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X-Men '97 Finale Breakdown & Season 3 Theories — Full Breakdown & Transcript

X-Men '97 Season 2 Ending Explained | Episode 9 Breakdown, Post-Credits Scene, Mystique & Onslaught

0h 25m video Published Aug 12, 2026 Transcribed Aug 17, 2026 Heavy Spoilers Heavy Spoilers
Intermediate 12 min read For: Fans of X-Men '97 and Marvel comics enthusiasts interested in detailed breakdowns and comic book references.
AI Trust Score 70/100
⚠️ Average / Some Fluff

"Delivers a thorough breakdown of the finale with comic references, but includes a lengthy sponsor segment and some filler."

AI Summary

This video provides a detailed breakdown of the X-Men '97 season 2 finale, episode 9, including the resolution of the Apocalypse storyline, the post-credits scene featuring Mystique, and the setup for season 3. The host, Paul, analyzes key plot points, comic book references, and hidden details, while also speculating on future storylines such as Onslaught and the Brood.

[00:00]
Introduction and Season Premise

The video breaks down the X-Men '97 season 2 finale, covering hidden details, comic references, and the post-credits scene. The season follows the X-Men through time to stop Apocalypse, but their actions lead to Magneto's vaporization.

[01:24]
Apocalypse's Plan and X-Force

Apocalypse travels to the '90s to destroy the X-Men at their most vulnerable. The season features the primary X-Men team and the newly formed X-Force, led by Cable, consisting of Jubilee, Sunspot, Archangel, and Psylocke.

[02:05]
Gambit's Return and Twist

In episode 8, X-Force discovers Apocalypse is dead, killed by a resurrected Gambit, who has become Apocalypse's new horseman. The twist is that Gambit is possessed by Apocalypse himself, using him as a vessel.

[03:18]
Rogue's Temporary Fix

Rogue touches Gambit while they are both knocked out, temporarily reversing Apocalypse's mind control and trapping him within Remy's consciousness. This is only a temporary fix, leading to the events of episode 9.

[05:42]
Episode 9: The Attack on X-Core Tower

X-Force and X-Factor launch an attack on Xavier's X-Core Tower to kill Gambit before Apocalypse takes over again. Rogue enters the celestial shrine to confront Eson the Celestial, begging for a way to save Gambit.

[06:14]
Eson's Warning and Rogue's Deal

Eson warns that Apocalypse is essential to the universe's progress, as life advances at the cost of other lives. Rogue insists her love for Gambit is strong enough to do the impossible, and Eson presents her with a chance to sacrifice herself for Remy.

[06:42]
Rogue's Transformation

Rogue emerges from the shrine glowing with golden energy and a new black and gold suit. The video explains that the stone is a celestial seed, and Rogue likely received a life seed, making her a celestial gardener, the counterbalance to Apocalypse.

[09:42]
The Assault Continues

X-Force and X-Factor fight Mech Sentinels and each other. Cable drops into the tower and confronts Cyclops and Jean, choosing his destiny to kill Apocalypse over his parents. He finds Gambit and shoots him in the head.

[11:24]
Apocalypse Gambit Rises

Gambit's eyes open and he goes full Apocalypse, taking over the X-Men's minds. Rogue arrives and grabs him, pulling Apocalypse out of Remy's mind and trapping him in the Heart of Eternal Darkness gem.

[13:22]
Rogue's Sacrifice and Nightcrawler's Deal

Rogue gives the gem to Cable and reunites with Gambit. It's revealed that Nightcrawler made a deal with Eson to save Rogue, sacrificing himself to inspire mutants to come together and build a better future.

[14:54]
Post-Credits Scene: Mystique's Reveal

The post-credits scene shows Val Cooper in her office, with Graydon Creed becoming president. It's revealed that Mystique has been impersonating Val, and she shoots the real Val, declaring war on the United States.

