House of X Reveals What Happens Right After Moira's 9th Life

Jonathan Hickman's tale of X-Men re-invention continues with House of X #3, which builds off Powers of X #3's shocking reveal that the X-Men's Year 100 Future War was all part of Moira X's ninth life. The Future X-Men's final suicide mission was all meant to gain crucial intelligence about the origins of Nimrod; in House of X #3, we learn just how the X-Men of Moira's tenth life are putting that information to use.

While it's been no secret that House of X has been setting up the X-Men of Krakoa to take on the human supremacy organization Orchis and its Mother Mold station, House of X #3 provides some major backstory about how Moira spent her 10th life preparing for this moment.

The information of how Moira spent her 10th life targeting Nimrod is revealed (in true Jonathan Hickman fashion) via clinical flow chart on page ten of House of X #3. Here's what we learn:

• "Apocalypse acquires the [incomplete[ Nimrod origin files [X2]."
• "Nimrod origin file simply the raw developmental / processing power necessary to produce a Nimrod is entirely dependent on certain technology thresholds being reached. A Nimrod almost always occurs in conjunction with/resulting from a Mother Mold."
• "Moira dies."
• "Moira reincarnates."
• "Moira and Charles Xavier task several mutant technopaths with creating a system [Sleeping Giant] to monitor for Nimrod technological thresholds being reached and/or the attempted creation of a Mother Mold."
• "Orchis protocols enacted."
• "Moira and Charles Xavier discover Orchis through Sleeping Giant."
• "Charles Xavier and Magneto acquire plans for the Orchis Forge [Sol's Hammer], home to a dormant but soon to be active Mother Mold."
• "Charles Xavier and Magneto task the X-Men with Destroying the Mother Mold and Preventing the creation of Nimrod."

Like so many things in Hickman's "Dawn of X" storyline, one seeming answer just gives rise to a whole hose of other questions. So many of these charts included in both the House of X and Powers of X books introduce anecdotes of X-Men mythos that could fill an entire book of their own - in this case, the mention of Moira and Charles creating "Sleeping Giant." This collective of technopaths tasked with monitoring technological progression for signs of Nimrod, is a crazy concept - one that we may never even see on the page.

The explanation of how Moira and Charles Xavier progressed through Moira's 10th life, and shared the knowledge of Nimrod's origin, once again reframes key scenes of House of X chapters 1 and 2. Of course, with Hickman there's always sleight of hand involved, so here's what we still don't know after all this backstory on Moira's 10th life:

• Why Moira split from Xavier and Magneto (as revealed on her 10th life timeline) after targeting Orchis and Nimrod.
• Where Moira currently is in the 10th life, as "House of X" is unfolding.

What are you theories after reading House of X #3?

Powers of X 1, 2 & 3 and House of X 1, 2, and 3 are all now on sale, with new issues of each book released in alternating weeks.