‘X-Men ‘97’ Episode 6 Recap & Review: The Goddess of the Elements soars again

This episode begins amid an intergalactic battle between the Shi’ar and Kree. We are introduced to Deathbird (Cari Kabinoff) as she infiltrates the Kree ship with other members of the Imperial Guard (including Cyclops’ brother, Vulcan) super-powered champions of the Shi’ar Empire. The super-powered team fights off Ronan the Accuser (Todd Haberkorn) and the Kree soldiers in search of the location of the supreme intelligence.

After the fight, they are interrupted by a Shi’ar messenger who brings a holo tape from Deathbird’s sister, Lilandra (Morla Gorrondonna), the Empress of the Shi’ar Empire. Lilandra announces to the Shi’ar people that Charles Xavier (Ross Marquand), the human they brought to their planet to heal (as seen in the last episode of the original X-Men: The Animated Series), has captured her heart. The pair are to be married and Charles will be the new emperor of the Shi’ar Empire.

Ororo Munroe Faces off Against the Adversary

Back on Earth, we meet with Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith) and Forge (Gil Birmingham) after their encounter with the Adversary (Sealy-Smith) in Episode 3. Storm is tending to Forge’s injuries when the Adversary comes back to taunt the goddess. The demon tells her to let Forge die. Storm refuses to succumb to the demon’s whispers and tries to leave but is quickly cornered.

The Adversary continues to dig into Storm’s fears when Forge appears with a spell book and uses sorcery akin to Doctor Strange’s to banish the demon back to the desert. The use of the magic accelerates Forge’s injuries and Storm realizes he doesn’t have much time left.

Forge tells Storm the spell book mentions a cactus called Midnight Cholla (a real-life cactus) that contains powerful magic medicine. Storm tries to convince Forge to stay behind but fearing that he will die before she returns, the two ride off in search of the cure together.

‘X-Men ’97’ Episode 6 Shows the Shi’ar’s Resistance to Charles Xavier

As Storm and Forge race through the desert, the attention turns back to Charles and the Shi’ar Empire. He and Lilandra are addressing the people when the celebration is interrupted by Deathbird, who doesn’t believe Charles is worthy of being emperor.

Deathbird tells the council that by marrying Charles, Lilandra is binding the Shi’ar into an alliance with an inferior world and invokes the rule of m’dashaa, stating that a being from another planet must pass a test of loyalty to wed a royal. She declares that for Charles’s test, he must let Lilandra wipe all of his memories of Earth and the X-Men.

Storm Wins a Tough Battle and Reclaims Her Powers

Back on Earth, Storm and Forge arrive at an old Civil War military cavern used to store weapons in search of the magical cactus. Forge apologizes to Storm, believing that it was his fear and self-loathing that brought the Adversary to them. Storm assures him that it was not just his fear that drew the adversary and that losing her powers may have been a blessing since she laments about being human previously in the season; she finally comes to accept herself without her powers.

Forge starts to succumb to his injuries and Storm discovers that the cactus they need is at the end of an old mining tunnel. Storm, who is severely claustrophobic, is left frozen with fear. She makes her way through the tunnel but is trapped by the Adversary. The demon taunts her again, feeding off of her fear and promising that if she submits, she can live in her daydream forever.

Storm faces the demon head-on, realizing that it isn’t just the X-Cutioner’s (Lawrence Bayne) neutralizer holding her back, but herself. Realizing the demon is just different aspects of her fear and doubt, Storm reawakens her mutant powers and calls upon the lightning to blast away the Adversary and escape the cavern as the goddess of the storm.

Professor X Intervenes in the Shi’ar Revolt

Back in space, Charles stands before the Shi’ar council for his test of loyalty. When asked if he will renounce the memories of his X-Men, he hesitates and Deathbird takes it as an admission of failure and tries to overthrow Lilandra.

A fight breaks out between Deathbird, Gladiator, and the Shi’ar royal guards but is ended when Charles uses his psychic powers to pull them all into the astral plane where he resumes his role in front of a classroom to teach the Shi’ar the error of their ways. He shows the Shi’ar that their power is stolen from other worlds and that the empire has prevented those worlds from reaching their full potential.

Charles relates this to his dream for mutant and human coexistence, saying that it isn’t easy but at the end of the day, they are all beings of stardust and children of the atom. Suddenly, Xavier’s psychic classroom turns dark as the room fills with skeletons and a huge Gambit looms over them. Gambit turns into a skeleton and blasts a terrified Xavier out of the astral plane. Realizing his X-Men are in danger, Xavier tells Lilandra that he must return to Earth, even if it means losing her.

The episode ends with Boliver Trask (Gavin Hammon) running and begging for mercy from an unknown foe. He tells this mystery person that he gave them his DNA for the Master Mold and pleads for them to kill him for what happened in Genosha. The villain reveals himself to be the nefarious Mr Sinister (Christopher Britton) and says that Genosha was merely the beginning of his plans.

‘X-Men ’97’ Episode 6 Is the Most Impressive Yet

After last week’s heartbreaking and action-packed episode, it was hard to imagine something topping it but X-Men ’97 outdoes themselves yet again. While this episode may feel slower compared to last week, it contains the best writing of the season thus far, as well as some of the best performances, particularly in the case of Alison Sealy-Smith who is phenomenal with the dual role of Storm and the Adversary.

It’s hard to imagine the season is over halfway finished, but given how the season has gone so far, the last couple of episodes will be some of the best X-Men content ever.

X-Men '97 Episode 6 "Lifedeath - Part 2" Review

5/5 Total Score