Immortal X-Men #18 - Review/Spoilers

[ARkadelphia]

It's actually 5 issues, same as "Fall".

Right! I have no idea why I wrote 3.

[PhoenixStudies]

Loved the cameo by the Cosmic Construction Worker (a manifestation of Death).

For more about the Cosmic Construction Worker refer to Classic X-Men #43 backstory (1990), Excalibur #25 (1990), Excalibur #63 (1993), X-Men Forever (2001) #3, and Defenders Beyond (2022) #3. The towers and their scaffolding appear in Classic X-Men #43, X-Men Forever #3, New X-Men #154, and Defenders Beyond #3.

Interesting how Gillen has Mother Righteous say that the White Hot Room is basically the Phoenix since Ewing states in Defenders Beyond that it is not the Phoenix, but where the Phoenix is made. I do like how Gillen has MR use both titles, White Hot Room and afterlife (what it was called before Morrison named the realm the White Hot Room) since some fans didn't realize they were the same place.

Gillen also incorporates the various looks attributed to the White Hot Room (towers, desert, white space) in past issues.

Mother Righteous knew about Jean from poking at a Phoenix Egg for a thousand years. MR knowing Jean would be there in the WHR after being killed reminded me of how Sublime-Beast knew Jean would hatch from a Phoenix Egg after being killed by Magneto/Xorn. Sublime-Beast used Jean's Phoenix blood to give him Phoenix level powers and he wished to graft Phoenix traits into his army. Here, Mother Righteous wishes to use Jean's Phoenix blood to create a god-like being.

I love the explicit summation of Jean's connection to the Phoenix, "She is of the Phoenix in a real and unbreakable way. She guides it and it guides her, in a circle without beginning or end". This is basically what was stated in the Classic 43 backstory, that in some ways Jean and the Phoenix come from each other. Like Mother Righteous said, its very woo.

Interesting that Mother Righteous says that mutants are connected to the White Hot Room as well. Clearly, not as deeply as Jean is. And this has been hinted before.

The Phoenix has an interest in mutants. Because Jean is a mutant? Because Jean cares about mutants as a caretaker of Xavier's dream? Because some mutants have a genetic connection to the Phoenix? Did the Phoenix have a role in the creation of mutants?

In X-Men Forever #3 and #6, Jean learns from the cosmic construction worker, Prosh, and the Stranger that humans/mutants can evolve to replace fundamental forces of the universe. When she bonds with the Phoenix Force again, fiery cosmic DNA strands shoot out of her and form Eternity. She then communes with Eternity and he tells her that they are OK with humans one day evolving to replace them.

In New X-Men, Jean's Phoenix Work was to disinfect mutants of Sublime, who was making mutants more aggressive and fight each other. She also stopped a dystopian future where mutants were being persecuted.

Quentin also ascended to the White Hot Room when he died at the end of Riot at Xaviers. It isn't shown but was described. Bumbleboy was absorbed into the White Hot Room by Jean after she atomized him. That entire dystopian future was absorbed into the White Hot Room in New 154.

In Warsong, the Phoenix came to destroy the cuckoo clones because the Weapon Plus program was going to use them to attack mutants.

The holo-emphatic crystal that Jean left Rachel, pulled Betsy and Rachel in the White Hot Room to protect them during the House of M storyline.

And of course, the Phoenix or Jean/Phoenix from the White Hot Room had a hand in guiding Hope to undoing Wanda's No More Mutants spell.

There was a panel where the Phoenix or Jean/Phoenix says to Hope, "wake up my child, our children need you". The "children" was referring to mutants.

In Defenders Beyond #5, it is said that Enigma is Eternity's enemy. As noted here, X-Men Forever #6 implied a connection between humans/mutants, the Phoenix, and Eternity. Btw, Storm once housed Eternity in her body (in a Fantastic Four story, I believe).

However, while the White Hot Room is said to be a mutant afterlife in this issue, in the past it was stated to be the afterlife for all beings. Jean built towers for the D'Bari there in Classic #43. Jean ushered the Greys into the White Hot Room at the end of End of Greys. Jean fought Korvus, a Shiar, in the White Hot Room in Jean Grey #11.

I actually felt for Mother Righteous in this issue. She just wanted her happy ending and yet again it was spoiled by Nathaniel Essex.

Loved Destiny as well.

[PlatinumThorns]

Sooooo... It was explained that the Beyonders used the Concordance Engine to contain the (I guess previous incarnation?) of the Enigma/Dominion, which is why it only has a limited influence. What's stopping them them using it again to shut it down?

