The Acolyte, “Night”, Part I Review!

Re:cap - “Day”; Sol is searching with the group and then stops. Osha says he stopped her from facing Mae before. She says she feels different, able to face Mae now, I think connecting to the Force again, she couldn’t use the Force to pull Pip on the prison ship. Sol says she will face her past, he will too?, he says he will explain everything when Mae is returned to the ship. Facing the past makes me think of Mortal Kombat (1995), “Face your worst fear.” Mae runs and then falls with orange pollen poofing upwards? She sees Bazil who roars. Yord tells the others that he found Mae!

He tells Osha to stay behind. Mae runs to Kelnacca’s home. Tense music. She says Master Kelnacca’s name, but finds him in his chair. He is slumped over with a smoking lightsaber wound! Mae whispers, “He’s here.” The Master killed Kelnacca! Then, the light fades with sundown. The Jedi assemble in a line. One of the Jedi gives the order that anyone should come out with their hands up. Yord adds that the order is for Mae Aniseya! She looks around Kelnacca’s home. Sol senses something and turns. A closeup of Osha as a dark form floats down! The Jedi all turn to face it and then Osha who sees the dark helmet, had to write that one!, of this man. It is ridged with a strange teeth-like smile. 

Great fear in Osha’s shocked expression. The dark stranger ignites his red-bladed lightsaber and holds it in front of Osha! All of the Jedi activate their lightsabers! Sol tells Osha to run and they charge! The dark warrior gestures throwing Osha with the Force! Then, reaches out and throws all of the Jedi back with a massive Force Push that sends up a cloud of dust!  Fade to black. “Night” is directed by Alex Garcia Lopez who also directed last episode. The writers are Kor Adana and Cameron Squires. Adana was the co-writer of last episode. Squires was the co-writer for WandaVision episode, “Breaking the Fouth Wall” (2021). We get dreaded music as we close in on the unconscious form of Osha. 

Leaves drift down on her. She wakens with a gasp, then starts to look for PIp, and then picks him up. In the distance she hears lightsabers. Then, falls into the orange pollen, Osha turns to see the dead face of a Jedi! She stands up and sees the pollen in paths like fingers, symbolic, the Power of Many? One leads to Kelnacca’s home. Osha sees through the trees lightsabers clashing, an impressive shot! The Stranger weaves around the Jedi cutting them down! He bashes lightsaber blades with his helmet temporarily shorting them out! It is made up of cortosis. This was a material that was familiar to me from the comic book, Jedi Council: Acts of War (2001). The first appearance of cortosis was actually in I, Jedi (1998), the novel by Michael A. Stackpole. It entered canon with the novel, A New Dawn (2014). 

Yord crosses his lightsaber with the Stranger’s blade in a block. Then, the Stranger strikes Yord’s leg with a shiim, an edge wound like Dooku inflicted on Obi-Wan in Attack of the Clones (2002); GC-PT2. Two Jedis find their lightsabers reignite and engage the Stranger again. He slices one in the stomach and then runs his blade through another, then drags another in a shish kabob slaughter! Osha takes out her stun blaster as the Stranger closes on Yord still on the ground, but with his lightsaber out. She fires, but the bolt just rings on his armor. He turns and Yord screams for her to run! Osha starts to run and the Stranger follows. Mae sees this and looks around then finds Kelnacca’s lightsaber which she picks up. 

Osha runs through the jungle and then takes out a glowrod to look around, tense. The Stranger throws his lightsaber which twirls at her! Sol deflects it and the lightsaber slices through three trees before returning to the Stranger’s hand! The trees snap back and it is the two foes facing each other! Osha takes out the stun blaster and Yord has his lightsaber ready. Sol tells Yord, “Civilian to the ship!” He sends Osha back with a Force Push and Yord pulls her away. The music is intense as Sol has lightaber on guard. Then we get the titles! Bazil is running in the jungle, Yord and Osha join him, he convinces Osha to continue to the ship. The Stranger speaks in his distorted voice, noting that Sol doesn’t recognize him, a Youngling rejected as a Padawan? Sol says he senses “something familiar.” 

The duel begins! They withdraw and the Stranger’s raspy breath in his helmet is heard. Sol says his lightsaber is a Jedi weapon, but he is no Jedi! Mae exits Kelnacca’s house, but she is struck by Jecki’s flying kick! They both fall and then start fighting hand to hand! Jecki Force Pushes Mae through Kelnacca’s door! Mae swung around and Jecki puts a binder on one of her arms. Jecki makes the arrest, of course important, but she was just knocked back along with other Jedi by a powerful Force user, priorities Padawan! Mae flips back and Jecki continues, her relentlessness is more in line with Yord. Mae swings with her knife and kicks Jecki out of the house. The lightsaber duel continues with The Stranger pushed back with his lightsaber. Sol says the Stranger trained Mae and wants to see his face. 

His opponent says it would allow the Jedi to read his thoughts like Magneto’s helmet, though the Force only works on the “weak-minded.” A move over Sol’s lightsaber as he asks, “What Master hides his face fom his pupil?” Kudos to director Cameon Squires with hours of films, television, and cartoons, there are great shots of lightsabers in this ep! The Stranger puts the question back on Sol, I think doesn’t refer to himself, could it be Osha? H was duplicitous with her? Shift back to the Jecki and Mae fight, she cuts the Padawan’s leg and Jecki screams! This is heard by Osha and Yord who says they should continue with the dangerous Stranger. Cut to the duel with Sol and the Stranger who kicks him back! Sol pants, then sweeps his lightsaber across, but there is no sign of his opponent.   

