Powers of X Reveals Apocalypse’s Final Horsemen

A new installment of Jonathan Hickman‘s X-Men saga hits stores today. It brings with it the reveal of Apocalypse’s Horsemen in the future era of the Man-Machine Ascendancy. SPOILERS for Powers of X #3 by Jonathan Hickman, RB Silva, and Marte Gracia follow.

Previous issues of Powers of X established that 100 years after the formation of the X-Men the Man-Machine Ascendancy will come to rule Earth. Led by Nimrod the Lesser, the Man-Machine Ascendancy turns what remains of humanity into a cult-like religion. Humans devalue their humanity, opting to infuse themselves with cybernetic technology as infants.

Most mutants fled the Ascendancy, leaving Earth to seek refuge in Shi’ar space. A handful of mutants remained near Earth, living on Asteroid K. Apocalypse leads them, and he chose four of them to be his Horsemen. Powers of X #3 reveals who those Horsemen. They are:

• War: Wolverine, James Howlett, a mutant pureblood. This is the original Wolverine whose mutant healing factor has allowed him to live for centuries.
• Death: Xorn, another pureblood mutant. He has a singularity in his head, which seems to have allowed him to live a longer than normal life. Or it could have to do with Apocalypse’s genetic modifications.
• Pestilence: North, one of Sinister’s second-generation chimera mutants. Sinister created North by combining the genes of Emma Frost and Lorna Dane. Lorna was Polaris, the daughter of Magneto. North wears a version of Magneto’s costume that is green like Lorna’s hair.
• Famine: Karkoa/Cypher, a symbiotic mutant. It is the sentient mutant island living within the body of the former New Mutant. Cypher’s mutant power allowed him to read, translate, and interpret any language or means of communication. He had a similar bonding with his fellow New Mutant Warlock, a mutant member of the techno-organic alien race called the Technarchy.

Power of X #3 sees Apocalypse leading his Horsemen and the other remaining mutants on a suicide mission. It succeeds – they retrieve knowledge of when Nimrod came online – but they do not survive. Apocalypse falls battling Nimrod while Rasputin exposes Xorn’s singularity. But Wolverine manages to escape with the knowledge. As Apocalypse ordered, Wolverine revives Moira, gives her the information, and then kills her.

That sends Moira into another cycle of rebirth. It was the ninth life of Moira X. Moira carries this knowledge of Nimrod into her tenth timeline, where House of X takes place.

What do you think of Apocalypse’s final Horsemen? Let us know in the comments. Powers of X #3 is on sale now.