[king of hybrids]

Odds are it’s the issue that Enigma started as, effectively, four Dominions in a trench coat (at least 3 of which are rooted to the HWR itself) that is hindering the Beyonders and TOAA’s ability to restrain it/him. At a guess, those ‘limited’ realities probably coincide with realities that Moira is a mutant in (would it be a shock that Essex probably experimented on Lord Kinross or his parents?)

One thought, mostly headcanon to reconcile Hickman’s Dominions with the post-Inferno ones is that Enigma was able to to assimilate the processing power of all the AI Singularities after they were retroactively rendered braindead by the death of the other Dominions and machine gods in Omega’s timeline (which begs the question if the Trickster send Omega back to slaughter the mutants out of spite or as a means to an end to avoid Sinister and MR from using them)

Destroy Enigma and one of the Decks will take its ‘throne’. Best recourse is to clear the decks and allow squabbling Dominions resume carving it up between them.

Basically, to destroy Enigma and keep themselves safe from it, mutants might have to actively give the Machines and Post-Humans their preferred future

[Uncanny X-Man]

Loved the cameo by the Cosmic Construction Worker (a manifestation of Death).

For more about the Cosmic Construction Worker refer to Classic X-Men #43 backstory (1990), Excalibur #25 (1990), Excalibur #63 (1993), X-Men Forever (2001) #3, and Defenders Beyond (2022) #3. The towers and their scaffolding appear in Classic X-Men #43, X-Men Forever #3, New X-Men #154, and Defenders Beyond #3.

Interesting how Gillen has Mother Righteous say that the White Hot Room is basically the Phoenix since Ewing states in Defenders Beyond that it is not the Phoenix, but where the Phoenix is made. I do like how Gillen has MR use both titles, White Hot Room and afterlife (what it was called before Morrison named the realm the White Hot Room) since some fans didn't realize they were the same place.

Gillen also incorporates the various looks attributed to the White Hot Room (towers, desert, white space) in past issues.

Mother Righteous knew about Jean from poking at a Phoenix Egg for a thousand years. MR knowing Jean would be there in the WHR after being killed reminded me of how Sublime-Beast knew Jean would hatch from a Phoenix Egg after being killed by Magneto/Xorn. Sublime-Beast used Jean's Phoenix blood to give him Phoenix level powers and he wished to graft Phoenix traits into his army. Here, Mother Righteous wishes to use Jean's Phoenix blood to create a god-like being.

I love the explicit summation of Jean's connection to the Phoenix, "She is of the Phoenix in a real and unbreakable way. She guides it and it guides her, in a circle without beginning or end". This is basically what was stated in the Classic 43 backstory, that in some ways Jean and the Phoenix come from each other. Like Mother Righteous said, its very woo.

Interesting that Mother Righteous says that mutants are connected to the White Hot Room as well. Clearly, not as deeply as Jean is. And this has been hinted before.

The Phoenix has an interest in mutants. Because Jean is a mutant? Because Jean cares about mutants as a caretaker of Xavier's dream? Because some mutants have a genetic connection to the Phoenix? Did the Phoenix have a role in the creation of mutants?

In X-Men Forever #3 and #6, Jean learns from the cosmic construction worker, Prosh, and the Stranger that humans/mutants can evolve to replace fundamental forces of the universe. When she bonds with the Phoenix Force again, fiery cosmic DNA strands shoot out of her and form Eternity. She then communes with Eternity and he tells her that they are OK with humans one day evolving to replace them.

In New X-Men, Jean's Phoenix Work was to disinfect mutants of Sublime, who was making mutants more aggressive and fight each other. She also stopped a dystopian future where mutants were being persecuted.

Quentin also ascended to the White Hot Room when he died at the end of Riot at Xaviers. It isn't shown but was described. Bumbleboy was absorbed into the White Hot Room by Jean after she atomized him. That entire dystopian future was absorbed into the White Hot Room in New 154.

In Warsong, the Phoenix came to destroy the cuckoo clones because the Weapon Plus program was going to use them to attack mutants.

The holo-emphatic crystal that Jean left Rachel, pulled Betsy and Rachel in the White Hot Room to protect them during the House of M storyline.

And of course, the Phoenix or Jean/Phoenix from the White Hot Room had a hand in guiding Hope to undoing Wanda's No More Mutants spell.

There was a panel where the Phoenix or Jean/Phoenix says to Hope, "wake up my child, our children need you". The "children" was referring to mutants.