Osha asks Yord about the Stranger and he says he doesn’t understand the Stranger’s fighting style. Yord says he gets into his head and Osha says Mother Aniseya did the same. I suspect the Stranger has a connection with the coven. Possibly an apprentice to Mother Aniseya? Also, this gives perspective on how Sidious was able to easily defeat several Jedi Masters with his lightsaber. Yord realizes that they lost Bazil. Suspicious, his part in all of this, Bazil keeps missing even as a guide. Mae has her knife to Jecki’s throat. Jecki forces the knife forward and then reverse head butts her into the pollen! Jecki locks the binders on Mae’s arms and Force pulls Kelnacca’s lightsaber. She hears the wind and then the dark shape of the Stranger runs towards her! Jecki instantly ignites her lightsaber and there a few quick strikes before the Stranger kicks her in the side! He wants Mae to watch the Padawan as he prepares to finish her! 

The Stranger says she is loyal. Jecki lashes out and then leaps striking his cortosis weave helmet! He attacks, but Jecki pulls out another lightsaber to block! The lightsaber style of Ahsoka Tano who used a lightsaber shoto when she was younger! Her first lightsaber ignites and she attacks with her two lightsabers! Mae uses her legs to slip under the binders and starts to run. The Stranger slices apart the lightsaber in her right hand! Then, he is gone again. She drops the lightsaber which still must have its Kyber crystal. Yord’s yellow lightsaber lits the misty jungle along with Mae’s glowrod. She whispers for him to deactivate his lightsaber, the umbramoths! He notices the masses around the trees are missing and closes his weapon. 

The lightsaber duel continues, The Stranger headbutts Sol’s lightsaber, and they fight hand to hand. Jecki cuts in screaming and then bashes the Stranger’s helmet with her elbow several times until it flies off! The Stranger pulls apart his lightsaber to stab Jecki three times! Sol screams out and then Jecki falls. Shocking that it is not just unnamed Jedi, but a character we know! Maybe the pollen will patch up Jecki, we’ve seen so many recover from fatal lightsaber strikes, but not this show. The Stranger closes down his lightsabers and his face is revealed, it is the person we saw as Qimir! Well done Jacinto, he kept his lightsaber training a secret in interviews. It is difficult to watch and rewatch the death of Jecki. I hope she has a comic book or novel that fills in her story. The villain is revealed in “Night”, I suspect still the apprentice, not the master, but The Acolyte is still has secrets and mysteries!  

Five Lightsabers (one for poor Jecki) out of Five!  

#AlexGarciaLopez, #KorAdana, #CameronSquires, #AmandlaStenberg, #LeeJungJae, #CharlieBarnett, #DafneKeen, #HassanTaj, #MannyJacinto 

X-Men `97, “Tolerace is Extinction Part 3”, Part II Review!

The first season of X-Men `97 concludes with the future set for the X-Men and the danger to the Earth! Bastion collides with the base of Asteroid M! Alarms sound and the gravity core crackles with energy. Bastion, in his upgraded form, reaches for the gravity core. Then, he hears, “His name was Gambit.” Rogue flies towards him with her fist and screams, “Remember it!” Her fist connects with Bastion’s face and he is tossed to the floor. Shoryuken! Rogue flies with Bastion crushed against the station floor! He is thrown out of Asteroid M and Rogue continues to bash him in space! Bastion is knocked to the Blue Area of the Moon, an ancient city which was the battleground with the Phoenix.

Rogue lifts up his head and then hits him with Incredible Hulk slap, Sonic Boom! She lands and sees Bastion plowed through the surface. He lifts himself up, Round 2, and Rogue flies towards him. Bastion teleports away, coward, and then back to get Rogue in a choke hold. He flies upward as Rogue to tries to punch his arm. She starts to choke when Bastion is hit by a blast. Bastion turns to Roberto whom he calls the “disowned heir.” Roberto is blazing with power and says, “The name’s Sunspot!” Great that finally he comes into his code name! He gathers up his power and the explosion is seen from a Tokyo street! Reports come in about the conflict. This is relayed to President Kelly. Black Panther, T’Chaka (Isaac Robinson-Smith), says that history will not forget his decision!  

Captain America, unmasked, agrees with King T’Chaka. The change from T’Challa might be because of the MCU. The president eyes the file of Magneto as an Omega level mutant. His stats reminds me of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, games, and trading cards. Then, thecloss the file for the Magneto Protocol. This was satellites designed to stop Magneto’s powers, which would help in this situation, it was in Uncanny X-Men #304 (1993). Cap turns away looking remorseful. The storm rages against the bar window of Magnus’ mind. Magnus says the water is cold looking at his reflection and Xavier says that it is the “dark pain” he carries with him. We see the boat tossed in the sea. Xavier says he also has that pain. He says that the pain can carry them to others who also fight their darkness. 

We see on the boat Rogue, on the side are Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver and on the other side, Polaris, Magnus’ children in shadow. Magnus mentions Rogue. The narratives of the X-Men trying to save the world paralleling the more pivotal, quieter confrontation of Xavier and Magnus is brilliant. The walls of the bar are leaking water, the level is at calf height. Magnus says she left him, referring to his wife, Magda, the mother of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Then, also says Xavier left him. He feels betrayed and Xavier says Magnus has done the same to him, “countless times.” Xavier says they are brothers, yes, as mutants. Magnus goes to his knees realizing that he can’t see the faces of his parents! The waters build outside the window. 

The waters begins to cover them to the shoulders, Magnus says he is cold, and Xavier puts his arm around him. Magnus starts to hear the marching of Nazi boots, the ones who took his family, the window shatters and the tide sweeps in! In the X-Jet, Magnus and Xavier’s faces read the struggle. Outside, the battle continues, round 3!, Bastion forms energy that begins to draw in Rogue and Sunspot!, then he projects a blast that tosses them away! Bastion flies towards Asteroid M and then is teleported by Nightcrawler. He is struck by the blasts of Cyclops and Jubilee! Then, Bastion is struck by Nightcrawler’s bamf attack, teleporting in and out! 

