…the link between Polaris and Zaladane? (prologue)

I don’t know yet, but do know that Claremont was definitely going somewhere with her connection to Zaladane.

However, while Lorna possibly does have ties with Magneto, what with Zaladane’s ability to absorb Magneto’s powers in Uncanny X-Men #275 I don’t think the connection is as obvious as Austen made it out to be.

Had Claremont been allowed to play out his projected Neo epic, he might finally have revealed the mystery behind Zaladane’s claim that she is Lorna Dane’s sister!

Moira MacTaggart later claimed that for the power-switching procedure to work (cf. Uncanny X-Men #249-50), Zala and Lorna must have highly-related genetic structures.

However, while both have the same surname, sadly Lorna was adopted as a child and Dane was the name of her adoptive parents, so there must be more to it!

This is where I would posit the Neo as providing the “final solution.”

Readers of Claremont’s stories with these characters will recall power-switching was an ability attributed to leaders of their Warclan.

Did the fact that Zala initially showed up in the Savage Land suggest that Zala was once a chieftain of one such Warclan of the Neo, or at least her parents were, and both she and Lorna possessed the same ability due to this heritage?

As for how Lorna ended up with the Danes, perhaps she was originally a Neo child that they adopted.

From Uncanny X-Men #52 we know that Lorna was adopted by her aunt, so had her and Zala’s uncle and aunt earlier taken up permanent residence in our dimension, and upon the death of Lorna and Zala’s parents through still unknown circumstances, Lorna ended up in their care while Zala ended up in the Savage Land to fend for herself, perhaps explaining the bitterness she holds towards Lorna, a reversal of the origin of Kevin Plunder and his brother, Parnival.

I will admit that I’m not particularly fond of the idea of Magnus as Lorna’s father, but if the sisters are of Neo origin, it might explain why it was the Savage Land of all locations that the Master of Magnetism chose to build his base of operations.

It might make further sense as to why, upon arriving at their fortress, Magneto commands the Neo to serve in his army, and why Domina submits to his demands.

Did Magneto perhaps set up base in the Savage Land, knowing the dimensional walls there were thin, and clues had led him to believe that Magda had fled to their dimension after giving birth to Wanda and Pietro?

Or was Zaladane perhaps a clone of Lorna Dane and both were created in a lab by none other than Mister Sinister in his early attempts to create a clone of Jean Grey before he created Madelyne Pryor?

Zaladane, for some reason, did not have any mutant genes, but Lorna Dane did possess the mutant genes which were also responsible for her green hair.

While Zaladane claims to be a Mutate she could have perpetuated this lie to serve her purpose of gaining leadership over the Savage Land Mutates.

Did Sinister engineer Lorna Dane to be adopted, like he did with Alex Summers? How interesting that the pair became a couple considering how their early fates were so similar.

What makes this even more likely is the suggestion that Lorna Dane’s parents were killed in a plane crash.

Recall in Classic X-Men #42 Mr. Sinister orchestrated a similar fate for Rick and Trish Bogart, the couple pegged to adopt young Scott Summers, their bodies lying in the wreck of the plane, undiscovered, somewhere in the mountains.

…Ahab’s origin?

Figure 1: Ahab's introduction in the Days of Future Present crossover.

Ahab was the “Master of the Hounds” from the Days of Future Past future – the one that Rachel Grey hailed from.  Hounds were mutants with powers useful for tracking other mutants, who were controlled by Ahab in that timeline.  Back when Cable still didn’t have a past, Ahab was introduced in the Days of Future Present crossover (Fantastic Four Annual #23, X-Factor Annual #5, New Mutants Annual #6, Uncanny X-Men Annual #14).  During one fight scene during this crossover, Cable and Ahab get close to one another, and Cable is shocked to recognise something familiar in Ahab, reinforced to readers further when Ahab says: “What’s wrong Cable? See someone you know?” (cf. Uncanny X-Men Annual #14).

Figure 2: When Cable meets Ahab face-to-face he appears to recognise him; but how?! from X-Men Annual #14, p.31

Now, although Rictor was the first to point out that Cable looked like Ahab

Figure 3: The panel that started it all - Rictor being the 1st to note a physical resemblance between Cable and Ahab, from New Mutants Annual #6, p.45

I believe his judgement was clouded by his guilt over killing the Hound

Figure 4: Was Rictor's judgement clouded by his guilt over killing the Hound? from New Mutants Annual #6, p.31

and his reluctance to trust Cable (cf. New Mutants #89, p.30)

Figure 5: First indication of Rictor's grudge towards Cable, from New Mutants #89, p.30

due to his belief that Cable set his father up to get killed  (cf. New Mutants #90, p. 14 & 18)

Figure 6: The reason for the animosity is that Rictor believes Cable is responsible for killing his father, from New Mutants #90, p.18

and his recollection that when he was a child – prior to manifesting his powers – Cable seemed like such a monster (cf. New Mutants #93, page 14).

Figure 7: Rictor recalls that when he was a child Cable seemed like such a monster, from New Mutants #93, p.14

This along with noticing superficial physical similarities – scar over right eye, and bionic left arm and shoulder (cf. X-Factor #61, p. 6 among others)

Figure 8: Cable notes his left arm as the bionic arm, etc. from X-Factor #61, p.6

– while experiencing a heightened state of stress, provides a reasonable excuse for Rictor’s misplaced paranoia.

I do think Louise Simonson had somewhat of a plan for Cable negative relationship with Rictor – and no I don’t think it was the later revelation of Stryfe being his doppelganger – which I believe was somehow tied into his having previously worked as a government agent who went “rogue” (cf. New Mutants #88), his past with Moira MacTaggert (cf. New Mutants #89), his past connection with Sunfire and the Yashida Clan (cf. New Mutants #93) and the outstanding scores with Wolverine and his previous link to Madripoor.

However, I’m certain the intention was NOT to impose Ahab’s origin onto Cable to resolve the fact that they didn’t initially have a background for him, but that it was planted as a RED HERRING!

Fabian Nicieza claims the latter, suggesting Bob Harras pushed for the dialogue in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14; though I’m not entirely convinced it was him primarily since the dialogue at the time seemed indicative of Claremont’s well-known catch phrases – which I’ll expound below.

While Cable and Ahab did have some similar features, there are more distinct differences, than similarities, during Ahab’s introduction in the Days of Future Present Annuals.

While both characters had similar scars across their right eyes, Cable’s left eye was the bionic one.

