X-Men Red #6 - Recap/Spoilers

[Master of Sound]

So Weaponless Zhen is Fisher Kings other daughter. Obviously.

I do not think Szyza is related to Nightcrawler.

[Wind Rider]

Gotta once again that Ewing is PUTTING IN WORK when it comes to building up Arraki culture the world building is steady but heavy as well I love the Great Ring, I love Isca, I love the Fisherking, I love Khora, and I love Kobak Never-Held lol

The reveal that Khora is the Fisherkings and that we discover she had a sister (remember we also know that one of his kids betrayed him in the prisons) who was weaponless as well as her "burning heart" being her mother's heart I took it to mean metaphorically but I wouldn't put it past Ewing if he literally meant that Khora has her mother's heart in her chest.

Just some damn good backstory on new characters.

Agreed. This book has so much potential for this cast. Outside of Storm, Cable, and Magneto I have never been invested much invested in Sunspot, Brand, or any of the arakki. Now I find myself loving the bromance in Red, saddened at the Magneto death in Judgment Day #4, and really liking Sunspot. I want Brand to get owned but I also like her as the antagonist, and I want to see and know more about Lodos, Isca, and Sobunar. Tarn was an a$$hole, but I really found him to a compelling and interesting one, and part of me wants to see him come back. Ewing is handling his business.

[Jackraow21]

My only complaint about this book is that it only ships once per month. Truly they should give Ewing X-Force and shift some of this cast over there so he has more room to tell his expanded story faster. Maybe after they deal with Brand, Cable and his crew could move over to a Ewing-written X-Force title?

A guy can hope anyway…

[GeneTitan]

I love how 'Berto still calls Magneto "Headmaster."

[BobbysWorld]

All I know is somebody at some point better write a mini or maxi series about the later days of the Arakkii/Amenth War....maybe narrated by Xilo, in his function as the Seat of History? Idk. Just saying, there's definitely one hell of a story there, in the Night Seats' struggle against the Abyssal Prisons.

The death of the Fisher King's wife, one of their daughters 'betraying' them to accept the bribe-gifts of the flesh-smiths of the Vile while the other daughter stayed in the shadows like their father taught her, a spy and assassin shunned not for being weaponless like her father and sister, but with a weapon most other Arakkii took as an implicit insult, a suggestion that they might 'need' her to boost their power.

Like, shit went DOWN, back before the Amenthi-conquered Arakki ever set in motion the events that led to the X of Swords tournament. And I'm sure we'll find out more about all of that in Ewing's upcoming issues, but I really really want to at some point read like, the actual saga of what happened back then.

The untold legend of the Night Table, three heroes whose very function meant they intended to never be known or officially recognized for everything they did on behalf of their people.

(Something that I think is particularly noteworthy in Arakkii society. As far back as the X of Swords issue, our first introduction to Genesis, as well as Apocalypse's recounting of the fall of Okkara, like.....they seemed to place a lot of importance on their efforts or battles on behalf of mutants being known and acknowledged. The line "watch me/see what a mutant does for their people" showed up a LOT in those issues, which suggests that acknowledging and remembering the sacrifices made on behalf of their people is a big deal to the Arakkii. So in that context, the fact that the Night Seats by their very nature aren't meant to be officially known and acknowledged - even though obviously some people do know and respect them, given how the artist commune reacted to the Fisher King - like, just seems like culturally speaking, even just accepting one of the Night Seats, let alone seeking to claim one, is kinda huge. Its basically an implicit acceptance of standing outside the norms of their society in every possible sense. Being forever distinct and separate from the very people they're doing everything FOR.)

Also, I really hope Zsen's appearance in X-Men Red involves an explicit breakdown on what the parameters are for a mutant power being considered a weapon versus a mutant with a certain power being considered weaponless. Zsen and Khora's mother was described as "born with eyes of fire that saw truths terrible and wonderful" - as opposed to her husband, who was explicitly confirmed as having no mutant power at all. And Zsen described her power - which she insists is NOT a weapon, hence the Weaponless in her name - as 'painting with truth' and also completely useless in her opinion. Khora, meanwhile, was stated to have 'her mother's burning heart,' and while her power doesn't exactly endear her to the rest of Arakkii society, there's never been any indication that they actually consider her weaponless. So my read of things so far is that whatever their mother's power actually was, it was still considered a mutant weapon. Hence why she wasn't described in the Night Table page the way her husband was.

