Moral of the story, don't free someone more powerful than you.
Last time on X-Men: The Animated
Series, Storm and Wolverine were on the hunt. Storm learns from Jean’s
Cerebro hunting of the professor that her godson Mjnari was in danger. She and
Rogue traveled to Mt. Kilimanjaro where her village rested. Once there they
learn that Mjnari has been possessed by the Shadow King, a powerful Psychic
from Cairo that the Professor once beat and threw into the Astral Plane. In
need of a new body, Shadow King told Storm to give up her body to him so he could
start rebuilding his criminal empire. Storm agreed on the condition that her
godson be freed. Shadow King briefly possessed her, but Storm proved strong enough
to force him out again with a little help from Rogue and Mjnari. Mjnari lured
Shadow King back to the rift he escaped from, trapping him in the Astral Plane
again. Storm and Rogue pull Mjnari out at the last second. Meanwhile, Wolverine
searched the Amazon for Morph. He tracked Morph down to a bar, but Morph ran.
Wolverine wrestled with Morph, trying to force him to come home for treatment.
Morph refused, though, saying that he needed to face this himself. Wolverine,
unhappy about this but willing to accept it, told Morph that when he’s ready
the X-Men will be waiting. And finally, Charles and Magneto dug themselves out
of the avalanche they were buried in. They found themselves in the Savage Land,
an area of Antarctica that houses a tropical forest and Dinosaurs. Unfortunately,
neither of them was able to access their powers. They’re attacked by Pterodactyl
riders, both men falling into a river and going over a waterfall. Enough recap.
Let’s get to it.
We begin with Xavier dragging
himself and Magneto from the river they fell into last time. Noting the huge waterfall
they just went over, Charles notes that regardless of who or what brought them
to the Savage Land, they won’t be able to go back the way they came. Later, Magneto and Charles are trudging
through the dino and pterosaur filled landscape of the Savage Land. Magneto
points out that he’ll never understand Charles, as his life would be infinitely
easier if Magneto were to die, and yet he still attempted to save him. Charles says
that he wants a just life, not an easy one. They’re interrupted by a T-Rex stomping
towards them. They head for a patch of geysers nearby. Magneto tells Charles to
keep the geyser between them and the Rex. Magneto throws stone at the dinosaur,
confusing Charles as the animal is already pissed off. Magneto says he doesn’t
want it running away. What he means is revealed a moment later, when the geyser
goes off in the T-Rex’s face, killing or stunning it. Magneto announces to Charles
that he might not have his powers, but he won’t die easily.
We cut to Kumudski Valley, in the
former Soviet Union. Remember, this season takes place in 1993, back when the
Soviet Union had just fallen apart so such distinctions were important. A set
of tanks roll into town. We enter into a secret facility where some Russian
guards begin a procedure to wake something up. The tanks start firing, devastating
Kumudski, as their soldiers roll in. The creature in the facility wakes up,
announcing that the leaders were weak. They restrained him once and lost the
empire. Now that he’s back, the empire will live but the leaders will die. Oh,
Hi Omega Red. We cut over to a General asking what had gone wrong. A woman joins
him, revealed to be someone named Dark Star, who tells the General that Omega
Red has been freed. We learn that this
is all a ploy to use Omega Red to force the now independent nations of the
Soviet Union back together. Dark Start tells him that she hope he’s right that
they can control Omega Red this time.
Back in the states, Jubilee
skateboards from the Mansion to a local gas station, complaining that the X-Men
left her behind again but also didn’t leave her any food. She sees some
graffiti that says “Destroy all Mutants” left by the FoH, which she uses her
inconsistent powers to clean off. Inside the station, the FoH are harassing a clerk.
