Two X-Men Are Having a Fight to the Death (And It All Ties Back to Krakoa)

Two members of the X-Men disagree on the best path forward after the Fall of Krakoa, and they’re going to settle their disagreement in a fight to the death. X-Men: From the Ashes has shown how mutants are moving forward post-Krakoa, with different teams being formed to carry out those missions. While the focus is on the two teams led by Cyclops and Rogue fighting over their old home in “Raid on Graymalkin,” the younger generation of X-Men are carving out their own lane in NYX. Ms. Marvel, Wolverine (Laura Kinney), and more are building a mutant community in New York City, but some X-Men are still holding onto the old ways of Krakoa… for good and bad.

Marvel released a preview of NYX #7 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Enid Balam, Raul Angulo, and VC’s Joe Sabino. It features the return of Synch (Everett Thomas), who wound up leading Krakoa’s official X-Men team after Cyclops and Jean Grey stepped away. Ms. Marvel shows Synch around the mutant community they’ve created in New York, which is seemingly being led by Prodigy. After some of their fellow X-Men’s terrorist attacks, Prodigy got fired from his job teaching mutant studies on the Empire State University campus. Prodigy now delivers his curriculum offsite, which is something Synch takes offense to.

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Synch believes Prodigy is selling a dream to his mutant followers, and that will eventually invite Sentinels. So what Synch is basically saying is this outward display of mutants gathering as a community will only cause more grief for their species, because humans only know how to respond one way, and that’s through violence. However, Synch’s answer to all of this is violence as well. He challenges Prodigy to battle through the Circle Perilous for ownership of Prodigy’s “throne.”

An X-Man channels Krakoa’s bloodies form of combat

The Circle Perilous is where the mutants of Arakko could challenge for a seat at the Great Ring, which was the leadership council of Arakko that mirrored Krakoa’s Quiet Council. While Krakoa had the Quarry/Arena, Arakko had the Circle Perilous. These were gladiator-style fights with only three outcomes: win, die, or yield.

Storm got her titles as the Regent of Arakko and Voice of Sol, and a seat at the Great Ring by defeating Nameless in the Circle Perilous. Krakoa took a different route by having mutants challenge Apocalypse in the Quarry. They mostly wanted a quick death so they could be resurrected by The Five.

It’s pretty jarring to see Synch reappear and immediately find an issue with what Prodigy is doing. Some of this is understandable since Synch benefitted greatly from the X-Men’s move to the sovereign nation, where he appeared in a monthly title and had a prominent storyline going with Laura Kinney’s Wolverine. It appears Synch hasn’t totally given up on Krakoa and its way of doing things, since he doesn’t hesitate to call for the Circle Perilous to decide his disagreement with Prodigy.

The preview of NYX #7 is below. The issue goes on sale Wednesday, January 8th.