This turns into a fight between Cyclops and Bastion. Their beams lock and Cyclops screams, “You’ll never hurt my family again!” Cyclops unleashes his optic blast that knocks back Bastion. Still, Bastion sends out four cable-like blasters to pummel Cyclops. Jubilee’s pyrokinetics hit him. She means business and blasts his face, this hits Bastion back, and a Sentinel’s head falls on him. The trio of X-Men stand against him. Bastion re-forms Terminator-style with bulging eye like an anime villain and mocks their family. He announces his family, a Sentinel that lands, its chest hatch opens revealing Beast at the controls with Jean, Morph, and Storm! Jean hugs Cyclops, Storms says Forge is looking after Cable, and Morph drops down as the pterandon villain, Sauron!

Bastion struggles to left the Sentinel boot, the power drains from Beast’s controls, and Rogue wipes away the blood from her mouth! Round 5, fight! Then, Cyclops tells the team to stand down. He says they should stop trying to fight the future - and Storm adds,”embrace it.” This is the difference with anime villains and really most superhero shows and films, instead of a fight, a discussion. Cyclops tells Bastion that his mother lied to him about Xavier. Bastion says it was to protect him. Cyke continues that parents mess up and tells him he isn’t alone. Bastion laughs at the attempt to appeal to his humanity. He says humanity is going extinct. Jean steps forward saying that humanity is still having children and more of them are mutants. 

Then, Bastion gets their attention to the missiles launched at Asteroid M! The missiles hit the station, Beast leaps from the Sentinel, and Jean throws a telekinetic shield around them! The missiles destroy the gravity core and the Sentinel is sucked in. Cyclops offers his hand to save Bastion. He reaches out, but explosions ripple across Asteroid M and it starts to fall to Earth! A breach is about to suck the X-Men into space, Morph holds on as Mister Fantastic!, Jubilee is thrown out, but Sunspot catches her, yes, he’s a hero! Cyclops tells him to get to Forge. Storm and Beast work out how to stop the fall. Cyclops orders the team to leave in the X-Jet while he blasts the asteroid. 

Beast says it can be stopped if they work together. Storm reports to Forge at Bastion’s base with Val Cooper about the plan. Cable is resting in the diner when Cyclops contacts him in astral form with Jean. Cyclops said he didn’t want to repeat his father’s mistake, not saying goodbye. Excellent dramatic moment! I don’t recall this time ever happening in the comics, the writing is top notch. Cable says there were stories about the X-Men told by the rebel leaders of the future, this made him angry that he wasn’t part of them. Jean touches his hand says he is a part of them. Cyclops says when Nathan was born, Madelyne said he had Scott’s eyes, he takes off his visor. Jean holds back his optic blast. Scott says, “I love you, son.” This is such a human moment that stands out from the superhero action. They fade away. 

Cyclops tears off his visor, screams, and then sends out a powerful optic blast! Rogue goes all Superman Returns using her power on the asteroid’s base. We hear an operatic rendition of the X-Men theme. Storm and Jean’s powers combined send a force to strike Asteroid M! Around the world, at the UN building, the report comes in about the failure of the missiles. We see Peter Parker and Mary Jane watching seeing the report though a broken window while a street is on fire, Spider-Man should be working overtime. Beast watches the fall through a control window. The wounded Wolverine is just able to clutch sheets, Morph is there and shifts into Jean Grey to say he loves him, conveying the message from Jean or his own feelings? 

Sunspot and Jubilee join Forge who says the gravity will pull them in. Beast is working furiously at the controls. Nightcrawler prays next to the unconscious Magneto and Xavier. In Magnus’ mind, Xavier emerges with Magnus on a chessboard. He says Magnus was only a boy so that is why he can’t remember his parents’ faces. Xavier says he could see himself in another person. Magnus says there is no one like himself. Xavier counters saying that the X-Men are all different, but family. Then, Magnus recognizes Professor Charles Xavier. In turn, Xavier says he is Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. There is so many changes of names, Logan with James Howlett, Magnus with Max Eisenhadti, I’m good with this name. 

He says he has another name. Magnus is suddenly struck with power! He rises from the X-Jet and shouts, “Magneto lives!” Magnetic waves pulse past the X-Men. Rogue releases her hold on the asteroid and smiles. She flies with Jean and Storm to Asteroid M. The asteroid encased in a blue field ascends from the New York street. The UN chamber cheers. Asteroid M breaks orbit and then bursts in some energy! The stunned faces of Jubilee, Forge who sees no signal on his device, darkness. I love a bittersweet victory. Morning, the chains on the X-Mansion gate, a report says it is “six months after E-Day.” We see Forge on a board with the missing X-Men like the famous Days of Future Past poster. 

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are “Off World.” The report goes on to say Graydon Creed is rising in the polls, he is the son of Sabretooth and Mystique!, introduced in Uncanny X-Men #299 (1993). Forge is greeted and draws his gun! It is Bishop! He says they will be friends. Forge tells Bishop that he searched for months for the X-Men and the asteroid. Bishop says it isn’t where, but when! Lost in time. He says something took them though time and they are the rescue team! This was similiar to Hiro Nakamura at the end of the first season of Heroes. Fade to white, Rogue revives finding herself surrounded by sand dunes, it is Egypt, 3000 B.C.! 

