Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2024

[marhawkman]

The light blue energy one. It's a useful balance between "useful sword" and "psychic lightsaber".

Speaking of which... I wonder if anyone still remembers the Two Soulswords Theory I came up with a quarter-century ago...

Hmm.. vaguely heard of it? Something about how the massive variations in appearance make sense if there's actually two of them?

[DigiCom]

Hmm.. vaguely heard of it? Something about how the massive variations in appearance make sense if there's actually two of them?

Not so much appearances as backstory. On the one hand, 'Yana created it during her training. But on the other, it's tied to Limbo and the symbol of its monarch (see various issues of Excalibur).

Some years back, on Usenet, I tried to make sense of it and came up with a theory that there were actually two of them (and that Magik was still alive, although that bit is irrelevant now). After a quick Google, I see that it's still online:

https://www.cuug.ab.ca/lapierrs/crea...cs/2ssword.txt

[Thirteen]

Hmm.. vaguely heard of it? Something about how the massive variations in appearance make sense if there's actually two of them?

Magik has been depicted wielding 2 swords in the Bachalo outfit but I don't think there has been an acknowledgment or explanation for that...

[sunofdarkchild]

Magik has been depicted wielding 2 swords in the Bachalo outfit but I don't think there has been an acknowledgment or explanation for that...

Those have all been in covers, never in a story, whether anon or not.

[sunofdarkchild]

Currently there are 4 soul swords in the Marvel universe, though I pray Marvel comes to their senses and it goes back to just 1 very soon. There's the sword Rasputin brought from the Sins of Sinister future. My hope is that she and her soul swod will go away forever once Gillen wraps up Rise of the House of X, and she doesn't seem to be around in any of the From the Ashes promotional material.

There's also the 2 soul swords Black Cat and Mary Jane gave to S'ym after splitting Belasco's soul sword. Hopefully that is never referenced again and both Belasco and S'ym act like it never happened, because that entire story ruins Belasco and the soul sword. They can handwave it as being an alternate timeline if necessary, but only harm can come from treating it as in any way canon. It's the worst retcon to happen to Illyana since the 'there's nothing of Illyana in the soul sword and she didn't create it' retcon.

[Veni]

[DigiCom]

Because I'm bored, and have a few spare moments, I'm toying with a new explanation for the Soulsword that is divorced from having to explain why Illyana is still alive (because, of course, she is).

It all hinges on just what Otherplace actually IS. We know that it exists outside of time, and has some connection to Promethium/soulsteel (I prefer the latter term, because it avoids confusion with the real element).

So let's play with that idea:

---

The dark mirror realm known as Otherplace (occasionally referred to as Limbo) was created when the heart of a cosmic being (possibly the First Firmanent?) fell through the planes to land in True Limbo. This heart, composed of a psychoreactive metal that adepts call "Soulsteel" acted as the seed from which Otherplace grew. Eventually, it was discovered by a group of elder gods who recruited a mortal sorcerer named Belasco to rule in their name. As he believed he was damned, the plane took on elements of the afterlife of his religious upbringing, including a population of demons.

As a sign of his regency, he created a sword by combining a fraction of his soul with metal from the plane. This blade, the first Soulsword, was incorrectly believed to be necessary to rule the plane, when in truth it was less a requirement, and more a symbol.

Indeed, when Belasco lost rulership to young Illyana Rasputina (aka Magik), she'd already created a sword of her own. It is unclear where Belasco's sword has gone, but it was likely destroyed at some point.

When young Ms. Rasputina died, her sword remained, passing from bearer to bearer, a few of whom took it as a sign they ruled Limbo. Few held the throne long, possibly because they never bound themselves to the plane as Belasco and Magik had.

However, a few months ago, Rasputina's sword was shattered, and a new Soulsteel weapon was created by the self-proclaimed Goblin Queen, Madelyne Pryor. This Scythe of Sorrows made her a true monarch of the realm, unlike earlier regents, and hence, when Magik reforged the sword, it lost its link to the plane.

---

Just some musings on a quiet afternoon...

[marhawkman]

Well... the RW element Promethium's name is a mythology reference though

[DigiCom]

Well... the RW element Promethium's name is a mythology reference though

True, but Prometheus has nothing to do with Otherplace.

[sunofdarkchild]

I assumed your theory was supposed to explain the whole 'there's nothing of Illyana in the soul sword and she never created it' retcon Marvel used to justify Amanda getting the sword and becoming the second Magik, thereby explaining how what Amanda claimed could be true while Illyana still created her soul sword by having them be different weapons, or to explain why the soul sword changed appearances in the Demon Bear story.

