Viewer Log: X-Men: TAS ep 62

 Christmas time in 95.

Last time on X-Men: The Animated Series, Logan’s past was… investigated. Logan had been suffering from worsening nightmares and hallucinations for several weeks after receiving a letter in the mail of him and a Native woman hugging. The photo had coordinates for southern Canada written on the back and he headed for them, Hank following behind to give his buddy backup. At the facility they run into Sabretooth who’d also been lured there and also been suffering from nightmares and headaches. We’re introduced to two former teammates of theirs, Maverick and Silver Fox, Silver Fox being the woman from the photo and Logan’s ex. They enter deeper into the facility and learn that much of their past was created on a soundstage. The doctor in charge of the Weapon X project, Hudson, had devised a truly sadistic brainwashing program in order to make the perfect sleeper soldiers. Basically, Logan and co were pumped full of drugs and put into scenario after scenario to create fake traumatic memories to bury their covert ops training into their psyches. It’s implied some of what they experienced is real, as Hudson says experiences similar to their actual traumas encode best. They enter a secret door that needed all four of them to unlock, which turned out to be the last failsafe Hudson built. It activated a robot called Talos that was supposed to capture, sedate and reinstall their programming. They’re able to beat Talos and escape. Logan tries to talk to Fox, saying that some part of their past together must be real. A cabin they remember living together in was on the soundstage, but Logan insists that it can’t all be made up as the door didn’t have their names carved in it, a detail they both remember. Fox tells him to forget her as that was a lifetime ago. He and Hank leave together, missing the tree with “Logan + Silver Fox” carved into it in a heart. How sad. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open on the X-Men singing carols as they decorate the tree. Specifically, Scott, Rogue and Jubilee. Logan meanwhile is sitting before the fire and being grumpy. Jubilee asks him to help with the tree and singing, but he tells her that the day he sings a carol is the day pigs fly and walk off. Scott and Rogue tell her not to take it personally, Logan hate holidays and there’s no use ruining their fun to try to get him to not be a humbug. Rogue flies Jubilee up to the top of the giant tree to put on the star. In the kitchen, Jean and Gambit are fighting over how to prepare Christmas dinner. Jean’s advocating for ‘traditional’ meals, whereas Gambit’s Cajun Roots are DEMANDING more spice. It ends with Gambit falling over and getting soaked in water, insisting Jean still doesn’t know anything about Christmas dinner, but she laughs so it’s all good. Hank meanwhile is doing some holiday chemistry in his lab, upside down as he so often likes to be. He seems to enjoy his non-alcoholic eggnog. We pull out to view Charles and Ororo watching everyone from the War Room’s cameras. Charles is enjoying the night, but Ororo is restless for some reason that she can’t figure out why. Before they can psychoanalyze her, there’s a disturbance of some kind that shakes the mansion. The team all scramble to figure out what just happened.

 

They reach Beast’s lab and see him covered in goo, him saying that I’s his cranberry glaze. His chemistry experiment blew up in his face, it seems. Logan is the last to arrive and is disappointed to learn that it’s not an attack. He says he needs to get out of the house before the Christmas season makes him sick. Jubilee says that she and Ororo are going to do some Christmas Eve shopping and begs Logan to come with them. He begrudgingly agrees, saying that he’d have better luck fighting Sabretooth than fighting her. The trio do some shopping; Jubilee especially is excited to be able to celebrate with a real family for once. After their shopping trip, they go to a skating rink and do some skating, Logan still being grumpy. That is until he smells something burning and realizes something is about to go down. Not a minute later an ambulance crashes through a wall and nearly crashes into everyone. Storm stops it with a summoned tornado and has it gently touch down. Two Morlocks get out, Ape (shapeshifting powers) and Annalee (telepathic). They rip the doors off the back of the ambulance and search around. Logan says that stealing an ambulance has made the Morlocks sink real low. The cops pull up and Logan tries to stop them. Storm flies in and they talk to her. Remember, Storm is their absentee ruler after all. They explain that Leech, the youngest Morlock with a green, reptilian-looking appearance and the ability to drain energy, is extremely sick. They’re trying to find a way to help him, but they don’t know what he has. They tried to take him to a hospital, but his powers were going haywire, and they refused to treat him. Annalee begs for Ororo’s help and she agrees. She holds the cops off with a blizzard burst and they follow the Morlocks.

 

They enter the sewers and head to the Morlock’s camp. Calisto greets them and shames Ororo for not being around as the Morlock queen. They agree to a ceasefire for the moment, needing to focus on Leech. Ororo orders Logan to prep Leech for transport and she’ll carry him to the mansion for Hank to look after. Logan has been a field medic, so this is a solid plan. Unfortunately, Logan determines that Leech is in a bad way already and he’ll never survive the trip. Jubilee meets and hugs a little Morlock girl named Mariana. Jubilee begs Logan to do something, as he’s so good at healing himself. Logan says that Leech isn’t like him… but maybe… He tries to back off the idea, but everyone demands he elaborate. He admits that a transfusion of his blood might work to save Leech. He’s tried it before but says that it only worked twice out of twenty-two tries. 10% is still a chance, though, so Ororo insists they try. She gets a transfusion kit from the medical supplies they stole and tells Logan to get started on a transfusion while she goes to get Hank. Logan’s still obstinate and points out Leech wouldn’t be in trouble if Ororo kept a better eye on the Morlocks. She accepts that verbal slap but begs him to help. They have Ape shift into a table to give Logan a flat surface to lay beside Leech and get started. Mariana asks if Leech will be okay and Jubilee asks if she believes in miracles. Shockingly, the Mutant living in the sewer doesn’t know what those are, but Jubilee says hopefully they’ll see one soon.

 

Back at the mansion, Gambit’s in trouble for ‘juicing up’ the ham. Jean demands this “swamp rat” out of the kitchen. Before the fighting can get any worse, Charles comes in and tells them to move it. Specifically, he tells Rogue to fly Hank to the Morlock ASAP.

 

In the sewers, they begin the transfusion. Everyone is worried and Logan begs Leech to help him out and survive this one. Mariana takes Jubilee to see the Morlock Christmas tree, which is a damaged artificial tree in a can. Mariana asks if she thinks it’s pretty and Jubilee says it’s the most beautiful thing ever. Mariana shows Jubilee their dinner, saying that Leech got both the tree and the ingredients for the soup before he got sick. She asks Jubilee to stay for dinner. Ororo comes in and they all head over to check how Leech is doing. Jubilee whispers to Ororo asking how they can survive like this, and Ororo gives a platitude about how every day is Christmas when you’re with people you love. Really not feeling that with the people forced to live in the sewers, but whatever. The transfusion doesn’t seem to be working, Logan shouts that he told them so, and nearly storms off but Hank arrives and says he may need Logan’s help. Hank begins to examine Leech. He tells Calisto, who’s pissed, that Logan’s healing powers are incredible but poorly understood and unreliable in terms of being transferable. Thankfully, it sees to work this time as Leech opens his eyes. Ororo demands Calisto hand over the scepter of power, the symbol of Morlock leadership. She renounces her position of Leader and hands back the position to Callisto. She realizes that she can’t lead these people like they need, but knows Callisto is right for the job. Logan thanks Leech for surviving, which sparked a bit of hope in him. Ororo apologizes to Logan for snapping at him earlier, saying that she shouldn’t have questioned his willingness to help a child. Everyone decides to stay with the Morlocks for Christmas Eve dinner, Jubilee giving them her last minute shopping gifts in celebration. Gambit is irate at the idea that the others aren’t coming back for dinner, as he and I quote “Does not make TV dinners.” Jubilee calls Charles and lets him know that they won’t be making it back and he tells her he understands. And that her gift of generosity makes him so proud.

 

Meanwhile I’m sitting here and wondering why the hell aren’t they transporting the Morlocks to the Mansion for dinner? It’s not THAT far and they’ve got a literal feast!

 

It’s an extremely basic Christmas episode. An emergency causes a younger character to learn the true meaning of Christmas and helps instill a feeling of hope in a grump. That’s all this one is when you break it down to the base level. I do like that they decided to bring back in the Morlocks and tie off this existing plot thread that Ororo is the queen of the Morlocks but has apparently not been to see them even once since beating Calisto. Storm is a great leader but even the best leader is terrible in absentia. While Calisto was borderline psychotic in her first episode, she’s mellowed out since then and does seem to truly have the Morlock’s best interest at heart. I really don’t have a lot to say about this episode. It’s just… basic. Not terrible, not groundbreaking, it just IS. Part of me wishes that TV shows didn’t feel obligated to do Christmas episodes at all, but that’s the society we live in. That’s all I have to say about that. Still figuring out what the rest of the month will be, you’ll see my decision tomorrow. Have a good one!  

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Bluesky: ‪@basicssuperhero.bsky.social‬

Viewer Log: X-Men: TAS ep 61

 Trauma is a powerful thing, it seems.