In Defenders Beyond #5, it is said that Enigma is Eternity's enemy. As noted here, X-Men Forever #6 implied a connection between humans/mutants, the Phoenix, and Eternity. Btw, Storm once housed Eternity in her body (in a Fantastic Four story, I believe).

However, while the White Hot Room is said to be a mutant afterlife in this issue, in the past it was stated to be the afterlife for all beings. Jean built towers for the D'Bari there in Classic #43. Jean ushered the Greys into the White Hot Room at the end of End of Greys. Jean fought Korvus, a Shiar, in the White Hot Room in Jean Grey #11.

I actually felt for Mother Righteous in this issue. She just wanted her happy ending and yet again it was spoiled by Nathaniel Essex.

Loved Destiny as well.

This was an excellent recap/analysis, thanks and well done!

[HomoSuperior]

Herein lies the curse of the X-Universe: writers are expected to one-up each other by telling stories about stories, which amount to pedantic systems of organization. Rather than inhabiting the present and drawing upon astute observations for telling compelling character-driven stories about overcoming life’s challenges.

[Master of Sound]

TL;DR: Godlike computers that aren't bound to the rules of space and time.

Dominions are basically gods that exists outside of space and time. They can exist at all points, simultaneously. They can can be anywhere, everywhere, anywhen and everywhen. Each Dominion has control over a certain area and time.

They're also comparable super-ultra mega computers with infinite processing power. One usually achieves Dominion by assimilating enough beings/computers to have that capacity. You're fusing with/absorbing multiple societies to become a bigger hivemind.

Thank you so much my friend. That helps me a lot!!

[king of hybrids]

Herein lies the curse of the X-Universe: writers are expected to one-up each other by telling stories about stories, which amount to pedantic systems of organization. Rather than inhabiting the present and drawing upon astute observations for telling compelling character-driven stories about overcoming life’s challenges.

I mean, Enigma being just another Essex is arguably an improvement over being yet another Ewing metaphor for corporate/editorial/status quo while denouncing any IP he’s not currently writing for as elitists (complete with unnecessary jabs* against one specific team/IP) in that at least it’s no longer one of those meta threats that draws attention to issues in serial storytelling that cannot be fixed.

[JB]

Odds are it’s the issue that Enigma started as, effectively, four Dominions in a trench coat (at least 3 of which are rooted to the HWR itself) that is hindering the Beyonders and TOAA’s ability to restrain it/him. At a guess, those ‘limited’ realities probably coincide with realities that Moira is a mutant in (would it be a shock that Essex probably experimented on Lord Kinross or his parents?)

One thought, mostly headcanon to reconcile Hickman’s Dominions with the post-Inferno ones is that Enigma was able to to assimilate the processing power of all the AI Singularities after they were retroactively rendered braindead by the death of the other Dominions and machine gods in Omega’s timeline (which begs the question if the Trickster send Omega back to slaughter the mutants out of spite or as a means to an end to avoid Sinister and MR from using them)

Destroy Enigma and one of the Decks will take its ‘throne’. Best recourse is to clear the decks and allow squabbling Dominions resume carving it up between them.

Basically, to destroy Enigma and keep themselves safe from it, mutants might have to actively give the Machines and Post-Humans their preferred future

Fascinating. Thank you for this.

[Micabe]

Personally, this whole Dominion status thing is starting to lose my attention because so far none of it is living up to all the hype it's received.

Also See: Order of Dominions

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

Sooooo... It was explained that the Beyonders used the Concordance Engine to contain the (I guess previous incarnation?) of the Enigma/Dominion, which is why it only has a limited influence. What's stopping them them using it again to shut it down?

Doctor Doom killed all the Beyonders during Secret Wars.

[Micabe]

I thought the powers of the Beyonders were transferred over to Reed Richards, who used them to recreate the Multiverse as the Eighth Cosmos... Did Reed forget to include the Beyonders that were destroyed by Victor on purpose?

Seventh and Eighth Incarnations

[king of hybrids]

The Beyonders either got better or never ‘died’ because they’ve shown up since Secret Wars, most especially in Defenders Beyond where Enigma first appeared and it was mentioned that its existence was what terrified them enough to bring about a mulitversal death/rebirth cycle way ahead of schedule

[Micabe]

The Beyonders either got better or never ‘died’ because they’ve shown up since Secret Wars, most especially in Defenders Beyond where Enigma first appeared and it was mentioned that its existence was what terrified them enough to bring about a mulitversal death/rebirth cycle way ahead of schedule

Did someone say that this crown is the Crown of The White Phoenix or did I imagine that

Marvel's New Ultimate Villain Is a Metaphor for Disney - Theory Explained

[Micabe]

Loved the cameo by the Cosmic Construction Worker (a manifestation of Death).

