Marvel Just Raised the Stakes for the X-Men

Marvel is raising the stakes for the X-Men in the epic crossover event X of Swords. Since House of X and Powers of X, mutants have become functionally immortal thanks to the resurrection protocols put in place on Krakoa. Using the combined powers of The Five -- Hope, Elixir, Egg, Proteus, and Tempus -- Krakoa can restore a fallen mutant's body. With Professor X's power and Cerebro storage, Xavier can restore that mutant's mind and memories to them. But the X-Men just discovered a flaw in the system, and one X-Man paid the price for being the first to encounter it. SPOILERS for X-Factor #4 by Leah Williams and Carlos Gomez follow.

In X of Swords: Creation #1, a group of mutants traveled through the External Gate into Otherworld to meet with the survivors of Krakoa's lost twin island, Arakko, but things did not go as planned. Apocalypse's children betrayed him, badly wounding both Apocalypse and Rictor and killing Rockslide.

The mutants retreated through the External Gate after Opal Luna Saturnyne orchestrated a tournament between the two mutants nations. Those who were mostly unharmed took Apocalypse and Rictor to Krakoa's healing gardens, but Rictor died soon after.

The Five resurrected both Rictor and Rockslide, and Rictor came back fine. Rockslide did not and was barely hold his form together. Psychic probing revealed that while the reborn mutant is Rockslide, it is not the Rockslide they know.

Eventually, the X-Men put together that Otherworld is out of range of their Cerebro backup system. Otherworld is at the center of a multiversal conversion. A mutant who dies in Otherworld comes back as a random amalgamation of versions of themselves from across multiple realities. It is, as they describe it, a roll of the dice.

This situation means that as long as the X-Men are doing battle in Otherworld, real death is a possible consequence. That's terrible news for Krakoa's champions. Another problem is that, in their panic, the Five destroyed the rebirth eggs they had in reserve. That means anyone who dies outside of Otherworld will still have to wait sometime before being resurrected.

The stakes are not a lot higher than they were for Krakoa. X-Factor #4 is on sale now.

• X-Factor #4
• JUL200590
• (W) Leah Williams (A) Carlos E. Gomez (CA) Ivan Shavrin
• X OF SWORDS - CHAPTER 2
• Death and rebirth. Corruption. A dark discovery.
• Rated T+
• In Shops: Sep 30, 2020
• SRP: $4.99