Even though his Physical Description from the Marvel Universe Master Edition #3 at the time suggested otherwise,

Figure 9: Physical Description notes mistakenly that Cable has bionic right eye, from Marvel Universe Master Edition #3.

New Mutants #89 (p. 26)

Figure 10: Cable indicates his left eye as the bionic one - unlike Ahab's which is the right one - from New Mutants #89, p.26.

and Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (p. 17) proved the original intention since Cable’s right eye was blue,

Figure 11: Further proof the original intention that Cable's left eye is the bionic one, as this panel shows the right eye is blue, from X-Men Annual #14, p.17

page 18 showing Ahab’s left eye as brown, his right eye being the bionic one.

Figure 12: Panel showing Ahab’s left eye as brown - the right eye being the bionic one, from X-Men Annual #14, p.18

While the rendering on their bionic left arms was awfully similar, the renderings appeared to suggest Forge’s design, since they were practically identical to how his prosthesis was depicted as in New Mutants #65 (p. 24, panel 4)

Figure 13: Bionic renderings appeared to suggest Forge’s design, from New Mutants #65, p.24

and on the cover of New Mutants #66

Figure 14: Further evidence of Forge's bionic design, from New Mutants #66 cover.

(given the similarity of Forge’s design it is most interesting that he claimed credit for Misty Knight’s cyborg arm in UXM #264).

Figure 15: Forge claiming credit for Misty Knight’s cyborg arm in Uncanny X-Men #264, p.8.

In addition, on page 18 of X-Men Annual #14 (1990) Ahab calls Cyclops “laddie-buck”, definitely not indicative of Cable’s speech patterns.

Figure 16: Ahab calling Cyclops “laddie-buck” - definitely not indicative of Cable’s speech patterns - from X-Men Annual #14, p.18

This was a well-known Claremont idiom regularly used by his Welsh character Dai Thomas, who I might add he originally introduced as an anti-superhero police officer and friend/ member of Joseph MacTaggert’s infantry in the Royal Marine Commandos.

Also, according to Banshee in New Mutants Annual #6 (p. 18) Cable was in Madripoor at the time Ahab was rounding up fellow mutants with Rachel.

Figure 17: Banshee explaining that Cable is in Madripoor at the time Ahab was rounding up fellow mutants with Rachel, from Banshee in New Mutants Annual #6, p.18

What this all suggests is that Cable obviously recognised Ahab in Annual #14, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he was recognising himself.  It could alternatively suggest that Cable may have encountered Ahab in his former identity, before he became “Master of the Hounds”.

What was that former identity, you ask?

The one thing that has been completely overlooked in the two decades since Ahab’s introduction is his going grey in a really unusual pattern.

I still can’t believe I am the only one who picked this up, but I’ve noted no one else make the same particular reference online over this whole time.

The only question remaining with regard to Ahab is whether he is Rogue’s father, brother or son.

Unlikely that he is her father or brother since Ahab is obviously Welsh or Scottish and Rogue was born in Mississippi.

However, could he be Rogue’s son?

During Uncanny X-Men #278 the Shadow King seduces Rogue.

Figure 18: The Shadow King seduces Rogue, from Uncanny X-Men #278, p.17

What if Claremont intended her to become pregnant by him, with Ahab?

When she comes to realise what has occurred, perhaps Claremont didn’t originally intend her to return to the team right away, but rather have her remain on Muir Island to give birth.

She swears Moira to secrecy about the pregnancy (who likely empathises Moira, given the father of her own child was a monster), and after giving birth returns to the X-Men.

But not before leaving the child with Moira to rear (drawing a nice parallel to Mystique’s own giving up of Kurt).

Moira, not unfamiliar with raising other bairns (i.e. Rahne), raises the child, who upon reaching his teens, like Crystal’s child, Luna, goes on to develop no powers.

He develops a crush on Rachel, who rejects him for Franklin Richards!

He takes the rejection harshly, considering the reason being because he is not a mutant, and goes on to develop a burning prejudice against mutants (much like the latter-introduced Graydon Creed).

This anti-mutant prejudice brings him into some conflict, and he is left for dead (without arms, his right eye and left leg).

But like Cameron Hodge before him, he survives, and submits himself to a process developed by the Genoshans, becoming “Master of the Hounds”, going on to enslave and humiliate Rachel; developing the Hound process in tribute to his father the Shadow King.

Note: His being raised on Muir Island would perhaps explain the accent Claremont imbued him with in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14; his crazy hair perhaps be explained by having Legion be the biological father (who was possessed by the Shadow King at the time).

…Shatterstar’s origin?

Readers will recall in Uncanny X-Men #209 Phoenix is abducted by Spiral.

We never found out what occurred to her between this story and her appearance in Excalibur Special Edition #1.

More recently (i.e. 2005) Jim Valentino revealed that his aborted plans for the Guardians of the Galaxy included establishing Jonathan Raven, otherwise known as KILLRAVEN, was the son of Franklin Richards.

Now we know from the fundamental Days of Future Past storylines that Franklin was the lover of Rachel Grey.

While we know that in one variant of this timeline Franklin and Rachel would go on to conceive the nigh-unstoppable villain Jonathan Richards, otherwise known as HYPERSTORM, it would seem that Valentino intended Killraven to be conceived from another variant of this particular timeline.

It seems totally acceptable that both Hyperstorm and Killraven were alternate versions of the same character, Jonathan Richards, given their identical heights and similar hair colour.

So what does all this have to do with the subject of this particular fanfix?

Well, while there has been much speculation over the years that Shatterstar has DNA that is identical to that of Longshot who was artificially created on Mojoworld – making him either his time-displaced son via Spiral/ Rita Wayward or Dazzler – this appears to be an exaggeration, since Shatterstar does not look physically identical to his supposed father, nor do they possess similar superhuman abilities.

And none of us believe the mangled mess that he was really the transplanted consciousness of coma victim, Benjamin Russell, in the body of a Mojoverse contestant.

However, I think most of what has come before can be resolved; but firstly by way of Jim Valentino’s plans to establish Killraven as Jonathan Richards.

While Valentino never gave a thought to whom Killraven’s mother would be, given the Days of Future Past iteration of Franklin Richards it is safe to assume that she would be Rachel Grey.

Secondly, there is the fact that both were trained as gladiators to fight for the amusement of their respective masters, Killraven for his Martian overlords and Shatterstar for Mojoworld; with both going on to become freedom fighters against their respective despotic regimes.

Oh, and of course, like Hyperstorm, the similarities in their physical appearance!