She hears the sounds of battle, snake-helmeted soldiers out of Stargate (1994), they could be working for Rama-Tut. He was a villain who first appeared in Fantastic Four #19 (1963). On of the forms of Kang the Conqueror! Rogue starts to take the soldiers down and Nightcrawler bamfs down on one!  Cyclops calls out for Jean, he is the snowy plains of The Future, 3960 A.D.! This is the future of the comic limited series, Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix (1994). He finds Jean who says they are not alone with soldiers ringed around them! Egypt, Beast carries Xavier to the others, they see a warrior cornered by the soldiers. He has red eyes, pale skin, and a red mask. The soldiers are yanked away by Magneto! Xavier uses his telepathy on the warrior. 

A robed woman (Gates McFadden) introduces herself as Mother Askani. A young boy walks out, Mother Askani calls him Nathan! Magneto asks the name of the warrior who pulls down his mask and says he is En Sabah Nur (Adetokumboh M'Cormack), the man who will become Apocalypse! They look at a golden dome, and Beast remarks, "Oh dear." Funny cap to the show! Mid Credit scene, “Present Day Genosha”, night in the ruins, Apocalype picks up a handful of dirt, and says, “So much pain my childen.” The dirt is wept away the wind.  Apocalypse says “So much pain my childen” revealing a Queen of Hearts card and he says, “So much death”! Gambit will return, but not in the way will like, be careful what you wish for! X-Men `97 is the best dramatization and adaptation of the comics so why is there a need for a live action film? 

Five Sentinel Blasters out of Five! 

#XMen97, #ToleranceIsExtinction, #ChaseConley, #BeauDeMayo, #AntonySellittii, #RossMarquand, #MatthewWaterson, #JenniferHale, #RayChase, #AlisonSealySmith, #LenoreZann, #GeorgeBuza, #AdrianHough, #JPKarliak, #HollyChou, #GuiAgustini, #ChrisPotter, #GilBirmingham, #IsaacRobinsonSmith, #TheoJames, #RonRubin, #JoshKeaton, #GatesMcFadden, #AdetokumbohMCormack  

X-Men `97, “Tolerance is Exctinction Part 3”, Part I Review!

The finale of X-Men `97 brings a final confrontation with Bastion, a meeting of the minds with Charles Xavier and Magneto!, and what is the future for the X-Men! Tensions have risen between human and mutantkind. Bastion, the mastemind behind the Prime Sentinels, was stopped by Magneto’s electromagnetic pulse that now endangers the Earth! Re: cap - “Tolerance is Exctinction - Part 2”; Bastion has activated his Prime Sentinels aound the world, but Magneto has shut down the power of the world! Magneto offers to make mutants safe on Asteroid M and he is joined by Rogue and Roberto! 

Blue Team goes to stop Magneto made up of Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Jubilee. Gold Team head to Bastion, made up of Bishop and Storm in the X-Jet with Jean Grey, Beast, and Morph. Mister Sinister enters Bastion’s base, Bastion shocks him back, revealing Morph! The collar to suppress Bastion’s control Prime Sentinel signal falls. The character of Bastion seems to defy an EMP, all forms of electricity, beyond anything technological. He says Morph should have known that Sinister would not risk his life for another person! Beast flips in and grabs the collar, but Bastion binds him. Forge flies the X-Jet next to Storm and it is struck! Then Storm is blasted by a Sentinel! She falls into the sea while the X-Jet crashes. 

Sinister says he has studied Jean Grey. She calls him a coward. Sinister tells her he was waiting for what he wants - Cable shoots her and Jean’s telekinetic bubble falls across a lake. Cable was who Sinister was trying to make from Madelyne Pryor! He keeps up blasting Jean’s shield and she shouts to him that Sinister is controlling him like Madelyne. She shatters his rifle and he unleashes his telekinetic blast! Jean screams out Scott’s name! Psychically, Cyclops sees the battle of his son and Jean. A closeup of Cyke’s visor as Jean says she love him. These are X-Men moments right out of the comic books! The connection is cut off and Cyclops is back at Asteroid M. Wolverine tackles Magneto from behind, but the Master of Magnetism sends him back! 

His battered helmet falls from Wolverine’s hands. Xavier tells Magnus that he has no choice and taps into his mind, Magneto screams and then falls! Cyclops reports that Gold Team needs more time. Magneto stands and his power binds all of the X-Men, allies and enemies! He slams his helmet on Xavier to crush his skull! This is a nasty use of his power to turn his helmet into a weapon! Then, adamantium claws run into his back! Bloody claws that pierce his chest! Wolverine growls to Magneto that the brave die first. Magneto uses his power to retract Wolverine’s claws. Xavier tells him not to continue. Wolverine screams as Magneto tears out the adamantium from Wolverine’s body. This was done in the comics in X-Men #25 (1993). A stunning ending! 

The final episode of season one is directed by Chase Conley. The writers are Beau DeMayo, series creator, and Antony Sellittii. Somber music before the opening.  I like the addition of Xavier and Magnto taking on Hydra soldiers. We hear The Byrds, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” as we se the destruction with soldiers at a town. Inside a bar are two friends, Xavier and Magnus in coats. Xavier says they are helping survivors. He brings up that if mutants exist, then they could help the world. Magnus says people are already the best thinking of themselves that way. Xavier asks if he were a mutant and Magnus says to run before someone dreams of camps! Telpathically, Xavier says, “I’m a mutant.” This first meeting of Xavier and Magnus really centers the conflict between them.

Magnus says metal bends to his will. Xavier says he met several mutants. Xavier tells Magnus they could help the mutants with their gifts. Magnus suddenly hears Rogue’s voice call his name. He sees a window of a boat on a storm tossed sea as Rogue screams his name! Magnus can see that this is mental construct of Xavier who tells him it is his mind. Xavier goes over everything he has done and just says, “And Logan.” Xavier brings up the mutants in the world without power and Magnus replies leaves it to evolution, this is survival of the fittest, cruel! Xavier tells Magnus to restore the Earth or he force him to do so! Magnus says this could shatter their minds. Xavier pleads for him to listen to reason and Magnus says his childhood had people who used reason against tanks. 

