The Phoenix is back and she's losing her mind.
Last time on X-Men: The Animated
Series, Garokk rose up. Garokk is an evil God that ruled over the Savage Land
thousands of years ago before being beaten and imprisoned in stone by an unnamed
antagonist, but if you know comics was clearly the High Evolutionary. He regained
some power when Storm was in the Savage Land and used her powers so concocted
the plan to get Sauron to bring her back and unleash her power. The X-Men try
to contain her, but Storm is far too powerful for them to contain, and she
unleashes enough power to allow Garokk to manifest. One of their plans involved
having Karl Lykos try to drain her, which stopped her for a bit but just led to
Sauron being unleashed again. Sauron, pissed at being upstaged, tried to drain
Garokk’s power. Weirdly it worked and he turned Kaiju sized. The two fight and
cause an explosion big enough to be seen from space. The X-Men grab Storm and fall
back once it’s clear Garokk is beaten. And now that the Savage Land is Mutant
free, Karl is allowed back into Ka-Zar’s tribe since there’s no way for him to
transform back into Sauron. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it.
We open on Muir Island where Jean
is being examined by Moira MacTaggart and Charles. While I don’t think it’s
ever been spelled out, this is where she’s been post-M’Kraan crystal incident.
Moira is attempting to help Jean remember what happened to her between going
into the sun with the crystal and appearing back on Earth. A situation complicated
by the fact that the Phoenix is still possessing her. Charles tries to talk to
Jean and relax her, but the Phoenix rears her head and announces that she’s
still here too. Charles demands to know why Phoenix is still here, her work is
done and she’s causing Jean harm by remaining within her. The Phoenix rages at
hearing this, destroying the lab. Moira says that they’ve done all they can do
for her here, and that they really do need to just send her home. Jean begs
Scott for help.
We cut to a bar in New York where Scott
and Gambit are enjoying a small Dazzler show. Alison Blair is an up and coming
singer that puts on very visually pretty shows. Their night is interrupted by Jean’s
mental shout for Scott. Gambit tries to tell him it’s in his head, but Scott insists
on checking. Once outside, he sees a man dressed as a 17th century
aristocrat and his… gimp masked minions… kay, trying to kidnap Dazzler. Scott intervenes
with his eyebeams. The anachronistic nobleman decides to show off how
anachronistic he is by revealing he’s got a cyborg arm and tries to kill Scott
by throwing an engine block at him. Dazzler reveals she’s a Mutant, making a
blinding flash of light that blinds the nobleman and lets Scott take him out.
They flee. Dazzler thanks him for his help and asks Scott to please be at her
show the next night for some additional security. She’s also a bit flirty with
him, but that’s a starlet for ya. Scott agrees but he’s more focused on hearing
about her Mutant powers.
Back at the Mansion, Wolverine is making
a sandwich and uses his claws to slice some salami, Scott coming in and asking
for some too. Logan is impressed at seeing how roughed up Scott, ya know Logan,
he loves a scrap. He starts to tell Logan about what happened, but then Phoenix
comes stumbling into the kitchen. Scott is obviously overjoyed to see his
girlfriend again, but notices that she’s a bit off. Charles comes in and says
that it’s because she’s tired from her trip. Storm takes her to her room. Scott
is frustrated by what’s happened and by the lack of progress in her recovery. Charles
tells him that he knows it’s been hard but that if Jean is to have any chance
of recovery, she’ll need to draw strength from him.
We jump to the “Inner Circle” Club.
The cyborg, Pierce, is trying to rationalize away his inability to bring
Dazzler in by saying she’s not ‘worthy’ to join them. FYI, technically we’re at
the Hellfire Club and the Inner Circle is their ruling body… but now chance in
hell that censors would let that through. The other two members, Sebastian Shaw
and Harry Leland are unimpressed, Shaw asking if he tried to recruit Dazzler
for the club or for himself. When Leland laughs at him, Pierce tries to act
tough but Leland uses his powers to overload his cyborg arm by making it
heavier. Shaw tells him to back off and tells Leland that the price of
replacing the crystal glasses he broke will be added to his dues. They’re joined
by Jason Wyngarde aka Mastermind, and Emma Frost aka White Queen, Emma
informing them that her psychic powers detected the Phoenix and they want to
recruit her or the club. After Emma briefly summarized that Phoenix Saga, and
showing us Phoenix crash landing outside Muir island, Shaw is very intrigued. Leland
asks how she could know all this, and Emma claims she’s gotten access to
Cerebro. Leland says that’s crazy, but Emma reveals that due to his stress and
distraction, she was able to get around his security. Their plan is to use Wyngarde’s
power to control her. He’s an illusionist of immense power.