Last time on X-Men: The Animated Series, Logan ran off to Japan. Feeling extremely angry and like he’d lost his purpose, Logan ran off to Japan to live and work at a monastery he’d stayed at sometime in the path. He found peace in construction and living a slower life. This peace was ruined by the Silver Samurai and his gang extorting the villagers for protection money. Logan felt extremely conflicted about getting involved as he liked the inner peace that he’d achieved working at the monastery but ultimately decided that protecting people is his purpose, so he won’t resist the urge to fight anymore. He dueled and defeated Silver Samurai, saving the village and ultimately kissing a girl he spoke with three times. He ended up returning to the X-Men with Jubilee, who’d come to find him. Enough Recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

I should note before we begin that this story canonically takes place before the last episode “Lotus and the Steel.” “Weapon X, Lies and Video Tape” first premiered on June 11^th 1995, and “Lotus and the Steel” premiered on February 3^rd of 1996. No idea why they’re put in this order after the fact, shows are screwy like that.

 

We open on a snowy forest landscape. Logan is fighting Sabretooth in a cabin. Sabretooth isn’t in his costume for once and is instead in flannel which feels so weird to me. There’s a woman with them, she’s Silver Fox, who tells Logan that Sabretooth is crazy before passing out. Sabretooth sticks his finger in a celebration cake they’d hand and licks it clean, sarcastically asking Logan if he can’t take care of his woman. Logan charges him before we pull out and learn this is all a nightmare he’s having. Logan is in reality completely strapped down to a bed in the medical bay as Scott, Jean and Hank watch Charles try to get control of the situation. We learn that Charles had put mental blocks in place to help Logan deal with these nightmares but they’ve seemed to have all broken. Charles gets hit with psychic feedback that knocks him out and Logan breaks free. Scott tries to reach out to stop his friend, but he sees Sabretooth and tries to slice him. Jean psychically shoves Scott out of the way. Logan runs off, Beast going after him with Jean asking him to stop him but be careful. Beast can’t reach him in time, though, and Logan drives off in his jeep.

 

Sometime later, Jean enters Logan’s room and looks though a collection of photos he has. They seem to be of all the women he’s loved in recent years, we see the Scott-removed picture of Jean, one of Yuriko aka Lady Deathstrike before her claws, Heather Hudson (wife of Vindicator of Alpha Flight), and one of him and Silver Fox who we just saw in his nightmare. Hank walks by and Jean calls him over. She reveals that she’d that postcard to Logan two weeks ago when it came in the mail, which is right when he started to have his breakdown. She’s sure that’s what triggered it, she’d seen Silver Fox in Logan’s mind earlier, and notes that there are coordinates written on the back. Hank agrees that Logan is probably headed that way, to southern Canada. She asks Hank to go after him, to which he agrees.

 

Logan reaches the coordinates, which appears to be… shockingly, a government facility. He breaks in and walks into the facility through the giant hole in the wall… which, ya know, he put in it. He finds the laboratory where they’d bonded the adamantium to his skeleton. He has a flashback to the process, where he’d been stuck in a tube and hand the liquid metal injected into his body while Professor Hudson (not named here but that’s his name) observed. Logan woke up mid-procedure and broke free. He tried to gut Hudson, but the coward escaped. Logan is brought out of his flashback by Hank, who he also tries to gut because he’s in a berserk frenzy. Hank dodges a stab from Logan, who hits a computer and shocks himself instead. This snaps him out of the delusion and Hank tries to talk to Logan. He’s not sure why he’s like this but he’s sure that this facility has the answer. Hank, not willing to leave Logan behind, helps him break further into the facility. They find the helmet that Logan wore during the procedure and Logan starts to have another attack. He remembers running all but naked through the frozen wilderness to an army base. He goes inside and shoots several dummies as part of his training protocol. Hudson appears behind him and shocks him to get him to stop, saying the programming is going well and to increase the intensity for Logan. Hank pulls him out of this one and asks what he saw. They find Logan’s old Lotus, the car from his picture with Silver Fox and he says her name for the first time. He has a flashback to driving with her in that car to their cabin, and him carving their names in a heart on the Cabin door. Then Sabretooth attacks, and the memory plays out like before, though this time Sabretooth is in full costume. Logan freaks out and rips the steering wheel from the lotus. Sabretooth himself then walks in, complaining about this, saying that he doesn’t know why Logan drew him out here when he could have killed him stateside. The two fight, both accusing the other of luring them out here before they have a combined flashback.

 

We see Logan, Creed, Silver Fox and a fourth guy named Maverick in combat gear. They steal a canister of C-Synth before they’re attacked by Omega Red. Logan and Creed run through the door, but Omega Red cuts the other two off. Creed shoots the door lock, trapping their team with Omega Red but letting them escape. Logan calls him a traitor and Creed calls him a coward. Their fight is interrupted by Maverick and Silver Fox, both who are alive. We get a brief info dumb, all four of them are having intense nightmares and visions, they’re only going to get worse until they find the source, and they know this brainwashing procedure was called Talos. Silver Fox opens a door and reveals their past.

 

Inside are studio sets, hollow facades of buildings and locations. Logan sees one of a hardware store and has a vision of himself getting kidnapped out in front of it. He screams in rage, saying that’s not how it happened and demanding to know what’s going on. Sabretooth laughs at him for his weakness, until he sees his own set and flashes back to when he was a boy and his violent father, Jebediah Creed beat him for being a Mutant. He starts sobbing and begging his Pa to not hurt him anymore and swearing he’ll be good. Maverick has his own flashback and screams for Creed to stop, we don’t see what he saw. Logan insists that this isn’t right and asking why it seems like all their memories are terrible. He goes to a sobbing Fox and sees the cabin they both remember. Logan asks her what is going on. Hank calls all their attention to a big screen, saying he’d found the records of what happened here. Time stamp says this was all done twentyish years ago in 1973. He plays Hudson’s presentation. We learn that the four of them were taken for experimentation and Hudson used drugs and simulations to induce trauma responses in these subjects. Why? To condition them to react to certain stimuli, ‘activating them’ as sleeper soldiers who then can kill their targets before being deactivated and returned to civilian life. They were flooded with false memories to induce the trauma response, Hudson callously noting that the process works best with scenarios based on real events. Creed says that all their memories are fake, and why don’t they hunt this scientist down and give HIM some trauma. Hank pulls up another video. This one reveal that Hudson had noticed that Sabretooth and Wolverine have similar healing powers and have decided to use that. They took Logan and bonded adamantium to his skeleton using Yuriko’s father’s adamantium bonding process, with the intention of doing the same to Sabretooth if the process was successful. Sabretooth points out he could have had metal bones too if Logan hadn’t flipped out, and Logan says he should thank him. The video shows Logan’s escape, and the other three running off right after.

 

Fox reveals she’s seen all of the facility already save one room that’s hidden behind a door she can’t cut into, which is why she called up Logan and Creed. It’s made of adamantium and isn’t easy to damage. There’s a four paneled DNA lock, and she deduces that the four of them need to use it to get inside. They all touch their palms to the scanners despite Hank’s protests, who points out the obvious ‘why would they hid something behind a door only the four of them can open.’ Once they’re inside, a video from Hudson played. He reveals that this was all planned for. He says the four of them learning the truth about their memories and the conditioning has endangered whatever plans he’s working on and that they must be eliminated. Opening the door activated a robot hunter named Talos that will disable, capture, and take them all in for reprogramming. Hank tries to get the door open while the other four fight Talos. The robot is made of adamantium as well, so he’s tough as hell. Maverick scanned Talos and found it’s power sources is deep in it’s body, they’ll need to bury a termite grenade inside to destroy it. Logan rushes in and breaks a hole in Talos back before he’s thrown off. Talos drawing an axe triggers Sabretooth’s trauma response, but he attacks the temporary vision of his father rather than run from it. There’s a brief scuffle with everyone that ends with Maverick getting a thermite grenade in Talos back and blowing him to hell.

 

Hank breaks the lock on the door. Before they can leave, Talos activates their trauma response causing all four of the test subjects to drop to the ground and scream in pain. It also activates a secondary Talos unit to capture them. Hank grabs a truck and puts everyone on it. He distracts the second Talos using Maverick’s explosives before driving off. They escape the facility, Hank saying the explosions will draw attention to the facility. He goes to prep the mini-jet and let’s Logan say goodbye to his comrades. He and Maverick have a cordial goodbye, Sabretooth just kind of walks off and that’s really the best thing he could do, but Logan tries to talk to Fox. He insists that while a they now know some of what they remember is fake, there were parts that were real. They both remember him carving their names in the door of the cabin, the cabin in the facility didn’t have names, so that must be part of what really happened. Fox says that maybe that is true, but that was also a lifetime ago. She says goodbye and takes her jet away. Hank and Logan talk, Logan saying he’d come here for answers but officially knows less now than he did before. Hank says he doesn’t have easy answers but suggest Logan rely on the memories he knows are true, like of their time together as X-Men. Logan agrees to that. As they board the jet, we see that a nearby tree has Logan and Silver Fox carved into it, but Logan doesn’t see it. That’s a sad way to end it…

 