If it happened between the time Illyana was erased/deaged in Inferno and her return in Quest for Magik, it doesn't matter. The retcons were thankfully retconned back, no one has called Limbo 'Otherplace' in decades, soul steel was abandoned after the original terrible story it was introduced in.

Marvel did last year have a story that introduced the retcon that Belasco created his own soul sword long before Illyana did, but according to that version, he knew exactly where the Elder Gods kept it and now S'ym has it. This story was also absolute trash that needs to be treated as if it never happened like the Amanda retcons have been treated, and the very idea of Belasco creating a soul sword before Illyana ruins the whole concept of the soul sword in the first place.

Maddie got control of Limbo not because of her scythe weapon, but because she and Illyana made a magical contract transferring rulership.

I much prefer this theory, that Illyana's mutation gives her a strong natural connection to Limbo and her soul sword's status as a symbol of ruling Limbo is due to it being part of her. My 'addition' is that her power isn't over Limbo per-say, but over time, and since time is more malleable in Limbo her power has a greater effect there.
https://comicvine.gamespot.com/magik...-lord-1994499/

[DigiCom]

I assumed your theory was supposed to explain the whole 'there's nothing of Illyana in the soul sword and she never created it' retcon Marvel used to justify Amanda getting the sword and becoming the second Magik, thereby explaining how what Amanda claimed could be true while Illyana still created her soul sword by having them be different weapons, or to explain why the soul sword changed appearances in the Demon Bear story.

More that flashback story where the Soulsword existed before Illyanna created it, and also why Illyanna could be wielding the Soulsword but NOT ruling Limbo (as seen in New Mutants a brief while back). I've probably missed some stories that would support or undermine my theory.

[sunofdarkchild]

More that flashback story where the Soulsword existed before Illyanna created it, and also why Illyanna could be wielding the Soulsword but NOT ruling Limbo (as seen in New Mutants a brief while back). I've probably missed some stories that would support or undermine my theory.

Something like that may have been necessary if Illyana was still dead and Amanda was still Magik, but the moment Illyana returned all of the retcons to the soul sword that were used to try to get Amanda's time as Magik to work were undone. The soul sword did not exist before Illyana and the flashback where Margoli tells Amanda that the sword was her destin and Belasco appeared to say it would go to someone else first either never happened now or is so irrelevant it might as well have never happened.

[sunofdarkchild]

I have posted a new 'characters like Magik' thread on Twitter, this time noting the parallels between Illyana and the character Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn from the Sailor Moon franchise. https://twitter.com/sunofdarkchild/s...38681982845215

The full text of the thread:

On today's 'characters like Magik,' we have Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn from the Sailor Moon franchise, a character with oddly specific similarities to Illyana and a similarly tragic story.

Like Illyana, Hotaru is a young girl with immense power she cannot fully control that makes her an apocalypse maiden and a threat to all life on earth. Both characters were groomed by a father figure to destroy the world.

The specific way in which they were supposed to bring about the Earth's destruction was through the summoning of a Lovecraftian abomination, Pharoah 90 and the Elder Gods.

Both have difficulty in social settings outside of their closest friends, Kitty and ChibiUsa.

Both have a big sacrifice where they save the world from an invasion, and here is where it gets really weird with how similar they are. Upon their sacrifice, both Illyana and Hotaru are erased/deaged/replaced with a younger version of themselves, Illyana with her six-year-old self before being corrupted in Limbo, and Hotaru became a baby

This would not be the end, as both characters' older versions would eventually come back, restoring their powers and putting them back in the fight, though only in Illyana's case was her younger self killed off before her older self returned.

I don't believe Naoko Takeuchi was influenced by the story of an X-Men spinoff book, even if New Mutants was less obscure 30 years ago, so the shared 'sacrifice=returning to childhood' plot point is a remarkable coincidence.

If I ever continue my 'Limbo Queen, Moon Princess' fanfic to season 3, these two apocalypse maidens would meet, and the strong parallels between Illyana and Hotaru would be explored there. They have walked such near-identical paths that they could almost be sisters.

[Woozie]

Rasputin's Soul Sword is just an alt timeline Illyana's Soul Sword, so I don't see why it matters that it exists. Like beyond Rasputin just being around, It's still the same one Illyana forged.

[juan678]