybe they should have fought harder for Mordred. Betsy says it's fine, we must trust the Siege and he's meant to confront his father. She's now moody and declares that it's time to admit that Mordred's powers inspire ire and he's so annoying! That panel of her throwing her arms in the air is from the lingering effects of his powers, which is basically the ability to piss everyone off. It's funny.

Rachel realizes that though all of the statues are Gambit, they're different, from different timelines. While partaking in a self-guided tour of the Starlight Citadel (Excalibur #12), he likely saw a similar room of Corps statues. They conclude he created the statues to try to make sense of who he'll be if he's resurrected.

Betsy wonders if Rachel can chronoskim the statues to see the timelines. Betsy has been pondering - since Rachel can see the timelines, maybe she and the Corps no longer need the Starlight Citadel and the Majestor for access to the Multiverse. After all, as Rachel explains, it's not written in the stone that Captain Britain has to serve a master to protect the Multiverse.

[JB]

Rachel immediately locates our Gambit and points down a hallway. (the posters that predicted she'd be able to find Gambit - well done!)
But before they go to him, a giant Wrongslide appears and attacks them. Rachel deduces that it's a manifestation of Gambit's fear of how he'll return if he dies in Otherworld. Bei knocks the giant down with her powers and the large cards making up the castle start falling. Betsy tells them to not let the castle collapse or they'll lose Remy.

Behind them, some of the fallen cards are being charged and lifted in the air. Meggan is injured by two of them. Enter: Gambit, Horseman of Death. He's scary!

Quinn gives us a beautiful battle and my heart was pounding as Death Gambit is out to kill and the castle is being torn apart. Bei is all, "I've not had long with you Krakoans, but much like us Arakki - you often brawl with those you love!" I love her. They're trying to get through to Remy while they fight him but he says he is now Death and wants them all to die with him.

Betsy: You and I have known each other for too long - and I've known you too well.



Gambit starts to hallucinate and sees a cleansing fire. Shiro's image emerges and Gambit thanks him, a caption box reminding us that Shiro freed Gambit from his role as the Horseman of Death in X-Men #187. Great callback.
Gambit transforms back to his regular self and... (I'm not crying)

[JB]

Finally Betsy's original goal of opening a portal between Krakoa and Otherworld comes to fruition as Krakoans flood the land and roll over Merlyn's forces! Great to see Polaris, Legion, Cypher fighting with his wife, Family Wolverine, Synch, and Jubilee riding Shogo. I LOVE IT!

The battle is over and of course, the Krakoans have brought their party supplies to Otherworld and a celebration is in order. Very Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones.



Gambit is alive and healing, cuddled up with Rogue and I'm soooo relieved. King Arthur is alive and Mordred is tending to him.

Rachel explains that The Siege Perilous is now open between Otherworld and Krakoa 24/7. Betsy will not have to escort mutants to Otherworld because now any psychic can do what she and Rachel did with Gambit. "Dying here isn't irreversible anymore, thanks to the Siege Perilous and Gambit's sacrifice. His use of the Death card and constructing those statues is what led them to figuring out how to solve for the problem.

Data page, a letter from Captain Avalon Brian Braddock to Mordred. Brian tells Mordred that in choosing to mend and love his father, the dark curse of their tragic story has been broken. "Mordred saves Arthur" - an entirely new tale to be written. Arthur is now rightful king of Avalon again and as his head Knight, Brian offers to train and teach him the new Prince of Avalon, young Mordred, making him Brian's squire.

A meeting between Betsy, Saturnyne, Roma, and Merlyn at the Citadel. The Citadel is magic-less now, a janky ass building floating in the air. She tells them that Captain Britain no longer answers to anyone, tells Saturnyne to kick rocks, tells Roma that although she is the kindest of them she can kick rocks too.

She turns to Merlyn who is on his knees. For attempting to exterminate her people and seize control of Otherworld, for the protection of the Multiverse, she sentences him to death and decapitates him. My Betsy Braddock, Captain Britain!

She walks with Rachel. The Siege will remain open and Mr. Mercator will continue to rule his province. There is now a Fort Krakoa in his province, as shown on a new map of Otherworld. The provinces are being restored, the Citadel is empty. Rachel: "So you're just going to patrol the Multiverse alone, then?"



I'm so, so happy with this status quo change! Captain Britain, Askani, and the Corps will continue to protect the Multiverse without the need of an Omniversal Majestor. Otherworld is now directly connected and open to Krakoa and it's exactly what I was hoping for. There's so many possibilities with the new trifecta of Krakoa, Arakko, Otherworld. There is still a diplomatic ring in Otherworld and it'll be interesting to see what comes next. I'm very excited for Betsy and Rachel.