Overall, a solid episode that I think easily could have been a two-parter. Just extend out Logan’s search for the facility a little, or show more of Sabretooth’s part of the story, what he was doing when he started having the visions, and cut it right when Maverick and Silver Fox break up their fight. Pick up part two with them seeing the sets and fill out the story with more of Maverick and Silver Fox so we can get a better sense of who they are. For example, what their powers are! Maverick can absorb kinetic energy, and Silver Fox is another character with a healing factor. Maverick has also been written with a Healing factor, but in him it’s an artificial power. You might think that there are a lot of healing factors in one spot, but they were selected and experimented on for a military program, so that makes sense to me. Obviously, the military wants self-recovering soldiers SOOOO bad. I like this idea that each of these guys have multiple traumatic pasts programmed into their minds, as it’s a handy explanation for any retcons to their pasts. Was Logan a soldier? A drifter? An immortal from the 1700s? He could be all or none depending on who’s writing him, and it’s not contradicted by the text! That’s part of what makes this story fun, as it both fills in a part of Logan’s past, while further obscuring anything that could come before the Weapon X program. It effectively makes being the Weapon X all Logan ever was, since he has no idea which of his traumatic pasts is the real one. For a longform story like a comic or TV show, this is a godsend for a writer. Infinite possibilities. My only complaint really is they under utilized Maverick and Silver Fox. The only reason I don’t include Sabretooth in that is due to the fact we’ve seen him before so don’t need much more about him to fill in the gaps. He’s a big bully that loves ragging on how small and weak Logan is compared to him to make himself feel better for all the times he’s lost to Logan. Boom done. But who is Maverick? A man with an odd accent and an armored suit? That’s it? Nothing about what he's been doing or where he’s been? Same with Silver Fox? How’d she find the facility? Did her programming start kicking in early for some reason? All these ideas could have been explored at least a little with more time. As to Doctor Hudson… they could have just revealed his name. That’s my one note. Making him nameless in the episodes might make him seem a little more mysterious but it makes summarizing this stuff a lot harder, all I’m saying. So, ya, fun story. Next time it’s a Christmas episode in July, fitting. Have a good night!

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Bluesky: ‪@basicssuperhero.bsky.social‬

Viewer Log: X-Men: TAS ep 60

Logan's going on a sojourn. 

Last time on X-Men: The Animated Series, Nightcrawler learned about his mother. She was kidnapped by the Friends of Humanity and he was told to surrender himself to them or she dies. The monk sought out his friends Logan and Rogue to help him, and they brought Jubilee too. They reach the location, a dam, and break in. Inside they learn that Kurt’s mother is in fact Mystique, the shapeshifter. As it turns out, she is also the biological mother of Graydon Creed, who lured his mother and half brother here to kill then and prune his family tree. A fight breaks out, but there’s enough time to learn why Kurt was abandoned. Mystique was living as the wife of a baron, a life that was ruined upon birthing a blue demon. She had to flee with the baby, Mystique ultimately deciding to Moses Kurt down the river because taking care of him would have been too difficult on the run. Kurt forgives his mother, which seems to break something in her. Everyone escapes the dam right before Graydon destroys it. Killing his family had been a requirement that the FoH new council had given Graydon in order to stay as part of the group. They decided to “give” him one more chance to clean up the part of the family tree he didn’t want to touch. He is dropped out in front of the rural home of Graydon Creed Sr, and the last we see of Jr is him screaming in fear as his father lifts him by the throat. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open with Charles giving Logan a therapy session. He seems to be dealing with some deep-seated feelings of fear and dread that he can’t quite shake. Charles asks if this might have something to do with what happened when they fought Proteus, or upon learning of his past in the Weapon X program (The episodes are out of order, we’ll see what he’s talking about here next time), but Logan doesn’t think it’s either of those. Charles then asks if it’s about Jean, but he admits that he loves her enough that her happiness is what counts above anything else. Charles explains to us that when Logan first came to the mansion, he had a lot of anger issues and in many ways was more of a wild animal than a man. He says that Logan learned to hone his rage and use it as a weapon, the scene we’re shown includes Jean and Charles giving him some sort of telepathic therapy to help him focus. Logan says that the others helped to aim him, give him purpose, but he’s losing that again. He says what really brought this on was a road rage incident where he almost gutted a kid for cutting him off in traffic. He literally ripped the door of the kid’s car and drew his claws, but Jubilee pulled him off. Logan claimed that throwing Jubilee off didn’t bother him much and that scares him. He says that he needs to find his focus again, and to do that he’ll need to leave the X-Men. He says he’s heading for Japan.

 

We see Logan packing for his trip. He sees a vision of Kurt in a mirror, the blue priest asking him why he can’t just try to see the world with different eyes, but Logan says it’s beyond him. The vision switches to Sabretooth who taunts him before Logan slashes the mirror. Jubilee comes in and says his taxi has arrived. She begs him not to go but Logan is set on this one. He flies to Japan and heads to the countryside. He arrives at a temple and is greeted by his former sensei, Oku. Logan says that he feels like he’s been rushing around since he left and is wondering if he could get back to his training. Oku agrees and Logan gets to helping the younger monks make repairs to the temple. We see a quick montage of Logan helping with construction, meditating and just living life more slowly. He’s invited to a feast the locals are throwing for the monks. They head into town, and Logan notices the villagers are tense around him. Oku insists they’re just nervous because Logan is different. Which, ya know, makes sense, how many short hairy white guys do these people see? He’s introduced to the mayor Yoshida and his daughter Kisara, and son Soichi. Soichi pulls up on a motorcycle and has a fight with his father, as Soichi is shirking his responsibilities to train to fight someone. Logan starts to step in and tells Soichi to show respect to his dad, but realizes he’s being hostile, so he backs off. Soichi calls him a coward, but Oku rightly notes sometimes the braver man is the one that walks away from a fight.

 

We cut back to the mansion, Jubilee steals a minijet and flies off to find Logan. She left a note to the Professor saying that she has to try to help Logan and knows he’ll understand.

 

Oku tells Logan that they need more lumber for the construction, so he heads out to cut some down. He’s interrupted by Kenuichio Harada aka the Silver Samurai, who teleports in and demands to know who he is. Logan introduces himself and tries to be polite. Silver Samurai warns Logan to stay out of matters that don’t concern him and teleports away. Logan mutters to himself that he doesn’t think he’s local. We jump back to the village where a biker gang rides in to remind the villagers they have a tribute to pay to Silver Samurai in three days. Yoshida asks for an extension as it’s been a rough year, but the bikers won’t have it. Soichi then comes in and tries to fight the bikers to get them to back off but gets knocked around. One of the bikers nearly kills him but Silver Samurai teleports in and says they don’t need a martyr. He says they’ll be back in two days for the tribute, and that the village will be paying double. He then orders his men to leave a reminder.

 

Logan is just coming back to town with some lumber when he sees smoke coming from the temple. He rushes over to help. The temple is on fire and Kisara tells him Oku is trapped inside. Logan rushes in and saves Oku, dragging him from the temple. He demands to know what’s going on. Kisara explains about how they need to pay protection money to Silver Samurai each year, and that they’re screwed this time because they have been having poor fishing hauls. She’s certain Silver Samurai’s gang will burn the village down this time. Logan mutters “It never ends,” before walking off.

 

Logan stands on a beach and stares at the sunset. Kisara runs in and begs him for help, as Soichi is trying to get the villagers to band together and fight the bandits. Logan says that he can’t and that they should follow Oku’s advice that protecting stuff isn’t worth risking lives. Kisara counters by saying Oku also believes inner peace is found by embracing one’s true nature, not from running from it. Logan draws his claws and wonders what his nature is.

 

Back at the village, Jubilee has arrived and is asking for Wolverine. The monks pretend to not understand.

 

We cut to Silver Samurai rallying his men. One asks why they’re even bothering doing this for one small village. Silver Samurai gives the classic ‘everyone needs to fear us or they’ll all start fighting back line, and that they’ll burn the village to the ground to set the example.

 

Back at the village, Soichi has rallied a lackluster mob. Yoshiro says that they all will die if they do this, but Soichi says better to die than keep taking this crap. Logan walks in and actually agrees with Soichi, saying they need to fight back or kiss Silver Samurai’s ass forever. Yoshiro asks if this is really how Logan will pay back the village for their kindness, getting them all killed.

 

Logan helps the villagers set up traps to prepare for the next day. That night, Logan is standing alone when Oku comes to join him. Logan admits that he’s conflicted, that he just wants to live a life of peace like Oku. Oku reminds him that peace needs a purpose, and that maybe Logan knows his purpose but looks upon it less kindly than he should. Logan insists gutting people isn’t a purpose, but Oku counters by saying protecting people is. Logan turns to argue some more but Oku disappeared. Later, Logan’s dreaming about all the misery in his life, the adamantium being bonded to his skeleton, saying goodbye to Yuriko before she became Lady Deathstrike, fighting her as Deathstrike, fighting Sabretooth, and watching two of his friends get attacked by Omega Red. He hears Kurt’s advice to see himself through other’s eyes, has a vision of him BEING Sabretooth, and then Kisara arrives and tells him that he is only himself, no one else.

 

The next day, the bikers arrive and are met with the Villagers and their various traps. Logan arrives as Oku stops some of the bikers from attacking children. Logan throws them around and scares them off. Logan asks why he’s here and Oku says everyone fights in their own way, and notes Logan has rediscovered his. The bikers are lured to the beach by some balloons that drop logs on them, and to a damn the villagers set up. Soichi breaks the damn, unleashing water and washing them down a river. The bikers pull guns on them, but Jubilee arrives and blasts them, she asks Kisara if Logan’s here and she agrees to lead Jubilee to him.

