Mutant Empire: Book 1 - Siege, Part IV

The battles rage on as the two teams of X-Men venture forth into the fray! Can the CO squad take out Magneto's elite cadre of Acolytes? Will Cyclops' gamble pay off in the end? Find out now!

 TW: Islamophobia, ableism, misogynoir 

Listen to the Spencer Ackerman episode (which I completely forgot is episode #1! What a great place to start!) of Sara Century's podcast, Best Issue Ever on most platforms or at the link below:

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-fh6n2-15f874d 

Transcript

Intro

Chapman 0:25

Hello, and welcome to another episode of SubteXt Men. I'm your host, Chapman Blake, and today we continue our coverage of X-Men - Mutant Empire: Book 1 - Siege. In our last episode, we saw the Colorado team go head to head with the US Army, specifically Colonel Tomko's brigade, who they trounced quite easily. A few galaxies away, we saw the Hala team handle themselves a little less successfully against the Imperial Guard, with Cyclops being captured. And Charles's attempts to persuade Lilandra to stop the execution of Corsair and Hepzibah was both unsuccessful and dare I say painfully awkward.

Chapter 11

Chapman 1:01

We begin Chapter 11 far from both of those battlefields, and step into the halls of the White House, where Val Cooper is about to give a press conference about the attack in Colorado. Her involvement with the government X -Factor team has made her the most likely candidate to front this news, and she keeps it fairly brief, saying, "At approximately 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, an unknown terrorist group attacked and seized control of a federal research facility in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The identity of this group is unknown, and it is not known whether there were any casualties. Federal troops were immediately dispatched to the site. They have surrounded the facility, but, due to the likelihood that the facility's staff may be hostages, they have as yet made no offensive move. We expect to receive demands from the terrorists within the hour. Questions?"

Chapman 1:46

And what questions she does receive, she keeps cool-headed and gives quick responses to, even brushing off an insinuation of the X-Men's involvement at one point. But things get much dicier when one reporter chimes in with quote, "Miss Cooper, Miss Cooper, Martha Powers, CNN, my producer has just informed me that an anonymous federal source claims that the terrorists are being led by Magneto.' Silence. For the length of the time it took the entire room to draw a surprised breath, the press was silenced by the awesome dread the mere name evoked, Magneto. Then all hell broke loose." From there, questions fly, people demand her attention, and Val Cooper knows quickly to extricate herself from the situation.

Chapman 2:24

So she heads out the back doors and thinks to herself how, quote, "Anti-mutant hysteria was bad enough as it is. Magneto attacking the US government would bring it to epidemic proportions. And that was with a public who didn't know what Val Cooper knew, didn't know that the facility contained a fleet of Sentinels." It is unclear who leaked the information to the public, but at this point, Kat's out of the bag, and Val Cooper quickly heads off to find Gyrich to figure out what to do next.

Chapman 2:50

We continue the CNN connection as we pivot over to the New York sound stage, where Charles has muscled his way onto a conversation between Senator Kelly and Graydon Creed. At this point, Creed is recognized as just an author, while Senator Kelly is only known for introducing the Mutant Registration Act, neither of them have done their presidential candidacies, which both end up in their deaths, strangely enough.

Chapman 3:12

And as the host Annelise introduces the three gentlemen, we immediately see Graydon seize the opportunity to project rhetoric into the conversation right off the bat, interrupting her and saying, "Thank you, Annalise. In a time of crisis such as this, when the world's attention is turned to the mutant problem here in the US, I feel it is my duty to stand up and issue a call to arms, to urge all Americans to make a stand, to protect their country from the vile plague that has befallen all of humanity." He slips very much into what one can recognize in the modern times as the debate bro mentality, where he is commandeering the conversation right off the bat and steering any opportunity he can back to his own talking points, and also uses those moments to virtue signal to specifically the groups that he is trying to win over in this debate. He understands that he is being a voice for the fringe, but you can tell that he is trying to do the modern, 'I'm speaking for the silent majority and saying the things that you just can't say anymore'. And you can see it most clearly in the vocab he uses, making sure to pathologize the groups that he doesn't view as "correct". You can liken it to the the woke mind virus equivalent today.

Chapman 4:19

Charles recognizes this, however, and uses his intro to springboard into his talking points as well, saying, "And if Mr. Creed's words are any indication, I'm here to fulfill my duty to the people of the world as well. Mr. Creed is peerless in the field of business,' Xavier said quickly, taking advantage of the opening he had succeeded in creating with his opening statement." And so he takes the time to take the point that has been made, and instead of trying to unmake it, he works to push the conversation forward with it. He springs boards off of Creed's words rather than trying to get down in the muck with him and fight against them, because he knows that's a losing battle, and he knows that just puts the focus where Graydon wants it.

Chapman 4:58

And he also comes across as the more level-headed one by taking the moment to butter Graydon up, before going in with, quote, "Yet that doesn't mean his political views or his intolerant, bigoted opinions have any purpose but to drive the public into a frenzy with misinformation and hate language." And so he sets himself into a position to come across as more even keeled in doing so, with this immediate takedown.

Chapman 5:22

At this point we see Kelly interrupt for the first time saying, "Now, Professor, don't you think you're carrying this a bit far? Your views on this subject are well known, but you cannot deny that if it is indeed Magneto leading the band of terrorist mutant rabble, and for that matter whoever it is, such a direct attack at the federal government could signal a wave of mutant-generated terrorist activity toward the government and the American public."

Chapman 5:44

Here we can see that Charles' choice to pivot away from the mutant menace and towards Creed on a personal level, while certainly moved the goalpost, moved it further into the avenue of fear, moved it into the place that Creed was going for, anyways, while doing nothing to assuage those fears that Kelly has shown, and has a somewhat valid reason to believe now that we have this revelation of Magneto. Because Kelly is still in this place of fear, Creed is able to use that in his next argument, saying, quote, "Your suspicions are leaning in the right direction, Senator, and your fears certainly well founded. Unfortunately, you are too naive to see the big picture. This is a government project so secret that even now, with it under attack and possibly already in the hands of mutant terrorists, the president still won't tell us what it is. Don't you see what that means?' Creed asked, playing to the camera now, ignoring the other guests. 'That means that the muties have people already inside the government, infiltrating and corrupting our country, stealing our secrets, not to sell them, no, sir. As we're seeing at this very moment, they are going to use our technology, our tried and true American know-how against us. This nation will be lucky if it isn't already too late to rise up and save ourselves from this insidious menace. And if Magneto is truly behind it all, if the most powerful, most evil enemy the world has ever faced has come back to wage mutant war on mankind? Well then, God help us all."

Chapman 7:14

This is a moment where we start to see the Ben Shapiro fall out of Graydon Creed and the Alex Jones start to unmask a bit, and I think it's smart that Xavier recognizes if you let the man talk long enough, especially with a US Senator sitting across from him, he might shoot himself in the foot. Now, is that a surefire thing he should bank on in this situation with a public audience? I don't necessarily think so, but he is very lucky that it worked. You've also got a bit of an irony sprinkled in there with a broken clock right twice a day situation, given that we know Mystique has had multiple infiltrations and positions in the US government. But Creed is smart enough to sandwich those more fringe opinions within the very real threat of Magneto, and is able to slip those into the conversation more casually because of it. Charles sees this as well, thinking, quote, "he only wished he was stunned by Creed's performance, but he'd become all too familiar with the man's manipulation tactics over the past couple of years. The whole thing was ugly, and getting uglier by the moment. If he was fortunate and skilled, he might be able to at least balance the scales. It was too late to tip them in his favor, in favor of sanity."

Chapman 8:22

And I was really struck with the similarities between these concepts and the modern clip farming nature of political debates. We see the the cut as a YouTube channel showing these various right-wing influencer takes down twenty liberal college students, or or critical race theorist debates fifteen white supremacists, where rather than any meaningful conversation is happening, it's all clip farming. It is all trying to get views, trying to get engagement. So with that frame in mind, Charles seizes the opportunity with the following speech, saying, quote, "Sadly, historians are all too familiar with your kind of speech ifying. We saw it in Berlin in the 30s, in the American South, just before the Civil War, and in Washington, every day from the mouths of lobbyists. Unfortunately, too often it succeeds. But I believe that people are basically good and decent. I believe that prejudice is a primal human reaction to fear. We hate what makes us afraid. Bigots are generally cowards, sir, but you are something else entirely. Fear creates prejudice, and that fear can be manipulated into great power. That is what we've seen from you here today. As far as your insinuations about the government being unsound are concerned, I should think that, as a member of the US Congress, Senator Kelly would take offense. You may be able to tell the American people that they're too foolish not to see this enormous mutant conspiracy you claim exists, and not have them rebel against you because they just aren't that sure of themselves anymore. But I don't see how the Senator can sit here and let you imply that the US government is compiled of morons and imbeciles who wouldn't see such a threat if it actually existed."

Chapman 10:01

In the midst of that speech, we see that Xavier, quote, "was on less solid footing, but was hoping that this final gamble would pay off" in relation to calling out Kelly and making him come to the defense of the government, as well as pairing that with the rightful but inflammatory language at the beginning. But I think that that's all a fantastic strategy when you know that no one has footage of the Colorado attack yet. There are no cameras inside, Magneto presumably wiped it, which is why it's all hearsay that is Magneto. And when placing that into the dawn of the 24-hour news cycle, Charles recognizes that they're going to need to place something on the TVs to talk about this case, so why not make it the argument that Kelly gets into with Graydon ? Why not make it his big speech where he's calling out a political pundit?

Chapman 10:47

Post-2016, post-COVID, in the past year of politics in America in general, it's not rare anymore to hear those comparisons, rightful or wrongful depending on the situation, but to place this in '96 would have made all of those comments much more impactful. When you have Graydon Creed in this era in particular, his position as a political commentator, his position as a far-right leader of his group, he ends up sitting in this place somewhere between Rush Limbaugh and David Duke, especially with that presidential campaign occurring.

Chapman 11:21

But on the flip side, you have the beginning of the Senator Kelly rehabilitation phase in the sequence. We see it in sprinkles here and there throughout the Claremont run, but Golden actually confronts it here with Charles, saying, quote, "No, Kelly wasn't an evil man, just scared. And Xavier had used that fear, as well as the Senator's pride, to create what was quickly becoming a battle royale between him and Creed. Charles was not used to that kind of politics. He generally tried to be as diplomatic as he could, as genuine as he could, and still get his point across. Difficult times called for difficult measures." This is very clearly a moment of Charles's internal rationalizations coming to the front, the hurdles that he jumps in his mind to justify the ethics he does. This is not only something that he does with the team. I think at this point the biggest example would be the roping in Kitty Pride to convince Colossus to have brain surgery rather than become an Acolyte. But I think this is also hypocritical in terms of his status as a mutant rights champion who is also a closeted mutant. If this were the case, I think he would have revealed his mutant status rather than letting Cassandra Nova be the one to out them together. So the idea that Charles would think himself above any of this was very comical to me.

Chapman 12:32

We then see how the conversation devolves in the following quote: "Kelly had to defend the government, even though Creed hadn't really indicted the government directly, and after Xavier's words, he was forced to make a public stand against racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, antisemitism, and intolerance in general, and define his stance against mutants solely in relation to the danger of their abilities. He'd likened it to passing laws curtailing public smoking for the good of smokers and nonsmokers alike. In saying these things, Senator Kelly was effectively attacking Creed, who was forced to respond ardently. Argument ensued. The end result was that Creed's opinions had been soundly trounced by a well-respected government official who didn't completely disagree with him. Though Creed's message had gotten out, and many people would still have taken it to heart, due mainly to their already instilled terror of the mutants, the general population would not collapse in a frenzy. At least not yet." This entire sequence is something that, I'm sure, like I said earlier, was very novel when it was written. At this point in 2026, this feels like the standard news cycle. In a lot of ways, this is what I would very much expect to see on CNN any time that I turned it on.

Chapman 13:39

And once again we see that, quote, "Charles felt dirty after engaging in such manipulation. That was the other side's way. But as the makeup man turned and walked out in the darkened studio, Xavier realized that he also felt proud. His dream of harmony between mutants and humans had lost ground today. There was no question of that. But not nearly as much as it might have, had he not confronted Creed and Kelly. In a sense, he'd beaten Graydon Creed at his own game." While I think he's fully correct there, another aspect that comes in is, given that he was off planet when it occurred, I would love to see a scene in which Charles reacts to the Original Five's plan for X -Factor to pose as mutant hunters, because that feels very much like the antithesis of what is happening in this scenario.

Chapman 14:23

And with all of the buzz in the news about this attack, we then pivot back to Colorado, where inside the Project Wide Awake base, we see Magneto complete his installation of biometrics into the lead sentinel. He thinks, quote, how deliciously ironic that the ultimate anti-mutant weapon would now be used to implement an agenda that would have given the Sentinel's creator, Bolivar Trask, a heart attack. We are in the midst of a flashback here, however, so Amelia Voght enters the sequence and lets Magneto know that the X-Men have just defeated Colonel Tomko's army and are approaching the outside force field. He winces at the moment that Bishop interrupts the force field and allows the X-Men to enter into the compound.

Chapman 15:03

"Drive them off or captures them. I will not sanction their termination just yet. It is still possible they may be of use to me in the future.' Voght raised her eyebrow, but did not argue Magneto's decision. Beauty and wisdom were so rarely given to the same individual, he thought fleetingly. Amelia Voght was a formidable woman." Once again we are seeing a Magneto who is attempting to have an equitable relationship, but still is a product of his time, either the [1930s], if you take it in world, or the [1960s], if you take it out of world in production. Think his early treatment of Wanda, or even the execution of Zaladane in the [1990s], he still has elements of that misogyny baked into him, just by virtue of living under the patriarchy.

Chapman 15:46

Amelia sets off to face the X-Men, and we see that, quote, "with the work that Shaw had already done, it was only a matter of using the appropriate commands to force the Alpha Sentinel to rewrite its programming. The others would follow its lead, the same way that drones followed queens in the insect world." I tried to do a little research to see if this Alpha Sentinel idea is replicated anywhere else. Obviously it's similar to the concept of Master Mold, but not quite, as this is a leader rather than a producer of more sentinels. The closest thing I could find was way back in the [1960s], when you learn of the antics of Sentinel 1 and 2 and 3 in those first initial appearances; there is a leader in that sequence, but other than that, this concept of a head sentinel is only showcased in characters like Bastion or Omega Sentinel, where they have been designated as a strike force leader or a person in charge of the program rather than an actual mechanical basis.

Chapman 16:42

Once Magneto enters in the Master Code, 'Empire', we see the sequence that plays out in Leonardi's art for Chapter 11. A large grouping of sentinels, all combined with crackle energy and old cables, begin to surge to life. As Erik watches in fascination, he thinks to himself that, quote, "he knew he was arrogant, and that self-awareness was what prevented him from becoming psychotic. His arrogance was not a matter of dreams of self-importance or grandiosity, but a certainty that he was one of the most powerful beings on the planet." Thirty years on from this book being published, we see this thesis unravel firsthand. We see folks who have managed to achieve this level of power, and those dreams of self-importance and grandiosity never go away.

Chapter 12

Chapman 17:27

Moving into Chapter 12, we jump into Jean's perspective as the Hala team awaits Kam -Lor's discussion with the Kree Rebels. She overhears the arguments about why they should and shouldn't help the X-Men in their rescue attempt, and she thinks to herself how, quote, "yes, she understood the arguments against the rebels helping her and the other X-Men to rescue Scott and the others. But when it came right down to it, she didn't care. She was selfish, and she knew it. If it were anyone else, maybe she would have felt different. But it wasn't anyone else. It was Scott Summers, the only man she had ever loved. And if it meant risking the entire rebellion, if it meant risking war between the Shi'ar Empire and Earth, well none of it mattered. Scott mattered. That was all."

Chapman 18:08

I don't normally stand on the side of the Jean detractors, but this is not her best look. At this point in the [1990s], I think it's not even an unfair assessment of the relationship, but I do think it's a dynamic that shifts once she has that second death and resurrection and comes back with much more of a wider focus. And when you factor in the fact that this is a Jean who has struggled the past few years of X -Factor, trying to maintain this relationship with Scott and win him back essentially from Madeline Pryor, then the possessiveness that we see displayed here fits in line with that desperation of wanting to hold on to what she has. Jean begins to reflect on her self-conscious upbringing as a teenager that was exaggerated by her sci powers, her relationship to Charles as a mentor, and even looking back on her first days at the school with some arguably rose-tinted glasses. We see some of that in the quote: "Jean wasn't conceited enough to consider herself beautiful, though it had been said frequently of her. It didn't matter at Xavier's school, though. She was the only girl in class, and so of course, she was the most beautiful girl in school. Hank, Bobby, and especially Warren, fell all over themselves to make her feel welcome."

Chapman 19:18

Outside of even the Phoenix Force itself, there are times where Jean at her worst can feel unapproachable or even a bit stuck up, and I don't think there's much talk in the fandom of the ways that this upbringing in particular can really skew that sense of self and her ability to connect with others, especially connect with other women. Once she arrives at the school, she's at a place where she is put on this pedestal by everyone in her vicinity, especially if you include the earlier portrayals of Xavier's inappropriate crush on her. And I think the psychological effects that that can have on a young woman, especially to be forced into this sort of object of desire, manic pixie dream girl-esque position, then undermines a lot of her abilities to relate to those around her. I think in some ways, the chaste and somewhat celibate Scott that we learn of in that X-Factor moment with Rusty Collins, where Rusty comes to him and for advice, adds in an entire extra level of, to some degree, comfort that that can offer in a place where she is being hypersexualized by a lot of her other companions, but I think also then amplifies the confusion for a young woman where the person that she feels the most comfortable to explore those things with is also purposely shutting those things down for the team and for Xavier and for expectations. Which, of course, is then the breeding ground that the Phoenix Force can come in for that underlying passion to expose and to bring that out in Jean.

Chapman 20:42

And like I said earlier, that just feeds into that superiority complex, to have been chosen by this force to connect to it. But we see in Jean's thinking that that doesn't negate the romantic elements of their relationship as well. Quote, "Not Scott Summers, though. Sure, he was nice enough, but Jean had never met a boy as handsome and as shy as Scott. That first semester was the happiest, most innocent time she could remember. Though Warren had pursued her, all Jean could think about was Scott. She had dreams about him, about kissing him. As often as she could, she would ask him to study with her, just so she could breathe the same air as Scott. It was silly. It was romantic. It was love." Which is just an absolute gem for all of the Scott and Jean shippers. But we return to that concept of that chase Scott with the following quote: "It had seemed like forever to her, as she waited for Scott to show some sign that he cared for her in return. But even at that age, though she'd been terrified he did not care for her as she did for him, Jean had sensed that he loved her in return. She would never have used her side powers to steal the truth from his mind. But there was something between them already, a precursor to the mental rapport that they now shared, that told her she need only be patient, that Scott would come around."

Chapman 21:50

This is a beautiful light to recontextualize that idea that, like I said, is revealed in that issue, uh, X -Factor 18 specifically, and if you all are not familiar with it, the show 'Best Issue Ever' covers that issue in particular, and actually goes into a lot more of the intricacies of this dynamic. It's a show run by Sarah Century. That episode in particular is Spencer Ackerman's issue. It's fantastic. I'll go ahead and link to that one in the show notes as well.

Chapman 22:15

She continues on in her thoughts with quote, "Years had passed. They had weathered crisis after crisis together, and apart. In that time, their love had only grown. They had become more than partners, more than lovers. Scott Summers and Jean Grey were two people with one soul. She could not survive without Scott, any more than she could survive without a soul." In addition to that influence that Apocalypse has on Scott, in addition to this concept of a Jean superiority complex with that Phoenix addition and with the weakness potentially that she senses in him. I think the other aspect that really drives them apart for new X-Men is this concept that when Jean returns post-Phoenix, when she goes through all of the events of X-Factor and Inferno in particular, she then fully crafts her new identity in the 90s around her and Scott's relationship. It's something that we see in the writing, but it's by extension something that we then see in the character, where Jean, in her return, is so focused on maintaining that relationship that she doesn't explore her friendships to the same extent that she did in the earlier Claremont run, especially with Ororo in that case. She doesn't necessarily explore the extent of her power as a leader, particularly a field leader. And we get this even in the physical steps she takes to remove herself from the team. The trip to Alaska, the honeymoon in the future, her continued reluctance to return to the team despite the fact that it is her and Scott's family.

Chapman 23:37

As the arguments continue in the other room, and Jean continues in her thoughts, Warren approaches her to check in on his teammate and longtime friend. The description we get of Warren in this instance is one that borders the line between fascination from a monstrous perspective and a sexualized perspective. Quote, "she gazed on his pretty boy handsome features, so strangely altered since he had become Archangel. He had always been every girl's dream, young, fabulously wealthy, sweet, funny, and drop dead gorgeous. Warren had the kind of body that women not only admired, but envied. At six feet tall and as muscular as he was, he should have weighed at least two hundred pounds. Yet even with the organic metal wings that lay flat and heavy in their contracted state on his back, Archangel barely tipped the scales to one hundred and fifty. At puberty, his body had begun to mutate, but the wings he had grown were only a part of it. His entire structure was adapted for flight. His bones were hollow, and he had less body fat than Sylvester Stallone on his best day. His skin was blue now, the sky blue of his eyes, but there was no hiding it. Sure enough, Warren was without a doubt what Jean would call a babe. But despite what Warren may have once felt for her, and despite the fact that she was and always had been attracted to him, there was only one man for Jean Grey."

Chapman 24:53

The emphasis on Jean's attraction to the physical aspects as well as the romanticized aspects of Warren's personality rather than their actual relationship, paired also with the comments about his body being both admirable towards women but also envious, I think re-emphasizes that point from earlier that I made, that Warren is designed as the preener of the group, the one who is focused on that physical front. Living in that place of androgyny, living in that place of desirability across the spectrum is a great way to re-emphasize the fact that Charles picked him as someone who is enviable from multiple angles.

Chapman 25:30

Warren's participation in that initial love triangle with Jean and Scott never read to me as genuine. It always felt like there were elements of Warren's sense of entitlement that he gets from his background, from his upbringing, that led him to believe that as the one girl arriving in school, as like we said earlier, the quote, 'the prettiest girl in school', that Warren felt like Jean deserved to be with him. That it was the natural conclusion of them being the most attractive, and that of course he should win the girl in place of the nerdier, more studious leader of the group. It isn't until Warren starts dating Candy that I think he really gets the understanding of that mutual respect between partners in a relationship, and it's something that we see him revert back and forth between a lot. It's something that he has an issue with with Dazzler in her series, it's something that he has an issue with with Husk in their relationship, where there are women that Warren connects with on a personal level, and there are women that Warren feels that he should connect with, or that he deserves to connect with. And it's something that it will take Warren a long time to grow out of if he even has at this point.

Chapman 26:36

Jean and Warren begin to prepare for the worst case scenario, in that Kam- Lor will not be able to give them any assistance. But Warren mentions that, quote, "as long as he gives us the blueprints for the capitol building, why can't we just go in there ourselves?' Jean smiled. Typical Warren", which is our second example of Warren having absolutely zero tactical brain when he can offload that to another one of the Original Five. And Jean explains that she would appreciate some sort of diversion so that they're not storming the main capital building of Hala without any sort of backup. He also says that, quote, " I can't imagine the Imperial Guard taking Cyclops unless he let them. But I'm afraid I still don't understand the point of it.' And Jean begins to cover him by saying, 'and if you don't, it's a safe bet Gambit and Rogue won't either. Warren raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, the expression on his face one that was familiar to Jean from their years of friendship. You said it, not me." Maybe it's the autism in me, but I was a little unclear on first read whether or not Warren was actually dogging on Gambit and Rogue, or if Jean was using that as a way to make Warren feel better about asking the question, though I think it's probably a little bit of both.

Chapman 27:41

Jean reveals that she's kept the plan under wraps so that Oracle at this point couldn't have any chance of picking it up in anyone's thought processes. But apparently Scott and Jean's plan is that, using their psychic rapport, the Hala team will be able to track him down to the rest of the prisoners and free all of them at once. Warren chastises himself for 'being an idiot', but Jean assures him that, quote, "I'm sure you were just looking for a more complex plan. Otherwise you would have figured it out. Unfortunately, the rest of the plan is simple. Once we've found them, we free them and retreat." Jean gives Warren one more moment of reassurance about his physical changes and the separation that he's felt between the original five because of them, and soon Kam-Lor informs them that, although the majority of the Kree Resistance will not be working with them, a small group that is dedicated to both Candide and Corsair, along with Kam-Lor, will be accompanying them to take on this mission.

Chapman 28:31

Kam-Lor and roughly 18 Kree Resistance members lead Jean, Warren, Rogue, Gambit, and Raza to the sewers underneath Kree-Lar and underneath the new Viceroy's palace. After hours of trudging through the darkness, they finally arrive underneath the throne room, and Jean orders Rogue to lift Gambit into place and supercharge the floor, creating an opening to surprise the nobles. The art that Ron Lim has drawn for Chapter 12 depicts Gambit in the front holding a torch as Rogue wades through the water behind him, and the pair get into place to execute this maneuver.

Chapman 29:05

As Remy charges up the stones, Jean, quote, "had a moment to marvel at the trust Remy had placed in her. Rogue would not be badly hurt, even if the entire building collapsed on her. But other than his power and his fighting prowess, Remy Lebeau was just a man. The fragments of the Great Hall's floor would crush him to death if Jean let that happen. Though he had always been tough to read, the trust Gambit placed in her spoke volumes for Jean about his place in the X-Men. He was one of them now, no question." Once again emphasizing how early on into the 90s run we are, that Remy, who has been brought in by Storm, is still earning this level of trust with someone who never really distrusted him that much in the first place. I could be wrong, but I don't recall Jean having too much of an opposition to Remy's joining. It's mostly Bishop, Logan, Scott to some degree.

Chapman 29:53

But as the large stones, creating the floor of the Great Hall above them, explode from Remy's supercharge and are caught and turned into a ramp by Jean's telekinetic prowess, we see, quote, "Archangel flashed through the upper reaches of the hall, wing knives flashing out and taking down soldier and citizen alike. Jean felt a stab of sadness for Warren, knowing that he was not intentionally paralyzing the innocent citizens in the room. Archangel simply did not have enough control over his wings." More Warren wing cope aside, the level of collateral damage that the Hala team is okay with is absolutely wild to me. I get that a lot of the people in this great hall are going to be Deathbird sympathizers or Shi'ar royals that have come over to be part of her royal court to uphold the administration duties and things like that. But still, blowing out the entire floor of the ballroom, you don't know if there's like noblemens' kids there or something. That's a little bit a little bit extreme. Given that they emerge deep within the palace interior, the force of Kam-Lor's rebels are quickly able to engage the entirety of the forces in a firefight, and the X-Men are free to follow Jean into the catacombs and discover where the prisoners are being held.

Chapter 13

Chapman 31:03

Chapter 13 returns us to the woods of Colorado as the X-Men begin to face off against the Acolytes. Bobby, ever the poet, starts us out with an "Oh shit". And honestly, the X-Men should swear more.

Chapman 31:15

We also get a continuation of Logan as the center point for more dated perspectives, where he talks about how, quote, "the Acolytes were more dangerous, more vicious, more disturbing than most of the enemies the X-Men had faced over the years. For one reason. To them, it was jihad. Holy War. To die for Magneto would be the greatest honor they could imagine. Wolverine knew what it was like to lose all sense of self-preservation. He knew how dangerous he became when the fervor of a berserker rage came over him. It was similar in its ways to their devotion to Magneto. It was blind rage." This book is being written at a time before the bulk of the war on terror has begun. We are in the Middle East at this point, but we're not quite as involved. And especially there's not as much focus on the actual religious convictions. That said, not a great look for Logan. And he continues that look as he rushes off to confront Javitz, saying, quote, "Time for the old knucklehead to give you a right eye to match the left. When I'm done with you, you'll have to read your comic books in Braille." So the double whammy of subtle Islamophobia and not so subtle ableism, like I said, not Logan's best look.

Chapman 32:22

Questionable barbs aside, Wolverine leaps onto Javitz and slashes through him, taking him completely out of the fight and forcing Amelia Voght to teleport him away back into the Project Wide Awake base. She buys herself this opportunity by teleporting Hank high up into the air, and Logan is forced to dive off and catch him. At this point, Bishop has squared up against Unuscione, Iceman is facing off against Frenzy, and Storm is taking on both of the Klein stocks. Dropping the injured Javitz off at Magneto's feet, Amelia informs him of the battle raging outdoors. He begins to use iron manipulation in the blood to try to patch up and coagulate some of Javitz's injuries, saying to himself, "Wolverine, I have always hoped the X-Men would see the light, would see the flaws in Xavier's dream, but that man has tried my patience once too often. There will come a time I can see that his potential usefulness does not balance the pain and damage I have suffered because of him. I wonder if he knows the harm I could do him. I wonder if he cares." And this to me is pretty much complete confirmation that this is happening well before Fatal Attractions.

Chapman 33:28

Back out on the battlefield, the merged Kleinstock brothers have tricked Storm into exiting the clearing and following them into a small wooded area. Amongst the foliage, she realizes just before they strike that the pair has used this opportunity to split in half and appear to be attacking from two different directions. This is arguably the only time that the Kleinstocks will ever be scary, and in the moment it's done pretty well, but Storm is obviously Storm, and she manages to trounce the two of them quite easily once she realizes their ruse.

Chapman 33:57

Meanwhile, Bishop continues to square off against Carmella, and quote, "were it not that his mutant abilities absorbed some of the energies of the blow and the exoskeleton itself, it might have killed him where he lay. He struggled to his knees, and let loose a blast of energy, siphoning from her powers. It dispersed harmlessly against the exoskeleton, might even have been absorbed back into it." As we can see, she has already knocked Bishop's weaponry out of his hands, and this has come down to a hand-to-hand combat. We see more interactions with Bishop's powers here than we do for a good many years into his introduction, just based on the nature of him interacting with other mutants and seeing how those circuits actually pan out, and in this moment he calls out to her saying, "You know who I am. You know I come from the future. The sentinels will not only subjugate us, they'll attempt a genocide. Unuscione, the sentinels must be destroyed if my future is not to come. If they're set upon the world, you and the rest of the Acolytes will be destroyed." I have no idea why Lucas would think that Carmella would be informed about his presence from the future and the possible future that he is attempting to prevent. I'm not sure why he thinks it's common knowledge or that the mutant community at large is well aware of this fact, but it's very funny to me that he goes into situations assuming, 'ah yes, everyone knows the mission I'm on'.

Chapman 35:13

As they continue to square off, Bobby continues his fight against Frenzy across the battlefield. Unlike the more radical Bobby we get from last episode, there are some elements of Bobby here that are a little unfortunate as well. We get the quote in particular: "Frenzy was an Amazon. Or at least, that's the way Bobby thought of her. Cargill had a constant scowl on her face. Otherwise, Bobby thought, her African features would have been strikingly attractive." In this case, rather than Islamophobia and ableism, we're getting misogyny and racism, especially from a fetishizing lens. I find it apt that these are the two elements that he's struggling with, particularly as a cis-white queer man. The prevalence of those two particular '-isms' in that space is an ongoing conversation. It's one that I am obviously not the direct target of, but it's one that I've seen happen in those spaces. And as the X-Men expand the queer elements of the lens as Marvel is allowing more and more characters with different perspectives, it's something I would love to see challenged more. It's something I would love to see addressed, and I think Bobby would be a good character to, while not necessarily in this way, falling into those pitfalls as intensely, although I think he could, clearly, I think it's an element of intersectionality that is ripe for storytelling and right for lesson teaching, especially from queer, femme authors of color, the people who are targeted by those particular '-isms'.

Chapman 36:34

As their scuffle continues, he thinks to himself how, quote, "her black hair had white streaks on the sides, but he thought they were dyed rather than natural. 'Great,' he mumbled. 'Here I am playing hairdresser while she's trying to kill me. You need a date, Drake.' Bobby often talked to himself during a battle, particularly when none of his teammates were close enough to hear him, or to help." And I do think that element of nervous talking is one of Bobby's best qualities. It's one of his most relatable ones, certainly. I also appreciate the focus on the fashion elements of her in this moment rather than another angle of fetishization. Any discussion of Frenzy's physical qualities, because they come from a very racially charged time period in American culture, are going to be inherently sensitive, and Bobby doesn't stumble into very many of those pitfalls. He's simply making observations and appreciations of the style.