Xavier grabs Magnus and unleashes his psychic power! Cyclops can see the psychic assault, Xavier crawling over to Magneto, and the X-Men are battered by the power of this confrontation! A psychic blast by Xavier and then magnetic waves spread across the Earth; Silver Samurai watches this from a rooftop, the waves pass over the White House with Iron Man (this is his armor from Spider-Man: The Animated Series) and Captain America at a control room, and Daredevil sets a trap for thieves with his billy club. Bastion remarks are heard about how Xavier has helped his dream. At the Manhattan Memorial Hospital, the power comes on as Doctor Strange is busy with surgery. This widens the Marvel Universe with these heroes, but they are the animated versions not MCU. 

Val Cooper is a prisoner and sees the Prime Sentinels below her. They start activating. Bastion is addressing Sinister with Cable on his knees. Sentinels land as Bastion calls himslf “The future’s tide.” The X-Men are wrapped in cables by the Sentinels. He crushes the collar as Prime Sentinels race across the sky. Beast argues against him and Bastion’s blast strikes Beast’s forehead! Bastion says he would be the prisoner if Xavier accepted him into the school. Storm says he would have been one of the first X-Men and Bastion grabs her neck! He is not the ultimate villain resorting to violence instead of words. Prime Sentinels breach the White House control room. Black Panther, Okoye, and the Dora Milaje see the Prime Sentinels descend on Wakanda! He shatters the window and leaps down. 

Daredevil is struck by a Prime Sentinel blast. Then, Cloak and Dagger appear! They were in the series Ultimate Spider-Man and in a 2019 episode of Spider-Man, Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt retuned to voice their characters fom thi live action show! Omega Red, who was last in the X-Men: The Animated Series ep, “A Deal with the Devil” (1996) fights alongside the Soviet Super Soldiers, Crimson Dynamo and Darkstar! Bastion says the words that is the title of the three part finale, “Tolerance is Extinction.” The Prime Sentinels are also by Alpha Flight; Northstar, Puck, Aurora, with Cecila Reyes and Psylocke. Bastion then turns to see Cable. He asks how many times Cable tried to stop him. Mister Sinister then asks controlling him with the gem on his forehead. Cable says through tears, two hundred. 

Prime Sentinels charge up their blasters on Cable. Sinister is shocked that his “prize” will be lost. Bastion pauses as the scambler collar is re-formed. A cyclone from the water forms into the Phoenix! Storm laughs. Jean shouts, “I am Phoenix!” In season three of X-Men: The Animated Series, Jean became the cosmic force, the Phoenix. A psychic claw grabs Bastion trying to escape. The collar locks on Bastion’s head as Jean says that the Prime Sentinels did not choose their fate. At all of the battles, the Prime Sentinels fall, the Sentinels shut down and the X-Men are freed. Mister Sinister tries to command Cable, but he is lifted up by the Phoenix. She reaches into him to free the stolen mutant DNA! He tries to plead, but his armor is shattered, the crystal on Cable is broken, and all that is left is a pale, elderly creature. 

Mister Sinister runs to Morph to see his face and Morph has his payback! Jean falls without the Phoenix Force caught by Cable. She says it is inside, but emerged to save her son! A wave of energy knocks everyone back released by Bastion. He grabs Cable’s face and then tears off his bionic arm to thrash him! Bastion raises the arm to incorporate its tech into wings and an armored body! He says he will tear down Asteroid M and flies towards it! His plans are lost so Bastion resorts to a petty attack. Rogue straps Magneto and Xavier into the X-Jet. Cyclops lowers Wolverine’s wounded body to a table with Jubilee, Nightcrawler, and Roberto next to him. Magnus is wakened by Xavier while he is in some water. He doesn’t know himself and Xavier says he is guide. 

Xavier asks for Magnus’ trust. Cyclops has found Xavier and Magneto to have steady pulses. Jubilee says it is the same with Wolverine. Cyclops whispers to Wolverine, “Be the best at what you do”, Wolvie’s catch phrase, “Heal.” Jean psyhically contacts Cyclops, she turns to Cable, Cyclops knows Bastion hurt him. Professor Xavier’s astral form tells them that Magnus’ psyche is shattered by his psychic attack. He needs to restore Magnus’ mind and could lose both of their minds! Jean warns Cyclops about Bastion and his plan to destroy Asteroid M. Forge and Beast are working to repair the Blackbird. Jean gives all of the X-Men the image of this Bastion, “the future incarnate”! The X-Men assemble to see the approach of Bastion. Rogue says that Bastion will destroy the gravity core. Nightcrawler says a prayer. Roberto tries to apologize to Jubilee. Rogue tells him that the cards are in the X-Men’s favor! In X-Men 97's finale, Xavier struggling with Magnus, Bastion is about to bring Asteroid M crashing to Earth, but like Rogue has said, never count out the X-Men! 

Five Sentinel Blasters out of Five! 

#XMen97, #ToleranceIsExtinction, #ChaseConley, #BeauDeMayo, #AntonySellittii, #RossMarquand, #MatthewWaterson, #JenniferHale, #RayChase, #GeorgeBuza,  #LenoreZann, #HollyChou, #GuiAgustini, #AlisonSealySmith, #AdrianHough, #JPKarliak, #ChrisPotter, #GilBirmingham, #IsaacRobinsonSmith, #TheoJames 

Rook: Exodus #2 Review!