 

The villagers beat the last of the bikers, but then Silver Samurai arrives. Logan faces off against him. Silver Samurai is a Mutant. His power is to coat any object he holds in a tachyon field that makes it able to slice through just about anything. So that sword is a real problem. Plus, he’s got a ring that lets him teleport. He teleports behind Logan and slashes, Logan dodges and tries to think strategically. He figures out Silver Samurai’s preferred method of attack is to slash at him from behind so waits for Silver Samurai to teleport and then quickly jumps away to get behind the samurai. He disarms and captures Silver Samurai, cutting the raising sun logo on his chest. Soichi tells him to finish Silver Samurai, but Logan refuses, saying that he’s done. Silver Samurai walks off, defeated. Jubilee runs in and greets Logan warmly. She says she was worried that Logan had left because of her but he reassured her that this was just something he had to do.

 

Later, Oku assures Logan that the temple will be built without him. Logan agrees that temple building isn’t his purpose. He says goodbye to the villagers, everyone thanking each other for their help. He kisses Kisara goodbye and leaves with Jubilee.

 

I’ll just start by saying if there’s no plot beat that I truly hate, it’s Logan developing one-off love interests. I get it, he’s a mysterious tortured soul, someone always thinks that’s hot, but it gives the vibe that he only helped these people out because he wants to bang one of them. And like… he literally had 4 conversations with this woman that we see. And one of them was in a dream. I really don’t see how that warrants a kiss goodbye. Other than that unnecessary plot point, I like this story. Logan’s anger is something that he’s constantly struggling with, and I understand his need to go away and try to decompress for a while to recenter. He probably could have gotten this same lesson by signing up for Habitat For Humanity back in New York and saving himself the airfare but that’s just me. But Japan is extremely pretty so I can give him a pass on this one. The story feels a little rushed but that’s just what happens with the twenty-minute timeframe. Many episodes feel rushed, and I’d prefer that over overly stretching episodes out into multi-parters like Proteus. We probably could have cut some of the villager stuff just a little and gotten a longer fight with Silver Samurai. Two cuts and two teleports before being beaten is an extremely short fight, we could have at least stretched out Logan figuring out his attack pattern at least a little bit. But that’s a nitpick. Next time, we learn about the origins of Wolverine that would really help inform this episode. No, I don’t know why they ordered them this way. See you later. 

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Bluesky: ‪@basicssuperhero.bsky.social‬

Viewer Log: X-Men: TAS ep 59

 Family trees are complicated.

Last time on X-Men: The Animated Series, Magneto was confronted by his past. We learn that the master of magnetism has a tradition of traveling to a graveyard in the Balkan Mountains to pay respect to his late wife Magda. At the same time, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff learn that their father adopted them. He and their late mother got the twins when a cow-lady named Bova dropped them off. They headed to Wundargore, the mythical mountain that the woman is said to have come from. They find Bova there, and her maker the High Evolutionary. They tell the twins that their mother came to their mountain several months pregnant. She stayed long enough to give birth to them, but once she’d recovered, she ran off. She feared a powerful Mutant was following her. The High Evolutionary told them that the murderer was Magneto. The twins attacked Magneto along with some of the High Evolutionary’s animal-human minions. Wolverine, who’d been following him on Charles’ orders, tries to save him but all four get captured when the High Evolutionary backstabbed them. We learn that the twins are Magneto’s children, their mother being Magda. The High Evolutionary lured them all here to use in part of his experiments. He wants to use Wanda’s probability warping power to increase the odds of making discoveries and Pietro’s to speed up the process. The key to the plan, though, was taking Magneto’s DNA to enhance his children’s power. He used his tech to transform Wolverine into an actual Wolverine. Magneto freed himself and the twins and they battled the High Evolutionary and his minions with Beast and Charles who came to help when Wolverine was captured. They made the High Evolutionary flee, causing the valley’s ecosystem to collapse immediately. And Wolverine turned back to normal. Magneto and the twins parted on not great terms, but Magneto gave them the option to talk to him if they wanted to learn more about him and their mother. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

The story begins with the return of Graydon Creed. The former leader of the FoH had had such a severe reaction to his secret about being the son of Sabretooth left him catatonic. He’s better now and testified to congress that, while he doesn’t admit to connections to a raise in hate crimes against Mutants, claims that human patriots are doing the work. Later, he goes to the FoH high command and assumes he’ll be taking back control of the group. Unfortunately for him, the Council have taken over in his absence and aren’t giving up their power willingly, especially given the skeletons in his closet. Turns out, Sabretooth isn’t the only Mutant in his family tree. They give him some documents that we don’t see but the information makes him sweat with fear. He begs for a chance to prove his loyalty. They agree to allow it, but if Graydon wants back in the club, he’s got to prune the family tree.

 

We cut to the X-Mansion on Halloween. Logan uses a Beast Mask to scare off some kids, Jubilee comes in and scolds him for using Beast’s face like that. Jubilee asks what’s eating him and Logan admits he’s annoyed that kids get to spend one night dressing up as monsters and Mutants before just going back to normal. Jubilee tells him to lighten up. Another door bell ring draws Jubilee away, though it’s not a tick-or-treater, but good ol’ Nightcrawler. He says he needs help.

 

We cut to the rec room with Kurt, Logan, Jubilee, and Rogue who I guess was hanging out in back. Kurt explains that he received a letter at the monastery, saying that if he doesn’t come to a certain location tonight, they’ll hurt his mother. This is sort of a mixed threat for him as he wants to actually meet his biological mother. He claims that the letter’s handwriting matches the note he was left with. He begs for help, and everyone is willing to give it. Kurt is a bit worried as the note says he needs to go alone, but Logan insists he’ll look alone without being alone. They walk off and Jubilee notes that Nightcrawler is blue and furry like Beast and wonders if they’re related. Rogue laughs at this and says that’s about as likely as her and Nightcrawler being kin. … That, children, is called foreshadowing.

 

They take the Blackbird and head to the coordinates. On the flight, Jubilee goes to talk to Nightcrawler. She says that Logan talks a lot about their time together and that talking to Kurt means a lot to him. Kurt agrees that he also enjoyed his brief time with Logan. Jubilee admits that she doesn’t know her biological parents either, and spent years in the foster system shuffling between different families because they all eventually grew tired or her blowing stuff up. She says that she used to wonder if she’d fit in anywhere before meeting the X-Men. Kurt tells her that friends do help with that loneliness a lot, but pain can often make people forget we’re all part of a greater family under God. Jubilee says that sounds nice, but then gets to the meat of her question, what is Kurt going to do if he meets the woman that abandoned him. Kurt, the ever-forgiving monk, says that while he might be mad he can’t rightly hold that anger against her. He prays for his sins to be forgiven as well as for those who’ve sinned against him. He looks to God for guidance and must follow that forgiveness. He says God gives him the strength to forgive. And Jubilee says that religion can be intense.

 

They land and arrive at a damn. They scout out the area, they don’t see anything but that puts Logan’s dander up. Kurt worries that he shouldn’t have brought them and worries something will happen to his mother. Rogue tells him not to worry and that she and Logan have to help him given the help he’s given them. They head in. Jubilee pretends to be a trick-or-treater, distracting the guard long enough for Kurt to bamf behind him and then knock him out. Logan is disgusted to see that this is a Friends of Humanity base. They fill Kurt in on the group and then they head inside. Logan says he and Jubilee will distract the guards while Kurt and Rogue find his mom and get out of there. Kurt says he wants to take a moment to thank Logan for all he’s doing for him. Logan says it’s no problem, both for helping Kurt and because he enjoys fighting the FoH.

 

They split up and Jubilee and Logan find an armory stacked with weapons. In crates, obviously, can’t show the kiddies guns and bombs. Jubilee jokes they must have gotten a new credit card. Logan radios into Rogue for an update and she says their section is as quite as a church on Saturday… and then quickly apologizes to Kurt for that turn of phrase. They hear a woman calling for help and Kurt rushes in to help. This makes Rogue panic as she recognizes the voice… it’s Mystique. Rogue demands to know what her mama is trying to pull. Mystique doesn’t answer, instead she accuses Rogue of ruining everything as the FoH said they just want her brother. Ya, if you didn’t read my X-Men: Evolution reviews, or haven’t followed along with Marvel Comics since like the 80s, ya, Rogue and Kurt are siblings by adoption. Kurt’s moms Mystique and Destiny adopted Rogue when she was a teenager. Kurt begs for answers, while Rogue insists they need to go. Mystique admits to having always wondered what happened to Kurt. She tells him that Rogue was adopted, but she herself had borne two children, one would be Kurt Wagner, and the other, I’m sure you’ve guessed, is Graydon Creed jr. Graydon bursts in at that point to face his mother, half-brother and adopted sister. He’s disgusted to learn his family has even more Mutants in it than he’d thought. Kurt asks if Graydon is in fact his brother, but that infuriates Graydon, he tells Kurt to never use that word around him again. Kurt, the biggest forgiver since Jesus himself, says that he will pray for his wayward half-brother to find the strength to let go of his hate. Rogue demands to know why Mystique is willing to turn Kurt over to Graydon and the FoH. Mystique says that she did it because Graydon promised to only hurt Kurt, leaving the two of them alone. Graydon, the only one that seems to have the real measure of their mom, tells her to not sugarcoat it. She wanted to protect herself and no one else. He hits them with a chlorine gas. Kurt teleports into the control room and wrestles with his brother, trying to talk him down. Graydon admits that because she bore him, all Mutants must suffer. While he and Kurt fight, Logan and Jubilee burst in and break the jets. Kurt’s patience begins to break, and he asks Graydon what sort of madman is he. Graydon says he’s starting a war between humans and Mutants. Rogue updates them on the parental status of everyone. Kurt tricks Graydon into punching a wall and joins the others. Mystique ran in the confusion and everyone else agrees to bail.