They say they don’t want Mutant lovers in their town, so they’re moving the clerk
out. And I’m sure the fact he’s a middle eastern man in a turban has nothing to
do with their decision either. Jubilee steps in and tells them to pick on someone
their own size. She uses her powers to blind a few of them but gets thrown over
the counter towards the clerk. Thankfully, we’re shown a very large man running
towards the store. It’s Colossus, who playfully says “Did I hear you desire to
see Mutant?” as he armors up. Piotr makes quick work of the FoH, scaring the lot
of them out the back door. Jubilee thanks him and says it was lucky he was
passing by. Colossus tells her that he was in fact in the area to see the
others at the Mansion, he needs the X-Men’s help.
They head to the mansion and unload
groceries. Jubilee tells Colossus that no one else is home right now. Charles
is MIA, Jean and Scott are in DC testifying before congress about Mutants,
assumedly Rogue, Storm and Wolverine are all on their way back from their
missions last episode… no idea where Gambit or Beast could be though. Colossus
tells her that he needs help, as there are armies rampaging across his homeland
being led by a creature called Omega Red. Jubilee is sure the others will help
when they get back, but Colossus can’t wait that long. Jubilee agrees to help,
leaving a note for the others that she is headed to the Black Sea with Colossus
to stop Omega Red. They take one of the X-Men’s smaller jets and fly off. There’s
almost an accident where Jubilee almost hits a train, but she dodges around it.
Turns out flying the real thing is different than a simulator.
They arrive in Kumudski Valley and
see the city in ruins. Colossus says that this was his nation’s capital and
that they were just recently freed from Soviet control. Colossus shouts that
they need to find his family. At a press conference, the president Kumudski
tries to make his people believe that they just need to hold out until help can
arrive. Omega Red storms in and says no help is coming. He uses his whips to
capture the president and drains his strength. Dark Star flies in and reminds
him that they were ordered to banish the parliament, not kill them. Omega Red
chafes under being ordered, saying that he only serves the people, and the
people are crying out for an iron hand to rule them once again, his hand. Dude,
you might be projecting slightly.
Piotr and Jubilee arrive at
Colossus’ farm. The place has been wrecked, and no one is around. Colossus
flashes back as he explains his home life to Jubilee. He lived on the farm with
his family, life was hard but good back then. His life changed when his baby
sister Illyana is almost run over by a tractor and his powers manifested for
the first time. He armored up and saved her. This turns out to be bad, as back
in those days the Government was suspicious of any damage done to it’s equipment.
Rather then fess up that the tractor got out of control, the rest of the
farmers blamed Colossus for the damage and he was driven from his home.
Thankfully, as he comes out of the flashback it’s revealed his little sister Illyana
was hiding in the wreckage of the farm house. Colossus promises to free their
friends and family. And Jubilee hopes the others got her note.
Back at the Mansion, Wolverine
returns from the Amazon. He sees the note and crumples it after reading the
name Omega Red. He grabs another small craft and takes off. Oh, Logan’s really
pissed off.
Illyana leads them to the prison
camp that their family is being held at. Colossus and Jubilee cause some
damage, but then Omega Red arrives, having Illyana tangled in his cables. He
tells them to surrender or die. He starts draining Illyana’s strength and
smiling evilly. Colossus rushes him but get’s pulled to the ground. Omega Red
says that they can’t stop him. Wolverine comes out of the shadows, saying that
he can, just like he did last time. The two battle, Omega Red dropping Illyana
as he wants to reintroduce Wolverine to his cables. Omega Red throws him to the
side and says that he’s too old to fight. Colossus uses Omega Red’s distraction
to throw a tank at him. Jubilee leads the captives out, including Illyana and
Colossus’ parents. Colossus grabs Wolverine, who says he doesn’t need help, but
Colossus says as he’s a guest in Colossus’ country, it’s just good manners. Red
gets out from under the tank and is pissed. He says they cannot prevent his nation’s
destiny, as Dark Star flies above him looking concerned.
