Sins of Sinister: Dominion #1 - Review/Spoilers

[JB]

Gillen definitely wasn't kidding about this event having ramifications in the current timeline! It's an oversized issue with a lot of details so I'll summarize things as best as possible.

We open with the preview pages, the undead Galactus outside the Brotherhood's palace. Moira is outside the vault where the lab with the Moira clones is held and she can't get in as the Arakkii won't allow her. Sinister is standing over the bodies of Jon Ironfire and members of the Arakkii Five, communicating with Moira. She asks him to try to change Jon's mind about letting them into the lab and Sinister says he changed Jon's mind by pushing it out of his skull when he shot him (see SatB #3). They're running out of time as he assumes Beast is on his way now that Emma has been taken out. He tells Moira that Destiny's message alluded to having a way inside to the lab and he waits, hoping something is about to happen. Moira suddenly says the Marauder, his ship, has picked something up traveling towards them. She beams a holographic image to Sinister of what the ship has spotted and he instantly recognizes the Juggernaut and remembers how they shot him at Thanos a millenium ago. He deduces right away that Destiny had planned this from way back then.

Juggernaut flies through the head of the Galactus and straight into the lab vault, busting it open with a massive explosion. Moira says she's going in but Sinister says to wait for him as he has to upload his plans. Before he can meet her though a kunai-rope dart/harpoon impales him just below the shoulder. Ironfire drags Sinister to him and says he coated his bones with his metal blood thus surviving the shot to the head. Sinister yells for Moira not to go inside and reset the timeline as we see her walking inside.

We cut to a Red Diamond spaceship and Beast is inside sitting on Emma's throne, flanked by Esme and two other Cuckoos, with "Namornauts" standing around as guards. He's aware that the lab is exposed now and wants to send the Namors to retrieve the Moira engine but says they need a distraction. He says it's time for an alliance and orders the Cuckoos to dismantle the Quiet Council psychic barricades. The Cuckoos warn him of the risk of connecting with someone but he insists.

We cut to Xavier in what I like to call his think tank as he's out somewhere on the frontlines of the "Enforced Serenity War". Charles is surprised to suddenly hear Beast in his head, guessing Beast must be panicked if he's dropping the psi-shields. Charles reads his mind to see what Beast wants and when he learns of the Moira clones, he astrally projects into Beast's ship and fully takes everything/everyone over, taking the lead in the fight. "To me, my dreamers", he says. "Fight for your dream! Worry not! The dream is an idea..." CORRECTION: Xavier uses the minds of his followers to take over a planet of the World Farm.



Sick! Ironfire and Sinister reel back from the initial psychic backlash. Jon says with the Brotherhood's psychic defenses gone and all their psychics dead, they're in trouble. Sinister says he himself is not in trouble because he has his own defenses, Jon is the one in trouble. He says he once had an Omega psychic that could have protected Jon but she's dead. Jon is like well, since I'm the leader of the Brotherhood I might as well look the part, and creates for himself a Magneto helmet with his blood to protect him from Xavier. Smart! Sinister begs Jon not to kill him and to instead turn his attention on Xavier and that he can help Jon stop Xavier. He pleads with Jon, telling him it's better to let him go try to reset the universe than to allow Xavier to gain control of the Moiras, turning this hellscape universe into an even worse one. He offers to inject Jon with Bobby Drake DNA as the chilled water will supply Jon with all the blood he needs to become even more powerful. Jon agrees and let's him go after Sinister injects him, reminding Sinister that he will kill him at some point.

Jon is now massive and is flying towards the Xavier controlled purple headed ship. Xavier says the metal of the helmet is blocking him. He starts to recognize the metal, not having seen it in a very long time.

Xavier: Erik?
Ironfire: Nah. But you should know...