 

Mystique disguises herself as an FoH member and lead the guards towards her children so she can escape. Rogue breaks them a way out through a wall. Kurt sees Mystique running across the damn and chases after her. Rogue tries to follow but gets shot down. Graydon gets into a helicopter and Jubilee rightly predicts that they probably won’t be allowed to leave. Kurt cuts off his mother and begs her for the truth. Mystique explains her lifestyle to her son. She claims to have been many women in her time, some rich, some poor, but rich was what she preferred. She was married to an Austrian Count for a time. She didn’t love him, but his money made up for a lot. She lived a life of luxury until she gave birth to a blue child. She ran, ultimately choosing to abandon Kurt at a waterfall. She said she had to start over, and he was an inconvenience. She asks if he hates her, and Kurt says he doesn’t. He feels sad for her. This seems to infuriate her more, she yells at him that as a shapeshifter she’s not even trusted among other Mutants. She doesn’t have a ‘real’ life, she steals bits and pieces of it from the identities she steals or creates. It’s not a pretty life but it's how she survives. She says that this is the truth, she didn’t want him. She asks if he still feels sad for her. He says that he’s going to pray for the strength to forgive her, and for God to give her the strength to forgive herself. The man is a saint.

 

The FoH mobilize, Rogue takes off and distracts the copters while Logan and Jubilee try to distract the ground troops. Rogue tricks one to shoot down another and then grabs the tail of another to make it drop. Graydon compliments his sister but says she can’t be in two places at once. He flies to his other family. Mystique demands to know why he’s still willing to forgive her, and Kurt just says that he’s doing his best to live a godly life. This seems to strike a chord with Mystique, who says she doesn’t deserve this from him, but they’re interrupted by Graydon shooting at them. She pushes Kurt out of the way and gets hit in the arm. We get a flashback to when she abandoned Kurt and we see she was sobbing when she did. Graydon swears he’s next. Kurt cries and says “God help you, brother.” He teleports out of the way of Graydon’s missile strike. The damn breaks and the water surges, destroying the copter. Kurt teleports to the river and tries to save Mystique but can’t find her. Rogue saves him and says she’s getting him home. Logan and Jubilee check out the wreckage, Jubilee saying that the FoH are getting arrested for wrecking the damn, not attacking them. Kurt asks why Mystique risked herself for him. Rogue says that his faith has a way of affecting people and that maybe his words got through to her. Neither of them see Mystique getting out of the water and running off, tears in her eyes. Jubilee asks what happened to Creed. Logan asks ‘what didn’t?’

 

We cut to Graydon being held by the FoH Council. They’re going to punish Graydon for messing up so badly with this. They say they’re giving him one more chance, starting with him cleaning up the part of the mess he wasn’t willing to face. They throw him from the copter and pull the ripcord on his shoot. So he can drop slowly down to his fate. We see an old cabin in the woods and a man waiting on the porch. Graydon begs “Not that.” On the porch is Graydon Creed senior. He smiles viciously at getting to see his boy, the famous slayer of Mutants, again. Graydon begs for him to understand, but Sabretooth is clearly not listening to his cries. The last we see of Graydon Creed jr. is him screaming “No!” as Graydon Creed sr. says, “Come to papa.”

 

This episode made my jaw drop back when I saw it in the 90s. It was my first bit of X-Men content back in the day, so while I know now of the complex web that is Mystique’s progeny, then I just learned that she’s parented multiple important characters. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, comics were always soap operas. I should not in the current canon, Mystique is actually the father of Kurt Wager, her lover Destiny being the one that bore him. This had aways been what the writers had wanted to do, but was… not the direction Marvel wanted to take it back in the 80s. The explanation is that Mystique used her powers to cobble together a Y chromosome to give their son, which is why Kurt’s father is Mystique, and yet he shares traits with his other potential fathers, namely the Mutant-Demon Azazel. Comics are screwy like that. Seeing Graydon come back was fun in a frustrating way as we got to see the root of his intense hatred for Mutants be spelled out plainly. We don’t get the details of his relationship to Mystique, but one can assume she left him at some point with Graydon sr. At the end of the day, and I believe I put it so in his villain profile years ago, he’s angry at mommy and daddy for not loving him or giving him powers, so ALL Mutants must suffer. It was way better to see Kurt again. He’s such a sweet and kind man, and I enjoy seeing this version of him. A pious preacher that’s willing to admit follow the teachings of God is hard but he’s always willing to do it in order to bring people peace. He risked his life for the woman that abandoned him and was strong enough to try to find it in his heart to forgive her. He’s what all good Catholics should try to be. It’s a shame this is the last episode he’ll play a major role in. But he’s hugely important in X-Men: 97, so there’s that to look forward to. Good night, everyone!

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Viewer Log: X-Men: TAS ep 58

 Sudden Wanda Maximoff! 

Last time on X-Men: The Animated Series, the hunt for Proteus concluded. The X-Men chased the body snatcher across Edinburgh as the boy tried to find his father Joseph MacTaggert. They eventually just try to warn Joe, who is largely uninterested as despite being a ‘family values’ politician, he could not give two shits about his Mutant son and assumed his guards could protect him. Proteus proved him wrong by interrupting a rally, but Joe ran off. Logan’s terrified of Proteus and has trouble approaching the reality warper. They all face off again at Scottish Parliament where Charles has the bright idea to just let Kevin talk to his father. After seeing the man terrified by Kevin’s presence, Charles reached out one last time and helped Kevin channel his power enough to revert to his human form. Seeing the real Kevin, Joe apologizes to his boy and seems to be trying to reconcile their relationship. The episode ends with Logan being upset that Proteus freaked him out so badly, a plot point that will never be brought up again. How odd. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

The story begins with Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, making a report to Forge about a security sweep. Quicksilver is one of the X-Factor members, a government sponsored Mutant team if you forgot who he was. His report was interrupted by an emergency call from his sister Wanda. He chastises her for using an X-Factor override, as he warned her to only use it in an emergency. Wanda tells him it is an emergency, as their father has taken ill and he is asking to see the twins. Pietro agrees to meet her in one of X-Factor’s hummingbird jets and go see him. I assume this is mostly for Wanda’s benefit as Pietro runs faster than that thing flies. They arrive in Romania and see their father in the hospital. The dying Romani informs them that they were in fact adopted. Folks don’t do this; the drama of the moment doesn’t outweigh your kids right to know about the circumstances of their lives. Besides, they might not give a shit, like my Grandpa J did.  Anyway, Django Maximoff tells them that he’d sworn never to reveal their history to them but was released from that vow. He explains how a midwife named Bova, who we see is clearly a cow person in the flashback, brought the twins to him and their mother shortly after their birth. Wanda asks who her bio-parents are, but Django doesn’t know. He tells them to find Bova in Wundargore. Pietro is skeptical but Wanda says they have to check it out, if only for their father.

 

Back at the X-Mansion, Charles is up late reading when Magneto sneaks into his study. Charles senses his presence and asks how he got in, Magneto basically saying “master of magnetism” with a shrug. Charles asks what Magneto did to Logan, who was on security tonight. He turns on the camera to the surveillance room and finds Logan magnetically trapped to a chair. Charles asks why Magneto felt the need to break in like this. Magneto says he’s headed to the Balkans, as his long missing wife Magda may have been found there. Magneto is fully able to admit he knows that it’s a trap, but because it’s his Magda he begs Charles to use Cerebro to scan the area and tell him if there’s any unusual Mutant activity. Charles agrees to help him. Magneto leaves but makes Charles promise him that no matter what happens he won’t interfere. Logan bursts in a second later and demands to know where Magneto is. The man loves to try to fight the one dude who can stop him with virtually no effort. Charles asks Logan to follow Magneto and watch out for trouble.

 

We cut to Wundargore, where Pietro is princess-carrying Wanda up the mountain. They find a research facility at the top of the mount, a being in purple armor floats down and demands to know who trespasses on his facility. They introduce themselves as the Maximoffs. He was shocked to see them. He introduces himself as the High Evolutionary. Yes, he looks wildly different in the comics from the MCU. They want to see Bova, and while the High Evolutionary is willing to help the Maximoffs, he says they need to prove themselves first. He takes them into his citadel and uses a DNA scanner to prove themselves. He had their DNA on file. They do the scan and it’s a match. He promises to notify Bova at once.

