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Cake day: June 21st, 2023

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  • Wow, a lot happened. As a whole, I think this is a very solid episode. I like how organically this Nightcrawler fits in with the cast of 97 and it is nice to see him in action—tri-wielding swords! It is a shame, however, that his addition to the team comes at the cost of losing Gambit.

    I like that we got some backstory with Bastion.

    The continued cameos are fun but I hope they’ll serve more of a purpose. That being said, I did grin uncontrollably upon seeing Rachel and 90s Spider-Man. There’s so much potential for X-Men 97 to create its own MCU (XCU?)

    I like the moral implication of Magneto’s declaration of war at the end and I hope they won’t shy away from all the millions of lives likely lost as a result. I can see and partially agree with his mindset, but it’s a very morally gray area, which honestly fits with his characterization.

    I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get any Storm this episode, I feel like her character has been shafted this whole season in favor of other stories but there are still two episodes left.


  • Much like Lifedeath Pt. 1, I found this episode severely lacking. As someone who is reading the comics for the first time and is nearing the end of the Claremont Run, I loved the Lifedeath stories and was excited to see a proper adaption for this season. The end result, however, was two rushed, half-stories that were more an homage to the conclusion of The Fall of the Mutants. We didn’t get a chance to see Storm and Forge’s relationship blossom and their proclamations of love felt entirely unearned. For me, these points only serve to engender underlying pacing issues and a sense of confusion relating to the characters—including the Adversary—and their motivations. I think if both story lines were given full, dedicated episodes, they would have been much stronger.

    Also, maybe I’m in the minority, but I wanted to see Storm struggle with and accept herself for who she is while being without powers, and returning to the X-Men to lead—or at the very least co-lead—the team. I was interested in seeing an adaptation of the famous duel between Cyclops and Storm for leadership, with Storm claiming victory despite being ‘powerless’ and the team welcoming her back with open arms. I wanted her to get her powers back, but I wanted that moment to feel more meaningful and to have happened at the end of the season at the earliest.

    As for Xavier and Lilandra’s story, I liked it, but I think it happened too soon. Personally, I would have preferred a season or two of X-Men 97 without Xavier, giving the team a chance to cope and grow without their mentor/father-figure present.

    So as not to be completely negative, I’d like to add that I loved last week’s episode and am excited to see what happens next. I’m glad to see Nightcrawler in the intro and now I wonder if Forge is also joining the cast.








    1. Baldur’s Gate 3
    2. Hades
    3. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
    4. Bioshock
    5. Hypnospace Outlaw
    6. Dead Rising
    7. Disco Elysium
    8. Prey
    9. Dishonored
    10. Borderlands
    11. Final Fantasy VIII
    12. Mass Effect
    13. Half-Life 2
    14. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
    15. Red Faction
    16. Psychonauts
    17. Spelunky
    18. Primordia
    19. Strangeland
    20. Alan Wake
    21. Telltale’s The Walking Dead
    22. F.E.A.R.
    23. Heavy Rain
    24. Dragon Age: Origins
    25. Jade Empire
    26. Fire Emblem: Awakening
    27. Life Is Strange
    28. The Longest Journey
    29. Metro 2033
    30. The Punisher

    And I could keep going because I’ve spent far too much time playing video games