#s'ym

[bringbackwendellvaughn]

[dailydamnation]

Time Is a Flat Stepping Disc Part 30a The Illyana Rasputin timeline issue by issue

New Mutants #14 Illyana has gotten used to the presence of more kids her age around the mansion, but she still keeps apart from them, feeling that she lacks the social skills and even the right to grow close to anyone (except for Kitty, who phased right through her barriers long ago). It's a self-fulfilling prophecy--she feel like she doesn't fit, so she holds herself apart and thus comes across as cold and weird. Still, when the New Mutants extend a hand and invite her along, she hungrily takes that opportunity. Only for the past she is trying to leave behind to come crashing into the present when S'ym attacks her.

Is it available on Marvel Unlimited: Yes Has it been reprinted in an Epic Collection: Yes

[ndscottsummers]

Cable v1 #14

as frustrated as i am by maddie always being defined by the goblin queen, belasco and s'ym being interested in nathan specifically as the son of the goblin queen is a lot of fun

[justdealingwithsomeissues]

S'ym has really come up in the world after taking over Limbo if he can just toss Belasco around like this.

[tomoleary]

Arthur Adams - New Mutants Forever #5 Magik and S'ym Cover Original Art (2011)

Source, source

[newx-menfan]

Who is your favorite marvel comic villain that you wish would show up more? I personally think selene :)

I HATE Omega Red- never have been a fan and don’t understand his popularity.

I love Selene, but you really need a solid writer for…same with Mojo and Spiral…

Love Cassandra Nova and The Shadow King!

LOVE most versions of the Hellfire Club, except for Kade Kilgore and Co…

I like Belasco and wish they used him more!

I do enjoy the “Purifiers”, “Brotherhood of Humanity”, and “Reavers”… they fulfill pretty basic storylines.

Don’t care for Orphanmaker and Nanny, Trevor Fitzroy, or Fabian Cortez.

Apocalypse is okay- never been a major favorite.

I LOVE the Brood and whatever aliens were featured after “a Love Story” with Storm and Forge.

I actually really liked evil Rogue and the Brotherhood in general. (Mystique and Destiny are my hardcore favorite villains!)

Everyone loves Magneto- even though he’s overused.

Juggernaut is fine- not my favorite but his storylines are fine- his relationship with Black Tom is kind of what seals it for me.

I LOVE evil psychopathic Sabertooth…but the comics kind of ruined his character.

Never really got into Deathbird, D’Ken, or the Shi’ar- they’re fine but it’s not something I get excited for…

Everyone loves Mister Sinister- honestly I wish they would bring back Liu’s version of Miss Sinister because she was great.

Weirdly not a fan of Exodus, despite being a fan of telekinesis….

Lady Deathstrike is fine- again, not my favorite but I do enjoy her.

I DO miss evil Emma- I liked her heel change but they have never been able to find a character to fill that space ☹️

I do guiltily LOVE Empath… I know he’s creepy and problematic but he IS a great villain when written as a psychopath.

Kind of miss Mastermind- Regan isn’t as fun as the original.

Everyone LOVES Sauron!

I DO weirdly love Arcade and Miss Locke…but like Sabertooth, they kind of ruined the character by trying to “update” him and make him “cool” 😒

Love Emplate and wish he appeared more!

Silver Samurai is ALWAYS fun!

Miss evil Daken despite again, being problematic. Now Akihiro is just boring because writers don’t know what to do with him.

Kimura was fun but got old fast (wish KYOST had developed her more!)

Never cared for Bastion. Nimrod is fine but again kind of a “one trick pony”.

I do really like Bella Donna.

Trask and Cameron Hodge were fun.

Hate Danger- just never got into it.

Don’t like Sugarman. Dark Beast is okay.

I LOVE Fernis and wish they popped up more!

LOVE Madelyn!! One of the most complex villains created and I wish she showed up more!

Really liked Graydon (guess that fits in with FoH but…) and wish we saw more Sabertooth illegitimate kids (you just KNOW there’s more!)

Weirdly love Masque because it’s such a dark character!

Mesmero and Mikhail Rasputin were fun!

I really miss evil QQ (was better as a villain)

Honestly think Fantomex should have been a villain/ assassin!

Love S'ym and N'astirh!

Never got into Onslaught or Proteus.

Love Sat-Yr-9.