 

They find Bova, the cow lady, in her room. They ask about their history. Bova tells them that she only knew their mother, having met her half frozen outside of Wundargore several months pregnant. She claims their mother was running from a Mutant that slaughtered her village and wanted to find her. She birthed her twins before running into the wilderness, sure the Mutant was still tracking her. Bova says she died in the bitter winter. Pietro demands to know the name of the Mutant, and Bova gives it, Magneto. Both Bova and the High Evolutionary try to dissuade them from more bloodshed, but Pietro wants to fight. The High Evolutionary says that he’ll find Magneto just outside the facility. Every year he goes there to a loved one’s grave marker. Okay, I’m not good at subtlety, but… their mom died just outside the facility, the grave marker for Magneto’s loved one is outside the facility, surely one of them is smart enough to get the pieces into place here? But no. The High Evolutionary offers to help them, summoning his animal-human soldiers to help him. As they leave, the High Evolutionary begins working on something on his computer, saying the world will soon see the peace and joy he can give it.

 

We find Magneto wandering through a graveyard. Logan follows at a discrete distance, telling Beast over the radio that maybe Magneto was telling the truth about why he came. Magneto looks at the note that says to meet at Magda’s grave at ten that night. A woman calls out to Magnus; she’s totally hooded but claims to be Magda. Magneto begs her forgiveness, saying that he was so full of hate those (twentyish) years ago, and had no room in his heart for love. She claims to still be frightened of him and asks him to stay back. Magneto can’t though and finds out that this is a goat lady in disguise, who calls him a fool. Pietro and Wanda reveal themselves and demand to fight. They tell him they’re here to avenge their mother. Logan tells Beast what’s happening. Magneto blasts them back with his powers and demands to know why they’re here. The animal men attack and disable Magneto, but Pietro says that he is theirs. They are immediately captured by the animal men, because obvious double cross. Logan warns Beast what’s happening before rushing in to help. He knocks an animal-man into a grave marker, infuriating Magneto who breaks free and helps disable some of the animal-men. Before they can talk, they’re gassed and captured.

 

Back at the mansion, Charles asks Beast why Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch would attack Magneto. Beast wonders if maybe all of X-Factor is involved, as the twins should have known they couldn’t match Magneto. I feel that’s debatable with Wanda but whatever. Charles tells him to scramble the Blackbird.

 

We return to Wundargore, the heroes trapped in goo. Logan asks Magento what is going on. Magneto says that according to Baltic legend, there’s a mystical valley called Wundargore. If it’s true, he knows who is behind this. Shock of shocks, he and the High Evolutionary met before. The High Evolutionary says that Magneto once searched for his valley but never found it. Magneto demands to know if he was involved in Magda’s death. The High Evolutionary promises to explain everything in due course. He explains that while he has power over life and accelerated evolution, he’s had to work for decades to make this small community of animal-human hybrids. Because of how slow this project has been, he’s found a way to… accelerate things. He has Wanda and Pietro awoke, revealing he wants to use Wanda’s power over probability to increase his chances of finding good genetic matches and Pietro’s to accelerate the development of his experiments. But Magneto is necessary as his immense power for his plan. He took DNA samples from Magneto and injected them into the twins to enhance their own powers, as the blood of the father strengthens his children. Yep, their mom is Magda and Magneto is their dad. No one likes hearing this even though Pietro is literally Magneto but with shorter hair. The High Evolutionary isn’t interested in talking, though. He takes Wolverine and puts him into one of his DNA pods and uses it to transform Wolverine into a literal Wolverine-man. The High Evolutionary says that his work will soon bring enlightenment to the world. They’re interrupted by Beast and Charles’ arrival. Beast is fascinated by these animal-human hybrids, but they need to avoid getting shot at.

 

Magneto tells the twins about their mother, saying she was a gentle and loving woman that feared his plans for the future and the conflict they’d create. She ran away without telling him she was pregnant. Pietro just fixates on the “so it’s true you killed her’ part of Magneto’s statement. Pietro sarcastically asks if Magneto’s pain makes everything all right. Magneto says nothing will be alright. He says that now that he knows everything, he won’t hold back anymore. He uses his full power to shatter their bonds, and the trio go out to join the battle. Magneto and Wanda’s powers make short work of most of the beast-men, but Wolverine proves harder to stop. The High Evolutionary attempts to flee, Magneto and Pietro attempt to chase after them. Pietro gets blasted on the run up, but Magneto stops to catch him, shouting “son!” as he does. They fell back. The High Evolutionary’s fortress takes off, flying into the sky. Magneto swears there’s nowhere on Earth the High Evolutionary can escape him. As soon as the fortress has moved away, the climate around them shifts, the plants dying and rotting around them. And Wolverine reverts to normal.

 

Magneto apologizes to the twins, saying that losing their mother was the greatest loss of his life. And he swore he would have come for them had he known about them. They’re not interested in talking, though and prepare to go. Magneto tells them that he’ll be waiting if they ever decide they want to talk. After they leave, Magneto is in agony, admitting that this feels like he’s lost Magda twice now. Beast tries to give him comfort by saying time heals all wounds, but Magneto doesn’t believe it. He says that none of them can understand this pain and flies off. I beg to differ; Logan’s lost like three times the amount of loved ones as you Maggy. Anyway, he leaves, and Charles bids his Frienemis goodbye.

 

This episode probably could have been a two-parter, if they decided to play up the mystery of the twins bio-parents and Magneto’s missing wife. But then maybe the story would have felt too long… This seems to be a weird spot where this episode could have used another 10ish minutes but not the full 20 of a second episode, ya know? I think it’s funny that everyone treats the reveal of the twins parentage as a shock when, again, Magneto and Pietro are literally the same man at different points of their life. This is more forgivable in the comics where the twin’s current canon bio-dad is the Whizzer, who is also a white-haired gentleman. The fact he’s also a speedster helps too. I say current because I’m one of those people that is sure that someday they’ll be retconned back to being Magneto’s kids. They were changed from that mostly to separate them from the X-Men canon so the MCU could use them without referencing Mutants when 20^th Century Fox was a thing. Their anger at Magneto for contributing to their mother’s death is totally understandable given the situation. I do like the fact that the show included Magneto leaving the door open for them to talk to them if they ever want to talk to him. Children do not owe an absentee parent a talk, but I prefer it if the door is open even if no one takes it. Especially when it seems that Magneto genuinely loved his late wife and would have been there for the twins if he could have. Maybe he’d have ended up going the X-Men: Evolution route and abandon them to pursuit his Mutant agenda, but maybe not. I kind of would have liked more on the High Evolutionary, but there’s really only so much you can do with an insane biologist and side characters. Next time, we learn more about another family tree, Raven Darkholm’s aka Mystique. 

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Viewer Log: X-Men: TAS ep 57

Proteus hunts his father while the X-Men hunt him. 

Last time on X-Men: The Animated Series, we met Proteus. Son of Moira MacTaggert and her ex-husband Joe, Kevin aka Proteus was born with immense power. He can manipulate reality in a fixed area around himself, functionally warping space and time around him, though things reset when he moves too far away. His powers are unstable, though, causing him to exist in a monstrous energy form. He is obsessed with seeing his father, believing Moira is keeping them apart so she can run these experiments on him. He escapes containment and Moira reluctantly calls Charles for help. We learn that Joe was the man that Moira left Charles for, though the two divorced very shortly after the birth of their son. She keeps her connection to Kevin a secret at first, telling Charles he’s just a patient. They track Proteus across the Scottish countryside as he makes his way to the capital, knowing his father is a politician in Edinburgh. He runs from most of their fights, though this is clearly more from impatience than fear of fighting them. They finally face off just outside the city where he singlehandedly defeats the X-Men and Moira finally admits that he’s her son. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We pick up the story again right after Kevin MacTaggert kicked the X-Men’s asses. Wolverine seems really shaken up from being swallowed by the ground itself and having his claws turned into snakes but is trying to play it tough because that’s what Logan does. Moira is terrified her son is going to do something that he can’t undo, but Charles assures her that they’ll stop him before that happens. Beast suggests tracking down Joseph MacTaggert, as he’s Kevin’s target. Charles is obviously disgusted by this, as Joe was not only the man that Moira left him for, but now he knows Joe left her AND their son. He suggests that they could even offer him some protection if needs be. Moira says that he won’t accept their help, but Charles thinks that Joe is the least of their worries.

 

Proteus arrives in Edinburgh and sees photos of Joe MacTaggert running for Secretary of State. He’s infuriated to see Joe with a wife and other children. He finds and possesses a man named Thomas that just struck out with a woman he’d been pursuing, Maeve. The street over the X-Men arrive, Beast saying that Joe’s campaign headquarters is just a block over. Wolverine senses Proteus, not with his nose but his whole body shuttering at his presence. As the street is deserted, Kevin is easy to spot even in a new skin suit. They chase him to a nearby castle and confront him. Kevin drops Thomas and tells them to leave him alone. Moira begs him to come home, saying Joe can’t help him. Like a lot of children who’ve grown up with an absentee parent, he refuses to accept Joe doesn’t care about him and clings to this idea that Moira kept them apart. The X-Men try to talk him down, but Proteus causes an Earthquake and tries to bury everyone. The X-Men stop him from hurting some civilians, demolishing the castle around him. Though it once again completely resets the moment he leaves. Moira is heartbroken her son is causing so much damage and that he won’t listen. And she’s terrified what he’ll do when he realizes Joe is a deadbeat dad, he divorced Moira after learning their son was a Mutant. She’s worried there will be nothing they could do to stop him other than kill him. Charles promises they’ll find another way.

