X-Men '97: Episode 5 Review/Spoilers

[Rift]

We open up to a big space battle between the Shi'ar and the Kree. The Kree are winning until Deathbird crashes through a ship's windshield. Then her Imperial Guard (including Vulcan and Gladiator, but not any of he Fangs) show up and help her kill their asses. They even bring down Ronan the Accuser.

Deathbird demands to know where the Kree's Supreme Intelligence is, but one of Deathbird's minions interrupts to deliver her a message from her sister, Lilandra. But it's not just her getting the message: it's being broadcast via Star Wars hologram to people all over the galaxy. She talks about how cool Xavier is for helping them beat D'Ken and quell the Phoenix, but then makes sure to slip in that she and Xavier are in love. In fact, they're getting married, so the people have a new step-emperor! Also, the armor-clad Xavier can walk now.

People are murmuring with unease, but Xavier seems pretty into being an emperor. Or rather, he's just trying to perform in order to appease people worried about his heritage. Later, he and Lilandra talk about it in their garden, and Lilandra assures him that it's all cool, people will be fine with him. Xavier suggests Lilandra bring them to Earth, and maybe they could even rule their empire while spending a significant portion of their time there. Lilandra brushes him off because she's not sitting on some dirt ball planet lmao. Xavier wants to see his kids (presumably the X-Men, but you never know with him), but Lilandra points out that families are black holes who suck you in with their drama. Xavier points out how HER brother nearly destroyed the universe with the M'kraan Crystal.

They take their convo inside, where they start undressing each other of their armor. Turns out that Xavier's able to walk via his armor's exo-ekeleton. Lilandra suggests inviting them to their wedding. She says he deserves a life on his own, not being beholden to them. But he could also be a peacemaker between the people of Earth and the Shi'ar, to help Earthlings grow and be educated. Xavier still has trouble letting the X-Men go, but at least Lilandra says that she'll at least consider staying on Earth with Charles.

Okay, Storm time. Forge is struggling in bed, dealing with the Adversary's infection. Storm tries to give him water, but he freaks out and smacks it out of her hand. The Adversary reminds Storm about how Forge lied to her and lead to her being depowered, but Storm says that he was also trying to help her. The Adversary keeps trying to sink the ship, but Storm refuses to budge and listen to some demon. All lives deserve saving, even Forge's.

Adversary keeps trying to convince Storm to let Forge die, then uses illusions to put her in a claustrophobic coffin. She guilts Storm by pointing out how, in the first episode, she told Jean how she wondered what it would like to be human. Adversary states that Storm feared her power, and she relied on the X-Men as her family to seek refuge from them. Then she starts choking Storm. Luckily, Forge arrives to help. He uses magic to blast the Adversary away, freeing Storm from her grasp. He binds her in magic Doctor Strange rings and sends her through a portal. He explains that he learned magic from his mom, and he has her book. Also, he's still suffering from the Adversary's bite. He tells her that the book mentioned this magical cacti called the midnight cholla, maybe that can help. But he doesn't have much time and doesn't want to die alone, so he'll go with her. Storm says that they can ride to get it together, "my love."

I mean, it's a little rushed and has elements of Stockholm Syndrome, considering the Adversary had them trapped. But I'm a Storm/Forge shipper, so I liked it.

Back in space, a member Shi'ar court announces the arrival of Lilandra and her consort to the throne. Xavier notes that the guy makes it sound like Xavier is Lilandra's pet, and he's into that. Lilandra says that he can bark later. So I guess you now have the knowledge that Xavier is canonically into pet play. A bird dude tells Lilandra that the people are at war and are feeling divided, so maybe marring outside her race right now is a bad idea. Deathbird shows up to drag Xavier some more. She invokes the Right of M'Dashaa. Where Xavier must pass a test of loyalty to wed a royal.

The challenge? Deathbird says he should have his memory of Earth and its people erased, and Lilandra must be the one to do it. Xavier ruminates about it alone, but Galdiator flies in and joins him. Xavier talks about how there's no real balance or harmony between Terrans and Shi'ar, if one of them has to lose all their memories of home. He also doesn't want to forget Magneto. Lilandra shows up and pleads for Xavier to start anew, forgetting Earth. He was treated horribly there by people, after all. Let it go. Lilandra also adds that the only other way they could be together is for her to renounce her throne and run away with Xavier, but Deathbird is crazy and she'd be a horrible ruler.