For more about the Cosmic Construction Worker refer to Classic X-Men #43 backstory (1990), Excalibur #25 (1990), Excalibur #63 (1993), X-Men Forever (2001) #3, and Defenders Beyond (2022) #3. The towers and their scaffolding appear in Classic X-Men #43, X-Men Forever #3, New X-Men #154, and Defenders Beyond #3.

Interesting how Gillen has Mother Righteous say that the White Hot Room is basically the Phoenix since Ewing states in Defenders Beyond that it is not the Phoenix, but where the Phoenix is made. I do like how Gillen has MR use both titles, White Hot Room and afterlife (what it was called before Morrison named the realm the White Hot Room) since some fans didn't realize they were the same place.

Gillen also incorporates the various looks attributed to the White Hot Room (towers, desert, white space) in past issues.

Mother Righteous knew about Jean from poking at a Phoenix Egg for a thousand years. MR knowing Jean would be there in the WHR after being killed reminded me of how Sublime-Beast knew Jean would hatch from a Phoenix Egg after being killed by Magneto/Xorn. Sublime-Beast used Jean's Phoenix blood to give him Phoenix level powers and he wished to graft Phoenix traits into his army. Here, Mother Righteous wishes to use Jean's Phoenix blood to create a god-like being.

I love the explicit summation of Jean's connection to the Phoenix, "She is of the Phoenix in a real and unbreakable way. She guides it and it guides her, in a circle without beginning or end". This is basically what was stated in the Classic 43 backstory, that in some ways Jean and the Phoenix come from each other. Like Mother Righteous said, its very woo.

Interesting that Mother Righteous says that mutants are connected to the White Hot Room as well. Clearly, not as deeply as Jean is. And this has been hinted before.

The Phoenix has an interest in mutants. Because Jean is a mutant? Because Jean cares about mutants as a caretaker of Xavier's dream? Because some mutants have a genetic connection to the Phoenix? Did the Phoenix have a role in the creation of mutants?

In X-Men Forever #3 and #6, Jean learns from the cosmic construction worker, Prosh, and the Stranger that humans/mutants can evolve to replace fundamental forces of the universe. When she bonds with the Phoenix Force again, fiery cosmic DNA strands shoot out of her and form Eternity. She then communes with Eternity and he tells her that they are OK with humans one day evolving to replace them.

In New X-Men, Jean's Phoenix Work was to disinfect mutants of Sublime, who was making mutants more aggressive and fight each other. She also stopped a dystopian future where mutants were being persecuted.

Quentin also ascended to the White Hot Room when he died at the end of Riot at Xaviers. It isn't shown but was described. Bumbleboy was absorbed into the White Hot Room by Jean after she atomized him. That entire dystopian future was absorbed into the White Hot Room in New 154.

In Warsong, the Phoenix came to destroy the cuckoo clones because the Weapon Plus program was going to use them to attack mutants.

The holo-emphatic crystal that Jean left Rachel, pulled Betsy and Rachel in the White Hot Room to protect them during the House of M storyline.

And of course, the Phoenix or Jean/Phoenix from the White Hot Room had a hand in guiding Hope to undoing Wanda's No More Mutants spell.

There was a panel where the Phoenix or Jean/Phoenix says to Hope, "wake up my child, our children need you". The "children" was referring to mutants.

In Defenders Beyond #5, it is said that Enigma is Eternity's enemy. As noted here, X-Men Forever #6 implied a connection between humans/mutants, the Phoenix, and Eternity. Btw, Storm once housed Eternity in her body (in a Fantastic Four story, I believe).

However, while the White Hot Room is said to be a mutant afterlife in this issue, in the past it was stated to be the afterlife for all beings. Jean built towers for the D'Bari there in Classic #43. Jean ushered the Greys into the White Hot Room at the end of End of Greys. Jean fought Korvus, a Shiar, in the White Hot Room in Jean Grey #11.

I actually felt for Mother Righteous in this issue. She just wanted her happy ending and yet again it was spoiled by Nathaniel Essex.

Loved Destiny as well.

Fantastic Four #550 (2007)

Where was Eternity's consciousness prior to Doctor Strange implanting it into Ororo's body?