However, while there might appear to be a major hurdle to this theory what with Shatterstar having DNA that is identical to that of Longshot, I don’t see that as a major problem with Spiral being involved and having the Body Shoppe at her disposal.

Given the extant of Spiral’s genetic tampering upon Psylocke (if we stick with Claremont’s original intention that she transformed Betsy into a Chinese/ Anglo-hybrid) it is easy to adduce that the mistress of the Wildways had tampered with Shatterstar’s genetic makeup to cover up his true parentage; particularly if she had stolen him from the mother.

So to fix Shatterstar’s mangled mess of a parentage, I’d reveal that Rachel returned to our timeline carrying the son of Franklin Richards.

Knowing this, Spiral lured Rachel to her “Body Shoppe”, using her magical powers to induce the pregnancy and leave no sign that she’d been “with child” in the first place.

To cover her tracks, Spiral tampers with Jonathan’s DNA to make it appear as though the child was an artificial humanoid who had originated in Mojoworld.

The purpose behind her actions?

Given the failure of Longshot’s rebellion, and her undoubtedly discovering Rachel’s arrival to our time by way of the Phoenix force, she considered an offspring of the two most powerful mutants would possess the capacity to overthrow Mojo and thus free the planet from his regime, while also exacting her revenge upon him for his enslavement of her.

But what about Benjamin Russell looking exactly like Shatterstar, you ask?

The easy explanation is that she cloned the baby with the tech in her “Body Shoppe”, transplanting this clone on Earth as a “back-up” in the event Mojo uncovered her true plan and had him killed before he reached his true potential (in much the same way Stryfe was cloned from Cable).

…the origin of Havok’s powers?

Personally the whole conceit of Havok’s mutant ability being fuelled through his absorption of cosmic rays has never quite clicked for me. There is a major problem with this principle.

As I understand it, primary cosmic particles hit Earth’s atmosphere where they collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen, breaking up to create showers of secondary particles.

These then enter the lower atmosphere, colliding with even more atoms to create even weaker secondary particles.

By the time these cascades of particles reach the ground, they are basically powerless.

Only the most powerful cosmic primaries cause bigger problems, and of these only a very small percentage reach the surface of our planet.

Among the cosmic particles that are able to reach Earth – in fact they pass right through it – are neutrinos, neutrally charged particles with an extremely low mass. They are produced during radioactive decay by stars, including, of course, our own sun.

Since neutrinos are unaffected by the same electromagnetic processes that govern charged particles, they pass through the earth, and us, without interacting at all so Havok would it seems be unable to make use of these to fuel his power either.

The only other cosmic particles that are known to penetrate the earth to any depth are the cygnets from Cygnus X-3, a neutron star located 30,000 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus, the celestial swan. Like neutrinos, these *cygnets* are neutrally charged, yet unlike neutrinos, they do interact with matter, and that includes us humans.

So it would seem the cosmic rays that Havok absorbs to fuel his power would be neutrons with these same qualities.

The only problem is, Cygnus is the only current confirmed source in the Milky Way Galaxy that produces periodic bursts of high energy gamma rays to produce these neutrons.

Otherwise, is Havok’s power perhaps fuelled by similarly attributed neutrons from a certain *neutron galaxy* housed within a certain *crystal*?

Does this finally explain the interest D’Ken and Mr. Sinister had in the Summers line – their ability to absorb and channel the power contained within a *neutron galaxy*?

Maybe this explains why Cyclops’ power was able to shatter the matrix!

The remarkable Jason Powell has posited that it wasn’t the strength of Cyclops’s eye-beams but the fact that he also absorbs energy from the crystal, making it weaker, perhaps explaining how the X-Men passed inside the crystal despite it being super-dense.

Perhaps Cyclops was draining the crystal’s strength, making it brittle…? Has Jean all along been “Sharra” to his “K’ythri”? This might perhaps shed further light on that beautiful little back-up in Classic X-Men #43, Flights of Angels, where Death explains to Jean: “D’you think it was an accident that, as a child, your thoughts touched Scott Summers’? Or that he was orphaned by the Shi’ar Emperor?  That fleeting contact eventually drew Scott to Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, where he grew into Cyclops, leader of the X-Men.  He fell in love with you, and you with him…”

Is this why Lilandra REALLY sought Charles Xavier out, to prevent the “end of all that is”?  Claremont after all did have Lilandra show her true colours during X-Men: The End, revealing that the Shi’ar technology given to the X-Men’s Mansion by her as a gift, was used, like a “trojan horse” as part of her plan to destroy the X-Men once and for all!

Postscript: What’s further interesting is that the star, Cygnus, was worshipped by the Egyptians as the falcon-headed god, Seker.  I wonder if this could be used to not only explain a certain race of avian-descended humanoids’ interest in the Crystal, but one living pharaoh’s interest in Alex Summers as well!?

…it so Magneto’s wife is still alive? Part 3 in a series of 3

You know the fact that Mystique’s code-name means ‘air of mystery’ suggests she is a character with an aura of intrigue surrounding them but perhaps also hiding an identity we’re already familiar with.

I have another theory, but don’t worry. It still connects with the Shi’ar.

She wears a death-skull, we know according to Claremont that her surname was intended as Raven (further representing death), and first name, Eric (see Figure 1 in Part 1 here).

Now recall despite Nightcrawler’s origin not being revealed as far back as 1983, his father is named in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #8 as Baron Eric Wagner.

Figure 24: Under Known Relatives Kurt’s father is listed as Eric Wagner from OHOTMU volume 1#8

Back in the 1980s Gruenwald mentioned that, where possible for characters whose origins hadn’t been revealed he would request some brief details from their then writers which he and Peter Sanderson would then build on but still leave room to not contradict their intentions.

So was it Claremont’s intention at one point that (s)he was masquerading as Baron Wagner at the time. If so this would not only suggest (s)he was Kurt’s father, but if we follow Gruenwald’s above suggestion, Claremont may have planted the clue as far back as 1983 that he intended Raven’s first name as Eric with a ‘C’ perhaps as a further clue to her using the identity of Davan Shakari.

But this isn’t the biggie…

What other major X-villain is named EriK? While we know Erik Lensherr was never his intended name for Magneto, if you cast your mind back to Claremont’s interview with Tue Sørensen in 1996 he mentions how:

“A lot of my stories were rejected, and have suddenly come up in the last 3 years as X-Men stories.”

So what if Erik Lensherr was a name Claremont had included in his notes in connection WITH Magneto, but wasn’t the pseudonym he intended FOR Magnus?

What was that intended connection?

I’ll get there but for a moment I’d like to refer for a moment to Magneto’s wife, Magda.