Xavier says that she saved his life, gave her a home and a few future. Her devotion is beyond measure. Perhaps it is time to show her his...

Back to Lifedeath. They find a cave said to hold the cacti. They go through the mines, and Forge apologizes for, well, everything. He also thinks the Adversary was his fault, since it was drawn in by his anger and self-loathing. Storm admits that she also had those elements to her, and confesses that what she said in episode one was true; she really does often wonder what it would be like to be human. In a way, Forge's re-powering machine failing is a blessing, because she is better as a human.

Forge tries to talk some sense into her by telling her about the dangers of white Europeans, but he starts wheezing and almost collapses from his pain. Storm wants to go grab the cacti, but Forge reveals why he wanted to go with her: he wanted to be the one to grab the cacti, which is in a dark, small, enclosed mineshaft.

Back in space (I thought this episode was called Lifedeath II? You're focusing on the wrong birds here.) Xavier has decided to go with the memory erasing. He renounces everything else, but hesitates to do so with his X-Men. Deathbird sees this as a betrayal. She goes on a tirade about mixed-race marriages before Lilandra decides to just have her arrested for sedition. Deathbird attacks her sister, but is stopped by Gladiator. A fight breaks out between Lilandra and Deathbird's guards. Xavier uses his telepathy to get into everyone's heads and force them into a classroom on the astral plane, where he is the teacher. He's going to teach them a lesson.

Back to Earth, Storm is crawling through a tiny tunnel. She finds the cacti, but the Adversary returns to revel in her anxiety and make it even worse. But Storm is stubborn and refuses to let the Adversary win. The X-Cutioner's weapon isn't the only thing tamping down her gifts; the Adversary's lies, which she came to believe, also weakened her. She's proud of who she is and refuses to be weak. Storm's powers return to her, and she fries the Adversary's ass with lightning. Storm shoots up through the cave, into the atmosphere and into space, where she grows her hair long and wears her black bikini uniform and thigh-highs. She flies back down and through the desert, through the water, enjoying and displaying her amazing powers.

Later that night, she remembers that Forge is dying in that cave. So she brings him home and applies the cactus aloe to his wounds. Storm tells Forge how the Adversary was a metaphor for their personal demons. Now that the plotline is over, Forge wonders what Storm will do next. Will they whisk themselves away to a tropical island? Storm admits that this is a great idea and Krakoa should definitely be adapted by season 4. But Forge ruins things by turning on the TV and seeing a news report on Genosha. A horrified Storm realizes that Hellion might have been hurt in the attack.

Back in space, Xavier asks his class where the Shi'ar draw their power. Deathbird speaks of violence. Xavier says that they built their nation on conquering younger cultures before they could pose a threat, then say they can help them if they join the Shi'ar empire. But only if they assimilate. (Do you get it?) That everyone, even people on Earth, falsely believe that for one to be more, others must be less. But why? This is dumb. The bird people are skeptical, and would probably confuse their people. And honestly? Xavier is probably not the person you should listen to. Yeah, you shouldn't colonize people and kill other races. They should defs stop that. But Xavier is an idealist who dooms his people by not just wiping out humanity or doing more to demand their rights. Hellion had the right way of it, he should be emperor here.

Xavier says that coexistence is messy, but they're all children of the atom, and Oh wait, everyone is dead. Xavier's classroom is now filled with skeletons. What was once a small classroom is now filled with millions of corpses. Gambit appears as a giant before him, before also turning into a skeleton. His children of the atom were destroyed.

Xavier is broken out of his trance, and they all return to reality. He tells Lilandra he will have to return to Earth immediately. Lilandra pleads with him to stay and convince the council of bird people of their ways, and that if he leaves now, he will only prove Deathbird right. But Xavier can't leave his people. He can't leave Hellion at risk. He loves Lilandra, but he can't abandon his kind. He will return to his X-Men.

Later, Bolivar Trask is running from a threat. He did what they asked, gave him his DNA to access Mastermold. He begs to die, as penance for what happened in Genosha. The threat hushes him, saying that Genosha was mere prologue for what is to come. He has nothing to fear. Place his faith in Sinister.

