X-Men '97: Season Two #4 Art

X-Men '97: Season Two #4 Spoilers

Spoilers: X-Force followed the pull of the Opal of Ozymandias to an ordinary-looking American town secretly controlled by Clan Akkaba. Psylocke sensed that nearly every mind nearby had been fitted with psi-blockers, yet she also detected an ancient presence drawing the opal toward it. Although she did not believe they had found War, the signal suggested that they were finally closing in on the Horseman’s trail.

While Jubilee and Sunspot posed as stranded travelers, an elderly resident welcomed them inside before he and his wife revealed themselves as armed cultists. After subduing the pair, Jubilee warned Cable that the entire town appeared to serve Apocalypse. Cable, Psylocke, and Archangel encountered similar resistance inside the local elementary school, where they defeated more followers and stole their freshly laundered robes to infiltrate the Clan’s gathering.

At the ceremony, Ozymandias rejected a worshipper’s request to use Apocalypse’s rejuvenation chamber, insisting that it belonged only to his master and the woman chosen to stand beside him. He then presented Famine—Autumn Rolfson—wearing a bridal dress. Ozymandias recalled how her uncontrollable mutant power once caused food to wither in her hands until Apocalypse transformed her, while Famine boasted that she could now destroy far more than what was on her plate.

Convinced that Famine could bear Apocalypse’s heir, Ozymandias called her a far better candidate than Pestilence. He then warned her about Candra, who had joined Apocalypse after Rama-Tut’s defeat and became the only woman he regarded as his near-equal. Candra secretly persuaded him to share a fragment of his power, then attacked him in a moment of weakness and fled, using the stolen energy to become an immortal External—a betrayal Apocalypse never forgave.

Before the ritual could continue, Exodus arrived with his Acolytes and denounced Apocalypse as a fallen prophet, arguing that Magneto’s vision offered mutantkind a nobler path. Exodus then revealed that he had penetrated Ozymandias’s psi-blockers and that locating one of Apocalypse’s rejuvenation chambers had been his true objective all along. He intended to use the chamber to resurrect Magneto. As the rival factions confronted one another, Cable searched Ozymandias’s quarters and recovered enough prophecies to anticipate War’s next moves.

Ozymandias refused to surrender the chamber, and fighting erupted after Famine struck one of the Acolytes. Exodus ordered his followers to defend one another, while Ozymandias branded them apostates and commanded Clan Akkaba to purge them. After recognizing Rusty and Skids among the Acolytes, Jubilee warned X-Force that although they had entered the town searching for a man named War, an entirely different kind of war had found them instead.

X-Men ’97 Week, Part Three: Psylocke Uncovers Apocalypse’s Secret

05 • COMIC BOOK

X-Men ’97: Season Two (Vol. 1) #3

X-Force’s next mission took them to a clandestine auction of rare artifacts in Madripoor, where Pestilence unleashed her plagues in a desperate attempt to seize an opal recovered from one of Apocalypse’s tombs and regain his favor. When X-Force stormed the auction, Psylocke joined her teammates in battle and observed that the Horsemen had begun turning against one another. Pestilence confirmed her suspicions by declaring that neither X-Force nor Famine would stand in her way. Archangel ultimately defeated Pestilence, allowing the team to escape with the opal.

Aboard their jet high above the Pacific, tensions remained high as the hunt for Apocalypse continued. Psylocke stepped forward holding the glowing red gemstone and identified it as the Opal of Ozymandias. She recounted how Ozymandias, once a pharaoh’s son consumed by his pursuit of power, had been overthrown by En Sabah Nur—Apocalypse—and cursed with prophetic vision and eternal servitude as the chronicler of the tyrant’s deeds throughout history.

When Cable impatiently demanded to know whether the artifact retained enough power to locate Apocalypse, Psylocke remained unfazed. Purple butterfly energy bloomed around her face as she activated her psychometric abilities and reached into the memories preserved within the stone. The accumulated anger, pain, and relentless will to survive nearly overwhelmed her. More unexpectedly, she discovered the X-Men themselves woven into Apocalypse’s ancient past, revealing that their histories were far more deeply entangled than she had realized.

With Cable’s assistance, Psylocke pushed deeper into the opal’s memories. They witnessed the newly named Apocalypse vowing vengeance against the remnants of Rama-Tut’s empire while embracing Candra and testing her suitability as his queen. The visions then shifted to Ozymandias discovering Rama-Tut’s hidden technology, only to be ambushed by Apocalypse and transformed into an immortal seer condemned to record his conqueror’s deeds for eternity.

The visions continued as Apocalypse brought a massive boulder down upon the crusader Bennet du Paris to teach him that “survival is not enough.” Psylocke and Cable then witnessed Ozymandias advise Apocalypse to father an heir rather than continue searching for a new vessel. When the face of Famine suddenly emerged within the memories, the psychic connection surged beyond Psylocke’s control and violently hurled both her and Cable backward across the jet.

Archangel rushed to steady the shaken Psylocke as she voiced her fear that Apocalypse’s heir might already have been born and hidden from the world. Cable recovered and immediately relayed the revelation to the rest of X-Force. Their mission had suddenly become far more dangerous: they were no longer simply hunting Apocalypse, but preparing for the possible existence of his secret child.

