Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2
The penultimate episode of X-Men ’97 is right smack dab in the middle of the three-part finale, “Tolerance is Extinction.” When last we left our merry band of mutants, Magneto had blanketed the world in an electromagnetic pulse with the aftermath yet to be seen. Things are only gonna get more intense from here, so let’s jump right in.
Magneto’s EMP was a big deal, as it turns out; all power across the globe has been turned off, but at least the Prime Sentinels are all frozen in place. Not done yet, Magneto raises up Asteroid M from the bottom of the ocean to once again use as his base of operations. Jubilee and Roberto are rescued from an angry mob by Storm and Forge, who meet up with the X-Men right as Cyclops and Professor X are having an argument over the headmaster’s choice to pick Magnus as his successor, mostly because Charles knew Scott and Jean wouldn’t leave the team on their own. Once everyone is reunited, the X-Men–with Cable, Forge, and Roberto–discuss how Earth’s electromagnetic field was severely damaged and the world is a day away from a mass extinction event. The only way to save the planet is to convince Magneto to undo his actions, which will not be easy. Cyclops splits the team–Blue Team goes after Magneto while Gold Team will stop Bastion and his various Sentinels. Professor X reveals that he knew of Bastion when he first founded the Institute–really hammering home that Sebastion is a mutant Sentinel–but the boy’s mother turned Xavier away. Forge and Beast repurpose the power scrambler used against Dark Phoenix to use on Bastion, but Storm strongly vetoes the idea of permanently neutralizing his powers. The team’s planning is interrupted by Magneto showing, levitating Asteroid M over the school. Xavier tries to convince Magneto to repair the Earth, but Magneto’s righteous fury over Genosha won’t allow him to back down. He asks how many more mutants will die for Xavier’s dream and offers to found a new Genosha with anyone who steps forward. Everyone is shocked when Rogue and Roberto join up. Oh… Oh! Oh.
Okay, so, Fatal Attrractions (1993) was an event that spanned all the X-books and is forever embedded in my brain via a holographic card on the cover of each issue. It was the story of Magneto returning from his absence since 1991* to really shake shit up. Rogue and Sunspot joining up with Erik is reminiscent of the third part, Uncanny X-Men #304 (1993), when Magneto crashed the funeral of Illyana Rasputin, Colossus’ little sister who died from the Legacy Virus (think AIDS for mutants, it was very ’90’s). When it looks like the X-Men might beat Magneto, Colossus betrays his teammates and joins the villain, breaking just about everyone’s hearts. I’ll get to the rest of the event in a minute.
As Magneto leaves with his new allies, the X-Men regroup at Muir Island, laboratory of the late Moira MacTaggert. Cyclops and Cable share a familial moment, and when Scott tosses Nathan a blue-and-yellow X-Men costume, we get a lovely callback to X-Men–the first movie–when Scott says, “What’d you expect? Black leather?” I see what you did there… The team suits up in older costumes, most of which are directly from the comics during the 60’s through 80’s. Xavier contacts President Kelly, who’s hand is basically hovering over the button to unleash America’s arsenal against Magneto. Blue and Gold Team split up, with Jean, Storm, Forge, Morph, Beast, and Cable going after Bastion, who has an army of Sentinels powered through his technopathy. Storm and Jean share a moment as Gold Team splits up further, with Ororo and Forge distracting the Sentinels in the air. Unfortunately for the ground team, Mister Sinister pops up to taunt Jean with the fact that she will never know when she and Madelyne were switched. Morph impersonates Sinister in an attempt to get close enough to use the scrambler, but Bastion sees right through that and detains them and Beast. Forge and Storm are shot out of the sky and Sinister uses the same mind control he used on Madelyne in episode 3 to activate Cable against his pseudo-mother. It’s a telekinetic battle between the two, and it’s not looking good for Jean.
Meanwhile, Blue Team consists of Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee. They fly up to face Magneto, and unfortunately get into a fight with Rogue and Roberto. Xavier’s attempts to convince Magnus through words once again gets metal clamped over his mouth and Magneto finally getting to unleash the two words he’s been dying to say for years: “Shut up.” And the audience cheers. As Scott senses Jean through their psychic rapport losing to Nathan, he stops the Professor’s attempt to hijack Magneto’s mind and powers, hoping to give Gold Team more time. Unfortunately, Wolverine takes the opportunity to stab Magneto with his claws, throwing a line Magneto used during the X-Men animated series against him. Yay for the good guys, right? Well… now we get to the next chapter of Fatal Attractions. In X-Men #25 (1993), the X-Men take a squad up to Avalon–essentially an upgraded Asteroid M. Not pulling any punches, Wolverine’s attempt to kill Magneto only pissed Magnus off. He used his powers to rip the adamantium out of Wolverine’s body, just about killing the otherwise practically immortal mutant. That’s exactly what happens here. To be concluded.
So what’s next for the show? Bastion’s backstories in the comics and show are different enough that there’s no real obvious parallel to draw from, but Fatal Attractions didn’t just stop with adamantium removal. Realizing a line had been crossed, Professor X telepathically blasted Magneto with everything he had, shutting down his former friend’s mind. The event continued with Wolverine surviving–and discovering that he actually had bone claws, meaning they must’ve been part of his mutant powers all the memory tampering made him forget–and Colossus’ longtime on-again/off-again girlfriend, Kitty Pryde, trying to convince the stoic mutant to leave Magneto. And through truly ridiculous comic book bullshit, a few years later it was revealed that a part of Magneto’s mind rubbed off on Xavier, creating the fusion villain Onslaught. He’s one of the most 90’s big event villains ever, the Avengers and Fantastic Four sacrificed their lives to stop him (they got better), he of course came back later, and that’s all I want to say about him. Just setting it up that season 2 may have a theme to it, I say as if I haven’t already seen the season finale and really know what that theme will be. Tune in… soon? These posts are taking longer than anticipated, but I hope to have episode 10 out sooner rather than later. Gotta stay relevant!
Oh, right. Morph transforms into the Hulk to punch the hell out of some Sentinels, so there’s your transformation Easter egg. Enjoy.
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Next: Episode 10
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* TECHNICALLY Magneto returned in X-Men Unlimited #1 (1993) as an unseen figure who saves Professor X, but details, details.
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