While it is claimed that Magda walked out into the frozen wastes to die after the birth of her children, Wanda and Pietro, this never quite made sense when you consider she survived in the frozen wastelands after escaping Auschwitz, despite her physically debilitated state.

Figure 25: Magda, in a malnourished state, survives the frozen wastelands after escaping Auschwitz, yet it is claimed she walked out into a blizzard on Mt. Wundagore to die after the birth of her twins from Classic X-Men #12 Story 2 and Avengers #186 respectively

While Magda appears to have abandoned her children, Wanda and Pietro, convincing everyone she left them and walked out in the snow to die, is she in fact still out there alive and someone we have previously encountered without realising her true identity; perhaps a red-haired character with an ‘air of mystery’?

We know after Magnus kills that crowd in Vinnitsa, she shouts that he’s a monster and flees from him.

Figure 26: Terrified of what she witnessed, Magda fled, calling her husband a “monster” from Story 2 in Classic X-Men #12

So was Magda Mystique? The name Lensherr is not really a surname but a title effectively meaning Baron or Count in German. So was Eric Lensherr meant to suggest Eric the Baron/ Count, a title (s)he would go on to adopt after fleeing Magnus or leaving Wundagore?

But what about the Shi’ar connection you say?

Well firstly given Claremont’s stories show Irene working with Raven much earlier than Magnus’s time with Magda, since she had hired Raven to help her interpret the visions transcribed in her Diaries (influenced by the Shadow King), had they identified Magnus as a key player in mutant events so Raven assumed the identity of Magda becoming his love in the camps and then abandoning him in his moment of need to help drive him to become the mutant terrorist we know and love/hate!?

Is this why, upon assuming the identity of Eric the Red (s)he restores him to adulthood…

Figure 27: Eric the Red, after penetrating Muir Island’s automatic security, breaks into the cell where the infant Magneto is being confined, using a ray gun to restore him to adulthood in a matter of moments from Uncanny X-Men #104

…to compel him to return as the terrorist, Magneto, reigniting the fear campaign against mutants as the Shadow King intended…

Figure 28: A case can be made here that the Shadow King was responsible for driving mutants such as Magneto toward terrorism to bring about the hatred that would lead to Days of Future Past from Uncanny X-Men #278

…and when he couldn’t do it right, she stepped forth from the shadows reigniting the conflict herself through her establishment of her own Brotherhood of Evil Mutants who made it their mission to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly?!

Figure 29: Mystique and her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants reignite the fear campaign against mutants, as the Shadow King intended, from Uncanny X-Men #141

I mean doesn’t everyone think it’s strange that despite both operating in Europe and becoming terrorists, Magneto and Mystique were never revealed as having worked together? Raven even followed his example and formed a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. But if she was attempting to avoid him discovering she had been masquerading as his wife Magda this might actually make sense!

Was the small skull on the centre of Mystique’s forehead, just below her hairline, intended to slyly clue us in to the fact that she was meant to be a character previously believed to be dead, and her red hair meant to further suggest her connection with her daughter, Wanda?

Don’t worry, this doesn’t necessarily rule out the Shi’ar connection since the surname Adler is German for bird of prey or ‘eagle’ and is most notably used as such in heraldry!

What if Raven is not the sister supposedly murdered by Deathbird, but rather her assigned protector; what if Irene is instead that sister?

Postscript 1

With regard to the scanner Forge designs capable of identifying human, mutant, Kree, Skrull, Wraith, etc. upon switching it on in UXM 184 Forge identifies only one mutant …himself … failing to pick up on Raven’s mutant signature. While he might have chosen to not give her identity away, does this suggest her power being the result of something else? While the technology could pick up aliens too, would he not be more likely to give her up if she was alien as opposed to one of his own kind? Recall his comments after scanning the room make him appear surprised about Raven’s reactions, but if he picked up that she was like himself a mutant, he surely wouldn’t have been. So why didn’t the tech identify her as a mutant?

Figure 30: Forge's scanner fails to identify Raven as a mutant from Uncanny X-Men #184

Postscript 2

If Mystique is Eric Raven did Claremont intend this whole plot to tie into the War of the Worlds? Has this been Raven’s agenda all along, ensuring mutants are protected so they can provide defence against the Martians? If (s)he isn’t a mutant, as suggested by Forge’s scanner in Uncanny X-Men #184, is (s)he from a race previously persecuted by the Martians who fled to earth? Was her intention to reveal that (s)he was the true father of Jonathan Raven (aka. Killraven), and Irene his mother, hence his extrasensory ability?

Return to Part 1 here and Part 2 here

…the identity of Deathbird’s sister? Part 2 in a series of 3

Is translating the meaning behind “Claremont” names the key to finally breaking open the mystery behind his longest standing stories?!

My own mother’s maiden being that of the surname of his character, Heather Cameron (aka Lifeguard), this made me recall it is Scottish for ‘crooked nose’. With Heather’s later transformation revealing her Shi’ar royal ancestry, this made me wonder whether the ‘crooked nose’ is meant to imply an avian beak!

Figure 18: Heather Cameron's changed appearance to resemble the alien Shi'ar race, the cranial markings on her head and crest of feathers indicating she is of Shi'ar royal ancestry, from X-Treme X-Men #14 and #15 respectively

Now given the entry from Destiny’s Diary in X-Treme X-Men #10 reveals that Heather was “Mothered by War”, fans have previously taken this to mean Claremont was implying that her mother was Deathbird.

Figure 19: Hints to Heather's Shi'ar parentage from Destiny’s Diary in X-Treme X-Men #10

However, given Claremont gave Heather the code-name of LIFEguard, was this meant to clue us in to her mother’s attributes being the polar opposite to that of her murderous sister who represented DEATH?

So did Claremont intend the diary entry to instead suggest that Heather is the half-Shi’ar offspring of Deathbird’s unnamed sister whom she supposedly murdered?

Figure 20: is Lifeguard the half-Shi’ar offspring of Deathbird’s unnamed sister whom she referred to murdering in Ms. Marvel #10?

But I’m not stopping there!

Setting aside her name of Raven, did you know the word Mystique translates directly as ‘air of mystery’?

So not only does Mystique’s surname refer to a ‘bird of death’ but her code-name refers to her mystery being related to ‘AIR’.

Does this finally reveal that Mystique was an Aerie?

Now recall that Lifeguard’s ability to register danger enabled her to obtain the powers, and or forms, necessary to save her or others, the powers and forms she took being determined by the situation she was in and adapting accordingly.