So my question, given the obvious parallels between Zsen's painting with truth and their mother seeing truths with eyes of fire: is Zsen's weaponless status because her power actually differs from her mother's in a big enough way that whatever was weaponizable about truths when her mother saw them....Zsen's 'paintings' don't rise to the same level or standard? Or is Zsen possibly just weaponless by her OWN description or self-perception, and she just identifies that way and took the Vile's enhancements because she just personally doesn't see any combat value or applications in whatever her power actually is? By that token, is Khora NOT considered weaponless because her power - even if unorthodox by their societal standards - still counts as a weapon because she can enhance her own strength/speed....or is it more a matter of Khora refusing to discount her power as useless even if most Arakkii frown on it?

I'm really excited to see Khora and Zsen interact. I want to know what their dynamic is, how they view each other - does Khora consider her sister a traitor for accepting the Vile's gifts? Or since Zsen literally works for Ora Serrata, does SHE consider Khora the 'aberrant one' by their society's standards, given that Khora was so quick to work with SWORD and Krakoan mutants, something Zsen has been very reluctant about and basically had to be pushed into?

Its just really interesting that the two daughters of two apparently infamous or legendary Night Seats both seem to have powers somehow related to their unnamed mother, with Khora inheriting the fire/burning aspect of her weapon, and Zsen inheriting the truth aspect of it. But the biggest difference between them so far seems to be that one of them has leaned into this inheritance and embraced it, while the other seems dismissive of it and wants to put distance between herself and it. Idk. Just saying, as much as I want to know the full story behind the three Night Seats' guerilla war against Amenthi occupation, and what exactly happened to their mother.....the thing I'm most curious about is what led to one daughter going against everything the other three seemed to stand for, since Khora also talks about being prepared to take her father's role if he dies. I'm betting its definitely not just as simple as 'my power sucked and I wanted a better one, even if that meant betraying everything the entire rest of my family stands for.'

Also, considering Craig of NASA is now considered to be of Arakko as well due to his willingness to fight for it, I hope he sticks around for a long time as a recurring character and maybe someday takes one of the Night Seats. Especially so after the Fisher King either steps down or dies, there's another fully human/non-powered perspective potentially on deck. I mean, they obviously see the value in that POV, and acknowledge that non-powered humans can have useful insights, act as figureheads just as much as any powered Arakkii, and fight for Arakko even without a mutant weapon. So I don't think there's anything making Craig any less likely a contender for a Night Seat than Roberto was. Same as with Max and Ororo, the key element is just being willing to fit yourself into Arakkii culture and society as opposed to trying to reshape their culture and society to fit what you bring into it.

The intricate nuances of Arakkii culture continue to impress. It could be argued that the Arakkii are more likely or predisposed to accept humans as being valued, contributing members of their society, than Krakoans in general. And isn't that a twist, given how many people would be likely to assume it'd be the other way around....

[Uncanny X-Man]

I love how 'Berto still calls Magneto "Headmaster."

I know right? I love how the 90s are strong within a number of writers these days (I'm looking at you, Orlando and Percy) but Ewing is basking in that 80s glory.

[Auch]

While I’m aware that putting a lot of the criticism about the possible colonialism of Krakoa in the mount of the ‘genetically and thus morally impure’ Brand negates said criticism; but considering Storm’s repeated outraged reactions to such criticism, the speed at which Krakoans are overtaking the Great Ring is a bit suspect

In theory, I get what you mean. But the point of the story (or one of them) is to explore Arakkii culture and the best way to do that is to get characters we already have a long history with into the thick of things and let them be our POV characters so from a story-crafting perspective, it makes sense.

[Devaishwarya]

The Krakoans haven't overtaken the GR. As of now it's only Storm on the Day Seat and Sunspot on the Night Seat.
Even with Idyll and Magneto's seats on Dawn being vacant that's still 8 Arakkii to 2 Krakoans.

[cable guy]

My only complaint about this book is that it only ships once per month. Truly they should give Ewing X-Force and shift some of this cast over there so he has more room to tell his expanded story faster. Maybe after they deal with Brand, Cable and his crew could move over to a Ewing-written X-Force title?

A guy can hope anyway…

Ewing on X-Force with Cable on the roster. That would be amazing!

[Factor]

I’m disappointed Ewing created yet another female Nightcrawler.
Yet another teleporter is so unimaginative. She isn’t even the first pink one lol.
I’d rather have him use one of the many teleporters from SWORD, Blink, Ariel or Lila Cheney.