 

The next day, Proteus grabs a constable figuring he’ll know where Joe is. The X-Men arrived at Joe’s office, who promptly show’s Mr. Family Man is a hypocrite as he say Kevin isn’t his problem. He asks if they want him to put Kevin on TV. Charles, clearly barely holding in rage, says that he just needs to talk to the boy. Joe says he can’t as the election is tomorrow and he doesn’t want folks remembering he’s divorced, let alone learn that he is the father of a Mutant. Moira begs him to talk to Kevin as he needs his father. Joe says to just tell him Charles is Kevin’s father, as that’s the way she always wanted it. DICK! Charles calls him an idiot and says that Kevin is coming for him whether he likes it or not. Joe tells them to get out as he has his own protection… in the form of two goons. Two goons… instead of Four X-Men… Okay, whatever.

 

Kevin arrives that the MacTaggert Estate and lets himself in, using his powers to melt the gate and then the door to the house. He finds a lavishly set up mansion, with many photos of Joe’s second wife and two children. Kevin hears laughing and hides, seeing his half siblings running around the house playing a game of tag. He manipulates the ground, turning it into a sort of puddy and using that to lift himself to the second floor. He enters his father’s office and sees the campaign poster saying Joe will be at Union Hall that night. He leaves, his stepmother just barely catching a cop seeming to melt her walls and floor as he leaves.

 

Later that night, Joe meets with his head of security, telling him to make sure Kevin is kept out of sight until after the election if they catch him. The guy asks if Kevin is dangerous, and Joe admits he’s got no idea as he hasn’t seen Kevin since he could crawl. Rogue, watching from a vent and wonders if they couldn’t just like Proteus have this one. The guard is confident they can contain Proteus, because he has no idea what he’s up against, but Joe warns him to not get careless. The guard goes to check on the team. Rogue exits the vent and radios the team, saying that they need to do a guard change as she needs a shower after being around Joe this long.

 

We shift to the rally at Union Hall. Joe is shaking hands and being a smarmy politician, fully expecting to win the vote. Rogue is extremely disgusted to be here, shock of shocks, she’s not big on folks that abandon their kids. Beast quotes some lines from James Harvey Robinson about how Politics is inherently a nasty endeavor. Charles tells them to report the least sign of any disturbance over the radio. Logan is guarding the basement, and is extremely jumpy. A rat scurrying around makes him almost lunge at it. Charles asks if he’s okay and Logan deflects by saying he should be worried about what he’ll do if he catches Kevin. Joe goes to make his big speech, confident in his coming victory and saying that he’s working for Scotland and their children. Outside, Proteus hops into one of the security guards. Rogue muses that he likes kids when they’re not his and how she’s seen that before. We flashback to when she was a teenage and her father disowned her for being a Mutant, despite her begging her daddy to not leave her. Beast radios Charles and wonders if Proteus might not be avoiding the rally for how crowded it is. Charles starts to sense Proteus and tries to warn everyone. Joe brags about how important his children are, perfectly setting up Proteus to arrive and reveal himself. Rogue and Beast try to stop him, telling Proteus that Joe might not recognize him in this form. He screams at them to leave him alone as a panic breaks out. Charles tells Logan to meet up with them, but Logan remembers how Proteus warped him and flees in a panic.

 

Proteus mucks around with reality, disabling Beast and Rogue as his father runs away like a coward. Charles tries to talk Proteus down, begging him to just talk and Charles will listen. Proteus wants to know where his father is, and when Charles tells him the truth that Proteus frightened him away, Proteus freaks out again and rips reality asunder. Charles and Beast are nearly dropped into a flaming pit but are saved by Rogue and Logan, who unlike Joe faced his fears. Charles reached out to Kevin telepathically and calms him for a moment. He offers to help Kevin, but Kevin is fixated on his father, believing somehow that Joe wants him. He melts the hall and escapes out the door, everything resetting once he’s gone. Beast is fascinated by this power, realizing that Kevin is only limited by his imagination, and Rogue adding that his temper is a factor too. Charles admits that Kevin is too powerful for them to stop, all they can do is keep trying to reason with. Moira tells him that they’ve tried, she’s the only one who can stop him. The group leave the hall, trying to figure out what to do. Wolverine suggests they may need to take Proteus down, causing Rogue to yell at him for thinking of hurting a child and demanding to know where HE was during the fighting. Logan tries to threaten her… but like Rogue’s one of a handful of people that he can’t do that to. Beast says that Logan couldn’t help how he reacted to Proteus. Logan demands to know what he means by that, and Beast simply states that no emotion is more difficult to control than paralyzing fear. Logan accuses Beast of calling him a coward, but Charles buts in, saying that they don’t have time for this. He’s worried that Moira will try to do something drastic to stop Kevin.

 

Later we see that Joe has spun the meeting with Proteus as some kind of attack on his person by his opponent, Bill Wallace. Not sure how you cold make that pitch without evidence, but what are ya gonna do. We see a storm cloud come in that Proteus is riding in. Joe begins a speech to the Scottish Parliament, once again claiming that he’s the big family man that loves his children above all else. Rogue says he’s as greasy as hog fat. Charles is clearly frustrated by all this, as the only solution to their problem is Joe, but the man chose his career over Kevin years ago. Proteus arrives, telling Joe that everyone keeps telling him Joe doesn’t want to see him. He refuses to believe that’s true and comes down to see him. Logan immediately flees, his fear of Proteus that strong. Proteus confront his father, Joe saying that he’s not real, he’s here to ruin Joe’s life. The X-Men try to get in the way, but Charles tells them to stop and let them talk. Proteus is able to reduce his energy form down enough that Joe can see his human form inside it. He begs his father to just talk to him, but Joe refuses, calling for someone to protect him and runs away. Charles tries to help Kevin process this but he’s in a fury and starts destroying the building in earnest. Logan is able to suck it up and try to talk to Kevin via his usual bravado and threats but Kevin sweeps him away in a gust on wind. Of all the missions to not bring Storm. Moira and Sean Cassidy arrive with the machine she’d used to repress Proteus’s powers. She says that it weakened him at low power but might be able to stop him on a higher setting. Charles begs for one last chance. He reaches out to Kevin telepathically and offers his body to Kevin, saying that if they merge, he can show Kevin that he truly understands his pain and can help him through it. Kevin accepts and the two unite. In the mindscape, Charles tells Kevin that he’ll be able to control his powers one day, but he’ll need to learn to control his anger and to trust both those that love him, both his father and mother. Kevin leaves Charles’ body and fully reverts to human form. He and Moira hug. Joe, now fully seeing Kevin, speaks with him and hugs his son, saying that he has no right to the name ‘father’ to Kevin but he wants to earn it. They head out with Joe carrying Kevin, which clearly hurts Charles a little.

 

Later we see Sean helping Kevin train with his powers, using them to shape and manipulate blocks of energy. They compliment his progress, though he’s clearly struggling slightly to keep his focus. Moira is just happy that he’s working through his anger. Outside, Logan tells Rogue he’s impressed by Charles, as the professor never loses his cool despite the fear. Rogue tells him that everyone gets shaken up sometimes, but Logan angrily says that he doesn’t before the credits roll.

 

As far as two-parter stories go, this one isn’t my favorite. It feels like it was a lot of repeating things. Kevin arrives somewhere, the X-Men catch him, “Arrgh, leave me alone!” Kevin bends reality and does weird stuff, Kevin flees, the X-Men recover, rinse and repeat. They honestly could have covered the whole story in one episode if they wanted to in my opinion. They’d just have to drop a few encounters, and the subplot about Logan being afraid. Don’t get me wrong, after what he experienced, fear is a natural response, but it feels tacked on here to just increase the run time. Especially when Logan just kind of gets over it when the plot needs him to not be scared anymore. And I think the story kind of wimps out at the end by Joe actually talking to and accepting Kevin. Like… seeing the real him undoubtedly helped… but the man cut his son out of his life as an infant, was a massive hypocrite about family values, and even tries to deflect his son’s rampage onto his political opponent. He shouldn’t get to apologize to Kevin, Kevin should have told him to screw off. But that’s just me. The power on display was impressive, I liked the message that says Charles can fix even the most angry and broken people with a dialogue and effort, and Proteus is just such a fun concept for a villain of the week. So ya, not my favorite episode but there aren’t really bad X-Men: The Animated Series episodes. Next time, we catch up with Magneto. See you then.

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Bluesky: ‪@basicssuperhero.bsky.social‬

Viewer Log: X-Men: TAS ep 56

Few things are as dangerous as a teen with immense power. 