[15:25]
Comic References and Season 3 Setup

The video discusses potential comic inspirations for season 3, including Nightcrawler's sacrifice in X-Force #26, Mystique leading Freedom Force, and the potential resurrection of Apocalypse by Cable using the Heart gem.

[20:34]
Onslaught as the Big Bad

The host speculates that Onslaught, a psionic entity formed from the merging of Professor X and Magneto's minds, will be the biggest threat in season 3, set up by Magneto's death and Xavier's trauma.

[21:36]
The Brood's Potential Return

The video suggests the Brood may get an episode in season 3, continuing their setup from the alien-inspired episode this season. They were almost completely left out of the original series.

The season 2 finale sets up multiple storylines for season 3, including Mystique's war on the US, the potential return of Apocalypse, and the emergence of Onslaught. The show continues to blend comic book references with new stories, creating a nostalgic yet fresh X-Men adventure.

Mentioned in this Video

Study Flashcards (6)

What is the Heart of Eternal Darkness?

medium Click to reveal answer

A gem made by the external Kandra to contain the life force of an external.

12:09

Who is Eson the Celestial?

medium Click to reveal answer

The seeking celestial, searching for new life in the universe to experiment on for evolutionary potential.

06:56

What are celestial seeds?

hard Click to reveal answer

Life and death seeds given by celestials; the death seed creates an agent of chaos, the life seed creates a gardener.

07:28

What is Onslaught?

easy Click to reveal answer

A psionic entity formed by the merging of Professor X and Magneto's minds.

20:49

Who leads the newly formed X-Force?

easy Click to reveal answer

Cable, with Jubilee, Sunspot, Archangel, and Psylocke.

01:38

What happens to Nightcrawler in the finale?

medium Click to reveal answer

He sacrifices himself to Eson to save Rogue, inspiring mutants to come together.

13:53

💡 Key Takeaways

💡

Rogue as Celestial Gardener

This is a new interpretation of the comics, giving Rogue a unique role as the counterbalance to Apocalypse.

08:57
📊

Heart of Eternal Darkness

Explains the comic origin of the gem used to trap Apocalypse, adding depth to the show's adaptation.

12:09
💡

Onslaught as Season 3 Villain

Provides a compelling theory for the next season's antagonist, based on comic history and show setup.

20:34
📊

Nightcrawler's Sacrifice Inspiration

Connects the show's events to specific comic issues, showing the creators' attention to detail.

15:39

[00:00] Paul. In this video, we're breaking down X-Men 97. The Mutants are back for an all new season of  X-Men 97, where they get caught in an adventure  

[00:14] across timelines trying to stop their greatest  villain, Apocalypse. After multiple teams of X   people fail to stop the mutant tyrant, Apocalypse  travels to the '90s in an allout war to end the   team once and for all. And am I the only one who  kept dying every time they said they were going  

[00:28] back to 1997? We're going back to the future 1990.  Throughout this video though, we will be breaking   down the finale and going through all the hidden  details and references from the comics. Also want  

[00:40] to touch upon what could be in store for the  X-Men in season 3. It was a big thing that   dropped at San Diego Comic-Con and we have lots to  talk about that kind of leads off that postredit   scene. Rogue really do always come to Gambit's  rescue. Now, before we get started on the finale,  

[00:55] let's do a quick little recap as to how we got  here. We started off the season following the   X-Men on a journey through time to stop Apocalypse  before he becomes the mutant tyrant that we of   course know him as. However, they just kind of  screw everything up more and it results in Magneto  

[01:09] being vaporized. Now, this kind of flipped things  from season 1 with Xavier being missing a lot   from that until later in the season. Now, though,  the master of magnetism is out for the long haul.   Because of this, Apocalypse wants to destroy the  X-Men, and he decides to make his way to the '90s,  

[01:24] where he believes they'll be at their most  vulnerable. That basically sets the premise   for the season. And in this, we follow various  X teams as they try and prevent the mutant   dictator from taking over Earth. This includes our  primary X-Men team, and the newly formed X Force,  

[01:38] which is led by Cable. That's made up of Jubilee,  Sunspot, Archangel, and Psylock. And I have to   say, I absolutely loved it when they gave them  their own version of the title sequence. Now,   while trying to figure out how to stop Apocalypse,  our heroes are also being hunted by a group of  

[01:51] government hide mutants named Xfactor, who are led  by Val Cooper. They were tasked with rounding up   troublesome mutants in an attempt to strengthen  their image to the public. Now, with everyone on   their own side missions to find Apocalypse, this  all comes together in episode 8, where X Force  

[02:05] discovers that Apocalypse is already dead and  has been killed by a newly resurrected Gambit.   He was brought back after his death last season  to be Apocalypse's new horseman. How about Gambit   instead killed Apocalypse and took his powers  for himself. Or so it seems at least. But he  

[02:20] then traveled back to New Orleans in search of the  external. This is Apocalypse's former lover who he   shared his powers with and she now resides in the  Bayou. The X-Men then arrived to save Gambit while   also trying to stop Cable and the rest of X Force  from assassinating him. Unfortunately, he and his  

[02:35] new assassin league horsemen kidnap Rogue and  take her to the external so that Remy can give   her celestial powers to Rogue. He then slices up  the external. And if you rewatch the episode with   the twist in mind, a lot of the dialogue actually  works really well and plays out a bit differently.  

[02:50] Kind of jumping the gut a bit there. But this  twist is revealed when the X-Men and X4 show up,   and we get what feels like the series version of  the portal scene from Avengers Endgame. Professor   X and infiltrates Gambit's mind, and we learn  that he's not just Apocalypse's new horsemen,  

[03:03] but has been possessed by Apocalypse himself.  The villain is using Gambit as his vessel. And   while Charles is unable to break Apocalypse's  influence, Rogue touches Ramy while they're   both knocked out. Thus, she's able to break her  sugar free from Apocalypse's mind prison. And she  

[03:18] temporarily reverses his mind control and traps  Apocalypse within Remy's consciousness. Sadly,   this is only a temporary fix with Remy's mind  unable to hold him for long. This leads us into   episode 9 where Rogue and the other X-Men must  save Remy from being killed by X Force. They've  

[03:34] now teamed up with XFactor, and the hope is they  can end things before Apocalypse escapes and kills   everyone. The X-Men are, of course, a legendary  team in the Marvel universe, and they're some of   the best alongside the Avengers. But what if you  could build your own team? As you may have seen  

[03:48] in my previous videos, I've been having a lot of  fun jumping back into Marvel Strikeforce because,   as you know, I'm sure you can see behind me, I'm a  very big Marvel fan. Now, you might not know, but   Marvel Strikeforce is dropping its biggest event  of the year right now. That is the Spider-Man Webs  

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[05:27] plus 2,000 segmented gold orb fragments and 4,000  segmented training module or fragments. Thank you   again to Marvel Strikeforce for partnering with  the channel. Now, let's get back to the video.   Now, we start off episode 9 with our foot fully  on the gas. We cable and the rest of X Force and  

[05:42] XFactor are launching an attack on Xavier's new  formed Xcore Tower. They're tracking Apocalypse's   celestial energy to find Gambit and kill him  before it takes over him once more. Meanwhile,   powers from the celestial Eson in episode 4 after  the X-Men tried and failed to prevent him from  

[05:58] becoming Apocalypse. Once there, Rogue enters the  celestial shrine to get Apocalypse's powers and   confront the Celestial Eon, begging him for a way  to save Gambit from Apocalypse. Eison warns that   Apocalypse is an essential part of the progress  of the universe. Life only advances at the cost  

[06:14] of other lives and Apocalypse will ensure Earth  evolves and at this point it will be judged worthy   by the celestial host. Not willing to take no  for an answer though, Rogue tries to fight Eon,   saying that her love for Gambit is strong enough  to do the impossible. However, she's just stopped  