So did Heather inherit her ability to shape-shift from Mystique?

What, you say?!

Well we know that while Heather was in space her shape shifting DNA brought out her natural Shi’ar heritage, but when she was on earth the royal Shi’ar markings had not manifested despite her mutant abilities having done so.

So is this why Mystique showed no obvious signs of Shi’ar heritage – because she had been stationed on Earth for a long while?

If Lifeguard inherited her shape-shifting ability from her mother, did she likewise inherit the ability to register danger?

That is, if Mystique is Heather’s mother did (s)he secretly manage to survive Deathbird’s attempt on her LIFE because, like her daughter, she was able to sense danger within a 30 metre radius, after which she replaced her body with that of a similar Shi’ar and thereafter fled to Earth?

Does this finally explain why Deathbird came to Earth? Did she somehow suspect her sister had survived and intended to seek proof of her treachery so she would no longer be exiled from her empire? That is, had D’Ken and Mystique conspired to kill their mother and frame Deathbird to prevent her claiming the throne since she was the first in line for it?! It just never seemed to make sense that Deathbird would jeopardise her rightful claim, but it didn’t seem to be beyond of the realm of capability of her brother.  A clue here includes Deathbird not necessarily considering herself exiled from her race early on since she indicates in Ms. Marvel #9 that Ms. Marvel’s name will be counted among the Aerie’s most honoured foes.

Figure 21: Deathbird doesn't necessarily consider herself exiled from the Shi'ar at this point in Ms. Marvel #9

The Shi’ar would surely count Ms. Marvel as an honoured ally if she fought the exiled Deathbird, not a foe!?

So does D’Ken’s sister-in-arms, Mystique, station herself on Earth to their mutual benefit, where she takes up numerous identities, including that of a male Shi’ar agent, Davan Shakari.

On this point, recall how Lilandra had stated in Uncanny X-Men #107 how Shakari had been “our agent on Earth” (see Figure 5 in Part 1). This never seemed to make sense when you consider the reveal in Uncanny X-Men # 105 that he had been exiled to Earth.

Figure 22: Davan Shakari indicates he had been exiled to Earth by Princess Lilandra from Uncanny X-Men #105

However, keeping my above theory in mind it does. That is, Davan Shakari was stationed on Earth by the Shi’ar Empire first as their loyal agent, but upon Mystique fleeing there, fearing the empire would take note that more than one Shi’ar was stationed there, she killed him and took his as one of her many identities.

I would further posit that the original Shakari stationed on Earth had never taken the identity of Eric the Red, but that had instead been Mystique’s doing, her taking utter delight in the irony not only of using the spelling of the Christian name she had adopted upon settling on earth (i.e. Eric Raven) but also an identity previously used by one of the surviving sons of the family her brother had abducted from Earth year’s earlier.

So when did Mystique originally arrive on Earth? Had she been a passenger on the shuttle that abducted Christopher and Kate Summers? At the time Claremont was originally writing these scenes the year these events would have occurred would be approximately 1953. Now why is this year significant in Claremont stories? Despite Claremont’s revelations since returning to the X-titles that Mystique is over one-hundred years old, you’ll recall him revealing during the fox-hunt sequence in Uncanny X-Men #170 that she would not be born for another 170 years from 1783 (i.e. 1953).

Figure 23: Scene which indicates Mystique was born in 1953 from Uncanny X-Men #170

Was this meant to suggest that her life as an Earther didn’t begin until 1953? If so, she would have been deposited on Earth at about the time Christopher and Kate were withdrawn from Earth by her brother.

Interesting is it not, that Mystique first appears in the same title Deathbird is introduced in, Ms. Marvel!

Well if the above has not been enough to whet your appetite, come back for serving 3 next week where I conclude this series and really “crack the internet in half”;)

Return to Part 1 here or Go to Part 3 here

…who Claremont originally intended Eric the Red to be a disguise of? Part 1 in a series of 3

Well, shock horror, I’ve returned to my ongoing obsession to address the abandoned plots of Chris Claremont, this time through a 3 part series that will look back in time some thirty-five years when the walls between his world-building on Uncanny X-Men and Ms. Marvel were extremely thin.

The mystery of who Claremont originally intended ERIC THE RED to be has existed for 35 years now, but I believe evidence to promote MY theory that he was Mystique in disguise was recently provided by Claremont in the flashback scene in Chaos War: X-Men #1 he wrote where Moira MacTaggert reveals that Destiny’s quest to protect humanity led her to cross paths with a man of mystery named ERIC RAVEN.

Figure 1: Mystique's original identity of Eric Raven from Chaos War: X-Men #1

It’s previously been a mystery why Davan Shakari more often spelled it ERIC when the original identity used by Cyclops was spelled ERIK.

Figure 2: Cyclops spells it as Eric the Red while Davan Shakari spells it as Eric the Red, from X-Men 51 and 97 respectively.

However, if Eric was Mystique’s original Christian name, did Claremont choose the latter spelling to provide readers with an extremely veiled clue? I think so!!!

During Chris’s X-Men: True Friends limited series, set in Edinburgh, Scotland in the year 1936, Mystique is portrayed working alongside Logan and Irene Adler as a MAN called “Mr. Raven” (obviously ERIC Raven).

Figure 3: Mr. Raven working alongside Irene Adler and Logan in 1936 from X-Men: True Friends #3

Since you’ll recall Claremont later revealed Rogue’s official name as Anna Raven in X-Treme X-Men, (s)he must have been using this surname to imply that “Raven” was Mystique’s official surname if (s)he was Anna’s adoptive parent.

Figure 4: Rogue adopts the surname of her adoptive parent, Mystique, from X-Treme X-Men #43

Now getting back to Mystique as being the true identity of Eric the Red…

Recall how the panel of Davan Shakari in shadow has a human male profile in Uncanny X-Men 107 and not the plumage shown when he is later unmasked.

Figure 5: Davan Shakari's human (not Shi'ar) profile from Uncanny X-Men #107

This makes me believe Claremont and Cockrum originally planned for Eric the Red to be a human agent of D’Ken, with Claremont perhaps changing his mind after he received the illustrated pages back from Dave, writing the dialogue to reflect this change.

Hence, I would posit that by suggesting Eric the RED was a Shi’ar was Claremont’s sly attempt at a RED HERRING to put us off the truth (as Mystique of all characters could have easily metamorphed into a Shi’ar).

