A split episode dealing with two very different storylines.
Episode 4 of X-Men explored two polar opposite ends of the X-Men universe. The first returned us to the world of Mojo, our slightly psychopathic TV producer in space. In a strange turn of events, Jubilee and Roberto traveled into his newfound passion for video games. On the other end, we finally saw a little bit more of Storm and her journey to restoring her powers. Both contained important character growth for both Jubilee and Storm, leaving more to come for them, hopefully. Before we get into the full details of the episode, take some time to listen to our reactions podcast episode, either on your platform of choice or live in the blog post.
Jubilee and Her Powers Are Getting an Upgrade
The first half of Episode 4 shoved us back into the Mojoverse. For those who don’t remember Mojo from the original series, he’s a big alien who kidnaps people for entertainment purposes. And when I say entertainment purposes, I mean he genuinely broadcasts them across the universe for entertainment. In this episode, we only see Jubilee and Roberto transported into the Mojoverse through a gaming console, but considering it was Jubilee’s birthday, the end result seems quite fitting.
As Jubilee celebrates part of her 18th birthday inside the Mojoverse, she also meets a different version of herself, created to test the game. As this older version of Jubilee has spent quite a lot of time in the code of the game, she has honed her powers and grown stronger. In doing so, Jubilee was able to get a glimpse of some of the cool things she could do with her abilities other than just shooting pyrotechnics. In the comics, Jubilee could use her abilities to shoot fireworks, yes, but in various ways, with varying degrees of intensity. The fireworks could be arranged in different shapes and would follow Jubilee’s mind control to detonate where and when she wants them to. The strength of the explosion could range from being fairly minor to a fairly large bomb size. So far in the show, we’ve seen her continue to struggle to just control her powers, but after this episode, we will likely see Jubilee start experimenting more and trying to wrestle control over her abilities. Now that she’s 18 and has seen her potential, get ready to maybe see more and more of Jubilee when the X-Men go out on missions.
The Lifedeath Storyline
The Lifedeath story, which we saw in the second half of Episode 4, is an intense story that primarily revolves around Storm. As we will be seeing the second half of the story play out in Episode 6, let’s explore the Lifedeath storyline in more detail.
After Storm is shot with an energy burst that neutralizes mutant power, which played out in Episode 2, she is left powerless. Storm ends up at the home of Forge to recover, but unfortunately discovers he is actually behind the technology that stole her gifts (Episode 3). Yet, it all goes much deeper than this. In the comics, the two spend quite a bit of time together, becoming quite close. They share intimate details of their lives with one another and do eventually share an attraction as well. However, Storm finding out that Forge played a part in stealing her abilities destroys everything they had built during their time together. Storm flees Forge’s home in disgust but it doesn’t end there, as seen in the final moments of Episode 4.
The Adversary is introduced in the last few seconds, and this is where the Lifedeath storyline gets pretty intense. It all begins with Forge, who was raised a member of the Cheyenne tribe. He was trained to be a Cheyenne shaman and learned magic, which he neglected in favor of technology. However, the shaman is destined to fight the Adversary and keep the demon out of their universe, as he is bent on destroying it. In the comics, the Adversary’s demons attack through an open portal from his universe and Storm and Forge fall through, ending up the only humans in this parallel dimension. Then it starts to get really weird.
The Adversary is captured by Roma, a goddess who oversees the known dimensions. During this time, Forge restores Storm’s powers, but they both fall prisoner and are held in the same location as the Adversary, at the Starlight Citadel. Back in our dimension, the X-Men, along with Madelyne Pryor, are transported to the other dimension where they free Forge and Storm. The X-Men and Pryor then willingly sacrifice themselves to allow Forge to banish the Adversary and close the portal forever. In the end, Roma brings them all back to life, as she claims the Adversary cannot be banished forever due to the chaos he brings, but he remains confined by Forge’s spell for the next age of time.
Could We See Avengers Make Appearances?
Forge is not the only relationship that Storm has within the comics. Another relatively famous relationship she has is with Black Panther, yes, T’Challa himself. Now seeing Avengers in the X-Men animated show isn’t new, as both Carol Danvers and Captain America have made appearances in the OG series. Yet, as we see Storm embark on a possible relationship with one suitor from the comics, the possibility of another showing up should be explored further in the future. While Storm and T’Challa aren’t together for too long, they do end up married, which only ends in disaster for them. During their marriage, the X-Men and Avengers go to war against each other, with the two of them being caught in the crosshair and their marriage falling apart.
On top of all this, the head director of X-Men ’97 has also shared that fans should keep an eye out for Avenger cameos in the series. This being said, a cameo does not mean that a character is going to pop up and be part of the whole storyline of either that episode or season. On the other hand, a cameo could lead to them reappearing in Season 2 or 3 of the show, both of which have been confirmed to be made in the future.
Image: “X-Men ’97 Episode 4”, Brittany Frederick, CBR
Sisters Assembled 