Rook: Exodus #2 raises the stakes for the Warden Rook and his survival on the world of Exodus!  Re:cap - Rook: Exodus #1; Working on his rocket to escape the doomed world Exodus, an accidentental explosion throws Rook down! He thinks back to his boyhood on the farm on Earth. His father refuses to leave fifteen years later, the house and fields are on fire with his father missing! The man takes the offer of the Better World corporation and goes to the port in Chicago. The man who becomes the Rook leaves the Earth behind and arriving on Exodus hears the promises of Better World. As a Warder, Better World assigns a species based on their profile. He contacts a crow to land on his gloved hand and it caws. Rook drives over to see Swine, but he is missing. 

His vehicle is breached and boar, is this Pumba?, has its sides skinned! Swine is running with his herd of warthogs commanding them to run in the forest. Massive bears appear and tear apart a few of the pigs. Swine fires back with his rifle. He is crushed by a massive paw! Then, he is told he has a broken spine and his head is crushed by a fist like a wrestler. A splash page shows the burly Warder, Ursaw, standing next to his bears as ook calls for Swine! Rook: Exodus #2 has a cover by Jason Fabok, also artist for the interior pages!, of Rook and the female Warder, Dire Wolf, standing in the sunset of Exodus. They are standing with a wolf padding forward with glowing eyes, another is in the back also with yellow eyes! 

The comic continues by writer Geoff Johns and Fabok! A series of horizontal panels shows the smoking remains of the battle with Ursaw. We see the boots of Dire Wolf and a wolf paw while we hear the commercial for Better World. She sees the body of Swine and then activates her Warder helmet. I like the closeup of the wolf, Freya, and her eyes glowing like suns. Freya is the Norse goddess of love and battle. Then, we get a splash page of Dire Wolf at night in her black armor with wolves, screams out for a poster! She is searching for Rook. Morning, Rook is at a lake, he worries about his friend. Rook hopes Swine will reconnect with the Wildlife Grid. Until then, he has found a part he will need for his ship beneath the lake. He has a handheld device that pings in closeup.

 

His fishing boat is overshadowed by a looming form underneath it. A giant snapping turtle rises up with the boat and Rook in its jaws! It snaps the boat and Rook leaps down to the lake. He says a few of his birds were also taken by the beast! Rook swims down to find the rocket part and thinks about the Instinct Influence that makes Warders start to think like the animals they control. He unhooks a pack, turns, and then pulls the pack from the kaiju turtle as it lashes downwards. Rook makes a swim to the lakefront, the turtle follows, and Rook activates a button on his glove. His armored vehicle flies bashing the kaiju with a killing blow! The crows fly down to feed on it as Rook takes off his helmet and walks away. It is sunset when completes his rocket at New Mason, his fortress city home. 

At the Leaning Tower of Pizza, Rook is asleep with bottles around him to drown the crow calls. His stool is kicked out from under him. He rights himself about to pull out his gun. Dire Wolf announces herself and Rook’s narration says she trained the Warders. She removes her helmet, of course she is beautiful, a scar across her right eye. Rook also has a scar to his eye and across the bridge of his nose, possibly from the crows. Dire Wolf asks about his helmet. He asks about her hope to rally the Warders, but she says cooly that Swine is dead! Dire Wolf sees his rocket built with parts from Swine and he hoped to escape with him. He offers Donnica to leave with him that night. She thinks Better World will return to fix the Earth Engine. Rook has given up on the company. Dire Wolf wants to stay and fight for the world. 

An explosion breaches the fortress! Dire Wolf says, “He’s here.” Rook wonders who it is and we see a large panel, Ursaw in a massive ATV with his giant bears, two of thm have cybernetics! He has all of the brutality and build of a Mad Max villian! Dire Wolf activates her Warder helmet and takes out her rifle. She doesn’t want the animals killed and sends out a tranqulizer dart that drops one of the bears. Ursaw is attacked by the crows, but makes the announcement fo Dire Wolf to join him. They take cover by a concrete barrier and while Rook thinks they are alive because of the ship, Dire Wolf wants them to leave. Ursaw’s cannon fires! In a two page splash, the rocket falls with the giant bears at the base of the destruction. Rook’s dream is gone, he is forced to stay and fight for Exodus! The threat of Ursaw is revealed in Rook: Exodus #2 and his secret is a danger to all of the Warders and Exodus! 

Five Warder Helmets out of Five! 

#RookExodus, #GeoffJohns, #JasonFabok, #Swine, #DireWolf, #Freya, #Ursaw 

The Acolyte, “Day”, Review!

We pick up the narrative with the hunting of Kelnacca with Mae and Qimir with Sol and Osha racing to stop her!  Last episode was a look back sixteen years ago at the tragic, formative event on Brendok, but now we shift back to Khofar where we saw Kelnacca. It was surprising to move with a cast that was new except the Jedi who are targeted by Mae. “Day” is directed by Alex Garcia Lopez. He had directed two episodes of the superhero show, Daredevil. The episode was written by Claire Kiechel who for the Watchmen series and Kor Adana, a writer for Mr. Robot. Omnious music as we move from the mountains of Khofar to its forests shrouded with clouds. Kelnacca walks from the forest to his ship made into a home. He wears the brown travel robes of the Jedi. Inside, a tree has grown from inside his home, it kinda reminds me of the plant collections in E.T.’s ship. We also see scrawled on the walls marking like what was on Mother Aniseya. 

Kelnacca is sitting on working on making a meal when we return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. This was surprising since I thought the missions would be independent of the Jedi. Jecki Lon and other Padawans are training with bokken sabers, this was a training weapon that we saw Sabine use in Ahsoka, “Time to Fly” (2023), FC-1/3. I like the connection with that show plus this is the first time that we see Padawans train together. We saw Yoda advise Anakin, but it makes sense that Padawans also train with other Jedi. In this case, Jedi Master Lakshay (Paul Bullion), a bearded man with ginger hair. Bullion was Lambert in The Witcher. He gives advice casually walking past the whirling blades. Osha has watched the end of the session. She thanks Jecki for her help finding Mae and clearing her name. 