[06:28] in her tracks. Eison clearly sees the love  Rogue has for Gambit is something special,   though, and Eson presents her with a chance  to prove love is stronger than death. In this,   she gets a chance to sacrifice herself for Remy  and take his place. Presenting a celestial stone,  

[06:42] she emerges from the shrine glowing with gold  energy along with a sick new black and gold   suit. He then leaves Nightcrawler and beast in  the celestial ship to go and save Remy. In case   you aren't familiar with the celestials in the  comics, Eson is basically known as the seeking  

[06:56] celestial. You see, each celestial has a specific  job. And Eson is searching for new life in the   universe which can be experimented on in order to  reach its evolutionary potential. Eison along with   the celestial gamon are basically behind all  the different species of the Marvel universe  

[07:11] such as the scrolls, the creals, and even the  Asgardians. Now in the comics, this stone that   he gives to Apocalypse and Rogue, they're called  the celestial seeds. In the law, there's both life   and death seeds, and they're basically exactly  what they sound like. The death seed is given to  

[07:28] someone the celestials appoint as the caretaker of  a planet and this imbus them with celestial power   to become their agent of chaos which will force  a species to evolve through death or Eon says   through apocalypse. Think of it how all evolution  happens which is based around the survival of the  

[07:43] fittest. Darwinism states that only the strongest  bloodlines survive nature and thus they pass their   genetics onto the next generation. Out of them  the ones that survive then pass on their genes and   slowly a species grows certain characteristics. So  this is how you get insects that look like leaves  

[07:58] because back in the day one would have looked  slightly like a leaf and survived past predators   who for a bit longer than the other ones. They  would have then gone on to have offspring who   would have survived a bit longer and so on and  so on. Now this was originally the job of the  

[08:13] deviants and before them the exterminators but  after those plans went to [ __ ] the celestials   started using the seeds. However, the life seeds  are the counterbalance and they're given to what   the celestials call gardeners, whose job it is  to spread new life throughout the universe and  

[08:27] plant death seeds to begin the evolution cycle.  Now, while the seed given to Rogue looks exactly   the same as the one given to Apocalypse, and we  even get a onetoone callback shot of her floating   in front of the sea like we saw with him, we  see Rogue emerge not as an armored tyrant,  

[08:41] but glowing with golden celestial energy and  still very much herself. Now, because of this,   my first thought was that she was now an eternal.  But I think what's more likely is that Rogue is   now a celestial gardener. Given that she accepted  Eison's offer for love and not conquest, she was  

[08:57] given a life seed instead of the death seed.  This makes her the counterbalance to Apocalypse   and gives her a chance to prove to the Celestials  that love is indeed more powerful than death. Now,   while this doesn't happen in the comics, it seems  to be loosely based on Rick Remenda's 2011 uncanny  

[09:12] X Force run. their archangels infected with a  death seed and he becomes the new apocalypse.   In the comics, X Force and set out to find  a life seed to cure him which went down in   Uncanny X Force 10. Rogue's deal with Eison also  doesn't happen in the comics, but it could be  

[09:26] inspired by another of Rick Remenda's run that  is 2012's uncanny Avengers there. In issue 21,   Rogue absorbs the powers of pretty much every  Marvel hero to stop a celestial from destroying   the Earth on behalf of the Apocalypse twins.  Meanwhile, the now combined X Force and X Factor  

[09:42] launch their assault on the XCore Tower. We see  Jubilee, Sunspot, Storm, and Forge fighting off   an army of Mech Sentinels in the air while X  Factor make their way inside to find Gambit. We   also get another awesome Storm moment here where  she just vaporizes the Sentinels without killing  

[09:56] any of the pilots with that sick Newton Brothers  score blasting in the background. In general,   the score for the whole show is amazing, but  they really pull out all the stops for Storm,   and I respect it. With Storm's team handling the  Sentinels and X Factor keeping the X-Men occupied,  

[10:10] Cable then makes his move and goes in to find  Gambit. He blows a massive hole in the Xcore Tower   with his gun and then drops into the building,  which was very, very cool. However, once inside,   he conveniently drops in right where Cyclops and  Gene are. They try and play the the old mom and  

[10:25] dad card and convince Cable to call X Factor off  and give them the chance to save Gambit. But dad,   I have to stop Apocalypse. Now, while Cable  has this reunion with Mommy and Daddy, we also   get a pretty great fight between Wolverine,  Morph, Archangel, and Psylock. Here we then  

[10:41] get a cameo from Dark from the '90s Spider-Man  animated series, and Spider-Man and Peter Parker,   his alter ego, of course, appeared in season  1. We also saw Morph turn into the web head   in episode 5 when they were fighting the brood  and it just makes me want them to bring back the  

[10:55] Spider-Man cartoon. Bring it back you cowards.  We also quickly meet up with Polaris and Bishop   fighting X Factor. They start to get their asses  kicked but are saved by Gambit who's woken up and   is back to his old raging cinjun self at least for  the moment. We then cut back to Cable fighting it  

[11:09] out with Cyclops and Gene where Cable chooses his  destiny to kill Apocalypse over his parents and he   smashes the floor in all the way to the basement.  Yeah, he finds Gambit and immediately shoots him   in the head right in front of Professor Xavier.  Holy [ __ ] However, as the rest of the X-Men  

[11:24] gather around, Gambit's eyes open and he goes  full on Apocalypse. As everyone tries to pick   their jaws up off the floor, Apocalypse Gambit  then easy pushes the X-Men back and takes over   their minds. He turns them on Professor X to  teach him his final lesson in that those he  

[11:39] cares about will always be his downfall. But  the good old professor sits strong and tells   Apocalypse that caring for each other is how they  survive. We then see a glowing star crash down in   front of them and Rogue emerges from a ball of  fire, smiling as she stands face to face with  

[11:55] Apocalypse Gambit. Rogue then takes off her glove  and grabs hold of him. She takes Apocalypse out of   Remy's mind as he screams in pain and traps him  in the gem that Remy stole from the external and   gave to Rogue in episode 8. In the comics, this is  called the heart of eternal darkness, which is a  

[12:09] gem made by the external Kandra to contain the  life force of an external. This is a power she   decided to keep herself after Apocalypse performed  the ritual to create it back in the 12th century,   which was shown in Excalibur issue 11. This  happened a bit differently in the show, though, as  

[12:23] we saw Apocalypse was in love with Kandra and gave  her the gem as a way to share his power. Rogue   trapping Apocalypse in the heart gem also doesn't  happen in the comics, but it could be based on her   fight with Apocalypse in 2020's Excalibur 5. Their  Rogue is put in a coma by Apocalypse while he goes  

[12:37] after Gambit. There she absorbs the power of the  external gateway and drains Apocalypse's life   force which turns her into a new apocalypse.  Gambit becoming Apocalypse's horsemen and   his rescue also happen a lot differently in the  comics. There Gambit willingly joins Apocalypse  

[12:51] and is turned into his horseman death, but he  doesn't become Apocalypse himself. Gambit also   isn't saved by Rogue, but instead tries to kill  her until she retreats to Japan where she's later   cured by Mr. Sinister. Damn it, fully turning into  Apocalypse here in the show. Also seems to be more  

[13:06] based on Cyclops becoming possessed by Apocalypse  in X-Men issue 97, which kickstarted the Age of   Apocalypse event. Their Cyclops is fully possessed  by Apocalypse, and Gene has to basically purge him   from Scott's mind in the Search for Cyclops  miniseries. With Apocalypse trapped in the  

[13:22] heart gem, Rogue casually gives it to Cable,  saying he'll probably know what to do with it,   which if I was Cable would piss me the hell  off. You mean to tell me I was raised as a child   soldier in a future hellscape specifically to kill  this guy? And you just show up glowing and do it  

[13:37] in two seconds. We then get a long awaited reunion  of Rogue and Gammed as they embrace each other and   we see the celestial energy leaving Rogue as they  kiss. Confuses why she's not dead. She tells Remy   that in order to save him, there needed to be  a sacrifice. Rogue then looks over and we see  

[13:53] Beast holding Kurt's Bible. We then go back to the  ship and see that Nightcrawler made another deal   with Eson to save Rogue. He convinced Eson that  his sacrifice will inspire the mutants to come   together and build a better future. This ensures  that the mutants will continue to push the planet  

[14:06] to evolve by inspiring others, which Kurt says is  what they were always meant to do. Kind of builds   off his whole arc in episode 7, where he basically  wanted to show that hate just breeds more hate.   He's of course also Rogue's sibling, too. And  the love that he felt for her, the sacrifice  

[14:22] they've gone through, not turning into hateful  people like their parents, it all kind of Yeah.   built off everything really nicely. Now, we'll  talk about the payoff with this in just a bit,   but it's a pretty more optimistic way to close  things out, for now at least. We then end the  

[14:37] season seeing all the other X-Men back together  as Eison accepts Curt's offer and he's consumed   by the celestial light. He then assures Eison that  he knows it will work because he has faith, the   faith, the faith. The faith. However, the season  also leaves us with a postredit scene cliffhanger.  

[14:54] As we meet up with Val Cooper in her office, we  see she's watching the news and that Graden Creed   has now become the new president. We then see  Val looking through her files and finding one   on Mystique, which is when someone comes into the  office and wait, it's Val. What? Bam! Gotcha, you  

[15:09] son of a [ __ ] It was Mystique all along. He then  shoots the real Val before revealing herself. And   we end with Mystique declaring war in the United  States as she lets off another shot. And we cut to   black, seemingly killing Val. Rest in peace. Oh,  she might not be dead, but rest in peace if she  

[15:25] is. Now, we have got a lot to unpack here, and the  show is combining lots of different elements from   the comics to set us up for season 3. Nightcrawler  sacrificing himself to save Eson is new for the   show, but Kurt has sacrificed himself more than  once for his friends in the comics. His decision  

[15:39] to save Rogue here is most likely based on one of  his first deaths during the second coming event in   X-Force 26. Their Hope, Summers, was being hunted  by Bastion, and Nightcrawler teleported himself   in front of her to save her. He believed her to  be the mutant messiah who would bring all mutants  

[15:54] together. It's very similar how he sacrifices  himself here in the show, not only to save Rogue,   but for his memory to inspire mutant prosperity.  This also leads to a major arc for Nightcrawler   where after his death, his soul goes to heaven and  he gets hunted by his father, Aazil. It's quite an  

[16:09] interesting run and it goes down in Amazing X-Men  issue 1 from 2013. He later learns how to contact   the X-Men from heaven and together they find a way  to stop Aazil and bring Kurt back to life. Now,   I wouldn't be surprised if we see some of this  adapted for season 3 with Nightcrawler helping the  

[16:25] X-Men from beyond the grave before his eventual  resurrection because come on, we all know that no   one really dies in the comics except like Uncle  Ben and the Ways and for a long time Gwen Stacy   as well, but they even retconed that. Nightcrawler  sacrificing himself for Rogue though also reminded  

[16:40] me of his role in the Age of Apocalypse event  from the comics. In Extreme X-Men issue 13, the   young Nightcrawler sacrifices himself in a battle  with the exterminator for Gan Gray to acquire the   death seed. This turned her into a new version of  Apocalypse, but she was able to control it due to  

[16:54] her experience with the Phoenix. This is also a  two for one sacrifice for Kurt as well, as Dark   Nightcrawler from the Age of Apocalypse universe  also sacrifices himself to close the gateway to   the alternate future and kill the exterminators  to save everyone in extermination issue 2. Now,  

[17:09] Mystique has been noticeably absent from the first  two seasons. So, I'm super excited for her to   return in season 3. It seems she's going to be one  of our primary villains, and this end credit scene   with her seemingly killing Val could be setting  up for her to lead her own team from the comics  

