Asteroid heading for Earth, literal mind-warfare, AND time travel to boot. It’s almost every sci-fi trope wrapped up in one heckuva season finale!
SPOILER WARNING! The following contains spoilers for the X-Men ’97 Episode “Tolerance is Extinction Part 3!” Do not proceed if you wish to avoid spoilers!
MAJOR POINTS
- Xavier mindwiped Magneto in the hopes of bringing back the good man he knew when he was young
- Bastion is presumed dead after fully transforming into a super-sentinel.
- The X-Men are scattered between three separate points in time
In an apparent flashback, Xavier and Magneto meet for the first time in a bar as “Turn, Turn, Turn” by The Byrds plays in the background. Magneto figures out that this is not a memory, but a replay of one by Xavier. After a struggle, The Professor mentally forces Magneto to restore the Earth’s energy.
The resulting scene mirrors the end of Part 1 where other Marvel superheroes and villains react to the global shockwave. This time we see Captain America and Iron Man with President Kelly, Daredevil in Hell’s Kitchen, and Dr. Strange performing surgery in a hospital.
Bastion’s sentinels hold Gold Team while he gloats about the future. As he monologies about saving humanity from itself, another montage shows Sentinel Primes attacking President Kelly, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Daredevil, Cloak & Dagger (?!?), Crimson Dynamo, Omega Red, and Psylocke with Alpha Flight.
Suddenly, before the villains execute Cable, Phoenix rises from the dead (again). She rips the mutant DNA from Sinister, leaving him a 100+-year-old human. She then returns to human form and refers to Cable as her son. Bastion lashes out, rips Cable’s bionic arm off, and whips him with it. He then assimilates the arm and adapts into a super-mega-sentinel. Finally, he tells the heroes he will throw Asteroid M into the Earth, effectively extinguishing most human life, Deep Impact style.
Meanwhile, in Magneto’s head, Xavier pleads with Magnus to be trusted. Jean warns the rest of the X-Men about Bastion’s plan and refers to him as The Future Incarnate. Rogue charges in and pummels Bastion into The Moon. Bastion fights back, but Roberto charges in and finally adopts the name Sunspot. Bastion knocks them out before battling the rest of the Blue Team.
Just as Bastion gloats about bringing in his “family” of Sentinels, one Sentinel lands right on top of him. It turns out that Sentinel is piloted by Beast, who makes a well-timed joke about irony.
However, Bastion lifts the Sentinel’s boot, clearly not destroyed yet. Cyclops takes a moment, but rather than continue fighting, he opts to take the talking approach. But before progress can be made, Magneto Protocol missiles fly in and knock Asteroid M out of orbit. The heroes regroup, trying to keep Asteroid M from colliding with Earth, Armageddon-style. However, their efforts fail and the asteroid plummets toward the East Coast.
Back in Magneto’s head, Xavier pleads with a mindwiped Magneto to help humanity. Finally, Magneto pops back into the real world and takes control of Asteroid M, pushing it safely back out into orbit where it explodes into harmless particles.
Six months later, memorial gifts are littered around the destroyed Xavier School. News reports talk of Graydon Creed edging ahead in a Presidential election. Bishop meets with Forge, who has a list of dead or missing mutants like Days Of Future Past. Bishop says the problem isn’t who, it’s when…
Meanwhile, in Ancient Egypt, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, and Xavier encounter En Sabah Nur, a young Apocalypse. Plus, Cyclops and Jean are thrust 2000 years into the future where they encounter a young Nathan, aka Cable.
MAJOR QUESTIONS
- Will the next season take place millennia apart? Or will this be a minor setback?
- Could this lead to Onslaught?
- What X-Men are left?
FINAL GRADE: A
This was a double-sized issue-style ending, which makes this almost a four-part story. There were a lot of mental games, with Charles trying to convince a mind-wiped Magneto to save Earth. But again, if Morph can simulate powers, why couldn’t he just save the world? Maybe certain morphing powers take extra time or effort that Morph hasn’t developed yet?
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
The ending showed the heroes sent to two separate eras in time. Scott and Jean were sent to the future where they encounter their young son Nathan, the future Cable.
Xavier, Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Beast are stuck in the past where they will likely have to help the future Apocalypse battle Rama-Tut. This ties the series into The MCU because Rama-Tut is a variant of Kang The Conqueror. We also saw Immortus, another Kang variant, in the original X-Men Animated Series.
With the team scattered in three separate points in time (Ancient Egypt, Present Day, and 2,000 years in the future) it’s a pretty safe bet that the story will tie all three eras together. The heroes’ actions in the past could change the present, turning it into The Age Of Apocalypse. And the future could be where Scott, Nate, and Jean battle Kang.
We’ll probably have to wait until 2025 to see if these predictions are true.