Given the screen showing a possible Shi’ar watching Steven Lang watching Eric the Red in Uncanny X-Men 97…

Figure 6: Shi'ar character watching Steven Lang watching Eric the Red's battle with the X-Men from Uncanny X-Men #97

…and Claremont’s own reveal that Mike Rossi was planted to keep an eye on Lang…

Figure 7: Colonel Michael Rossi sent from Washington D.C. to interview Lang before giving the Council of the Chosen (the Hellfire Club) a final recommendation on his Sentinel project from Unanny X-Men #96

…was Eric the Red further intended as Rossi, who, while working for the government as a middle-man between Lang and the Council of the Chosen, was secretly a human agent of the Shi’ar?!

A further clue Claremont possibly provides to hint readers into this intention is the fact that ROSSI is a renowned surname in Italy which means “RED”.

Given Claremont’s later introduction of Mystique secretly working with the Council of the Chosen to rip SHIELD off by infiltrating a SHIELD Helicarrier as Nick Fury, compare this with the next time we see Rossi after his supposed death “infiltrating a SHIELD Helicarrier” in UXM 182 where he uncovered details of Hellfire Club agents operating inside the spy agency.

Figure 8: Colonel Mike Rossi infiltrates the SHIELD Helicarrier to discover Hellfire Club agents operating inside SHIELD from Uncanny X-Men #182

Did Claremont intend to reveal that Mike Rossi, and for that matter, Eric the Red, were really Mystique in disguise? I always thought it was rather interesting that Mike Rossi, a government agent, was so interested in protecting mutant rights. But if he was Mystique, then it makes perfect sense.

But if Rossi was really Mystique this wouldn’t be that much of a stretch when you consider she also masqueraded as government agent, Raven Darkholme!

Figure 9: Mystique's identity of Raven Darkholme, Assistant Secretary of DARPA in Washington D.C. from Ms. Marvel #18

Recall that Carol Danvers had first met Mike Rossi JUST AFTER she joined the Air Force.

Figure 10: Rogue's Carol Danvers personality confirming first meeting Mike Rossi just after she joined the Air Force from Uncanny X-Men #182

Now further recall that Mystique was made aware by Destiny that Danvers would be important to their mission, a so-called “lady of the clouds”. Did Mystique therefore adopt the identity of Mike Rossi to get close to Danvers to keep an eye on her, like she later would with Rogue? At this stage assume that Destiny hadn’t quite predicted that Danvers would cost Rogue her soul and possibly her life, due to the Shadow King’s manipulation of her visions in X-Treme X-Men Annual 1.

Figure 11: Shadow King’s manipulation of Irene Adler's visions from X-Treme X-Men Annual 2001

Now further recall the mission Logan and Mike Rossi were on to free Danvers from a Lubyanka prison where the KGB was holding her.

Figure 12: Rogue's Carol Danvers personality further recalls Logan and Colonel Rossi working together on a mission to free her from the Lubyanka prison the KGB were holding her in from Uncanny X-Men #182

For some odd reason this draws parallels to Logan’s earlier mission in True Friends where he was working with Mr. Raven & Irene Adler. Did Rossi/ Raven seek Logan out for this mission due to (s)he earlier knowledge?

If Rossi was Mystique this would better explain how he survived the plane crash outside Red Hook (I further wonder if Claremont intended a little Lovecraftian connection there;) How interesting that the reading of “his” mind by Emma Frost then leads to the Hellfire Club’s anti-mutant agenda being overthrown, the organisation going on to be lead my mutants.

Figure 13: Emma Frost's reading of Mike Rossi's mind leads to Ned Buckman's Council of the Chosen being overthrown by Sebastian Shaw from Classic X-Men #7

Even more interesting is how, after his recovery, Rossi goes underground as Raven Darkholme is introduced as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and is believed dead for some years.

When Rossi shows up again he is firstly seen investigating Henry Peter Gyrich’s involvement in Project: Wideawake, an equivalent of the project he’d firstly been investigating Steven Lang and the Hellfire Club for…

Figure 14: The first time Michael Rossi is seen since his supposed death, investigating the National Security Council's involvement in Project: Wideawake from New Mutants #2

…and is next seen infiltrating a SHIELD Helicarrier to uncover information on the Hellfire Club and Sebastian Shaw (see Figure 8 above). Given Shaw is later revealed to be funding Project: Wideawake…

Figure 15: Mark IV Sentinels built by Sebastian Shaw for the U.S. Government's Project: Wideawake from New Mutants #2

…this could explain Mystique’s earlier mission for the Hellfire Club on the SHIELD Helicarrier.

Figure 16: Mystique's infiltration of a SHIELD Helicarrier as Nick Fury from Ms. Marvel #17

Had Raven infiltrated the Hellfire Club when first introduced in an effort to uncover SHIELD’s involvement in the manufacture of Sentinels?

Then consider Claremont’s recent revelation that SHIELD has been infiltrated by the Consortium who are revealed to have been the ones behind the Sentinels throughout Marvel’s history.

Figure 17: The manufacturing of Sentinels is revealed as a pet project of the Consortium from X-Men Forever #9

Don’t you just love the idea of Mystique masquerading as these other major supporting characters, Eric the Red, Mike Rossi, etc.?

To be continued in Part 2

…Apocalypse’s “Twelve” plot?

The plot of “The Twelve” first emerged in X-Factor #13-14.  Firstly referred to by the Master Mold, the Twelve were thought to be the group of mutants who would lead mutantkind in a war against humans, Power Pack #36 revealing nine of those members as Professor X, Apocalypse, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Moonstar, Cannonball, and Psylocke, with Franklin Richards being named as “the twelfth”.

The next issue to pick up the plot, also penned by Louise Simonson, was issue 39 of X-Factor. While this issue reiterated Storm and Psylocke’s membership, it also added Havok, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Longshot, Archangel, Beast and Iceman to the list.  However, this now increased the list to seventeen.

Then in X-Factor #68, the line-up of the Twelve was reverted back to include Apocalypse, the five original X-Men, Professor X, Storm, Cannonball, and now Cable.

But here I am not interested in the membership of “The Twelve” so much as I am the purpose.

It was also during the Endgame storyline that inklings of “The Twelve” legend emerged as a plot orchestrated by Apocalypse in an effort to gather together the 12 most powerful mutants so he might siphon off their power to grant himself omnipotence.

So where to begin?

I would start by revealing that previous leader of the Hellfire Club, White King Edward Buckman, introduced in the backup story of Classic X-Men #7, uncovers the underlying plan of parties within the Club to increase strife around the world, preparing the world for Apocalypse’s eventual return (as revealed during The Further Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix Limited Series).

