Rise of the Powers of X #1 - Review/Spoilers

[JB]

We're back with another recap that will do no justice to the book itself because it was mind-boggling. I'm keeping things really general because the details need to be experienced firsthand. The art is spectacular. So much so that I'm on my way to my LCS after posting this because though I love my digital I must experience this in physical.

We open with the preview pages. It's been 10 years and the machines have just about completely won. Omega Sentinel and Nimrod talk over Emma's corpse, OS saying that they can't be too confident because the mutants have always won and may find a way this time as well. But the mutants are running out of time because tomorrow they meet with and become one with their god.

Mystique and Gambit are the only survivors of a battle at the Gyrich Detention Center. Mystique tries to reach out to Synch via her mind but she's too far underground. She obtained knowledge they were looking for and so Gambit sacrifices himself to get Raven out. When she reaches high enough she connects with Synch who is able to receive the information from her. Sentinels descend around her and she fires at them saying, "Irene. I'm coming."

"The Broken Sword" station in outer space is where Professor Synch and the other X-Men (AI Tony Stark Iron Man, Captain Kamala Krakoa, Shadowtiger who is Kitty after consuming the Death Seed, and Wolverine) are. He has received the information, a location.

On the Orchis Forge Nimrod, OS, and Moira are looking at a huge monitor at the Worldmind. OS says it took them five years to build it with the knowledge of the technology of the far future she came with when she was sent back in time. The Worldmind will attract a Dominion, which will then incorporate them all into it. Moira says she's finally safe, that after 10 lives all she wanted was to be on the winning side and now she is.

Stasis enters the chamber to tell them that the remaining X-Men have breached certain files and now know the location of "he who must not be named." OS looks nervous as she orders increased security scans on Phobos right away.

The X-Men arrive on Phobos, AI Tony quickly killed by the defense systems. As Nimrod and OS rush to Phobos Nimrod says they need to activate Worldmind now and can't risk the mutants stopping their ascension. Moira activates it and Stasis, exiting the room, wishes them luck.

Stasis teleports away and reappears in South America outside the Vault! He meets up with Cadena of the Children and tells her it's time. The Vault opens.

The X-Men battle Sentinels, Nimrod, and OS on Phobos. OS tells them to turn their attention to Mars as the Worldmind activates and attempts contact to the Dominion. It's successful in making contact and the Dominion approaches. The art is out of this world.
Back at the Vault Stasis says while the AI's (OS/Nimrod) had 10 years to build the Worldmind, he had taken their future knowledge and gave it to a supreme intelligence he constructed from humanity's greatest intellects (we see on the screen Tony, Banner, Reed, and others) and because he put it in the Vault they had a lot longer than ten years to solve for Dominion. Instead of begging to join it, he wants to kill it. The weapon is a small black orb which he sends on its way. In a nutshell the orb consumes the sun which charges it and then it blasts the Dominion. It infects the Dominion and blanks out its constituent intelligences, essentially leaving it a husk with pure processing power. There's another sequence with the X-Men finding red diamond Sinister and Wolverine kills him. Also a cool moment when Synch recalls Apocalypse' powers and smashes Nimrod's face.

Stasis zaps the Children (we learn he helped create them) and is ready to insert himself into and take over the Dominion.

Except...





Enigma reminds the reader that the roads taken by all four Sinisters led to it. Enigma watched as red diamond Sinister kept resetting the timeline with his Moira clones and Enigma ensured that Sinister would never remember the timelines where he discovered the other three Sinister's or their Dominion attempts. Because red diamond Sinister was just killed by Wolverine, the Moira clones in this timeline explode and the timeline dies. Enigma exists outside time and space and says it cannot be prevented. "You are merely watching how I came to be. You are merely watching how I won."

Now we're somewhere called "No-Place X" with Xavier, Rasputin, and Doug! Rasputin killing Stasis was an attempt to stop him from reaching Dominion but she failed. Xavier says it's okay because though they prevented him nine other times, preventing Enigma from coming into existence was near impossible and it was inevitable. They tried their best and, as Charles says, they now must walk a harder path.

Rasputin asks what must be done and Charles at first doesn't want to tell her for risk of Enigma finding her along her missions and stripping the truth from her. She says if he wants her to continue then he must tell her, that she won't follow someone blindly again. He says very well, that he was hoping to spare her the burden of knowing. He points to a screen at where they strike next.

Rasputin: Hmm. What happens then?Xavier: The whole timeline falls apart, and the Dominion ceases to be. It's cut off at the root.



The final pages are two awesome data pages.

[JB]

The other explains the Dominion attempts of each Sinister and a summary of things which we'll just discuss together. It shows us that there are three elements that exist outside time and space: Enigma, the White Hot Room, and "No-Place X."

So we witness the collapse of one of the Moira engine timelines. I'm kinda glad because I'm not typically interested in stories set in the future so this twist is refreshing. The main story with Charles and Engima and No-Place is delicious and I'm thinking we'll see more of these Dominion attempts and timeline collapses.

I love this Charles Xavier. Not because I necessarily agree with everything he's doing but because he's being proactive and making moves. This might be the most I've liked him ever. Also it seems right that Rachel is one of the redacted names on his team (from what Steve Foxe has said) so I'm looking forward to seeing how her mission over in Dead X-Men fits into all of this.