Osha says that Mae is a problem for the Jedi and she is not a Jedi. This must be the arc for her character, to become a Jedi. She says to Jecki that if she returns to Coruscant they can trade stories about Master Sol. The start of a friendship? Khofar, the ship Exile II, lands. It looks like squarish with a prong on its bow, two prows, and the main ship. Its owner, Mae, packs for her mission, and is told to wait by Qimir. He says he found the Wookie, I’m not certain how, but this must have made Kelnacca wary of the scavengers when we first saw him. He says she needs to kill Kelnacca because of her deal. Qimir starts to lead her acorss a bridge, I think this is Mae’s theme we hear with the drums. At the Jedi Temple, a hologram is projected of Mae, Jedi Masters watch. Jedi Master Holden (Indra Ové) says that she acts with emotion to Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi (Derek Arnold). 

Ové was a First Order Office in The Rise of Skywalker (2019); DC-ST3. Arnold played Pao in Rogue One (2016); DC-RO. The part was played by Silas Carson in the Prequels and is surprising since he was the Jedi Council member who said the Sith were extinct for a millennium. Maybe the Master is not a Sith? Could the Master be Mother Aniseya or one of her coven? Sol says Mae does not know her Master. Holden asks if this could be a splinter Order. Vernestra says that Mae escaped Sol and killed two Jedi Masters. Holden asks if she saying the assassin was trained by a Jedi and Vernestra says she could tell even from a hologram. Ki-Adi Mundi says the High Council should be contacted. Vernestra says that they would have to contact the Senate which would be a scandal. She asks Master Holden to contact Kelnacca and find Mae. 

Vernestra ends the meeting and Sol catches up with her. She wonders why Sol didn’t tell Mae could have lived from the Brendok event. Holden and Ki-Adi Mundi pauses in the hall to overhear them. Sol wants to bring Mae in. Vernestra whispers that there may be a greater plan by the Master, “something to tip the scales.” An imbalance of the Force! Which of course leads to the rise of the Sith, Sidious! Sol says that Holden might “neutralize”(!) Mae and they won’t be able to discover the Master. My prime suspect is still Vernestra. He insists that Mae will not surrender without something in exchange. Osha is really being used as a bargaining chip. On Khofar’s hills, they are walking and Qimir is talking about the Master’s test of killing a target unarmed. Mae asks about his deal with the Master. Qimir says he owes him, the Master “collects people.” She asks about Osha and he says she seemed to like Sol. 

On Coruscant, Osha takes out Pip happy that he was serviced. Sol calls for her. It looks like a busy spaceport. He wants her on the mission, but not to rejoin the Jedi yet. She refuses and Sol says he told Mae about Osha and he could sense good in her, just like Luke with Darth Vader. Osha agrees and we see the Jedi ship in hyperspace. Yord is debriefing the team of Jedi, five plus Jecki and Sol. There is a Kel Dor Jedi, but he is not Plo Koon. Osha is sitting and Pip gets the attention of a short, furry Tynnan (Hassan Taj). This was a species that was introduced in Han Solo’s Revenge (1979), EC-HS2. This is the Tynnan’s first live action appearance. Pip sprays water at him and Osha walks to Jecki who tells her he is Bazil. The Jedi landing ship lands on Khofar, Jecki speaks with a bulky local alien through a handheld translator droid like a pocket voice translator. 

Yord wants Osha to turn over her blaster. She refuses and Jecki joins them saying Kelnacca went into the forest. They look at the misty forest. Yord says they have a tracker giving Basil a piece of cloth to sniff. He leads the line of Jedi, eight plus Osha. Basil starts to scurry off the path. Osha whispers to Yord impressed he knows the Tynnan language. He says Padwans usually learn Shyriwook, the Wookie language, I think this is the first time the word has been spoken. I also like that most Jedi know Wookie. She gets his attention away from the group and tells him that he should deal with Mae. He says he has known her since they were younglings and Sol took her on the mission so Osha will face herself. Osha and Qimir run into the misty forest. Basil leads the Jedi into the forest and sniffs which Yord translates as there is something rotten. 

Osha touches a dark bulb on a tree, it looked like a burl, but once she leaves, it starts to crawl away! She calls for Sol, but the creature, an umbramoth, flies towards them! Sol cuts it down with his lightsaber. Jecki notes that it went after the lightsaber. Sol says it is going to be dark. Osha says to Jecki that she could sense it, but the umbramoth died. Jecki says that it has joined the Force. Osha says that she couldn’t accept death like a Jedi. The sun starts to set, Qimir pulls along Mae, a bit noisy with Wookies that must have great hearing. Mae takes off her pack saying she has to rest before fighting Kelnacca. She says the words from the Master, “Your final lesson is one you teach yourself.” Killing an unarmed opponent is against the Jedi way. She says it is impossible and the Master will kill her. 

Qimir says he will find some more water and walks off. Yord has found out that Basil is missing. He goes to tell Sol and they hear screaming. Mae calls for help and Qimir runs back. He is pulled upside down by a rope trap! Mae walks up to him and tells Qimir she doesn’t want the deal. No deal! She says her loyalty is to Osha not his Master. Mae says she will surrender to Kelnacca and the Jedi. He pleads that the Jedi will imprison her. Mae says that they won’t put her in prison when she tells them who she knows! She says the Master won’t kill her without a guide like Qimir. I think she should have hit him with a stun blaster or knocked him out. She already knows that Qimir is dangerous as a guide, poisoner, and connected to the Master. A very tense episode of The Acolyte that keeps throwing twists as we get closer to the mystery, the Master, but there is the introduction of Bazil! 

