Marvel Makes Major Changes to X-Men History

Today, Marvel Comics released Powers of X #6, the final chapter in Jonathan Hickman‘s franchise-altering dual miniseries event. The entire saga of House of X and Powers of X has forced X-Men fans to reconsider what the story of the X-Men is all about, and this final installment is no different.

This final issue of Power of X includes excerpts from the journal of Moira MacTaggert, now known to be the mutant Moira X. Moira has lived nine lives so far, and mutants have come out on the losing end of all of them. She decided to try things differently in her 10th life and has shaped to fates of mutants for years leading to the founding of Krakoa as a mutant nation.

The journal entries — the ones that are not redacted — offer a peak at how Moira has meddled throughout X-Men history. Several of them correspond to specific issues or stories from X-Men history. Keep reading as we break down how each fits into X-Men history and alters what we knew about those moments.

What did you think of House of X and Powers of X? Are you looking forward to the Dawn of X titles? Let us know how you feel in the comments. Powers of X #6 is on sale now.

Entry 5 – Xavier reads Moira

This scene played out in Powers of X #1 and Marvel called it the most important scene in the history of the X-Men. We now know that Moira allowed Professor X to read her mind and see her memories from her previous lives. The revelation that Xavier has had this knowledge from the beginning of the X-Men casts the entirety of X-Men history in a new light.

Entry 14 follows up, with Moira ruminating on what she’s done to Charles. Has showing him her past lives made him too unlike the man she knew before? She needs him to maintain a certain amount of his natural optimism, or he’ll never be the mutant leader she needs him to be.

Entry 17 – The seeds of the five, and the births of Proteus and Legion

In Entry 17, Moira reveals that the idea for the five — the five mutants who can resurrect any mutant with a backup stored in Cerebro — was Professor X’s idea and that it existed well before the five did.

The entry reveals that Moira used her genetic expertise to find mates for herself and Professor X that would potentially spawn mutants with the kinds of reality-warping powers needed to complete the five. While they go unnamed here, this seems to be referring to Charles and Gabrielle Haller coming together and giving birth to Legion, and Moira meeting Joe MacTaggert and giving birth to Proteus. The latter of the two does go on to complete the five.

Of note, both of these dangerously-powerful mutants were studied and treated at Moira’s facility on Muir Island, suggesting that creative the five may have always been the major motivator behind Moira’s research.

Entry 22 – Recruiting Magneto

This entry is another call back to a previous issue of Powers of X, where Professor X and Moira meet with Magneto. Professor X uses his powers to show Magneto the lives that he saw in Moira’s mind.

Magneto agrees to work towards their common goal. This foreshadows other stories as well. Moira’s journal suggests that her past lives imprinted the idea for a mutant stronghold in Magneto’s mind. This is why he created so many of his own, from Asteroid M to Avalon to Genosha. 

There’s also some concern from Magneto about Moira and Professor X tampering with his mind…

Entry 29 – Apocalypse

In Entry 29, Moira notes that Apocalypse has made himself known. This must be around the time of his first appearance in the pages of X-Factor when the original five X-Men were still operating under that name.

Moira notes that there’s no way they can successfully recruit Apocalypse at this point in time. Instead, they must plan to delay him and prevent him from taking control of other powerful mutants. It seems the plan worked as Apocalypse is now part of the Quiet Council of Krakoa.

Entry 48 – Sinister

This entry pertains to another scene from a past issue of Powers of X in which Professor X and Magneto attempt to recruit Sinister into their plans.

This was done without Moira’s knowledge or consent, and she curses them for their folly. She also notes that Sinister has created his first chimera at a much earlier point in time than he did in her past lives, that chimera being the mutant clone of himself infused with Thunderbird’s DNA.

She may be right about this being folly, as past issues of Powers of X suggest Sinister knows more than he lets on and could be playing his own game.

Entry 52 – Losing Magneto

In Entry 52, Moira laments losing Magneto. This entry corresponds to the story “Mutant Genesis” that launched the new X-Men ongoing series in 1991. In that story, Magneto discovers that during a point in his history when he had been de-aged into an infant, Moira attempted to tamper with his DNA. She claimed it was to correct some imbalances caused by his magnetic gifts, but Magneto saw it as a betrayal. After years of teaching at Xavier’s school, Magneto returned to villainy.

This story is made even more important since Moira suggests it marks the point that Magneto stopped working with her and Xavier towards their shared goal. That Magneto suspected something like this might happen, as alluded to in Power of X previously, makes it all the more tragic.

Entry 57 – Moira’s “death”

In this final entry, Moira suggests that she has spent too much time in the spotlight working overtly with Xavier and needs to return to the shadows. To do so, she plans to fake her own death.

This corresponds with X-Men #108 from 2001, which has Mystique and the Brotherhood attacking Muir Island. The X-Men save Moira from the facility, but she dies during the flight back to the United States.

House of X and Powers of X revealed that she faked her death using something called a Shi’ar golem, which kept her alive and allowed Moira and Xavier to do some preliminary testing with resurrection protocols later perfected by the five.

Most mutants still do not know that Moira is alive as she has been hiding out in a Krakoa blackout zone.