[17:23] called Freedom Force. In 1985's Uncanny X-Men  199, Mystique similly confronts Val in her office,   new name Freedom Force. It looks like for  the show, Mystique will most likely lead  

[17:37] Freedom Force while disguising herself as Cooper,  especially after the world saw XFactor's failure   in taking down Exc. Now though, we didn't see  the season 3 clip that was shown at Comic-Con,   Sentinels. That's said to be happening early  on, and I was kind of surprised they showed her  

[17:55] before the release of the season's finale. But the  government will most likely be looking to replace   its own mutant team with a brand new roster.  Now, while I don't think Val is really dead,   Mystique shooting her seems to be inspired by  another meeting between them in 1963's Uncanny  

[18:09] X-Men 266. There, Mystique once again confronts  Val in her office after she'd been mind controlled   by the Shadow King to kill Mystique. This results  in a standoff where Val breaks the mind control   at the last second and actually shoots herself.  This allowed Mystique to then take her place and  

[18:24] lead a team to face off against the Shadow King  on Mua Island in XFactor issue 70. We also get a   little note of this issue in episode 8 when we see  Gamut's battles being labeled as X-Men 266. X-Men  

[18:36] 266 was actually Gamut's first appearance and the  Mystique and Val standoff happened at the end of   that issue. We also see in this scene that great  and Creed Mystique's son is now president. He'll   probably be Mystique's main target in her attack  on the US which would be going along with a story  

[18:51] line from the comics in X Factor 130. their future  version of Mystique assassinates Graden at one of   his presidential rallies and I can see that being  adapted here. Valkub is also heavily featured in   this issue too with a future Mystique taking  her form in order to infiltrate the rally. So,  

[19:07] lots of things that they'll likely pick upon  and I'm guessing that they'll meld lots of those   stories together. Now, there is also the read on  this scene that Mystique may have been Val the   whole time. I don't think that's the case though,  as I think Val probably would have seen herself on  

[19:20] TV and have been like, "What the hell's going on?"  Instead, I think Mystique probably used her as a   way to get into the building and that that she  hasn't been her all season. However, I do think   that that's still worth bringing up and it could  explain some some of the questionable choices  

[19:35] Val might have made. Um, and it may be something  that they acknowledge in season 3. I don't think   it's right. I'm not going to do the theory time  jingle, but I do think that it's worth bringing   up because yeah, we're trying to be as thorough as  possible. We also have Cable now in possession of  

[19:48] the heart gem containing Apocalypse's life force.  I'd imagine that season 3 will take a break from   the apocalypse story line, but also kind of leave  this thread open. However, it could be leading to   a story line in the comics where Cable revives  Apocalypse after the events of House of M. There  

[20:03] 90% of mutants lost their powers and the story  in itself went down in Cable and Deadpool 26 to   27. There was the belief that the mutants needed  a powerful threat to bring them together again.   And Cable, the celestial ship, and his blood  mixed with the technoorganic virus, basically  

[20:19] resurrected Apocalypse in 2006, Cable and Deadpool  27. In the show, Cable could similly use the heart   gem containing Apocalypse and the Celestial ship  to bring him back. Both heavily featured in this   season, and I'd be very surprised if they don't  pop up again, including Eison the Celestial, who  

[20:34] will no doubt have his cosmic hands in all of this  nonsense. However, among all these threads that   we're left with, I think the biggest threat facing  the X-Men in season 3 will be Onslaught. Now, in   case you don't know, Onslaught is a psionic entity  formed by the merging of Professor X and Magneto's  

[20:49] minds. Magneto's intense emotions about mutant  liberation, combined with Charles's own repressed   darkness created Onslaught within Xavier's mind.  While initially dormant, Onslaught eventually   escaped and waged war on humans and mutants alike  in X-Men 54. Magneto's death and Xavier's trauma  

[21:06] from it was a major plot point in the first couple  of episodes of the season, seemingly setting this   up and giving the X-Men a villain that can rival  Apocalypse in season 3. We also already saw the   birth of Onslaught in season 1 when Xavier and  Magneto had their mind battle on Asteroid M after  

[21:21] Magneto ripped the adamantium from Wolverine's  body. This is when Xavier absorbed Magneto's   negative emotions and created onslaught in 1993's  X-Men issue 25. Also have to mention the brood   because I love those little alien freaks and  feel like we'll probably get an episode dealing  

[21:36] with them as well. This could continue their setup  from the alien inspired episode this season with   Wolverine and Team X fighting them off at the  Weapons X facility. This was based off 2005's   X-Men/ Fantastic 4 issue 1. There the X-Men and  Fantastic 4 similarly find the brood of taking  

[21:52] over an NASA space station. This then leads to the  Brood launching a fallen invasion in issue 5. Now,   while it would probably be a lot different in  the show, I think it would be great to see the   brood get the spotlight in at least one episode.  Given they were almost completely left out the  

[22:05] original series, I'd love to see more of them.  They did appear in that, but was kind of a cameo   in the episode Mojo Vision from season 2, and  they were then later adapted into a different   alien race called the Colony episode Love in Vain  from season 3. This came about due to writer and  

[22:19] director Larry Houston along with the character  designers Frank Brummer and Mark Lewis basically   wanting to make them more animator friendly. But  yeah, love to see them back. And that brings us   to the end of another season of X-Men 97. Being  a kid in the '90s, this show just hits me with  

[22:34] all the right nostalgia points and it's so fun  getting to tune in each and every week. Also,   my kids absolutely love it. Um, I started them on  the original series. They watch they like binge   through all that so quickly. Um, and then they  started watching X-Men 97 and that that's all  

[22:49] they want to watch now is just X-Men. More X-Men.  More X-Men. They say they're four years old. I   don't think they understand all of it, but they're  enjoying it quite a bit. Because of that though,   an absolutely crazy couple of months in terms  of what's been coming out. And we're still a  

[23:04] pretty small team, but yeah, have to say love this  season. Well, you could say it does feel a little   all over the place. Um, especially, you know, when  you get just random episodes in all the different   X-Men teams. Uh, it also just leans into that kind  of Saturday morning format. There we'd often get  

[23:22] the overarching plot, but you can really just jump  into the adventure at any point. Each episode has   its own moments and then ties everything up for  a satisfying ending, and it also leaves multiple   threads open to explore in the later seasons, if  we ever get out the '90s. Anyway, there's also  

[23:36] like a billion X-Men comics as well, so I'm sure  they have no shortage of material to pull from,   but I don't care. Give me 100 seasons of this.  Mday, House of X, KCOA, give me it all. Like the  

[23:48] original animated series, I also think they did  an incredible job of picking certain story points   from the X-Men's massive catalog and merging  them together for a story that closely follows   the comics, but also creates new stories and  opportunities for characters to shine. So, yeah,  

[24:03] not perfect, but just a grand X-Men adventure that  I can't help but love. As always, I'd also love to   hear your thoughts down below. And make sure you  subscribe for breakdowns like this every single   day. Download Marvel Strikeforce using the link  below. And with that, you'll receive Spider-Man  

[24:19] the Hulk for free along with those bonuses. Just  use the promo code Spidey and get Spider-Man and   Hulk for free and all those extra bonuses. If you  want to follow us on Instagram as well and keep   up to date with what we're doing, then make sure  that you check us out at heavyspoilers. Did you  

[24:33] know as well that members of the channel also get  early access to videos like this each and every   week? And if you click the join button, you get  at least one big breakdown a week, a week before   everyone else. Right now, you can watch Edge of  Tomorrow early. Uh, and if you need more to watch,  

[24:46] then there's also a video on screen right now for  free. Yes, for free. Put your put your money away,   mate. Just sit through all the adverts. But  yeah, thank you so much for sitting through this   video. I've been your host, Paul. You've been the  best. I'll see you next time. Take care. Peace.

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