Immortal X-Men #10

[norwichchris]

Echoing Blackcyclops, as cool as the ending reveal is and as excited as I am for what comes next, Xavier's inner monologue is the most fantastic piece of character work I've seen since PAD had Quicksilver explain how slow the rest of the world is to him. The bit about how it's Xavier's dream and not Xavier's five year plan to me perfectly summed up how Krakoa has not been the fulfillment of what we were led for decades to believe Xavier's dream was. And the bit about CHOOSING who to bring in to the fold and who NOT to bring in, I NEVER thought Charles would acknowledge that.

I agree, I can see Xaviers point of view and how he sees the world but where does the Moira X reveal come into all of this? at the start of HOX/POX we where led to believe Xavier was planning Krakoa all along and was only "playing for time"? it did leave a very bad impression of him and the comics in general.

The inner monologue though greatly improves upon this and is a fantastic insight into Xavier's mind but what is the end goal of Xaviers Dream? in his view. It's interesting in that he acknowledges how bad Magneto could be if he had his powers as in at least two of the movies his powers are used to destroy humanity and Magneto's warning to Storm about Xavier gets more weight here.

The part about choosing who and who not to though do wonder how much this was influenced by Moira X rather than Xavier?

If you think about all that has happened to him since Cassandra exposed his school to the world it does make sense he is trying to save his people and no longer worrying/caring about what humanity thinks, going as far as to threaten them to leave them alone. He does still want to live coexist peacefully but not at the cost of his people, Krakoa was inevitable due to the constant genocides and attacks against Mutants.

I love the idea he prevented a nuclear war so we no longer has to worry about humans trying to nuke there Island out of existence.

[das_boot]

I just came in here to say that this is one of the best single issues of an X-Men comic I have ever read. Just such a fascinating dive into Charles Xavier. Even after decades of reading and hundreds of issues it allowed me to look at the character in a new way.

I was going to post saying that while the mystery is cool, we can’t overlook just how Gillen peels back and evolves Xavier here. I thought those last few pages were a perfect encapsulation of Xavier’s change from the Carey days till now. And honestly who blames him? It’s important to remember that Xavier has gone having his evil twin return and exposing his secret to the world and endangering his students, watching mutantkind get decimated, facing off with his closest student as a mad god, dying, coming back and seeing mutants even worse off and so much more…like all of that would certainly changr a man’s way of seeing the world.

I honestly see this as a direct evolution of Carey’s Xavier in a way. In Legacy we got to see Xavier evaluating his choices and methods through the lens of being pseudo-amnesiac and attempting to make reparations and trying to do better.

Here we see him acknowledging his own shortcomings and his admittance that his dream might not actually be attainable

[norwichchris]

Here we see him acknowledging his own shortcomings and his admittance that his dream might not actually be attainable

I can't really bare that idea as it basically ruins the entire concept of the X-Men and flies in the face of all the evidence but there will always be those who hate mutants and mutants who hate humans that will never change.

[Holland Oates]

Here we see him acknowledging his own shortcomings and his admittance that his dream might not actually be attainable

I can't really bare that idea as it basically ruins the entire concept of the X-Men and flies in the face of all the evidence but there will always be those who hate mutants and mutants who hate humans that will never change.

Fighting an unwinnable war isn’t exclusive to the x-men. Organized crime will outlive the Punisher. The Avengers lose, in the end. The concept of the X-men is that they are regular people with extraordinary abilities that other regular people hate and/or fear.

[Jindianajonz]

So why was Sinister so determined to kill Hope last issue? I don't recall it being explained, so I'm guessing it's linked to the emergence of Xinister (has that been used? If not, I call dibs on royalties.)

I'm just spitballing a bit here, but why would Sinister suddenly draw all that heat? The only thing killing Hope really accomplished is that Synch got to step into the roll of facilitator, and he was the one who oversaw the resurrections of Hope, Xavier, Exodus, and Emma. I'm guessing that he needed Hope out in order to hijack the ressurection process and take over Sinister. This also means that Emma, Exodus, and even Hope herself may be under some yet-unrevealed influence, which would extend to anyone Hope has subsequently resurrected.