At the Mansion, Charles asks Jean
to tell them what the Phoenix wants. The Phoenix starts to take over, causing
Jean’s eyes and mouth to burn like Ba’alzamon as the Phoenix screams that she
hungers. Charles helps her repress it and he tells her to relax. Charles and Hank
leave her and Scott alone. When outside, Charles postulate that the Phoenix, a
cosmic being of unimaginable power, is… well… addicted to the sensations she’s
feeling through Jean and why she refuses to leave. He sensed Anger, Resentment
and excitement in the Phoenix when they connected. And what’s worse, is she’s
taking control of Jean’s body as the dominant personality. Scott tells Jean
about wanting to help Dazzler, and the Phoenix takes over, accusing him of leaving
her for another woman and threatening Dazzler. Scott says she doesn’t mean that
and Jean agrees, she doesn’t… but Phoenix might. Scott promises to find a way
to help her.
Later that night, Storm wakes Scott
and tells him that he should be going to his event. Storm sits with Jean, but
the moment she’s out, the Inner Circle strikes. Using Emma’s telepathy to boost
his range, Wyngarde access Jean’s mind and uses his own powers to create an
illusion to control her. He creates a fantasy of Jean being a 17th
century noblewoman that Wyngarde saved from drowning. He uses this bad romance
set up and the jumbled minds of Jean and Phoenix to confuse her. They kiss, but
they see a flash of Scott’s face and Jean wakes up. Storm asks if she’s
alright, she says she is and asks Storm for a drink. Wyngarde is furious that it
wasn’t enough. Emma says that Jean’s mind is connected to “someone” that she
reflexively reaches out to for protection. He announces that she will
succumb to him in his presence and demands Emma come with him. Storm returns to
find a burnt bed and Jean is gone. Damn Phoenix.
Phoenix, now in a red costume instead
of a green, lands in an alley. Jean seems to realize something is off and
forces Phoenix out, reverting to her street clothes. She wanders into the bar
where Dazzler is performing. She comes in as a flirty Dazzler grabs Scott and
gives him a “I didn’t know he was taken” kiss. The Inner Circle arrives and
Emma senses something change in Jean’s mind. Wyngarde smugly says that her mind
is reacting to his presence. They come inside before Scott can explain what
happened to Jean and Wyngarde puts her under his spell and they run off. Scott
and Dazzler try to follow but the Inner Circle goons slow them down for a few
seconds.
The X-Men (Cyclops, Rogue, Gambit,
Beast, Storm, and Wolverine) suit up and arrive at the Inner Circle club
clubhouse. Scott is scared that they had to rely on Logan’s nose as Charles
couldn’t find Jean’s mind telepathically. He wonders if her mind has changed
that much, but Storm suggests that maybe she doesn’t want to be found. Cyclops
sends Rogue up to try to find a sneaky way in. She flies up and spies on the
Inner Circle holding a sham wedding to help put Phoenix further under Wyngarde’s
control. Rogue bursts in before they can do the kiss and the others follow. Shaw
tells her to back up as Jean’s in a world she can’t reach. Rogue tries to beat
him up, but Shaw’s powers absorb the kinetic energy thrown at him, making him
stronger and letting him throw it back at her. The X-Men burst in, and a brawl starts.
Wolverine and Storm stop pierce, but Leland drops him through the ground into
the sewars. Beast and Gambit get dropped quickly too. Cyclops tries to defeat Shaw,
but he just absorbs the optic beam and gets stronger. Storm traps him in ice,
but then she’s attacked by Jean. Only for Phoenix to announce she’s in control now
and kiss her ‘new husband.’ Well… crap.
That’s an auspicious start to this
multiparter. But it’s known as the Dark Phoenix saga, so ya had to know this wasn’t
going to go well. I like that this is ultimately a two-pronged problem, with both
the Phoenix ODing on new sensations and the Inner Circle Club trying to capitalize
on this to steal her power. It’s basically one character indulging in a vice
with an outside group making that vice more enticing. Dangerous combination, because
I think we all know that any control of Phoenix that Wyngarde has is temporary
at best. If you’re wondering about their outfits, they’re like… weird
cosplayers. The men wear antiquated suits and leggings, the lady’s lingerie
because they’re old money sexist. No, I have no idea how even a less risqué
Emma Frost’s corset and thigh high boots got passed the censors. Or their goons’
gimp suits. Like… why? The Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club is one of those
secret societies that try to rule the world quietly from the background for the
most part. While its most famous members like Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw are
Mutants, the group is actually open to anyone with a large enough bank account,
as shown with Pierce the Cyborg. Like in the comics Howard Stark and Warren
Worthington II (Angel’s dad) are both former members. I don’t believe it comes
up in this arc, but their rank and power structure are based on chess pieces,
with Emma Frost being the literal White Queen and Shaw being the Black King. There’s
also a Black Queen and White King, but they’re not important here. I feel bad
that they used Dazzler in this, as she’s one of those characters that is popular
with a lot of people, but one of her three appearances in this show amounts to
her being a homewrecker. Doing Alison Dirty writers! So… Phoenix is now under
the sway of a group of the worst kind of villains, insane millionaires that
cosplay as either 17th century aristocrats or lingerie models. Like…
maybe kiss the world goodbye, guys? Well see what happens next time.
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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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