Wednesday, November 18, 2020

X-Force #14, Chapter 17, Hellions #6, Chapter 18 & Cable #6, Chapter 19 – X of Swords Spoilers

X-Force #14: Saturnyne draws the cards and summons Magik and Pogg Ur-Pogg for a rematch, a hand-to-hand combat without weapons. Pogg Ur-Pogg swallows Magik; however, Illyana learns that the large alligator surface is just a “costume”. The actual Pogg Ur-Pogg is a small troll-looking creature that Magik drags out of the alligator costume and defeats easily.
Magik wins.
Arakko 5 – 3 Krakoa 

A number of non-sensical contests follow. 

Torture endurance: War vs. Cable, Captain Avalon & Gorgon
War wins.
Arakko 6 – 3 Krakoa 

Contest of pushing boulders: Death, Isca & Pogg Ur-Pogg vs. Magik
Arakko wins.
Arakko 7 – 3 Krakoa

Battle under the sea: Isca & The White Sword vs. Gorgon
Arakko wins.
Arakko 8 – 3 Krakoa 

Eating disgusting food challenge: Redroot vs. Cypher, Captain Avalon & Cable
Krakoa wins.
Arakko 8 – 4 Krakoa 

Dance battle: Bei & War vs. Cypher & Wolverine
Arakko wins.
Arakko 9 – 4 Krakoa 

Labyrinth escape: Redroot & Pogg Ur-Pogg vs. Captain Avalon & Storm
Arakko wins.
Arakko 10 – 4 Krakoa 

Puzzle contest: Death & War vs. Gorgon & Magik
Krakoa wins.
Arakko 10 – 5 Krakoa 

Fashion couture contest: Redroot & War vs. Storm & Wolverine
Arakko wins.
Arakko 11 – 5 Krakoa 

Navigation in Blightspoke: Isca vs. Cable & Magik
Arakko wins.
Arakko 12 – 5 Krakoa 

Saturnyne then summons Captain Avalon and Redroot for a foot race in the Crooked Market. Knowing full well Brian is faster, Saturnyne rigs the match again and sends the Furies after Brian. While Brian is busy fighting them off, Redroot easily wins the contest. The point goes to Arakko, but since Redroot shattered a valuable crystal by accident in the Crooked Market, Mad Jim Jaspers shrinks her and traps her in a jar. Saturnyne warns Brian that he too broke many items in the Crooked Market and that he’s in Mad Jim Jaspers’ debt unless he asks for her help.
Redroot wins
Arakko 13 – 5 Krakoa 

Spelling contest: Bei, Death & Pogg Ur-Pogg vs. Magik & Cypher
Arakko wins.
Arakko 14 – 5 Krakoa 

Watching all the people you killed without looking away: The White Sword vs. Wolverine
The White Sword winds.
Arakko 15 – 5 Krakoa 

Resisting a rock siren: Isca & War vs. Gorgon, Magik & Wolverine
Arakko wins.
Arakko 16 – 5 Krakoa 

Killing a kitten: War vs. Captain Avalon
War wins.
Arakko 17 – 5 Krakoa 

Death and Storm are summoned for the next battle in Sevalith. Whoever draws blood first wins. After drinking with Wolverine, Storm finds herself without her powers and dizzy. Nevertheless, Storms puts up a front and impresses Death. Death decides to take off his hood and show his death stare. Storm protects her eyes with her blade, and Death sees his own face in the reflection. Ororo takes the opportunity and stabs him in the guts, drawing blood.
Storm wins.
Arakko 17 – 6 Krakoa 

Hellions #6:
The Hellions finally reach Arakko through the Dryador gate. Tarn, the Uncaring, an Arakki mutant, welcomes them and warns that all of the ten swords have already been claimed and that the tournament is well underway. The Hellions realize Mr. Sinister played them when Tarn uses his psychic powers and learns that Mr. Sinister only intended to collect genes of Arakki mutants. Tarn then summons other mutants under his leadership and warns Mr. Sinister to back off; instead, Essex releases genetic collection drones in the air. A fierce battle ensues between the two groups; Nanny is the first to die. Empath releases his hold over Greycrow and runs away towards the Dryador gate while Orphan-Maker has his arms chopped off and dies. Havok has his hands cut off and Greycrow is gravely injured by shrapnel. Sinister orders Kwannon to take the genes collected to Krakoa with Havok and Greycrow. Wildchild stays behind to buy them time. Wildchild is stabbed to death while Sinister is dismembered. Kwannon, Greycrow, Havok and Empath all reach Castle Camelot in Avalon and lick their wounds. Greycrow stabs Empath in the guts and warns him to drag himself towards the gate to Krakoa; otherwise he will never be resurrected. In Krakoa, the actual Mr. Sinister releases a dark smoke and kills all of the last remaining Hellions. Kwannon, Havok, Greycrow and Empath all die in Krakoa. Sinister retrieves the genes and puts on an act while warning the others that his precious Hellions were killed in an attack in Otherworld. 

Cable #16:
Sinister lies about what had happened to his Hellions and asks the Quiet Council to destroy the External Gate. Xavier replies that harming the gate is not an option. Sinister says his choice will cost Krakoa everything. In Dryador, Saturnyne summons Cable and Bei, the Blood Moon to a fight to the death. Cable gets the upper hand, but he is hesitant about killing Bei in front of Doug. Bei gets back on her feet and humiliates Cable. Saturnyne stops the fight and awards the point to Arakko since Cable’s death of spirit was enough.
Bei, the Blood Moon wins.
Arakko 18 – 6 Krakoa 

Cable attempts to reach out to Jean and Scott, but Saturnyne servers their connection. Jean and Scott decide to take matters in their hands. Gorgon and the White Sword are next for a battle to the death. The White Sword summons his fallen soldiers, each representing one of his one hundred swords. Gorgon slays 13 of the White Sword’s champions, giving Krakoa a narrow lead of 19 to 18. The White Swords decides to fight himself and gives Gorgon the option to be healed and serve him eternally. Gorgon rejects his offer. The White Sword stabs Gorgon through the chest. Gorgon dies in Otherworld.
The White Sword wins.
Arakko 19 – 19 Krakoa 

The final contestants are summoned. Apocalypse and Genesis will fight the last battle and decide the outcome of the tournament.

33 comments:

FSaker said...

So Gorgon, Nanny, Orphan-Maker and Wildchild are all dead for real. The body count is increasing.

And it seems Betsy's "death" (which we still can't tell if it's for real or not) will keep her out of action from the next issues. Honestly, if she isn't back before this event is over (and as herself, not this whole "coming back as a different individual" gimmick), I'll be severely disappointed with Howard's "love" for the character.

FSaker said...

That said, I'm curious to find out how Scott and Jean will factor in this tournament. Some variant covers for Destruction do seem to indicate they'll take part in the final battle...

Nate X said...

Nanny, Orphan-Maker and Wildchild died in Arakko/Amenth, not Otherworld. They'll be fine.

Another underwhelming week for the event. I can't wait till the X-Men get their asses back to NY. The Krakoa era sucks major ass.

FSaker said...

Is dying in Arakko okay, though? I thought the effect would be the same than if it happened in Otherworld...

By the way, the first issue of Excalibur was finally published in my country (collected in a single book alongside the first issues of X-Men and Marauders). I bought it yesterday but will only have time to read it today. But from what I remember about the opinions here, the first issue was considered good, right?

(Grand Design - Second Genesis was also published this month, but I still haven't found it anywhere; GD - X-Tinction will probably only be published here around March 2021, assuming we're still alive by then)

Unknown said...
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randybear said...

This event is such a busy. Even if the last few chapters next week improve it doesnt validate all the previous chapters. Its been nothing but filler.

Jordan sucks at planning this stuff. He's been mandated these weekly big events since Disassembled. Only House/Powers were interesting (not mind blowing but not bad either)

I hope this is the last weekly xevent and next year (because events are inevitable) they do something different as far as formatting.

I'm just happy this crap is over next week.

randybear said...

first issue of Excalibur i wouldn't say it was good its just an okay set up issue. Nothing really incredible happens in it but the art is nice.

I remember when #1 released and idiots on Twitter were already saying it was better than the original run. Thats their opinion but a short sighted and frankly a stupid one.

Kiki M. Ishola said...

I hate Tini Howard for robbing Betsy of a good fight in XoS. The event is a pile of stinky 💩💩💩 anyways but the ridiculous death Betsy had is the biggest crime. Meaningless and infuriating.

lucasg_i said...

Underwhelming issues like everything after Stasis.
So much filler ! And why are they still introducing characters halfway past the event ?
That being said Storm vs Death and White Sword Vs Gorgon were decent moments, that's what I was expecting.
Hellions was the only remotely interesting issue and it has nothing to do with the main story, but it has what the event lacks, good character moments and interactions.

Nate X said...

I thought Storm vs Death was pretty dull myself. Death didn't even try. lmao. very weak as a fighting sequence.

Psi-Girl said...
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FSaker said...

By the way, is Death dead? I hope not; I hope all four Horsemen can survive the XoS event...

...Well, Pestilence and Famine don't seem to be in danger, so my concern is about Death.

As for Kwannon, well, she died in Krakoa, so she should be able to be resurrected just fine.

Mixia said...

She was killed by Sinister in Krakoa, so I think she will be resurrected. He only wanted to make sure nobody knew about his theft of Arrako mutant DNA.

lucasg_i said...

Don't forget sinisterade the council believe they died in Otherworld, so we'll have to wait and see how that affects the protocols

lucasg_i said...

Except the Council believes they died in Otherworld, we'll have to wait and see what happens

lucasg_i said...

All the flights sofar have been pretty dull, they'll have better fights if they didn't over fill the issues with Saturnyne's stupid antics

FSaker said...

Good point; that may delay her resurrection as long as the Five believe Kwannon died in Otherworld...

Oh well, I just hope Death somehow manages to escape... well, death (no pun intended). But from the spoilers I've read, his chances don't seem too good...

But at least Ororo survived their battle (and this event). That's good.

Mixia said...

He also has a clone farm under his house. Maybe the Hellions who were killed weren't the real ones?

Psi-Girl said...
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Eduardo said...

I wouldn't have imagined Wolverine in a dance battle....anyway this event is full of bizarre touchs......
Didn't anyone care to check if Sinister's narrative was true?

Nate X said...

I'm pretty sure Jordan D. White and the writers added these non-sensical "funny" battles to pander to X-Twitter and the Xavier Files minions. It's the type of shitty humor they love (see Marauders).

Psi-Girl said...
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X-Man said...

@Psi Girl Kwannon was already revived and stuck in Betsy's body as Revanche. I know she died of the Legacy Virus, but still lol. Both ladies need to keep their own bodies and if I had my way powers and codenames lol.

SoulTapestry said...

Oh dear... so, regardless of who wins the final battle between Genesis and Apocodaddy, Krakoa is kinda screwed!!!

Whoever beats the wearer of the mask essentially becomes the next to carry the burden of the of Annihilation!!! Apocolypse wearing that mask can't be good news.

Psi-Girl said...
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randybear said...

Agreed. They love the mindless idiot fans on twitter with the banal "LOOK AT THEM. I LOVE THEM. LOOK LOOK AT THEM!!!!!!!!!! IM SCREAMING!!!!"

But if you have a question, or concern about a character you're completely ignored.

FSaker said...

Fortunately, it seems from the solicits that Kwannon will still be in her own body after this event is over. And considering how Betsy was returned to her own body in Mystery in Madripoor exactly because people at Marvel considered problematic to have a caucasian woman "wearing" an Asian body, it would make no sense to have both women swap bodies again.

My concern about the "queen" cover is that it could indicate Betsy may "come out wrong" if she really died in XoS and is somehow brought back to life - that, like Rockslide, our Betsy is "forever gone" (we know she'd eventually be back, but it could take a while) and this is a different person with her appearance. And White did indicate in an interview that the character in that cover may not be the Betsy we know...

Oh well, if that's the case, I guess we could just take some months (maybe years) away from the X-line and wait for Betsy to be properly restored, just like they did to Warren ("gone for good" in the Dark Angel Saga with his body becoming hosted by a new personality, then restored as himself some years later in Cullen Bunn's UXM run).

FSaker said...

By the way, I finally got to read the first issue of Excalibur, and while the story was good, it bothered me to notice that this issue already started to paint Betsy as someone who "stole from Kwannon", with both Morgan Le Fay accusing her of that and Betsy herself saying this to Brian. Apparently the fact that she was forced into another person's body (and that said person also took hers) isn't important to Marvel.

*sigh* One interesting thing, however, is that Saturnyne's involvement was already indicated in this issue, even though she doesn't appear in it (but is mentioned by Morgan). At least this shows there was some long-term planning.

randybear said...

Agreed. I seriously doubt Marvel will ever reverse the body swap. It would be a PR nightmare if it happened again.

randybear said...

This is what I've been saying since #1 released. I knew it would paint Betsy the wrong way..her declaring she stole the body just caused a bunch of readers (mostly new ones who were too young or not even born when the original body swap occured) to understand it that she stole the body. Zero context given for what happened just "Betsy stole kwannons body"

So stupid on Marvels fault but I feel it was handled that way marvel using the character as a scape goat to avoid having to admit the mistake they themselves made regarding the race swap and the readers have fallen for it. They place the blame on Betsy rather than the people at marvel who let the idea fester for decades. No one at Marvel has come out and said it was wrong they simply explain it as if Betsy has free will and did it on her own lol

Psi-Girl said...
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X-Man said...

Lol goodness I hope not haha. Then again "Jordan White" teased if that was really Betsy. I wish someone at Marvel would remember their history.

Unknown said...

This is probably the worst stretch of X-Men stories ever created. And that's saying a lot. They don't even look like X-Men stories anymore, which at their core was about the struggle of mutant kind. Yeah, remember that? You don't? Neither does this creative team...