Can anyone translate the Krakoan on the last page for me, please? The image we get is from this variant cover: https://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i...f2fa/clean.jpg

[Krakoa]

Believe it says "CAPTAIN BRITAIN".

[Rift]

Sounds like a fun issue. Glad things worked out. I was worried we'd end on a cliffhanger and Betsy would be suffering alone again, somehow. And it's good to see the goose captain again.

So what are we gonna do about Wrongslide? Do we resurrect Rockslide and have the two live side by side? Do we kill Wrongslide and get Rocky back? Is it too late for him, since it's been so long? Time to wait for X-Men Red.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Aww, how sweet. The X-Men discover imperialism.

[davetvs]

Can Betsy please get a better costume now

[JB]

Believe it says "CAPTAIN BRITAIN".

That makes perfect sense, thank you. I'm stoked for Betsy and Rachel, protecting the whole of Otherworld and that can come from it.

Sounds like a fun issue. Glad things worked out. I was worried we'd end on a cliffhanger and Betsy would be suffering alone again, somehow. And it's good to see the goose captain again.

So what are we gonna do about Wrongslide? Do we resurrect Rockslide and have the two live side by side? Do we kill Wrongslide and get Rocky back? Is it too late for him, since it's been so long? Time to wait for X-Men Red.

I thought the same thing, that Betsy would end up at the mercy of Roma and/or Saturnyne. This wrapped things up nicely and starts a whole new status quo.

Great question about Wrongslide. I wonder if it's too long since Gambit was able to quickly create those statues. Perhaps if too much time passed his Death persona would have fully taken over and destroyed any chance of finding him whole again.

[JB]

Aww, how sweet. The X-Men discover imperialism.

Haha not quite and I was just thinking about that. Arthur, a human, is now king of Avalon again. In a way, Otherworld now represents Xavier's dream (provided they can peacefully coexist). Humans still control Roma Regina and Blightspoke. Then we have vampires, Bee people and other such strange province leaders.

Can Betsy please get a better costume now

Yes please lol

[CGAR]

Hated most of the dialogue and there were some confusing panels but it was a FUN final issue.

I can appreciate that Tini gave us more bisexual Betsy because of how difficult it is to do with all the BTS shenanigans and corporate shenanigans.

Like the double page spread of a lot of the X-Men fighting Merlyn's side.

Rogue and Gambit scene was cool.

I'm wary of what comes next because I also feel like it took TH too long to get where she wanted to get.

So where ever we see Captain Britain next I hope its good.

[Selene]

Sunfire did not free Gambit from the Death persona, it was thanks to Sinister's experiments that they were both cured of Apocalypse's influence (and indentured themselves to him in the process). Not even rudimentary respect for continuity, as usual.

[JB]

Hated most of the dialogue and there were some confusing panels but it was a FUN final issue.

I can appreciate that Tini gave us more bisexual Betsy because of how difficult it is to do with all the BTS shenanigans and corporate shenanigans.

Like the double page spread of a lot of the X-Men fighting Merlyn's side.

Rogue and Gambit scene was cool.

I'm wary of what comes next because I also feel like it took TH too long to get where she wanted to get.

So where ever we see Captain Britain next I hope its good.

The way I rolled my eyes with a lot of the dialogue but that's par for the course at this point with Tini. Hopefully she continues to work on that and I much prefer her stronger Betsy than angsty Betsy.

I like that things are left wide open and anything can be done with Otherworld. I found it interesting that Polaris was sitting by herself during the party - maybe she'll decide to stick around. And with Shogo much safer, he can spend more time as a dragon in a world protected by his aunties.

I'm still reeling, in a very positive way, that we have a female queer couple overseeing an entire world. Betsy is in a great position and as a singular character, she's doing quite well in this era. I could see this translating to the MCU nicely as well.

[Nicoclaws]

Love that double spread, wish they changed costumes to hight fantasy costumes, it would have been fun !

[CGAR]

The way I rolled my eyes with a lot of the dialogue but that's par for the course at this point with Tini. Hopefully she continues to work on that and I much prefer her stronger Betsy than angsty Betsy.

I like that things are left wide open and anything can be done with Otherworld. I found it interesting that Polaris was sitting by herself during the party - maybe she'll decide to stick around. And with Shogo much safer, he can spend more time as a dragon in a world protected by his aunties.

I'm still reeling, in a very positive way, that we have a female queer couple overseeing an entire world. Betsy is in a great position and as a singular character, she's doing quite well in this era. I could see this translating to the MCU nicely as well.

Your positivity is always appreciated.

I hope we get news of whats next ASAP.

And please Marvel give us a good artist.

[Mutant X]

Terrible conclusion as expected.

I feel bad that Betsy and Rachel will remain Tini Howard's hostages.

But for those who'd like to see how good Excalibur could be if it were properly written, I suggest reading Once & Future:

51nyi8GapgL._SX320_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg