1 00:00:01,083 --> 00:00:03,125 [Storm] Previously on X-Men... 2 00:00:03,125 --> 00:00:05,500 To reiterate for those just returning to us. 3 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:08,125 Regardless of your stance on recent world events... 4 00:00:08,125 --> 00:00:09,208 Oh, my. 5 00:00:09,208 --> 00:00:12,500 ...the images you are about to see may be disturbing. 6 00:00:17,291 --> 00:00:19,583 [Magneto] I draw its fire away from the gardens. 7 00:00:20,166 --> 00:00:21,291 Save as many as you can. 8 00:00:21,291 --> 00:00:24,750 We shall not live our days wondering if we could've saved more. 9 00:00:27,041 --> 00:00:28,041 [grunts] 10 00:00:28,041 --> 00:00:29,958 [Gambit] The name's Gambit, mon ami. 11 00:00:30,333 --> 00:00:31,333 Remember it. 12 00:00:33,041 --> 00:00:35,541 [crying] Sugar. I can't feel you. 13 00:00:36,625 --> 00:00:39,375 [growling] 14 00:00:39,958 --> 00:00:42,166 Get out of my home, you damn demon! 15 00:00:42,500 --> 00:00:43,750 [Forge grunts] 16 00:00:45,458 --> 00:00:46,625 [Forge yells] 17 00:00:48,375 --> 00:00:50,291 [Storm] Is this death? 18 00:00:59,583 --> 00:01:01,666 [ theme music playing] 19 00:02:02,541 --> 00:02:04,500 {\an8}[ exciting music playing] 20 00:02:27,958 --> 00:02:30,250 {\an8}Shi'ar fools, surren-- 21 00:02:30,375 --> 00:02:32,458 {\an8}- [alarm blaring] - [groans] 22 00:02:33,291 --> 00:02:35,208 [all yelling] 23 00:02:37,250 --> 00:02:38,916 [soldier] Don't move! Stay where you are! 24 00:02:39,541 --> 00:02:40,541 Hands up! 25 00:02:41,375 --> 00:02:42,625 - [Deathbird] Surrender? - [groans] 26 00:02:43,541 --> 00:02:45,833 No, just perish. 27 00:02:46,541 --> 00:02:48,208 Stand, Kree. 28 00:02:48,791 --> 00:02:53,875 This pigeon shall not thwart the will of the Supreme Intelligence. 29 00:02:55,625 --> 00:02:57,416 [all yelling] 30 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,375 Victory for the Imperial Guard! 31 00:03:07,333 --> 00:03:08,625 [grunts] 32 00:03:10,208 --> 00:03:11,958 [yelling] 33 00:03:12,458 --> 00:03:13,958 [yelling shakily] 34 00:03:19,208 --> 00:03:21,000 [Ronan] A Pyrrhic victory. 35 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:22,750 The Kree do not... 36 00:03:22,750 --> 00:03:24,250 [grunts] 37 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,625 Be honored to fall at my feet, Ronan, 38 00:03:27,625 --> 00:03:31,916 for you shall be memorialized as the corpse upon which I posed. 39 00:03:31,916 --> 00:03:34,666 A true Kree bows to no one. 40 00:03:36,250 --> 00:03:37,458 [grunts] 41 00:03:40,833 --> 00:03:42,208 Thank you, Gladiator. 42 00:03:42,833 --> 00:03:44,083 Ronan dear, 43 00:03:45,125 --> 00:03:47,833 tell me where the Supreme Intelligence has fled, 44 00:03:49,291 --> 00:03:51,583 or your forces shall suffer. 45 00:03:53,666 --> 00:03:55,333 Save them, Ronan. 46 00:03:55,791 --> 00:03:57,666 All you need to do is... 47 00:03:57,666 --> 00:03:59,541 [messenger] A million pardons, your Highness. 48 00:03:59,541 --> 00:04:03,208 - You dare interrupt my glorious moment? - Oh. 49 00:04:03,208 --> 00:04:05,458 It's your sister, The Empress. 50 00:04:05,458 --> 00:04:07,375 Oh, joy. 51 00:04:07,375 --> 00:04:09,375 - Why didn't you say so? - [grunts] 52 00:04:10,375 --> 00:04:15,125 My dearest sister is always of utmost priority. 53 00:04:18,666 --> 00:04:20,250 Greetings, Shi'ar. 54 00:04:20,250 --> 00:04:24,958 One year ago, we offered the skills of our mighty healers 55 00:04:24,958 --> 00:04:27,708 to a Terran man on the verge of death. 56 00:04:32,583 --> 00:04:34,333 No ordinary Terran, 57 00:04:34,833 --> 00:04:38,250 this man helped spare the entire universe 58 00:04:38,250 --> 00:04:40,625 from the madness of my brother, D'ken, 59 00:04:41,125 --> 00:04:44,500 as well as the galactic hunger of the Phoenix. 60 00:04:45,333 --> 00:04:48,916 And now, in his greatest feat yet, 61 00:04:49,583 --> 00:04:53,583 this man has unlocked the secrets to my heart. 62 00:04:53,583 --> 00:04:54,666 [Araki] Hmm. 63 00:04:54,666 --> 00:04:57,125 So I, Empress Lilandra, 64 00:04:57,708 --> 00:04:59,958 stand before this High Council, 65 00:04:59,958 --> 00:05:02,666 and before you, my loyal people, 66 00:05:02,666 --> 00:05:05,791 with joyous news in times of war, 67 00:05:05,791 --> 00:05:08,416 for your Empress is to be married, 68 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,791 and our empire shall welcome a new emperor. 69 00:05:20,666 --> 00:05:24,333 Professor Charles Xavier. 70 00:05:24,333 --> 00:05:27,375 [all murmuring] 71 00:05:36,625 --> 00:05:39,958 To the might and glory of the Imperium. 72 00:05:44,750 --> 00:05:45,916 Hmm. 73 00:05:48,125 --> 00:05:51,625 I pray our act of performative jingoism 74 00:05:51,625 --> 00:05:54,583 erased any concerns over my heritage? 75 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:57,250 [Lilandra] Do not fret. 76 00:05:57,250 --> 00:06:01,333 My subjects trust me when I say you are no mere Terran, Charles. 77 00:06:01,833 --> 00:06:05,625 Well, on Earth, newlyweds whisk off to some faraway island 78 00:06:05,625 --> 00:06:06,958 to celebrate their love. 79 00:06:08,375 --> 00:06:11,458 And how far would my hopeless romantic see us go? 80 00:06:12,250 --> 00:06:15,375 Dare I assume a sandy beach on Earth itself? 81 00:06:16,125 --> 00:06:19,041 Perhaps an empress could even spend a portion of her time 82 00:06:19,041 --> 00:06:21,708 ruling the galaxy from my little corner of it? 83 00:06:23,458 --> 00:06:25,791 My handsome emperor has much to learn, 84 00:06:25,791 --> 00:06:27,833 about masking his manipulations. 85 00:06:28,625 --> 00:06:31,625 You wish to return to your children, don't you? 86 00:06:32,125 --> 00:06:33,208 Merely visit. 87 00:06:33,708 --> 00:06:34,875 See their faces. 88 00:06:35,416 --> 00:06:38,041 Yet families often mimic black holes. 89 00:06:38,541 --> 00:06:42,958 Visit and risk being stuck in its ever-spiraling vacuum of dramas. 90 00:06:43,708 --> 00:06:46,375 This is especially true with your students. 91 00:06:46,958 --> 00:06:50,000 [Professor X] Mmm, didn't your brother nearly destroy the universe 92 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:51,541 with the M'kraan Crystal? 93 00:06:54,291 --> 00:06:55,708 You should message them. 94 00:06:56,166 --> 00:06:57,166 Use a holo-globe. 95 00:06:58,583 --> 00:07:00,083 Invite them to the wedding. 96 00:07:02,166 --> 00:07:05,541 Unless you fear they'll think you've abandoned them. 97 00:07:07,583 --> 00:07:10,250 You've earned a life of your own, Charles. 98 00:07:10,250 --> 00:07:11,458 And I need you. 99 00:07:12,166 --> 00:07:13,791 Once we crush the Kree, 100 00:07:13,791 --> 00:07:17,083 an educator such as you can teach them our ways. 101 00:07:17,666 --> 00:07:19,875 Do as you did on Earth. 102 00:07:19,875 --> 00:07:22,416 Play the role of the peacemaker. 103 00:07:22,416 --> 00:07:25,875 Wasn't aware my X-Men and I were playing make-believe. 104 00:07:26,458 --> 00:07:29,875 Much like my legs in this armor's exoskeleton. 105 00:07:30,541 --> 00:07:32,375 All ruling is make-believe. 106 00:07:33,375 --> 00:07:34,583 I pretend to be perfect, 107 00:07:34,583 --> 00:07:38,291 as my subjects would never love the woman beneath the armor. 108 00:07:38,291 --> 00:07:39,416 Not like you do. 109 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:41,500 Never pretend with me. 110 00:07:42,500 --> 00:07:44,541 Will you at least consider Earth? 111 00:07:44,541 --> 00:07:45,625 [Lilandra] I will. 112 00:07:46,625 --> 00:07:48,250 But I remind you, Charles, 113 00:07:48,250 --> 00:07:51,750 the virtue of a teacher lies in showing their students 114 00:07:51,750 --> 00:07:54,000 how to walk on their own. 115 00:07:54,583 --> 00:07:55,583 True. 116 00:07:55,583 --> 00:07:57,000 But only if he is sure 117 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,625 there are no more lessons he can teach them. 118 00:08:04,333 --> 00:08:05,500 [Forge groans] 119 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:07,625 You must drink. 120 00:08:08,875 --> 00:08:11,000 - [The Adversary] Why bother? - [Forge groans] 121 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:12,291 He's a liar. 122 00:08:12,291 --> 00:08:13,416 Traitor. 123 00:08:13,416 --> 00:08:15,625 Cost you everything. 124 00:08:16,125 --> 00:08:18,250 He was trying to help me. 125 00:08:18,250 --> 00:08:21,500 A tawdry romance of guilt and shame. 126 00:08:21,500 --> 00:08:23,916 How many have suffered his gifts? 127 00:08:23,916 --> 00:08:26,166 How many made slaves? 128 00:08:26,166 --> 00:08:28,833 [Storm] Your bite is a sort of demonic infection. 129 00:08:29,333 --> 00:08:31,250 Once the venom reaches his heart... 130 00:08:31,791 --> 00:08:33,333 [The Adversary] Leave him. 131 00:08:33,333 --> 00:08:35,666 Don't play martyr. 132 00:08:35,666 --> 00:08:37,583 You will not break me. 133 00:08:37,583 --> 00:08:39,791 But I can fix you. 134 00:08:39,791 --> 00:08:41,833 Forge made his bed. 135 00:08:41,833 --> 00:08:43,375 Let him die in it. 136 00:08:43,375 --> 00:08:45,416 All lives deserve saving. 137 00:08:45,416 --> 00:08:46,583 Even his. 138 00:08:51,583 --> 00:08:53,875 [grunting] 139 00:08:56,041 --> 00:09:00,666 [The Adversary] You go for help, but there is no pill for my poison. 140 00:09:01,416 --> 00:09:02,791 Let him die. 141 00:09:02,791 --> 00:09:05,875 Look the other way. Watch. 142 00:09:05,875 --> 00:09:07,416 Get used to it. 143 00:09:07,416 --> 00:09:09,708 You're not an X-Man anymore. 144 00:09:09,708 --> 00:09:11,458 Well, where did that get you? 145 00:09:11,458 --> 00:09:13,375 Kissing the hand that beats you? 146 00:09:15,750 --> 00:09:17,125 [exclaims] 147 00:09:19,041 --> 00:09:20,500 [yelling] 148 00:09:20,500 --> 00:09:23,208 I do not fear death. 149 00:09:23,791 --> 00:09:26,958 I know. That's why you rush to play dead. 150 00:09:26,958 --> 00:09:29,916 You fear living. 151 00:09:29,916 --> 00:09:31,416 As you said to Jean, 152 00:09:31,416 --> 00:09:34,083 "I have wondered what it would be like to be human." 153 00:09:34,083 --> 00:09:37,250 It is a tempting daydream. 154 00:09:37,250 --> 00:09:41,416 I... I was so tired. 155 00:09:41,916 --> 00:09:44,166 Is that why you fear your power, 156 00:09:44,166 --> 00:09:47,000 sought refuge with this monotone family? 157 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:48,833 Enough! Let me out! 158 00:09:48,833 --> 00:09:50,083 Let me out! 159 00:09:50,750 --> 00:09:52,458 Look at your family. 160 00:09:52,458 --> 00:09:54,250 Who you follow. 161 00:09:54,250 --> 00:09:55,333 I was wrong. 162 00:09:55,708 --> 00:09:57,541 Forge didn't rob your gifts. 163 00:09:57,541 --> 00:09:59,791 - You had already renounced them. - No! Please! 164 00:10:00,875 --> 00:10:02,208 I cannot breathe. 165 00:10:02,208 --> 00:10:03,333 [The Adversary] Sham! 166 00:10:04,041 --> 00:10:07,083 You turned your back on these paths long ago. 167 00:10:07,791 --> 00:10:09,291 Lord of chaos! 168 00:10:13,666 --> 00:10:15,500 Weaver of lies, 169 00:10:16,750 --> 00:10:19,791 I tear your thread and break your loom. 170 00:10:19,791 --> 00:10:22,125 Depart to the desert, demon. 171 00:10:22,875 --> 00:10:24,875 Depart, and be gone. 172 00:10:25,375 --> 00:10:26,833 [breathing heavily] 173 00:10:31,666 --> 00:10:33,416 [screeching] 174 00:10:38,333 --> 00:10:39,416 [groans] 175 00:10:42,916 --> 00:10:44,875 Mom practiced desert magic. 176 00:10:46,083 --> 00:10:47,208 Some of it sunk in, 177 00:10:47,791 --> 00:10:49,208 despite my best efforts. 178 00:10:49,208 --> 00:10:51,416 [Storm] Careful. Your shoulder. 179 00:10:52,541 --> 00:10:53,833 Well, give it to me straight. 180 00:10:55,416 --> 00:10:57,750 You need a better bedside face, Doc. 181 00:11:00,291 --> 00:11:01,750 Its bite is magical. 182 00:11:01,750 --> 00:11:04,083 Perhaps your mother's book holds an answer. 183 00:11:04,083 --> 00:11:05,708 [Forge] She wrote about a cacti, 184 00:11:06,375 --> 00:11:07,416 the midnight cholla. 185 00:11:08,333 --> 00:11:09,791 Grows in nearby caves. 186 00:11:10,333 --> 00:11:11,583 Doesn't need sunlight. 187 00:11:12,166 --> 00:11:14,375 Its aloe is powerful magic medicine. 188 00:11:15,500 --> 00:11:16,583 I can show you the way. 189 00:11:16,583 --> 00:11:19,250 You are too weak. Tell me where to go. 190 00:11:19,750 --> 00:11:21,375 I don't have much time, Ororo. 191 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,083 If this nastiness gets worse while you're gone, 192 00:11:25,125 --> 00:11:26,333 I don't wanna be alone. 