Chapman 37:22

As they continue on, we learn that, quote, "Bobby Drake had never liked to fight. His parents had instilled that in him at a young age. He was going to grow up, get married, have 2.5 kids, own a house, be an accountant. American dream. The word mutant had never entered the equation. In truth, he didn't think he'd ever heard the word before his first day at Xavier's school. He'd never really been in a fight in his life. Until the X-Men first went up against Magneto. He held his own in battle, did fine as the Iceman, learned to use his powers, but he never ever wanted to fight. For a long time he secretly worried that he might be a coward, but as he'd matured, he realized he was just smart, that nobody in their right mind wanted to fight. So he held his own." Bobby as a full-on pacifist is not something that I necessarily recognize within him, but is something I can certainly see as an interesting storytelling device, especially as his power set grows, as he's grappling with his omega power. It is an angle that tempers him both as a character in the universe, but also as a human. Experiencing that level of change, that level of uncertainty, it makes sense that he's falling back on the safety that he wants to instill in himself and in others.

Chapman 38:29

However, Bobby soon realizes that Unuscione has gotten the upper hand on Bishop and is about to choke him to death. Bobby takes a moment to steal himself, and thinks, quote, "many times he had surprised even himself, if his friends were in trouble, or if he was really pissed off, and Johanna Cargill had really pissed him off. When he was fed up enough to strike out in true anger, Bobby had a sub zero heart. His eyes crackled with breaking ice as he moved, and his breath turned to mist as it hit the air. The power built in his head and chest. It thrummed down his arms and into his fingers. It felt huge within him, bursting from his body in a torrent. Wave after wave of cold emanated from him. Unlike Wolverine's berserker rage, Bobby was not blinded by his fury. Rather, it focused him in a way that was unfortunately rare." And using this cold blast, Bobby not only freezes frenzy into a block of ice, but he also turns it towards Carmela and freezes the entire layer between Carmela and her exoskeleton, nearly killing her.

Chapman 39:27

Now freed from her grip, Bishop lashes out, catches one of Senyaka's psionic whips, and charges himself up with the energy. He then uses that energy to blast apart the ice and saves Carmela's life. Storm arrives to help Bishop and Bobby take care of Unuscione and Frenzy, and on the other side of the clearing, Hank and Logan make short work of the now routed Kleinstock brothers. In the aftermath of the battle, Bobby thinks to himself that, quote, "he was never entirely sure what happened when he became Iceman. Was he flesh still, under the ice, or did his entire body transform? Sometimes he was certain the latter was true." Which I do appreciate Golden exploring those concepts that we see a little bit in the Emma Body Swap, but then are fully brought to the surface in the X-Men Forever miniseries and the Austin run, of course, with the infamous 'Havok pees a body'.

Chapman 40:14

But once the Colorado squad has regrouped and licked a few of their wounds, they prepare to cross over to the actual building and figure out what Magneto has in store for them. At that same time, on the other side of the doors, Magneto finishes reprogramming the Alpha Sentinel and prepares himself alongside Amelia and Milan to exit with their newfound robotic army.

Chapter 14

Chapman 40:34

Our final Chapter for today's episode, Chapter **14** (I'm little Larry Liar, again), takes us back to Hala, where we join the Imperial Guard at the end of the punitive search of the city grounds in sectors that Deathbird knew the rebels could not have been. As Gladiator looks upon the destruction that Deathbird has rained upon Hala as their viceroy, and even ponders the idea of pushing back against this, quote, "a small voice inside him suggested he might be maturing, or growing a conscious, but that was the kind of psycho battle he'd always despised." I get that they are using this not only to potentially foreshadow things in the upcoming chapters, but also as an examination of these characters in these places like we talked about, that are subjected to their role, that are subjected to the institution, and are subservient to that because of it. But I just don't really have the patience level to deal with this character in 2026, where we see that happening in our actual lives, with people who do have the power to stop things like this and simply don't. Whether that be from convenience, whether that be out of reverence for the procedure of the institution, I don't know. I'm sure it's different in each and every case. But I just don't have the patience to like this man.

Chapman 41:42

Oracle attempts to connect with him as his second in command, and we see that obviously Benny and Cecil are connecting as a symbiotic entity, but we also see that, quote, "Titan and Starbolt whispered conspiratorially together, lagging behind the others. Gladiator sometimes envied them their friendship." Ladies, gentlemen, and those betwixt and between. Those two are gay. I know I've said it about a lot of characters in this book, but those two, those two men are gay. Those two Imperial Guard members are gay. You can't convince me otherwise. Lagging behind conspiratorially, that's just two queer kids in PE class talking shit about the rest of the class. And they're right to do it.

Chapman 42:18

However, soon this walkabout is interrupted by the mass amounts of nobles and citizens streaming out of the viceroy's section of the city, screaming about some sort of invasion and some sort of resistance response. And Gladiator turns to the rest of the Imperial Guard, realizing that Deathbird can be in trouble, and they take their sweet time to get there, which I did appreciate.