[Jackraow21]

This was Episode 6. Just FYI. And it was… fine. Obviously setting things up for the finale few episodes. This one and Ep. 4 have probably been my least favorite so far. On to the next one for this fan…

[Rift]

This was Episode 6. Just FYI. And it was… fine. Obviously setting things up for the finale few episodes. This one and Ep. 4 have probably been my least favorite so far. On to the next one for this fan…

Yeah, I realized my mistake when I was editing. I forgot I didn't make a thread for ep 5, and now the mistake is a scarlet letter upon my chest.

I feel like it wasn't as good as ep 5, which admittedly set a high bar. I liked the episode a lot, even the Shi'ar stuff. But I would have liked less focus on the bird people and more on Storm's stuff.

[Purplevit]

Ep 6 is probably my least favorite episode so far. Motando was at least creative with games.

Is it what we get without DeMayo?

[Jackraow21]

I think they needed a breather after the last one. So this was it. We’ll get back to the main plot I’m sure in the next one. Personally I’m looking forward to that, and Cable’s role in all of this. Bishop’s return (hopefully). And for Wolverine to do something besides simp for Jean.

When any of those things happen I’ll cheer. Until then… well, first two episodes were good, third was rushed, fourth was boring, fifth was a magnum opus, and this one was a valium to bring me down after that high. Bring on Eps 7-10.

[FlawedCoil82]

I don’t know…I just can’t really seem to get invested in this Storm/Forge “romance”. I feel like it was all done too fast and rather pointless. I was expecting her to be without her powers pretty much the rest of the season.

And I will say something that I know will put me in the lonely minority, but I really hope they don’t intend to keep Storm in her 70s uniform. One of my biggest pet peeves is to see X-fans draw the rest of the team in all their iconic, 90s glory….but then they, inexplicably, put Storm in her 70s uniform instead. I don’t understand why so many fans don’t like the more elegant looking white 90s uniform?! If she wears it temporarily that’s cool, but I hope the other characters don’t all start getting new uniforms. Oh! I was impressed by Storm’s Super Saiyan 3 ability to regrow hair!

[Nicoclaws]

The Adversary visuals are really scary ! Loved it.

[jwatson]

Really liked this episode. I also like they told stories in space, Charles coming back, and earth, Storm getting her powers back. Those two thing separate, but especially together, pretty much ensures cable won't be able to reset genosha.

[Havok83]

Nightcrawler replaced Magneto in the intro. Mags is dead. I look forward to Storm's new look being added next week

[Saturius]

I really liked the Shiar stuff. I think the show nails its messaging in a thoughtful way. Even though Deamayo didn't write this episode, you can tell his experiences have really shaped the show in a captivating and meaningful way. The way he's crafted the authenticity is unmatched.

The Storm portion just wasn't as strong as the Shiar plot though surprisingly. Now having seen the finished product of both parts, I don't think it should have been relegated to the "B plot." That was glaringly apparent in this episode. The Shiar part had more weight, and just made Lifedeath part 2 seem like an afterthought.

The Adversary though was suitably creepy. I loved his voice. The Storm/Forge romance still doesn't work and the Storm transformation into her 70s look with completely new hair was downright odd. Lifedeath just wasn't up to par and probably could have used a few more passes to make it better.

[Psy-lock]

The episode is not one of the best, but that Storm scene? One of the most epic moments ever.

[IllusiveGorn]

Was looking forward to a quality epic adaptation of space Marvel for a long time (GotG game was a step to the right direction, but still not enough), and this episode finally delivered.

If Sinister devised a plan to destroy Genosha independently (without Apocalypse, Cassandra or anyone else's influence), wonder if the next stage is to replace killed mutants with controlled clones like Madelyne.

[I'm a Fish]

Storm reciprocating Forge’s love should have come later in the series. She doesn’t have to be romantically attracted to him in order to want to save his life.

[DragonsChi]

I like this episode and I'm still blown away with the visual but...everything still feels very rushed. The writers were for sure trying to get all their favorite stuff in just encase the show didn't make it too season 3

[Mutant X]

I'm sad because Lifedeath is one of my favorite X-Men stories and what I watched here didn't live up to my expectations.

Ororo and Forge's relationship was not organically developed to make me care about it.

They didn't show Forge's past, so the Adversary and the magic powers plots came from nowhere.

They split Lifedeath in 2, but in none of the episodes it was treated as the main plot. The main plot here is Xavier.

And even the Shiar story wasn't very engaging.