Let’s Talk about X-Men Episode 1-7

In the latest episode of X-Men ’97, we get…a treatise on the perils of political expediency.

Yes, we’re gonna ruin Beast’s love life during a discussion about tolerance.

So, let’s talk about X-Men ’97 episode 1-7, the one with the Zombie Sentinels.

Funeral for a Hero

I’ve been operating under the assumption that Cable will retcon the Genosha terrorist attack at a later date.

This episode challenges that notion, and it does so from the start.

We begin with the X-Men attending Gambit’s funeral. Leading the service is Nightcrawler, who appeared in the Genosha episode.

The religious Mutant provides sage words, but his fellow X-Men note the absence of his missing sister, Rogue.

As a reminder, in X-Men: The Animated Series, Mystique is at least a century old, and she has multiple children.

Two of them are Nightcrawler and Rogue, who care deeply for one another, even though they see each other infrequently.

Graydon Creed Jr. is their half-brother, which may come up again soon.

Anyway, Rogue isn’t in the mourning business today. She’s more about revenge, assaulting a military base.

If those aren’t autonomous tanks blowing up, she may commit a few murders along the way, which strikes me as a big deal.

Ultimately, Rogue pulls the roof off the place and assails the leader of the facility. It’s Thunderbolt Ross.

As usually happens with Ross, he goes from overconfident to cowed in a matter of seconds.

Ross gives up the location of Henry Gyrich, or at least we presume he does. That’s what Rogue wants, and he’s in no position to argue.

Notably, Ross chides Rogue as supposed to be “one of the good guys.” Rogue replies, “You killed those, Sugar.”

This is good stuff.

The Politics of War

Timely interactions occur throughout the episode, with the underlying context that humans expect war with the Mutants.

The attack on Genosha strikes many as an act of aggression that will be matched in kind.

Ergo, United Nations representatives, reporters, and American politicians all share the same opinion.

This isn’t the time to favor the Mutants as the Normies believe an attack is in the offing.

Anyone who assists the Mutants will be deemed unreliable, causing their poll numbers to drop.

Given everything happening in Ukraine and the Middle East right now, the timing of this feels mercilessly accurate.

For his part, Cyclops needs help to continue searching for survivors in Genosha.

Cyclops points out that military liaison Val Cooper remains missing as well. It’s clear her cohorts have written her off as dead.

Undeterred, Cyclops takes the X-Men to Genosha, where Amelia Voght informs Beast of the atrocities.

Trish Tilby, the reporter Beast likes, arrives at Genosha, waves off her cameraperson and asks Beast to walk with her.

Sparks are flying, but don’t get your hopes up. During the course of the conversation, their biases divide them.

Beast has lost a friend, and he reacts angrily to some of Tilby’s comments and reporting, ignoring that the latter is her job.

This moment represents one of the first times Beast has ever acted untoward in his conversations. He’s wounded.

I hope that the duo will speak again, as they clearly like one another, but this isn’t the romance episode.

That was two weeks ago, and it ended with bodies everywhere. We probably don’t want a repeat of that anytime soon.

America’s Ass

Thunderbolt Ross isn’t even the surprise cameo of the week. That honor belongs to Steve Rogers.

Since Captain America is an emissary for the government today, his encounter with Rogue isn’t a friendly one.

Rogers acts like America’s ass when he scolds Rogue for her actions, and, to be fair, he isn’t wrong.

However, we know that Rogue is searching for a terrorist who just committed atrocities. So, we take her side in the argument.

The reveal here is that Rogers has learned of a facility with OZT signs everywhere. What’s OZT? You’ll find out soon.

Rogue and Captain America don’t part this conversation as friends, with Rogue angrily throwing his shield hundreds of feet away.

Dude cannot summon that thing like Thor with Mjolnir. It’s gonna take him a minute to track down the shield.

Eventually, Rogue encounters Gyrich, who speaks in riddles right up until she takes off her glove and drains him of his memories.

This is the Rogue that could conquer the planet if she wanted. She’s scary AF in this episode, as she should be.

The dream of Rogue and Gambit living happily ever after died in the arms of a Godzilla Sentinel in Genosha.

The X-Men Visit Madripoor

Cyclops takes a call from Bolivar Trask, who appears repentant and remorseful about what happened in Genosha.

Trask warns that Mister Sinister is working for someone, and if you know what OZT is from the comics, you can guess who that is.

Trask directs the X-Men to a UN facility in Madripoor, a place we saw in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Comic book fans know it well, but the version of Madripoor we get today…isn’t pleasant. It’s an Anti-Mutant research lab.

Some of the displays indicate cybernetics, which the X-Men notice. Right when I think we’re going T-2 with this, the story takes a turn.

Trask appears, Storm interrogates him, and the encounter leads to Rogue straight up murdering him. Storm drops Trask from a building.

While the other X-Men, including her brother, Nightcrawler, watch in horror, Storm feels no remorse for her actions.

Seconds later, Zombie Trask appears, and he’s…different. In fact, he’s a zombified version of a Sentinel.

Don’t ask how the science works here. Just know that Trask systematically eliminates several X-Men, including Jean Grey.

The team doesn’t have a chance and appears likely to get wiped out until an explosion occurs.

Cable emerges from the smoke, explaining to his dad how to kill these supercharged Sentinels. He would know.

A conversation unfolds wherein Cable acknowledges Cyclops is his dad.

And Nathan Summers makes it clear that Jean Grey isn’t welcome in his mind. She’s not his mother. Ouch.

About the OZT

In the comics, OZT stands for Operation: Zero Tolerance. It’s a campaign led by an X-Men foe named Bastion.

I quite love this idea because Bastion made his debut in Marvel comics in…May 1996. He’s the bridge from the original series to now.

Voiced by Theo James, who is currently enjoying a career resurgence thanks to The Gentlemen on Netflix, Bastion is a bad dude.

Also, the OZT plot appears to be lifted straight from the comics. So, if you’ve read that, you have a good idea of what’ll happen next.

Speaking of which, based on Cable’s presence here, we may not get that clean slate I’d expected.

With Cable bouncing around the timeline just before the Genosha attack, I presumed he’d undo it.

Well, if Cable is here now, he may have missed his window. Or maybe not. Time travel makes anything possible.

Anyway, this was a shockingly current episode that sets the table for three extremely angry stories to conclude season one.

Dark Rogue is taking no prisoners, while we seem to be building toward some sort of adaptive, unkillable Sentinel, too.

I don’t think the X-Men and the OZT are gonna hug it out, either. Stay tuned…

 

Thanks for visiting MarvelBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond-Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!

Featured image: Marvel