Last time of X-Men: The Animated Series, the team needed another do-over. After failing to save Charles Xavier from the time traveling assassin Fitzroy, Bishop and Shard took the Monroes to the future to try to fix Charles again. They find a Sentinel rules world with Forge having been completely overhauled into a cyborg working for the Master Mold. They’re attacked by Sentinels and in the fighting find time to convince Forge to help them go back to the past and fix all this. Fitzroy attempted to get his reward from the Master Mold, but it told him he wasn’t getting anything until the other time travelers were also dead as they’ll just reset the timeline. He also overhears the Master Mold telling Nimrod to kill him once this was all done because it is grown tired of dealing even with useful Mutants. Fitzroy helps buy time for the others to escape by trapping Nimrod in a forcefield and gives Bishop a data chip. Bishop, Logan and Ororo make it to the time portal, but they’re forced to leave Shard as she was separated from them in the fighting. In the past they intercept Charles after he ran off from the original group in the coffee shop. Fitzroy gets the jump on them, but they show him the recording that the future Fitzroy made, basically telling his past self that Master Mold is going to double cross them. He lets the X-Men go and returns to the future, and they finish off Nimrod by separating it from it’s time band and sending it back to the Future. Bishop tells the Monroes they have until their bands turn off before they’re reset along with everyone else and also goes home. Dystopian Ororo and Logan hug and give each other a kiss goodbye before shutting their bands off. They reset to the picnic they were having with Charles when all this started, flirting slightly as if remembering their other selves. Enough recap. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We start our story in Scotland, in the famed Muir Island Mutant research center. We get a brief shot of Morph getting some kind of brain scan before going deeper into the building, finding a high security door protected behind a laser grid with the words No Admittance: Mutant X placed over it. Whoever is in there is causing a hell of a ruckus inside. We see Moira MacTaggert and Sean Cassidy overseeing a procedure being done on the Mutant. The Mutant resembles a huge blob of energy in a vaguely human shape. The Mutant is being blasted by an energy wave of some kind that is hurting it, but Moira says is part of a treatment that will allow them to live in the real world. She laments that it’s hurting them so much, but Sean tries to keep her spirits up by reminding her that this will help him. The creature screams that this is hurting him, and Moira shouts back that this is the only way. We learn the being is named Kevin, but he’s also called Proteus. Sean says they both need to be strong. Proteus takes on his human form, which excites Moira to no end. But he raises his hand and destroys the wall keeping him in. He morphs back into his Proteus form. Moira tells him the therapy is working, and they just need to start over, but he refuses, demanding to see what’s outside the walls. He attacks his mother, but Sean shoves her out of the way. Proteus tackles him and engulfs him in Proteus’ energy body, which lets him possess the older man. Moira asks him to let Sean go but he refuses. She tries to talk him back into his room but he refuses. He drops out of Sean’s body and things start warping around them.

 

We cut to the X-Mansion where they get an emergency alert from Muir Island. The signal is badly scrambled but they’re able to get Moira shouting that she needs help ASAP. Charles is always ready and willing to drop things for Moira, so he tells the team to scramble the Blackbird. Rogue, Beast and Wolverine are sent out with him. On the flight, Rogue says that Moira looked extremely spooked in that video, like she saw a ghost. Wolverine isn’t too phased by this, saying that if there is a ghost then they’ll fight a ghost. Charles tells him that this situation is a big deal as he’s known Moira for two decades and she’s never been that scared. He has a flashback to when they’d been dating. He proposed to her, and she said yes. At the time he was in the army and had been shipped out to fight somewhere. During his tour of duty, she sent him a dear john letter and his ring back, saying she’d met someone while he was away. We then get a sped-up timeline of their lives, with Charles going through physical therapy and meeting his other longtime girlfriend Amelia, forming the X-Men, but losing Amelia. Moira on the other hand married this fella, a man named Joe, but they divorced sometime when their son Kevin was in diapers. They land on Muir Island.

 

Inside Moira shows a video of what happened, with Kevin reacting badly to the sonic therapy, breaking free, possessing Banshee, and then starting to warp space around them. Rogue jokes about someone whacking the camera but Moira explains that Proteus is a reality warper, he was literally reshaping the physical world around them. She notes that his effect on space is temporary, as the room reverts to normal when he leaves, but the damage he does before that point will stick with ya. He’s also telepathic because why not? Beast notes that he’s a teenager who can do whatever he wants, which isn’t comforting. Moira lets them know that the main side effect of Kevin’s possession is extreme weakness and lethargy once he leaves a body. Charles sends the team out to search the island for him, Muir Island is small so he might not have gotten far. As they leave, Wolverine notes that Charles seems to be acting kind of weird. Rogue then points out they’re ex-fiancés, and when he still doesn’t get it, she angrily tells him that if the love of his life ever asks for his help, she’ll see how he functions. Charles tries to comfort Moira, who admits that her research began with trying to help Proteus and now she’s failed him and everyone he hurts while he’s loose. Charles does his best to comfort her and both admit they miss seeing each other due to their distance. He asks how Joe is doing, and Moira scoffs and says he’s doing well without her. She says he’ a politician now and pops in one of his campaign videos into the VCR. He’s a Scottish Conservative running on a family values platform. It’s always those types that multi-divorced, just saying.

 

Meanwhile, Kevin possesses a sailor and goes into a pub. He’s entranced by what he sees in the outside world. He was extremely sheltered while living with Moira so doesn’t note some weirdness happening around him like the pub suddenly resembling an alien cantina. Moira tells Charles that Kevin is 17 but immature, he speaks almost exclusively via telepathy and has a habit of having temper tantrums. Charles tries to reach out to his mind, Moira telling him to be careful. Charles tries to but must get through some weird psychic interference to do so, assumedly this is a side effect of Kevin’s power. He finally touches Kevin’s mind, but he senses Charles immediately and forces him back out, the psychic shockwave causing Charles’ chair to freak out and crash. Proteus jumps into a new body and flees the island. Beast radios into the facility while Moira looks after Sean. He tells Charles that they found the dockworker Proteus had possessed. Beast gives the bad news that he’s probably left the island by now.

 

We cut to mainland Scotland where Proteus ditches his new body and starts wandering around. He comes across a boy being chased by bullies. He scares them off by warping them into scarecrows. Proteus possesses the boy and starts wandering around. The boy’s father finds him and Proteus is overwhelmed by love he senses coming from this man for the boy. The concept of a dad is weird to him, and he starts warping reality around them. An SOS is sent out from the docks and the X-Men fly out to investigate. When they confirm Proteus is molding the entire island, they head back to grab Moira and Charles. Proteus is wandering around the island demanding to know where his father is.

 

On the flight back, Beast asks Moira the million dollar question, how are they going to get Proteus to go along with them. She’s unsure because, ya know, reality warper with the temperament of an unruly child. Charles reaches out to Proteus to try to soothe him. It doesn’t work, though, as Proteus seems to reach through their psychic connection to knock Charles out. The city starts molding back to normal, which is good and bad. Proteus possess a bystander and tries to get in close to grab Charles. Rogue stops him, grabbing his arm and drains just a little bit of his power. But that amount is basically nothing to Proteus but overwhelms Rogue who starts warping reality around her. Proteus runs off, saying that he needs to find his father, who will protect him. Rogue tells the others what she got from when they touched, about how Proteus is searching for a special man of some kind. Logan tells them to take the Blackbird while he searches the ground, but then a storm starts which kind of kills this plan.

 

They take the Blackbird and map Proteus’ movements across Scotland. His path is erratic but they’re sure he’s headed to Edinburgh. Logan suggests that they need to consider being willing to take out Kevin with how much damage he’s causing. Moira excuses herself to ‘call the lab’ but it’s really to call Joe. She tells her ex that Kevin is out and on the way toward him. Joe starts screaming at her to put the boy back and how could she let this happen with the election being a week away. Moira tells him to just talk to Kevin, Joe agrees to but says he’ll do it after the election. The family values candidate, everyone.

 

They land to try to cut Kevin off. Charles asks her what she’s keeping from him. Moira says it’s difficult to say. The ground starts shaking and they realize he’s on the way. Moira runs out and tries to talk him down, but he refuses to listen as he won’t go back into a cage. Charles tries to telepathically talk him down but that doesn’t work either. He asks Kevin to just tell him who he’s looking for. Kevin says he’s looking for his father and tells Charles to ask Moira about him as she’s the one keeping them apart. Moira finally reveals that Proteus is her son to Charles, I guess she was keeping that from him. Moira says that Charles is the only one she couldn’t tell as how could she face him with this information. Charles tells her that she underestimated his feelings for her, but then she always did. They try to overwhelm Proteus but he’s simply too powerful to stop. He disables everyone with various environmental traps and heads for the city, saying that his father is down there, and he will find him.

 

It's funny that both Moira and Charles have an extremely powerful, reality warping son, but neither has a parent in common. Like, if Charles was the father of both Proteus and Legion it’d be one thing but imagine that your ex-lover and one of your few real friends also had Omega level X-genes within. Weird. I can say with confidence nothing is more terrifying sounding to me that someone with the powers of a god but the mind of a teenager. I totally understand why Kevin is obsessed with being free and finding his father now that he’s out. Being confined to a small place just isn’t something that most humans take well to, even if it’s objectively for his own good like with Kevin. A power like his absolutely needs to be controlled to whatever degree that they can get. Him running loose is just all kinds of dangerous. I’d say the weakest part of this episode is simply Moira keeping the info that Kevin is her son from Charles and the others. 1. How did you think you could keep it from him, Moira, and 2. It’s a miracle that didn’t give up the ghost at any point by referring to her as Mom. So we’ve got a rampaging child looking for a father that couldn’t care less about him. I’m sure this’ll go well (sarcasm is as heavy as the core of a neutron star.) But more on this later. See you next time, folks. 

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Bluesky: ‪@basicssuperhero.bsky.social‬