My Mind Is Blown #6

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Final Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

I don't care what anyone says, X-Men '97 is shaping up to be the best television and movie iteration of the band of mutants ever. Yes, even more so than than its predecessor, The Animated Series.

Woah, Alexandria, how can you say that?

Unlike the original series, X-Men '97 is willing and able to be more open about the parallels between the events we see on our screens with the real world. Plus, the stakes have raised to a level we never saw before with The Animated Series. For example, the biggest tragedy of this season, the Genosha Genocide, took the lives of hundreds of mutants, including one on the main X-Men roster. Of course, in the past, one might have thought this would be easily reversed, but this episode has us thinking differently.

Before I start rambling about that, let's do a quick recap. Bastion was revealed as this season's true big bad, working along with Mister Sinister, a now deceased Henry Gyrich, and guilt ridden scientist turned Sentinel, Bolivar Trask. This wasn't the only reveal of the previous episode; Magneto is still alive, although things are not looking great since Bastion has imprisoned him. Xavier, presumed dead by most of the Earth, is on his way back.

Cable's Back!

(Yep, I'm changing things up a bit.)

Cable previously showed up right before the attack on Genosha, before being time-slipped away. Thankfully, he stops by in the present again when the X-Men are dealing with the Trask Sentinel. Unlike previously, he seems to be sticking around for a while, giving us a glimpse into his future.

Xavier's dream has always been one of mutant-human coexistence. These Prime Sentinels, human rewritten with a Techno-Organic virus much like the one that affected Cable as a baby helped paved the way to a 300 year evolutionary war. Much like Morph, this seems to be the basis of a dystopia.

Cable reveals something worst and this is when we tie in Xavier's dream. The land is a utopia, a technological marvel built on the back of mutants. In the most twisted of ways, Xavier's dream came true. Of course, I doubt he had in mind slavery as part of it.

All of this stems from the attack on Genosha, which sadly is revealed as an "absolute point in time." No matter how many times Cable goes back to before that moment, there is nothing he can do to stop it. This seemingly cements the deaths of so many, including Gambit and Madelyne. Yes, I say seemingly because this is the comics, there are too many ways for someone to come back. But, alas, it's looking like it won't be happening this season.

Bastion's Plan

Throughout this season, we've unknowingly seen the bits and pieces of Bastion's plan fall into place. Things start coming to a head very quickly right from the beginning of this episode.

Xavier is Alive (but we knew that already)

Bastion proves true to his promise at the end of the previous episode, secretly informing the world that Xavier is indeed alive, shedding a glaring spotlight on the X-Men.

It is quickly obvious that humankind isn't happy about being lied to, which can be understandable. Although Jubilee makes the great point that they were trying to protect the Professor, to everyone else, it may seem like they were trying to gain sympathy for their case by any means.

Val Cooper, Traitor

Until episode 5, Val seemed to be a supporter to mutans, being a middleman between the X-Men and UN. Since the attack on Genosha, her whereabouts have been unknown.

Do you guys remember Magneto's big speech to the UN in episode 2? He decided to take on Charles's dream of co-existence as long as humankind gave him a reason to do so. For Magneto, his fears that co-existence was impossible because of human nature. With Val's return, that fear of his is realized since her and the UN have been working with Bastion for some time now.

It does seem though Val does have some doubts as shown through her attempt at conversation with a bound Magneto, stating she did not know about Bastion's plans to attack Genosha. Honestly, it seems she just wants to guarantee human's survival, but does not want to sacrifice an immense amount of lives to do so.

Home Sweet Home

The Summers go on a family trip to what ends up giving us a glimpse into Bastion's origins. A piece of Nimrod ends up in the body of Bastion's father, later leading to the pregnancy and birth of the first Sentinel-human hybrid. We get glimpses into his childhood, including when he first grasped his connection to machinery, specifically the Master Mold and Sentinel program.

With there still being two episodes left, we might get a deeper dive into Bastion's origins, but this can be simply stated. Bastion is one of the X-Men's greatest threats on steroids.

The Prime Sentinels

With the backing of the UN and others such as Baron Zemo and Doctor Doom (they have really been busting out the cameos the past couple of episodes), Bastion and Mister Sinister created Operation Zero Tolerance. The result? Weaponized human volunteers called Prime Sentinels.

Knowing that these sentinels are volunteers, though it is explained they aren't completely aware of everything they are signing for, paints things in a dark light, especially as we start to see hundreds of humans turn into the machine counterparts. Some of the surprise reveals are Bastion's whole hometown, Roberto's butler, and Trish Tilby.

Thankfully, this leads to some of the greatest animated action sequences and character pairings I have ever seen.

"Enough!"

At a certain point, it seems like Bastion is going to win. His Sentinels have X-Men playing defense, even capturing the youngest member along with Roberto. As a result of an attack on her conscience, Val Cooper helps turns the tide by releasing Magneto. His omega-level powers are unleased, wiping out the Sentinels and plummeting the world into the Dark Ages. In the final seconds of the episode, Xavier lands in the rubble of the mansion, setting up a confrontation unlike anything we've seen before in X-Men animated history.

Without a doubt, war is coming.

My Three Favorite Moments:

"Daddy's home": Every time I replay this episode, I can stop myself from laughing at Logan's snarky dialogue.

Family isn't just blood: I have always been a firm believer that you choose your family and I love how Kurt helps Jean to see that.

X-Men vs Prime Sentinels: Even characters who've been hanging out in the background get a chance to shine with their skills and quips.

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I hope you enjoyed reading! Episodes 1-8 of X-Men '97 are available on Disney +. New episodes are available every Wednesday after 3am EST.