At his jet, Colossus asks Wolverine
if he knows Omega Red. Wolverine confirms that he does, saying he tangled with
Red a couple of times before they were born. He says that he Russians created him,
but that he has his own plans for the country. There’s a blink and you’ll miss
it moment of Captain America’s stats being displayed on the device that made Omega
Red, heavily implying that this was Russia’s equivalent to Project Rebirth. Wolverine
and his buddy Maverick fought Omega Red back in the day, Wolverine saying they
didn’t beat him so much as slowed him down. He says beating him was mostly
luck, Colossus says that they’ll just be lucky again. Which proves to be true
when the Blackbird touches down a minute later. Storm, Rogue and Gambit are
inside, Rogue saying they’d been there sooner if someone hadn’t trashed her
note, looking at Logan. Storm starts scolding her, but Jubilee points out that
Colossus said he needed help immediately. Logan agrees, saying that if they don’t
stop Omega Red from snapping up the countries the Soviets let go of they might
not have another chance.
We cut to Omega Red standing in the
center of Parliament, announcing he will restore the greatest empire in the
world to it’s rightful glory. Dark Star flies in and says that wasn’t part of
the deal. With the villages burned and the survivors fleeing, this is very much
a hollow victory. Omega Red says that he’s fighting for the empire that they
gave away. He will give people the order they’re crying out for. Dark Star
flies off, asking herself what she helped unleash.
Soldiers raid the Black bird
landing sight. They start firing on the civilians, but Dark Star arrives and
uses her powers to shield them and then take out a tank. The X-men take out the
rest. Once things called down, Dark Star tells the others that she’s switching
sides, Omega Red must be stopped.
The X-Men raid Omega Red’s base.
Their powers overwhelm the regular guards and tanks, but Red proves stronger.
He captures Gambit and Jubilee and tries to drain them, but Rogue flies in and
knocks him aside. He tangles her in his tentacles and drains her. Wolverine tries
to stop him, but his adamantium claws can’t get through Omega Red Carbonadium
armor. It’s a weaker but more malleable super metal. Omega Red coils up
Wolverine and drains him as well. Colossus rushes him, saying Russia is done
with Empires. Red starts draining him too. Colossus tells him that he will be
stopped. Dark Star flies in and asks if Storm can control cold as well. She
says she can and Dark Star says that freezing him is the best option. Storm
calls on a blizzard. Omega Red, realizing the plan, knocks her down, but
Colossus grabs him and tells her to try again. She summons a huge blizzard to freeze
him. Colossus has every intention to freeze along with Omega Red to keep him
still, but Dark Star uses her powers to pull him free at the last moment. Storm
and Dark Star keep him still long enough to freeze him solid. Colossus says
they’ve stopped him, for now.
The USSR Generals say that things
will soon be as they were, just before Dark Star bursts in and corrects this
line of thought. Their army is beaten, and Omega Red captured, a new day is
dawning. She captures them and flies off.
Wolverine once again offers to have
Colossus join the team, but he says he wants to stay and help rebuild his
village for now. Jubilee asks that he still visits if he can, to which Colossus
agrees. As they fly off, Illyana asks if it’s really over, to which he says yes,
thanks to help from the X-Men.
This was a nice introduction to
Omega Red. He’s an extremely tough opponent and seeing him more or less single
handedly topple a government was a good way to show it off. Pitting him against
Colossus was also smart. It was a war of ideals between these men, the
ironfisted USSR rule vs. the common Russian citizen. This was also a good way
to show off more of Logan’s backstory. We don’t get a lot about him, just that
he fought Omega Red over 20 years ago, that he and his team won but it was a
close thing. The best Logan stories are the ones that feed you just a few bits
here and there. It also fed into Omega Red’s rep, as someone so powerful that
Logan had trouble beating him is saying something. Having Dark Star beat him
was also nice, a way to redeem herself for helping to free him. I doubt the
X-Men would have through to try to freeze him without the tip. And Charles and Magneto’s
plot is thickening. Trapping two of the most powerful mutants in a place where
they can’t access their powers is a solid plot. Having Magneto kill a T-Rex
using just his intelligence and strategy was a solid example of how his desire
to live. See you next time, have a good night.
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Twitter:@BasicsSuperhero
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