The Shi'ar have come to end the Dark Phoenix.
Last time on X-Men: The Animated
Series, The Dark Phoenix was born. Corrupted by the dark emotions and
illusions introduced to her by Wyngarde of the Inner Circle, the Phoenix
rebranded herself as the Dark Phoenix to embrace her new position as a goddess
of death and evil. The X-Men do their best to stop her, but the power gap is so
extreme that they are barely able to slower her down. After blasting her
friends about, Dark Phoenix grew bored and flew off into space. The X-Men quickly
form a plan to build a Mnemonic Scrambler to hopefully just disorientate Jean,
the human half of the Dark Phoenix, long enough to drive the Phoenix force out
of her. Meanwhile, Dark Phoenix flew across the galaxy to the D’Bari system, a
Shi’ar star system and gobbled up their sun. Thankfully the solar system was
devoid of life (not so in the comics) but the captain stationed there sent an
SOS to the Empress. The Dark Phoenix returned to Earth and the bit of Jean
within her was drawn to her childhood home. The X-Men laid a trap there, using Charles
mind to lull the Dark Phoenix, Storm’s mists to hide their actions and Cyclops
driving Jean’s father’s car to lure her out. While distracted looking for her dad,
who was safe behind Charles, Gambit slapped the scrambler on her head. But she proved
too powerful to incapacitate that way and now she’s pissed. She throws the X-Men
around some more, Wolverine tackling her at one point and attempting to end
this… but can’t because she’s still Jean. Scott reaches out to her one last time
and gets her to hesitate long enough for Charles to mentally blast her. She
recovers too quickly for them to stop her, but Charles pulls her into the mindscape,
and they duel. Dark Phoenix is still too powerful for him to defeat, but he’s able
to draw out Jean herself and the two together imprison the Dark Phoenix in Jean’s
subconscious. High fives all around! The joy of the win is short lived, though,
as Lilandra arrives and announces that the Shi’ar have decided to put Jean Grey
to death for her crimes as the Dark Phoenix. Damn. Enough recapping. Let’s get
to it.
We begin with Lilandra ordering the
capture of Jean Gray. Things look bad as the Royal Guard aren’t pushovers, but
Charles quickly reads Lilandra’s mind and announces something in the Shi’ar
language. Lilandra’s men stop and Charles explains that the Shi’ar have an
ancient tradition of trial by combat that cannot be refused. The X-Men are
beamed aboard the Shi’ar ship, and it takes off. The Grey’s look on in shock,
which makes me again say that this must be the weirdest day for them.
On the ship Cyclops asks what this
is all about, and Lilandra reveals how the Dark Phoenix destroyed the D’bari
star. They fear that soon the Dark Phoenix won’t be satisfied with single stars,
and she’ll start destroying the whole galaxy. Scott goes to bat for Jean,
saying that Charles cured her. But Jean does say that while the Phoenix is
dormant again it’s still in her and could reawake. Beast is outraged at the idea
of killing one being to get at another. Charles calms things down by saying he
invoked the “Arin’nn Haelar” and she can’t refuse it. Lilandra says that he
shouldn’t be smug about this, as he’s only compounded by the tragedy of these events.
A little later, they’re walking together, and Lilandra admits that the Shi’ar
aren’t operating along on this one. The Phoenix is so powerful she threatens
all life, so she’s had to ally herself with other space empires and will need
to get their input. She has video calls with the Supreme Intelligence of the
Kree and Empress R’Klll of the Skrull, both of whom sign off on the duel. They judge
us to be stubborn but honorable. R’Klll adds that she’s approved on the
stipulation that the X-Men cannot be allowed to win.
We cut to the Team training in a
Shi’ar gym. Beast runs an obstacle course when Storm joins him and asks his
thoughts on what’s happening. He’s vehemently against this whole thing, as he
thinks punishing Jean to stop the potential crimes of another. He thinks the
trial by combat is a mockery of justice and that Lilandra is wrong. Below, Wolverine
and Gambit are fighting drones. Gambit also asks if they’re in the right.
Wolverine says that the Shi’ar might be right, that the Phoenix is too
dangerous, but if push comes to shove, he’ll stand by Jean now and forever.
Charles reaches out to Lilandra’s mind, saying that they shouldn’t let these
events wither their love. Charles tries to convince her to help him, but he
takes his mental probes as an attack and casts him out. Even Cyclops is unsure
of what they should do. Rogue says that she admires the love between him and Jean
and knows that questioning what to do about Jean is tearing him apart. Scott
believes that in Lilandra’s shoes he’d choose different, but he’s not sure. Jean
joins them, not in her current costume but her old “Marvel Girl” suit. Ya, I
bet you didn’t know she used to have a codename. She says it felt right to face
this as Scott first knew her. Rogue leaves them to work things out. Jean is
also scared that she’ll lose control, and the Dark Phoenix may destroy Earth.
Scott tries to reassure her, but Jean insists he sees her fears before
answering. She makes him see the Phoenix raging as an inferno across the Earth
and destroying them all. She asks Scott if she’s really worth it, and he says
yes.
The X-Men are gathered to perform
their trial by combat. Lilandra explains that they’ll fight the Royal Guard on
the Blue Zone on the Moon. Any who survive will be set free, and if the Guard
wins, Jean will be surrendered to them. The Blue Zone is a section of Earth’s
moon that has a breathable atmosphere, it’s where Uatu usually hangs out. They
get beamed down. Lilandra’s advisor Araki says the odds are against the X-Men,
but what if they win? Lilandra says they will not, that they can not.