Oof! Sinister enters the lab and shoots his little Doom gun at Moira, telling her to get away from his Moira's. They start arguing, Moira saying he turned her into a machine and he's like girl look at you, you turned yourself into a machine. By now she has killed Mother Righteous and Banshee (see Nightcrawlers #3). They argue some more and she shoots at him, trying to prevent him from uploading his files because she doesn't want him learning from any of this after they reset. He says he must upload the info because if he doesn't learn from it it'll all just repeat. He says the more time they waste the more likely Xavier will come take control of everything, as we cut to Xavier starting to overwhelm Ironfire outside and the Namornauts speeding towards the lab. Moira begrudgingly agrees and says he better demolish the Moira engine the second he returns to the main timeline. Sinister uploads his files while she's fighting off the Namors and but then he hesitates, wondering if he should take everything he has learned from this universe and truly change or... "maybe I can become a god."

Data page describing Sinister's Inferno Fail-Safe.



He's going for Dominion! While she's still fighting the Namors, Sinister tells Moira about his psychic inferno fail-safe which can be initiated right there from the lab. "It will kill every single person in the universe with my modified X-Gene. And use them as fuel." He tells her not to look so horrified, what's one more atrocity when they were going to wipe the dimension away anyway. He presses a button and we get a series of panels as the sinisterized mutants across the universe die. The Namors, Xavier and his followers, Exodus and all the clones that feed him. Interestingly we see Wagnerine surrounded by Nightkin skulls being absorbed but she seems to be protected by a forcefield as she's holding her baby. Shaw and everyone in the Waiting Room hell die too. Sinister is absorbing all of them and he's glowing red, flying higher and higher as he absorbs more and more. "I soar on wings with untold trillions of bony feathers." He's about to leave time itself, becoming all times at once... then he bumps into a giant red wall. The space is blocked, he can't get through and ascend higher. A Dominion is already there!

Sinister: What are you?
An unknown voice: I am the being that is harvesting the power you stole, as whatever is yours is mine now. I am a being of infinite knowledge and perspective. I could tell you everything. Instead, I share a single fact. Who am I? Not you.

Sinister is back in the lab, on the floor. "No! I'm too late. A Sinister Dominion is already outside time and space. It happened in another timeline earlier... I'm too late. It's not me." He looks devastated, and then Jon Ironfire walks in.

Jon: You killed a galaxy.
Sinister (looking defeated): I did. For nothing. One of them does it. Stasis. Mother. Orbis. Not me. Kill her. Kill me. Kill yourself. Nothing matters anymore.
Jon: You're wrong.

[JB]

Data page: The Death of Moira VII.1
Length of timeline: 1000 years.
Peak Mutant Population: 8,662,221,825,176,193.
Mutant Casualties in Psychic Inferno: 8,662,221,825,176,190.
Dominion Ascension attempts: 1
Successful Ascension attempts: 0

We're back in the main timeline. (It feels so good to finally be back!)
Sinister is in his lab and the first two panels are identical to the ones in Immortal #10 just after he killed Hope, Xavier, Emma, and Exodus in the QC chambers. He activates the Moira clone and is surprised at how large the file is, 1000 years worth of data. He attempts to download the information but the clone explodes. He then hears Moira's voice and she tells him, while we see flashback panels, how she encountered Mother Righteous in the lab in the Sins timeline, learned of the virus Mother planned to insert in the machine and how Mother failed at the last moment. Moira tells him that she then fed Mother into the heart and corrupted the machine. She tells Sinister that he made an attempt to ascend to dsominionhood and failed. She had the machine take a reading of his mind just before resetting the timeline so that the only thing current Sinister gets to learn from the 1000 years is that he failed and that another Sinister got to dominion first.

Moira: But now that we're in another timeline? Here's your lesson... this is my story. Your story is over.

The rest of the Moira clones explode. Sinister is surprised that the timeline still exists and that he's still standing there. He realizes that Mother's virus neutralized the clones' X-Genes before they exploded. He tries to retrieve his files from his computer but they're suddenly uploading to something. The computer announces the creation of Moira clone VII.1RPIV and activates the Velocidad serum to age it up. Confused, Sinister turns around and...



We cut to Mother Righteous in her Sanctum Malefica, her large library from the preview pages, sitting in a large chair reading. She stands up as she notices a new door has appeared. She enters and a whole new wing has materialized. She wonders who she has to thank for this gift and as she looks over the new books we see "Mother Righteous" written on all of their spines. "Why, thank you, Mother Righteous" she says while looking creepily into the camera.