Four Lightsabers out of Five! 

#TheAcolyte, #Day, #AlexGarciaLopez, #ClaireKiechel, #KorAdana, #AmandlaStenberg, #LeeJungJae,  #DafneKeen, #CharlieBarnett, #MannyJacinto, #JoonasSuotamo, #HassanTaj,  

#IndraOve, #DerekArnold, #PaulBullion 

Geiger #2 Review!

Geiger #2 peeks into some of the talky Nate the Nuclear Knight teaming up Geiger fo his quest!  Re:cap - Geiger #1; the figure known as Geiger has been wandering a post-apocalyptic wasteland and ended up a town looking for a library. Bandits arrived, but Geiger finishes them off with the knight, who has been following him, watches as he leaves town. Geiger’s only companion is his two-headed wolf, Barney. He had seen Geiger defeat the King of Vegas and saw that he is his path to redemption. Soldiers sent by President Giffin attack them, but Geiger uses his radioactive rods to kill them. Later, Geiger will have to deal with this president. The knight says that he has heard of an another like the Glowing Man who were cured. Geiger has given up hope and walks into the desert wind. 

He finds a dandelion that makes him think of the flower in his daughter’s hair. This is the memory of his wedding. We see the knight set his sword down and without his armor apologizes to his mother and leaps at the blade! The sword is kicked aside by Geiger. He agrees to get help find the person who was cured. The knight is overjoyed and introduces himself as Nate, the Nuclear Knight. The sun starts setting and Nate tells Geiger that he was born in Dayton, Ohio fifteen years before the Unknown War. He mentions his mother was a schoolteacher and then Geiger says he doesn’t want to hear his life story. We see ove the desert night. 

Geiger #2 has a cover by interior artist, Gary Frank, of a wanted poster of the Glowing Man while his cloaked figure stands before it. “The Hunter and the Hunted” has a story by Geoff Johns. It begins with a splash page of Nate, the Nuclear Knight in his armor, raising his sword to strike! A kick off with action! In silhouette he chases after a boar, this makes me think of the pigs in Rook: Exodus. It is also chased by Barney, but makes it to its hidey hole. A shadow falls on it, Geiger behind the sun!, he sees the piglets in the hidey hole and sees with his geiger counter that they are not radioactive. Nate brings up the pig family and says they still have beans. We get a closeup of a sow and her two piglets, adorable. We get another splash pag of the duo roasting the boar on a spit, Nate gives cheers to it. 

On the road with some barren pines, Nate brings up besides leaving the pig family without a father, he has done terrible things. He thinks back to the days when he worked for the King of Vegas at Camelot, there was an elderly man with an eyepatch who was a card heat. He says, “Hit me!” with the nuclear knight behind him. Nate says he took his other eye with a fork, but Geiger says he doesn’t want to hear a confession. Obviously, Geiger likes to be on his own, Nate makes the analogy that any enemies will be like the pig, with Geiger as the fire. They see a community at the valley below them. This feels like The Last of Us. It is a Western town, damage to some of the roofs, with the citizens crowding around the sheriff’s office. 

The sheriff of Silverton says that there as been enough trouble. He continues that knights like Nate have bullied the townspeople. Nate looks down from the window to see their faces. Geiger says he only wants the name of the persons who was cured of being like himself. The search for a cure to a dangerous power is very Incredible Hulk. The sheriff says he can give their names and the direction they left in exchange for the barter set by Nate. The barter is to deal with a masked raider that has set off explosions to raid the town fo supplies. The mask is white with a black eye mask, moustache, and white teeth. The sheriff points out his broken leg trying to chase the raider. Just like Old West bounty hunters. He adds that the citizen mobs will go after Nate unless they accept. Geiger glares at the remorseful knight. 

Geiger glares at the remorseful knight. The duo share a meal on a rooftop, Nate brings up that they’ve been on watch for two days, and then the twenty nights the knights spent searching for Geiger. He says their first meeting was during their attack. He says now they are heroes which angers Geiger flaring his radioactive power, but this ends up burning his book. He has used his power without taking out his dampening rods which must be his anger that flares his radioactivity. Geiger says they are working only for information and that he doesn’t know what to do with a cure. He says it is all a waste of time and Nate starts blaming himself. Then, Barney starts growling and there is an explosion at a nearby building! The townspeople point out the Masked Raider racing across the rooftops. There is a little Robin Hood to him, except the body count he leaves behind. 

He rappels down to a motorrcyle and starts to drive away when Geiger drops down. The Masked Raider races off and Nate shouts about their bikes. A train is followed by the raider on his motorcycle. He sees the headlights of Geiger and Nate’s bikes. He leaps to the roof of a car tain. He is followed Geiger who buries a knife into the roof to keep in place. The Nuclear Knight slips off, but Geiger catches his arm in a closeup. Geiger struggles to pull up Nate in his armor and manages to throw him to the roof. The Master Raider throws a grenade that explodes over the duo. Geiger tells Nate to stay behind while he takes out his two dampening rods. A two panel spread has the Glowing Man leaping fom Nate as the Masked Raider tries to run! His radioactive boot hisses on the rooftop as the Masked Raider shoots his gun. The bullets sizzle on Geiger’s radioactive body! Geiger #2 continues his quest to lose radioactive curse with a twist on a story out of a Western! 

Five Dampening Rods out of Five! 

#Geiger, #TheHunterAndTheHunted, #GeoffJohns, #GaryFrank, #Geiger, #NateTheNuclearKnight, #MaskedRaider