The X-Men take a moment to marvel
at the Blue Zone and the fact the moon used to be inhabited before the Royal Guard
beam in. The plan is to divide and conquer. Jean, Rogue, and Cyclops end up
fighting Starbolt, a Shi’ar with Human Torch-like powers. Beast, Storm, Wolverine
and Gambit do battle with a pair of Shi’ar in a battle suit named Warstar and
Gladiator, who separate them further. Storm and Gambit are finally taken out by
Hussar, a being with energy whips, and Earthquake who has Geokinetic powers. Scott,
Jean, and Rogue continue battling Starbolt, Smasher, and Oracle. Rogue tricks Starbolt
into smashing into a few canyon walls as they fight. Wolverine and Beast take
out Warstar but Gladiator throws them around. Wolverine is taken out by a woman
named Astra, getting blasted into unconsciousness but he moans Jean’s name as
he drops. Rogue tries to fight Oracle but gets mind blasted and drops into a
match with Gladiator. She drops a few buildings on him, but Gladiator is a tough
customer. Another building drops on them both, knocking her out.
On the ship, Charles laments his
X-Men being defeated one by one. Araki asks why Lilandra doesn’t go to Charles
to speak with him. She reveals that the part of her that is a person wants to
comfort him with every breath she takes, but the Empress must be more than
steel.
Jean tells Cyclops she’s lost
contact with the others and is afraid they’re the only ones left. They run into
a building, and she makes a wall of moon dust to hide them. Cyclops laments that
they don’t have much time, and he can’t put into words what he feels about her.
Jean says that where she’s concerned, thoughts matter most and his are beautiful.
They kiss and head into battle. It’s like 6 on 2, so while Scott and Jean do well,
they’re quickly overwhelmed. A pillar lands on Cyclops, knocking him out and
driving Jean into a fury that turns her back into the Dark Phoenix. Lilandra
orders her people to destroy the Dark Phoenix and Charles with a heavy heart
agrees. The X-Men quickly overwhelm Jean, dropping rubble on her and seemingly
killing her, but Jean breaks free one more. Scott begs her to fight it but she
can’t, not every second of every day. She begs him to end her, but he can’t she
blasts him away. ON the Shi’ar ship, their weapons suddenly come online,
Charels realizing it’s Jean’s work. She pushes Scott away before Lilandra hits
the button and obliterates Jean.
Lilandra and Charles beam down.
Lilandra tries to give her condolences, but Scott won’t hear it. The Phoenix arises
once more. She explains that she used to be a guardian but the emotions she
tapped into through Jean drove her mad. Killing Jean set her free and she’s
able to protect once again. Scott, heartbroken, demands to know what happens to
Jean or if the life of a mortal is beneath her. The Phoenix reveals that she
can bring Jean back, but it’s a one-for-one sort of thing, life has to be given
to revive her. Both Scott and Logan offer to do it, but the Phoenix then
reveals that she can take just a little from a few people, but their lives will
still be shortened by the amount she takes. All of the X-Men agree with that
deal, the Phoenix draws life from each of them and Jean wakes up. Jean and
Scott embrace as the Phoenix flies away. She beams them back to Earth.
Late that night, Lilandra says
goodbye to Charles via telepathy. Charles says that he senses a part of her
mind is closed off to him now. She never blocked him before, and he wants to
know why. She says that as an empress a part of her has to be alone, always,
but it doesn’t affect her love for him. The arc ends with Scott putting Jean to
bed and kissing her forehead.
I’m sitting here and marveling at
how this is still the best adaptation of the Dark Phoenix storyline despite 30
years and three other attempts to do so. Don’t be mad if you’re a fan of Wolverine
and the X-Men, that’s the number two on the list. Part of what makes it superior
to either X-Men: The Last Stand or X-Men: Dark Phoenix is simple
time. I’ve followed Jean through 40+ episodes of TV, that’s like 12 hours of
content, a movie is just never going to measure up on a character development
standpoint. But I think a more important element is how they characterized the
Phoenix. In both the live action versions, Jean is characterized as growing
more reserved, cold and aloof while Phoenix empowered, or lashing out trying to
protect herself. I really don’t recall a moment where either version Jean just
gets to revel her power like the Dark Phoenix does in this string of
episodes. There are parts where she’s clearly loving every second of flaunting
her immense power and beating up her friends. The whole point of the Dark
Phoenix is that she’s a cosmic neutral being addicted to negative impulses and
emotions, so having her actually have fun with her immense power is a better
way to go in my opinion. The closest I can think we saw this happen was how Famke
Janssen’s version used her immense power to almost bang Hugh Jackman’s
Wolverine, and that’s hardly the same thing. I think what I’m trying to say is
that the tragedy of the story is magnified by seeing a character we love acting
evil and enjoying it, not in her just fighting with herself and her friends the
whole time. But, anyway, ya, this was a good arc. We got to see the Good, the
Bad and the Ugly of Jean Gray as the Dark Phoenix grew stronger and took over.
It’s a shame that this is the strongest we’ve ever seen Jean be. But that’s par
for the course with her. In any given episode she’s the strongest being on the
field unless Magneto or Apocalypse is around and then she’s tied for first, so
they must knock her out, exhaust her, or otherwise remove her for the story to
have any narrative tension. The need for that is removed when she’s the
big bad that needs to get taken out. She gets to unleash all the power she’s
forced to hold back most of the time and it’s terrifying. It was fun to see the
Kree and Skrull as well, just for the worldbuilding… cosmos building. It’s just
nice to remember that the Shi’ar aren’t the only space game in town is all. The
Dark Phoenix has been defeated and Jean is back home safe and sound. Good way
to end the arc and this month of content. Have a good night, everyone.
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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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