[JB]

X-Men Monday Call for Questions – Kieron Gillen for ‘Rise of the Powers of X’ #1:
https://aiptcomics.com/2024/01/10/x-...e-powers-of-x/

For months, Marvel and the X-Office have been teasing the mysterious Rise of the Powers of X. Well, the first issue is finally on sale and, hopefully, you’ve had a chance to read it. If you have — and you’ve got questions — you’ve come to the right place, as writer Kieron Gillen is ready to answer them in X-Men Monday at AIPT.

Accepting Questions About: Rise of the Powers of X #1

Deadline: January 10, 2024 @ Midnight ET

[IN-a-Synch]

I will be stopping to get this. But I am disappointed at the end game here. Krakoa brought me back to the X-men after the Phoenix 5 Saga. Now I feel like the direction going forward will be a joke.
Thats assuming if they take out Moira

Who are the other two missing crew members?

[JB]

I will be stopping to get this. But I am disappointed at the end game here. Krakoa brought me back to the X-men after the Phoenix 5 Saga. Now I feel like the direction going forward will be a joke.
Thats assuming if they take out Moira

Who are the other two missing crew members?

I don’t think it’s guaranteed Xavier will accomplish his endgame. It doesn’t seem like he’s consulting with the remaining X-Men on this which could be a conflict point. I don’t think he’s yet aware that the majority of the Krakoan population is in the WHR which is also outside time and space. If he resets the timeline, does that impact them? Will they remember Krakoa? What about the X-Men like Cyclops and Kate and Emma? Do they reset while the others don’t? It’s a conundrum we have here.

[Jackraow21]

This was nuts, but I enjoyed it. Hard to follow all this, as it's very dense plot wise, so had to re-read it. Which I also enjoyed. The art was stellar. Good start to this series.

[Souther]

Excellent issue. I felt this was very much in the same spirit of Powers of X, not only with respect to the art itself (which was full of wonderful work by R.B. Silva), but also in terms of the storytelling scope. Kieron Gillen absolutely knows how to play in this sandbox with the remaining toys and I'm enjoying it.

I don’t think it’s guaranteed Xavier will accomplish his endgame. It doesn’t seem like he’s consulting with the remaining X-Men on this which could be a conflict point. I don’t think he’s yet aware that the majority of the Krakoan population is in the WHR which is also outside time and space. If he resets the timeline, does that impact them? Will they remember Krakoa? What about the X-Men like Cyclops and Kate and Emma? Do they reset while the others don’t? It’s a conundrum we have here.

If anything, the fact they've already mentioned it right out of the gate makes me rather suspicious.

They might well do something with Moira's power, but simply killing her off and going home won't be enough.

I'm also highly skeptical that Xavier will be the one to resolve everything.

[Nicoclaws]

Hahaha teasing for month that future X-men team and then erasing them, that's actually funny.
BUT it might be a misdirection too. We'll see.

[davetvs]

This issue gave me Hickman vibes in the best way, I'm here for it.

[Kingdom X]

This was nuts, but I enjoyed it. Hard to follow all this, as it's very dense plot wise, so had to re-read it. Which I also enjoyed. The art was stellar. Good start to this series.

My exact thoughts. Some of it definitely seemed like cosmic gobbledygook, but ultimately this is a far more interesting premise than another grim AU story.

Also I don’t think they’re gonna hit the full reset. Teasing it so early means that we have a lot of twist and turns along the way. As we’ve discussed on these boards a lot in the past few months, there are plenty of ways to go back to a more traditional status quo without retconning this era.

[JB]

This was nuts, but I enjoyed it. Hard to follow all this, as it's very dense plot wise, so had to re-read it. Which I also enjoyed. The art was stellar. Good start to this series.

Excellent issue. I felt this was very much in the same spirit of Powers of X, not only with respect to the art itself (which was full of wonderful work by R.B. Silva), but also in terms of the storytelling scope. Kieron Gillen absolutely knows how to play in this sandbox with the remaining toys and I'm enjoying it.

This issue gave me Hickman vibes in the best way, I'm here for it.

My exact thoughts. Some of it definitely seemed like cosmic gobbledygook, but ultimately this is a far more interesting premise than another grim AU story.

Fully agree with all of you. I also found it a bit more easily digestible than Hickman's PoX which took me some time to wrap my head around. Now I'll be studying the data pages all day haha.

If anything, the fact they've already mentioned it right out of the gate makes me rather suspicious.

They might well do something with Moira's power, but simply killing her off and going home won't be enough.

I'm also highly skeptical that Xavier will be the one to resolve everything.

Yeah this isn't going to go over well if/when the others find out Xavier has been erasing timelines and is now targeting young Moira. It's juicy though.

[RAWRlrus]

I don't understand how killing Moira defeats Enigma. If he's outside of time won't resetting the timeline be irrelevant?

Hahaha teasing for month that future X-men team and then erasing them, that's actually funny.
BUT it might be a misdirection too. We'll see.

I doubt this one is a misdirect. There was nothing in the solicits for this team outside RoTPoX 1

[Former Morlock]

I wonder if this is the secretive mission of the dead x-men - to kill Moira

[Saithor]

So...question, if and when Charles finally kills himself a twelve year old, will the writers and characters in universe stop trying to treat him as some paragon of moral virtues on occasion? Honestly sometimes I think he was better off having stayed dead. It was a lot more interesting than what happened since with him.

[JB]

Quit playing with me Gillen!