But I would suggest that this isn’t all Buckman uncovers.  Following “Endgame” I’d further reveal that he uncovers Apocalypse’s plan to absorb the powers of “The Twelve” most powerful mutants in order to challenge the Space-Gods and survive to be reborn as a Celestial.

It is this knowledge which propels Buckman to throw his financial and technological support behind Stephen Lang’s Sentinel programme, and possibly earlier with Master Mold in the hope of ensuring the human race’s survival.

While the X-Men originally introduced the concept of good and evil mutants, Magneto was later given a degree of moral ambivalence by Claremont, but this new angle would provide an opportunity to explore the anti-mutant rhetoric in a more positive light.

But I’m not finished yet.

Since we have been exposed to Magneto’s moral ambivalence, we could go one step further by shedding a more positive light on Apocalypse’s motivations as well.  This could provide an additional layer of tragedy to the multi-faceted mutant conflict.

To enable this perspective I would reveal that Apocalypse has been preparing the strong for battle against the Celestials on Alpha Day, the day upon which the Celestials will judge mankind, first mentioned in Eternals v.1 #7.

As for how he learned about Alpha Day, I would suggest that he gleaned the knowledge while inside the Ship left behind by the Third Host of Celestials, and would further reveal that his awakening, despite what other stories have shown, occurred upon the Fourth Host’s arrival on Earth.

Once awakened, Apocalypse begins devising his scheme to gather enough power to challenge the Space Gods and prevent them from destroying life on earth.

But I’m not done yet!

In relation to the Sentinels, like Isaac Asimov, I would posit that Bolivar Trask originally anticipated a potential menace in these robots, and so developed fundamental rules for these intelligent machines in order to protect humans. These rules, like Asimov’s, were:

a) that a Sentinel may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;

b) that a Sentinel must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; and

c) that a Sentinel must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First and Second Law.

Where I would explain the Sentinel programme as having come unstuck, however, is when, like Asimov, Trask added a further rule to combat a more sinister prospect: “A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.”

I would then equate Apocalypse’s vision of mutant evolution to Tielhard de Chardin’s apotheosis – the notion that we will all combine into a single macro-entity, almost literally godlike in its knowledge and perception.  Tippler speaks of such a destiny in his book The Physics of Immortality, and Isaac Asimov offered a similar prescription as mankind’s long-range goal, in Foundation’s Edge.

Taking this path I would pen the Sentinel program as a sort of unofficial sequel to Asimov’s famous novels, making more explicit what Isaac was painting all along – the image that conservative robots who fear human transcendence, might actively work to prevent a human singularity for thousands of years, fearing that it would bring us harm. This I would reveal is why they become mutant hunter-killers, as they see the destiny of homo-superior as eventually destroying humanity, just as homo-sapien killed the last remnants of the Neanderthal species.

Postscript

One could even add in here that Machine Man (X-51) was a corrected version of the Sentinel program, having had the Fourth Law erased from his programming.

Now just picture a Sentinel title:

Sentinels are developed to protect mankind from evil mutants, heroes hated by a world that fears machines.  Their enemies include a right wing group supporting eradicating the machines and look upon bots, “robosexuals”, and other human collaborators as the enemy.  But these folks aren’t traditional racists.  In fact, they’ve embraced all of humanity, including mutants – they’ll need as many organics as they can to defeat the metal ones.

Actually while I loathe the far right wing, and who wouldn’t, there might be a kernel of truth in their argument.  Hans Moravec makes the argument that we are branching and that we’re going to lose. Big Time! Unless we take the Kurzweil route and integrate peacefully into our machines, we’re dust. I could see where organics might not like either option.

Contrarily, another group emerges that wishes to afford these artificial intelligences human rights.  Can you see the potential?

…the Third Summers Brother plot?

With regard to the plot danglers that Chris Claremont left behind when forced off the X-titles in 1991, my own brainpower has managed to come up with the following consistent explanation for Mr. Sinister’s plan involving the Summers family:

We know that prior to Scott Summers “escaping” from the State Home for Foundlings in Omaha, Nebraska, John and Elaine Grey sought out the expertise of a “sinister” doctor to rouse their daughter Jean from the catatonic state she had retreated to after the trauma she experienced from being inside the mind of her friend, Annie Richardson, as she died.

As most X-Fans will know, this doctor was another guise worn by Mr. Sinister.

The “doctor” begins by conducting a physical examination of Jean, taking some blood and tissue samples for his banks. He then enters her mind, but she manifests the Phoenix, striking him with a telepathic bolt which forces him back to the physical world.

This does not, however, deter Sinister, and instead of fleeing in terror, he returns to his base where he hatches a plot to eliminate Jean’s parents and bring her to the orphanage he controlled.

Immediately after the “doctor” leaves their home, a colleague of John’s from Bard College calls referring them to an expert in Westchester County, Professor Charles Xavier to review Jean’s condition.

At this time X-fans will also recollect Mr. Sinister had begun recruiting agents who would come to form the Marauders, including Scalphunter and Sabretooth.

What if Mr. Sinister had recruited subjects from the Weapon X program to act as his assassins?

Sabretooth was perhaps his first recruit from the program, unless there is an untold tale linking Scalphunter to the program… which would actually be quite interesting, moreso if he was revealed to be the brother of Silver Fox.

Since Sabretooth proved to be such a great assassin, Mr. Sinister perhaps decided to bring his relative Wolverine on board.  This could be used to further explain the enmity that Sabretooth held if Logan initially proved to be a more efficient killer than he was. But I digress…

The assassination attempt to off Jean’s parents proceeds, being assigned to both Sabretooth and Wolverine.

The pair break into the Grey home, but Wolverine, upon observing young Jean in her catatonic state, decides to abort the mission and takes Sabretooth down before he can kill John and Elaine. The following morning the Greys, unaware of what has transpired the night before, leave for their appointment in Westchester County with Charles… and the rest as they say is history.

Mr. Sinister, furious when he finds out what has transpired, casts Wolverine out, but not before implanting false memories in his mind – as he did with Scott and later Madelyne – to ensure Logan can’t lead anyone back to him.  This could be used to further explain what was behind Logan finding something familiar about Mr. Sinister when he stated: “who is that dude?” in X-Factor #39. This could also provide a deeper layer to the relationship between Jean and Logan.

Mr. Sinister, never one to accept defeat so easily – and desperate to possess the genetic potential within Jean – returns to the Orphanage where he begins plotting an alternate plan for how he can acquire it, and figures Scott as the crucial element in ensuring this.