We're back on Krakoa, the surviving QC members with the blood of the 4 killed members splattered on them. They're devising a plan on how to handle what just happened, how to keep it secret for now, who to tell, how to get Hope back, etc. Destiny suddenly clutches her chest and says "Ahh!" Mystique asks her what's wrong and she responds, "The future has... changed. There's more of it." Before anything else can be said a blue portal opens and out walks Rasputin, Sinister held prisoner behind her in a forcefield bubble.

Rasputin: By the gene sacristies of Hope herself. It's real. Krakoa is real.

She smiles sweetly as she says this. Kate immediately tells Rasputin that she doesn't know who she is but that she loves her look. Rasputin introduces herself and says that she came from 1000 years in the future to "the promised land of Krakoa" (aw) to ensure Sinister doesn't get away for his crimes and that he must be punished for every single one.

Later, they're in the center of the QC chamber now and Sinister is begging them not to throw him in the pit. The 4 killed members have been resurrected and are present. He says he's not a threat anymore, not the one they need to be afraid of. "It's the other Sinisters, not me. I'm nothing." As Krakoa's vines begin to wrap around him he's yelling, telling them that there is a Sinister Dominion outside time and space. "A stain on existence! It is already there! They've already won! Oh god, it's too late!" He tells Destiny that she must stop them, that it's down to her now, she must find a way. "On the same side, remember? I know you understand! Only you understand!" He screams that he is nothing as he goes down the pit.

Emma wonders if he may have been telling the truth as his panic was quite convincing. Rasputin says he lied to her for 900 years, he can't be trusted. Destiny says he's trying to throw suspicion at her.

Nightcrawler: So, you don't know what he's talking about?
Destiny: ... I don't know specifically what he's talking about.

Kate asks Rasputin to fill them in on this latest dark future and how she became their savior. Rasputin says she's only a solider. "I am not your savior. Let me introduce her." Enter Mother Righteous. Oh goodness. She introduces herself and says it's all news to her, she was enjoying a cuppa when she got a download from the future. She tells them about the Moira clones and how he kept resetting the timeline. The QC are horrified. Destiny confirms this is true and that she knew, but that she couldn't give away that she knew or he would just reset the timeline. Xavier: "Then why didn't you...?" He stops and asks Mother to continue. She describes the Sins timeline to them and how that timeline's version of her "managed to find the Moiras before him and uploaded the virus." She explains that when it was turned on it erased the X-Gene from the Moiras and sent all the knowledge to her. It also cloned Rasputin to make sure Sinister was captured. Mother is sugarcoating things though, acting like she was so heroic in that timeline.

Xavier asks Mother to step out momentarily so they can discuss everything but she tells them she has one more bit of bad news. She tells them how Sinister tainted the DNA and after killing Hope, his gene-meddling was up and running. That the 4 he killed are compromised and can be taken over and warped by him without them even knowing. She leaves the council discusses everything. Shaw says he doesn't trust her but that they do owe her. He says he'll look into her bona fides using his contacts in the magical world. (This is shady because we know from his Immortal issue that he's dealing with her.) Storm says they must be very careful and that they can't have anyone who may be compromised in power. Xavier said that's not enough.

Rasputin and Mother return, Mother asking what their plan is. Xavier, Emma, Hope, and Exodus are standing in the middle. Xavier says that until they can be sure their genes are cleared, they're unsafe and must be held. Krakoa's vines start climbing their legs. He says no matter how unpleasant it is the pit is their most secure prison. (Yeah, no). As the vines wrap around them, Storm asks Mother what can they do to repay the debt.

Mother Righteous: Oh, don't mind me... a "thank you" would do me, luv.
Storm: Well, from every mutant on the island...



*mind blown emoji*
This was crazy. Much to discuss.

[Mercury]

The four QC members that were sent to the Pit will be back in Immortal X-Men #11, which was a no-brainer. I mean, we know Emma hosts the Hellfire Gala, which the rest have been shown to be attending.

That said, all in all, this was my favorite issue of this rather lackluster event. It was fun, surprising in moments, and all-around entertaining. The Sinister Dominion reveal did make me moan in annoyance, though, lol.