I think everyone liked Senator Kelly as a “normal villain”.

Like Dark Phoenix but it’s been used to Death!!

I really loved Sublime- I don’t know why…probably the scene where he calls out Emma’s nose job.

Pretty much EVERYONE hated Vargas, Romulus, and Vulcan…

Wendigos are always fun!

X-Cutioner was interesting.

Have always been pretty “meh” on Children of the Vault.

Villain’s that I wish would show up more:

Orphans of X (although that plot point was settled, I would like to see Laura fighting old Facility customers again!)

Kingmaker

Predator X

Bellona- most interesting X-23 clone, because she is morally ambiguous!

The Krakoan (duh!!)

*I limited this to “X-Men Villans” because otherwise it would have taken FOREVER!

[goblyne01]

i've been sitting here, trying to figure out how to explain maddy's whole thing and basically uhh: inferno happens, caused by the manipulations of mister sinister and the demon s'ym. madelyne is restored to her old self through the help of jean, who uses the memories of the x-men and baby nathan to help her. she still contains the powers of the goblin queen, and is currently tucked away in a small cabin in alaska where she is attempting to track down both sinister and s'ym through any means necessary

[lovecatsys]

Maddy!

Okay I'm going to give this my best but I still haven't finished her major history yet so these might be a little off because of that.

I think the person she was closest to and trusted the most on the X-Men, besides Alex, was Storm. She went to Ororo after Nathan was born to bring up her issues with Scott, and they seemed pretty close during outback era to me. Honestly I feel like Ororo would be a good person for Maddy to rekindle her friendship with now that she's been redeemed, because I feel like it's possible for Ororo to see behind the personality she's put on since Inferno. Also with Ororo's connection to magic it could be a really fun thing to explore.

I don't think what she feels for Alex is romantic love. Their relationship never comes off that way to me. Honestly it comes off a lot like she Thinks that she should love him like that, because he clearly loves her and she sort of needs a Prince for her act, but she doesn't really have a deep romantic bond with him. She definitely loves him in a way, but it doesn't really seem romantic to me and I think that the next part of her arc should be leaving him, but retaining their friendship and setting out to make new connections, people who can be a support network for her.

After her "dream" with S'ym it was Really easy for her to pretend like she hadn't changed at all in front of the group. She had to wake up and clean up the mess she had made after that, and it kind of infuriated her that no one had found her and thought to help, even though she knew they were away on a mission. But at first, switching back and forth between her old personality and her new persona was really easy. She didn't even really feel anything about it, no guilt or anything for misleading her friends, just an easy deception.

On Krakoa, she had thought she might connect to Kwannon with their kind of similar experiences and traumas related to identity, so when she found out that Kwannon was dating John, it disappointed her.

I think she really wants people to like her, she craves attention because of the trauma she experienced being neglected by Scott. But she also doesn't know how to go about it in a good way, and she doesn't necessarily want to leave behind this new path she's carved for herself. I think exploring that would be a really good next big arc for her, figuring out where she goes from here and how she maintains her identity while also trying to heal and get what she really needs emotionally.

I realized some of these are more like theories and meta than headcanons but... frankly I'm kind of terrible at coming up with random headcanons lmao. And I love theories and meta.

Send me a character or a ship and I'll share 5 headcanons!

[bringbackwendellvaughn]

[dailydamnation]

Time Is a Flat Stepping Disc Part 30b The Illyana Rasputin timeline issue by issue

New Mutants #14 In a panic, Illyana teleports the New Mutants through Limbo to come to her aid, although they don't know yet that that's her power. When Dani calls forth a vision of S'ym's worst fear, it morphs from Belasco into Illyana as his heir and daughter (with what I think is the first mention of the Darkchilde), probably not doing Illyana any favors in winning trust. The New Mutants can't take down S'ym, but given the time to recover from her trauma response, Illyana tricks and defeats him herself, making him swear an oath of fealty. Despite her victory, she looks noticeably sad. Though she still hides her past, she now knows she cannot leave it behind her.

Is it available on Marvel Unlimited: Yes Has it been reprinted in an Epic Collection: Yes

[ndscottsummers]

screaming screaming screaming forever about how good madelyne as the goblin queen could've been if it had just been handled well. agency and identity! maddie has thrown off sinister's yoke only to find herself under s'ym's! maddie doesn't think she's a real person and neither do the people trying to use her but that doesn't mean she's not! what's you and what isn't you when you exist only bc a mad scientist wanted a baby out of you! is there ever a 'you' free from that influence and does it matter if the answer is no! what else can you do but live your life!!!

[justdealingwithsomeissues]

Ah, I see, we are linking all of this to the fact that Cable is the son of Madelyne, who made all the demon connections.

[comicsplaining]

Comicsplaining Ep 144 - The One Where We Practice the Way of the Squidge

In Episode 144 of the Comicsplaining Podcast, S'ym goes to the gay bar, and Belasco gets a case of blue balls. All this and more on this episode of the Comicsplaining Podcast | Issues Covered: Magik (1983) 3-4

[belayadyavol]

What is Yana's preferred love language to express? vs receive?

i went a little overboard with this by mistake it's more of a 'how all love languages apply' kind of deal. it's kind of messy too sorry!

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION!

GIVING: surprisingly, words of affirmation are a fairly strong love language for yana in terms of expressing. she can be quite observant, and therefore picks up on how people tend to think and feel about themselves. she knows how words can affect people, be them negative or positive, and often knows what people want/need to hear.

midnight suns, issue #4

while she isn't the best at it, given she can be quite brash and straightforward, she has never been one to beat around the bush or lie to people to save their feelings from being hurt. she will tell you how she sees things without sugarcoating, so her words of affirmation are always genuine and factual. while they may not have much elegance to them, they're there and they're truthful nonetheless.

i can't remember where this is from.

RECEIVING: while not opposed to words of affirmation, yana tends not to react well to them. some part of this comes down to her not believing she deserves them. there is part of her that wholeheartedly believes there is something fundamentally wrong with her. that, despite the good she tries to do, she is destined only for the evil belasco intended for her. words of affirmation challenge this view she has of herself, and the shift in perspective from what she thinks to be true can throw her off.

another part of this comes down to her believing nobody really understands her -- not enough to try and comfort/convince her that all the things she thinks about herself are untrue. she was, plain and simple, forged into a weapon. forced to survive in a hellish wasteland from six years old until sixteen. she was forced to kill the only two people who had helped her in limbo while still a child. after her and cat's failed attempt to kill belasco, she was tortured day in and day out -- by s'ym physically, and belasco mentally. the things they did and said are ingrained so deeply in her that she struggles to see herself any differently; despite what people might say, and despite how her actions suggest differently. people can't affirm that she's good, or that she isn't what she thinks herself to be, because they don't know the extent of it. she rarely tells anybody the full story of what happened in limbo. she rarely tells anybody what goes on in her head, or her struggles with the darkchilde every time she peeks her head out at any opportunity in an attempt to goad illyana into setting her loose.

they can be taken better when given by people who she does care for, or who she trusts and has previously confided in. the first people coming to mind being scott, kitty and dani, even occasionally magneto. people that she trusts to give it to her straight — who don't see her as the demon queen, but instead as illyana.

ACTS OF SERVICE!

GIVING: acts of service are also a love language she uses to express herself, but not in the typical sense. she can, will, and has put her life on the line for the people she loves/cares about. if there is a possibility the people she truly cares about could get hurt, she'll do whatever she can to try and be sure she will take the brunt of whatever it is because she believes she can take it. her acts of service come in the form of protection -- in the form of fighting to protect -- because fighting is all she's known. it's something she's incredibly good and and incredibly well versed in. she will do anything in her power to keep people ( loved ones, teammates, etc ) as safe as she possibly can. even if it comes as a risk to her own safety. there are deeper issues with this but that is NOT what this post is about.

dead souls (2018), issue #3. illyana knows she's going to have to bring forth the darkchilde to get into the cockpit. she knows the magic sigils keeping them out are far from good. she knows what she (and now rictor) are going to face, and she knows they'll likely only get caught in the crossfire. there are more displays of this i simply can't find them.

RECEIVING: another one that tends to be a little iffy for illyana. she hates feeling as though she's incapable, and she hates feeling like other people think she's incapable. she prefers to do things herself, however big or small, because she constantly feels as though she has to prove herself. she conquered limbo — defeated a sorcerer supreme — when she was only a child. she dragged herself out of limbo with bloodied hands and scuffed knees by herself. having things done for her, once again whether these things are big or small, makes her feel weak. though, eventually, she can feel comfortable enough to accept these things when she realises the people doing them truly don't see her as any less.

PHYSICAL TOUCH!

UHH IDK: physical touch, while rare, is one yana isn't entirely opposed to. though this tends to be reserved almost strictly for partners and her closest friends. her years trapped in limbo, in her youth no less, has made her quite averse to being touched. belasco needed illyana's soul to be corrupted to an extreme extent to ensure he could create the bloodstones needed which would unleash the elder gods. this meant putting her through unfathomable things to make that happen. s'ym was often given free reign to torture illyana as he pleased to make this happen. while deep down she craves a softer touch, and physical touch tends to be a love language she likes to receive as long as she's comfortable with the giver, the feeling of people touching her - even in passing - tends to remind her of those times left in s'ym's care.

being touched without warning, especially in a setting where it isn't warranted ( outside of battles/fights ) can sometimes make her lash out. nothing crazy -- usually just her slapping people's hands away, barking a threat at them, or moving away entirely. however, yana can be quite touchy on her own accord, usually when she intends to be a little irritating, because she's the one initiating so she's prepared, and she knows nothing bad will come from it.

new mutants, can't remember which issue.

she can be quite open with people she cares for, though it is quite rare ( see; her going to hug kitty and falling flat on her face because she turned incorporeal, believing illyana was going for a hit because she isn't a hugger idk where i saved the panel ) to see. she's just slightly more open with softer touches - comforting hands, a head on a shoulder, a side hug, an actual hug - when it's only herself and a friend/partner as she thinks showing people she's anything more than the queen of limbo will somehow make her appear weaker. if they see she isn't all sharp teeth, icy glares and a sour attitude — if they see she has real emotions — they might think her easy to hurt or manipulate. smthn smthn it's better to be feared than loved if one cannot be both.

RECEIVING/GIVING: in relationships, while she won't admit it, she can be very affectionate. some days she won't want to be touched at all, somedays she's okay with smaller things, and somedays all she wants to do is be touching her partner. while she tends not to be affectionate in public, behind closed doors she is fairly smitten with her partner and finds it eases her greatly to be wrapped in their arms -- or them wrapped in her own. she's actually a big fan of skin - to - skin contact! she can be kind of a big baby when she's entirely, one thousand percent comfortable with someone.

new mutants (2009), issue #7. she even struggles to be okay with her own brother touching her.

QUALITY TIME!

GIVING/RECEIVING: illyana is actually a big fan of quality time. some days she isn't and she wants to coop herself up and hide away from the world and everyone on it - and other times she greatly enjoys just being in the presence of those that she deems close. even if they aren't doing anything exciting, which she actually prefers. sitting in silence doing their own thing is nice for her. there's no expectations, no trying to fill the time with things of shared interest or holding pointless conversations. watching movies/tv shows, playing chess (something she enjoys), sparring (also another one she enjoys) or, again, just doing their own thing. she still does a lot of research into spells and magic and things she can use to her advantage and sometimes just having someone around can be a nice change. she does like to show off sometimes, too.

if illyana is willing to spend time with someone outside of a work - based setting, one - on - one, it means they've made it into her good books.

can't find a panel for this one rn. other than her playing remote chess with colossus but i guess it doesn't count because they aren't actually together.

GIFT GIVING!

GIVING: illyana isn't the best when it comes to gift giving. sometimes she struggles to pinpoint exactly what people like in terms of a gift. she always feels it unnecessary to gift things that have no practical use. many of her gifts, just as she likes to receive them, come as a spur of the moment type of thing. if she see's something that reminds her of someone, or something she knows a specific individual needs/wants, she tends to get it for them with little hesitation. whether it's a birthday gift or simply a random tuesday. she's very nonchalant when giving them, too. doesn't like to let people know she thinks about them too much. however it does make her feel good when they react positively to it. she knows she isn't very vocal with her appreciation for people, so gifts can be how she tries to convey it.

RECEIVING: despite how she acts when receiving gifts, illyana is a subtle fan of it. this is void when it's her birthday, as the day brings back nothing but cruel memories of belasco's 'birthday surprises.' but any other time? especially when they're tailored to her likes or her needs? she claims not to be a sentimental person, but she is, and she'll treasure whatever the gift is behind closed doors. if it has a practical use for her then it makes it even better, though that isn't to say she's opposed to little trinkets. she might make a little jab when given the gift, but she knows the people who go out of their way to get her gifts know that she's only joking about it.

when first escaping limbo she wasn't a fan, given every surprise in its hellish depths had been new torture methods, or new creatures to terrorise her, or new spells she was meant to learn within mere hours -- lest a punishment for failure befall her. though as she eases out of her teenage years and into her twenties, she does grow to appreciate the random things people get her from their travels. she prefers gifts that haven't been bought with money, though, as she feels she isn't worth it. gifts that have been found by chance are far better, and it leaves her a little soft knowing that someone has seen something and though 'hey, illyana would like this.'

IN SHORT!!

her main preferred love language to give is quality time. spending time with people she cares about, with no ulterior motive, is one of the main ways she feels she's able to convey her care for them. she isn't great with words, or physical touch, or giving in general - so just doing things with people, she feels, is enough of an indication of their worth to her.

the secondary is her own personal version of acts of service, as she thinks she can best display her care by doing things. by protecting people and not letting anything happen to them if there's any way that she can help it.

her preferred love language to receive is also quality time.

secondary preferred love language, as long as she's comfortable, is surprisingly physical touch -- from those who are extremely close to her. people she feels comfortable enough to allow them to touch her with no prior warning, with no need to ask, who know when to give her space and when all she needs is a hug so tight it's almost crushing. she is so touch starved and she's denied herself the comfort of being touched so much that sometimes her need to be held just seeps through the cracks.

[scarlet--wiccan]

Besides the Darkhold, there are other magic books in the Marvel Universe that also contain studies of black magic. What differs these books from one another?

For several reasons, "black magic" is not really an appropriate phrase to use, and I don't think it's used consistently in Marvel comics any more. It's also not a comprehensive category-- most of the time, the thing that distinguishes different magical powers, artifacts, books, etc. is their source, or place of origin, not their moral alignment, or general affinity for... darkness? Spookiness? Whatever you think "black magic" means. If you are seeing that term, try using context to determine what the author is really talking about. "Demonic" powers, for example, could originate from any of several different hell dimensions. I don't expect Daimon Hellstrom to summon S'ym or N'astirh, you know?

Having said that, the Darkhold is one of, if not the oldest magical texts in Earth's history, and for a large part of that history there were different pages and copies and scrolls in circulation all over the world. There probably still are, which would be a really interesting plot thread for Wanda to pick up. Point being, a lot of these other magical texts, like the Necronomicon, the Book of Cagliostro, and the Book of R'lyeh are partially derived from Darkhold materials. So if you think the number of spooky evil magic books is a bit redundant, it's because they are-- but that's a reflection of the history that's been built up around magic.

[kurt-wagner-official]

Post #126: NM issues 71-73

N'astirh's magic has trapped the New Mutants (including Gossamyr) in Limbo, where S'ym has grown powerful enough to steal the soulsword. Illyana has only the power to teleport her friends around Limbo trying to find a way out. She takes them first to Belasco's abandoned home, where the kids are shocked to see the corpses of Limbo Nightcrawler and Cat. Illyana has never told them that there were alternate X-Men in Limbo, which is interesting. They're horrified to learn that she killed some of them, and rather than give them the full context, Illyana accepts their disgust as the truth. They end up crossing her timestream and see S'ym brutally beating a young Illyana. In Claremont's magic mini, the sexual abuse Illyana was subjected to by Belasco and S'ym was implied but ambiguous, and could be interpreted as just an allegory. Here, Simonson makes it very clear what's going on. I think it's a good change. I'm glad Claremont didn't dive too deep into it, but under a female writer it's very powerful. There are people very close to me who've experienced childhood sex abuse, and Illyana's characterization under Simonson reflects them in a very real way. The way she talks about herself as missing something, as not having a complete soul, is so heartbreaking. She's vulnerable enough that her friends can see the damage, but she can't open up enough for them to get what's going on and help her, so she's spiraling into isolation. This is really rough to read but it doesn't feel exploitative. The way the others react to these half revelations is also very well done and reflective of how teenagers work. They have different levels of understanding about what they're seeing, but being kids themselves, they don't see the whole picture the way the reader does. Rahne in particular is very well done. She also experienced abuse from a "father figure" and has dealt with it even less than Illyana has, but over the course of this book she's gone from projecting her self hatred onto Illyana to giving her the love and sympathy that she can't give herself. She sees this young girl being hurt and it opens her eyes to how damaged Illyana is. She begs Illyana to let her save the younger Illyana, saying it's not her fault, and most of the team agrees with her. They're willing to erase their own timelines to save this little girl, but Illyana ports them away before they can, not willing to give herself that salvation. The kids next find themselves facing N'astirh in the past. He reveals to Illyana his backstory- he was rejected as Belasco's apprentice in favor of Storm, and has disconnected himself from his own to timeline to master dark magic. While S'ym wants to usurp Illyana and enslave her, N'astirh offers a bargain. He will send Illyana back to the present and help her take her soulsword back, and together the two of them can rule Limbo. N'astirh, unlike S'ym and Belasco, doesn't feel sexually threatening toward Illyana in the same way. He's using her, but he's upfront about it, and Illyana accepts the deal after looking at Rahne and realizing her friends are going insane here. This might be her one chance to get them out, even if she's given up on herself. She beats up S'ym, which is very satisfying, and fully becomes the Darkchilde, now a red, snakelike demon. She opens the stepping disc to get her friends back to Earth- but N'astirh's baby pentagram has kept the portal open, as we saw in X-Terminators.

This issue lines up with X-Terminators 4, and honestly is a much better version of the story. S'ym attacks N'astirh, and Illyana, angry that N'astirh is using her stepping disc for his own purposes, attacks them both. The art here is incredible. There's so much malice just radiating off the page from every demon. The New Mutants fly up into the air for their X-Terminators team-up, while Darkchilde is tossed around New York by an army of demons. This issue is a lot of splash pages after a very plot stuffed last issue, so I don't have too much to say, but it's gorgeously drawn and Illyana's monologue is spectacular. Simonson really understands what makes her tick, and even after falling this far into demonness, she still wants to hold onto some of her morality, refusing to kill innocents as the demons are goading her to. Eventually she's tricked into killing a chair that she doesn't realize has been made sentient, and the now T/O N'astirh comes to gloat that every kill takes more of her soul. But she rejects him and conjures a new silver armor that covers her entire body. A lot of Illyana's story is about reclamation, and here she reclaims the armor- once a sign of her growing corruption- and something to protect her from that corruption. She banishes N'astirh and collapses on the ground. S'ym shows up as the issue ends.

Illyana beats back S'ym by accepting her Darkchilde power but refuses to give into the full corruption- again reclaiming her trauma as armor for herself. A splinter team of New Mutants and X-Terminators- Cannonball, Sunspot, Rahne, Warlock, Boom-Boom, and Rictor- fly off to find her, while Dani, Skids, and Rusty stay with the kids. Gosamyr just kinda vanishes off screen. Piotr guest stars in this issue, having been separated from his team. It's a really good choice. A lot of Illyana's story was coopted by Uncanny in service of Piotr's arc, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but for the climax, I'm glad he's here to be a supporting player in her book instead. He's recognized the demons as Limbo creatures and is plowing through hordes of them trying to find Illyana. I haven't mentioned yet, but throughout these issues the Hellfire Club has been fighting back against the demon army. They don't know how to stop it, but they're too powerful for the demons to take down, so N'astirh appears before them to bargain. Magneto is thinking only of his students, willing to give up on the city if N'astirh will free Illyana. The New Mutants, flying overhead, see the exchange and assume the worst. They find S'ym at the same time as Piotr, who has allowed himself to be captured to get to Illyana. She's shocked to see her brother alive. Horrified that he's seeing her as a demon, she jumps through a portal, and the New Mutants chase after. Piotr, left alone on Earth, unleashes his rage on S'ym. Dani, Rusty, and Skids battle hordes of demons. The death energy in New York is all-consuming, leaving Dani weakened and vulnerable. In Limbo, now with a new control over it, Illyana repairs her scrying disk and looks upon Piotr and Dani fighting battles they cannot win. She's ignoring the New Mutants with her but expresses concern for Dani. It's always been hard for Illyana to express affection to her peers, but she loves them very much, and it's easier for her to act on that when she's apart from them and they're in danger. She teleports away. Rahne tells the others that if they can't save their Illyana, they need to try to save the little girl. She starts jumping through random portals, and the others chase after her. They find little Illyana and jump through another portal to find themselves face to face with present Illyana. Seeing her younger self, she starts to completely break down, attacking the child and blaming her weakness for what she has become. Rahne pleads with her friend, telling her that for the first time, she has a choice. And Illyana chooses mercy. She pours all of her power into her sword and flings it into the air above Manhattan, opening one last portal that pulls all of the demons into it. When the dusts clears, the demons are gone- but all that's left of Illyana is her armor. Dani rushes to Rahne, who tells her that in the end, Illyana was an angel- the Lightchilde. Piotr rips open the armor and finds the child Illyana safe and sound. Rahne holds her and cries, telling her she has her whole wonderful future ahead of her.