PUBLICATION NOTE • ONGOING

The Story Continues

X-Men ’97: Season Two is still ongoing. Issues #4 and #5 are scheduled for release on September 2 and October 14, 2026, respectively. The story of X-Force and Psylocke then continues in Episode 2 of the animated series.

X-Men ’97 Week, Part Two: Psylocke Trains the New X-Force

04 • COMIC BOOK

X-Men ’97: Season Two (Vol. 1) #2

After Jubilee and Sunspot were successfully recruited into X-Force, Psylocke relentlessly drilled the young mutants in hand-to-hand combat at the team’s clandestine base. She pushed the young mutants far harder than their standard training sessions, emphasizing that their enemies strike to kill and there is no room for hesitation in X-Force.

Cable and Archangel interrupted the sparring session to distribute new tactical uniforms to the recruits. Cable immediately initiated a mission briefing, explaining that former Horseman War was actively establishing safe houses to orchestrate Apocalypse’s return. To stop this, X-Force needed to hunt down Apocalypse’s remaining Horsemen—War, Famine, and Pestilence—by utilizing the psionic tracking abilities of the mutant Caliban.

The team descended into the dark Morlock tunnels beneath New York City to search for their tracker. An encounter with an elderly Morlock named Annalee quickly proved to be a trap. X-Force was suddenly ambushed by a militant group of mutants known as the Acolytes.

A fierce battle erupted in the underground corridors as the Acolytes attacked through a thick cloud of smoke, courtesy of Amelia Voght. Psylocke engaged in close-quarters combat, utilizing her psychic blade to strike down Barnacle, while Cable exchanged heavy fire with Frenzy. During the standoff, the Acolytes revealed they were in the tunnels to recruit the surviving Morlocks into a new movement led by Exodus.

While the two factions argued, Jubilee located a terrified Caliban hiding in the shadows. After a gentle plea, Caliban agreed to point them in the right direction to stop Apocalypse. Unwilling to wait, Psylocke sneaked up behind Caliban and violently amplified his tracking powers with her telepathy, forcefully extracting the target locations from his mind against his will.

Jubilee was furious at the violation, shouting that Caliban had already been willing to help them. Psylocke remained entirely unrepentant, coldly stating that Apocalypse plans in eons and X-Force did not have seconds to spare. With the necessary coordinates acquired, Cable commanded the team to lock and load, leaving the Acolytes behind as they set off to eliminate the targets on their strike list.

X-Men ’97 Week, Part One: Psylocke Joins X-Force

01 • COMIC BOOK

X-Men ’97: Strike Files Infinity Comic (Vol. 1) #2

Believing that Apocalypse will eventually return, Cable recruits Psylocke and Archangel—both former victims of the villain—to form his new team: X-Force.

Reflecting on his past, Cable recalls the painful death of Askani, the woman who raised him. In her final moments, she prophesied that he would become the “cable” binding the past, present, and future. She explained that he was destined to carry this heavy burden and face Apocalypse because he is strong enough to endure the pain, and because the villain fears Cable’s deep understanding of human connections.

Snapping back to the present, a hardened Cable reveals his true intentions. He warns Psylocke and Archangel that X-Force’s foundational mission is not just to stop Apocalypse, but to absolutely and completely destroy him, giving them a final ultimatum: fall in line with the cause or get out of his way.

02 • COMIC BOOK

X-Men ’97: Season Two (Vol. 1) #1

Psylocke and X-Force investigated Clan Akkaba, a cult that worshipped Apocalypse, hoping to uncover details about his planned return. Because the captured cultists preferred death over revealing any information about their “High Lord,” the team decided to use a captive clansman as bait. Their objective was to lure out the Alliance of Evil, a group they believed were Apocalypse’s low-rent lackeys.

The trap worked flawlessly, drawing the Alliance of Evil into an abandoned bar where X-Force immediately engaged them in battle. During the violent clash, Cable and Archangel launched a direct attack against Tower, while Psylocke maneuvered to strike Timeshadow from behind.

After neutralizing the initial threats, the team cornered Stinger, the final remaining member of the Alliance. Psylocke stood by and remained completely silent while Cable interrogated their captive. During the interrogation, Stinger mistakenly assumed the team was the X-Men, prompting Cable to coldly correct her, remarking that they were nothing like the X-Men.

03 • ANIMATED SERIES

X-Men ’97: Season 2, Episode 1 — “Days of Past Future”

During a strategic briefing, Cable reflected on the impending reign of Apocalypse, declaring that their small group was all that was left to stop the villain.

Standing confidently with her arms crossed, Psylocke delivered a critical intelligence update. She informed Cable that she had successfully managed to pick up a trail of the last of his horsemen. Maintaining her composure, Psylocke further warned the team that their intel indicated this remaining enemy would be a bit of a handful.

After the blue-skinned Archangel asked what their next move should be, Cable stepped forward and handed a confidential dossier directly to Psylocke. She took the folder and opened it, carefully examining the contents alongside Archangel. As Psylocke studied the document—which revealed photographs of young mutants like Jubilee and Sunspot—Cable walked past her toward the ship’s cockpit, announcing that their immediate mission was recruitment.