LifeDeath Part 2
Following the Super Sentinel’s attack on Genosha that resulted in Gambit’s death, and apparently Magneto’s as well, two X-Men who have been MIA return to help the new team recover from their devastating defeat.
Return of Charles Xavier
It took six episodes but the man who is responsible for the X in X-Men has finally appeared. This episode begins on an alien planet as the Kree are being attacked. Eventually, it’s revealed that Charles Xavier, who has been reported as dead on Earth, is alive and is now engaged to Empress Lilandra. This ties back nicely to the original series as Charles left Earth in the final episode to go to space.
Lilandra healed Charles Xavier, so he became betrothed to her and left to go be with her. However, this episode reveals that Charles knows that Gambit is dead and he must return to Earth to help his children heal. While it makes sense that Xavier would want to protect his X-Men, this is sure to set up a major issue going forward in the season. The X-Men were left to grieve and didn’t know that Charles was still alive. Plus, he’s not returning until he learns of one of their deaths. I can’t imagine this reunion will be happy.
Storm Regains Her Powers
In between the Charles Xavier scenes, the episode returns to Storm’s battle with the Adversary as she tries to regain her powers with Forge. Storm eventually figures out how to defeat the Adversary, regains her powers and helps save Forge’s life. Will Storm return to the X-Men? Once she learns of what happens to both Gambit and Magneto, the Mistress of the Elements will definitely return. Once Storm learns Professor X is still alive, she’ll definitely return. The only questions surrounding Storm’s triumphant return remain to be will Forge return with her? And will there be any lingering side effects from how she regained her powers?
Combined Story Doesn’t Work
Here’s my complaint about these storylines, each deserves their own episodes. Charles Xavier is, arguably, the most important member of the X-Men. His return should be in an episode devoted to him, not one that’s combined with another story. Meanwhile, Storm’s story arc has been one of the most important of this season. Storm deserved her own episode, her own moment. Making them share this episode undercuts both of their stories.
This series has been the greatest thing that has ever appeared on Disney Plus, but this episode really didn’t live up to what it should’ve been. I understand that time constraints make things difficult and the combined storyline episodes were a staple of the earlier series. But not every decision is going to work and I think this one just hurt both stories. Still, the return of Charles and Storm is sure to have a massive effect on the final four episodes of the season. This should’ve been two great episodes, instead it was one disappointing follow-up to the best episode of the season.
Check out every episode of X-Men 97 on Disney Plus.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2024
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