[Blackcyclops]

Well last issue, didn’t he target different people each time he tried his betrayal, until he came to a conclusion about who to take out and the steps to do so?

[Jindianajonz]

Well last issue, didn’t he target different people each time he tried his betrayal, until he came to a conclusion about who to take out and the steps to do so?

His goal was to kill Hope though. That's what Destiny announced on his first attempt, and he didn't give up until he succeeded. I saw the other kills as steps towards achieving this goal.

[Anna Raven]

This was one of the best X-Men comics I've read in years.

[Magnus]

So why was Sinister so determined to kill Hope last issue? I don't recall it being explained, so I'm guessing it's linked to the emergence of Xinister (has that been used? If not, I call dibs on royalties.)

I'm just spitballing a bit here, but why would Sinister suddenly draw all that heat? The only thing killing Hope really accomplished is that Synch got to step into the roll of facilitator, and he was the one who oversaw the resurrections of Hope, Xavier, Exodus, and Emma. I'm guessing that he needed Hope out in order to hijack the ressurection process and take over Sinister. This also means that Emma, Exodus, and even Hope herself may be under some yet-unrevealed influence, which would extend to anyone Hope has subsequently resurrected.

Good points. I originally thought it was just because he was trying to break resurrection (even if temporarily, maybe as a distraction?) but that doesn't seem to be it. Especially since him trying to kill Hope brings the heat on him in the first place. So I think you're right that maybe replacing Hope is where he got his 'in' to take over Xavier.

Hope was the only 10/10 for target priority, while Storm, Xavier and Emma were all 9/10, and Exodus 8/10, so maybe his plan had multiple contingencies with all the powerful psychics (and one regent) to influence? His scribbled notes then say "Hope + 3 others" so maybe he's just trying to gain control over a majority of the votes on the council? (4 isn't quite there, but it's close, especially since "Shaw can be played")

Re-reading last issue, Sinister says that he needed Hope on the council for part of his plans. I wonder why... is she just easier to kill in the council room? (Sinister has a reason to be there, less guarded maybe?) Or because he knew his only chance would be to kill them all at once and get them resurrected in one his one non-Hope resurrection?

[das_boot]

I just read it as a strategy thing.

Sure, Destiny or any of the telepaths on the council pose a threat to discovering Sinister’s plans, but Hope can do that AND take the power of any/all of the other council members and kill him immediately. Take out Hope straight away, and hope that the rest of the council are too shocked to act immediately and he gets a shot at them too

Also Hope is the worst so he’s right to want to kill her first

[Jindianajonz]

Sure, Destiny or any of the telepaths on the council pose a threat to discovering Sinister’s plans, but Hope can do that AND take the power of any/all of the other council members and kill him immediately. Take out Hope straight away, and hope that the rest of the council are too shocked to act immediately and he gets a shot at them too

But why act against the council at all, and why now? According to issue 9, Sinister is moving on to Phase 2 of his plan after some needling from Destiny about Dr Stasis possibly being the "real" Sinister. As Magnus mentions, Sinister states that phase 1, getting Hope on the council (and creating a Moira engine), has been successful. Unless this placement has already paid some unknown dividend, it doesn't make sense for Sinister's goal to be kill Hope and the council- why bother placing her if he's just going to knock over the table?

That's what leads me to believe that simply killing them wasn't his goal, especially given the decent odds that Krakoa could overcome it (as they did). Sinister had to have gained something from this attack, given the effort he put into accomplishing it. It makes more sense that his attack was meant to accomplish *something*, and then have Krakoa go back to the status quo of Hope being on the council for unrevealed reasons. And given what we know, that *something* is probably Xinister

[das_boot]

Maybe he was counting on killing Hope would act as a disruption to the resurrection process and he could swoop in as offering an alternative in exchange for more political power?