Despite previous assumptions, I would reveal here that Mr. Sinister’s primary interest did not initially lie with the Summers line but rather with the Greys, Jean in particular. To support this theory, recall Sinister’s comments during Inferno that he wasn’t interested in Alex Summers, but rather Lorna Dane in X-Factor #39 (something obviously about powerful mutant females able to store vast amounts of energy).

Mr. Sinister then orchestrates events to allow Scott to “escape” the Orphanage, setting him on the path to Xavier’s Mansion where he will unknowingly act as Sinister’s wolf in the fold. He implants within Scott’s brain a telepathic imperative that will compel him to win Jean’s heart and father upon her a child possessing the genetic potential of the Grey line – which Sinister would then lay claim to.

This would resolve what Destiny meant when she foresaw the remote possibility of Cyclops turning evil (cf. X-Factor #9), and how it was that Nanny came into possession of Joey and Gailyn Bailey. I would posit that the mutant cyborg in fact broke them out of Sinister’s Orphanage. The implication of this would be that they came to be in Mr. Sinister’s Orphanage, because he had their mother Sara Grey killed as was his standard method for dealing with parents of mutant children who came into his possession.

This would also finally explain why Mr. Sinister was so desperate in The End to mix the DNA of either Gambit or Scott with one of the Grey women. Claremont finally let slip here that it is Grey DNA that has ever been the focus of his interest – and not necessarily that of the Summers line.

But why does Sinister keep trying to mix Summers DNA with Grey DNA?

Because in my own little universe he is in fact the bastard son of Katherine Anne Summers, since the term SINISTER is the family mark of illegitimacy.

This revelation would be a more intellectually satisfying fix to the whole issue of Scott and Alex having another brother, but also perfectly resolves the motives behind Mr. Sinister’s scheming with regard to the Summers line.

As mentioned above, upon sampling the power of the Phoenix, Sinister becomes obsessed with acquiring control of it.

Given Claremont’s revelation that Mr. Sinister was the supervillain identity of Cyclops’ friend Nathan from the Orphanage as shown in Classic X-Men #41-2 – whose mutant power restricted him to age one year for every 10 of everybody else – I would posit that he took the long range view of needing to father a child upon Jean which he would then clone and transfer his consciousness into so he could possess a body capable of possessing the phoenix power.

However, realising that Jean would be past child-bearing age by the time he was physically mature enough to perform the deed himself – given he would not become an adult for another 50 years due to his anti-ageing power – he recognised the necessity of finding someone as close to his genetic signature as possible in order that his plan could still proceed.

The closest genetics would only be found in a brother; hence why he set about ensuring his half-brother Scott Summers was transferred to “his” Orphanage.

What a tremendous stroke of luck then that the Shi’ar stole Scott’s parents away thus saving him the need to have them killed.

Or did he have some deal going with the Shi’ar Empire?

But I digress…

Given Alex Summers contained the ability to house immense volumes of cosmic energy, as Havok, it would go without saying that Scott’s genes would carry the same potential as well.

By manipulating Scott to father Jean’s offspring, he would then steal the child away to his Orphanage, clone it, after which he would impose his consciousness upon the clone and thus possess the ability through which to wield the phoenix power.

He doesn’t anticipate Jean being killed on the Moon, however.

When this reality becomes apparent to him, instead of abandoning his plans, he instead accelerates the growth of her clone Madelyne, and sends her out to seduce Scott to hatch his designer baby.

Upon the birth of Scott and Madelyne’s son, the fates conspire to be in Sinister’s favour, providing him the opportunity needed to send his Marauders to assassinate the child’s mother, steal the child and cover his tracks all at the same time.

His success is only fleeting, however, since Inferno ignites and young Nathan Christopher is stolen from him by N’astirh’s demons before he obtains an opportunity to clone the child.

You’ll agree that the above tale resolves numerous major plotlines left dangling by Claremont, including Mr. Sinister’s true motives and the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth.

However, I’ve discovered another hinted at relationship it could finally resolve, that between Zaladane and Polaris.

Here I would reveal that, like he did with Rick and Trish Bogart who wished to adopt Scott, Mr. Sinister engineered the plane crash Lorna’s parents die in, ensuring she is adopted like his brother Alex Summers.

On a final note, though, did Mr. Sinister successfully clone Scott and Madelyne’s child, and upon Cyclops “killing” him in X-Factor #39, he transfers his conscious into the clone, accelerates its growth, and emerges from the clone tank as Gambit?

Nevertheless, you’d have to agree that this ties up the whole “Gambit as the Third Summers Brother” herring quite brilliantly.

All very interesting then how editorial rewrote things after Claremont’s departure so young Nathan Christopher would be cloned, becoming Stryfe, who would serve as the host for Apocalypse so he could effectively channel the Phoenix Force.

While it appears that Claremont is now taking the alternative path that Mr. Sinister was obsessed with cloning mutants in an effort to ensure the survival of Homo Superior by providing them with identical bodies to transfer their consciousness into when their original bodies began showing signs of early ageing as a result of overuse of their powers (the amoral saviour of mutantkind so to speak), I think my above resolution could have worked just as successfully, if not moreso, to resolve all the dangling plotlines left behind with regard to this character.

But getting back to Mr. Sinister… all that’s needed to finalise this fan-fix is to come up with an intellectually satisfying reason behind his ordering the massacre upon the Morlocks…

Postscript

Before I wrap this up, I believe there is another candidate for the identity of the Third Summers Brother that is RIGHT THERE… and yet “no one sees it, but how in the hell can they MISS it?”

Before being removed from the various X-titles due to a dispute with then editor-in-chief Bob Harras, you’ll recall that Fabian Nicieza introduced the character Adam X the X-Treme with the intention of eventually revealing him as the son of D’Ken and Katherine Anne Summers.

What if said dispute was over Nicieza’s introduction of the Adam X character, when Harras had given him explicit instructions for another character to be revealed as the Third Summers Brother?

It is interesting that when Exodus was first introduced, interviews with both Harras and Scott Lobdell stated the character was one we already knew.

And there was something particularly familiar about the character’s appearance…

…his eyebrows, facial markings and hairstyle indicating a resemblance to the Shi’ar, along with his regally adorned costume.

This all seems to lead to the conclusion that Exodus was originally intended as half-Shi’ar, and the intended son of Emperor D’Ken and Katherine Summers.

However, during his appearance in the X-Force issue of the Fatal Attractions crossover, Nicieza has Warpath imply that the character was a Native American so he can introduce his alternative plot for the identity of the Third Summers Brother.