These issues were fantastic. Illyana has in the 21st century become an a-list X-Man appearing in a ridiculous number of books, but in all that time, no writer has come close to the incredible work Simonson does with the character in her run. She really spun a powerful story for Illyana of trauma and reclamation of self. Illyana thought that what was done to her as a child made her tainted and empty. But, in a very literal sense, the child was always inside that shell, and when she finally looked at her and let go of her hatred for her, she was able to save that part of herself. It's a very literalized metaphor, because the actual Illyana we know is now dead, but the allegory is very potent. One thing I've gotten better at as I've been reading more comics is realizing that, while analyzing the characters as people is a rewarding way to approach these, stories, it's not the only way. These characters can also be seen as components in a work of art. With Illyana, this gives two different, both great, interpretations. Viewing her from an in universe perspective, as a person, she's someone who was told all her life she was a villain who turned around defiantly and freed herself from that. Viewing the character as a metaphor, this was a story about not letting your trauma- and your reactions to that trauma- define you, and allowing yourself to choose the life you were denied. Moving on from Illyana a bit, I would like to talk about Rahne. I think she's the other character who shines under Simonson more than anyone else. Although it's not explored as much, Rahne has a history of abuse- and implied sexual abuse- in her past. Like Illyana, she's extremely repressed, although in different ways. They've both been raised to think of themselves as worthless, evil things, and that's been literalized by their powers. Rahne has never had empathy for herself, but she has a great deal of empathy for anyone she can project onto- except Illyana, who was so close to how she viewed herself. She hated Illyana for a long time, but over the course of this book, the New Mutants have shown Rahne that she is worthy of love. And even though she refuses to love herself, Rahne will take that love and pass it on to Illyana. Rahne is not a character I ever expected to be one of my favorites, but reading her early stories as an adult learning to accept myself has really struck something deep within me. Going through the other characters; Warlock had the least to do in this arc. Illyana and Warlock are, as I've said before, the most underexplored duo in the team. I would have loved to see them get a moment, but I understand Simonson wanted to give most of the pagetime to Illyana as an individual, and the rest of it to the Illyana/Rahne pairing. Separating Dani from the bulk of the main action was interesting. She does kinda take charge of a scene, and I get why Simonson backgrounded her. I liked watching her defend the babies. Her comforting Rahne at the end was sweet. I've missed that relationship. Sam was the older brother in this story (besides Piotr). He clearly understood what was going on with Illyana more than the others, and felt really helpless. But he showed a lot of emotional intelligence, particularly at the end when everyone else was confused and he gave gave the final soliloquy on Illyana's death. Beto honestly feels like the New Mutant Simonson has the least grasp on. He's the argumentative one who distrusts Illyana here, which could work as a good beat for him but isn't explored much. A weird thing about this team is that there's very few stories that are about all of them. In Uncanny and X-Factor, a big storyline will usually have some space for each of its characters. New Mutants under both Claremont and Simonson has had more of a rotating focus. My favorite arc (until this one, which is probably the best) was Legion, which only featured four of the main cast. Both writers do a good job of rotating pretty evenly (except Claremont with Amara) and honestly I think the approach works really well. If we had to split focus with every

character evenly, this wouldn't be such a good Illyana and Rahne story, and Legion wouldn't be such a good Dani story, and so on. It does mean that it's harder to pick one arc that sums up the whole team, like Fall of the Mutants for X-Factor or Dark Phoenix for Uncanny. But it allows the book as a whole to have a unique identity among the X-line.