Lifedeath – Part 2
How we feelin’ after last episode? I for one am still a bit shaken, what with the major character death and large scale destruction! But on we must go with “Lifedeath – Part 2,” a sequel to episode 4‘s “Lifedeath – Part 1.” It’s also an episode split in two, telling the story of what major characters are doing while a mutant nation burns. And for ease of reading, I’m just gonna separate the stories when summarizing them. Allons-y!
Oh, and speaking of the aftermath of major character deaths, while Magneto and Gambit are missing from the title sequence, Nightcrawler gets a name card! This episode’s montage of clips reminds us yet again about Cable and the Phoenix, but also about the future Sentinel named Nimrod and Professor X’s star-crossed romance with Shi’ar Empress Lilandra Neramani. That last one is most relevant to this episode.
Let’s start with Storm, since the episode is named after her storyline. Forge is dying from the Adversary’s bite, which isn’t helped by the Adversary (Storm’s voice actress Alison Sealy-Smith) whispering in Storm’s ear, trying to sabotage everything she does. The demon does have a point that Storm fears living, which is tied to the idea we’re all thinking that Storm was fixed by Forge’s machine in episode 4, but mental blocks are now holding her powers back. Forge uses some magic his mother taught him to temporarily dismiss the demon, giving the two time to come up with a plan. They need a magic, cave-dwelling cacti to heal Forge, but he’s too weak to get it himself. Storm refuses to give up or leave him behind, so the two ride off together. Unfortunately Storm will have to overcome her claustrophobia to get the plant, and her fear lures the Adversary back to her. Storm finally puts her foot down, getting her groove back and banishing the Adversary, whic involves not only getting her powers back but transforming her outfit and hair into her costume from all the way back in her first appearance, Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975). After rediscovering her love of flying she finds the cactus and uses it to heal Forge. But as the two discuss running away together, they turn on the TV and find out about the Genoshan genocide. Uh oh.
Now we move on to Professor Xavier (Ross Marquand) with Lilandra (Morla Gorrondona). Well, the episode actually opens with Lilandra’s sinister sister, Deathbird (Cari Kabinoff) waging war against the Kree and their field commander, Ronan (Todd Haberkorn). Yes, that Ronan the Accuser. Her Imperial Guard squad also features Vulcan as a fun little cameo, who in this episode is nobody worth mentioning, but in the comics he’s Cyclops’ secret brother. It’s a… whole thing. Deathbird is interrupted by Lilandra’s galactic announcement of her intention to marry Xavier, who is wearing the body armor that allows him to walk that was featured on the cover of Uncanny X-Men #275 (1991). While Charles and Lilandra go back and forth on whether the Professor should visit his X-Men, Deathbird is ready to mess things up. She objects to the union on the grounds that marrying a Terran would mean an alliance with Earth–which she calls a “ghetto.” But Xavier tips his hand and reveals he and his future wife talked about which planet the Shi’ar will rule from, leading Deathbird to invoke a loyalty test of her choice. To be just the worst, she demands he wipe Earth and the X-Men from his memories. And apparently Lilandra is a psychic on par with him? News to me. Anyway this is too far for Xavier, so now the whole union is in question. But his love for Lilandra is strong, so he goes forward with the memory erasing… until he doesn’t. Deathbird makes her move, starting a fight between her forces and Lilandra’s Imperial Guard. Gladiator reminds us that he was very much based on Superman, which will never not be funny to me. But Xavier decides to step in and mentally transport everyone to a classroom in the astral plane where he can chastise the Shi’ar for thinking their strength only comes by driving any rivals into the ground and taking them over. I didn’t have Xavier calling out imperialism on my 2024 BINGO card, but here we are. Unfortunately class is interrupted by a huge psychic backlash caused by so many people dying while screaming in Genosha. Xavier even senses Gambit has died and is ready to throw everything away just so he can get back to his students, including his love for Lilandra. I would not be surprised if this is the last we see of her in this season.
With the two main stories over, we get a hint as to who’s behind Genosha. We see Bolivar Trask on the run from someone he gave his DNA to in order to access Master Mold, and that villain is… Mister Sinister? I mean, I guess trying to explain Cassandra Nova–Xavier’s evil twin who he attempted to kill in the womb–may be a bit much for the show’s first season. And while Sinister is generally viewed as a man obsessed with collecting mutant DNA, he was still behind the Mutant Massacre (1986 – 1987) that nearly saw the Morlocks wiped out in their sewers. This show will reference stories from the comics, but make its own spin on them. Just wait until we get to Bastion!
But let’s talk about the Adversary, since he’s a moderate deal in the comics. While Storm was without powers and hanging around with Forge, she met Naze (sometimes Nazé) in Uncanny X-Men #187 (1984), a shaman who was associates with Forge. Why yes, that is one issue after “Lifedeath,” good on you for noticing. Unfortunately for everyone that’s also the issue where he gets replaced by an alien called a Dire Wraith (don’t worry about it), and in Uncanny X-Men #188 (1984) this fake Naze accidentally gets noticed by an unnamed evil–we eventually learn it’s the Adversary–and gets possessed. So now he’s double possessed, or something. Adversary!Naze pals around with Storm and Forge, leading them astray, all while amassing power. Eventually he makes his move during Fall of the Mutants (1988), which saw the X-Men sacrificing their lives–on live television no less–to defeat the ancient evil. They got immediately resurrected, and later on the Adversary himself popped up from time to time as well. And as recently as Resurrection of Magneto #3 (2024) it was suggested that the Adversary may be an aspect of the Shadow King–or possibly vice versa–along with le Bete Noir, Annihilation, the First Fallen, and the Goblin Force. You don’t really need to know who those others are, but I’m listing them for reference and because almost all of them position themselves as the opposite of the Phoenix Force. Also I really do want to cover Mutant X (1998 – 2001) at some point, and the Goblin Force comes from that. The more you know?
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