193 00:11:26,833 --> 00:11:29,916 Then we ride together, my love. 194 00:11:34,833 --> 00:11:38,041 [announcer] The Empress, Lilandra Neramani, 195 00:11:38,541 --> 00:11:40,500 and her Royal Consort. 196 00:11:40,500 --> 00:11:43,000 - [playing fanfare] - [crowd cheering] 197 00:11:44,291 --> 00:11:46,666 Your man speaks as if I am your pet. 198 00:11:47,583 --> 00:11:50,541 Hmm. Not an entirely displeasing thought. 199 00:11:50,541 --> 00:11:53,375 Hush now, beloved. You may bark later. 200 00:12:04,916 --> 00:12:06,583 [clears throat] Your Majesty, 201 00:12:07,083 --> 00:12:09,416 I have known you since you were but a hatchling 202 00:12:09,416 --> 00:12:11,375 and wish only for your happiness. 203 00:12:11,875 --> 00:12:14,166 But given our war with the Kree, 204 00:12:14,166 --> 00:12:17,625 and how it's divided even we Shi'ar, 205 00:12:17,625 --> 00:12:19,583 is a royal wedding... 206 00:12:19,583 --> 00:12:23,708 Gladiator and his Guard fill my ears with news of coming victory. 207 00:12:23,708 --> 00:12:28,625 Yes, but we have been trapped in so much change, 208 00:12:28,625 --> 00:12:34,708 some yearn for the stable comfort of what is familiar for sameness. 209 00:12:34,708 --> 00:12:37,583 Araki sugars his words, my sister. 210 00:12:42,625 --> 00:12:47,166 Your consort was born on the wrong side of the stars. 211 00:12:47,916 --> 00:12:49,458 He is Terran. 212 00:12:49,458 --> 00:12:52,583 Gentle sister, heed my throne. 213 00:12:52,583 --> 00:12:56,125 A throne that is bound to more than the whims of your heart. 214 00:12:56,125 --> 00:12:57,375 A union with the Terran 215 00:12:57,375 --> 00:13:01,583 would bind the Shi'ar into alliance with his inferior home world. 216 00:13:01,583 --> 00:13:05,375 I respect you speaking the quiet part out loud, Deathbird, 217 00:13:05,375 --> 00:13:07,166 so let's speak plainly. 218 00:13:07,750 --> 00:13:09,875 Your Empress and I decide alliances 219 00:13:09,875 --> 00:13:12,166 as well as which world we call home. 220 00:13:12,166 --> 00:13:14,000 [Araki] Chandilar is home. 221 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,125 Our throne world. 222 00:13:16,125 --> 00:13:18,875 - Of course, Lord Chancellor. - I merely meant... 223 00:13:18,875 --> 00:13:20,875 [Deathbird] Spoke the quiet part out loud? 224 00:13:20,875 --> 00:13:25,458 Xavier would see his Milky Way ghetto become our new throne world. 225 00:13:25,458 --> 00:13:27,416 You are twisting my words. 226 00:13:27,416 --> 00:13:30,708 High Council, for the sake of the empire, 227 00:13:30,708 --> 00:13:33,041 I must invoke the Rite of M'Dashaa. 228 00:13:33,041 --> 00:13:35,166 [all gasping] 229 00:13:35,291 --> 00:13:37,250 Terran, the rite requires... 230 00:13:37,250 --> 00:13:41,708 A non-Shi'ar pass a test of loyalty in order to wed a royal. 231 00:13:41,708 --> 00:13:45,166 I finished that volume my second day here, Deathbird. 232 00:13:45,166 --> 00:13:47,500 Not any mere test, Terran. 233 00:13:47,500 --> 00:13:49,500 A challenge of my own choosing. 234 00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:51,125 [Professor X] Then choose. 235 00:13:51,125 --> 00:13:55,000 [Deathbird] To ensure we are protected from your Terran ties, 236 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,083 you must renounce Earth and erase all memory of your life there. 237 00:13:59,083 --> 00:14:00,750 [all gasp] 238 00:14:00,750 --> 00:14:03,208 Charles is a formidable psychic. 239 00:14:03,208 --> 00:14:05,916 His mind will not be easily scrubbed. 240 00:14:05,916 --> 00:14:09,625 Luckily, we Shi'ar bow to a ruler of equal psychic power. 241 00:14:09,625 --> 00:14:13,000 Charles Xavier must purge all memories of Earth, 242 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:17,416 and you, dear sister, must be the one to do it. 243 00:14:17,416 --> 00:14:19,083 [crowd murmuring] 244 00:14:26,833 --> 00:14:28,625 [Gladiator] Sharra and K'ythri. 245 00:14:32,291 --> 00:14:33,458 Our highest gods. 246 00:14:33,458 --> 00:14:37,583 Mmm. Once enemies, then forced to marry to bring harmony to the universe. 247 00:14:38,208 --> 00:14:40,291 And here I thought the Shi'ar looked down on art 248 00:14:40,291 --> 00:14:42,708 as a sign of insanity and deviance. 249 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:45,250 In most cases. 250 00:14:45,250 --> 00:14:47,166 But the union of Sharra and K'ythri 251 00:14:47,166 --> 00:14:49,083 is at the core of our principles. 252 00:14:49,583 --> 00:14:51,666 To bind various cultures into one 253 00:14:51,666 --> 00:14:54,250 for the sake of galactic peace and harmony. 254 00:14:55,250 --> 00:14:57,041 How Rudyard Kipling of you. 255 00:14:57,541 --> 00:14:59,166 I do not know this Kipling. 256 00:14:59,166 --> 00:15:01,416 - A Terran? - Yes. 257 00:15:01,416 --> 00:15:03,500 One possessed of many burdens. 258 00:15:03,500 --> 00:15:04,583 None real. 259 00:15:04,916 --> 00:15:06,041 Much like your myth. 260 00:15:06,041 --> 00:15:10,875 What is united if one half must be erased for the sake of the whole? 261 00:15:10,875 --> 00:15:14,083 Idealism is also a sign of insanity. 262 00:15:14,208 --> 00:15:15,750 [chuckles softly] 263 00:15:15,750 --> 00:15:20,333 You know, I have a very old and very dear friend on Earth 264 00:15:20,333 --> 00:15:21,666 who would agree with you. 265 00:15:21,666 --> 00:15:23,083 Wise, for a Terran. 266 00:15:23,666 --> 00:15:24,708 Yes. 267 00:15:24,708 --> 00:15:26,375 His name is Magnus. 268 00:15:26,375 --> 00:15:28,000 And I wish to remember him. 269 00:15:28,500 --> 00:15:30,250 [Lilandra] You've made your decision, then? 270 00:15:33,166 --> 00:15:34,166 Forgive me. 271 00:15:34,625 --> 00:15:36,708 I do so love to think. 272 00:15:36,708 --> 00:15:38,916 Do you love me, Charles? 273 00:15:40,083 --> 00:15:41,166 A silly question. 274 00:15:41,791 --> 00:15:45,041 Even you know Deathbird's challenge goes too far. 275 00:15:45,958 --> 00:15:48,666 On Earth, you fought tirelessly to be tolerated 276 00:15:48,666 --> 00:15:50,500 and were nearly killed for it. 277 00:15:50,500 --> 00:15:51,708 Why remember? 278 00:15:51,708 --> 00:15:53,375 Why not let go? 279 00:15:53,375 --> 00:15:54,458 Start anew. 280 00:15:54,833 --> 00:15:58,125 If you refuse, they won't let us be together. 281 00:15:58,833 --> 00:16:00,541 Not unless I forfeit my throne, 282 00:16:00,541 --> 00:16:02,958 which is exactly Deathbird's design. 283 00:16:03,458 --> 00:16:05,083 Imagine the chaos 284 00:16:05,083 --> 00:16:08,958 that my sister would unleash across the galaxy as ruler. 285 00:16:08,958 --> 00:16:11,291 It would rival that of my mad brother. 286 00:16:15,208 --> 00:16:16,666 You saved my life. 287 00:16:17,541 --> 00:16:20,208 Gave me a home, a new future. 288 00:16:20,833 --> 00:16:23,041 Your devotion is beyond measure. 289 00:16:26,500 --> 00:16:29,166 Perhaps it is time to show you mine. 290 00:16:37,583 --> 00:16:39,833 [groans] There. That's it. 291 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:42,291 Snowsnake Tower. 292 00:16:47,375 --> 00:16:50,375 Union forces stored weapons here during the Civil War. 293 00:16:52,083 --> 00:16:54,958 It was actually built during the Plains War decades earlier, 294 00:16:55,458 --> 00:16:56,541 by colonists. 295 00:16:57,041 --> 00:16:59,500 Those wars exterminated your people. 296 00:16:59,500 --> 00:17:03,750 Why let them build such a thing into the very foundations of your land? 297 00:17:03,750 --> 00:17:05,708 Well, they said that they were here to help. 298 00:17:05,708 --> 00:17:07,458 Sort of like how I came to you. 299 00:17:09,208 --> 00:17:12,291 I heard The Adversary telling you to let me die. 300 00:17:13,458 --> 00:17:16,750 [sighs] I'm so sorry, Ororo, for deceiving you. 301 00:17:17,791 --> 00:17:19,333 For drawing the Adversary. 302 00:17:19,958 --> 00:17:22,791 Hush. The demon was not your doing. 303 00:17:23,375 --> 00:17:26,125 A big, evil owl that feeds on anger and self-loathing? 304 00:17:27,041 --> 00:17:28,708 Call me chum in the water. 305 00:17:28,708 --> 00:17:30,291 Then I am chum, too. 306 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,625 Before I lost my gifts, I told a friend, my sister, 307 00:17:34,625 --> 00:17:37,208 that I often wondered about being human. 308 00:17:37,875 --> 00:17:40,333 I confessed this as if to console her. 309 00:17:41,083 --> 00:17:43,250 No matter how many I saved, 310 00:17:43,250 --> 00:17:47,166 my mutant gifts inspired twice as much hate in humanity. 311 00:17:47,833 --> 00:17:51,708 In a way, your machine failing is a blessing. 312 00:17:52,291 --> 00:17:53,750 I am better this way. 313 00:17:56,208 --> 00:17:57,291 Growing up, 314 00:17:57,291 --> 00:17:59,291 I always heard how the worst weapon used 315 00:17:59,291 --> 00:18:01,791 by the Europeans was not bullets or blankets, 316 00:18:02,291 --> 00:18:04,541 but a white lie that they could make us... 317 00:18:04,875 --> 00:18:06,375 [coughing] 318 00:18:08,666 --> 00:18:10,458 The cactus grows in darkness. 319 00:18:11,041 --> 00:18:12,041 Where? 320 00:18:12,041 --> 00:18:13,625 That's why I came. 321 00:18:14,125 --> 00:18:16,791 I know how you feel about tight spaces. 322 00:18:17,583 --> 00:18:20,000 [ eerie music playing] 323 00:18:23,958 --> 00:18:25,333 Charles Xavier, 324 00:18:25,916 --> 00:18:30,666 do you stand in our circle to complete the Rite of M'Dashaa? 325 00:18:31,541 --> 00:18:32,541 I do. 326 00:18:34,750 --> 00:18:37,625 And do you renounce all memories of Earth? 327 00:18:37,625 --> 00:18:38,958 Of your life there? 328 00:18:39,541 --> 00:18:40,625 I do. 329 00:18:41,208 --> 00:18:42,583 And of your X-Men? 330 00:18:48,541 --> 00:18:51,791 Xavier, do you renounce your X-Men? 331 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:54,041 [Deathbird] See? 332 00:18:54,041 --> 00:18:55,708 He hesitates. 333 00:19:00,625 --> 00:19:02,958 He insults all Shi'ar. 334 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,250 This was exactly my fear. 335 00:19:07,083 --> 00:19:10,250 What you ask of him is no small burden. 336 00:19:10,250 --> 00:19:12,333 He seeks to ally us with Earth. 337 00:19:12,333 --> 00:19:14,458 My God, you are dramatic. 338 00:19:15,333 --> 00:19:17,541 How can we entrust our mighty empire, 339 00:19:17,541 --> 00:19:19,916 which has endured for eons, 340 00:19:19,916 --> 00:19:22,333 to a ruler descended of simians? 341 00:19:22,333 --> 00:19:26,375 Have our blood mixed with his inferior freak fluids? 342 00:19:26,375 --> 00:19:27,708 Indeed. 343 00:19:27,708 --> 00:19:31,583 This Xavier is not even a pure Terran. 344 00:19:31,583 --> 00:19:33,500 A lower caste. 345 00:19:33,500 --> 00:19:34,750 A mutant. 346 00:19:34,750 --> 00:19:39,083 My sister, like my brother D'ken, has gone mad. 347 00:19:40,416 --> 00:19:44,041 Renounce her before her lovesick lunacy destroys us all. 348 00:19:44,041 --> 00:19:45,125 Sedition. 349 00:19:45,125 --> 00:19:47,791 Gladiator, arrest this treacherous vulture 350 00:19:47,791 --> 00:19:50,250 and any who dare to stand with her. 351 00:19:50,250 --> 00:19:51,458 [yells] 352 00:19:53,916 --> 00:19:54,916 [grunts] 353 00:19:56,416 --> 00:19:57,666 [soldier] By Sharra! 354 00:20:02,958 --> 00:20:04,416 [all yelling] 355 00:20:05,541 --> 00:20:06,791 [device powers up] 356 00:20:10,166 --> 00:20:11,375 [all yell] 357 00:20:14,916 --> 00:20:16,250 - [grunts] - Charles! 358 00:20:16,250 --> 00:20:17,750 Lilandra, behind you! 359 00:20:18,416 --> 00:20:19,708 [both grunting] 360 00:20:25,666 --> 00:20:28,875 - Hmm. - [Professor X] No, not this way. 361 00:20:29,458 --> 00:20:31,791 I have forgotten my greatest gift. 362 00:20:33,416 --> 00:20:34,416 Hear me. 363 00:20:34,875 --> 00:20:38,000 Class is now in session. 364 00:20:38,875 --> 00:20:39,958 [gasps] 365 00:20:41,833 --> 00:20:43,083 [all gasp] 366 00:20:48,375 --> 00:20:50,666 What is this? What have you done? 367 00:20:50,666 --> 00:20:54,250 Gladiator, please raise your hand if you have a question. 368 00:20:54,833 --> 00:20:57,875 To answer, I have used my vast psychic abilities 369 00:20:57,875 --> 00:20:59,625 to draw us into the astral plane. 370 00:21:00,333 --> 00:21:01,875 Now, pay attention. 371 00:21:01,875 --> 00:21:04,041 It is time for today's lesson. 372 00:21:05,458 --> 00:21:07,583 [ mysterious music playing] 373 00:21:27,708 --> 00:21:28,750 Oh! 374 00:21:29,458 --> 00:21:31,125 [panting] 375 00:21:32,125 --> 00:21:34,000 [The Adversary growling] 376 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,083 You had to be the bigger woman. 377 00:21:36,666 --> 00:21:39,208 Had to save him, be above it. 378 00:21:39,833 --> 00:21:40,833 Now look at you. 379 00:21:41,333 --> 00:21:42,333 No! 380 00:21:42,750 --> 00:21:44,541 Forge destroyed you! 381 00:21:44,791 --> 00:21:45,875 [The Adversary] Yes. 382 00:21:45,875 --> 00:21:47,333 Yes, let me taste. 383 00:21:47,958 --> 00:21:49,958 Ooh, yummy! 384 00:21:50,458 --> 00:21:53,250 Fear poached in self-loathing. 385 00:21:53,958 --> 00:21:56,833 More! The high road, Storm. 386 00:21:56,833 --> 00:22:01,458 Last stop, you, pancaked by the pressure of existing. 387 00:22:01,458 --> 00:22:03,666 - [whimpering] - How unfair. 388 00:22:03,666 --> 00:22:04,875 Yes. There. 389 00:22:04,875 --> 00:22:08,791 [gasps] Yes! Always beg to be saved. 390 00:22:09,333 --> 00:22:14,916 Submit, and I will save you and let you live your tempting daydream. 391 00:22:19,750 --> 00:22:22,291 [Storm] No, you demon. 392 00:22:24,625 --> 00:22:26,500 Not a daydream. 393 00:22:26,500 --> 00:22:28,333 [stones rumbling] 394 00:22:33,458 --> 00:22:35,458 The X-Cutioner's neutralizer 395 00:22:35,458 --> 00:22:38,625 was not the only weapon tamping down my gifts. 396 00:22:40,875 --> 00:22:42,250 There was that lie. 397 00:22:42,916 --> 00:22:44,416 And I believed it. 398 00:22:44,958 --> 00:22:46,166 Be warned. 399 00:22:46,791 --> 00:22:47,875 Be smart. 400 00:22:48,375 --> 00:22:50,125 Believe the lie. 401 00:22:50,125 --> 00:22:51,791 Deny your power. 402 00:22:52,458 --> 00:22:57,583 Play dead, or humanity will thunder down upon you and your kind. 403 00:22:58,166 --> 00:23:02,125 [Storm] You all are an echo of who I am. 404 00:23:02,708 --> 00:23:04,625 [thunder rumbling] 405 00:23:04,791 --> 00:23:07,208 [ exciting music playing] 406 00:23:07,916 --> 00:23:09,958 [growling] 407 00:23:09,958 --> 00:23:13,125 [Storm] So let them thunder, 408 00:23:13,666 --> 00:23:16,583 for I am lightning! 409 00:23:33,833 --> 00:23:35,416 [rumbling in distance] 410 00:24:03,708 --> 00:24:05,500 [laughs] 411 00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:06,666 [sighs] 412 00:24:26,916 --> 00:24:28,541 [rumbling echoing] 413 00:24:28,541 --> 00:24:31,041 [Storm] Strange, to feel grateful. 414 00:24:31,041 --> 00:24:32,250 Towards the demon? 415 00:24:32,750 --> 00:24:36,250 What are demons, but reflections of our fears and shame? 416 00:24:36,708 --> 00:24:39,291 - [groans] - [Storm] Things we bury within us, 417 00:24:39,791 --> 00:24:41,708 hide from loved ones, 418 00:24:41,708 --> 00:24:43,583 even as they poison our hearts... 419 00:24:43,708 --> 00:24:44,875 [winces] 420 00:24:44,875 --> 00:24:50,125 ...until we finally heal our adversary by embracing it. 421 00:24:51,583 --> 00:24:53,958 There. It's starting to heal. 422 00:24:56,208 --> 00:24:57,208 So, what now? 423 00:24:58,083 --> 00:25:00,000 You've been given a second chance. 424 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,958 Should we whisk away to some tropical island? 425 00:25:02,958 --> 00:25:06,291 Not an entirely unpleasant idea. 426 00:25:07,458 --> 00:25:09,916 Nations refusing to allow mutants 427 00:25:09,916 --> 00:25:12,541 displaced by the brutal attack on Genosha 428 00:25:12,541 --> 00:25:14,666 to return to their home countries. 429 00:25:14,666 --> 00:25:16,375 This, as rumors swirl... 430 00:25:16,375 --> 00:25:18,708 - [gasps] - ...that Genosha is the opening salvo 431 00:25:18,708 --> 00:25:21,541 in the long-feared evolutionary war 432 00:25:21,541 --> 00:25:23,708 between humans and mutants 433 00:25:23,708 --> 00:25:26,083 that the late Professor Charles Xavier... 434 00:25:26,083 --> 00:25:27,958 Let's talk about power. 435 00:25:28,500 --> 00:25:29,833 Real power. 436 00:25:30,416 --> 00:25:34,250 Who can tell me from where the Shi'ar Imperium draws its might? 437 00:25:34,250 --> 00:25:38,708 From the crushed skulls that house inferior minds such as yours. 438 00:25:39,291 --> 00:25:41,375 [Professor X] Demerits. Raise your hand. 439 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:43,125 [groans] 440 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,250 The power of your empire is, in truth, 441 00:25:47,250 --> 00:25:49,458 a harvest of stolen worlds. 442 00:25:50,041 --> 00:25:53,833 Younger cultures that, had they not been tilled to death, 443 00:25:53,833 --> 00:25:56,750 would now be empires rivaling your own. 444 00:25:57,166 --> 00:25:59,958 Fearing this, you strike at the knees 445 00:25:59,958 --> 00:26:02,083 and claim you can help them walk again. 446 00:26:02,833 --> 00:26:04,833 But only if they assimilate. 447 00:26:05,250 --> 00:26:06,250 Submit. 448 00:26:06,666 --> 00:26:09,083 Which brings us to this conclusion. 449 00:26:09,666 --> 00:26:13,458 The Shi'ar empire is a snake oil racket. 450 00:26:14,458 --> 00:26:17,416 Even you Terrans claim, "Might is right." 451 00:26:17,416 --> 00:26:19,708 [Professor X scoffs] The rhyme that sells the lie. 452 00:26:19,708 --> 00:26:23,125 That we must pillage worth from one another. 453 00:26:23,125 --> 00:26:27,000 That for me to be more, you must be less. 454 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,708 Your existence against mine because... 455 00:26:30,500 --> 00:26:31,625 Why? 456 00:26:31,625 --> 00:26:34,708 Says who? Who made up these silly rules? 457 00:26:34,708 --> 00:26:36,291 We did, beloved. 458 00:26:36,875 --> 00:26:37,958 Playing make-believe. 459 00:26:38,458 --> 00:26:40,291 Even if we were to agree, 460 00:26:40,291 --> 00:26:43,291 your idealism would confuse our people. 461 00:26:43,291 --> 00:26:45,291 They might even call it nonsense. 462 00:26:47,125 --> 00:26:48,458 Want to know a secret? 463 00:26:49,333 --> 00:26:51,583 Coexistence is messy. 464 00:26:52,083 --> 00:26:54,125 Thus, my love for education, 465 00:26:54,833 --> 00:26:56,166 for my X-Men. 466 00:26:56,166 --> 00:26:59,916 Their heroism teaches a lesson we mustn't forget. 467 00:27:00,583 --> 00:27:03,291 That the universe is very old, 468 00:27:03,291 --> 00:27:06,083 and all of us, very young. 469 00:27:06,583 --> 00:27:08,583 Born of ancient stardust, 470 00:27:09,291 --> 00:27:11,375 and all children of the atom. 471 00:27:18,958 --> 00:27:19,958 Heavens, no! 472 00:27:20,333 --> 00:27:22,416 [ dramatic music playing] 473 00:27:26,750 --> 00:27:27,750 Gambit? 474 00:27:30,541 --> 00:27:32,791 No! 475 00:27:32,791 --> 00:27:35,625 They were dancing, drinking wine, making love! 476 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:37,375 Oh, my children! 477 00:27:37,375 --> 00:27:39,708 My children of the atom, destroyed! 478 00:27:40,666 --> 00:27:41,666 No! 479 00:27:42,291 --> 00:27:43,541 [screams] 480 00:27:46,625 --> 00:27:48,208 Charles! [breathing heavily] 481 00:27:50,875 --> 00:27:52,000 Beloved. 482 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:53,458 What in the stars? 483 00:27:54,500 --> 00:27:56,958 [shakily] I must return to Earth immediately. 484 00:27:56,958 --> 00:28:00,125 But we've nearly convinced the council. 485 00:28:00,125 --> 00:28:01,375 It doesn't matter! 486 00:28:01,375 --> 00:28:04,833 While I cowered in the cosmos, the unthinkable has happened. 487 00:28:05,333 --> 00:28:06,708 Charles, if you leave, 488 00:28:06,708 --> 00:28:09,708 you will prove my sister right about your kind. 489 00:28:11,333 --> 00:28:14,458 If that should end our star-crossed affair, 490 00:28:14,458 --> 00:28:15,583 so be it. 491 00:28:16,333 --> 00:28:18,750 I will not abandon my kind. 492 00:28:23,041 --> 00:28:26,666 It is time I return to my X-Men. 493 00:28:33,375 --> 00:28:35,083 [panting] 494 00:28:37,291 --> 00:28:38,625 I did what you asked. 495 00:28:38,625 --> 00:28:41,375 I gave you my DNA to access Master Mold. 496 00:28:42,333 --> 00:28:43,333 [grunts] 497 00:28:44,375 --> 00:28:45,708 [sobbing] 498 00:28:46,541 --> 00:28:47,916 Kill me, please, 499 00:28:48,416 --> 00:28:49,875 for what happened in Genosha. 500 00:28:50,458 --> 00:28:52,750 - [shushing] - [Bolivar] I beg you. 501 00:28:52,916 --> 00:28:55,458 [man] Don't take all the blame, Bolivar, 502 00:28:55,458 --> 00:28:57,708 and don't fret the future. 503 00:28:57,708 --> 00:29:02,750 Why, Genosha was merely the beginning of a prologue, now past. 504 00:29:02,750 --> 00:29:04,458 You have nothing to fear, 505 00:29:05,041 --> 00:29:09,000 so long as you place your faith in Sinister. 506 00:29:09,666 --> 00:29:12,375 [laughs maniacally] 507 00:29:14,708 --> 00:29:18,000 {\an8}[ closing instrumental music playing]