Chapman 42:39

We jump into the palace from Rogue's perspective, and as the X-Men stream down into the catacombs to find the prison, she manages to look outside for a brief moment. We see that, quote, "then she realized that, after seeing Hala, Earth seemed to be in pretty good shape. Rogue didn't know whether to be cheered or depressed by that thought." I don't expect this Mississippi girl to know a ton about geopolitics, but the scenes described in Hala are found in plenty of places on Earth, in plenty of war zones, so she's a little sheltered, we'll give her that. But as Jean gets closer and closer to the telepathic link to Scott, the X-Men and Raza are soon locked down in a hallway by a large stationary laser weapon system, being manned by Shi'ar guards.

Chapman 43:20

Realizing that she can tank the blast herself using her invulnerability, gained all the way back from Miss Marvel, Rogue launches herself towards the position, taking the majority of the fire herself, just as Warren flies above her and takes out the rest of the gunners with his wings. We see that, quote, "Rogue knew what he was going to say, that he didn't like to use his wing knives because he could not truly control them. Her ability to steal skills, memories, powers bothered her in much the same way. She understood." Another instance here of that wing cope, but also a beautiful moment for Rogue and Warren to connect, a connection that is very overlooked, especially for two folks who are, like Scott, dealing with a lot of disability manifest through their power set, or through their circumstance.

Chapman 44:01

As Anna Marie recovers from the massive blast, quote, "they all stood there looking at her. Even Jean, whose lover was still captive, only yards away. Even Raza, who had no reason to care for her. Their concern was just another reminder of what she was fighting for. This was her family, for better or worse. They were the only family she had ever really had, or was ever really likely to have. 'What are y'all gawking at? Let's get the hell out of here." I don't love the Mystique and Destiny erasure with that, but I do love Rogue as the ultimate ride or die. I think her ability to ingratiate herself with the group and take on that, like I said, ride or die quality is something that really makes her stand out as a fan favorite.

Chapman 44:40

But as the team of X-Men approach the prison cell, the mood is a little different than one would expect. With Hepzibah calling out, "Guilty she is, fool you, Corsair, cannot believe you I. Death sentence we have all because still love her you.' 'I don't still love her. I figured her for a mercenary to the core. Without any idea that she was actually smuggling arms to the Kree Rebellion, I never would have risked my life and the lives of my crew to come and get her.' 'Oh. Thank you so much. So what you're saying was, because you thought I was a heartless bitch whose only concerns were financial, you felt like you needed to save my life.'

Chapman 45:14

'Still love how you do. Admit it, can you not? 'Enough, Hepzibah. You know that I love you. Only you. I'll admit I had a little crush on Candide back in our early freebooting days, but that was a long time ago. And nothing ever happened between us. Did it, Candide? ...Candide?'

Chapman 45:30

'Not for my lack of trying. Okay, maybe I was stupid to come after her. Maybe I've still got an old-fashioned damsel in distress program running in my head.' 'Believe you. Maybe I do. Love you. That you know. Doubt your handsome son? Not at all, do I. But what if never comes, the calvary? Then what do we do, Scott?'

Chapman 45:49

'They'll come. And if they don't, we'll figure out a way out of here, or we'll die. Pretty simple, really." At which point the X-Men finally enter. We also get the picture from Ron Lim in this moment of Jean and Rogue as they blast through the doorway and look upon a chained up corsair and Cyclops in shadow in the foreground.

Chapman 46:10

*Explosion SFX* "The calvary.' 'Jean, it's a pleasure to see you as always. My son offered to make an honest woman out of you yet?' 'Not yet. We're all present and accounted for, Scott, but the Imperial Guard will probably be along any second. We've really got to get out of here. '

Chapman 46:23

'You can start by getting us down from here.' 'Candide, I presume.' 'Is not a strong point. Charm.' 'That's fairly obvious,' Jean replied. 'A lot of people have risked their lives to get you out of here. A little gratitude might be in order. "

Chapman 46:39

I need Jean and Hepzibah specifically to be cast in the real Housewives of X-Men. ASAP. Because I think that they would be absolutely phenomenal in all of those situations. The way that Jean comes in and the two of them immediately buddy up, and Jean finds a way to put Candide in her place without it coming across as overly aggressive, especially in a rescue attempt. It's so perfectly witty and timed, I think she would absolutely nail the uh the reality TV world. With the prisoners rescued, they radio Ch'od to ask him to teleport them back up to the ship, but he radios back telling them that the aforementioned explosion has knocked out the teleportation system, and in order to pick them up, he'll have to physically descend to the planet's surface, past the fighting, and pick them up directly from the palace. With this realization hitting the team, Corsair rallies them by saying, "We've gotta go up, as far as we can. If we don't make it to the dome, we're gonna die in this hellhole." And so ends Chapter 14.

Closing Statements

Chapman 47:36

Once again, thank you last week for your patience on that delayed episode. And of course, thank you for spending some time with me today. We have just one more episode of solo coverage for Mutant Empire: Siege, where we'll cover the final three chapters, the epilogue, and I'll give some final thoughts and overviews about what I thought of the book and some themes as well. And following that episode, we'll have a book club to cap off our coverage. Next week is an off week, so look for that next episode in two weeks from today. I hope you have a wonderful week, and I'll see you here next time.

Credits

Chapman 48:05

Thank you for listening to another episode of the SubteXtMen Podcast. I'm your host and producer, Chapman Blake, with graphic design by Seth Christian Martell. You can connect with the podcast on social media at SubteXtMen Pod. Don't forget to rate and review wherever you're listening. If you'd like to read along with the show, be sure to utilize your local library, book exchange, or used goods store, first and foremost. We'll see you next time on

Closing Theme

Chapman 48:43

SubteXtMen.