[Steroid]

Overall I am just glad this crossover is finished. I just wish I could say the same thing regarding all of these Sinister's. I really am truly sick of each and every one of them.

[Diammandis]

yeah their time in the pit will be short-lived as we know Xavier will be causing problems for Storm in next week's Red and then in her Immortal issue. This would have been a great way to take resurrection off the board for a short time. With the QC being down 5 members, this is kinda the perfect moment for Orchis to attack the nation, too bad it seems like this wont last too long.

Also it's funny, he's finally telling the truth but no one believes him, well from the sounds of it Emma did for a second but was persuaded by Destiny unfortunately.

[Rift]

The event dragged in the middle and a bit towards the end, but I guess it worked out.

[JB]

Yeah I'm super glad it's over too. I enjoyed some moments throughout the event but have been itching to get back to the current timeline. Mercury I'm sure I groaned with you with the dominion reveal.

Moira did the damn thing, I must give her props. She's taken back control of her narrative and I feel like she's even more dangerous. Having an additional thousand years I think has cooled down her anger and now she's more calculating.

The timing won't line up but it's funny that Moira has Orchis digging down into the pit in War College with the intention of freeing Sabretooth and the others. It would have been funny if she encountered this Sinister Four.

[Taurean Sun]

So it looks like either mother righteous got dominion or like sinster four suggests the four sinisters came together and achieved it. Anywho that is not my concern. This event was cute and all but after immortal 11 I an ready to not read any story about sinister anymore. Time to focus on arakko. Let the five or rachel deal with the whole dominon mess.

[Viteh]

I wonder if it's actually Stasis, and that's why Feilong says "The mutants are already defeated" in Iron Man. Perhaps it was in the original Moira Life X, the one Omega Sentinel came from.

[Master of Sound]

I found this event really tedious and annoing. Only good thing out of this is Ironfire and Rasputin. But the event itself never pleased me. Now I will probably never ever like Mr. Sinister again, or any of the other 3 rip-offs

[Cyclone_Ablaze]

Jon Ironfire is so AWESOME!!!

I see Mother Unrighteous is trying to pull more Bullshit. How come Charles and Emma didn't just read their minds to confirm what Sinister saw and what Rasputin and Mother Unrighteous is talking about.

This was ok. Glad this Event is over though.

[Saturius]

Glad this is over. I liked it but it lost a ton of impact by it not being the end of Sinister shenanigans. I would look back on it more fondly in the future if it was the finale to Sinister's Krakoa era story but since Gillen INSISTS on fellating this plotline, my final feeling towards the whole thing is that it was tedious.

[JB]

Jon Ironfire is so AWESOME!!!

I see Mother Unrighteous is trying to pull more Bullshit. How come Charles and Emma didn't just read their minds to confirm what Sinister saw and what Rasputin and Mother Unrighteous is talking about.

This was ok. Glad this Event is over though.

I guess they’re in a precarious place of not being able to trust Charles and Emma at the moment as they’re technically compromised.

I now wonder how they’re going to determine that their DNA is clean. I know we’ll see them again in the next issue of Immortal but that could be because they get down to the pit and see it’s not secure at all with Creed and the others missing. So they may come back up without the problem of the compromised DNA being solved at first. I just hope they don’t try working with Sinister again even if they telepathically determine he’s being truthful. He can go off and do his own thing for all I care.

[Cyclone_Ablaze]

yeah their time in the pit will be short-lived as we know Xavier will be causing problems for Storm in next week's Red and then in her Immortal issue. This would have been a great way to take resurrection off the board for a short time. With the QC being down 5 members, this is kinda the perfect moment for Orchis to attack the nation, too bad it seems like this wont last too long.

Also it's funny, he's finally telling the truth but no one believes him, well from the sounds of it Emma did for a second but was persuaded by Destiny unfortunately.

But, see that's the thing. READ his MIND!!

Why are they trusting the word of 2 Complete Strangers and they didn't even attempt to read their minds. I will guess Rasputin's mind get's read, by Immortal 11, but Still. Like this was dumb.

[Mercury]

Here's some grist for the mill regarding Life 9 from HoX/PoX: