Knights of X #5
Writer: Tini Howard
Art by: Bob Quinn
Cover by: Yannick Paquette
The Story: Merlyn has finally tipped into full-blown madness: He’s sent his Furies on a campaign across the realm to burn everything in sight, and only those who swear fealty to the mad king will be spared. But there is still hope! A bargain between a powerful new ally and the Knights of X may just secure the Siege Perilous and the future of Avalon. Elsewhere, Saturnyne forges an alliance with a former enemy. But trust is a fickle thing. Will these new allegiances bring triumph or ruin for the mutants of Otherworld?
In Stores: August 31, 2022
“For so long, my life has been out of control. Chaos and serendipity, wrapped in insanity. I have suffered, I have lost. Not just my life, but my very soul, my self. But no more. Now I know who I am.” – Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock, daughter of Otherworld, mutant, telepath, telekinetic, defender of the realm and, above all, X-Man.
26 comments:
So... does it mean that Gambit is still alive? I hope it does!
Yes, I know that he was in the Hellfire Gala (or at least there was art showing his outfit for this year's Hellfire Gala) - but then again, so was Gorgon, and if I'm not mistaken, this new Gorgon is a completely different person from the one killed in Otherworld during X of Swords...
As for Betsy, it's great to see the psychic butterfly back! But I wish that her red vest was drawn shorter; the way it is drawn in these pages, it looks like a dress or tunic rather than a vest (but the art overall is still beautiful).
Gambit wasn't in the Hellfire Gala. His GALA design only appeared in variant covers to promote the Claremont's Gambit solo.
Anyway, I'm glad this boring story is finally over. I think we'll probably get a teaser of the new book in the last page.
@Nate X, Thank you for the information!
As for the new book, yes, hopefully we'll find out more about it in this issue. While I understand Howard's love for the way she re-created Otherworld, I hope she'll bring the action back to Earth in the new book - she did leave some plot points in it, with Pete Wisdom reforming S.T.R.I.K.E. and Clan Akkaba manipulating the United Kingdom (with Morgan LeFay either being behind Clan Akkaba or having been turned into their puppet - the last time we saw her, it didn't look like she was in control of her actions).
As for the roster, it's probably safe to assume that Rachel will be in it. Which could be nice, as Rachel is a cool character... but, if the book deals with S.T.R.I.K.E., I'm not sure if she would fit (I can't imagine Rachel as a secret agent, and I don't think she ever was one, unlike Betsy). ForgetMeNot could be cool, if he's not being used anywhere else. Gambit would also fit with this theme, but he has been so misused ever since Excalibur that maybe it's time for Howard to let him be somewhere else.
Thank god this nightmare (kox) was short... hoping her next series is only 5 issues too 🙏 or still have a small amount of hope she was just trolling and there's no third book..
Also on a positive note lol.. love that the artist gave Betsy some much needed hair volume in this preview
Cover nails the vest. Tight short and butterflyly open lets the Kylie Jenner thigh boots shine. The colorists don't collaborate the white tights keep missing.
Tini has me in a ditch to say Betsy hooking up with Ray is a good point for keeping Betsy relevant and connected to the X-Men. Betsy's that f'd up!
Oh and the Pink Floyd hair 🤮
Also I skipped issue 4 and had no idea Howard just dropped the King Arthur plot like nothing. I didn't even know he died lol Betsy challenged him in Excalibur 25 and then it was set up like they would rematch later but nope. I know plans change but maybe this talented writer shouldn't have tried to shove so many dumb plots in her book. But maybe that's what got her 30+ Issues and counting UGH
I'm amazed people defend the writing on this book. They're either used to staying up all night reading garbage tumblr fanfic, theyre trolls or both lol
I'm boykotting this book. I've spent way too much money on Howard's work. I want another writer to save Betsy. Btw, I'm also a little pissed that Steve Orlando has given Kwannon the same power set as Betsy, including TK. According to him, Kwannon can also manifest psionic swords and throwing daggers now. She used to be a low-level empath, maybe with a tiny bit of TP. How on earth could she get suche a power upgrade? It makes no sense.
@Mixia I guess it depends on what we take as fact with writers.
The Fallen Angels writer insinuated that Kwannon is in fact using Betsy's abilities (except a much smaller portion vs when she possesses half of Betsy's telepathy when she was Revanche).
She mentions to Sinister that when Betsy left that body she took a measure of her power (her as in Betsy's power) with her. That kinda implied that Kwannon retained a portion of Betsy's power again, but a much lower percentage than when she was Revanche. She actually went to him asking for a power upgrade.
She also mentions that Betsy is a superior and more powerful psi and that she (Kwannon) can not do what Betsy or Xavier can do.
However this is also the same writer who implied Kwannon was stuck inside Betsy the whole time, even though we know Kwannon was stuck inside Betsy's body as Revanche,and it was a body swap (and the two had already kinda made peace, so much Kwannon set it up to remove her essence from Betsy and returned Betsy's telepathy back to her restoring Betsy to full strength), Betsy was killed herself for awhile (so how would Kwannon still be stuck to her?), and Jamie recreated a brand new body for Betsy that was yes in Kwannon's likeness but not actually Kwannon's original body but technically actually Betsy's lol.
Just like how the body Betsy is in now, isn't actually her original, but in her original likeness.
So one could say both bodies were actually Betsy's that Kwannon and Betsy were in at the start of the Krakoa thing lol (though since Kwannon was killed, this may be her actual dna now that the 5 restored her).
Maybe the restoration of Kwannon body by the 5 Jumpstarted her X-gene more or something. Kinda like when the Sisterhood put Betsy back in her original body, it kinda was the start of restoring Betsy's telepathy returning.
Sorry to go down the rabbit hole so much lol. I do wish they just separated the two and just made Kwannon a creative Empath like they did with "Empath" in Marauders.
Betsy a telepathic/precog & Kwannon a telekinetic/Empath. I don't mind Betsy without TK because I found it more interesting when she didn't have it and had to be a more physical fighter lol.
In any case while KOX was definitely better than Excalibur, I also agree that Tini needs to let go of Betsy. I love how she was written in Dissasembled. I want that Betsy back.
@xman Agreed, they should make the two characters more different. And the whole story is so messed up that it's hard to get who is who. I was so happy when they put Betsy back in her old body in Mysteries in Madripoor, and she used her old TP tricks in battle instead of that sword. She doesn't do this anymore. Btw, Kwannon also died multiple times in her current body. Nobody knows what template they used for her current incarnation. The resurrection stuff of Krakoa didn't make Betsy's and Kwannon's story easier to understand.
Yeah thats what I was saying above lol. She died (Kwannon) so its probably her actual dna now and not the body Jamie made from scratch for Betsy lol. I'm at least grateful that part is over and will at least acknowledge that Tini did a decent job of resolving it with Kwannon stating they both were victims. I shudder to think how the Fallen Angels writer would have resolved it lol.
Single White Female the sequel. Revanche skins Betsy wears her and is a true Psyclone erm Psylocke.
@Randy Tini Howard also dropped the plot that Arthur was under Merlyn's spell and now he's being treated as just evil for the sake of being evil.
"I don't mind Betsy without TK because I found it more interesting when she didn't have it and had to be a more physical fighter lol"
I partially agree. I think the TK fits with Betsy in her Captain Britain identity, allowing her to create the sword and shield; that said, if she ever drops the Captain Britain mantle and adopts a new codename (since "Psylocke" is already taken by Kwannon), then she should drop the TK as well and rely just on her TP for stealth, communication and psychic attacks from a distance.
It woulda been easiest if when they split, Betsy kept TP and Kwannon was just a TK. No butterfly for Kwannon but she would still have Swords weapons etc and Betsy would be the 80s TP we remembered but nah Marvel botched the split of course.
...Or, you know, Betsy could have retained the Psylocke mantle and the "psychic ninja" title in her original body and Kwannon could have stayed in limbo.
There was no "split" to speak of, all Psylocke-related things, from the code name to the classic Jim Lee look, belong to Betsy Braddock.
Right but that didn't happen my point is they did it and didn't even try to do it neatly
They (JDW, Tini Howard) really thought they could get away with turning Betsy into a new character and keeping Kwannon as the Psylocke/Betsy we were familiar with. Remember how they were adamant that Betsy wouldn't use the butterfly anymore because she was "evolving".
Of course, they didn't expect the backlash, so Tini Howard came up with a dumb excuse that Betsy forgot the butterfly in Kwannon's body just to save face when we all know it wasn't true because she used in Disassembled.
Betsy was great in Disassembled ... Why could this series last as long as Howard's run?
The reality is that Betsy is in the same sinking boat with Kwannon. Both are trapped in imposed mantles that belonged to others. Betsy is a female Brian and Kwannon is a Betsy pretender.
@Mixia the Uncanny Disassembled run was short because the Hickman deal for Dawn of X was already approved and on its way. The reason Disassembled worked as a filler for the new X-Men era to coincide with the start of the new decade.
I see. They had this vision of Krakoa which is kind of cool, and I kind of liked the Moira stuff, but I'm utterly disappointed by what was done to Betsy. Kwannon was more acceptable when she wore that hood and couldn't speak English. You could really see that this was a totally different character from Psylocke, but then she started wearing Psylocke's uniform, and acting more and more like our favourite British ninja. She really is a pretender now. Sorry for being so negative, but this forum is the only place where I can share my disappointment. And it is relieving to know that there are people out there who love the character and feel similar about what's going on in the books.
@Mixia the voices of people who saw cultural appropriation in Betsy using martial arts and the Asian skin won. Now it is the age of reverse yellow face. Kwannon appropriates Betsy's Psylocke legacy and her powers as a tit for tat. Betsy is punished with an incompetent writer and male looking costumes.
The problem could have been solved with Betsy in her Disassembled Psylocke look and Kwannon as Revanche or ninja Psylocke with said hood and new ninja threads.
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